MODI’S PRIDE Outstanding Karyakartas

PM Modi: An Icon of Prescient Leadership Minimalistic, Yet Exquisite - Advocate Arun Oza

It was a fine day when Modiji called me and said, “Do you know Arunji the expenditure at CM office and CM residence is 0.10%!” I exclaimed, “Really, only 10%... How come so minimal?” He corrected me “No no, Arunji. It’s 0.10%, not 10%!” Well, I had not heard the point before the 10 and immediately, I got wondering, how could someone bring down the expenditure to such drastically low levels?

Then when the High Court office was constructed and the premises had to be inaugurated, Modiji’s words kept ringing in my ears. His words about minimal expenditure and transparency in financial matters had left a strong impression on me and I made a firm resolve to manage the inauguration of the premises within a limited budget. It was Modiji’s minimalistic approach towards life that inspired me to plan and allocate resources for the new building inauguration in an economical way.

I was the Government Pleader & Public Prosecutor at the High Court of Gujarat for 5 years and a half, but not once did Modiji send in a recommendation for anyone, let alone somebody undeserving. There was not a single incidence where I was under pressure to favour anyone or go out of the way to do something for somebody at the behest of the government. Being the CM, hundreds of people would go to him with requests for favours but being such a clean and honest man, Modiji never passed on requests to me.

He has a deep faith in the judicial system of the country, and he also reposes immense trust in the karyakartas. Several IAS officers would come to me at that time and they would narrate their experiences of the chintan shivirs with Modiji where problems would be discussed threadbare and solutions would be sought. N Vittal, who was an old associate and a very senior government officer, once attended the three-day shivir and he told me how Modiji heard out the suggestions put forth by senior economic advisors and finance experts from IIMs and IITs and then, on the last day of the shivir, at dinner time, Modiji, without a single note in his hand, discussed every single suggestion put forward in the shivir, how the recommendations could be implemented, and what the financial implications of the recommendations were, with such depth and expertise that even the experts, the officers and N Vittal himself, were in complete awe of Modiji’s insight and grasp of economics.
 

COME STRAIGHT, COME PREPARED - Gujarat BJP Leader Jayprakash Patel

The first time I met Narendra bhai was in 1974-75 during the Navnirman Movement. In Ajarpura village there was a Sarvodaya electric store owned by a very old Jan Sangh comrade and he introduced me to Narendra bhai.
As I look back now, the truth is that I really didn’t know that I was going to meet one of the most intelligent, the brightest, the most precious men of the country, though I was touched by my meeting with him even then. The memories of the Indian Flag unfurled in Kashmir in the presence of Advaniji and Modiji were fresh in our hearts. Narendra bhai used to do planning and organizing along with Advaniji and I was the co-incharge of the yatra then. Modiji gave us several lessons on ways to handle the public during a rally, how the march is conducted, how to manage the crowd from Anand to Vijaynagar - all such guidelines were issued by Narendra bhai.

The first time we met he asked us penetrating questions like “What is Sangathan? How to take the Sangathan forward? How the yatra can move forward without causing any public inconvenience or faceoffs?” This was the starting point of my interactions with him, which by God’s grace, was just the first of the many meetings I went on to have with him. I would go to him for paperwork or for other works, but one thing I always had to keep in mind when going to Narendra bhai – practise well before the meeting. One must be punctual and must rehearse well all the points of discussion prior to meeting Narendra bhai. Even before we could put forward our proposal, a question would come up from him the answer to which one had to be prepared for. Conversations would inevitably begin with questions from him - “If this is what it is, then why has this not been done? If you do this, would it work or not? Did you meet him or not?”

So just like one would prepare one’s lessons well before meeting a teacher, we would do prior to meeting Narendra bhai. And right after the discussion, even before one could get going with the assigned tasks, word would spread in various departments about what needed to be accomplished as soon as possible.
I once went to meet Narendra bhai seeking support for the cooperative banks when they were disintegrating and trouble was brewing. Modiji had only one thing to say to me, and his words touched a cord in my heart. He said “Whoever has taken the depositor’s money, first tell each one of them to return every single penny. If my help is required to do this, I am always ready. Anyone who has hoarded money shall not receive any help from me.” And it is for all to see - people got all their money back. Not a single depositor lost his money.

Narendra bhai’s vision and reading is tremendous; in fact it’s peerless. And that’s precisely the reason why we would go to him fully prepared, because we knew, Narendra bhai will be absolutely ready to meet us. He would have every single, minute detail of the situation and why? Because Narendra bhai has served as a karyakarta and the knowledge gained at the grassroots level is immense. He, at all times has the map of the country laid bare before his eyes and he looks at the complete picture.

HIS DICTATES TO ALL THE WORKERS AND PARTY LEADERS WERE CLEAR AND UNIVOCAL

Whatever you bring to the table, have it clearly thought out and understood beforehand. Secondly, do not come to me to stab anyone behind his back. Third, do not come to me prove others wrong, come to me to prove yourself right and let your work speak for yourself.