New Delhi, 9 January 2014

Response Narendra Modi received:

-Modi was Thursday mobbed by enthusiastic Indian diaspora members as they crowded around him, tried to get themselves photographed with him.
-Many placed silk scarves around Modi’s shoulder.
-Delegates hung on to each word of Modi’s speech at the meet and applauded him lustily.
-The hall at Vigyan Bhavan was crowded with many people standing along the aisles to hear Narendra Modi.
-Modi, who got a round of applause before he got up to speak and while he was being introduced.

And this was the Modi management

-Modi’s speech on the achievements of the state was given in a booklet form to the audience in advance.
-An invite to a separate session that he was to address after the speech was also placed for the audience.

The best moments during his speech

Modi said the prime minister’s statement to the diaspora Wednesday that there is no need to despair and good times lie ahead would certainly come true in the next few months – in and after the general elections. Modi said “the prime minister had said a good thing during his speech here yesterday (Wednesday at the PBD) that there is no need to despair and good times are due to come”. He paused, waiting for the laughter and clapping to die down, and said smiling:”I don’t need to say anything more.. we may have to wait a few months, five or six. But I sincerely feel that good times are coming.”

After his speech

-With media persons making a scramble to click Modi and looking for a soundbyte along with the push of diaspora members around the chief minister, it was a mad melee.
-The security persons of Modi had to firmly push away people to make way for the chief minister to walk out of the hall.
-Modi did not take any questions from the media as he exited the hall. He also got a lot of written questions from the audience, so many that he remarked it would take him weeks to answer them. To those who had written their emails with the questions he promised he would answer all the queries.

The other chief ministers who spoke were Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda an Meghalaya’s Mukul Sangma.