Can discard old ideas, embrace new if they fit into ideology of nation first: PM Modi

New Delhi, Jan 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he is willing to discard old ideas and embrace new ones as long as they fit into his essential ideology of "nation first".

Appearing for the first time in a podcast, which was hosted by Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath and released on Friday, Modi said he sees his success in how he prepares a team who can deftly handle things, as he asserted that there are many young politicians with potential. He declined to name any, saying it will be injustice to many others.

Modi said it has been his life's mantra that he may make mistakes but will not do anything wrong out of bad intentions.

He said, "When I became (Gujarat) chief minister I said I will not spare any effort to work hard. I will not do anything for myself. And, thirdly, I am human and I can make mistakes. But I will not do anything wrong out of bad intentions. I have made it a mantra of my life. Mistakes are inevitable. I must have made mistakes. I am a human too, not a god."

When Kamath asked him if he has planned for the time beyond him, training those he has faith in, not for today but after 20-30 years, Modi said, "I can see people with a lot of potential. When I was in Gujarat, I would say that I want to go after preparing (team) for the next 20 years. I am doing it. My success lies in how I prepare my team who will be able to deftly handle things. This is my benchmark for me."

He said politics needs continuous entry of good people who put mission over ambition, and summarised his ideology as "nation first".

Asked if he sees such potential in any young politician, Modi said they are many of them.

"They toil, they work with a mission. If I say a name it will be injustice to many others. There are a lot of names and faces in front of me. I know details of a lot of people but it is my responsibility to not do injustice to others," he added.

In the over two-hour podcast, he summarised his ideology as "nation first".

Modi said, "If I have to leave old ideas behind, I am ready to discard them. I am ready to accept new things. but the benchmark should be 'nation first'. I have only one scale and I don't change it."

Noting that one-third seats for MLAs and Lok Sabha members will be reserved for women in near future, he said women are already present in local bodies due to 50 per cent reservation for them in many states and asked them to work to become as capable as they can be to prepare themselves for assemblies and Parliament.

To a question about the moment that gave him maximum happiness, Modi recalled the emotions he felt when he first called up his mother after BJP leaders, which included him, successfully hoisted the national flag at Lal Chowk, an apparent reference to the party's 'Ekta Yatra' in 1992 which was headed by its then president Murli Manohar Joshi.