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How Narendra Modi got what he wanted

The removal of Sanjay Joshi from the BJP National Executive, held last week, has strengthened the hands of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Joshi, who enjoyed the confidence of the RSS loyalists and former CM Keshubhai Patel was left with no choice but to forego his position because the BJP's central leadership wished to project Modi as a prime ministerial candidate in 2014 general elections, on the basis of his performance in Gujarat where he has been ruling the roost since 2001. When asked about the threat of Keshubhai Patel to Modi, a Gujarat leader said such tantrum of Patel did not evoke even in past and not yield any result in the future too.

Pleading anonymity, he said a majority of the central leaders are in favour of Narendra Modi and they had supported Modi's plea for removal of Sanjay Joshi.

Modi had once opposed the candidature of the late Haren Pandya and to show his protest he got himself admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in Gandhinagar and finally the leadership had to succumb to his demand. Pandya was not allowed to contest as wished by Modi.

Those were the days when Joshi was the most powerful leader during Keshubhai Patel's regime in early nineties and has been a bete noire of Modi since. The latter was then shunted out to Delhi to facilitate smooth functioning of Keshubhai government.

Joshi and slain former home minister Haren Pandya were close associates of Keshubhai in first term of the government headed by Patel. But after the severe earthquake that shook Gujarat, Modi was successful in convincing central leadership that the BJP state government in Gujarat had failed to carry out effective relief and rehabilitation and that there were large scale irregularities in relief and rehabilitation works.

A strong anti-Patel campaign led by Modi and some of the other central leaders saw the ouster of Keshubhai and finally Modi was inducted as the new chief minister of the state in 2001. Despite the worst communal riots in the wake of attack on Sabarmati express at Godhra railway station, Modi and his team managed to save their seats of power as there was a NDA regime at the centre. Despite criticism of the state administration in handling the riots by then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Modi could save his chair with the blessings of L K Advani and RSS .

But later, he replaced the strategy and mantra of Hinduism, by new slogan of 'development' and that worked effectively in his favour. As a result he succeeded in converting Gujarat in supposedly a model BJP state among six other BJP ruled states in the country.

By organising Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' summits, Modi became one of the powerful leaders.

Though the opposition Congress party left no stone unturned to malign Modi's leadership but their campaign has proved counter productive and the saffron party has literally taken over from panchayat level to state assembly. As a part of the party`s preparation for assembly election due in December this year, Modi has organised Garib melas right from taluka to district levels and has ditributed crores of rupees towards developmental projects in cities and towns. A senior minister claimed that Modi continues to enjoy popularity in Gujarat and BJP would be elected to power for the third consecutive term under the leadership of Narendra Modi. The saffron party has been ruling the state since 1995. Not only Keshubhai but another former BJP chief Minister Suresh Mehta and former union ministers Kashiram Rana and Dr Vallabhbhai Kathiriya had opposed Modi tooth and nail but have failed to create any sympathy for them among party cadres.
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