Modi turns to Narendra for inspiring Gujarati youth preparing for 150th birth anniversary

After the Sadbhavana fasts Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is all set to hit headlines again with another mega event–this time banking on another Narendra!

He will tap the energy of Gujarati youths for the 2012 assembly elections. After January 12, 2012, he will visit every district of the state to visit youth conferences that are to be organised as part of the yearlong celebrations of Swami Vivekanand’s 150th birth anniversary. Incidentally, Swami Vivekanand’s name was Narendra Nath Dutta before he took sanyas.

Sources close to the development confirmed that the chief minister will indeed be visiting every district next year but this time it will be to address the youth conferences planned for Swami Vivekanand’s birth celebrations.

“Swami Vivekanand’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations will be a yearlong affair. They will start from January 12, 2012 and continue till January 12, 2013.
The chief minister will be addressing youths at the mega event which will kick-off the yearlong celebrations. After that youth conferences will be held in every district. The chief minister will visit these conferences too and meet and talk to the youths of the state,” a source in the state government said.

The source said it is obvious even at the Sadbhavna fasts that the chief minister is focusing on young voters for the elections next year. “In this backdrop, the youth conferences planned next year will certainly help him politically. The reason is that for today’s youth, Swami Vivekanand is a role model. Moreover, Modi is popular as a political leader among the youths of Gujarat,” the source claimed.

Political observer and writer Vishnu Pandya sees it slightly differently. He said that the youth conferences planned for Swami Vivekanand’s 150th birth anniversary shouldn’t be seen as a political gambit. "Of course, Swami Vivekanand, Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh are figures which today's youth want to connect to. Someone needs to try and inspire the state's youths through Swami Vivekanand's 150th birth anniversary celebrations. Of course, if the CM addresses youths at these conferences, it will be to inspire young people socially, culturally and politically," Pandya said.