New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday turned emotional as he recalled the struggle and contribution of BJP leaders in building the party in Gujarat.


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Addressing the BJP parliamentary party, he was seen holding back his tears, according to those present at the meeting, at least three times as he named Jana Sangh and BJP leaders, some of them now dead, who built the organisation in Gujarat, PTI reported.


It was a big achievement for the BJP to win power in the state for a sixth term with more vote share, the PM said, asking party leaders not to be affected by the Opposition's "disinformation campaign."


He also called for strengthening the BJP at its roots for a win in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.


At the same time, PM Modi pushed for promoting the younger generation for a "New India", a vision for 2022 promoted by his government.







The Congress has projected Gujarat results, where it won its biggest tally since 1985 polls by winning 77 seats while the BJP with 99 seats got its lowest since 1990, as a "moral victory" for itself, a claim termed as a "laughable exercise" by BJP chief Amit Shah at the meeting.


In his address, PM Modi also said that Congress under Indira Gandhi got to rule 18 states but the BJP and its allies were in power in 19 states as of now. The saffron party had achieved such a political feat in its three-and-a-half-year rule at the Centre.


The PM fondly recalled how former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee congratulated him in person when the party fared well in a Lok Sabha election from Gujarat, noting that he, then a relatively new entrant to the BJP from the RSS and a general secretary in charge of the state, was not widely known in the party, sources said.


He also noted that it was Vajpayee's magnanimity to reach out to him.


(With PTI inputs)