At a glance: Team Narendra Modi

New Delhi: Narendra Modi is today the most trending person on Indian political landscape. No political discussion can be complete without a discussion on Modi's prime ministerial candidature. All political surveys are predicting Narendra Modi's emergence as the most preferred PM candidate in upcoming general elections. Today Modi's popularity has transcended all barriers of caste, creed and religion. Muslim community is obviously not very comfortable with the idea of'Modi as PM' but the bitterness for Modi is subsiding in the community compared to what it was a few months back.From a ‘pariah' politician, Modi today is the flavor of the election season. Even his political opponents like Ram Vilas Paswan have no hesitation now in joining hands with Modi. Apart from Modi, Udit Raj, the renowned Dalit philosopher and Randas Athavale of RPI have also joined hands with Modi.The question is how did it happen? Is it just a normal political development or Modi has achieved this feat through a well-crafted strategy? And if this is a result of an astute political strategy then who executed it with perfection?The fact is that Modi has a team that works assiduously for him and has been behind the blitzkrieg on Modi that we have seen in media in recent times.It's time to know who all are there in Modi's team. Let's have a look at Team Modi:1. Steven King: Steven King is the associate director in PR firm APCO Worldwide's London office. APCO Worldwide was given the responsibility of promoting Narendra Modi's dream project ‘Vibrant Gujarat' on 14 Dec, 2009. It is believed that 45 experts from 20 countries are working are working for ‘Vibrant Gujarat' project. The Gujarat government pays an annual fee of Rs 2.25 crore to APCO Worldwide for its services.In response to an RTI query, the information came out that King was one of the APCO worldwide officials working for ‘Vibrant Gujarat' project. The New York Times had referred to Modi as the spokesperson of Narendra Modi sometime back.2. Gad Ben Ari: Gad Ben Ari is also working on ‘Vibrant Gujarat'. Gad is the former media advisor of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. 3. Piyush GoelPiyush Goel is a Rajya sabha MP belonging to BJP and heads the committee that looks after Social Media campaign of BJP. He is a CA by profession and was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2010. Nowadays Piyush is leading Modi's publicity campaign on social media platforms like Facebook and Tweeter. According to Piyush Goel, Rajesh jain, Anupam Trivedi and Arvind Gupta are the backbones of his team.4. Rajesh JainRajesh is an IITian and is working as a volunteer for BJP. He is a venture capitalist by profession. He is an important member of BJP's internet campaign. 5. Anupam TrivediAnupam is an MBA from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) and he looks after the content of BJP's social media campaign.6. Arvind GuptaArvind Gupta heads the IT cell of the BJP. Arvind has done his studies from BHU. The credit for bringing Arvind to BJP goes to former BJP chief Nitin gadkari7. K Kailashnathan60 year old Kailash is a former IAS officer of 1979 batch. He retired as Additional Chief Secretary of Gujarat and was appointed as the Chief Minister's Chief Principal Secretary.8. Vijay NehraVijay Nehra is the youngest man working in the CMO of Gujarat Chief Minister. A few days back he was appointed as the CEO of Metro Link Express between Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.9. Girish Chandra MurmuMurmu is the senior most officer in Modi's office. He also handles Home department.10. Bipin ChauhanIt is said that Modi's attire and appearance has played an important role in created the present image of Modi. It's Bipin Chauhan who takes all major decisions regarding Modi's public appearance including his attire. It is said that the much talked-about ‘Modi Kurta' was also finalized with his consent. 11. Hiren JoshiHiren Joshi is an OSD in Chief Minister's office. Hiren Joshi answers queries on social media on behalf of Narendra Modi.12. Sanjay Bhavsar50 year old Sanjay Bhavsar belons to Gujarat PCS and was acting as Deputy Collector of Ahmedabad till 2002. It is Sanjay who finalises the list of people who are allowed to meet Modi.13. O P SinghO P Singh is the personal secretary of Narendra Modi. He is working with Modi since 2001. 14. Parindu BhagatParindu is a Chartered Accountant (CA) by profession and manages the fund that BJP receives from different sources.15. Prasahant KishorePrashant Kishore was the head of UN mission in Africa. He is one of the main strategists of Modi's team. Nowadays he is associated with Citizen for Accountable Governance (CAG). The importance of CAG can be understood from the fact that Modi spent nearly 8 hours in one of its meetings held in Delhi recently.