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STATES: GUJARAT
PROFILE: NARENDRA MODI
The Rise And Shine
Pracharaks in the
RSS are like Plato's guardians-men of spartan lifestyle who dedicate themselves
to their nationalistic ideals. They do not marry, and don't wear gold-rimmed
spectacles or designer watches. They never become chief ministers.
That's the rule. Narendra Modi is the exception.
The smart-dressing, smooth-talking, affable 51-year-old pracharak is the
first in the organisation's history to become a chief minister while remaining
a fulltimer. A fiery orator with formidable organising skills, Modi has
his task cut out for him: he takes over at a difficult time, and in a
manner not designed to please the BJP's veterans.
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PLAIN MAN: Modi is the first
pracharak chief minister |
Modi, who belongs to the obc Ghanchi community
of north Gujarat, has indicated he is willing to carry all sections along.
He publicly touched Keshubhai's feet and sought his blessings. "He
will have to keep his ego in check. If he does that everything else will
fall in line," says a senior RSS leader.
Modi's political career began when Ambalal Koshti,
an old RSS worker, spotted him at a canteen in the Gujarat Road Transport
office in Ahmedabad that Modi was running on contract. Koshti introduced
the 18-year-old to the Jan Sangh. "The spark in him was visible from
day one," he says.
Within a few years of joining the RSS, Modi
became a pracharak. He graduated in political science and participated
in the Navnirman student agitation against the "corrupt" Chimanbhai
Patel government in 1973. In 1986, he was drafted into the Gujarat BJP
as organisation secretary. He along with Keshubhai and Shankarsinh Vaghela
formed the troika that put the BJP on Gujarat's political map. His purple
patch ended with Vaghela's revolt in 1995 for which his imperious style
was blamed. He was banished to Delhi and told to keep off Gujarat. Even
mentor Keshubhai turned against him. Things turned so vicious that his
former associates took care not to be seen with him publicly for fear
of offending Keshubhai.
The exile worked to his advantage; it paved
the way for his acquiring a national image, not least on TV. Last week,
all the party stalwarts were unanimous that only Modi could save Gujarat
for the BJP. His elevation, like that of Rajnath Singh in Uttar Pradesh
and Babulal Marandi in Jharkhand, symbolised the generational shift in
the BJP
"It will be a different ball game now,"
says a party worker. "I'll ensure that there's not a single person
in the administration who does not have an opportunity to perform,"
says Modi. That also means those who don't perform will perish. After
all, it is a little over 500 days to the assembly polls.
The occasional poet and writer is known for
the slogans he coins. The first to come after he took charge: "Amaru
Gujarat, aagwu Gujarat (Our Gujarat, a distinct Gujarat)." He has
begun to define his agenda in other ways too. Dispensing with tradition,
he requested his supporters to refrain from the usual practice of sponsoring
full-page messages of congratulation in newspapers. "Give the money
for earthquake relief," he told them.
"I am more lucky than Arjuna," Modi
has said. "I have two experienced charioteers in Keshubhai and Suresh
Mehta." To err is human. Now, in penalising Patel and Mehta for their
performance, the party may be seeking what in them is divine.
—Uday Mahurkar
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