Who is afraid of Narendra Modi?

He frightens them because he is everything that the present day politician of India is not — a man of strength and steel, with no skeletons in the cupboard that can break his strength or buy him up, and no greed for personal financial aggrandizement. This is what the present political system of India cannot stomach.
Before I proceed with my weekly piece, let me wish my readers a very Happy Diwali. May this Diwali truly usher in the victory of good over evil and bring peace and prosperity to our people and our country. Now, to my piece. Narendra Modi has created the political upheaval that I expected he would.
The Congress party appears to be in a huddle, with no clue as to how to deal with this new political phenomenon. Even our Prime Minister, best known for moderate and terse statements, whenever he is not silent, used a rather extreme word, "onslaught" to describe Modi's entry into the national political stage, a word normally associated with combat.
How comfortable and cosy previous national elections were. Election behaviour of political parties was predictable; everyone knew everyone else's secrets; everyone understood each other's mediocrities, and empathised with one another's personal ambitions. They sportingly accepted mutual election unpleasantness and acrimony, with a remarkable understanding and bonhomie. After all, verbal acrimony during elections happens all over the world and is a sign of a mature democracy. And by no means did it disturb the political comfort levels of leading political figures. The dynasty was given due respect, even when criticised, and conversely, it had its own favourites in the Opposition for its own reasons, whom it never criticised. Election manifestoes contained a host of promises, several of them unfulfilled promises of yesteryears. But all political parties would rest assured thereafter, knowing full well that once the election was over, they would never be held accountable about them either by the people of India or their own party brass. The lucky winners could then start the serious and exciting business of plundering India, alongside forming appropriately understanding alliances with the Opposition. What is it about Narendra Modi that seems to frighten the comfortable ruling establishments, present or prospective, out of their wits?
As I have stated earlier, he frightens them because he is everything that the present day politician of India is not — a man of strength and steel, with no skeletons in the cupboard that can break his strength or buy him up, and no greed for personal financial aggrandizement. This is what the present political system of India cannot stomach.
How dare he not be like one of us, is what is written beneath their anti-Modi script.
Next, he frightens them, because his record of governance suggests that he is a patriot who places our country before anything else. The Congress governance model is based on electoral vote bank politics, even at the cost of breaking the country asunder. Neutralisation of vote banks spells doom for the Congress, and rumblings from the minority communities are already being heard. He frightens them because he is a quick decision maker, something anathema to a regime that believes in plundering the country through multiple pathways, with the chief political executive looking the other way, dithering or passing the buck. The UPA dispensation has made decision making by the Prime Minister unnecessary, undesirable and extinct. It has become a regime of GOMs and PMO (as differentiated from the Prime Minister) and NAC. And unless the Prime Minister has a personal interest in an issue, such as coal block allocation, the PMO has innovated a theory of "distancing itself" from the murky goings on in government, a new coinage, whatever it means, in the Arthashastra of South Block. The Modi critics believe that this implies true team spirit in running a government that Modi lacks, and that unlike Modi, the Prime Minister exemplifies a true team leader, because he is always outsourcing decision making (his first and legitimate function), to his GOMs or to the Core Committee or NAC. According to them, there is no way that Modi being a quick decision maker can qualify to be a good team leader, because neither does he believe in disseminating his accountability or responsibility to extra constitutional authorities like GOMs, and nor does he require their safety of numbers. Quick decision making and taking responsibility for it scares South Block and frightens it like Banquo's ghost. It must be exterminated before it strikes, for the sake of saving team leadership and secular unity, which in reality means the best financial interest of the ruling establishment. So start labelling decisiveness as divisiveness or communalism or lack of team leadership without explaining any of them, and keep repeating them until they stick.
What has started terrifying the ruling establishment even more is the magnetic power Narendra Modi holds over the crowds, and the ease with which he establishes a rapport with them. Psychologists call this quality "charisma", a gift which one either has or doesn't have.
