UNSTOPPABLE LEADERSHIP MODI’S METHODICAL APPROACH WINS HEARTS

‘While my father left for his heavenly abode, PM Modi guided me like a father figure’ - Sanjay Tandon, Chandigarh BJP Leader

It was 2018. My father was the governor of Chhattisgarh and all of a sudden, on 14th August he left for his heavenly abode. When I got to know that he had suffered a heart attack, I immediately left for the airport. But by the time I reached the airport, I got news of his demise. So we started looking for a direct flight to Raipur but the inputs I got said that I would not be able to make it before 5 or 6 pm.

Just then I got a call from the CM of Chhattisgarh, Mr Raman Singhji. He gave me all the details and told me that the Prime Minister had been informed as well. He then asked me to reach Delhi as soon as I could and from there he assured me of assistance in reaching Raipur in time. Soon after, I got a call from PM Modi. He said “Son, I have arranged for your travel from Delhi to Raipur and also for your travel back from Raipur with the mortal remains of your father. You will land at Air Force Station, Ambala at night.”

Not just this, he also requested the Chief Minister of Haryana to receive us. When we landed, the ambulance was waiting for us and we reached Chandigarh at night. When I reached home, whom am I greeted by? Governors of Punjab and Haryana were waiting for me at the entrance. I greeted them and as we conversed, they told me that the PM had spoken with them and asked them to share the condolences with me on his behalf. PM told them that my father was one of the elder statesmen and was like family to him. Since PM himself was not able to come, he requested the Governors of Punjab and Haryana to lay flowers on my father’s pyre on his behalf. Even the local administration had been intimated by the PMO as thousands of people were visiting us in this hour of grief.

All the arrangements in order to accommodate such a great number of people on my father’s death were made by the PMO. I was so overcome with emotion to witness that while my father had left this world, PM Modi stood by me like my own father at such a difficult time for me and my family.

Keep your work space clean; Modi’s advice as a pracharak - Anirudhabhai Patel, Gujarat BJP Leader

Narendrabhai got appointed as Vibhag Pracharak at the Himatnagar office and on the day when he was about to arrive, all of us stood at the gate, waiting for him. He arrived in a jeep and when he got down, we escorted him inside. In Himatnagar, we had a 10ft by 12ft room for our office and as Modiji entered the room, he looked all around it very carefully. After having inspected it, he asked me “Is this office on rent?” I replied in the affirmative. Then he said “What is that in the corner?” I said that those were some boxes that contained the ingredients to make tea. So he said to us that the room must never be cluttered. “Keep these boxes on the terrace. You have this cushion. For this, you must have new upholstery and curtains. You must also have masands (round pillows) on the diwan and also, the covers should be new. There should be a nice mat in the room as well.” He continued, “Also, do you see those shelves in the wall at the back? Have a nice curtain stitched and place it over the shelves.”

He would always say that having a small room is not a problem; the point is that it should always be clean and aesthetically done up. A lot of important and senior dignitaries visit the office, therefore, keeping it clean and organised was must.

Once we had organised a Jan Jagran program and Modiji had arrived for that. We had decided that we would conduct a meeting of people from the talukas. He was also present there and he started asking us several questions “What is the topic for it? How many people would be present? What are the arrangements in place for that? Who all would be attending the meeting?”

Then he emphasized on one question - how many people would attend the event? We then told him that we expect around 500 people to attend this. In fact we said that our goal was to have 500 people be part of the program. Then he asked us “How many villages were there in the taluka?” We told him that there were 140 villages. He was very surprised and questioned “So you have 140 villages and you expect 500 people to be part of the event. How can your goal be of having as few as 500 people from so many villages?” And then he said that we must aim for at least 5,000 people. Modiji asked us to visit all the villages, organize sabhas, meet the people there and convey to them that such an event was going to be organised and that they must attend it.

Post that he asked us to make arrangements for 5,000 people. “Choose a place that can accommodate as many people”, he told us. So we had about 20 days and we got on war footing to encourage people to participate in the Sammelan. Even if 20 people came from each village, we would have been able to achieve our goal.

What was the net result of all this planning? We had 2,000 people attend the taluka sammelan, instead of just 500 that we were aiming for. So networking is one of the greatest qualities of Modiji. And above all, he invests a lot of time and energy in maintaining relationships. He would observe people and their culture, whether a family belonged to the Sangh or not, he would notice talents people had and then he would build up relationships with such families. I have seen many karyakartas who developed into successful workers after coming in touch with Modiji because he has uncanny ability to spot talented people and nurture them into capable workers.

COMPILED AND EDITED BY SHWETA SHARMA AND SHASHIKANT SHARMA