Gujarat celebrates Narendra Modi’s ascension with a wave of drumbeats and surging hope

AHMEDABAD: Celebrations kicked off across Gujarat as soon as Rajnath Singh announced Narendra Modi as the party’s face for 2014, with common citizens, shop-keepers and assorted Modi fan clubs distributing sweets and bursting firecrackers in a partspontaneous part-choreographed welcome to the anointment.

At the state BJP headquarters in Khanpur, Modi’s ascension was a foregone conclusion from Thursday evening itself and hectic preparations were afoot to celebrate the announcement.

On Friday evening, BJP workers in Modi masks shouting slogans danced to drum-beats and the noise of firecrackers, the celebrations mingling with processions of Ganesh idols being taken to the Sabarmati for immersion. BJP workers, some of them Muslims sporting skull-caps, started gathering at the Khanpur office from afternoon, putting up banners saying “Gujarat ka Gaurav, ab banega Desh ka Gaurav (Gujarat’s pride will now be nation’s pride)”.

“We will intensify our actions to ensure that BJP garners two-third majority in the Parliament,” said Modi fan club founder Rajiv Chhajed.

Modi’s birthplace Vadnagar also erupted into celebrations, confident that their “local boy” was now all set to become the most powerful person in the country.

Modi’s 95-year-old mother Hiraba, who famously remarked “My son will become prime minister” soon after his victory in the December assembly elections, remained confined to her residence in Gandhinagar. She exchanged sweets with other family members immediately after the news reached her that her son — the third-oldest of six children — has been named as BJP’s PM candidate.

While the mood was celebratory in Hindu-dominated areas, the reaction was more mixed in Muslim-dominated localities like Juhapura, Jamalpur and Khanpur.

Sikander Saiyad, a resident of Khanpur, welcomed Modi’s elevation: “Not as a Muslim, but as a common man I feel Modi has worked hard for development in Gujarat and he can repeat it at national level as well. Within the BJP, Modi is the fittest candidate for PM’s post.” But not all shared that sentiment, unsurprising in a state that saw more than 1,000 Muslims die in an orgy of communal violence in 2002 on Modi’s watch.

“Modi is a divisive figure and not much can be expected from a ‘merchant of death’. He has already divided the BJP over his candidature and if he becomes the PM he would divide the nation along communal lines,” said Irshad Mansuri, a citybased advocate.