Modi says not bothered how history will recall him

New Delhi, Sep 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he was not worried about how history would judge him because he loves living in the present and was just one among India's 1.25 billion people.

"Why the person who loves to live in his present should worry about history? One must not make that mistake in ones's life," Modi said in an interview with CNN News18.

Without naming any of his predecessors, Modi took a dig at leaders who "unfortunately... always tried hard to make their own image.

"What if we had dedicated to build the image of our country rather than our own," he said.

It was an oblique reference to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who after facing a barrage of criticism towards the end of his second tenure of the Congress-led government, had said history would be "kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the opposition parties".

Modi said he cared more about the image of India and its people.

"Image of this country is the unending legacy of 1.25 billion people. Modi is just one of those 1.25 billion Indians, nothing more. Modi's identity must get lost among those 1.25 billion people. There will be no greater joy if Modi is lost in the pages of history," the Prime Minister said.

IANS