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 •With me today, just 72 hours after the serial blasts that shook Jaipur and took so many lives, is a very grim but confident Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Welcome to Walk the Talk, and I’m so grateful to you for finding the time... we know it’s your first interview after the blasts and you are still catching your breath.

But I think it was also important that I talked to you about it. We need to instil that kind of confidence in the people of our state.

•Seventy-two hours later and wiser, how do you look back on this period?

First of all, ours is a very peace-loving state. So for something like this to happen -- in Rajasthan -- is a huge shock, not just to me, but I think to the ordinary citizen also. I would say here that we have responded magnificently to this, whether it’s the government, the people, the professionals -- everybody has risen to the occasion. Nine blasts, one after the other, we actually saw this happen on Tuesday, May 13. I’m happy to say that the response has been terrific. I was in Jodhpur when I heard about it. I was back on the air force flight by 11:30 in the night. By the time I got to the hospital it was about 12 o’clock. Within 15 minutes of this happening, the people had been brought into hospital; the medical teams had swung into action. By 2 o’clock in the morning, all serious operations -- almost 24 of them -- had been performed. And the situation was almost under control.

•And I believe the hospitals had more blood than they needed. Because people just queued up.

Well, there was a lot of talk. People said that blood was not available -- which is completely untrue. People queued up. And let me tell you, there were young people, there were old people, and there were people of all communities.

•And I believe the victims were just brought in by bystanders.

I will say here that the bystanders certainly rose to the occasion. But the administration and the police were certainly not (lagging) behind. Between them they had these people in hospital within 15 or 20 minutes.

•There is the rise of this new civic spirit in India, people don’t run away.

Amazing! Amazing, the spirit that I was able to see. It was quite extraordinary.

•Two things, Vasu. One, people rise to the occasion and help. You’ve seen that now in calamities, rail accidents, that local people now rally around and help. And the second, the basic instinct of India’s populated areas in the past -- of rioting, bandh, protest, targeting somebody on suspicion -- not a whimper of that in your state.

Look, we took a great deal of care over this. Apart from the medical part of it, the next morning cremations took place. Public representatives, elected representatives, they were all present at the anteshtis. And the amount of compensation was given by the ministers within hours of that, in a special visit to each of the victims’ homes. So at each home that lost somebody, there were people there to hold their hands. Apart from that, we imposed curfew at 9 o’ clock in the morning.

•And I believe you made sure that there were no signs or blotches of blood.

I saw to it that before seven o’ clock in the morning, before people hit the streets, the blood was washed away, everything was cleared away, after the forensic people had taken whatever they had to take. Everything was cleared so that it looked normal and there was no angst in the people that would come out.

•But there was a call for a bandh -- from people sort of related to your party, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. But it’s obvious that your party distanced itself from it.

We made it very clear that there was going to be a curfew. We called for it, in fact, across the state. And there was a holiday and state mourning for the people who passed away. We saw to it that families got taken care of. There were ministers sitting round the clock in the hospitals. Each hospital had rosters of ministers, so that if there was anyone who had a problem, they could...

•You know the percentage of Muslims in your state is about the same as in Gujarat, which is in your neighbourhood. Many would have thought that maybe a repeat would happen -- that the majority would turn against the minority to take revenge or to teach them a lesson.

Shekhar, I have to say that every city has its own character, and responds in its own special way. There is no saying that because Gujarat responded in a particular fashion or Maharashtra responded in a particular fashion that Rajasthan would also respond in that fashion. People would have taken care, and we took care, that no opportunity would arise where something like this could happen. So we did take care for that. And the people also rose to the occasion.

•And you would say Muslims should rest assured that they will be safe, there will be no reprisals.

Looking to the safety and security of my people -- of castes, of creeds, of religions -- is the responsibility of this government and also of its people. And we will rise to that occasion.

•Tell me, how was the news broken to you. Where were you and what happened?

I happened to be in Jodhpur at the time and was at some meeting. I came back from that meeting and they told me that there had been one blast. And then in quick succession, in half an hour, there were eight more blasts. I could not have sat there. Luckily, there was an air force station and I was able to requisition an air force helicopter and bring a medical team from Jodhpur and come here. Because at that time they required more doctors.