Portal brings to the fore unknown aspects of PM Modi's life

Aditi Tandon

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New Delhi, March 26

Sudha Yadav, wife of a Kargil martyr, has many fond memories of Narendra Modi.

She can’t forget how Modi, as BJP’s incharge for Haryana, went all out to mobilise the election funds for her in 1999.

“The first donation came from Modiji himself -– Rs 11 which his mother had given him saying the money would come in handy someday. Modiji said that day had come,” recalls Yadav, who had contested and won the 1999 Lok Sabha election as a BJP candidate from Gurgaon segment.

It was the year when the BJP had decided to field Kargil war widows in General Election.

Yadav’s and similar testimonies by many others known to the Prime Minister were placed in public domain on Saturday by a volunteer group which has created a portal called modistory.in.

The platform pieces together unknown aspects of Modi’s life through recollections of his friends, peers and officers.

From election tips to former Punjab minister Manoranjan Kalia and lessons of zero food wastage to helper Deepak Kumar in Rohtak to perfect disguise as a Sikh during the Emergency and the decision to spend the 2002 Diwali with Bhuj earthquake victims – the vignettes on the portal bring alive the leader many describe as “exceptional.”

Sudha Yadav speaks of how Rs 7.5 lakh election funds were raised within half an hour of Modi spreading a sheet and donating seed money of Rs 11 for her election.

In twin testimonies, former Punjab minister Manoranjan Kalia says Modi gave him winning election tips.

“Carry toffees in your pocket. That way you will win over children and also parents,” he told Kalia, who recalls another incident from 1997-98 when Atal Behari Vajpayee had visited Amritsar.

“We forgot to pick Modiji who was accompanying Atalji. When I sent a worker back to receive him from the railway station and apologised, I was surprised at his equanimity. He didn’t complain even once,” Kalia says.

An interesting recollection comes from Gujarat’s Kedar Tambe who once asked Modi whether he would ever take rest. “May be in another lifetime,” was Modi’s reply, recalls Tambe.

The portal throws light on how Modi wanted to enrol in a Sainik School; how he carried a Dictaphone way back in 1970s and how he disguised as a Sikh so perfectly during the Emergency that his closest friends couldn’t recognise him.

Another aspect of Modi’s personality is brought to life by former Union Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia who recalls, “Modiji once praised his peon’s handwriting to me. I felt ashamed that while Modiji knew even the special skills of his peon, we officers barely knew the names of our peons.”

As Haryana in charge of BJP, Modi would cook his own meals, says Deepak Kumar, Modi’s helper in Rohtak in those days. “Modiji taught me the lesson of zero wastage of resources. He once came late and asked for food. There was none left. He spotted a bottle of leftover pickle in the kitchen, diced onions, prepared dough with the pickle and relished parathas made from the mix. Modiji would also make ‘khichdi parathas’ which ML Khattarji also enjoyed very much,” recalls Kumar in his testimonial.

Zero wastage

As Haryana incharge of the BJP, Narendra Modi would cook his own meals, says Deepak Kumar, PM’s helper in Rohtak in those days. “Modiji taught me the lesson of zero wastage of resources. He once came late and asked for food. There was none left. He spotted a bottle of leftover pickle in the kitchen, diced onions, prepared dough with the pickle and relished parathas made from the mix. Modiji would also make ‘khichdi parathas’ which ML Khattarji also enjoyed very much,” recalls Kumar.