I don’t have any rivals, only competitors, says PM Modi

Responding to a statement that there is no strong contender fielded against him, Modi said, “A party cannot nominate two-three candidates. Only one representative can be there from every party.”

Defending BJP candidate Sadhvi Pragya Thakur’s candidature from Bhopal, Modi said, “There were several cases filed against me. This is modus operandi of the Congress. Without any proof, the opposition is ready to attack us. They forget that the people are with us. The court has already allowed Sadhvi Pragya Thakur to contest.”

Besides this, Modi spoke on a host of issues, ranging from Jammu and Kashmir, demonetisation and cross-border terrorism. He advocated for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s formula to solve the crisis in J&K. “Only Atalji’s formula can work — Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat, Jamoohriyat has to work,” he said.

“A handful of families have used J&K for emotional blackmail,” he added.

He also said that the people in Pakistan have also urged their government to stop sheltering terrorists and curb terrorism in the region.

Two days after he shared insight on his relations with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a ‘non-political’ interaction with Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, Modi today said he was sad to see the Trinamool Congress supremo “change so much”. “It is sad to see that Mamata Didi has changed so much. She came to power because of her fight against violence and because she raised her voice against Bangladeshi infiltration. She had even demanded that if you want to hold elections in Bengal, you need to impose President’s Rule. But now she is silent when every day someone is dying in the state because of the elections,” he said.