12-14-2007, 02:32 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Modi has his finger on the pulse of masses
pioneer.com
Ashok Malik | Himmatnagar/ Ahmedabad
Spending a day on the road with Narendra Modi offers a pulsating lesson in the power of the "personality factor" in an election. In 2002, during the Gaurav Yatra and the poll campaign that followed, it was the Gujarat Chief Minister's large public meetings and spontaneous reception that was the barometer of his popularity. It led, eventually, to a two-thirds majority.
This year has been no different. For anybody who saw Modi's rallies five years ago, a sense of déjà vu in inescapable. <b>On Wednesday evening, he drew 1,00,000 people in Himmatnagar</b>, the gateway to north Gujarat, followed by <b>half the number in a small semi-rural venue in Prantij </b>-- where a larger public ground could easily have ensured a bigger turnout. He ended the evening with a <b>mammoth meeting in Ahmedabad's Bapunagar-Vijay Chowk area</b>.
That final meeting, which drew an <b>estimated 2,00,000 people </b>and saw surging crowds pushing at the barricades and almost causing a stampede, was also addressed by BJP national president of Rajnath Singh, his short introductory speech punctuated by cries of, "Modi, Modi ... We want Modi."
<b>It was rock star hysteria. As Modi rose to speak, from far in the crowd somebody waved a poster, with a photograph and the slogan "Gujarat ka Sher (Lion)". Modi waved back; immediately the poster began a rapid journey to the stage, being passed on from person to person, held overhead all the time, till it reached the man himself</b>.
<b>Earlier, at Himmatnagar, Modi was greeted by a bare-chested supporter who had tattooed the BJP's lotus symbol onto his chest, his back and even his shaved head</b>. Politics in Narendra Modi's Gujarat is never everyday and usual; it carries a mix of passion, melodrama and an iconic superstar appeal.
It is also a pan-Gujarat phenomenon, not limited to some regions or constituencies.
<b>As Modi himself puts it, "I have drawn equally strong and spontaneous crowds everywhere." "Including Saurashatra?," you ask. "Including Saurashtra," is the firm reply</b>.
<b>The crowds are as large as 2002, but there are crucial differences. For a start, the youth quotient is much more prominent</b>. Not surprisingly, the Modi camp sees the first-time voter -- "the young voter, between roughly 18 and 28," according to one insider -- as driving the BJP surge.
There is one other change from 2002. In that year, people came to see and hear Modi; today, they come to engage with and talk to him, and in some cases capture him on their camera phones. The public meetings are remarkably interactive. Modi makes rhetorical references to "Soniaben". In Himmatnagar, he lightheartedly asked listeners atop a half-finished building adjacent to the public ground if they were okay:<b> "If you fall or something happens to you, Soniaben will blame me!" The crowd roared back.</b> <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Through his speech -- and the content changes only marginally, to accommodate the local context -- Modi raises a cocktail of issues: Development, his record of strengthening schools and hiring more teachers, security and terrorism, Gujarati pride, the "Congress' record of 45 years versus the Modi Government's five years". The Modi message concludes with a series of Q&A sessions.
<b>He asks the crowd whether Gujaratis are "Hindu terrorists"</b> -- borrowing Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh's phrase. He asks the crowd whether <b>he is "maut ka saudagar (merchant of death)", as alleged by Sonia Gandhi in a speech that, political sources say, was authored by noted film script-writer Javed Akthar.</b>
Finally, he asks the crowd if it wants to see Modi as Chief Minister and the BJP in power. "Yes," it says. The public meeting now becomes a two-way chat show. So will victory be ensured by praying; by chanting Modi's name; by fasting to propitiate Santoshi Ma; by feeding the poor? The throng comes alive, laughs and says "No", sometimes collectively shaking its head in a Gujarati rendition of the Mexican wave.
Then Modi has the last word: "If you want Modi as Chief Minister, you have to vote. On the 16th, press the lotus symbol." The spell breaks, the meeting is over. Modi makes his way through waving, cheering numbers, gets into his van and it's on to the next meeting.
