New Delhi, May 23 (PTI) It was the great warmth and sensitivity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that helped the then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan sail through a major political crisis just before the 2023 assembly elections in his state, the senior BJP leader and now a Union minister has recalled in a new book.
The book, ‘Apnapan’, authored by Chouhan, chronicles his 35-year-long association and experiences with Prime Minister Modi.
According to excerpts from the book, when the BJP announced its candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections in 2023, Chouhan thought it was natural that the names for the relatively weaker constituencies were declared first. “It was equally natural that my name was not included in the initial lists,” he writes.
Around the same time, in a public speech, according to the book, the then Madhya Pradesh chief minister had referred to multi-generational development in the state and said, “If we are gone, we will be deeply missed.” As often happens, he writes, the opposition twisted this statement and spread the narrative that Chouhan’s political career was over and some people in the opposition mocked him.
“They even remarked, ‘Mamaji has already had his political last rites performed’,” he writes.
The Congress party made “misinformation” the core of its election strategy and began circulating my “distorted” statement widely on social media, Chouhan writes in the book.
“Perhaps they wanted to lower the morale of our party workers. I, too, felt that we had to do something to encourage our workers and shatter this illusion being created,” he writes.
The Union minister writes that when he looks back on that period, he does not remember the “mockery” of the Congress, but rather the “deeply touching sensitivity shown by Modi”.
Despite being extremely busy in the middle of the election campaign, the senior BJP leader says, Modi personally called him.
“He (Modi) did not address me as the chief minister. With great warmth and affection, he said, ‘Today I am not speaking to the chief minister, nor am I calling regarding the elections. I am speaking to my Shivraj’,” Chouhan writes.
The Union minister writes that the prime minister very gently asked, “Why are you so worried? If you have any spiritual guide or guru whom you respect, go to them and seek guidance. Spend some time in solitude and keep your mind calm, balanced, and steady”.
Chouhan says he felt perhaps he (Modi) thought “I might also need some reassurance. I told him, ‘Bhai Saheb, I do not want anything. I only want to work'”, according to the book.
He writes in the book that Modi replied, “No, Shivraj, spend a day or two alone, look within yourself, regain your composure, and then return to work.” “He (Modi) wanted me to pause, reflect inwardly, and reawaken my inner strength. His affection deeply touched my heart. A leader burdened with the responsibilities of an entire nation was also concerned about my personal state of mind; that is true sensitivity,” he writes.
Chouhan, a four-time former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, said he accepted the prime minister’s suggestion and went to Uttarakhand.
“A little distance away from Rishikesh, I sat for hours in solitude on the banks of the Ganga. Watching the flowing waters and the immovable mountains, my mind gradually became clear and peaceful. It was then that I fully understood what Modi ji had done. His affection was not only personal, it was also strategic,” he writes.
Chouhan writes that Modi understood very well that if misleading media reports weakened his morale, the effect would spread to the BJP workers as well.
“By standing beside me emotionally and expressing his personal faith in me, he was not only supporting me, but also strengthening the resolve of thousands of dedicated workers,” he writes and describes the gesture by Modi as the highest form of leadership — where sensitivity and strategy blend together naturally.
At the same time, Chouhan writes, he was deeply moved by the thought that merely from his public statement, the prime minister had sensed his inner state of mind and personally called him.
“His words carried not only guidance, but also a reassurance that I was not alone; he was with me, and the entire BJP family stood with me,” Chouhan writes.
The book will be formally launched on May 26 in New Delhi in the presence of former vice president M Venkaiah Naidu and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda. PTI ACB BJ RT
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