Interview | How Narendra Modi takes tough, at times unpopular decisions and still masses stand by him

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come a long way from being an urban, middle-class party to the largest political organisation in the world. And the credit for this largely goes to Narendra Modi, an “instinctively and innately organisational man”, according to veteran journalist Ajay Singh, who is currently the press secretary to the President of India. His new book, The Architect of the New BJP: How Narendra Modi Transformed the Party (Penguin), has just hit the shelves.

“Modi is an instinctively organisational man. You put him in any place and he delivers. Only a person of his skill set can make such an effortless transition. Look at him: Before 2001 he had never fought an election, and after 2001 he has never lost one,” says Singh in an interview with Firstpost. The veteran journalist also talks about the rise of the BJP as an unbeatable election machine, the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah jugalbandi, and why the Prime Minister believes “Indians are inherently disciplined”. Excerpts:

Several books on Narendra Modi have come out in recent times. How is this one different from others?

This is an extraordinary phase in Indian politics. So, it is obvious to see many books coming up on him, each focusing on a particular facet of the Modi phenomenon. I have through this book attempted to analyse Modi through his organisational skills: How could he manage to build an organisation? How could he expand it?

If someone had told me two decades ago that the BJP would gain a foothold in the Northeast, I would have laughed at that person, but today it’s a reality. If a decade back someone had said that there would be an upper caste Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh, that person would have been mocked for his political ignorance and naivety. Today we just don’t have an upper-caste Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh, but also he has won the Assembly elections for the second straight time. It isn’t just Modi’s personal magic but the organisation he has built in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has propelled the party to new heights.

What makes Modi such a brilliant organisational man?

This organisational ability comes very naturally to Modi. To add to this, he keeps on innovating and updating himself. Most of us know Modi’s organisational role in the BJP’s Ekta Yatra in 1991, led by Murli Manohar Joshi, but what is not well-known is his participation in two different movements in 1979 and 1983. On 11 August 1979, a dam burst on the Machchhu river, leading to a flood in Morbi town in Saurashtra. When the dam broke, Modi, then a young pracharak, was in Chennai along with Nanaji Deshmukh of the RSS. He rushed back to Gujarat to organise relief operations. This provided a big boost to the RSS. Later, in 1983, when farmers launched Khedu movement seeking free trade for their produce across states for best returns, the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh roped in Modi in Gujarat and Om Mathur in Rajasthan to plan the agitation. When the agitation faced police action, Modi ensured that donations gathered by cadres from across the state went to families of victims of police firing. The two movements expanded the Sangh’s base in the rural areas of Gujarat.

Modi has adopted three strategies, conventional and otherwise, to expand the BJP’s base. One, a conventional method, is to strengthen the party organisation by roping in RSS pracharaks and activists. Two, to rope in local “notables” with influence in area, but from outside the Sangh fold, so that they could appeal to a wider audience. Three, once people start responding, Modi uses his own ability to influence voters with ideas that he has picked up on various assignments for the RSS.

The BJP has several organisational giants. Kushabhau Thakre, for instance, had an exceptional organisational talent. So had LK Advani, who prided himself being called an organisational man. But Modi has been steps ahead of them. Thakre, for example, insisted on roping in only those fully committed to RSS worldview; he was not open to roping in outsiders.

You mention in the book an interesting anecdote when LK Advani was in Gujarat for a countrywide Rath Yatra. Pramod Mahajan was with him. Can you tell us more about that?

A day before the Rath Yatra was to commence in Gujarat, Advani and Pramod Mahajan reached Veraval, the major town close to the Somnath temple. When they first reached there, they were a bit dismayed to see no posters and flags of the yatra in the streets. Advani himself was quite sceptical about the success of the Rath Yatra as this was the first mass mobilisation programme at the national level. But when the yatra began the next morning, it got a rousing reception, with crowds thronging the way. Such was the response that Mahajan asked Advani to tamper down his expectations for the yatra’s next leg in Maharashtra which he was handling. “Don’t expect this kind of response in Maharashtra,” he told Advani.

An interesting aspect about this Gujarat leg of Rath Yatra was that it was planned in such a manner that it would pass through areas that were outside the Sangh and BJP’s traditional circle of influence. Modi used this yatra to reach out to new segments, including OBC, SC and tribals. The party has been reaping the fruits of such outreach in Gujarat.

