Why I support Modi (Despite the opposition) By Sunil Rajguru I receive a lot of flak for my perceived pro-Narendra Modi writings. Some even comment why I love the Gujarat Chief Minister so much. Well the first reason is really simple. I admire Lal Bahadur Shastri and his “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” focus was simply brilliant. I admire Indira Gandhi because she was a woman as tough as steel in the dirty and difficult world of politics. I admire PV Narasimha Rao for the liberalization of 1991-92, which to me is the single most important decision of post-Independent India. I admire AB Vajpayee for giving us the first-ever completed term from a non-Congress government and our first whiff of a two-party system. I want a PM I can admire and after the above leaders, Modi fits the bill. Secondly, it may be noted that both the Janata Party and Janata Dal went kaput. The UPA-NDA dispensation is the closest we’ve ever had to a healthy two-party (or rather two-alliance) system. From now on, I want a PM to be only from the UPA or the NDA and mainly the Congress and BJP for the simple reason that these are the two largest parties and can give us stability. I don’t want Mayawati or Mulayam Singh Yadav or any other Third Front/National Front/Federal Front leader to be PM. They will never ever give us the type of governance that the country requires. Just look at the way VP Singh-Chandra Shekhar-HD Deve Gowda-IK Gujral went. They were disasters. I will not even support a Nitish Kumar because he is from the JD(U). Had he been from the BJP, then I might have supported him over Modi. Now nobody can seriously argue that the UPA has not lost the mandate of the nation post-2011. This is the most corrupt government in the history of Independent India and there are no two ways about that. To make matters worse, it is the most arrogant in history too. Giving the UPA a third term in 2014 will be a disaster and god save the people of India if that happens. Since a two-alliance system is healthy for India, it is but logical that the NDA be given a chance. A BJP leader has the best chance of giving us stability for 5 years. Modi is right now the tallest leader of the BJP. It’s as simple as that. No matter how much that old fogey LK Advani creates a ruckus, Modi is the favourite of the entire rank and file of the party. He is the natural choice and is already the shadow Prime Minister of India (a term more popular in England). Thirdly, why did the people of America elect Barack Obama in 2008? Obama was relatively inexperienced and was never even a Governor. He entered the national scene as a US Senator only in 2005 and became the President too early in 2008. The truth is that he was elected only on the basis of his oratorical skills. That’s a reality of most countries in the world. The best speakers are elected to office whether they have the administrative skills or not. The same thing is happening in India and Modi is by far the best political orator India has. Just look at the facts. Whether he speaks at a Delhi college or an industry meet or a media conclave, the entire audience sits in rapt attention. Modi is India’s best political speaker and will fit the post of PM quite well. Does he ever discuss caste or religion in detail in any of these meets? Isn’t that a good thing? Fourthly, people question his development skills. That is one thing that only the people of Gujarat can answer. If you are a citizen of a particular state and you see roads coming up, the water situation improving and the power cuts coming down the moment a new government comes to power, you will credit the administration and call it development. If someone gives you statistics to counter that, you will laugh in his face. Throw as many conflicting figures as you want, but it’s the people who matter. Laloo Prasad Yadav got 3 terms, but the people who voted for him never said that he was a great development leader. The CPM also got many terms, but again the people never called them a development party. The people of Gujarat have called him a development leader and voted him at least twice on that count (2002 may not be included, since Modi didn’t do much at that time). Finally and importantly is the issue of Godhra. The nation is so divided on that and there can really be no neutral debate. But after all overload of information that has come out of that ghastly event, I sincerely think that he tried his best to contain the situation. I go with the facts. About 27,000 Hindus were arrested at that time and about 250 convictions have taken place. This is unparalleled in the history of riots in India, where usually people go scot free. Just check 1969, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1989 and 1992-93 and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Some people believe that he masterminded the riots but I believe he was new to the job and tried his best to contain the violence which might have been much greater had he not done so. No leader in the history of India has faced so much scrutiny after any riots and far from being convicted; he is yet to be chargesheeted. I may be wrong, no-one knows the whole truth, but I will naturally go with my beliefs. I don’t support the Congress. I don’t support the BJP. I don’t support the RSS. I support any strong leader who I think can solve India’s problems. Right now Modi seems to fit the bill, that’s all. In fact in 2009, I voted for Captain Gopinath even though all my friends told me not to do so as I would be wasting my vote and he would lose his deposit. But out of all the candidates, he seemed to make the most sense to me and I voted for him because of that: It’s as simple as that!
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 08:26:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015