Dr Annapurna Shukla, 91, was pleasantly surprised when a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited her Varanasi residence last month and requested her to be one of the proposers for the leader's Lok Sabha candidature. Days later on April 27, Modi touched her feet before submitting his papers to the returning officer. Varanasi respects Dr Annapurna as an infant healthcare specialist, who quit a lucrative career as an academician at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to serve the society. Post-retirement she built an orphanage and a technical school that has trained 92,000 girls so far. Another reason why she and her husband Dr B M Shukla, 95, former vice-chancellor of Gorakhpur University, are highly regarded is that they have not had any political affiliation so far.

But why did she agree to endorse Modi? Reacting to this, she said, "I'm not a politician but a social worker and academician. I did not go there to give a boost to Modi's popularity. I know him as a person who loves his mother. He sought my blessings. When he touched my feet, I blessed him as a mother. I asked him to take responsibility of the nation as any mother who cares for her child would do. When I said this to him, he had tears in his eyes."