As Modi's oratory and charisma become more and more visible to the nation and his rallies keep increasing in size all over the country, opinion across the country (including within the Congress establishment) is that as a political leader, he stands unmatched and unstoppable. The Congress party, during the last decade, had a single point objective on which it concentrated, using all the might of the state machinery it controlled. And that was to somehow get Modi personally indicted in a court of law for the 2002 riots that would finish his political career. For it was in Modi, more than anyone else in the political arena, that they saw the real threat to its power. Modi is neither intimidated nor pays obeisance to them, regardless of the historical halo they claim. However, they were neither able to politically assassinate him nor banish him into disgrace.
The Congress is in crisis — frustrated and frightened. They must helplessly countenance day after day Narendra Modi's steady and hard earned success finally reaching the national political stage, and being declared the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate of India. How will the party vice president compete with the charisma, the oratory, the experience and insights that can only be acquired by being a three-time Chief Minister?
The country is aghast at the party vice president's attitude and oratory, starting with the gate-crashing at Ajay Maken's press conference. He then indulged in a speech evoking death images of his father and grandmother. This infuriated the Sikhs and Tamils. In his next speech, he dwelt upon the Muzzafarnagar riots, as usual wrongly blaming the BJP, the real reason being the Jat-Muslim dynamics as manipulated by the ruling Samajwadi Party; and made the startling disclosure regarding the IB informing him of ISI agents recruiting Muzzafarnagar Muslim victims. This time the Muslim community was infuriated and the Home Ministry rubbished the statement.
The serial bomb blasts at Gandhi Maidan Patna were shocking. But what came through to the people of India, and what I regret has not been noticed or lauded by the media or political commentators, was Modi's composure and demeanour while he was speaking, even as low intensity bombs were going off, and danger and death confronted him in the face. The country requires no further demonstration of his courage in the face of mortal danger, his presence of mind, his leadership qualities, and forbearance.
Article Credits,RAM JETHMALANI,sunday-guardian

Arrogant Nitish Kumar appeared happy after Patna blasts, Narendra Modi

At an election rally in Chhattisgarh, which votes for its next government this month, Mr Modi configured an image of Mr Kumar as an uncaring chief minister "whose body language suggested happiness" after last month's serial blasts in Patna which preceded a massive rally held by the BJP leader. Mr Modi, who is the BJP's candidate for Prime Minister, was not harmed in those explosions. Six people were killed and 83 injured; the BJP has attributed the terror attack to the "gross criminal negligence" of Mr Kumar and his government. In Chhattisgarh, the BJP and chief minister Raman Singh are seeking a third consecutive term in power. Mr Modi used a Naxal attack in the state in May in which several Senior Congress leaders were killed to compare and contrast the Chhattisgarh chief minister's performance to that of Mr Kumar's. "Dr Raman Singh met the victims, instituted an investigation to look into the shortcomings of the government." He added, "When the Bihar Chief Minister was questioned on the blasts, his arrogance was evident. See how an empathetic Chief Minister behaves and how an arrogant Chief Minister behaves."

