Why Not Try Narendra Modi This Time?

If you are in a habit of reading newspapers or even if you read news on net (like I do on Yahoo), I am sure you will notice that Narendra Modi has become quite a regular figure. Every second day there is an article published on the front page featuring him. He has been a favourite character of media-maut ka saudagar-for more than a decade now. But recently media’s opinion about him has changed. Although he is still playing the role of a villain, but like Shahrukh Khan in Baazigar, he is earning the respect of a hero.

“What non-sense is that?” said my friend discarding my observation. At first I thought he is offended because I compared his favourite actor Shahrukh Khan and Narendra Modi. But that wasn’t the case. 

“Who likes Narendra Modi? We all know that he was behind the barbarity that took place in Godhara”

I appreciate his first right of refusal.

“He just pretends to be a saint now” continued my friend “He keeps fast and invites religious leaders to his sadbhavana divas to show how much he is concerned about secularity. It is all bullshit.... pomp and show!!! He is an ideal example of 100 chuhe khakar, billi hajj ko chali (after killing 100 rats, the cat now wants to go on a pilgrimage)”

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For a while I thought he was right. But then why are people talking good about him these days? Why are Indian and International media praising about his achievements? What is there in Narendra Modi that commands so much of a clout? I decided to check it out.

The first article I read about him said that Narendra Modi had resigned immediately after the Godhara riots. But the state re-elected him within few months and then he went on to complete 5 years tenure on the Gujarat’s highest gaddi. The next elections took place in 2007, and he won them too with an overwhelming majority!!! According to that article, Narendra Modi has been the longest serving CM in Gujarat’s history. He has been in power for more than 3500 days continuously!!!

If given a chance to cast a blank-vote in elections, whom will you vote? 

I am sure blank-vote will have the maximum hits. This is because an average citizen of our country has lost complete faith in their leaders. Gone are the days when voters voted for a visionary, a candidate who they believed would take better care of them and the country on a whole. Today people vote for the candidate who according to them will steal 'lesser' from the government reserves than the other. It is a hopeless situation out there.

In such a scenario of faithlessness why not give a chance to Narendra Modi this time? I think he is a better horse to put your bet on. And so I decided to write an article about him on mool-dhara-Why not try Narendra Modi this time? But let me tell you I am not endorsing any party here (I swear I don’t like watching porn).

Any riot be it based on religion, caste or creed leaves behind wounds which take a long time to heal. And a riot like Godhara, which killed more than 1800 people, was a black mark on the face of secular India. As a section of the media re-visits the Gujarat riots of 2002 every single day, blaming one man responsible for the entire carnage, it is important we look at the man beyond the unfortunate riots.

Like all rags-to-riches story, Mr. Modi too was born in a humble family, he ran a tea stall along with his brother. He completed Master Degree in Political Science from Gujarat University (and he earned his first Brownie point here). He fought his first election in February 2002, a by-election from Rajkot, just days before the Sabarmati train carnage and the riots that followed at the end of the month. He used his Master Degree effectively and went on to win almost every election ever since then.

Known to live a frugal lifestyle (He has a personal staff of just three), he has maintained his sway in the party that not many have been able to go against-what is often perceived as his "autocratic" style of functioning, sometimes bordering on insensitivity. Popularly believed to be a Hindu fanatic, it surprised me when I read in one of the articles in Times of India that he ordered demolition of many Hindu temples that were built without proper government sanctions. His act earned him the ire of Vishwa Hindu Parishad prompting the VHP to call him 'Mahmud Ghazni'.

As the chief minister of Gujarat, he is considered responsible for the colossal development activities taking place in Gujarat. His endeavour has not only made him a favourite of industrialists like Ambanis, Mittals and Tatas but also earned him (needless to say ‘indirectly’) a token of appreciation from our otherwise shy prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. Today every state government wants to emulate the success of Gujarat. Most importantly corruption-free-government has become a brand image of the State and its bearded Chief Minister.

During the course of writing this article I went through the Gujarat Government’s website. Apart from the run-of-a-mill schemes like (save the girl child, mid-day meal schemes, etc) Gujarat has many out-of-the-ordinary schemes started under the aegis of Modi. Some of the exceptional schemes that caught my attentions were the following:

1) Sujalam Sufalam- a scheme started to create a grid of water resources in Gujarat in an innovative step towards water conservation and its appropriate utilization. Apparently the government has stopped issuing non-agricultural permission for any new constructions to be undertaken unless rain harvesting systems are also constructed within the premises.

2) Krishi Mahotsav – agricultural research labs for the land to experiment and see how the farmers can reap more harvest with the same available land resources and experiments on high yielding variety of crops.

3) Karmayogi Abhiyan – To educate and train government employees and increase the overall efficiency of the various government departments.

To me these schemes reflect the idea of a man who it seems has taken upon himself to pit Gujarat against all of China!!! (It might sound like an exaggeration but it was really fascinating to read about all these schemes).

