What Sudhir Kumar was for Sachin Tendulkar, Shrawan Sah is for Narendra Modi.
The 45-year-old man from Panhas in Begusarai district of Bihar has rarely ever missed a public rally addressed by Modi, then a PM candidate, since 2013 quite like the 37-year-old diehard fan of Team India from Muzaffarpur who had been the master blaster’s lucky charm since 2003 till the day Tendulkar retired.
As Modi addressed a 70,000-plus motley crowd of beneficiaries, health workers, government officials and VIPs at Prabhat Tara Ground during the launch of his government’s mega health scheme, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), Sah remained the centre of attraction.
Body smeared with saffron paint, his head balancing a thermocol lotus, a humongous Modi pseudo-armour tied to his chest and armed with a Hanuman mace, the man from Begusarai was a big draw for many — from curious onlookers and shutterbugs to state police chief D.K. Pandey on security recce.
The crowd at Prabhat Tara Ground in Ranchi on Sunday. Prashant Mitra
Sah clarified that he was not a BJP worker and his allegiance only lay with NaMo. “I never miss his rallies. His speeches inspire me. I have been paying from my own pocket to attend his rallies since 2013. My boss has never denied me leave,” said Sah, a lawyer’s clerk at Begusarai court.
Has he ever met the PM in person? “Well, no. But, I aspire to. During the next parliamentary elections (in 2019), I plan to stay in the constituency from where NaMo will fight. I will sure meet him,” he said.
Kishore Kumar Jaba, a resident of Ratu Road in Ranchi, was yet another diehard Modi fan who pedalled to the programme venue with a placard on his bicycle. Sanjeev Singh, on the other hand, came from Hazaribagh flaunting a painting of Modi on his bare chest.
People began arriving in droves as early as 10.30am and in an hour, the hangar with a capacity of 80,000 was nearly packed. Thousands stood outside as well listening to Modi’s 42-minute speech. Many came from neighbouring states such as Odisha’s Mayurbhanj and Bengal’s Purulia.
The core crowd comprised around 3,000 anganwadi workers and sahiyas who came from different districts, besides a large number of BJP workers. Some overenthusiastic workers even captured the media enclosure to get a closer look at their leader.
Well-known folk artiste and Padma Shri Mukund Nayak, along with his troupe, performed Paika and other tribal dances to greet the PM.
Modi began his speech in Nagpuri dialect and said he was launching the “world’s biggest health scheme” from the land of freedom hero and tribal icon Birsa Munda. The crowd cheered as the PM used every opportunity to take a dig at the Congress who he said had fooled the poor for decades.
Those in the crowd who observe politics saw long-term gains in the scheme for Modi.
“Note kar lijiye: agar yeh yojana successful ho gaya, to Modiya agla election mein sab garibhan ka vote ley jawega (Note it down: if the health scheme is successful, Modi will bag all the votes of the poor),” said one.
