Highlights from Narendra Modi's interview to ANI

On Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi spoke to Asian News International (ANI), discussing his thoughts on the Lok Sabha Elections and what he would do if elected.

Here are ten points that he discussed.

* If elected as Prime Minister, he would approach the Supreme Court of India with a request to set up special courts to deal with politicians who had criminal cases registered against them. 

* He said that all parties bring up this issue, but no one does anything when elected to power. He further said, that he will do this, if elected to power, and he is open to suggestions on how to

* About the reported enmity between him and Jayalalithaa, he said that while their parties may have have different ideologies, on a personal level, they have excellent relations.

* He said that he wants the credibility of the Indian institutions and the respect of Constitutional organisations to increase and that if the country stands on multiple pillars of constitutional institutions, it will emerge stronger.

* Further to this he said, that leadership that was prevalent earlier emerged from the revolution for Independence. Then, it came from social welfare. Then, it went towards casteism. Slowly and slowly, a leadership started emerging through gunpoint. This was a big deterioration, which is of grave concern.

* Narendra Modi also said he was never silent about what went on during the 2002 riots in Gujarat, but no one ever tried to 'understand the truth,' which he blamed on a conspiracy. "I was not silent, I answered every top journalist in the country from 2002-2007, but noticed there was no exercise to understand truth," 

* Modi, also went on to express regret for the communal violence 12 years ago in Gujarat, the state he has ruled since 2001, but has never apologised. He said  he 'felt very hurt' by allegations against him, but gradually learned how to cope with them.

* Modi also said that Congress will deliver worst performance in its history, NDA its best

* About his upcoming rally at Varanasi, Modi said, "I am not going there (Varanasi) to defeat anyone, but to win hearts. Once I meet them all, they will love me."

* Modi concluded by predicting a definite and landmark victory for his party. "As far as election results are concerned, I worked as backroom boy for the party for many years. I have never measured elections in numbers, but after looking at poll strategies I can say this will be the worst performance in Congress history and the BJP and NDA's best performance," he said.