Modi is the most talented politician of our time He doesnt think anyone else has his brilliance or integrity. And he cannot bear to stand a rival, says journalist Aakar Patel, a longtime Modi observer who has translated Modis poetry and his biographies of RSS leaders. What would India under a Modi Sarkar look like -- if the BJP were to come to power? Who would be the men and women running the show if Modi were to become prime minister? Is there a Modi wave? Is he the messiah of the middle class and how has he boosted Gujarati pride? Gujaratis feel they were tarnished in 2002 nationally and the only man who spoke for them is today a globally recognised figure. Whether or not they are correct in feeling this pride is another thing, says writer-columnist Aakar Patel who grew up in Gujarat and started his career in the Gujarati newspaper Divya Bhaskar. Patels columns are published in Mint Lounge, Mumbai Mirror and First Post. Gujarat has the best mercantile culture of any Indian state. It would be wrong to assume that high rates of growth in Gujarats economy are purely the work of the government, leave alone one man, says Patel. In an e-mailed interview to Rediffs Archana Masih, he discusses Narendra Modis past in Gujarat and what his future in Indias politics could be. What would India under a Modi government look like if Mr Modi were to come to power? That would depend on his majority. A BJP government with 200 seats will be as helpless as Manmohan Singhs. A Modi government with a full majority will be more dangerous, particularly on the foreign affairs front. And then there are the old RSS agendas like dislike of English. In Gujarat, Modi has denied English education to the poor till age 10. Gujarats government schools teach ABCD only in class 5. This is why Gujarat has no stake in the services industries. Gujaratis like Ratan Tata (TCS) and Azim Premji (Wipro) who want to develop their software business have to look outside Ahmedabad, Baroda and Surat. A seven-year-old Gujarati in 2001 would be 20 today. Modi has denied access into the middle class to a generation of poor Gujaratis. What kind of an administrator is he? What is his style of functioning like? He is firm and disciplined. Whenever I have met him, it has been exactly on the appointed time. He prides himself on his attention to detail. His officers fear him and do not defy him. You have said that just as Modi has removed his challengers in Gujarat, he will do the same in Delhi -- so if there is a likely Modi Sarkar -- who are the challengers that he will get rid of? The ones he is threatened by. This includes popular figures and those who have a base of their own. It is not a coincidence that he has gone after L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh and Sushma Swaraj. In Gujarat, he pushed away the powerful leaders because he cannot share power with them. He is highly insecure and only works with those who accept his absolute supremacy. The two Gujarat minister he depended most on -- Saurabh Patel and Amit Shah -- were denied Cabinet status for 10 years. How many times have you met him and what are your impressions about him? I think he is the most talented politician of our time. A brilliant public speaker, charismatic, very hardworking, uninterested in most things outside politics and government. He is neither well-read nor well-travelled and as a writer is not particularly interesting. He is also a published poet. I first met him in 2002 just after the riots as part of an Editors Guild of India team. I have also interviewed him and met him in my time as an editor in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Please click Next to read further... Image: Narendra Modi at the Somnath temple in Gujarat
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 04:58:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015