This Article is From May 24, 2014

Tea Seller, Who Proposed Narendra Modi's Name from Vadodara, to Attend His Swearing-In

Tea Seller, Who Proposed Narendra Modi's Name from Vadodara, to Attend His Swearing-In

Kiran Mahida, the tea seller who was one of the proposers of Mr Modi

Vadodara: Apart from top politicians and Bollywood superstars, Narendra Modi has also invited a tea seller from Vadodara to his swearing-in as Prime Minister on Monday.

"Got invited to Modiji's ceremony, I am delighted right now," said the tea seller Kiran Mahida said.

Mr Mahida was one of the five proposers when Mr Modi filed his nomination from Vadodara last month as the BJP candidate for the Lok Sabha election. The Congress fielded Madhusudan Mistry, a close aide of party number 2 Rahul Gandhi in Vadodara. He was defeated by a record three lakh votes by Mr Modi. (Modi Gets Down to Business, Wants Report Card From Ministries)

Mr Modi filed his nomination in Vadodara after a grand roadshow. Thousands of supporters in saffron Gandhi caps and Modi masks and holding big cut-outs of the BJP's lotus symbol and many party flags, lined the stretch and crowded Mr Modi's open jeep.

The BJP said Mr Mahida being one of the proposers of Mr Modi demonstrated the wide swathe of the BJP leader's appeal. A big portion of Mr Modi's election campaign for the country's top post was built around his modest beginnings as a young boy who sold tea on trains.

Mr Modi also contested from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. A retired high court judge who is the grandson of noted educationist Madan Mohan Malaviya, a renowned singer from Varanasi, a weaver and a boatman were the four proposers of Mr Modi's candidature in the holy city.

Led by Mr Modi, a former RSS pracharak, the BJP won a massive mandate in the national election, winning 282 seats on its own - a clear majority - and 336 seats with its 29 allies.

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