New Delhi:
Replying to a question about dealing with fear during a podcast with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the Godhra train fire incident in February 2002 – in which 59 people were killed – which took place just three days after he became an MLA. for the first time.
Prime Minister Modi recalled that only a single-engine helicopter was available and his security team did not want him to fly it. He also talked about the emotions he felt when he visited the site and how he kept them under control.
The Prime Minister said he became an MLA for the first time on February 24, 2002. Three days later, on February 27, he went to the General Assembly for the first time and heard about the incident.
“I had been an MLA for only three days. And suddenly I heard about that big incident in Godhra. There was a fire in the train. I gradually came to know that people were dead. Obviously I was very restless, I was I was worried. As soon as I left the Assembly, I said that I wanted to go to Godhra. So I told them that we would go to Vadodara and take a helicopter from there. I told them to arrange it somewhere. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) is one It was a single-engine helicopter. They said they couldn't take a VIP,'' he said in Hindi.
This, the Prime Minister said, led to a major row and he then offered to put it in writing that whatever happened would be his responsibility.
“And I reached Godhra. Now, with that painful sight… different bodies… you can imagine… I am also human, I felt things too. But I was aware that I was in this post … I have to distance myself from my emotions, my natural tendency as a human being, I have to rise above them. And I did what I could to deal with myself,” he recalled.
Replying to the question of concern, the Prime Minister also spoke about the Gujarat elections held later the same year.
“In 2002, there were elections in Gujarat. It was the biggest challenge of my life… I never watched TV or checked the results,” the Prime Minister said.
“At 11am or 12pm, I heard drums beating outside the chief minister's bungalow. I told everyone not to notify me until noon. Then our operator sent me a letter saying I was in the lead with a two-thirds majority. So I don't think anything affected me that day, but I had a thought to overpower that feeling,” he explained.
