Free 2014: The Election That Changed India by Rajdeep Sardesai

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He also took
his first tentative steps towards a social media outreach by signing into Facebook and Twitter in
2009.
    Always a natty dresser, he became even more
trendsetting with his Modi kurtas, designed by the Ahmedabad tailoring shop Jade Blue. At different
functions on a single day, he would always be dressed for the occasion, often changing three or four
times a day. He was always fond of pens, only now the brand in the pocket was Mont Blanc, the
sunglasses were Bulgari, the watches flashy and expensive. A former aide told me at the time,
‘Narendrabhai sees himself not just as the chief minister of Gujarat—he is the CEO of
Gujarat Inc.’
    This was also a period when the Gujarat government
launched an aggressive campaign to promote tourism. In December 2009, the Amitabh Bachchan starrer
Paa
was released. The film’s producers were pushing for an entertainment tax
exemption. Bachchan met the Gujarat chief minister who readily agreed on one condition—
Amitabh would have to be a brand ambassador for the Gujarat tourism campaign. Till then, Bachchan
was seen to be firmly in the Samajwadi Party (SP) camp—his wife Jaya was a party MP, as was
his close friend Amar Singh. He had even done a ‘
UP Mein Hain Dum
’ (UP Is
Strong) campaign for the SP in the 2007 assembly election. Now, he would be identified with
‘
Khushboo Gujarat Ki
’(The Scent of Gujarat), with
Ogilvy and Mather being hired for a massive ad blitz. Modi had scored another political point.
    While Modi was repositioning himself, the BJP was
caught in a time warp. The party had chosen L.K. Advani as its prime ministerial candidate for the
2009 elections in the hope that he could be projected as a ‘tough’, decisive leader in
contrast to Manmohan Singh’s softer, gentler image. The voter, however, did not seem enthused
by the prospect of an octogenarian leader spearheading a new India. Moreover, in the aftermath of
the Indo-US nuclear deal, ‘Singh is King’ was the refrain, especially among the urban
middle classes. The UPA-led Congress scored a decisive victory in the polls. The BJP was left
wondering if it would ever return to its glory days.
    Modi may not publicly admit it, but this is where he
began sensing his chances as a potential BJP prime ministerial candidate. The Advani–Vajpayee
era was drawing to a close and there was an emerging leadership vacuum. Pramod Mahajan, the man I
had expected to lead the BJP into the future, had died in tragic circumstances in 2006, killed by
his own brother. Sushma Swaraj was a crowd-puller but appeared to lack the political heft to lead
the party. Arun Jaitley was not a mass leader and needed Modi’s support to get elected to the
Rajya Sabha. Rajnath Singh as party president had just led the BJP to a defeat in the general
elections. Modi was, in a sense, the natural choice.
    That Modi was now looking squarely at Delhi became
clearer in September 2011 when he launched a Sadbhavana Yatra (Peace Mission), aimed primarily at
reaching out to the Muslims. The yatra was the most direct attempt made by Modi to shed the baggage
of the post-Godhra riots. It was shadowed by controversy when Modi refused to wear a skullcap
offered to him by a Muslim cleric, Maulvi Sayed Imam. When I asked him about it later, Modi’s
answer was emphatic.
‘Topi pehenne se koi secular nahi banta!’
(You don’t
become secular by wearing a cap.) The words would cross my mind later when during the 2014 campaign,
Modi wore different headgear, including a Sikh turban, at almost every public meeting.
    The larger message being sent out during the
Sadbhavana Yatra,though, was obvious—the Hindutva icon was unwilling
to be a prisoner of his origins. He wanted to position himself as a more inclusive leader. The
overarching slogan was ‘
Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas
’ (Together with Everyone,
Development for All).
    Zafar Sareshwala, a BMW car dealer in Ahmedabad, was
among those involved in the execution of the yatra.