#HowIBecameARightWinger
Living in Dubai, I was like many others mutely watching corruption and the arrogance of politicians who believed they were like Gods ruling over India in the UPA regime. @narendramodi @PMOIndia @Swamy39 1/1
As a result India was not progressing, poverty was rising, immigrants were being brought in as specific vote banks to favor these corrupt parties. Our image outside India was dismal, with people equating and slotting Indians as laborers or maidservants especially in the Gulf. 1/2
The fact that many of us were post-graduates or PhDs did not matter. And I like many others felt I could not be a silent spectator any longer, I had to join like-minded people and voice our dissent and the need for a positive change. 1/3
T next question tt popped in my mind. Was how do I do it? Sitting away from India, in a country where they censored almost everything. This was the time when SM became active and I started using twitter rather assertively and I could see more people voicing similar thoughts 1/4
1/5 As my followers grew, my confidence tt things could change became possible and we started identifying individual leaders who could hear our voices and respond to our fears and our ideas. For me it started with dynamic leaders like @Swamy39 who indirectly made me support RWs
1/6 I realised they were a large group of educated people who stood for patriotism and the need to preserve India’s unity, integrity and culture. We asked for Twitter conferences, and @swamy39 obliged, the first one was in Bangalore, I flew down from Dubai to attend it.
1/7 @Swamy39 recognized each one of us and interacted with us in a warm manner. I then realized some leaders could be more down-to-earth than the others. We were then ready to impart what we learnt from them to our own followers and thus make the circle wider.
1/8 We did this through you tube, Facebook and twitter. We knew every drop in the ocean would finally become a tsunami !
When Twitter became an active zone to discuss the political scenario, we began to notice Narendra Modi’s tweets, he was then Chief Minister of Gujarat.
1/9 And we discovered that @narendramodi was a leader who share our ideals and wanted to change India. The reports we read about Gujarat’s immense transformation under him also was impressive.
1/10 As our admiration for @narendramodi grew, I once tweeted to a friend that I would like to meet him. Within seconds I got a DM from his office asking “When I would like to go there?” I could not believe it. Dates were fixed and it happened
1/11 I went there with @Nednarayan the moment we entered his room, @narendramodi laughed and said “Meedanaji (Meedana was my Twitter Handle) Aap bahut tweet-weet karte ho (You tweet a lot). And when we started speaking he said -Let us not make this an interview, let us just talk
1/12 So what ensued was a free wheeling talk, where he asked us about how people reacted to him in UAE and how the whole #Godhra incident was misinterpreted mischievously by the MSM. When I asked him how he could bear the onslaught of the bitter attack by media..
1/13 activists, celebrities for so long, he smiled and said “At the end of the day, I too am a politician, I know how to handle this.”The more we sat with him the more we realized that there were hidden agendas both within Indian and abroad that was working on destabilizing India
1/14 and if we did not take control….India would no longer belong to us.He gave us some books about the progress made in Gujarat and his biography. We left Ahmedabad, but we knew for sure that India had a leader to look up to who could change the face of India.
1/15 The second time I met @narendramodi was when he released my book ‘Autobiography of a Bureaucrat’ a translation of MKK Nair’s autobiography in Malayalam, in December 2014. This time we were called to NaMo’s office in the new building.
1/16 Just before our meeting, a group of students from Stanford University had come to listen to his talk with their professors.But on the dot he called us in, I was accompanied by @NedNarayan and son #Jaidev.
1/17 The moment we walked in he said “Ayiye, Ayiye,” as if we were old friends coming in. He had this knack of making you feel that he is just as ordinary a citizen as you. But of course there was a certain air about him and we could sense that he was poised for a greater role.
1/18 After we discussed different things, he asked us about Dubai, when we told him that Sheikh Mohammed was doing wonders to make Dubai the finest cities in the world and that he should come and see it himself.He laughed and said “I will come there but not as a tourist but as PM
1/19 of India.” His confidence and his demeanor reflected that he already knew he would win.” On a lighter note when we asked him, who designed his kurtas, he laughed and said “Myself.”
1/20 When he released the book he asked the videographer to record it (spoke in Gujarati). At every moment he came across as the leader of the masses, he removes any barriers that exist between the common man and himself.”
1/21As we left I felt sad somewhere, knowing that once he became the PM, we wouldnt be able to meet him with the same ease that we did as a Chief Minister, but I also felt proud that the man we were leaving behind would change India’s perception in the world & be respected by all
1/22 Without realizing it how big a campaign it was going to be many of joined hands on social media to ensure NaMo's win. NaMo’s campaign was clear we had to win more than 272+ seats in the election and gain clear majority in Lok Sabha.
