India is a Union of States comprising of 28 States and 7 Union Territories. Randomly, if you go out and ask people belonging to a particular state if they know Chief Ministers of other States, it is highly improbable that one would be ignorant about the Gujarat CM. Narendra Modi is most definitely, a populist leader and the following saying goes well for him "You may love him, you may hate him, but you just can't ignore him."
The fact that one statement made by him becomes a news headline and a topic of debate for days together is itself evident of the fact that he is a renowned leader. Even the criticism he receives for a statement made by him shows the importance of his statement.
There are two images of Narendra Modi. The first image is that of a hardliner Hindu seen as a Chief Minster who did not take appropriate action during the 2002 riots in Gujarat. On the other hand, Modi's followers see him as a pro-development protagonist under whose administration, Gujarat has progressed tremendously.
Somehow, the horrors of 2002 still haunt the Gujarat Chief Minister. Anything he says or does is read in connection with the 2002 riots. For instance, the Sadbhavna fast was considered to be a move by Modi to woo Muslims. But that wasn't the sole agenda. During Sadbhavna fasts, Modi also gave a feel of Sadbhavna to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It was a move to bring the '5.5 crore Gujaratis', as Modi often refers to as the population of Gujarat, to be on a similar footing and feel good about being a Gujarati and not about belonging to a particular caste or religion.
The Media and Modi's opponents probably do not wish to let the 2002 riots be evaporated from the minds of public, precisely voters. To a certain extent, they would be justified in doing so as Modi seems impeccable with the charisma he has and the crowds he can pull. Who could have imagined that Modi would be able to capitalize on a remark by Sonia Gandhi during 2007 Gujarat polls where Modi was referred to as 'Maut ke saudagar'. One can safely say that the said remark went in Modi's favour. Yet, the attempts to malign Modi on the same ground has been attempted persistently.
With the Gujarat polls due in December this year, the electoral fever seems to be catching up. Recently, Modi gave an interview to a Urdu daily. The interviewer was Shahid Siddiqui, a former SP member. The interview has been much talked about in the last week. The so-called controversial statement by Modi was that he did not apologize to anyone for the riots and expressly said that he may be hanged in public, if found guilty in the riots cases. What more would one expect after a decade of such an event and when the man has been maligned for over a decade for inaction during riots. Had he apologized, the media would have read the interview as a matter of regret and would have assumed his role in the riots. So, not much can be done in such situations. At least one should laud his courage to say that he may be hanged. Not many would have the courage to say so.
All such drama is excepted once again. The Modi regime has done pretty well with the sole agenda of development. One can witness the difference in the Gujarat in pre-Modi era and the post-Modi era. The decade of Modi's rule has got various accolades for Gujarat and its efficient administration. Modi has been praised for the development of state, but one more aspect worth commending is the peace and tranquility in the state. There has been no major riot case since 2002. One needs to acknowledge the fact that this is indeed an achievement as Gujarat has been notorious for such instances in the past and that communal riots have been going on in this state since long. Also that the terrorist activities and attacks have also been very less as compared to other states while keeping in mind the geographical location of Gujarat which shares border with Pakistan.
Modi is usually ridiculed by Congress as a communal leader. How do they forget the kind of action taken by Congress during the anti-Sikh riots in 1984? The investigations against some cases of 1984 riots are still pending and politicians like Jagdish Tytler are still out in public. Why does then Congress stress on speedy trial in the 2002 riots cases. There is no hindrance or resistance against such speedy trial and convicting those found guilty in the Gujarat riots cases, but the Congress is itself not clean and it seems to be an amusing metaphor when Congress talks of speedy trial in such cases.
Modi is indeed a threat to the Congress, not just at the state level, but at the national level as well. I have no doubts that the BJP tally would be benefited if Modi is declared as their Prime Ministerial candidate. Moreover, the rampant corruption and inefficient administration of Congress at the centre would all add up to Modi's benefit. Lastly, if we look at the larger picture, Modi shares a good rapport with J. Jayalalitha and several other regional leaders who would be ready and willing to support Modi as Prime Minister.
Only time would show what the actual political scenario is at the state as well as national level, but I would say, the Modi regime has been beneficial to the people of Gujarat and a sense of economic as well as physical security has been established in the people of Gujarat and I don't see a political turnaround in the upcoming State elections.
Jay Hind.
