AHMEDABAD: Slamming Opposition which "discarded" his "Gujarat model" before polls, Narendra Modi called himself a "magician" here today and said that he had ensured that his opponents could not escape the issue of development in the campaign.
"Ahead of polls, they (opposition) used to claim that Modi's Gujarat model of development is nothing more than a balloon. Even to negate my claims, they had to mention it inevitably," Modi said, during his massive rally here today evening.
"Unko pata nahin tha ke Modi kaisa jadugar hai (They didn't realise what kind of a magician I am). They tried to escape the issue of development, but I forced them to fight precisely on that agenda," he said.
"This election has proved that polls can be won in the country on the issue of development alone. This verdict is a verdict for development, to take India forward and to work hard to fulfill people's dreams," he said.
Modi also lambasted the oppostion for being harsh on him.
"This is the second election after the Emergency where people voted for an agenda, rather than going by caste and religion. This result is the answer to those who attacked me fiercely. They did hard work and so much of research to attack me, but finally they lost, he said.