Network18 Exclusive | 10 key quotes from PM Modi's interview

God has probably sent me to serve as PM, says Narendra Modi.

In a wide-ranging interview with Network18’s Group Editor Rahul Joshi amid the heated Lok Sabha campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his vision for a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047. He also spoke about the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prospects in the general elections and weighed in on a range of issues dominating the political discourse.

Here are 10 big quotes from PM Modi’s interview:

On Congress’s manifesto

- “See their manifesto for the 2024 elections. It has the imprint of the Muslim League. The way they are flouting the Constitution, the way they are insulting Ambedkar … There is a sword of danger hanging over reservation for SCs and STs. They will make life difficult for OBCs. Should I not inform the people of the country about this? I believe that it is the responsibility of all the learned people, who are rich in knowledge, who are unbiased, to educate this country, to tell it the right things.”

On Rahul Gandhi’s wealth redistribution idea

- People who consider themselves political experts should ask such people that if the conditions you (Congress) describe are real, then you have been in power for 50-60 years. You gave birth to this. Why did you let it come to this? Secondly, X-ray means raiding every household. If any woman has hidden gold where she stores grains, even that will be X-rayed. The jewels will be confiscated. Land records will be scrutinised. And these will be redistributed. This Maoist ideology has never helped the world. This is an entirely ‘Urban Naxal’ thought

On his connection with God

- God has probably sent me to do this work [to serve as PM]. I was born in a family, where my mother was uneducated, had not seen a school. I do not have any political background, and it’s such a big country. So, if this is not God’s will, then what is it?

On his opponents

- "When the first round of elections took place, I had told some friends that people who were campaigning against us were finished. After the second round, they are demolished. First, people finished them, now they demolished them".

On accusation that corruption cases against politicians get dropped if they join BJP

- Not one case has been dropped. Whatever the courts decide will happen. They are independent. Second, how many such cases pertain to the political leadership? Only 3 percent. Even big bureaucrats are in jail ... And let’s not take the matter of corruption lightly ... There was a time when even accusations would shake things up. And today, even after conviction and punishment, some are waving and having their photos taken. Are they glorifying corruption? This should be criticised.

On solar power growth

- My aim is PM Surya Ghar Yojana and zero electricity bill. I want solar panels in every household. And I just don’t want electricity bills to be zero, but I want three things. One, every household’s power bill should be zero; second, we should sell surplus electricity and earn money; and third, I want to be self-reliant in the energy sector as the era of electric vehicles will come.

On the allegation about misuse of agencies 

- In 2014, they [Congress] had ED and CBI, why did they lose? They even put my home minister in jail, then why did they lose? If elections could have been won by ED-CBI, then ED-CBI’s work has been done by the Congress for years, then they would have won. You cannot fix the election of such a big country, even for a municipality you can’t fix this.

On ‘saving’ Maharashtra’s future

- I believe in our country, Bengal has been ruined, Kolkata was once leading the economic growth, but is ruined by politics ... Maharashtra should not be allowed to go down that route. Mumbai is the economic capital of the country. We should move ahead strongly in Maharashtra for the benefit of the country.

On Sharad Pawar calling him “Putin of India”

- I respect him [Sharad Pawar] a lot. It doesn’t matter whether people who have been in public life for long are with us or against us; we respect them. But this means that he is proud of receiving the [Padma Vibhushan] award from a government headed by someone he sees as Putin. This is a big contradiction.

On coalition politics & regional aspirations

- No one trusts a coalition government. Such a big country cannot function like this. But today, the politics of the country is such that no matter how big a majority a party wins, it has to honour regional aspirations. And that is why even when we got an absolute majority, we still formed the NDA government with the help of allies. Because, even after a party gets an absolute majority, for the bright future of the country’s politics and aspirations of the people of the country, regional aspirations should be given the same respect and share.