Narendra Modi tears into Nitish Kumar at Hunkaar Rally

India gets a leader, finally

People see in Modi everything that UPA leaders are not, a man who can deliver our country back to us. All right thinking people who feel strongly for the genuine progress and prosperity of our country have heaved a sigh of relief at the BJP declaring Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections. Yes, there was a power struggle, as there is and should be in any real democracy in the world. It was a tough contest and the best man won. But many in India have become so accustomed to dynastic succession, that a democratic succession exercised through contest in the true spirit of democracy is construed as a great aberration, or an indication of a dysfunctional political party. Dynasty has even changed the democratic terminology, particularly among the media. Never before have I heard the words "anointment" and "coronation" recklessly becoming idioms of a democratic leadership change. Some of the despondency that was gripping the country has started to lift. During the last few years, one heard the same questions over and over again across the spectrum: where is this country heading? Is there any hope at all for the future? Because what every patriotic and responsible citizen saw during the last decade of UPA rule was a directionless drift, apathy towards national interest and the welfare of the people, a complete breakdown of the state machinery, and a supreme commitment to corruption. The poor of India experienced the highest form of cruelty inflicted on them through the unprecedented rise in the prices of their already meagre food consumption articles, which all the misleading promises of the Food Security Act cannot compensate. For me personally, it was a momentous event, something that I have been consistently urging the BJP to do for the last few years. And when I say this, I speak about the interest of the nation, and the leadership it needs today, and not about the interest of any particular person. Regardless of the unceasing propaganda hurled against Narendra Modi, his popular appeal among the intelligentsia and the masses had already been acknowledged, even by an unfriendly media, through the series of surveys and opinion polls that put him at the top of the list for future Prime Minister. People believe he has the qualities that are required to forcefully stem the steep descent of our polity into a completely failed state. Clearly, it is refreshing and promising for people that they do not find any resemblance between Modi and any of the present political leaders of the UPA. Instead, they see in him everything that the UPA leaders are not — the last ray of hope that can end our nation's nightmare and deliver our country back to us. However, the road ahead will continue to be pitted with challenges. Narendra Modi's enemies outside his own party, though strangely sobered and bewildered about how to handle this new blazing star on the Prime Ministerial firmament, will continue their vilification campaign against him, despite their previous failures. They know that they don't have anything substantial to attack him with. His record in governance and achievement has been impressive, whether on the development or economic front. There is no taint of corruption in his decade long tenure as Chief Minister. The SIT found nothing to implicate him personally in the unfortunate 2002 riots. Having exhausted these, Modi's enemies have been forced to downgrade their weaponry to a weak propaganda of some vague and non-existent accusations that even they find difficult to substantiate. For example, accusations against Modi have now changed from the political to personal, using hazy, nebulous words. The worst his enemies now call him is a "polarising figure", whatever that means. Well, in my view, if Modi is able to polarise opinions regarding what is good for the country and what is not, I think, the polarisation was long overdue. Next, he is accused of being "divisive", again without explaining what it means. After ten long years of UPA's paralysed governance, it appears that anyone "decisive" is now derisively labelled as "divisive". Do these accusers, supported by some sections of the media, consider it more beneficial for the progress of our nation and people to continue the non-decisive UPA leadership model of "coalition dharma" of corruption and inaction, which has almost destroyed our country, and made us a laughing stock in the world? Today, we are pathetically known the world over as an aspiring global superpower reeking in corruption; a power which has lost the ability to govern or protect its national interest and is ever too eager to sell its national interest for private gain. All opinion polls suggest that India has had enough of the UPA's consensus and compromise leadership model, and instead requires a strong, firm, no-nonsense leader. Modi's enemies have spread another canard, that he is no "team leader", that he's a "one man show", again without providing any details or substance. I can only ask that if he were indeed not a team leader, would he win three elections in succession in Gujarat, surrounded as he was by powerful opponents holding the keys to every national investigation agency in the country and instigating every possible dissenter to revolt against him? I ask these puerile critics to compare the intra party revolts within the Congress and the UPA constituents in states across the country, with the Gujarat BJP, before they loosely throw around terms like team leadership, divisiveness and polarisation. But I do notice that the misuse of the word "communal" to describe him has reduced drastically. I claim that even though I have several admiring friends, and perhaps several critics, neither my admirers nor critics have ever accused me of being communal or in any manner hostile to Muslims. I have repeatedly expressed my deepest admiration for the Prophet of Islam before audiences of all hues. I always impress my students with the Prophet's invaluable words that "he who walks in the path of knowledge walks on the path of God" and "the ink of the scholar is more valuable than the blood of a martyr". I believe I have the perfect credentials for categorically informing the public, who has for too long been bombarded by disinformation about Narenbhai being an anti-Muslim fanatic, that he is not so. I would say the same under oath in any court of law. The Muslim minority is as safe with him as Prime Minister as any other citizen of India. My Muslim friends must accept my guarantee, on which I stake all my reputation. Narenbhai deserves the vote of every patriotic Indian. The people of India and most parties have realised that there is no one with a greater pan-Indian charisma and natural communication skills than Narendra Modi, so much so, that he is evaluated by the electorate on his own merit and nothing else. He has the rare gift of holding an audience spellbound. And no one can deny that charisma and communication skills are indispensable qualities for the leader of a large and pluralistic nation like India. The best example of the lack of these qualities is the UPA government.
