Narendra Modi : The Man. The Times by Mukhopadhyay Nilanjan

Author:Mukhopadhyay, Nilanjan [Mukhopadhyay, Nilanjan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Non-fiction/Biography
Published: 2013-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

PASSWORD TO GUJARAT

We have to constantly work with all our power; to put our whole mind in the work, whatever it be, that we are doing.

– Swami Vivekananda

The fourth Thursday in September 1995 did not bring happy tidings for Narendra Modi. It was still three weeks before Keshubhai Patel stepped down as chief minister on 21 October in the compromise formula worked out by the party leadership at the initiative of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Under this arrangement, Modi was to first move out of Gujarat after which Keshubhai would follow. However the saving grace in the formula for the Keshubhai-Modi duo was that the principal rebel — Shankersinh Vaghela — was not to be chief minister but the more neutral-sounding Suresh Mehta was appointed chief minister.

Last ditch efforts were made to enlist support for Modi to continue as general secretary of the Gujarat unit of the BJP but by the morning of 28 September 1995 it was clear that his difficult days had begun. Though it was not the proverbial fourteen-year long vanvaas of Lord Rama in the Ramayana, his marginalization in the party continued for a good twenty months after which he was finally able to stage a political comeback of sorts. Also in September 1995, Modi did not have the kind of all-India presence that he eventually acquired and his banishment did not make much news — at least not the kind of media hysteria over the so-called milk miracle did a week ago — when thousands spent an entire day in Delhi and even in some other parts of the country and abroad, feeding spoonfuls of milk to idols of the elephant-headed Hindu God, Ganesh.

A senior BJP leader and a member of the fifteenth Lok Sabha who was among the emerging faces of the BJP in the mid-1990s told me in the course of a conversation that in 1996-97, Modi looked every bit a ‘weather-beaten man, completely demoralized with defeat written on his face all the time. Even earlier there were occasions when he received a setback or two, but he never looked as despondent as he looked at this time,’ he added by way of reiteration.

During the most difficult days in his political career, Modi had no place in the Indian capital that he could call his own. There wasn’t a designated room for him in the party headquarters in Delhi because he did not have any specific charge in the national office and at best was entitled to stay for a day or so in the guest room which was often already housing someone. At Keshav Kunj, the RSS headquarters in the capital, it was again awkward for him because although he wasn’t barred from availing any of the facilities, he didn’t feel welcome as the RSS leadership had decided to maintain a distance from him.

As was expected, Modi was completely ostracized with no supporters and very few friends. However Dileep Sanghani, member of Lok Sabha from Amreli in Saurashtra, was one of those rare ones who decided to stick by Narendra.

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