Love him or hate him, but you can’t ignore him

Way back in 2002, the state of Gujarat witnessed what was to be the single biggest communal shame the Indian polity ever faced since the Babri incident. The minorities were trampled upon and their rights subdued into the darkness of the hour. What followed was an outpour of widespread anguish and nation-wide anger towards the civil and political establishment in Gujarat. The media and human rights activists took up the mantle of exposing one and all including the CM of Gujarat – Narendra Modi.

This was followed up with commissions and enquiries into the roles of who and who of Gujarat in the 2002 riots. The hatred continued but the people of Gujarat voted Modi back for a second term with a resounding victory.

Even as we grapple with the question of having Modi at the helm of the state, his performance as an administrator and as a CEO echo deep within the state of Gujarat. Where Modi has become a “what not be” icon for the human rights activists, corporate honchos hail him as the new development avatar. He may not know how to win national elections but he knows his stuff well enough to take Gujarat to unprecedented heights and has a proven potential for the country.

Modi has delivered and he has done it in style. A recent article in the Economic Times pointed out his “robot-like efficiency, financial probity and his handling of the government bureaucracy” as undeniable factors responsible for the growth of Gujarat. It went on to describe Vibrant Gujarat – Modi’s pet global investor’s summit – as “the only business activity happening in a frozen global economy at that time”. Investors from 40 countries pledged projects worth Rs. 12 lakh crore having a potential to create over 25 lakh jobs in Gujarat. Tourism, climate change, infrastructure – Modi has made a mark wherever and however he could.

On the back drop of 2002 communal riots, Azim Premji – the Wipro chief and a Muslim with Gujarati roots – had dismissed Gujarat as an investment destination. Recently, he stepped into the same state to meet Modi and discuss his investment options. Same is the case for UK industrialist Sir Ghulam Noon. It is hard to shelve off that this is symbolic of the change that Modi has ushered in. Gujarat riots was a shame but its time to forgive and forget, to move on. The newer generations have seen better times and 2002 is history. Are we ready to catch up?

The good, the bad and the ugly

Election 2009 is over and the mandate is loud and clear – a thumping victory for the Congress and the UPA. The verdict this time around has many ramifications:

The good:

• Elimination of the left powers: Rahul Gandhi was perhaps right to have commented that the Left’s view about the nuclear deal was atleast 20 years old. Left was made to pay for the blunder of their alienation from the Congress and how. Mr. Karat is sure to bear the brunt of promoting a Third Front.

• Decline of regional parties: This has been one of the positive outcomes this time. Congress has reported an increased tally of 56 votes. Out of these just 17 have come from BJP and the remaining have been grabbed from the regional parties. Its heartening to see that the silly agendas of downplaying the use of computers by SP and caste-based politics by a certain ‘Behenji’ have been out rightly rejected.

The bad:

• Dynasty politics: ‘Inheritance’ not ‘merit’ has become the norm for the Congress. Rahul was silently anointed as the vanguard shadowing all other senior leaders within the Congress who have far more credentials. Perhaps the latter have one big deficiency – they are not of the Gandhi clan.

• BJP sits in opposition: A party that stands for development and decisive leadership has been handed another term in the opposition. What NDA did for India in its five-year term speaks for itself. But the voters agree otherwise and one’s got to respect the mandate.

• Scramble for power: As soon as the leads and wins became clear there was a surge of activity at the centre. Wherein Congress got lucrative offers from smaller parties to up their ante in the formation of the central government, BJP faced an internal tussle for the leader of Opposition.

The ugly:

• Rise of Mamata Bannerjee: The voters from Bengal have been a surprise package. After what Mamata did in Singur, she has managed to garner a major increase in popularity. This has been very very disheartening.

• Vote bank politics click: The Congress' appeasement strategies – OBC quota, student intake in non-existent IITs, removal of POTA, procrastination of death penalty of Afzal – have found a wide audience among the voters.

Political gimmicks?

The recent desperation shown by UPA to score a point in the paltry list of achievements that the outgoing Government has managed to come up with is amusing.

A day after ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ swept the Oscars, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “We salute the true heroes of achieving India who are at their best in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. It’s a film of India, for India and by India.” He went on to say,"We are proud that in the conducive environment of good governance provided by the UPA government India has become achieving India.” The attempt was good but it may not be good enough. By attaching itself to the Slumdog glory, Congress seems to make an impact on the educated class but do they really think that the voters are so very dumb? Narendra Modi gave a new dimension to this issue. Taking clue from an SMS trail, he carried the issue to the masses when he remarked, "Without Congress there would not be slums and without slums there would not be any Slumdog Millionaire and no Oscars." That hit bull's eye! Congress would be afraid to raise this issue ever again.

In a second and a very recent instance, Ambika Soni claimed that the government utilised Vijay Mallya’s services to procure the Gandhi memorabilia. Interestingly, hours later Mr. Mallya denied any Government involvement giving a severe blow to Congress’ attempts to project itself as a nationalist party. What was the congress thinking really? Firstly, they could not shell out a few millions from their multi-billion election budget and now they are taking to these frenetic measures in a pre-poll frenzy.

A recent estimate by TOI showed that UPA are still the favourites in this election. Then what is the reason for such political gimmicks? Maybe, UPA realised (even though too lately) that they have failed to make any significant progress during their reign, that their own popular vote-winning tactics would backfire and that the Government negligence to the financial turmoil would consume UPA in its own right. Only time can tell what lies in store for the UPA. And, its upto us, the voters, to decide if a party who gives a thumbs down to all development agendas deserves to remain in power.

Let's get political

India’s general elections are scheduled during the months of April and May. In a period that is so politically intensive, it makes sense to talk and discuss politics. Unfortunately, the voter turnout in India is miserably low and more so of the informed class. I, therefore, would be writing about my thoughts and opinions on political events with a hope that it will draw the attention of the educated class to these very important elections.