I can never forget how Narendra Modi, as organisational in charge of the BJP Haryana, went all out in 1999 to mobilise my election donation. The first donation I received was from Modiji himself. He donated to my campaign fund Rs 11 his mother had once given saying they would come to good use one day,” recalls Yadav, a Kargil war widow, who contested the 1999 Lok Sabha election as a BJP candidate.
Yadav’s memories of Modi and similar testimonies by several others who have interacted with the prime minister over all these years are now in public domain in the form of a web portal – modistory.in – a volunteer initiative to piece together the life of a leader many describe in their narrations as “enigmatic and exceptional”.
Sharing Yadav’s story on the portal, former union minister and sitting Lok Sabha MP Ratan Lal Kataria speaks of how the BJP, on Modi’s suggestion in 1999, decided to field Kargil war widows in the Lok Sabha election.
After a great deal of search, we found Sudha Yadav in Gurugram. Modiji spread a sheet in the party office to invite campaign donations for her. He began by making a donation himself and within half an hour, Rs 7.5 lakh was collected,” remembers Kataria.
