Narendra Modi :
India’s
most controversial and
misunderstood politician
When thousands of communal riots since
independence have been erased from public memory as
soon as normalcy was restored and peaceful conditions
prevailed again, the dark memo
ries of Godhra carnage in
which a good number of Hindus
were also killed are kept
alive even after more than seven years of peace and
harmony in Gujarat. It smacks of deep-rooted conspiracy
against Narendra Modi under whose leadership Gujarat
has made marvellous economic progress.
By G L Jalali
To write about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is a taboo these days because a very hostile
environment has been created against him by the media and some TV channels. His main achievements as
the architect of modern Gujarat, capable administrator
and great humanist have been altogether sidelined by
the English media controlled by vested interests.
He is vilified as “the merchant of
death,” killer of Muslims and card
-holder of the Hindutava. He has
been frequently criticized by his politic
al enemies and dubbed anti-Muslim politician following the torching of
the coaches of the Sabarmati Express at Godra and the
riots that occurred as a result of the burning of 58
Karsevaks travelling from Ayodha. Godhra has b
een proverbaly notorious for communal riots since
independence. It has always been the epicenter of
communal politics. Any communal flare-up is not
something new in the history of Godhra.
After the partition of India, a large number of Mus
lims living in Godhra fled to Pakistan. Soon after,
they returned to their native places where a good num
ber of them were exploited by ISI. Although aligned
with India’s pseudo secular parties, some of the
prominent Muslim leaders who even were elected to
Parliament and state assembly played in the hands of
Pakistani agents, resulting
in polluting the communal
atmosphere in Gujarat.
It was easy for these Pakistani a
gents to infiltrate into Guja
rat because it is in close
proximity to Pakistan whose border is
a few kilometers away from Gujarat.
To blame 59 year old Gujarat Chief Minister Narendr
a Modi for the riots is sheer injustice to him as
proved by various commissions and impartial agenc
ies. This is pure canard being propagated by his
enemies who have been persistently trying to dethrone
him as the Chief Minister and bring a bad name to
Mr. Modi and discredit him in the eyes of people. But so
far they have abysmally failed, for 5 crore Gujaratis
have elected him twice with a thumping majority. He
is still the acknowledged leader of Gujaratis who
commands great respect outside Gujarat.
Mr. Narendra Modi has a humble origin unlike an
y pseudo-secular leader. He was not born with a
silver spoon in his mouth. The Modi family orig
inally hailed from nondescript Navdotra Village in
Banaskantha district of Gujarat which was then a
part of Bombay Presidency (Maharashtra state).
His ancestor Manganlal Ranchhoddas left his nativ
e village to set up a grocery store in Vadnagar.
Manganlal had only one son, Mulchand who, after the death
of his father took over his father’s grocery shop.
Mulchand’s son Damodardas was the father of Narendra Modi. He was fifth son of his father. Narendra was
born on 17
th
September, 1950. His eldest brother was born
in 1944. The second brother Amit was born in
1946. So Narendra Modi is the youngest son of his
father who was known for honesty, and humanitarian
outlook. His eldest brother Som completed senior seco
ndary school education and subsequently acquired a
diploma in sanitary science. After completing studies
Amit became turner in a private company in Odhav.
Narendra has one sister, Vasanti born in 1955. His two
younger brothers, Prahlad and Pankaj were born in
1955 and 1958 respectively. Being too poor to afford higher education Pankaj after completing his school
education, joined the Information Department of the Gu
jarat government. His ninety five year old mother,
who has lost hearing stays with her eldest son Som
in the Ranip area of Ahemdabad. His younger brother
runs a fair price shop in the state
capital. Prahlad, works as an ordinary
clerk in the Information Department
in Gandhinagar. As chief Minister of the state, Narendr
a Modi never went out of way to help his brother who
leads a modest life in their respective villages. Had he done so, he could have raised them from dust to
skies as is the case with other politicians. He never vi
sits his home to see his brother. It shows that Mr. Modi
is impeccable honest in his public dealings. He is comp
letely dedicated to his mission which is the service of
the people of Gujarat.
The house where Modi was born and brought
up had just three rooms. All these rooms
accommodated such a large family. They served as a bed room, kitchen and sitting room. In one corner of
the bed room, all the members of the family would worship, for all of them were deeply religious minded
people. This was the first place where Narendra Modi
learnt the high principles of morality, humility and
catholicity that serve as the bed rock
of the Hindutav of which the Chief
Minister of Gujarat is an ardent
supporter. Like his brothers Narendra acquired hi
s primary school level education at a government run
institution. Later on he wa
s enrolled in Bhagavatacharya High School. His classmates have a very high
opinion of Narendra. He is remembered as a bright st
udent who excelled in English and social studies. He proved a good debater in his school. The art of orator
y, which enthralls his audience, was learnt by young
Modi during his school days.
