Punch lines from Narendra Modi's speech at SRCC

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday pitched the state's model of growth and governance. Modi said that vote bank politics has spoilt the country and emphasised the need for good governance to make India globally competitive.

According to Modi all three major sectors of the economy viz., agriculture, industry and services should be given equal importance for development. This, he said, helps in overall development.

Here is a look at ten choicest punch-lines from his speech:

Mouse charmers: The youth of the nation has its finger on the mouse of computers and is changing the world. India's journey has gone from snake charmers to mouse charmers!

Ignoring protests outside, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today used a college platform to project himself nationally saying his focus was on development politics and not that of vote-bank, which he said has "ruined" the nation.

"The ambassador of a nation asked me what major challenges India faces and I said the biggest one is that how we use opportunity. When asked what the opportunity was, I said the youth. Europe buddha ho chuka hai, China budha ho chuka hai."

According to Modi India has a huge growth opportunity in the form of youth.

"Our country is not poor. We have vast resources, see eastern India is full of them. But we are unable to use that. We are unable to utilise the opportunity," Modi said.

"We need P2G2. Pro-People Good governance": Pitching for the role of 'good governance', Modi said that the people of the country have sunk into an overwhelming state of pessimism.

"Even after six decades of freedom, the nation awaits good governance," Modi said.

Speaking in Hindi on 'Emerging business models in the global scenario', Modi said the nation can progress by following 'Gujarat model' based on P2G2 (Pro-people good governance) principle.

"I believe that the glass is full. One half with water and the other half with air." There is despondency all over country but I am confident we can change the situation.

Picking up a glass of water, he said an optimist would say the glass is half full, while a pessimist would say it is half empty.

"I have a third point of view. For me the glass is always full -- half with water and half with air. We can turn over the situation," he said.

There must be no one in the audience who has chai without doodh from Gujarat in it. All the milk in Delhi is from Gujarat. Milk in Singapore is from Gujarat, Okra in Europe is from Gujarat.

Stating that the state's agricultural sector has exhibited growth, Modi said, "If you go to Afghanistan, the people there have tomatoes that come from Gujarat." Further talking about the development of the state, Modi said that the milk in Singapore and the 'bhindi' in Europe come from Gujarat.

Minimum government, maximum governance - this is my philosophy.

"This nation is being ruined by vote bank politics. This nation requires development politics. If we switch to politics of development, we will soon be in a position to bring about lasting change and progress," Modi said.

"People feel nothing would change here. All are thieves, everything they do is waste. People consider it a curse to be born in India. They want to leave the country soon after completing their studies," Modi said delivering the Shri Ram Memorial Oration.

A businessman who goes abroad only captures dollars but a teacher influences a whole generation, said Modi while emphasising the need for education and promoting teaching as a vocation.

"We have created a university for teachers. I say we have so much youth and export so much, why not export teachers?"

Citing Gujarat's mantra of success that can be emulated by the country for speedy progress, he said the focus should be on the manufacturing sector by making zero-defect products with good packaging.

"Why shouldn't we make the 'Made in India' tag a statement of quality for our manufactured products?," he questioned.

Modi said there is a need to build the 'Made in India' brand. He drew a parallel between the credibility of a 'Made in Japan' tag and expressed the wish to have India reach such a level some day.

"The whole world says 21st century is India's century. Some say it is Asia's century, while some also say it is China's century. I am confident that 21st century can be India's century as knowledge is supreme," he said.

Some years ago I launched a product which is now a part of Delhi. I launched a coach of the Delhi Metro! In Delhi all the metro coaches are coming from Gujarat.

Touting the recent 'Vibrant Gujarat Summit' which accepted the global relevance of Gujarat with the presence of 121 nations there, Modi said, "When the world sees this, they infuse confidence that we can do."

Youth 'new-age power', not 'new-age voter' alone. Youth have changed the way India is perceived today. Modi stressed the role of youth in the development of the nation.

In Pic: Chief minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi delivers the annual 'Shri Ram Memorial Oration' as part of Shri Ram College of Commerce's Management Festival 'Business Conclave 2013' in New Delhi on Wednesday.