New Delhi: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Friday refused to take blame for the riots in his state in 2002 and said the people would judge him.
“I have asked people of Gujarat to be the judge on the issue, and there is no greater judge than them,” he said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in Delhi.
Asked if his leadership would be remembered for the riots, he said: “For me, the people of the state are the most important. They have backed me, and will continue to back me on the development agenda. We have welcomed all communities.”
Modi said he was promoting Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Ram Rajya in Gujarat. “The Ram Rajya Mahatma Gandhi talked about amounts to a welfare state. When Mahatma Gandhi talked about Ram Rajya it gave out a strong message. Trouble began in the country when we moved away from the concept of Ram Rajya.”
Modi said he regarded questions on him being an aspirant for the Prime Minister’s post irrelevant. "The whole question is irrelevant. I am basically associated with the organisation and had not contested even college elections," he said.
"I had never even been a sarpanch or got elected to the municipality. I had never fought elections but suddenly I found myself in it (CM’s post). I just hope that God gives me energy to work for the state," he said.
"Day and night, nothing else but Gujarat is on my mind." Asked to comment that he was building a personality cult, he said: "you should not target one person, be it to criticise or praise him."
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