After a pause, chief minister Narendra Modi has taken to blogging again. What’s more, the CM will be taking up questions from the readers and replying to them in coming days. To start with, he replied to question regarding his fitness during one of his recent entries.
According to a Modi aide, the CM will now be answering questions through the blog on a regular basis. “A number of queries keep coming in. So, instead of writing a usual blog he will be taking time to respond to them, every once in a while. Apart from the usual queries Modiji will be replying to questions like does he watch movies and the kind,” he said.
Modi, apparently the only active politician holding an important position who blogs, had gone mum online after the BJP’s debacle in recent general elections. The CM, though initially reluctant, had taken to blogging — with a dedicated site narendramodi.com — after repeated requests of colleagues, friends and partymen. Though in the most recent entry on his blog he talks about how growth and development of Gujarat will help rest of India, in the previous one he wrote, “...though, there has been no dialogue all this while but you all have been constantly in my mind and thoughts.”
In his new blog, he has answered queries of his fans posted from time to time at namoleague.com, a network of Modi’s fans. And plans to do this more often. Replying to a question on his fitness mantra, he says, “... In order to keep the mind fit and healthy, I have included yoga, pranayam and dhyaan in my daily routine. I have taken special coaching for these.”
Responding to a 25-year-old man, who asked him how was he able to put in such long hours of work, Modi said, “I am able to remain active, yet aloof, in discharging my duties. I remain detached while doing my work. This doesn’t let despair or disappointment get better of me. As a result of which I don’t feel tired.”
However, the CM did not give up a chance to take pot shots at his party’s detractors. Responding to indirect reference to Rahul Gandhi’s winning over youth voters away from the BJP, he said, “In the past, a section of people projected the BJP as the party of upper class even as the credit for getting more and more number of tribal and dalit MPs and MLAs elected goes to the BJP. And now a new doubt is being created about the youth and the BJP. The fact is that the average age of chief ministers of BJP-ruled states is lower than that of the CM of any other political party. The average age of BJP MPs and MLAs is lower than that of any other political party’s.”
He added, “The young leadership of BJP belongs to average, poor or agricultural backgrounds. Hence, they do not get much opportunity to figure on TV and may not have come in the limelight. This could also be a reason for such doubts to gain ground.”
