Bal Narendra’s 1st poll victory

Modi stood for monitor’s post when he was 13, and got surprise victory over two students; he courageously fought for students’ issues with a strict principal, reminisce his former classmates

Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Friday, April 25, 2014 

A sea of saffron swept through the lanes of Varanasi as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi led the way to the district magistrate’s office to file his nomination from the holy town on Thursday. For Modi, election is child’s play, literally. He contested his first election at the tender age of 13. Modi stood for the class representative’s post and, against all odds, trounced two popular students to achieve victory. “Modi’s qualities of leadership, dedication and strong will were quite evident as a child,” says ayurvedic practitioner Sudhir Joshi, who is Modi’s childhood friend. Modi studied from Class 1 to Class 5 at Vadnagar Prathmik Kumar Shala no 1.
Then, he studied till Class 11 at Shri Bhagavatacharya Narayanacharya (also known as BN) High School, a co-ed Gujarati-medium school right next to Vadnagar railway station. “We shared the same bench all throughout school. I befriended him in Class 1 and we parted ways only when we reached college because I chose Science and he opted for Arts. He was a strong-willed go-getter even as a child. If he decided to do something, he would complete the task come what may,” says Joshi. The doctor remembers his friend as a fearless, frank and forthright person never afraid to air his views.

“He was remarkably confident. In 1964, when we were in Class 9, two boys stood for the post of class monitor. I was sitting in class one day, when Narendra came to me. Putting his hand on my shoulder, he informed me that he was contesting for the post. We both came from the same background. Our family members were neither interested in not encouraged politics. I tried to convince Narendra to back out. His only response was: ‘I have put down my name. Now, I have to win it’.” And, Modi did. “He spoke to the students and convinced them that he could stand for them, and resolve their issues. They placed their trust in him, and voted him as the class representative. He did not let them down,” says Joshi. Recollecting an incident, he adds, “Narendra’s power of persuasion became very evident when he got a teacher removed from our class. Our class had a problem with a Hindi teacher who neither taught nor behaved properly.
Principal Ras Bihari Maniyar was very strict and no student had the courage to approach him. Except Modi. He not only spoke to the principal, he got the teacher removed from our class. He fought for our rights and took up issues that needed solving. He showed great leadership skills.” Modi's teacher Prahladbhai G Patel remembers Modi as an argumentative child. He also recalls that he had once asked Modi to show his homework to one of his class monitors but he refused. He insisted that his work would be evaluated by none other than the teacher himself. Patel who taught Sanskrit and Gujarati, recollects Modi as being very active in external activities like debates and theatre.
The school has black and white photographs from an old school event where 14-yearold Modi played 19th century Kathi chieftain Jogidas Khuman, a Robin Hood-like folk hero who stole from the then rulers of Bhavnagar to help the poor. Schoolmates remember that it was one character Modi played with abandon on stage. “I set up the debating club at school. I remember Narendra would attend the club, which spanned the two last periods on Thursdays, without fail. He won most of the debates,” recalls Patel. He also exhibited great leadership qualities. “Vadnagar’s history dates back thousands of years.
The famous Chinese scholar Huen Tsang even wrote in his seventh century travelogue Si-Yu-Ki (Buddhist Records of the Western World) about Vadnagar being a scholarly city that was home to 1,000 monks and 10 stupas. There used to be stones from ruins strewn around. Narendra motivated the students to collect rocks that had carvings on them and gather it at one spot. Then, he put up a board: ‘Ame ubha ke kadi ke koi avshe, ukelshe aksharon na aa ateet ne (We are waiting that someone will come someday and decipher the past of these words)’.” The past is the past. What remains to be seen is if Modi will rewrite the future.