Modi in July: Can’t waste time on Kejriwal

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal may have inflicted a massive defeat on BJP in the Delhi Assembly polls last month, but months earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly saw him as a “small single city leader” not even worth “my time to ignore”. These comments were reported to have been made by Mr Modi to former BBC journalist Lance Price in July last year explaining his decision not to name Mr Kejriwal during the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, according to news agency PTI. Mr Modi also apparently recounted that while all eyes were on the Lok Sabha results on May 16 last year, he was alone in his room meditating with no television on and took telephone calls only after 12 noon. Mr Price, who spoke to Mr Modi four times during that period, recounts Mr Modi’s responses on a variety of issues in his new book, The Modi Effect: Inside Narendra Modi’s Campaign to Transform India.

It makes a mention of the contest between Mr Modi and Mr Kejriwal for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. After Mr Kejriwal announced his candidature and promised a “political earthquake”, Mr Modi decided to keep quiet. When asked about it, he was quoted by the news agency as telling Mr Price, “My silence is my strength... You should know that in the grand scheme of things, Kejriwal was nothing but a small single city leader. He was getting far more coverage than he deserved as compared to other more established Opposition party leaders. So why spend time even ignoring someone. It was, therefore, not even worth my time to ignore Kejriwal... Kejriwal was elevated by select group of vested media interests fuelled by the Congress to target Narendra Modi and try and save the Congress. Keep in mind he was not even a member of Parliament; had lasted only 49 days as CM and had won less than one per cent of the national vote.”

Mr Kejriwal lost to Mr Modi in Varanasi but led the AAP to a resounding victory clinching 67 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. The BJP won the remaining three seats while the Congress drew a blank. Mr Modi also recounted that while all eyes were on the Lok Sabha results on May 16 last year, he was alone in his room meditating with no television on and took telephone calls only after 12 noon. “In the morning when the counting was going on, I was totally alone and had no TV on. I was finishing off my own spiritual activities and enjoying my meditation time after the gruelling elections,” he was quoted as having said.