Narendra Modi walked in at 7:28 pm and took the speaker's stand at 8:08 pm, both to standing ovations. His speech was a far cry from the vitriol he is reportedly infamous for. Instead there were padded jibes, un-named references and poignant silences.
On terrorism
Terrorism, Modi said, was worse than war. Because in war you have rules, you know who your enemy is, you take him on at a designated battleground, there are international laws to stop wars.
"The battle against terrorism is a battle for humanity," the Gujarat chief minister emphasised.
"Terrorism has crippled this country," he said, pointing at the northeast, at the corridor the Naxalites were building from "Pashupati (in Nepal) to Tirupati (in south India)" and there was "a concentrated effort from the time of Zia-ul Haq" to terrorise western India.
"Till the day I am alive, I will hunt down the merchants of death one by one," Modi declared to rock-star applause. "My ideals are very clear," he added "Many leaders pat my back privately. They don't have the courage in public life."
On the Mumbai blasts
"The families who have lost their kin, I have come to give them faith," Modi, under whose reign the 2002 Gujarat riots happened, said. "To assure them that the blood of your son will not go in vain. How can the country forget innocent people's tears and screams?"
Then came an almost Nehru-esque line about how those countries that forget their history cannot secure their future.
Also read: Mumbai counts its dead
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