Somabhai Modi (Narendra Modi’s brother) Age, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full name	Somabhai Damodardas Modi [1]The Economic Times
Profession(s)	Retired inspector of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's department of health, politician, and social activist
Politics
Political Party	Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (1994-present)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	19 November 1942 (Thursday)
Age (as of 2022)	80 Years
Birthplace	Vadnagar, Mehsana district, Bombay Presidency, British India (now in Gujarat, India)
Zodiac sign	Scorpio
Nationality	• British Indian (1943-1947) • Indian (1947-present)
Hometown	Vadnagar, Mehsana district. Gujarat, India
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	OBC (Modh Ghanchi) [2]News Express - YouTube
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Family Tree
Wife/Spouse	Chandrika
Children	Son(s)- 2 Note: Both of his sons are mechanical engineers
Parents	Father- Damodardas Mulchand Modi (deceased; tea vendor) Mother- Heeraben Modi (deceased)
Siblings	Brother(s)- 4 • Amrut Modi (a lathe machine operator) • Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India) • Prahlad Modi (politician) • Pankaj Modi (clerk in the Information Department of the Government of Gujarat) Sister- 1 • Vasantiben Hasmukhlal Modi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Somabhai Modi

• Somabhai Modi is a retired Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation official, BJP politician, and social activist. He is the elder brother of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• Soma did not sell tea as a child as he was interested in studies; therefore, at the age of 18, he cleared the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) recruitment exam and joined the health department. After serving for more than thirty years, Soma retired as an inspector from AMC in 1993.

• In 1994, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As a member of the BJP, Soma was given the task of visiting different constituencies in Gujarat to acquire information regarding the problems faced by the constituency’s residents and submit the report to the party. According to him, politics is not appealing to him, and he no longer partakes in active politics, despite being requested time and again by politicians. Talking about it, in an interview, he said,
  

  I have always had this clarity that I don’t want to get into politics. Mai swatantrata se kaam karate rahana chahata hoon.”

• When Narendra Modi decided to join politics, Somabhai Modi was concerned about his decision as he thought politics would lead to instability in Narendra’s life. In an interview, he said,
  

  I was a bit worried, of course. No one from our family was in politics. I was afraid that his life will be unstable.”

• On 26 March 1999, Somabhai Modi founded a trust named Sarvodaya Seva Trust.

• On 29 January 2001, on the occasion of Vasant Panchami, an old age home, Visamo Vruddhashram, was founded by Soma in memory of his father Damodardas Mulchand Modi.

• On 7 May 2006, under Sarvodaya Seva Trust, Soma founded a Physiotherapy Center.

• On 13 July 2014, Soma established Dard Nivaran Suvidha Kendra for the treatment of people suffering from severe neck and back pain.

• On 16 February 2021, Visamo Vruddhashram completed its 20 years following which it was renamed Swargast Damordas Moolchand Modi Sewasharam. Heeraben Modi inaugurated the bust of Damodardas. In an interview, while talking about this, Somabhai said,
  

  It was a quiet and private function. My mother Hiraba inaugurated the bust. Along with members at our old age home and few close people from our town we had organised a small celebration.”

  

  A photo of Heeraben and Soma Modi inaugurating Damodardas’ statue

• When Narendra Modi was serving as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he once participated in a public meeting in which he said that one of the attendees was an old acquaintance of his. This, however, was not liked by Soma, who wrote a letter to Narendra, advising him not to indulge in a public show of highlighting acquaintances. In an interview, while talking about it, he said,
  

  I felt it was not okay. I wrote that it was not ideal to highlight acquaintance during such a public meeting. You were sitting there in the capacity of a judge. People can object to it, and they can also misinterpret your judgement – it doesn’t matter that you might have made an unbiased decision. I wrote about a film I’d watched long ago, Sohrab Modi’s Nausherwan-e-Adil, in which Nausherwan punishes his son for a crime despite his wife’s wailing.”

  

  Narendra Modi with his elder brother Soma Modi

• Somabhai Modi’s hobbies include reading. He likes to read books written by authors like Kanhaiyalal Munshi, Ramanlal Desai, Pannalal Patel, and Munshi Premchand.

• Somabhai Modi has also worked with the Global Indians for Bharat Vikas (GIBV) as its vice president.