I am going to Banaras to win the hearts of the people, including Muslims, says Modi (ANI Exclusive Interview)

In an exclusive interview given to Asian News International (ANI) on Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said he had nothing but love for the people of India, and that his aim was to win their hearts, and seemed to reject the notion that Muslims should fear the possibility of a Hindutva agenda being forced upon them.

In the interview given to Editor (News) Smita Prakash, Modi said: "I am not going to Banaras to defeat anybody, it is not my aim. I'm going there to win the hearts of the people. Whenever they will meet me in person, and not through the media, or, my opponents, then I am sure they will love me in the way in which they haven't done so with any political leader."

When asked to respond to allegations and charges that his current state of popularity across the country has been successful in the sidelining of the old guard in the BJP, and the emergence of an aggressive new guard, the BJP prime ministerial candidate said: "I don't understand the tern 'guard'. As far as I am concerned and in the know of, you only find them in train bogies. All my leaders are like the engine of a train."

To a further query that leaders like Advani and M.M. Joshi were being made guides in the party, and that the main jobs were being taken over by second generation leaders, Modi said: "There is nothing such as a takeover. Guidance is still with the experienced leaders, and they are guiding us."

He also said that he found it peculiar and unusual for a leader like Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to divulge his strategies through television, and, when he was asked what his strategy would be, he said: "I don't know of any strategist who divulges his details on TV.