In the book you also talk about Modi’s organisational work in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Please tell us more…

The first state where Modi worked as a prabhari (in-charge) was Haryana, followed by Himachal Pradesh. During his stay in Haryana, the BJP formed the state government with Bansi Lal. Anyone who has followed Indian politics would know that the anti-Congressism of the BJP has been shaped by the Emergency excesses, and here was the man who epitomised all the ills of Emergency — Bansi Lal — and Modi was not averse to aligning with him and also ensuring that the association with Bansi Lal doesn’t affect the original character of the BJP. He used that time in government to spread the BJP’s base in Haryana and also learn the art of governance. This shows Modi’s political pragmatism. In fact, in some way, the BJP’s coming to power on its own in Haryana in 2014 should not be seen in isolation. Modi did the same thing in Himachal where his party aligned with Sukh Ram to spread its organisational wing in the state. It is for this reason I tend to see him as an instinctively organisational man.

Modi’s relationship with Amit Shah goes back to 1982. How do you see the Modi-Shah jugalbandi? You generally don’t see this kind of political partnership for that long. The other example can be the jodi of Advani and Vajpayee.

I have not interacted much with Amit Shah, so I would not be able to tell much about his organisational skills. But whatever I have known about him, he is a good executioner of Modi’s ambitious plans. But there’s a difference between Advani and Vajpayee, and Modi and Shah. The Advani-Vajpayee relationship was that of equals; they were close friends. But Modi and Shah share the relationship of a mentor and disciple. If I know it correctly, when Shah was young, Modi was instrumental in getting him into the RSS. Shah, therefore, has a reverential regard towards Modi.

We see Modi making a seamless transition from RSS to the BJP, and later from being an organisational man in the BJP to the position of a chief minister. In fact, when he first became the CM of Gujarat, he had not even fought a single election. How do you explain this?

That’s why I say Modi is an instinctively organisational man. You put him in any place and he delivers. Only a person of his skill set can make such an effortless transition. Look at him: Before 2001 he had never fought an election, and after 2001 he has never lost one!

The trait of a good leader is that if he doesn’t know an issue, he won’t hesitate asking about it. And when he gains knowledge, he would use that expertise to further innovate himself. I have interviewed over 100 people who were associated with Modi. And one thing that came out quite constantly was Modi’s ability to focus his attention on certain issues in a sustained manner. This is very rare, especially with those at the top.

Whenever there is discussion on Modi, the 2002 riots invariably come up. But as your book says, riots were never rare in Gujarat. What’s your take on the issue?

As I mentioned in the book, Ahmedabad had a history of riots. And between 1984 and 1985, there were riots for six months. There were riots that continued for months on end. If you compare those riots with what happened in 2002, the latter was nothing. So, those who want to analyse Modi from the prism of riots, they are missing the wood for the trees. They don’t understand him in a real sense. These people need to understand that the 2002 riots happened within six months of his regime. So the administrative vulnerabilities that pre-existed in the state were present then. The highest court of the country has absolved him, but there are elements who want to keep the 2002 narrative intact and alive.

We often hear about the Modi Model of Development. Can you please explain?

Can you imagine any leader implementing demonetisation and getting away with it? Or, for that matter, abrogating Article 370? Isn’t it unique that the BJP is a Right wing party and its Prime Minister announces building of toilets on the Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort? Modi has the great ability to take tough decisions and let them be accepted by the masses. Other leaders neither have the capacity nor ingenuity to do so.

Modi can do so because he knows the pulse of the masses. I remember once travelling with him in Ahmedabad and he showed me a series of buildings demolished by his administration for being built illegally. When I asked him to be careful while carrying out such drives, especially in a country like India, he told me something very interesting that made me feel that after Gandhi no one has understood social psychology of India and Indians the way Modi has. He said, “No, you are wrong. India is not essentially an anarchic nation.” Modi then reminded how during the Kumbh Mela, the population of one Australia comes every day on the bank of the river and it goes away. “Do you think it’s managed by the state? It is not. Indians are inherently disciplined,” he added.

Modi’s opponents are yet to comprehend his true ingenuity. When Modi goes to Kedarnath, he is not doing a drama. His political and intellectual opponents may look at it that way, but the masses are definitely not seeing it that way.

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