Pratik Dogra
The mascot for the Hindutva ideology in the country, Narendra Damodardas Modi, is someone who the Muslims and the seculars love to hate. Accused by his opponents of endorsing the post-Godhra inter-communal violence, the state leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Modi achieved iconic status within his party after leading them to a sweeping victory in the December 2002 polls, held just after the Godhra episode.
The Gujarat turnaround
In October 2001, when he was asked by the party to head the government in Gujarat reeling under the impact of a massive earthquake early that year, Modi took charge and embarked upon a massive cost-cutting exercise to compensate for the economic losses. The ‘Modi effect’ can be gauged by the fact that during his first administration, Gujarat’s GDP jumped at over 10%, the highest growth rate for any state in India.
He is also credited for making electricity availabile in many rural parts of Gujarat, besides successfully raising the height of Narmada Dam, resulting in increased irrigation, water supplies and hydroelectric power.
2002 riots: A major blot
However, a major blemish in Modi’s report card has been the voilence unleashed at a community.
In February 2002, following the Godhra carnage, communal riots of the worst kind broke out across the state, claiming around a thousand lives. The National Human Rights Commission took the government to task, pointing to "a comprehensive failure on the part of the state government to control persistent violations of rights".
As an aftermath to the riots, there were calls for Modi’s resignation. The opposition parties stalled the Parliament over the issue. Even the BJP’s allies in the NDA like DMK and TDP were in chorus with the opposition on Modi’s removal.
However, in a stunning turn around, the BJP under an inspirational Modi came back in the state with an astounding victory, winning 126 of the 182 seats.
Once again as Modi’s term as Chief Minister draws to a close, the wounds of 2002 have been reopened. A sting operation shows him and his men hand in glove with perpetrators of the complicity in the communal clashes. Modi knows that it’s not just the Congress he is up against this time. Some of his own party men, upset by his high-handed style of functioning and led by his predecessor Keshubhai Patel have reportedly been hobnobbing with the Congress to cause a serious damage to his electoral aspirations. The forthcoming elections are seen as a make or break for Modi. The daggers within the party are drawn and any slip-ups would only provide more ammunition to his opponents.
But his supporters are confident that even if BJP’s support withers, as long as Modi holds the backing of the RSS he would be hard to remove from office.
BJP’s man for future
Modi is widely regarded as among the front-runner next generation leader by the party’s leadership. He has been compared to none other Sardar Patel, the most iconic Gujrati politician and a freedom fighter. A section of society even calls him the "Chhotte Sardar".
A recent sting operation by a private news channel has done a considerable damage to his image, but such is his persona, combined with his ability to polarise the public opinion that the opposition is still in dilemma whether to make an election issue out of it or not.
Born on September 17, 1950 in the northern Mehsana district of Gujarat to a middle-class family, Narendra Modi joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1974 as a youth worker. He became a full-time worker and was involved in the anti-corruption ‘Nav Nirman’ movement. Later, in the early 1980s he was nominated to the BJP, as a representative. In 1988 he was made the General Secretary of the state BJP unit. During the Ram Mandir movement, he emerged as a hardcore Hindutva leader.
In 1995 he became the party’s National Seceratry and was placed in charge of five major states until he became the Gujrat Chief Minister in 2001.
Narendra Modi’s personality is a complex blend of IT as well as the hardline saffron politics, besides a passion for expensive clothes and designer accessories.
As the RSS’s blue eyed boy, Modi enjoys a space in the minds of the people, like a very few of his contemporaries. Irrespective of the election results, Narendra Modi looks set to dominate the political scene for years to come.
