Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he experienced a sense of emptiness during the time he did not get a chance to hold his radio programme "Mann Ki Baat".

He said, 'I just used my words, my voice and that is why I was not missing the programme. I was missing you. I was undergoing a bout of emptiness.' On February 24, days before the Lok Sabha elections were announced, he had suspended his monthly broadcast for March and April. Confident of his return, PM Modi had said he will be back with the programme on the last Sunday of May.

In his first term, PM Modi had addressed the nation on 53 occasions through his monthly Mann ki Baat broadcast after coming to power in 2014. While discontinuing the programme, PM Modi had said he was doing so keeping in mind healthy democratic traditions. 

He urged the citizenry in the programme saying, 'I am entreating 3 requests. Keeping the importance of water in mind, a new Jalashakti Ministry has been created in the country. This will allow faster decision-making on all subjects related to water.  Water scarcity affects many parts of the country every year. You will be surprised that only 8% of the water received from rains in the entire year is harvested in our country.  Water is of great importance to our culture.