By D.N. Singh
It was an early forenoon press briefing at the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Bhubaneswar when Narendra Modi had a very informal chat with the media. It was not exactly a press conference but a simple interaction.
Wearing ‘khaki kurta pyjama’ Modi then appeared to be very soft spoken although inquisitive and a very friendly person sitting with his back to the window that opened directly into the cacophony of city traffic on the main road. During the refreshments he did not leave the room and had snacks of ‘samosa’ and ‘bada’ with the journos.
That was a period when Modi was a loner in politics and his occasional cryptic take downs used to lend him some political relevance. It was a year or so before he made his appearance in Gujarat to become the chief minister in 2001.
From those days in Gujarat he had exhibited the instincts as how to silence his opponents and that has continued to this date as a prime minister who knows how to exercise writ with authoritative ease.
For him the phase in Gujarat as the chief minister was merely a story of an able administrator but the time went through a quick twist after 2002 incident when the Sabarmati incident shook the entire nation.
Amid a debate between political prudence and prejudice, Modi had his way forward and hence refused to be cowed down by the serious fall out in the shape of a wedge driven between two communities.
Remaining adhered to some political considerations of that time, Modi did acquire an enviable knack to size down his critics, whether in the opposition or within the BJP and when a few like, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in pain to point out where Modi had sidestepped ‘ Raj Dharma’
The latter, however, turned the tide to his advantage and could be able to mitigate the political burrows between him and the elders in Nagpur.
Time proved itself a great healer
Even before the footsteps of 2014 were heard, Narendra Modi was able to get his name into circulation and it almost benumbed his worst critics that Modi was being tipped for the top most job in the country.
He withstood the headwinds from the opposition which tried to brush his image in the colours of a communal zealot. Even his name for the prime ministerial face was not taken kindly within his ilk.
Obviously, it requires a lot of risk taking guts to confront the multiplicity of attacks and yet having the courage to foster an one-up-man-ship image. In which pursuit Modi clearly frustrated his adversaries.
It, even, must have surprised his friends and well-wishers that the way he could create the intelligent blend of Hindutva and delivery. His decision of demonetisation was a kind of stunner that no politician can overnight dare of, regardless of the consequences.
In his pursuit he was relentless to prove himself as the stand apart person who could really deliver, be it schemes like Ujjwala or Ayushman Bharat, Modi fired with all the cylinders open to face the opposition blitzkrieg.
He demonstrated an enviable presence of mind when the issues such as development were on the slide, the incident of Pulwama and Balakot were superbly used to advantage.
And the results of 2019 elections brought to the fore one thing that, Modi was accepted as the only man who can play the Santa for the Indians. Whether it was the mayhem of 2002 or the recent skirmishes of certain bigotries over cow ‘surakhsa’ (safety) or any other alleged ‘sectarian’ divisions, the voters were unequivocal that, Modi is their savior.
He nearly pulverized the main opposition, the Congress with wounds that must take few years to heal and silenced rest all the antagonists except the chief minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, who dared to take the bull by the horn and tame it too.
