NEW DELHI: As a young RSS full-timer, Narendra Modi remained incognito for the entire Emergency phase, utilising it as an opportunity to work with leaders and organisations across the political spectrum which exposed him to diverse ideologies and viewpoints.
Like other satyagrahis, he adopted various disguises to evade detection.
“His disguises were so effective that even long-time acquaintances failed to recognise him. He dressed as a swamiji in saffron attire and even as a Sikh wearing a turban. On one occasion, he successfully deceived authorities in a jail to deliver an important document,” the archives handles related to Modi on social media recalled.
After Emergency was lifted in 1977, Modi’s activism and leadership during that tumultuous period started to gain recognition.
The same year, he was invited to Mumbai to participate in a discussion on the youth’s resistance efforts during Emergency.
In recognition of his fighting spirit and organisational work, Modi was appointed the ‘sambhag pracharak’ (regional organiser) of south and central Gujarat.
Young RSS full-timer Modi was also entrusted with the important task of preparing official articles of the RSS during the Emergency.
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In 1978, Modi authored his first book, ‘Sangharsh Ma Gujarat’, a memoir of his experiences as a leader in the underground movement against the Emergency in Gujarat. Remarkably, he completed the book in just 23 days.