Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s first election victory in West Bengal on Monday, 4 May. He said the five states - Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry - showed that "India is the mother of democracy".
The election results for these five states were announced on Monday, with the BJP winning two states - Assam and West Bengal - by thumping majorities.
Celebrating the BJP's historic victory in Bengal, PM Modi addressed a gathering at the party headquarters in New Delhi. Here are the top quotes from his speech:
1. PM Modi said, "This evening of May 4th may be fading, but today a new sunrise has dawned on the sacred land of Bengal. A dawn that generations have awaited. The number of seats won by the BJP is not just an election figure. It is the roar of an unshakable faith that has uprooted the politics of fear, appeasement, and violence..."
2. As the BJP is poised to form the government in West Bengal for the first time, PM Modi promised that "women in Bengal will now enjoy a safe environment, youth will find employment, and migration will stop. The Ayushman Bharat scheme will be given the green light in the first cabinet itself, and the strictest action will be taken against infiltrators."
3.Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "... Another crucial aspect of these results is their timing. While people were voting in these states, a whole host of incidents were unfolding around the world. War sirens were blaring everywhere. An atmosphere of instability and chaos prevailed. Global economies appeared to be in crisis. Yet, at that moment, the people of India were voting for stability."
4. PM Modi also invoked Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore during his speech. He said, "Standing on the threshold of this great victory, we also remember Gurudev Tagore... His dream of an environment where the mind is free from fear and the head is held high, must also be our resolve. The BJP will create such a fear-free environment in Bengal. This is Modi's guarantee."
5. Taking a dig at the Congress, PM Modi said, "At a time when the entire country has turned away from communism, Congress is busy embracing the very ideology. The Maoism that is disappearing in the jungles has now strengthened its foothold within the Congress party. The Congress is becoming a gang of urban naxals. The Congress must not forget one thing: the public will reject anyone who adopts the same ideology that the people have rejected."
6. PM Modi said, "Last year, on November 14, when the Bihar election results came in, I told all of you from right here at this very spot that the Ganga flows onward from Bihar all the way to Ganga Sagar.
"And today, with Bengal's victory, from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar, it's nothing but the lotus in full bloom. Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and now West Bengal-today, in these states surrounding Mother Ganga, there are BJP-NDA governments," he added.
7. He recalled his remarks from 2013. "In 2013, when the Bharatiya Janata Party gave me the responsibility of being the prime ministerial candidate, and when I went to file my nomination in Kashi, and journalists surrounded me, naturally a voice emerged from my heart, and I had said that neither have I come, nor has anyone sent me. Mother Ganga has called me," he said.
"Today, every moment, I am experiencing that Mother Ganga's blessings are continuously showering their grace upon all of us," he said.
8. "Today, BJP-NDA governments are in power in more than 20 states of the country. Our mantra is 'Citizen is God.' We are dedicated to serving the people, and therefore, the people are placing more and more trust in the BJP. The people are clearly seeing that where there is the BJP, there is good governance. Where there is BJP, there is development," PM Modi said.
9. On Bengal victory, PM Modi said, "Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee's soul must have found peace today." He said, "In 1951, by founding the Jan Sangh, he gave every worker the message that one must live for the country and die for the country. Through his own life, he proved that those who follow the mantra of the nation above all do not hesitate for even a moment to give their lives. Dr Mukherjee fought a great battle to keep West Bengal as part of India."
10. "Along with this victory, on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, the people of Bengal have conveyed their respectful salutations to Mother India and to Rishi Bankim ji. Yogiraj Shri Aurobindo has also been paid a historic tribute by the voters," PM Modi said.