Modi’s clay image joins the club of Kondapalli toys from Andhra Pradesh, the ones that cheer kids across the globe for its spring neck, thanks to his fan club. This small dancing doll was launched by Gujarat Gaurav Fan Club (GGFC), Modi’s fan club on Wednesday in the city. However, the club does not want to call it the ‘dancing doll’. The half-feet tall ceramic dolls have been designed and manufactured in Ahmedabad and is aimed to cheer voters at the assembly election level and by 2014 at the national level, going by the organizers’ words.
City-based hotelier Narendra Somani and promoter of an event management firm, Rajeev Chhajer are organisers of the club, and have made thousands of such dolls which will be distributed free among BJP and Modi fans in the state. Though fans are yet to christen the doll with a moniker, but Somani and Chhajer call it the "table-top icon of Narendra Modi".
For now, the dolls have not yet reached the shelves of showrooms. “The manufacturing cost of the doll is Rs60 a piece. We have not zeroed down on the sale price of the doll as of now. But once the state assembly elections are over, we will launch the dolls across the country. It will also be sold in retail market by next year,” said Chhajer.
Both the organisers have gathered fund from fans to make these dolls. “There are more than 1,000 members of GGFC across country. The members of club are fans of Narendra Modi and the BJP. We have decided to make and sell these dolls across the country so that whole nation will vote for Modi in the Union elections, scheduled in 2014,” said Somani.
When asked why are Modi’s fans expecting him to fight 2014 elections when he isn’t showing much interest in it, Somani said that his fan club is confident that Modi will become prime minister of India in 2014. “He is not saying it now. But the fan span across the country wants him to become the national leader,” he said.
The fan club has also updated the website, jitegagujarat.com. “We also want to campaign in which, we want people to cast their votes,” said Somani. After Maya Kodnani was jailed in the Naroda Patia riot case, Somani’s name was being rumored as BJP’s potential candidate from Naroda seat.
