Never had desire to enter politics, says Narendra Modi

He said but now that he is a politician, "I keep thinking how I can work for the welfare of the country." The thought that had he not joined politics, what would he be doing never crosses his mind, Modi said

New Delhi: "I never had the desire to enter politics, but now that I am a part of it I give my best on how to work for the people," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. Interacting with a group of National Cadet Corps cadets during his Mann ki Baat, radio programme, Modi also said that as an NCC cadet in his school days, he never got punished.  Modi admitted that "due to Google", his reading habits have suffered as there is a shortcut available to find references.

When one of the cadets asked him "had you not been a politician, what would you have been," Modi described it as a "difficult question". "Now this is a very difficult question because every child goes through multiple phases in life. Sometimes one wants to become this, sometimes one wants to become that, but it is true that I never had the desire to enter politics, nor I ever thought about it," he said.

He said but now that he is a politician, "I keep thinking how I can work for the welfare of the country." The thought that had he not joined politics, what would he be doing never crosses his mind, Modi said.

PM Modi thanks people
The patience, restraint and maturity displayed by the people after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict in the Ayodhya case proves that there is nothing bigger than national interest for Indians, Modi said. He also said that after the "historic verdict", the country has moved ahead on a new path, with a new resolve.

In his last Mann ki Baat address on Diwali, Modi had referred to the 2010 Allahabad High Court Judgment on the Ayodhya issue. He had recalled how the government, civil society and people had maintained peace and harmony back then. "This time too, when the Supreme Court pronounced its judgment on November 9, 130 crore Indians once again proved, that for them, national interest is supreme. The values of peace, unity and goodwill are paramount in our country," he said.

"They accepted the verdict with ease and with peace... I am particularly grateful to them for the patience, restraint and maturity shown by them," he said. Modi also launched the Fit India School grading system in schools across the country.

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