The shadows in Modi zone

The crumbling little house where Narendra Modi spent 16 years studying—in a room also occupied by the family’s cow—was sold t...

The crumbling little house where Narendra Modi spent 16 years studying—in a room also occupied by the family’s cow—was sold three years ago.

His 87-year-old mother Hiraben and younger brother Pankaj have moved a few yards away from the narrow, filthy lanes lined by open gutters and pigs to a bright, roomy home. The bedroom walls are plastered with posters of the 54-year-old Chief Minister.

‘‘My brother is like a sadhu,’’ says Pankaj. Hiraben asks why the TV set is switched off. Modi last visited his dusty hometown nearly two years ago. So his mother doesn’t want to miss him on the day’s samachar.

The man who made headlines worldwide during the Gujarat rots inspires an almost fanatic loyalty in his own backyard. When the Congress tried to call an election meeting here earlier this month, it could not muster a crowd of more than 100. No one dares to criticise Modi in public.

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‘‘He is still as stubborn, still gets excited easily,’’ says N.K. Shastri, principal of the school where he and Modi were once classmates. He proudly lists what his old buddy has brought to Vadnagar over the past two years: A new three-star hotel, a polytechnic, a primary health centre and two town gates worth Rs 15 lakh.

But beyond the defiant gaze of the Modi faithful, there are some murmurs. At the stall where Modi once sipped tea for 50 paise, Babubhai Pathan, the owner, waits for a moment of privacy: ‘‘Surely, there was more he could have done to keep us Muslims safe…’’

He is, of course, speaking in general terms. Vadnagar was peaceful during the riots but the villages surrounding it reported fear and deaths.

It is hard to escape the suspicion that the shadow of Modi has split his town, like the rest of the state, along communal lines. It is almost impossible to find a Hindu who will criticise Modi, just as it is difficult to find a Muslim who will not clam up in public. Misgivings are muttered only quietly, even though everyone has to cope with the same shabby conditions.

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Modi’s brother Pankaj, an employee in the state’s information department, refuses to discuss riots. ‘‘We are very poor people,’’ he repeatedly says. ‘‘Narendra used to wake up first to bathe the cow, and press his clothes by folding them under the mattress. During the riots we worried about him, but he stayed calm and healthy.’’

The TV flickers on and Hiraben fidgets with her spectacles. It’s been years since she made Narendra tea just the way he likes it. Milky, with a dot of tea leaves. But inflation has caught up with Pathan’s tea joint. From 50 paise in the CM’s youth, a cup now costs Rs 3.