ahmedabad: narendra modi's career has witnessed a meteoric rise in three decades, starting from a small-time rss pracharak to being a strong contender for chief ministership. the 48-year-old bjp national general secretary began his political career as the kankaria ward secretary of the jan sangh in 1965 in ahmedabad. as a young man from vadnagar in north gujarat, he soon impressed the rss leaders with his single-minded devotion to his job and a flair which was noticeable from an early age. after obtaining a master's degree in political science from delhi university, modi decided to join active politics. but in order to earn his livelihood, he was managing the staff canteen of the gujarat state road transport corporation. more, popularly known as namo among the bjp rank and file, modi took pains to make the party a political force in one decade during which he was organising secretary of the state unit. it was only because of his political foresight and combativeness that the bjp made inroads in congress bastions and established supremacy in gujarat where the party was a virtual non-entity. it had a lone mp, a.k. patel, from mehsana, in 1984. for young narendra, the day started with the physical exercises at the keri pitha shakha of the rss where he came in contact with jan sangh stalwarts like the late vasant gajendragadkar and nathalal jaghda, who were later founders of the state bjp in 1980. he used to stay in his canteen at gsrtc till he was inducted as a full-time pracharak and moved to dr hedgewar bhavan headquarters of the rss in the dhor bazaar area of the city. it was in 1985 that modi was deputed by the rss to the bjp. this proved a blessing for the party which emerged as an effective rival to the congress which was ruling the roost under the leadership of veterans like madhavsinh solanki and jinabhai darji. a good orator, as organising secretary modi succeeded in luring young intellectuals to the city bjp unit. it was under his guidance that the party gained power in the ahmedabad municipal corporation. this was the foothold which modi used in successive years to make a bid for power in the state. in 1990, when the party secured more than 60 seats in the assembly elections, the bjp formed a coalition government headed by the late chimanbhai patel of the janata dal. however, the two parted ways in the wake of the babri masjid demolition in 1992. with his sound political acumen and in-depth study of the caste system in gujarat, modi chalked out the political strategy which yielded the desired results in the 1995 assembly elections when the bjp bagged 121 of the 182 seats. this victory added one more feather to modi's cap. he became immensely powerful because of the patronage from the delhi leadership. his word was final in the bjp and no one used to challenge it. but after the victory, the ruling party had to face a major revolt when shankersinh vaghela ousted chief minister keshubhai patel. that created serious problems for modi who was asked to leave gujarat. modi's style of functioning and his interference in governance was held responsible for the crisis. since then, he has largely restricted himself to new delhi but was called for the campaigning in the 1998 assembly elections when he addressed nearly 120 public meetings. however, soon after keshubhai became chief minister for the second time, it was made very clear to modi that he should not interfere in gujarat affairs in any way. the developments of the last one week have again brought him into limelight and may give him an opportunity to do what he wants most and knows best, calling the shots in gujarat.
Recent Messages ()
SIGN IN WITH
FacebookGoogleEmail