Ahmedabad:
The family of
Narendra Modi, the man who could be India's next Prime Minister, has begun celebrations. "There is no limit to our happiness. The son of a common family is going to rule the nation," Prahlad Modi, Mr Modi's younger brother, said today.
Prahlad Modi said his brother was "fearless, brave, ambitious and truthful" since childhood.
In April, he had spoken out in Mr Modi's defense after the BJP leader's surprise acknowledgement of his marriage on his poll affidavit in Vadodara, one of the two seats he contested from in the national election. (read:
Modi says he is married, brother clarifies)
Mr Modi's admission sparked a controversy with the Congress and other rival parties attacking him for lying in previous affidavits. It also turned the media glare on his wife Jashodaben, a retired schoolteacher who lives with her brother at a town in Mehsana, 100 km from Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
Jashodaben, 62, says she hasn't met Mr Modi since he walked out three months after he married her at 17.
If the exit poll predictions bear out on Friday, when the election results are announced, Mr Modi will soon shift to the Prime Minister's residence at Race Course Road and his family, including Jashodaben and his mother Hiraben, 95, will get top security.
Mr Modi is currently guarded by the Gujarat police and the National Security Guard, whose commandos are offered to chief ministers seen as high-risk targets.
Reports suggest that the Special Protection Group, which provides security to the PM and other top VIPs of the country, is preparing its groundwork for Mr Modi's family.
Jashodaben may have to be shifted to a more protected location in Gandhinagar, reports say.
Mr Modi has three brothers and two sisters, who may now be given more security by the Gujarat police.