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pioneer.com
Ashok Malik | Himmatnagar/ Ahmedabad
Spending a day on the road with Narendra Modi offers a pulsating lesson in the power of the "personality factor" in an election. In 2002, during the Gaurav Yatra and the poll campaign that followed, it was the Gujarat Chief Minister's large public meetings and spontaneous reception that was the barometer of his popularity. It led, eventually, to a two-thirds majority.
This year has been no different. For anybody who saw Modi's rallies five years ago, a sense of déjà vu in inescapable. <b>On Wednesday evening, he drew 1,00,000 people in Himmatnagar</b>, the gateway to north Gujarat, followed by <b>half the number in a small semi-rural venue in Prantij </b>-- where a larger public ground could easily have ensured a bigger turnout. He ended the evening with a <b>mammoth meeting in Ahmedabad's Bapunagar-Vijay Chowk area</b>.
That final meeting, which drew an <b>estimated 2,00,000 people </b>and saw surging crowds pushing at the barricades and almost causing a stampede, was also addressed by BJP national president of Rajnath Singh, his short introductory speech punctuated by cries of, "Modi, Modi ... We want Modi."
<b>It was rock star hysteria. As Modi rose to speak, from far in the crowd somebody waved a poster, with a photograph and the slogan "Gujarat ka Sher (Lion)". Modi waved back; immediately the poster began a rapid journey to the stage, being passed on from person to person, held overhead all the time, till it reached the man himself</b>.
<b>Earlier, at Himmatnagar, Modi was greeted by a bare-chested supporter who had tattooed the BJP's lotus symbol onto his chest, his back and even his shaved head</b>. Politics in Narendra Modi's Gujarat is never everyday and usual; it carries a mix of passion, melodrama and an iconic superstar appeal.
It is also a pan-Gujarat phenomenon, not limited to some regions or constituencies.
<b>As Modi himself puts it, "I have drawn equally strong and spontaneous crowds everywhere." "Including Saurashatra?," you ask. "Including Saurashtra," is the firm reply</b>.
<b>The crowds are as large as 2002, but there are crucial differences. For a start, the youth quotient is much more prominent</b>. Not surprisingly, the Modi camp sees the first-time voter -- "the young voter, between roughly 18 and 28," according to one insider -- as driving the BJP surge.
There is one other change from 2002. In that year, people came to see and hear Modi; today, they come to engage with and talk to him, and in some cases capture him on their camera phones. The public meetings are remarkably interactive. Modi makes rhetorical references to "Soniaben". In Himmatnagar, he lightheartedly asked listeners atop a half-finished building adjacent to the public ground if they were okay:<b> "If you fall or something happens to you, Soniaben will blame me!" The crowd roared back.</b> <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> Through his speech -- and the content changes only marginally, to accommodate the local context -- Modi raises a cocktail of issues: Development, his record of strengthening schools and hiring more teachers, security and terrorism, Gujarati pride, the "Congress' record of 45 years versus the Modi Government's five years". The Modi message concludes with a series of Q&A sessions.
<b>He asks the crowd whether Gujaratis are "Hindu terrorists"</b> -- borrowing Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh's phrase. He asks the crowd whether <b>he is "maut ka saudagar (merchant of death)", as alleged by Sonia Gandhi in a speech that, political sources say, was authored by noted film script-writer Javed Akthar.</b>
Finally, he asks the crowd if it wants to see Modi as Chief Minister and the BJP in power. "Yes," it says. The public meeting now becomes a two-way chat show. So will victory be ensured by praying; by chanting Modi's name; by fasting to propitiate Santoshi Ma; by feeding the poor? The throng comes alive, laughs and says "No", sometimes collectively shaking its head in a Gujarati rendition of the Mexican wave.
Then Modi has the last word: "If you want Modi as Chief Minister, you have to vote. On the 16th, press the lotus symbol." The spell breaks, the meeting is over. Modi makes his way through waving, cheering numbers, gets into his van and it's on to the next meeting.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->