1/23 I guess all of us knew we could do this easily with a leader who had the conviction and the confidence. It became a mass movement with people from all professions, groups of dedicated people who left their jobs to work on this agenda
1/24 and home-makers joining hands to push the campaign. This along with Narendra Modi’s own team arranging Chai pe Charcha discussions, 3D rallies, marathons and conclaves things moved in the right direction. Around 15 t0 20 lakh people volunteered for NaMo’s campaign
1/25 it was a selfless fight to root out corruption.Both Facebook and Twitter became mediums to spread the message, and many of us who were abroad started working with like minded people in India, devoting a certain amount of our time aside from work only for this purpose.
1/26 We also became active in the BJP UAE front which ws a small group tt was only evolving. We did our research & countered any falsehood being spread by t opposition with facts, thus social media became a weapon in our hands to counter any falsehoods and sabotage of NaMo’s work
1/27 one of the best memories was: How effectively the nasty remark by Mani Shankar Iyer of Congress, about how NaMo was free to sell tea at a Congress session was turned in NaMo’s favour, by arranging ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ sessions with Namo.
1/28 With the help of modern technology NaMo was able to reach remote villages where people thought he was actually with them, addressing their issues. Thus he built a closeness with the people who would later vote him to power.
1/29 He answered questions right from the simplest to the most complex with equanimity.Some of the biggest challenges individuals like us faced was.. the Opposition had money power they would employ people to target us, we are termed the Right Winger women.
1/30 T pattern was t same as today, we wud get anonymous calls, emails from anonymous people – saying ty were appalled to read my remarks on Social media described me as a Hindu Bigot, fascist and that if my company did not fire me, they would report me to the Human Rights Comm
1/31 Being a journalist I knew the language was the same with different names emerging from countries like Oman, Australia and India. Since my publishing company was my own they did not succeed, but they were trying to create problems for me as I was in UAE, an Islamic country
1/32 which then worked closely with t UPA, in fact many of t Hindus websites were banned in UAE.. I later learned fm my friends that much of the mischief was created by a particular media woman, & that several people hd been removed from tr jobs cos of such nasty letters/emails
1/33 We were constantly trolled by people mainly on Twitter, employed by UPA to attack people who supported the NaMo movement and were strong. In one incident I criticized Nidhi Razdan’s tweets which were pro-Pakistan and I was immediately trolled by a man
1/34 who was her follower and fan, he began to make personal attacks saying he knew how women got jobs in the Gulf and it speaks of my own standard as an Editor of a publishing house and started using four letter words to frighten me off.
1/35 When I started replying, a whole host of RWs supported me. This man was working in a media house, I reported this to his editor that he was abusing me using bad language, he was then reprimanded. The best thing was Nidhi Razdan quit twitter then,
1/36 I guess she could not face the tirade from Right Wingers. Another good memory was when the ‘I Support NaMo’ group arranged a programme in Cochin to spread NaMo’s message. They had invited @M_Lekhi lekhi from Delhi, @rvaidya2000 Vaidya from Bangalore and myself from Dubai.
It was a good event with many people who wanted to join BJP after hearing of NaMo’s talks and good work in Gujarat. We interacted with @jaypanicker and #SanjuSadanand the main pillars of ‘I Support NaMo’ movement in Kerala
In 2013, we knew the wind was certainly blowing in NaMo’s direction, by 2014 we knew for certain that NaMo would become PM. When we met him the 2nd time, his confidence & his serious manner clearly indicated that he was preparing himself for a much larger role & responsibilities
that was 1/38
1/39 My family at first were wary because of my political tweets, as I used to get anonymous calls, or calls where the person on the other side would remain silent, nasty emails.. all this in a foreign country where rules regarding pol participation/ groups were prohibited.
1/40. I argued and said this is my life and I had a certain duty towards my country and this would mean taking risks as well. Slowly they understood the kind of damage/looting UPA was doing to our country.They were systematically degrading the status of Hindus
1/41 in a land where we are supposed to be the majority..just to get votes.While the moderate Muslim and Christians were silent, t radicals used this to their advantage &began openly hitting out at us. &if we were not bold and aggressive they would dominate us & make us extinct.
1/42 Slowly they changed and started openly supporting me, especially after my meeting with NaMo, when they realized we had the right leader to take us forward and change India.
1/43 we knew NaMo would win, but when the results came we could not believe it. There was a celebration in our Dubai BJP Office, where different people sponsored lunch, sweets and the venue. There was an air of optimism that now India would change
1/44 and the next few generations could see a prosperous non-corrupt India.
Photos with respected @PMOIndia @narendramodi
You can follow @MeenaDasNarayan.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: