Feasting with fasting Narendra Modi

Ahmedabad, Sep 25 (UNI) For a bachelor Chief Minister, interacting with a band of sprightly women journalists may be an uncomfortable exercise -- but not for Gujarat's ''strong man'' Narendra Modi.

The 56-year-old ''master strategist,'' as Gujarat's official web site describes him, held a breakfast meeting with 60-odd women journalists from national and international media at his official residence in Gandhinagar yesterday.

Asked how it felt it to be surrounded by hordes of women, he quipped ''I am not disturbed.'' ''See, you people are taking breakfast while I am fasting on the occasion of Navratri. Even then, I am not disturbed,'' he added.

The breakfast fare included iddli-sambar-vada, chhole-bhature, sandwiches, paranthas, jalebis, fruits and salads.

The journalists were specially flown in to witness the inauguration of the Navratri festival, a rich cultural extravaganza showcased to the world at a cost of several crores of rupees.

At the end of the nearly 30-minute-long interaction, Mr Modi was immediately surrounded by most of the newswomen who showered him with compliments for the 'excellent mega Navratri show' and the 'wonderful experience.' The Chief Minister not only obliged to the requests of some of the reporters, including foreigners, to pose for photographs, but also signed a few autographs.

''Your Chief Minister is holding court!'' remarked a journalist from Europe, as the women vied with each other for Mr Modi's attention.

Even while accepting the compliments of the women journalists with modesty, Mr Modi was also quick to snub those who posed 'harsher' questions.

Asked by a columnist from Jamnagar why women politicians and IAS officers were not given challenging assignments like finance and industry, he said it was unfortunate that a journalist had such a poor knowledge about her own hometown. ''The Municipal Chairperson of Jamnagar is a woman,'' he pointed out.

When a journalist wanted to know how he was going to deal with terrorism, Mr Modi said, ''nobody asks me such a question. Everyone knows how I deal with terrorism.'' Asked whether he felt the media had been unfair to him and if he hated it, the Chief Minister said he had always been thankful to the media for giving him constant publicity. ''I have been covered by the media more than anybody else in the country,'' he added.

Criticised by the media in the aftermath of Godhra carnage and subsequent communal riots, Mr Modi appeared to be not only seeking to change the face of Gujarat but also his image from a Hindu hardliner to a progressive Chief Minister.

The Modi Government has declared 2006 as tourism year and made a budgetary allocation of Rs 100 crore to promote the state with the slogan 'Vibrant Gujarat - Where Life is a Celebration.' UNI AKN NK ND1434