 "Narendra Modi")
It was not only in Parliament or Gujarat Assembly where Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi betrayed his emotions in full public view, but many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, who had worked with him in his early days, vouch he has a sensitive side.
In 1991-92, then BJP President Murli Manohar Joshi, aided by Modi, had undertaken the Rashtriya Ekta Yatra from Kanyakumari to Srinagar. The procession had culminated with Joshi hoisting the Tricolour at Lal Chowk in Jammu and Kashmir during the height of militancy.
Like Pramod Mahajan, who had successfully organised Ram Rath Yatra then for party President L K Advani to whip up a strong Hindu fervour in support of building a Ram temple in Ayodhya in 1990, Modi was given the task of creating a similar effect for Ekta Yatra. The idea was to unite the country on the plank of nationalism.
"We were in Jammu for the Ekta Yatra and it was Modi's turn to address the swarming masses, drawn from different parts of the country. The environment was really charged up and we all were passionate to do something for the country," said a BJP leader, who was part of the procession.
Talking about an incident of a girl who had lost her father to terrorism in Punjab, Modi's voice choked. "Many people might dismiss it as theatrics, but he is an emotional person who rarely displays his feelings," said a newly elected member of the 16th Lok Sabha. All party functionaries Business Standard spoke to refused to be identified.
On Wednesday, Modi's eyes became moist when he delivered his farewell speech in the Gujarat Assembly. On the previous day, too, Modi broke down during his acceptance speech after being appointed head of the BJP's parliamentary party.
The former Gujarat chief minister will take oath of India's 15th Prime Minister on Monday.
Among the bureaucrats, many of them who had called up their counterparts in Gujarat to understand Modi's style of his functioning, are feeling relieved. "Our colleagues tell us that he allows freedom to bureaucrats to function independently. He is decisive and wants results," said a senior bureaucrat.
Another senior secretary said: "The policy paralysis seems to be a thing of past. People who don't want to work or defer decisions might now find it difficult to work under Modi."
Political leaders and bureaucrats agree to one thing that it is difficult to gauge Modi's thought process. No one knows who will all find place in the new council of ministers.