Article Credits Sunday Guardian,18th October 2013

The rise and rise of tomorrow’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi - The Sunday Guardian Report

No politician in independent India has been demonised in such a relentless, Goebbelsian manner as Narendra Modi, and no politician has withstood it with as much resilience and courage as him, notwithstanding the entire Central government, influential sections of the media machinery and civil society arraigned against him.
His dark patch started with the unfortunate Godhra train massacre and the ensuing communal riots in Gujarat in 2002, where several innocent people lost their lives. A train carrying non-violent harmless karsewaks were set on fire and nearly 60 persons were burnt to death. Understandably, but regrettably, this provoked retaliation and mayhem resulting in many innocent members of the minority community losing their lives and suffering other indignities.
It is equally true that the desire for revenge did paralyse the will of some law enforcement agencies, including some prosecutors and judges. Serious steps had to be taken to restore the confidence of the victims of revenge in the legal and judicial system of the state.
Today, vast sections of civil society see in Narendra Modi the next Prime Minister of India. I hope he will plant more visible footprints on the international seashore. He has to speak of peace and a durable solution to the Kashmir problem with the rulers of Pakistan.
The most diabolical role was played by the Congress government at the Centre. A bogus commission was appointed to whitewash the Godhra tragedy to establish that the attack on the train was not the result of a conspiracy of some evil minded Muslims, but an accidental stove fire. This serious crime by the Congress government was fully exposed when a Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court made their own independent investigation and reiterated that the burning of the pilgrims was a concerted plan by those who must have known that it will inevitably lead to retaliation and atrocities against the minorities, a finding fortified by recent court judgments. Their evil calculations proved to be right. Obviously, the planners wanted India to get a bad name, its national unity and integrity shaken and its defence against scheming neighbours enfeebled.
The unfortunate riots were followed by the state elections, the results of which made the psephologists run for cover. One is reminded of a story, which may well be apocryphal, but is fairly apposite and bears repetition. The Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, wanted to hold an open air reception in Simla and sought, and received, the assurance of the weather bureau that there wouldn't be any showers on that day. But while strolling on the mall, he encountered a farmer and his donkey. Proletarian as he pretended to be, he struck up a conversation with him and made the same enquiry. The farmer looked at his donkey and said, "Whenever my mate's ears shake the way they are doing now, it just pours." The Viceroy made light of the donkey signal, but his evening party was a big fiasco. In anger, he had the weather station removed to faraway Pune as punishment. I hope the media will never again mess with Narendra Modi or Gujarat elections. Modi won a landslide victory, which even he and his followers could not have imagined or hoped for. I congratulated him for his brilliant victory, but I sincerely advised him that he should wear a look of absolute humility; he should publicly own that something had seriously gone wrong and that he should loudly proclaim that India could never go forward and retain its independence and sovereignty unless Hindus and Muslims were locked in an embrace of love and mutual understanding. He must declare his firm resolve to bring back to the minorities a feeling of absolute security and an assurance of every kind of protection by the powers of the state. Modi thought out and reasoned his strategy and since then his stature has risen manifold to heights rarely attained before. Today, vast sections of civil society see in him the next Prime Minister of India. I hope he will plant more visible footprints on the international seashore. He has to speak of peace and a durable solution to the Kashmir problem with the rulers of Pakistan. He must project himself as a great democratic leader of the world and a fighter for human rights and justice the world over. On the domestic front, I am proud to see him winning Muslim hearts by presenting to them the real Hindutva, which even the Supreme Court had to acknowledge and admire. Let not the real Hindutva be confused with its counterfeit version, which unfortunately gains currency during the course of electoral battles. The