There’s a WhatsApp message doing the rounds lately — about how Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi’s brothers and sisters continue to live humble, ordinary lives. Usually, such forwards are quickly dismissed as political propaganda. But in this case, the truth is both verifiable and profoundly moving.
At a time when political dynasties in India have treated power as a family business, Narendra Modi stands out as an astonishing exception. His family lives not in sprawling Lutyens’ bungalows or under Z-plus security, but as common citizens — earning, struggling, and surviving like millions of other Indians.
Compare this with the Nehru-Gandhi clan — the longest political dynasty India has ever endured. From Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi, from Rajiv Gandhi to Rahul Gandhi, the Congress family tree grew fat on state largesse. Government accommodation, lifelong security, taxpayer-funded foreign travel, and official protocol followed them like hereditary rights. Even their in-laws and extended family enjoyed undue privileges.
The story didn’t stop with them. Successive Congress regimes extended VVIP culture to kith and kin of top leaders. Bungalows in Delhi’s most expensive zones were retained long after the leaders had demitted office. The son-in-law and his parents enjoyed official accommodation, security escorts, and all the trappings of political royalty. That such feudal entitlement continued in a democratic republic was shameful.
Even during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee era, some remnants of this culture survived — perhaps as a matter of coalition dharma. But all that changed when Narendra Modi walked into 7 Lok Kalyan Marg in May 2014.
Modi’s approach to power was revolutionary in its austerity. The new Prime Minister didn’t treat the official residence as a personal palace. He didn’t bring his family to live with him. He didn’t turn his relatives into courtiers or beneficiaries. In fact, his aged mother, Heeraben Modi, continued to live in her modest home in Gandhinagar until her passing — and Modi was often seen visiting her as a son, not as a head of government.
Soon after taking office, Modi’s government moved decisively to end the practice of former ministers and their families clinging to official bungalows and privileges. Notices were issued; unauthorized occupants were evicted. That one step symbolically restored the idea that public office is a responsibility, not a hereditary right.
Consider the lives of Modi’s own siblings and cousins:
- Somabhai Modi (75) – a retired health officer, now devotes his time to social service.
- Amrutbhai (72) – worked in a private factory, now retired.
- Prahlad (64) – runs a small ration shop in Ahmedabad.
- Pankaj (58) – works as a clerk in the Information Department of Gujarat.
- Arvindbhai (64) – deals in scrap.
- Ashokbhai (51) – sells kites and groceries.
- Bharatbhai (55) – works at a petrol pump.
- Chandrakant (48) – tends cows at a local goshala.
This is not a tale spun by party propagandists. These are real lives, lived with quiet dignity — untouched by the privileges of power.
Imagine the spectacle if TV journalists — the same ones who endlessly probe the private lives of politicians — actually went to Vadnagar and met Bharatbhai at the petrol pump. Picture them buying a few kites from Ashokbhai or some scrap from Arvindbhai. That would be the real India story — a family that chose self-respect over entitlement.
In an era when politics has become synonymous with nepotism and entitlement, Narendra Modi’s example is not just rare — it’s revolutionary. He has demonstrated that leadership is about service, not inheritance. That the “first family” of the nation should not live off the nation.
While other leaders obsess over their sons’ or daughters’ political futures, Modi’s family members remain completely detached from politics. None of them hold positions of influence, none have benefited from contracts or posts, and none have even sought publicity.
This is what true leadership looks like — when the leader’s life matches his message. Modi’s journey from a tea seller to the Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy is already extraordinary. But perhaps even more extraordinary is how he has carried himself in power — with discipline, detachment, and devotion to duty.
In the final analysis, the measure of a leader is not how high he rises, but how grounded he remains. Narendra Modi’s life — and that of his family — is a testament to the idea that service to the nation comes before self, before family, and before privilege.
Can there be a better role model Prime Minister than that?
