Won't sit on laurels: Narendra Modi

AHMEDABAD | NEW DELHI: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has set his sights on the national political arena after leading his party in the next round of assembly polls, vowed to take the state forward, maintaining that the country's progress was critically dependent on progress of states.

Modi broke his three-day sadbhavana fast on Monday evening by accepting a glass of juice from a group of priests hailing from all religions, in keeping with his attempts to shake off the 'communal' tag that has come to be associated with him.

With elections to the state assembly due next year, he said he wanted to extend the ambit of Sadbhavana mission to the rest of the state by undertaking a day-long fast in each district. "I will not rest on my laurels...I have to take Gujarat ahead. I will take Gujarat forward to take India forward. The prosperity of a country depends on the prosperity of the states.''

Modi showcased the achievements of his government, which, he claimed, had benefitted the six crore Gujaratis. "I have a dream. To knit six crore Gujaratis together...these are not words, it's my mantra,'' he said.

His sadbhavana campaign, Modi claimed, had also united India. "Don't examine everything in terms of political gain and loss. Don't weigh everything on a political scale. Some things are done in the interest of the country, not politics. Like the Sadbhavana mission,'' he said. His remarks were a clear indication of the role he wanted to play after leading his party to a victory in the next round of electoral battle.

Modi reiterated that he was not a practitioner of vote-bank politics. "I don't play vote bank politics...I don't discriminate on the basis of religion...I decided I would not run a government to win the next election,'' he said.

To drive home his point, he recounted his brush with the members of the Sachar Committee during their visit to the state a few years ago. "I was asked what I do for minorities here. I told them that my government does nothing for minorities. They were shocked. What a statement to make. I told them, my government does not do anything for majorities either. My government works only for six crore Gujaratis, for their collective good and progress. I don't follow these divisions. This road of vote-bank politics is not for me," he said. Harping on the 'development' theme, Modi said, "we realised that government alone could not do it. So we got the people to join the effort. Success in the last decade had not come easy."