policies and conduct of Narendra Modi may be compared with those of the late Rajiv Gandhi. The sad assassination of his mother led to what may accurately be described as a virtual genocide of the Sikhs. Armed bands of hooligans and murderers went around the streets and colonies of Delhi in search of innocent Sikhs, sought them out and slaughtered them mercilessly. We saw some Sikhs being burnt alive on public roads while crowds watched the heartrending scenes. Even the then Sikh President could not move a finger to help the unfortunate followers of Guru Nanak. I cannot forget those shameful days even now. All that the new Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had to say was a defiant, "When a big tree falls the earth must shake". Never did the Congress leadership apologise for the atrocities and the murders. It is the greatness of the Sikh community that they have forgiven the Congress. In a corruption ridden country where the chief source of corruption is the Congress and its leaders, Narendra Modi shines for his impeccable integrity. He has focused his entire energy on building in Gujarat an able administration and good governance. He has achieved phenomenal development and economic growth, and at the same time bolstered social inclusiveness. Through these he has worked hard to regain the confidence of the minorities, even as the relentless and pervasive hate campaign against him has continued unabated in the electronic media, among the fashionable intellectuals and civil society activists, who have become the media sweethearts.
This is the first of a two-part article on Narendra Modi
Article Credits Sunday Guardian,17th October 2013

Former Supreme Court judge praises Narendra Modi

New Delhi, Sept 19: Former judge in the Supreme Court of India, Justice Vaidyanathapura Rama Krishna Iyer (V.R.Krishna Iyer) on Thursday wrote to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and extended his best wishes for becoming the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
In a birthday-greeting letter addressed to Modi, the former SC judge V R Krishna Iyer termed the BJP's decision of anointing Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate of the party as timely one for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and welcomed it.
97-year-old Justice Iyer in his letter said that though he is not involved in any active politics at present and "welcomes the decision of BJP on personal level" and described Modi as positive, someone of nationalistic virtue and having global dimensions.
Praising Gujarat chief minister, Justice Iyer said that Gujarat is only state in the country which has used the solar power in a very large scale and under Modi's leadership it has led Gujarat being emerge as ‘Solar State'. While lauding Modi, Justice Iyer said, "Adhering to the principles and ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, Gujarat is the only state in the country to implement prohibition and uproot the corruption in the public life."
The ex-SC judge described Narendra Modi as positive person. Justice Iyer said Modi is getting support at national level for his good-administrative skills and is quite capable of realizing the great principles of Swaraj.
He also expressed his confidence in Modi to remove poverty from India. "I am committed to socialism.
And I support Mr Modi because he is also socialist and encourages Gandhian values - protection of human values and rights, brotherhood, justice at social, economic and political field",
Justice Iyer wrote. Describing the well-wishes, greetings, love and blessings that Modi received from all over the world on his recent birthday on September 17 as equivalent to a highest peak,
Justice Iyer wrote that in the chair of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will fulfill hopes and aspirations of the people of India and uphold national dignity.
Preeti Panwar Oneindia , Sep 19, 2013

Narendra Modi–the idea whose time has come!

How ironical it is, that the touted dream team of Indian economy - Dr Manmohan Singh, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and P Chidambaram will leave a legacy of terrible growth deceleration, persistently high inflation, rising unemployment, and a depreciating currency after 10 years in office. But the "lost decade" under UPA is not just an economic disaster. This total economic collapse is only a natural consequence of appalling lack of leadership, absolute breakdown of authority, directionless decision making, zero accountability, and complete disregard for integrity and ethics. Ten years ago, an India that was racing towards a global superpower status, and striving to reclaim its position in the league of world nations, has been plunged into an abyss of hopelessness and despair.
