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A new star in the sky
Highlights
The naming of Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate by the BJP on September 13 has expectedly caused a huge excitement and spurred a nation-wide debate. Here is a picture of the man, his views, opinions about him and the ratings various surveys have given Modi as a leader
The naming of Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate by the BJP on September 13 has expectedly caused a huge excitement and spurred a nation-wide debate. Here is a picture of the man, his views, opinions about him and the ratings various surveys have given Modi as a leader
Every Survey chooses Modi
There have been various surveys in recent weeks among general public and business sectors on acceptability of Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi for the Prime Minister’s job. Significantly each of them has shown the Gujarat Chief Minister belonging to the BJP to be the favourite one over the vice president of the Congress party. And the acceptability margin between the two is considerable. Here are some of those surveys:
1. CNN-IBN-Hindu : Modi 19%, Rahul 12%
2. CNN-IBN : Modi 38%, Rahul 14%
3. ABP News Nieslen : Modi47%, Rahul18%
4. India Today-C Voter : Modi 45%, Rahul 32%
5. The Week : Modi 32%, Rahul 13%
6. Hindustan Times : Modi 38%, Rahul 23%
7. IIPM (Av. of some major parameters) : Modi 22.75%, Rahul 16.17%
Modi is a regular tweeter. Here is one of his recent tweets:
“I assure Karyakartas that I will leave no stone unturned to work for our victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.”
- Narendra Modi @narendramodi
From a teastall-boy to PM candidadte
September 17, 1950: Narendra Damodardas Modi is born in the ancient city of Vadnagar into a lower middle-class Hindu family.
1987: After working in RSS for some years joins the BJP. The party wins a majority in Gujarat in 1995 and Modi rises quickly up the ranks.
2001: Modi gets his big break when Keshubhai Patel, the former chief minister of Gujarat, is forced to step down in the fallout from the Kutch earthquake. He is selected as Patel's replacement and remained in power ever since, becoming Gujarat's longest-serving CM.
February 27, 2002: Riots break out after over 50 Hindu pilgrims die in a train fire in the town of Godhra. To this day, the riots haunt Modi's government.
December, 2012: Modi wins a fourth successive term as the chief minister of Gujarat, with his BJP party winning 115 of the state legislative assembly's 182 seats against 61 for the Congress party.
June 9, 2013: Modi chosen to head the BJP's campaign committee in the general election due by next May.
September 13, 2013: BJP Parliamentary Board chooses Modi to be its Prime Ministerial candidadte for the next elections.
Yes, I am a Hindu nationalist: Modi
"Hindus and Muslims, I am not in favour of dividing. I am not in favour of dividing Hindus and Sikhs. I am not in favour of dividing Hindus and Christians. All the citizens, all the voters, are my countrymen. So my basic philosophy is, I don't address this issue like this”
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has described himself as a "Hindu nationalist" because he was a born Hindu.
"I am nationalist. I'm patriotic. Nothing is wrong. I am born Hindu. Nothing is wrong. So I'm a Hindu nationalist. So yes, you can say I'm a Hindu nationalist because I'm a born Hindu," he told Reuters news agency in an interview sometime ago.
The Gujarat strongman was asked as to who was the "real Modi" - Hindu nationalist or a pro-business Chief Minister?
"As far as progressive, development, workaholic, whatever they say, this is what they are saying. So there's no contradiction between the two. It's one and the same image," he said. Modi said that he had done "absolutely right thing" in 2002 when the state was hit by riots and that an SIT set up by the Supreme Court had given him a "thoroughly clean chit".
Asked if he regretted what had happened, he observed: "Another thing, any person if we are driving a car, we are a driver, and someone else is driving a car and we're sitting behind, even then if a puppy comes under the wheel, will be painful or not? Of course, it is. If I'm a Chief Minister or not, I'm a human being. If something bad happens anywhere, it is natural to be sad."
Answering a question about being regarded as a polarising figure, Modi cited the example of Democrats and Republicans in the US to emphasise that polarisation was "democracy's basic nature".
Asked whether he believed India should have a secular leader, the Chief Minister said, "We do believe that. But what is the definition of secularism? For me, my secularism is, India first. I say the philosophy of my party is 'justice to all, appeasement of none'. This is our secularism."
To a question about criticism that he was an authoritarian, he said, "If you call yourself a leader, then you have to be decisive. If you are decisive, then you have the chance to be a leader. These are two sides to the same coin." "People want him (leader) to make decisions. Only then they accept the person as a leader. That is a quality, it is not a negative. The other thing is, if someone was authoritarian, then how would he be able to run a government for so many years? Without a team effort, how can you get success?"
Queried how he would persuade minorities, including Muslims, to vote for him, Modi said he saw all voters as Indians and he would not like to divide the country. "Hindus and Muslims, I am not in favour of dividing. I am not in favour of dividing Hindus and Sikhs. I am not in favour of dividing Hindus and Christians. All the citizens, all the voters, are my countrymen. So my basic philosophy is, I don't address this issue like this. And this is a danger to democracy also. Religion should not be an instrument in your democratic process."
30 things to know about NaMo
Sheela Bhatt
So who really is Narendra Modi? Do we really know him? What are his personal habits, for one?
Sheela Bhatt compiles a list of things, both unknown and known, about the latest challenger to the New Delhi throne.
