'I Keep Myself Detached From This World Of Power': PM Modi On His Ascension As CM And Then PM

Prime Minister Modi began his political career in 1987 when he joined the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and a year later he became the general secretary to the party till 2001.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (File Photo)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that his succession to the Gujarat Chief Minister and then to the Prime Minister is the means to do something for the people.

Prime Minister Modi began his political career in 1987 when he joined the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and a year later he became the general secretary to the party till 2001.

In a sudden twist of fate, his predecessor Keshubhai Patel resigned from the post due to health reasons. Soon after that on October 7, 2001, he took the oath as a Chief Minister of Gujarat.

For the next three terms, he was the CM of Gujarat. For the first time in his life, Narendra Modi contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and won the election with a large margin and thus became the Prime Minister of the country.

"In the eyes of the world, being prime minister and the chief minister may be a very big thing but in my own eyes, these are ways to do something for the people. Mentally, I keep myself detached from this world of power, glitz, and glamour," Prime Minister Modi said in an interview to the Open Magazine.

"Due to this, I am able to think like a common citizen and walk on my path of duty just like I would if I were given any other responsibility," Prime Minister Modi said.

Sharing an extensive interview with @Openthemag, in which I have talked about diverse subjects of governance, the commitment to reform and efforts to transform the lives of 130 crore Indians. https://t.co/tbbuKGQQKy

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2021

PM Modi said that the teachings of Ramkrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda have acted as a driving force in his life.

"The tenet of ‘Jan Seva Hi Prabhu Seva’ (Serving people is akin to serving the divine), which was propounded by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda always inspired me. It became a driving force in whatever I did," he added.

Speaking about his entry into politics, PM Modi said, "As for politics, I did not even have a remote connection to it. It was much later that due to circumstances, and at the insistence of some friends, that I joined politics. Even there, I was in a position where I was primarily doing organisational work."

Throwing a spotlight on his government's efforts to provide better training, facilities, and other assistance to the athletes, PM Modi told the magazine, "In the last few months, I got to meet and interact with our Olympic and Paralympic heroes. Tokyo 2020 has been India’s finest so far. "

"Yet, naturally, there were several athletes who did not win medals. When I met them, they were lamenting their inability to win medals. But each of them only had praise for the efforts of our nation in supporting them in their training, facilities, and other kinds of assistance. At the same time, they were determined and energized to give their best to win more medals," he further added.