It`s unfortunate that everything we do is immediately linked to elections: PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview with a leading television network, broadcast on Friday, spoke on a variety of issues, from the economy, social prejudices to electoral politics, and listed out his government's priorities as well as its resolve to overcome the challenges facing the country.

Here are the highlights of the prime minister's interview:

- I like Vivekananda's quotations and his style of delivery a lot. I can say Vivekananda's thought has made a huge impact on me.

- On being asked to describe himself, he said, Narendra Modi, whatever he is, is after all, a human being. Why should I suppress or hide what's inside me? I am what I am. 

- There is nothing like real or fake I relax through working only. I never get tired of working. In fact, the opposite tires me.

- Media has played a major role in whatever I am today.

- Our focus will be on welfare of farmers, villages & jobs for  the youth.

- I always maintain that the people of Kashmir need both development and trust.

- We have laid a lot of stress on skill development, which is the need of the hour

- From a statistical point of view, whether it is communal violence, atrocities against Dalits, atrocities against tribals, data shows that such incidents have gone down in number as opposed to the previous government.

- If you look at Dalit MPs and Dalit MLAs, tribal MPs and tribal MLAs, the BJP has a sizeable presence.

- All those who have fed this country the poison of caste divide have destroyed this country.

- Thousands of years of injustice have kept these wounds open. The slightest of damage will cause a lot of pain. This is why, it does not matter whether the incident is big or small, what matters is that the incident must not happen in the first place.

- The BJP will fight Uttar Pradesh elections on development issues alone. 

- It's unfortunate that everything that we do is immediately linked to elections.

- The biggest tool for empowerment is education.

- Development is our only issue and it will remain so. And this is not a political issue. This is my conviction. 

- If we want to free this country of poverty then we need development. We will need to empower the poor.

- I started the Start Up initiative to empower the youth.

- The country has 80 crore youth. They are below 30 years of age. If the youth has the skill, they can change the fortunes of this country.

- Indians, no matter where they are, want their country to progress.

- The pace at which roads are being made, railways is expanded, six fold increase in electronic gods manufacturing, these things show we haven't taken short cuts. And my motto is, as it says on railway platforms, 'short cut will cut you short'.

- I am telling this to all politicians, including BJP members, if you speak against one community then you are answerable to the nation.

- I am devoted to improving the lives of Dalits, tribals and the oppressed.

- Many had a problem with Modi being a devotee of B R Ambedkar.

- Incidents of violence against tribals and Dalits have gone down in comparison to the previous government.

- 10 government and 10 private universities will be freed of all University Grants Commission rules. We will give them money and they must move towards becoming world class universities. If rules were holding them up, we will remove the rules. 

- We have moved 1,700 laws that were from the 19th and 20th centuries. I have asked states also to do so.

- As far as few incidents (Dalit atrocities) are concerned, they must be condemned. Law and order is a state subject. It hurts the interests of the country.

- We have a strong law against black money that will dissuade anyone from stashing money abroad.

- Electricity production has gone up and so has the demand. Infrastructure work is also growing rapidly and that happens when there is demand in the economy. From all this, it looks like we have moved ahead to better days.

- History is testimony to the fact that I have never targeted anyone for political reasons.

- Should have introduced a white paper in the Parliament on the economic situation of the country before presenting the first budget.

- Today, we have the most amount of Foreign Direct Investment after Independence. The entire world says that at 7% growth, we are the fastest growing economy.

- Want to focus on how to make life easier for the common man.

- Taxation system will also be simplified and this will not only benefit the common man, the revenues will help develop the nation. Today there are sometimes incidents of mistrust between states. This will end that situation, it will be transparent and strengthen the federal structure.

- Ease of doing business has rapidly improved. All this would not be possible without reforms.

- This time, the rains have been good and this helps agriculture, which is good for the economy.

- My government's mantra is reform, perform and transform.

- The entire world says that with 7 percent growth rate, India is the fastest growing economy.

- Before we came into power newspapers were filled with stories of corruption and scandals. People had lost hope.

- GST is a major tax reform since independence. It will bring about a big change.

- My first priority after coming to power was to remove the atmosphere of despair. 

- I leave it to the people to evaluate how my government has performed.

- PM Modi said it is "unfortunate" that any developmental work is invariably linked to polls.

- He strongly pitched for three-tier simultaneous polls for parliament, state assemblies and local bodies.

- "It is high time we keep elections and developmental works as separate entities," Modi said in an interview to CNN News18.

- PM Modi has said that he has never targeted any "dynasty" nor opened a file to settle political scores.

- "I do not think from political perspective... I have been a Chief Minister for 14 years, I never opened a file for political reasons. We have not advised to open any file from political point of view," Modi said.

- PM Modi said that he wanted to bring a White Paper on the economic condition of the country when his government came into power, but refrained from it in national interest.

- The Prime Minister said he chose to face political damage instead of damaging the economy by revealing the real situation, and alleged the figures were changed in the budget by the previous government.

- Many people ask me what has been the biggest mistake we made in two years. When I think about it now, I feel, before presenting the first budget I should have tabled a white paper on the economic condition of the country... We had this thought," he said.

- PM Modi has warned those with black money to declare it before the given deadline of September 30, adding that stern action might be taken after that.

- "The first decision my government took was to make a SIT (Special Investigation Team) on black money. It is working and the Supreme Court is monitoring it. We have also made laws so that no one dares to send black money abroad from India. So more black money will not be generated," PM Modi said

- PM Modi said the BJP will fight the forthcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and other states on the issues of development, and its focus will be jobs, peace, unity and social justice.

- "There will be elections in five states in coming days and Uttar Pradesh is one of them. As far as the BJP is concerned, we will fight on development issues only. Our focus will be welfare of farmers, villages, jobs for the youth and we will stay committed to the cause of social justice," PM Modi said.

- "Our focus will be to maintain peace, unity and brotherhood in our country. We will take steps in these regard and move forward," he added.