The confidence, enthusiasm and vigor that were the catalysts of India's resurgence seem to have suddenly evaporated. And in this scene, the man emerges. History bears witness that time and again effective leaders, who can mobilize people, tackle tough problems and spot opportunities in crises emerge in times of great stress, change and uncertainty. In India too, a fierce wild wind that is blowing from the western state of Gujarat has already rustled many dead feathers in Delhi; the name is Narendra Modi. The man's emergence on national horizon is not an overnight phenomenon. It is a result of a life lived completely in the service of the motherland, years of devoted work at grassroots level, and a decade of governance with administrative acumen and effective leadership. Progress and Performance Unlike the Congress and most regional parties where leadership is hereditary and an election ticket is taken as a birthright, Modi's claim to fame is only one factor - performance. Even in this atmosphere of gloom, Gujarat under his stewardship stands out as a beacon of hope.
As the reputed global news magazine the Economist puts it - "So many things work properly in Gujarat that it hardly seems like India." With 5% of India's population, Gujarat today accounts for 16% of country's industrial output and 22% of exports. The state has consistently maintained a double digit GDP growth over the past decade, with agriculture growing at 10% consistently even as India struggled to achieve a low bar of 3%. As a result of sustained efforts undertaken by Modi and his team, Gujarat today has minimal labor issues, state-of-the-art infrastructure, uninterrupted power supply and supportive bureaucracy. The state known for traders only a few years back has made rapid strides in agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors.
The average citizen so awfully let down by the current national leadership is naturally looking at Modi to steer India out of the current crisis, and his stellar track record obviously puts him ahead of others in the race. Clean Image When corruption seems to be the order of the day, Modi's personal integrity and honesty stands out. Modi, his personality, his style of functioning and his growth model have been subject to unprecedented scrutiny and analysis in the past few years. Any strong leader will have his share of adversaries in politics and media, and frankly speaking, Modi has more than his fair share of them. But even Modi's most stringent critics and political opponents will admit that the man does not a have single blot of corruption or scandal to his name.
Check this out - in the recent Wikileaks controversy over leaking of US diplomatic cables, every politician whose name figured in the cables stood exposed and tarnished. Modi's name was mentioned about 100 times in the cable, but he was the only politician, not just in India, but across the world whose name but did not contain a single negative reference.
When politics India has become synonymous with dynasty and nepotism, how pleasantly surprising it is to know that the family of the chief minister of one the richest states in the country lives in a modest 2 bedroom apartment, away from the glamour and clout that they could have so easily commanded! Economic Acumen There goes a saying in India - good politics is not good economics, and good economics is not good politics.
This is because when the focus of a political party is so jaundiced on winning the next election by hook or by crook, it leaves very little scope for pursuing an economic policy that take years to show results and bear fruits. Our economic disaster can partly be traced to the lack of political willingness to take tough, visionary decisions. The UPA in past has resorted to disastrous schemes like farm loan waiver and NREGA with dire consequences to the economy. Their new initiatives like direct cash transfer and food security bills are steps in the same direction, taken only with a view on the coming general elections. Who cares about fiscal discipline? This is even after all policymakers have acknowledged that without proper infrastructure for implementation, such schemes result in huge leakages and losses to public exchequer without bringing any tangible benefits to the lives of intended beneficiaries.
