Vadodara, May 16 (PTI): After a landslide victory, Narendra Modi today reached out to the opposition seeking cooperation of all parties and leaders in running the nation and dedicated himself to serve everyone equally.
In a gracious 45-minute victory speech here, Modi said the government does not belong to any particular party but to all the people of the country. "For a government, no one is a favourite, nor is anyone an alien," he asserted to a cheering crowd of supporters whom he thanked for giving him a victory by 5.70 lakh votes.
Committing himself to running the country in the best spririt of the Constitution, Modi said, "my responsibility is to take everyone along in running the nation." "In a democracy, there are no enemies but only competitors. That competition ends with elections," he said, adding his motto is "sabka sath, sabka vikas (with all, development for all).
Congratulating winners in the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly elections in some states irrespective of parties, Modi said, "I extend my best wishes to MPs and MLAs of all parties.I hope that I will get their support in taking the country forward."
Apparently referring to recrimination during the campaign, he said he would convert the "love" shown by his opponents into "pure love".
"In a democracy, there are no enemies but only competitors. This competition is the beauty of our democracy," he said, adding "bitterness" is over with the campaign.
"I want to assure the people of the country that for us it is our motto to carry along everyone however much they may oppose us. We will try to ensure that there will be nothing lacking on this front," he said.