Indian Express
Sign In | Register Now
Newsletter | ePaper
Indian Express >  Front Page > 

For Gujarat govt’s PR department, CM Modi is ‘God with a beard’

Font Size
Express news service Posted: Sep 06, 2008 at 0210 hrs IST
Related Stories: Gujarat does away with fishing tenders on ‘religious ground’Modi’s return gift for Bihar victims on b’dayGujarat BJP rebels form new partyModi one of our best leaders, an able administrator: AdvaniHome Ministry to send Gujarat terror Bill to Cabinet
Ahmedabad, September 5: His admirers have often described him as the Hindu Hriday Samrat, the King of Hindu Hearts. But in the minds of the officials who run the Gujarat government’s PR department, Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to have already made the leap that elevates him from royalty to godliness.

On Thursday, the Information Department of the Gujarat Government circulated a press release about the Chief Minister’s visit to the Tarnetar Mela in Saurashtra. The release described a purported conversation between a village woman and her young son, in which the Modi was referred to as a “God with a beard”.

This is a translation of what the press release said:

“Here, in the land of the Panchals, where the traditional Tarnetar Mela is organised, enjoying and being a part of the Mela has become a part of the rural culture. In this Mela, everyone comes — rich and poor, old and young. On the third day of the Mela, the conversation between a village mother and son following the arrival of Chief Minister Narendrabhai Modi aroused the curiosity of people.

Ads By Google
When Chief Minister Narendrabhai Modi came at Tarnetar in the afternoon, the helicopter induced a wave of enthusiasm amongst the village folk. When the Chief Minister was coming towards Trinetreshwar Temple after watching the rural Olympics, the area around the special road built for the CM near the temple precincts was choc a bloc with people. In this crowd, the young son of Shrimati Dhuliben of Vijadiya village asked, ‘Mother, who has arrived?’ To this innocently posed question, Dhuliben spontaneously replied, ‘Son, this is God with a beard.’ Dhuliben’s son on hearing the reply, looked at the Chief Minister from a distance, with devotion.”

Ads By Google
Post Comments
Message*
Maximum characters allowed     
 
Name* Email ID*
Subject* Country*
TERMS OF USE:
The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).
I agree to the terms of use.
View all Messages [ 0 ]
View all Messages [ 0 ]
Group Websites : Express India | Financial Express | Screen India | Loksatta | Kashmir Live | Biz Publications
Privacy Policy | Feedback | Site MapThe Indian Express Group | Work With Us | Adverise With Us | Contact Us© 2008 Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. All rights reserved
*Recipient(s) name *
*Recipient(s) e-mail address *
(Separate addresses by commas)
*Your Name *
*Your e-mail address *
Select your Country
Comments(optional)

The name(s) and e-mail address(es) you provide will
not be used for any purpose other than to inform the
recipient(s) of your identity. (*mandatory field)
 
Close