Modi proclaims his premiership star
By Priyanka Bhardwaj
NEW DELHI - When Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat, arguably India's most progressive state, attempted to woo students at Delhi University's premier Sriram College of Commerce this month. In the process he removed all doubts among his detractors, opposing political parties and observers that he is on his way to make a serious bid to become the consensus prime ministerial candidate of the non-left-leaning and non-Congress parties, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Even before his stupendous hat-rick of sorts at the Gujarat assembly elections last December, it was evident that the rise of Modi's political star would want expression on a pan-India scale.
In the light of this fact, one needs to understand Modi's forceful
exaltations for a Young India to dream big and rise above constituency, caste, religion and class - and his successful, albeit Gujarat-specific solutions in revamping governance through the expansion of social opportunities, the promulgation of a more professional ethos in administration, and poverty alleviation.
Compared to his competitors Modi, at 62, walks tall and valiantly, and his erudite oratory finds quick translation into concrete action.
Voters prefer plans that promise development and governance for the poor and also court investment. Modi's zeal to redeem his image and realize his ambitions move him along a path that enables people to gloss over his past, which carries the weight of allegations of complicity in the 2002 Godhra pogrom that left more than 1,000 dead, mostly from the Muslim community.
Modi scored his main victories by winning the Muslim-dominated Salaya Municipality of Gujarat in the 2012 assembly elections, by being praised by industry-wallahs and through a softening of European Union states who want to engage with him as the one who can deliver sans corruption during recessionary times.
Talk in diplomatic circles has it that the United States is also softening its stance by lifting its ban on Modi's entry to the country last October.
Modi leads the pack of credible heavyweight aspirants for the premiership in the 2014 general elections, according to most India analysts, and there are murmurs of a possible national victory for him just as opposing forces lose no chance to pinpoint a fault here or there.
Current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's second term at the center has been not just lackluster, but he has also suffered blows to his image as an economic magician, as he failed to rein in the economy, and he failed to bring participants of a single scam to book.
The other PM aspirant is from The Family: Rahul Gandhi for all purposes, on a careful analysis is more rhetoric than substance, more awe than admiration, and more an outsourcer than doer. This leaves him far behind Modi to pose any serious challenge.
Spin doctors or PR managers of Rahul can only work so much to hoist him up as a leader of 540 million young citizens, but to rise above this advertorial brand ambassador status would be the real task and require some real intelligence, foresight and leadership. He could however choose to live with his ``not-for-now'' syndrome and allow a P Chidambaram or an AK Antony to represent the people and himself on the top-seat of power.
Even on his side of the political divide, Modi has been a frontrunner among the more than dozen capable competitors, including erstwhile Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj (who reportedly enjoys the sy,pathy of Shiv Sena (the oldest ally of the BJP in National Democratic Alliance), Arun Jaitley, Jaswant Singh, Ravishankar Prasad, Venkaiah Naidu and Yashwant Sinha, to name a few.
Understandably, as the most popular face, Modi gained approval of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideologue parent body of the BJP, especially after charges of dubious funding of Nitin Gadkari's Purti group of companies forced his replacement with Rajnath Singh.
More recently it is not yet evident whether their open advocacy for Modi to be projected as a BJP-backed candidate for the premiership was a ploy by Yashwant Sinha, Ram Jethmalani and Jaitley to create a controversy that would push him out of the race. BJP allies, especially Bihar's Nitish Kumar (the leader of Janata Dal, United) and Mamata Banerjee (of the Trinamool Congress) would walk out of the National Democratic Alliance for sure.
On March 1-3, the BJP national executive and national council meetings are expected to ratify Rajnath Singh as party president. With deliberations on a political roadmap for 2013 assembly elections and the 2014 general elections, the party may also need a rethink about announcing Modi as its prime minister candidate if it chooses to go it alone in 2014.
Past evidence suggests a non-controversial image, accommodation and practical compromises are necessary to secure alliances for government formations - and this is one crucial test that Modi's candidature has yet to break through.
Priyanka Bhardwaj is a New Delhi-based freelance journalist. She can be reached at priyankabhardwaj1@gmail.com
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