The future lies in peace and not in violence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a message at Chhattisgarh's Maoist hotbed of Dantewada, even as a hostage drama unravelled in the sprawling state through the day.
As he became the first prime minister to visit Dantewada in three decades after Rajiv Gandhi in 1985, the state was swept into the hostage drama but there was confusion over the numbers of those abducted by the left-wing rebels.
Though initial reports said around 500 people, who were coming to attend Modi's rally were held hostage by Maoists in Marenga, 350 km from Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur and 150 km from Dantewada, police, hours later, maintained that only "five to six people have been held by the Maoists". However, Chief Minister Raman Singh later said 250 villagers have been held hostage.
This happened even as over 11,000 security personnel guarded different parts of Bastar for the prime minister's visit.
Speaking at a public rally in the Maoist-hit district, the prime minister urged the extremists to leave the gun.
"There is no future in violence. If there is a future, it is in peace," he said.
"Those who feel that whether or not this macabre drama of death will end, I can tell you with full commitment and make you believe that there is no need to get disheartened. This (deaths) too will stop," he said.
During his visit, Modi also initiated welfare schemes amounting to Rs.24,000 crore, including setting up an ultra mega steel plant, a railway line, a slurry pipeline and a pellet plant.
"Perhaps it is for the first time that in a programme like this MoUs worth Rs.24,000 crore have been signed. This will change Bastar's future," Modi said.
The prime minister also interacted with children during his visit, even saying he would like to be a child again and that "the more you work, the more joy you derive".
He handled with aplomb a series of questions put to him by the children.
"If God asks me what do I want, I would ask him to make me a child once again," Modi said, adding that being a child is the biggest joy of life and it is only when one grows up that one realises the significance of childhood.
Asked how he managed to work for 18 hours in a day, Modi replied: "I don't count the hours while working. When we start counting, we get tired.... Work never tires you, rather its no work that actually tires you...."
Responding to questions from students on what had been his biggest achievement and what he credits this to, Modi said: "One should never judge life by its achievements and failures. We should learn from our failures. The reason why some people never succeed is because they don't learn from their failures. I have seen lot of failures and I have always tried to learn the maximum from my failures."
Meeting students at the Education City in Jawanga, he said tribal youth could excel in the global sports arena.
The prime minister also visited 'Saksham' school for specially-abled children and interacted with students there.