A politician's true test will lie in being able to take difficult, enduring decisions even if it requires risking short term political gains. Modi has demonstrated this in Gujarat time and again. In his tenure right from 2001, he has desisted from taking populist decisions or giving freebies. When he faced considerable opposition in the last state elections in 2012, he could have easily added a few more seats to his tally by announcing some freebies and subsidies here and there, but he resisted taking that path. Instead, Modi has always focused on generating investment which eventually leads to more growth, employment and better standard of living in the long run. It takes tremendous discipline and confidence in oneself to do this, especially when short term rewards are so attractive. No other politician in India except Modi had courage to oppose the proposed Food Security Bill, for the risk of losing some vote share. Mass Appeal Critics have been continuously accusing him of being a polarizing figure who would not be able to take everybody along with him. Modi's recent rally in Hyderabad proved how horribly wrong and biased they really are. Congress's opportunistic politics in dealing with the Telangana agitation has led to a very distressing scenario of escalating tensions between the two newly formed regions of Telangana and Seemandhra. Almost everybody in the state has taken an extreme position on this issue. Tensions have reached to such an alarming level that no politician can even take the name of Seemandhra in Telangana. Modi struck a poignant note, appealing to our Andhra brothers to stop hostility amongst themselves and move shoulder to shoulder on the path of development. In an act of sublime statesmanship, he made the entire crowd hail both Telangana and Seemandhra right in the heart of Hyderabad. It would have required incredible political courage and conviction to pull off something like this. Path of Development But Modi's single biggest achievement has been to aggressively steer the national discourse from vote bank politics to development politics. One of the biggest drawbacks of Indian democracy is that electoral outcome is still based on caste/religious blocks voting en masse in favor or against a particular candidate. This remains the primary factor above all everything else, and the candidate's track record, integrity and other real issues get overshadowed. Modi has sounded a death knell to politics based on such narrow identity considerations. In the past ten years, he has never tried to polarize the electorate through caste-based references or policies. Elections in Gujarat have been fought purely on the basis of what the government has done in past 5 years and how that has affected the lives of people. In the process, he has offered himself, his government and his policies for unparalleled examination, criticism and debate. Every possible social/development indicator has been brought out and analyzed threadbare. If previous central and state governments had been subjected to even a fraction of assessment and scrutiny by the yardsticks that have been applied to Gujarat, India's situation today would have been radically different. Patriot who embodies strength When India is facing serious security threats at the borders and within its borders, it desperately needs a leader who can take strong decisions and put narrow political interests aside. It needs somebody who has a firm and realistic view of what is happening on the ground, which can provide a powerful political backing to its defence forces, which can inspire the spirit within the masses. Modi seems to perfectly fit the bill in this regard. Need of the hour He has been most articulate on a range of issues including national security, foreign policy, reducing the size of government, promoting enterprise and empowerment, necessity of electoral reforms, changing India's archaic labor and business laws, etc. What sets him apart completely from the others is that he provides two things which we desperately need today - vision and hope. Narendra Modi's rise is the story of an underprivileged boy from a village in Gujarat rising in the hearts and minds of people by sheer hard work and determination. It is absolutely reprehensible on the part of Congress and their cabal of cultivated journalists to ridicule his background by calling him names like chaiwalla, tea stall worker, etc.
It is a matter of great pride and inspiration that somebody with even such humble beginnings rose up as a source of inspiration for millions of aspiring and restless youth of the country. Their comical yuvraaj is still roaming the villages of India with a camera crew ostensibly trying to understand India. At the age of 43, he is still struggling to figure out what India's problems actually are!! Modi has been a victim of the biggest witch hunt by political opposition, biased media, NGOs with vested interests, and so called pseudo-intellectuals.
Anyone would have broken down and given up in the face of such a vicious, personalized and sustained campaign. Modi has been able to come out of it much stronger and determined purely on the strength of his character and convictions. The arc of politics is now bending, and Indians are now looking at him as an answer to towering challenges the country is facing.
Numerous nationwide surveys done by independent agencies all have one conclusion in common - that Narendra Modi is far ahead in terms of popularity and groundswell of support across the country, and any of his competitors come only a distant second. The now inevitable ascendance of Modi on the national centre stage is not merely the ascendance of an individual. To quote Victor Hugo, for India, Modi is an idea whose time has come. And when he comes, he will truly be a merchant of death - merchant of death to terrorism, merchant of death to vote banks and nepotism, merchant of death to political and bureaucratic inefficiency, merchant of death to darkness and despair!!
Article credits Oneindia - [The author is an MBA from IIT Powai. He has an experience of five years in research and analysis in BFSI sector. He can reached at apoorva.shah1508@gmail.com]