While Delhi showered Prime Minister Narendra Modi with wishes on his 75th birthday, Bhagwan Nagar was quietly hosting its own celebration — courtesy of Pandurang Fale, a 79-year-old who insists he’s not a Modi duplicate but the “original model.” His birthday, falling two days later on September 19, makes the coincidence all the more delicious.
Fale doesn’t just look like Modi. He is Modi — at least the Gujarat-CM-and-first-term edition. The half-sleeved kurta, the salt-and-pepper beard, even the trademark left-handed wave. “I didn’t copy him. He copied me,” he says with a straight face
.For four decades, Fale pedaled newspapers across Nagpur, including at the Fadnavis household. “I’ve even given little Devendra rides on my cycle,” he recalls with a chuckle. Later, he switched to ironing clothes until cataract forced him into retirement — or rather, into a second career as “Modi 2.0.
”Since 2014, BJP leaders have carted him to rallies to pull crowds. “A thousand, maybe two, they’d pay me. Apparently my beard works harder than their speeches,” he smirked
.Despite his resemblance, Fale hasn’t taken a single government benefit — even paying privately for his cataract surgery. And when it comes to India’s Pakistan policy, he’s got stronger opinions than most TV panelists: “We had them cornered. Why step back?
”So as the real PM blew out 75 candles in Delhi, Nagpur’s prototype prepared for his 79th. Because in Bhagwan Nagar, even birthdays come with duplicates.
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