Modi is a true political magician. He has made it a habit by now to win posing political games.
The PM is said to have been receiving repeated intelligence that the constituents of Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani are mighty peeved with him. The writing on the wall seemed to be that Rupani would lose his seat in the coming polls. This is why Modi created a media blitz around the Rajkot rod show recently. That was the unprecedented 8-km road show with a foreign premier, the ever-obliging Shinzo Abe of Japan. At the end of the Indo-Japan road show, Modi headed straight to the Saiyad Mosque and then paid his ritual obeisance at the Lal Darwaza, where scores of Muslims had been shown waiting for him for hours. Modi embraced select Muslim leaders and asked about their welfare. It is learnt that just this Houdini touch made many Muslim families his fans.