1. Vadnagar, an ancient town that’s almost 2,500 years old, is Narendra Damordas Mulchand Modi’s birthplace. It saw both Hinduism and Buddhism flourish. It is famous for singer-duo Tana and Riri who stumped the legendary Tansen in Akbar’s durbar. Vadnagar was once the capital of Gujarat. The Chinese scholar Hsüan-tsang visited it.
2. Modi was born on September 17, 1950. He makes it a point to take the blessings of his mother Heeraben on his birthday. His wife's name is Jashoda, and the couple separated soon after marriage.
3. The most striking personal habit of Modi is to wear well-ironed and wrinkle-free clothes, a habit he retains from his teenage years when he would fill hot water in a brass lota and iron his shirt. Everyone knows that he is crazy about wrist watches and sandals.
4. Modi is a cleanliness maniac. He keeps his desk, his home and general surroundings spic and span.
5. He can be dubbed one of the best copywriters in contemporary India. No Indian advertising agency is likely to match his ability to paraphrase ideas, launch new brands, re-launch people and events, write-rewrite copies to sell ideas or products as he does.
6. In closed-door meetings he likes multi-media presentations. He has a flair for technology and has a child-like enthusiasm for it.
7. He is extremely prudent in money matters.
8. These days his weight veers around 84 kg. Doesn’t have any serious health problems.
9. Has spent enough time in the RSS so his language, nuances of behaviour and expressions can never be Westernised. His knowledge of English is reasonably okay. He has done his masters in political science.
10. Those who believe in astrology may like to know that Modi’s moon sign is Scorpio, and sun sign is Virgo. His star constellation is Anuradha. He was born at 11 am on September 17, 1950. An astrologer who saw his kundli says his rahu antardasha, considered good for those in politics, “is on till September 2014”.
Ahmedabad’s best astrologer claims, “Modi’s planetary strength lies in Tula, no mangal in chalit and Rahu in sixth house.” According to current astrological transit, Saturn and Rahu in Tula and Jupiter’s position in his kundli are helping his rise.
11. He fasts all nine days during Navratra every year – eating only one fruit a day during this time. He eschews the Navratra-special thali-meal which is traditionally allowed once a day. He fasts out of devotion for Goddess Ambaji.
12. He logs on to the internet every morning without fail and checks all that is written about him.
13. He is the decision-maker. He will not send any decision to a Group of Ministers.
14. Modi has no ‘best friend’. He is a loner.
15. Modi was married in his childhood but never lived with his wife.
16. Modi is workaholic. After going online at 7 am or even earlier, he works till 10 pm if need be.
17. Oh yes, he is in love with the mirror. He is very conscious of pictures that are sent out from his publicity office. A few years back he used to like dark colours but now he experiments. He keeps a comb handy in his pocket all the time.
18. He sleeps for only five hours -- sometimes even less.
19. He has written poems.
20. His icon is Swami Vivekanand. He admires Indira Gandhi.
21. When he was 17 and 18 he left his family and went to Rajkot’s Ramakrishna Mission and to the Belur Math in West Bengal and then to the Himalayas. He wanted to do something but did not know what. So he travelled and wandered around India.
22. His favourite food is bhakhri (crispy rotis) and khichdi made in Gujarati style. Modi knows to cook, too.
23. He has met innumerable sadhus. Swami Parmanand was fond of Modi’s ‘spiritual quest’.
24. Unlike his image, Modi meets local Gujarati Muslims frequently. But the easy access given to them is among Gandhinagar’s well-kept secrets.
25. He is a hard task-master.
26. There is no doubt that he played communal politics in the last three Gujarat elections. But his close associates say that his negative side is not dominated by his penchant for identity politics. He is like most national leaders -- from Indira Gandhi to Nitish Kumar -- opportunistic, which drives him to play identity politics for the sake of power.
27. He has won so far because he knows the usefulness and uselessness of everyone around him. Two, he recognises time and its value.
28. No one should have any doubt that if at all he fulfills his dream of becoming Prime Minister he will make bureaucrats work. For instance, his Jyotigram Yojna to provide power to all Gujarati households 24x7 was almost impossible to implement, with the toughest resistance coming from users of electricity. But Modi put his foot down, plugged leakages, stopped theft, and forced farmers to pay pending bills running into crores of rupees. He has provided power to all homes in Gujarat.
29. Whatever critics may say, Modi has learnt his lesson after the 2002 riots. The Modi camp says he is unlikely to repeat the mistakes of 2002.
30. Even though the Prime Minister’s chair is far, far away, in case Modi becomes PM he will not continue the “official minority policies” the way it’s now run from New Delhi. He will leave his imprint on the way the central government handles the nation’s minorities.
Praise for leadership
Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of renowned Tata Group, today praised Narendra Modi's leadership in Gujarat in an interview on CNN-IBN. However, he stopped just short of commenting on his bigger role in national politics. "I think in Gujarat he has proven his leadership and he has moved Gujarat into a position of prominence. I'm not in a position to gaze what he would do in a country," he told the channel.
Wait and watch
It is difficult to say whether Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be good or not for industry and economy if he were to become the Prime Minister, Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej has said. "Now, I do know Narendra Modi has done a reasonably good job in Gujarat, may be if he becomes the Prime Minister he can do a good job at the Centre, but he has not been tested at the Centre.
Question of human development
Showering praise on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for being "the finest administrator," Infosys chairman emeritus N R Narayana Murthy said the state had done extremely well under his leadership as reflected by its growth indices, but added he did not have much idea on how the state was doing in terms of human development indices.
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