Apart from this, India Today’s edition dated 7^th May 2012 is carrying a story about the farmers of an arid region in Gujarat called Banaskantha, where the lives of farmers have changed ever since they adopted a new set of agricultural techniques. Gujarat Green Revolution Company, a company formed in 2003 as the brain child of Narendra Modi, has played a major role in this revolution. The company offers excessive subsidies on the capital cost of the equipments that makes it possible for the farmers to adopt drip and sprinkler irrigation system. A training stint arranged for farmers at Dantiwada University teaches them ways to add new high yielding variety of crops.

The same article carries a photograph of Ganesh Patel, a 60 year old farmer from the same region whose annual salary was up from Rs 2 Lakhs in 2006 to Rs 43 Lakhs in 2011 all because of the initiative of the Gujarat Government. Isn’t that a remarkable feat?

As agriculture is booming in Gujarat, manufacturing is not being uncared for. While every state government in India faces an agitation from the land owners(read farmers) for selling hectares of land to multinationals in the name of ‘SEZ’(and duping the poor in the process), Modi’s Government came up with a new idea: SIZ-Special Investment Region. Under this scheme any company that wants to set up its shop in the state will have to purchase the land directly from the owner of the land instead of Government acting as an agent in between and so the company pays what the owners(read farmers) demand.

Canadian firm Bombardier has set up a state of the art facility in Vadodara (metro coaches for Delhi brats are manufactured here). General Motors and Apollo Tyres were already present there. Ratan Tata decided to shift Tata Nano’s manufacturing plant here in Sanand when a ‘bad M’ showed him the door in Singur and a ‘Good M’ welcomed him in Sanand (The story goes that after ruling came against Tatas in Singur’s land case, Karnataka and Gujarat-both BJP ruled states-were considered to be in fray for the plant. But while ministers in Karnataka were seeking their astrologer’s advice, Narendra Modi had already arranged for land, electricity, road, rail, port, labour and the subsidies). Just for record by 2014 American automobile company Ford and French auto giant Peugeot will also start manufacturing at Sanand apart from Maruti who are currently scouting for land to set up its own manufacturing facility in Sanand.

Apart from the daddies of Automobiles, Atul Auto a leading manufacturer of 3 wheeler commercial vehicles is already present in Rajkot, makers of Yo-Bikes are in Samkhiyali, Asia Motor Works (AMW) has heavy duty truck manufacturing plant near Bhuj. Hero and Bajaj have also hinted their intentions to set up manufacturing facilities here.

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When I showed my research, my friend started seeing Modi a bit differently. All through my narration he listened to me like a good student, showing interest every now and then... “Really?.... Seriously?... That’s good... I didn’t know that....”

As I was telling him about Hero’s and Bajaj’s intention to set up its own manufacturing plant he asked me

“What about the general amenities that a government must provide to the people of the state? Because Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu can also boast of a high agricultural yield and baaps of automobiles”

It is because papa gives them a reason to boast. Gujarat is the only power surplus state in the India, apart from the cities, nearly 100% of Gujarat's 18,000 villages have electricity connection for 24 hours a day(The only state in India which doesn’t have power cuts. I guess  Luminous, Su-Kam and Microtek are the only companies that won't like to invest in Gujarat).

And Gujarat’s power story is unique because not only they have the conventional power generation facilities but they have pioneered Solar and Nuclear power generation too. Asia’s largest solar power park is coming up at Charanka village in Gujarat-a dream project of Modibhai.

Gujarat sells excess power to states like Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and even to Tamil Nadu.  87.9% of the total roads in the state are asphalt surfaced. 98.86% villages have connectivity with all‐weather roads, highest in India....

“Hold on hold on... You are getting carried away now. You have started singing praises of Gujarat when the topic of discussion is Modi. Let me bring you back on the right track”

It was almost a monologue till now and I had already presumed that he is convinced. Keeping my friend quite and listening gave me adequate confidence that people reading my article on mool-dhara will also get convinced that Modi was worth a try. But when I thought I have crossed the entire range, my friend told me that what I crossed were only a couple of hillocks. The journey was still not over.

“I have read a lot about the lives of Muslims in Gujarat. They say it is terrible, especially after the Godhara carnage. How is your Modi addressing this issue? I am sure not by building pakka roads to their houses so that it easily accessible for the rioters...” he asked with a raised eyebrow-the question mark was on his face.

Interesting question. In the entire ‘Shining Gujarat’ story something was amiss-Muslims. I returned back from office early that day to find out what happened to Muslims post-Godhara riots. I found Sachar Report.

In the year 2006, Dr. Manmohan Singh (and not Kapil Sibal for a change) had asked Justice Sachar to find out the conditions of Muslims in the entire country. Guess where was the Golden Goose? Not in UP, not in Hyderabad, not in Bengal (definitely not in Pakistan), it was in apnu Gujarat.

