Modi’s nomination puts him on EC radar

• Modi in a flame red jacket, stood in the jeep waving to the crowds
• ‘I hope Vadodara will on April 30 vote in large numbers for the BJP’

Vadodara: A tea vendor and a member of the city's erstwhile royal family are among the five people who proposed Narendra Modi's name as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate filed his nomination papers today as the party's candidate from Vadodara in Gujarat. Mr Modi turned his drive down the four km route from Kirti Stambh to the district collector's office into a massive road show. 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 Mr Modi, in a flame red jacket, stood in the jeep waving to the crowds. Thousands of police personnel have been deployed in the city .

At the collectorate, Kiran Mahida, a tea seller proposed Mr Modi's candidacy. As did Shubhanginidevi Raje-Gaekwad, an erstwhile royal. The BJP says that demonstrates the wide swathe of Mr Modi's appeal. A big portion of the Gujarat chief minister's election campaign for the country's top post has been built around his modest beginnings as a young boy who sold tea on trains. "Mr Modi has decimated the difference between royalty and a humble man like me," Kiran Mahida said. "It shows any party worker will be rewarded if he just keeps working hard." After filing his papers, Mr Modi said, "I started my political journey from Vadodara. I hope that all voters in Vadodara will on April 30 vote in large numbers for the BJP."

The Congress has fielded Madhusudan Mistry, a close aide of party number 2 Rahul Gandhi in Vadodara. Even in a state that Mr Modi has comprehensively won over the last 12 years, Vadodara stands out as a BJP stronghold; the party had won the seat by almost 1.5 lakh votes in 2009. Six of the seven assembly segments in Vadodara are held by the BJP. The seventh was won by an Independent, who soon joined the BJP fold.

Meanwhile, poll officials in Gujarat will check the video footage to determine whether Modi entered Vadodara District Collector's office, where he filed his nomination, with more supporters than stipulated though prima facie there appears to be no violation of norms. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Gujarat has asked the Vadodara Collector to provide the footage of BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate's entry into his office. "After watching the visuals on TV channels, we have asked the District Collector to submit the video on Modi's entry with his supporters. As per rules, only five people can go with a candidate while filing papers.