Born in a lower middle class Hindu family, Modi always wore a simple dress. He never had more
than two pairs of clothes which he maintained meticul
ously neat and clean. At home he helped his mother in
household chores and occasionally helped his mother in
cooking food for entire family. He never wasted a
single minute in gossip. From the very beginning of his life, Narendra Modi would worship in a temple of
Lord Shiva that was very close to his home. He would observe the Navratra fasts when he was just twelve
years old boy. He had inclination to become a Sanyasi (mendicant). After completing his school career,
Narendra made a religious pilgrimage to Mansarover &
Kailash in the very heart of the Himalayas. He had
finally decided to be a Pracharak (whole time worker) of the RSS. His family members were keen to marry
their son. But young Modi turned down their plea. He has all along remained a bachelor. The young boy was
“tremendously influenced by the life and works of Swami Vivekananda whom we regard the morning star of
the Indian Renaissance (social awakening). When Nare
ndra was seventeen years old, he joined college in
Visnagar. “He decided to quite both home and studies to set off for the Himalaya in search of supreme truth
and spiritual knowledge. His decision came as a rude s
hock to the family that did not know how to react. A
traditional farewell was given to him” (M.V.Kamath in
Narendra Modi the architect of Gujarat, Page 43).
Glamour, power and wealth meant nothing to Modi. His main aim was to serve his people,
irrespective of caste, creed or relig
ion. At last he became RSS Prachara
k. By dint of his hard work and
devotion to the Hindutv Vichardara (Philosophy) he became
a prominent person in the RSS fold. He rose to
the position of the G
eneral Secretary of the RSS. “The arrival of
Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly known as
JP, in Ahmedabad gave Modi an opportunity to meet. He had come here to launch Navnirman movement in
Gujarat in the wake of the emergency imposed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi. In this movement RSS workers took a
prominent part. Like other RSS workers Narendra
Modi went underground in Gujarat. As an underground
worker, Narendra had to don various disguises. In
Gujarat the Congress Government had to face many
odds as a result of the mass movement led by Navnirma
n Santi. Congress ministry was so often changed in
Gujarat. Ultimately Madhav Singh Solanki became state
Chief Minister in 1976. Mrs. Indira Gandhi was
forced to lift emergency. Elections were held and c
onsequently Janata Government came to power at the
centre. Narendra was shifted by the party to Delhi
where he was appointed General Secretary of the BJP.
That was a turning point in the life of 59 year
old Modi. He was also appointed a number of BJP’s
All India Election Committee. In Guja
rat, the BJP started itching for a po
litical showdown with the Congress
(I) and it was able to win twenty seats from Gujarat in the Lok Sabha elections held in May 1991. Narendra’s
success as hard working BJP leader “stirred jealousy among his seniors and the new BJP president
Shanker Singh Vaghela declined to include Narendra
in his team. The spat between Vaghela and Modi
ultimately resulted in the dismissal of Vaghela from the party which had elevated him as the Chief Minister of
the state. He joined the Congress
and became Central Minister in the Congress cabinet. In 2009 election
Vaghela has been defeated.
Narendra was disciplined worker of the party. He dedica
ted himself fully to the task assigned to him. As the
national secretary of the
BJP, he organized his party in Harya
na, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and
Punjab. When the National Democratic Alliance (N
DA) formed its first government, Modi played very
important role as the BJP performed well in the gener
al elections, Narendra inevitably became “the cynosure
of foreign eyes”. He visited many foreign countries, incl
uding Australia, Malaysia et
c. By 1999, Narendra had
won the full confidence of Prime Minister Vajpayee.
Narendra Modi proved the best organizer. He sowe
d the seeds of the BJP in Gujarat by working
very hard at the grass root level. He had to face
severe opposition from his political rivals. Even BJP
bigwigs, including Vaghela, opposed him and tried to
create rift between him and the BJP central executive.
But they failed in their sinister designs. “Looking back at
those days one is amazed at the vilification, hatred
and harshness which Narendra had to face. Never before
in the history of electi
ons since the Independence
can any one politician considered to have faced such an
animosity. He was reviled, abused and condemned
in no uncertain ways. When those tactics failed, some j
ournalists tried to belittle him and make him but of
dirty jokes....” (M.V. Kamath
in the Architect of a Modern State, Pa
ge 155). No other communal incident has
been discussed and analyzed by the media more than the Godhra riot. When thousands of communal riots
since independence have been erased from public me
mory as soon as normalcy was restored and peaceful
conditions prevailed once again, the dark memories
of the communal riot in Godhra in which a good number
of Hindus were also killed are kept alive even after more than seven years of peace and harmony in Gujarat.
The propaganda campaign against Modi by vested intere
sts has proved counter productive. It smacks of a
deep-rooted conspiracy against Narendra Modi under whose leadership the whole of Gujarat has made
marvelous economic progress. It is for the people of
India to ponder over this million-dollar question and
take an important view of his achievements as the architect of vibrant Gujarat
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