Modi, who got a round of applause before he got up to speak and while he was being introduced,
said "the prime minister had said a good thing during his speech here yesterday (Wednesday at the PBD) that there is no need to despair and good times are due to come". He paused, waiting for the laughter and clapping to die down, and said smiling:"I don't need to say anything more.. we may have to wait a few months, five or six. But I sincerely feel that good times are coming."
His speech on the achievements of the state was given in a booklet form to the audience in advance. An invite to a separate session that he was to address after the speech was also placed for the audience.
On corruption, a question raised by one diaspora participant, Modi said the debate in the country is on "post corruption" or the measures - like Janlokpal and Lokpal - to take to tackle corruption after it has taken place.
"The requirement is that there should not be any corruption, the focus should be on that," he said. He cited the Gujarat experience of putting state policy online in "black and white" as an effective measure to tackle corruption.
"Corruption can be easily tackled, it only needs resolve... the focus should not be on the sickness, but on health and prevention," he said.
