Narendra Modi has again created a buzz in social media platforms. Both Facebook and Twitter are abuzz as BJP launched the Urdu version of the Gujarat chief minister and the prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi’s official website.

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The portal was launched in Mumbai by veteran Bollywood script writer Salim Khan and Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s father, at his residence on 16th April.

Mr. Zafar Sareshwala, a noted Muslim businessman from Gujarat, and a known Modi supporter, was present on the occasion. 

The website is divided into nine columns and it covers numerous aspects related to Modi, including his biography, achievements, governance strategy, his messages to the nation and his self-proclaimed development in the state of Gujarat.

The person who wrote the website seems to be a very qualified Urdu writer, as he has used his linguistic skills to present a worthy sketch of Modi’s life. The articles on the website use beautiful words, attractive imagery along with reasonable and philosophical metaphors.

An ornamental language can be seen in many of the articles there. But interestingly, the writer could not resist himself from giving the title of “Aam Aadmi” (a common man) to Modi’s biographical sketch, a title that every party had adopted for its campaign in the on-going Lok Sabha elections. 

In sharp contrast to the Hindutva agenda and the construction of the Ram Mandir, which are core BJP issues, the Urdu website has pleasant pictures of Muslim men with the traditional cap and flowing religious beards on their faces, while, the women are attired in complete burqa.

The men seem happy, shaking hands with and giving a warm hug to Modi. 

Though the currently on-going election manifesto of the BJP promises to bring in the uniform civil code in the country which shall surely not be acceptable to all the citizens due to a huge diversity in thoughts and practices, the website labels Modi a man to dream of a ‘united India with its pristine diverse religious and cultural aspects’ and calls the citizens to unite against social, political and other forms of injustice.

It puts forth and agenda of development, employment, prosperity and the volatility of the country and exhorts the people to join hands in the mission. It presents Mr. Modi as a man who weaves a dream of a prosperous country where every living being feels happy and satisfied.      

In his messages to the nation,Modi speaks on education, society, politics, and sports and so on. He also articulates highly philosophical and thought provoking ideas, making him a man of great intellect and wisdom. But as his political instinct goes, he is unable to resist himself from criticizing the Congress, the party currently in power.

According to the website, the portal has been launched in Urdu as part of the “focused initiatives” of Modi at “reaching across to a cross section of people”. The website further mentions the launch as an “initiative” to put across Modi’s views to “people across the border”.

As of now, Narendra Modi's website is currently available in eleven regional languages (Gujarati, Hindi, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Punjabi and Assamese and Odia) and four foreign languages (Russian, Japanese, Chinese and Spanish), along with English.

Better late than never, Narendra Modi’s website is now in Urdu, a widely spoken and understood language of the country as well.

Salim Khan claims that Urdu is one of the most beautiful languages and he is in love with it. Moreover, he is friend of Modi. This was the reason why he not only suggested Modi to launch the Urdu version of his website, but also did it at his own residence. He also adds that this is not a strategy to secure the votes from the minority, especially Muslim masses. 

But this initiative was taken at the time when the whole country is engaged in the election, considered as a watershed in Indian politics, due to emergence of a seemingly volatile common-men front, giving the country the third option, as well as Modi’s prime ministerial candidature. Can we know “Why”?