[nukkad] The Modi charisma

["Gireesh Dixit" <>]

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Hi Guys,

Stunning victory of Modi in Gujarat is the best answer to our Psecs friends.
Mr Karelia, I want to thank the people of Gujarat. Delhi is not far now.


Long live Hindus.



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/S_Dasgupta_The_Modi_charisma/articleshow/2661475.cms

An amusing feature of the editorial class is its ability to shift tack 
shamelessly. Till 10 am last Sunday, Narendra Modi was portrayed as the Indian 
equivalent of the Great Satan; by 10:30 am he was being projected as a future 
prime ministerial candidate who would nevertheless fail because "Gujarat
isn't India".

In the US, presidential hopefuls unknown to the East Coast Establishment are 
invariably pelted with snooty condescension -- remember how Ronald Reagan was 
vilified? As someone who was abruptly catapulted from one-roomed anonymity in 
Delhi's Ashoka Road to the chief minister's bungalow in Gandhinagar
six years ago, Modi is an outsider to the Indian Establishment.

Unlike the Gandhis, he doesn't have 'connections' in the right places and 
unlike many BJP leaders he hasn't bothered courting respectability. Modi 
doesn't release coffee table books on polo and nor does he have a favourite 
London restaurant to boast of. A workaholic who sleeps only four hours and
who is crazy enough not to have taken even a day's holiday in six years, Modi 
revels in his distance from the frivolity of high society.

It is this aloofness and refusal to be co-opted by the beautiful people that 
make him a delicious target of those who think they were born to rule. 
Socialites have been wilfully discourteous to him; he has been called a "mass 
murderer" and an "ugly Indian" to his face; and rookie pundits have
suggested that he can be bribed into supporting the nuclear deal with an 
American visa. The know-alls have even suggested that Modi can be tamed and 
"corrupted" by the trappings of success. "Modify your image," they have advised 
him, "and we'll take another look at you."

So far Modi hasn't budged. He has unsettled the Establishment because he is 
undaunted by hypocritical political correctness and persists in calling a spade 
a spade. It is said that this bluntness is actually hate-speak couched in code. 
If so, it is a code the voters have easily deciphered and
identified with. The BJP used an old Barry Goldwater slogan in one election 
advertisement: "In your heart you know he is right." It struck a chord.

Modi has been accused of arrogance by many, including those who are ostensibly 
on the same side. In practice
this has meant the dogged refusal to bend the rules to facilitate special 
favours. Modi has shown that good politics lies in not allowing cronies to 
cream off taxpayers' money; and that good economics involves zero tolerance of 
waste and inefficiency.

The Indian electorate is inherently schizophrenic. One side of it wants 
lollipops and freebies; another side of it yearns for a tough, no-nonsense and 
scrupulously honest politician. Modi has tried to get the patriotism of the 
voter to prevail over his selfishness. He has succeeded because he has
come to personify courage and integrity. The day he succumbs to either fear or 
temptation he is politically neutered.

The Gujarat model is not in conflict with the Bharat model. What has clicked in 
Gujarat is a leadership style built on innovation, dedication and a resolute 
defiance of a compromised Establishment. A Modi folklore has been created 
around an Angry Middle-aged Man with a 56-inch chest.

It has corresponded with subliminal perceptions of good leadership. And the 
Gujarat voter is no different from the Indian voter.

Modi has aroused great expectations. His political opponents will want him to 
be confined to Gujarat forever; the Establishment wouldn't mind him in Race 
Course Road as long as he removes some of his vital organs surgically.

Let's hope Modi stays the course. Let's hope he injects politics with a dose of 
freshness.


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we're not. In either case, the idea is quite staggering. 
-Arthur C Clarke, science fiction writer (1917- )
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