In terms of literacy level, Muslims in Gujarat stood at 73.5 percent as compared to the national average of 59.1. Also in Gujarat, a greater percentage of Muslims have attained primary, secondary and higher secondary level education compared to the national average and compared to other states. In terms of per month per capita income, Muslims in the urban areas of Gujarat earn an average Rs 875 which is more than the national average of Rs 804 and in rural Gujarat where the per capita monthly income of the Muslims 20-25% more than the Muslims living in the rural areas of most other states. Even in terms of share of Muslims in state employment, i.e., government jobs, it is 5.4% in Gujarat while it is 2.1% in West Bengal, 3.2% in Delhi and 4.4% in Maharashtra.

But why do we need these figures? Are they really important? All the above mentioned development taking place in Gujarat is not taking place because of a particular community alone (Patels are not the only one). Obviously Hindus and Muslims and Christians and Parsis and everyone else would be involved in the progress too, undoubtedly.

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“For a minute I assume whatever you are saying is true... the good work of Modi, development in Gujarat because of him, elevated Muslims, etc etc.. then why is Modi so much hated in our country? Why no politician wants to share dais with him? Why he is not allowed a visa by US? And do you know what he was voted the second most hated leader in an opinion poll just one rank below Syria’s autocratic leader Assad?”

Do you know what just a week before he was voted the second most hated leader, Time Magazine had done a cover story about him, touting him to be India’s next Prime Minister? And guess who got pissed off? The ruling Congress party. Reportedly they also conveyed their displeasure to the Magazine. The following week, he was rated on the line of a mass killer! Don’t you see a scheme brewing here?

I see it as a conspiracy set by the opposition parties which have already sensed the rising popularity of Modi among the masses. Narendra Modi has become a force to reckon with. He has brought Gujarat at the top in every kind of development charts published in the country. He has almost become invincible. His closest competitor for the PM’s gaddi (he who shall not be named) has no credentials other than his surname, as a friend of mine pointed out on facebook. His report card is full of red: Bihar=lost, UP=lost, Punjab=lost, Goa=lost, Delhi=lost (and West Bengal=Mamata Banerjee=lost). It is therefore necessary for the opposition to keep the riot-torn image of Gujarat alive because politically they have been on the losing side.

We talk about Gujarat riots everyday in the newspaper, what about the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 in which Congressmen were involved? There have been more charge-sheets and even convictions in Gujarat riots than in any other religious or caste riots in India. This should be seen in the context of the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, where there were no charge-sheets filed and convictions were negligible. Have you ever even heard about Anti-Sikh riots of Delhi?

My friend was silent and I knew why. Congress has been at the helm of affairs in Delhi from a long time-both in state and central government, and they have neatly put a blanket on the series of events that took place in 1984 so that people like my friend would never know that there was a year called 1984; a year just like 2002 when it was Indira Gandhi, Delhi and Sikhs in place of Sabarmati Express Coach S6, Godhara and Muslims.

“So you want to say now that it has been 4 years, we should all forget whatever Ajmal Kasab did and forgive and free him” my friend threw his last card forward.

I never said that. Did I? I know Narendra Modi has escaped Supreme Court’s punishments and SIT’s investigations. I know that he has come out blame-free from every allegation raised against him but he can never deny the fact that the riots took place when he was in control of the state. He as a chief minister failed to condemn the attacks on Muslims. In fact the SIT report itself claims that Modi tried to water down the seriousness of the situation, and also implicitly justified the killings of Muslims, which is very true. So I will never ever use the word “innocent” with Modi in the same breath.

“Then what is the essence of the article you want to write on mool-dhara?”

Imagine a train running on a track. You are at a cross-road of the track with a lever in your hand that can put the train from one track to the other. On one of the two tracks there is a group of 12 innocent children playing, unknown of a train rushing towards them. The other track has a dead end and if you put the train on that track the train, which is full of passengers will derail. In such a situation what would you choose? You can either save the innocent children or the lives of passengers in the train. Make a decision now.

“How is it relevant here?”

On one hand you have SIT’s Godhara records of Narendra Modi on the other hand you have Comptroller and Auditor General’s report which speaks about scams of the present government amounting to Lakhs of Crores. Which one would you choose? Make a decision now.

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Once I was done with the draft for my new article I asked my girlfriend to read it and tell me what she thinks about it. She is a Gujarati and her father works is a Gujarat Administrative Service officer. I thought her view on this issue will be significant. She told me something that I didn’t know before.

“Meera” yes that is what she likes to call me (Girls are insane.... and so are boys who fall for them) “I didn’t know there is so much happening within my state. Though I am not sure if it is Narendra Modi or someone else responsible for all that but it was really fascinating to read your article”

To get a compliment from a girl even after 6 years of a relationship is a feat.

“You know my father told me recently that in the last 10 years Modi has tried to turn his image from a Hindu Nationalist politician to an image of an able administrator. He has started wearing business suits to important meetings and is also improving his command over the English language so that his communication with clients improve”

I didn’t know that. This was an interesting piece of information. I decided I will add it in my article.

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I know who is going to be my next choice when the elections come up and I am very much convinced about him. Will you try Narendra Modi this time?

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P.S. A joke in circulation these days "BJP is party that watches porn. Congress makes it"