Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, while putting forward his vision of a 'vibrant Gujarat' on Saturday during an interactive session at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas function in New Delhi, said that e-governance will be a way of life Gujarat.

"Bio-technology -- BT -- also means Bharat Tomorrow, and Gujarat welcomes the investment in this sector," he said.

Modi said his government will focus on five points:

• Education;
• Water;
• Energy;
• Human resources; and
• Security of the 5 crore (50 million) Gujaratis.

He told NRI Gujaratis, settled in over 30 nations some of whom were present in the hall, that he promises 'transparent deals' and 'no pending files.'

Before his speech, his office had presented a long and dated multimedia presentation in which the concept of 'Gujarat Unlimited' was highlighted.

Modi told the gathering that though Gujarat has 5 per cent of the population of India and just 6 per cent of the geographical area, it contributes more than 30 per cent to exports and gets 17 per cent of the approved investment in the country.

He said Gujarat has the largest number of ports, has a 35,000-km-long fibre optics network, and more than 53 Internet service providers.

The presentation also profiled Modi as the CEO of Gujarat.

In view of the recent communal disturbances, Modi remarked: "I wish to seek the help of all the sections of society for the development of Gujarat."

He also said that to him 'CM' meant a common man. Hes said he and his government had a professional bent of mind and were firmly committed to economic reforms.

He said his government wanted to forge a stronger relationship with NRIs.

"If one NRI Gandhiji could single handedly revolutionise India, why can't you bring about another revolution?" he asked the audience.

Modi is confident that Gujarat will become the epicentre of India's economic development.

Controversy

Expectedly, his speech ended with a controversy when Devismita Patnaik, an Odissi dancer from Paris, asked in an agitated voice: "What about the safety of Muslims in your state?"

Her husband Salim Karim, whose family belongs to Gujarat, tried to stop her, but she went ahead and created a storm. Karim's family left India almost a 100 years ago for Madagascar. He has a textiles trade in France.

The lady was later cajoled by the officials of Modi's office and by Gujarat Law Minister Ashok Bhatt.

She complained she found it 'difficult to answer people's queries on the killings of Muslims in Gujarat in France.' "We want an answer. The rosy picture of Gujarat is misleading," she went on.

Yet, most NRIs present were Modi's fans or supporters and they rushed to criticise the Odissi dancer and tried to silence her.

Modi, meanwhile, was unperturbed.