NARENDRA MODI
THE ONLY NATIONAL
LEADER IN INDIA
The
lack of a True National leader in any Party in India has been a Sad Fact – until
Narendra Modi truly tried to be a national leader. In my Blogs, I had suggested
many times in the Past that Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, (from
BJP) and Rahul Gandhi with younger congress leaders (from Congress) must tour
all over India, talk to people in every district – towns and villages – make friends;
feel friendly towards them, understand their problems, think of solutions to
those problems – and think truly on a national Scale.
But,
only Narendra Modi is doing it; Especially after he was nominated first as the
Head of BJP election campaign and then as PM candidate. None Else has done it
and none else seems willing to do it. That disqualifies all of them, in my
opinion, for the Post of PM. Only
Narendra Modi is the available NATIONAL LEADER in India and only he, in my
opinion, qualifies to be the PM. In his
governance of Gujarat, he was completely nationalistic in his outlook and I
strongly believe, he will unite all sections of society – if he becomes the PM
and other BJP leaders follow his example.
Of
late, Congress , having lost all hopes to win elections, seems to be trying
other tricks. A few call themselves Intellectuals, Public men or cine Industry
men or some other Industry men – and issue weird, confusing statements, like,
vote for secularism! To my mind, these are all congress men in disguise and it
is congress, which is playing the game – as it comes out when these people are
cornered in TV channels. But, these worthies should tell us the justification for voting for either Rahul or Kejriwal, who are the other contenders. Will India be safe in their Hands. What are their qualities to be the PM?
Any
Party can play this game. BJP can also prop up a few people from the same
category – double the number that congress puts up – and ask for VOTE FOR
DEVELOPMENT; VOTE OUT CORRUPTION.
BJP
may be forced to do it – if these tricks continue. Public must ignore these
kind of appeals. People are suffering from poverty, lack of employment, from
Inflation, from Bad Roads, from lack of water, electricity and so on.
Secularism, Federalism etc are important but Modi’s governance more than
ensures all of them.
Some
of my earlier Blog Posts on Modi make interesting reading today.There are of
course many others too...I am giving below a few excerpts from 2013, which reflect the situations then.
(1)
See
the EXCERPTS from this one written in Sep,2013:
Modi is a No-nonsense, good governance advocate. No one else
seems to be that – in other Parties like Congress. That one qualification is
good enough for making him the PM of India for the next five years.
I have no great respect for those who talk of the 2002
riots in Gujarat. It is very obvious
that Modi did not try to protect even his own Ministers from being
punished. He did not interfere with the legal process. Many other governments,
including the Congress, are openly protecting their own men and women from
legal process. This fact deserves kudos of the Highest order for Narendra Modi.
Those who criticize him for 2002 must remember the Anti-sikh riots of 1984 – in
which no reasonable prosecutions or convictions have taken place so far. The
contrast between the two legal processes gives Modi the best Image and the best
foot forward as the Better Leader.
Is Modi secular or communal? He is religious. But, he is
not communal. Many people who call him
communal are communal themselves. They always look at every Indian from the
religious and caste angle only. Secularism consists in desisting from looking
at any governance issue from these angles. Justice for all. Progress for all....
But, what are the Pit falls for BJP and Modi? VHP mainly
seems to be one factor, both BJP and Modi must be vary of. Their agenda is
never above board. VHP also must stick to non-controversial religious agenda.
The Mandir Issue – is another pit fall. It is in fact a
senseless Political issue. When the matter is before courts, and only courts
can clear Mandir Construction, it is essential for all to leave the issue
outside Political arena. Mere political comments on the Mandir Issue only add
to suspicion and derision both. They don’t bring votes. They don’t bring
development. Modi never talks of such issues. But, others in BJP must also stop
talking of it.
.... Modi will surely give India Good Governance. He is
definitely not communal. He is definitely not a wavering administrator –
whether in economic or Naxalite, or terrorist areas of governmental action. He
will deal with all of them firmly. He will deal with friendly states as friend
and enemy states as bold, firm, no nonsense negotiator. Where firmness is
called for, Modi is the Best choice for India...And, India needs these
qualities now.
(2)
Here
is another from 31.10.13 :
Congress
must never ever attribute the Godhra tragedy or Ahmadabad riots to Modi
personally, when, Modi’s regime very actively and very clearly pursued the
investigations and got the actual culprits punished, which the Congress has not
done so far in respect of Anti- Sikh riots. How many of these riot victims were
compensated? How many perpetrators were punished? Saying regret, is not enough
alternative for these acts required by Law and Justice to the riot victims.
....
The tallest statue of Sardar Patel (182 Mts) reflects what Modi will strive to
achieve if made the PM. India needs such great Monuments for the great leaders
of our freedom struggle - Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and Subhas Bose. Why can't we
have world class statues for these world class leaders?
(3)
Look
at another from Sep,30,13 :
If
there is one really secular National level leader in the national Parties – it
is Modi. His is the best in ‘inclusive’ governance and Politics. On the other
hand, congress always commits the same Mistake – of wooing Minorities, that too
only Muslims, and thus segregates them from the national Mainstream. Look at
Shinde’s letter. Only Muslim Youth are to be accorded special treatment in
Investigations – not Christian youth, not Buddhist youth, not Sikh youth. None
else. Definitely not the Hindu Youth.
(4)
Here
is another from July 12,13 :
Bhagavad Gita’s very first sloka indicates two major
failings in Human psyche “aham-mama”, which are the Sanskrit words for “ME AND
MINE”. These are the two failings of most people. We close our eyes to the
failings of our own self and of those whom we perceive as our people...
Whether Modi sits, stands, eats or talks, or even
breathes, they will find something objectionable in everything that he
does. ...
Whatever they or their own Party men do – they will
totally close their eyes to it. This is equally bad. Be that as it may, the following are the key
excerpts from the Modi Interview. I find nothing objectionable in it.
Interview with BJP leader Narendra Modi - July 12, 2013 @
11:45 am - By Reuters Staff - By Ross Colvin and Sruthi Gottipati : Reuters
spoke to Modi at his official Gandhinagar residence in a rare interview, the first
since he was appointed head of the BJP’s election campaign in June. Here are
edited excerpts from the interview. The questions are paraphrased and some of
Modi’s replies have been translated from Hindi.
]Is it frustrating that many people still define you by
2002?
People have a right to be critical. We are a democratic country. Everyone has their own view. I would feel guilty if I did something wrong. Frustration comes when you think “I got caught. I was stealing and I got caught.” That’s not my case.
Do you regret what happened?
I’ll tell you. India’s Supreme Court is considered a good
court today in the world. The Supreme Court created a special investigative
team (SIT) and top-most, very bright officers who oversee the SIT. That report
came. In that report, I was given a thoroughly clean chit, a thoroughly clean
chit. 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 it 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.
But do you think you did the right thing in 2002?
Absolutely. However much brainpower the Supreme Being has
given us, however much experience I’ve got, and whatever I had available in
that situation and this is what the SIT had investigated.
Do you believe India should have a secular leader?
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 to
none.’ This is our secularism.
What about the suggestion that you don’t take criticism?
I always say the strength of democracy lies in criticism.
If there is no criticism that means there is no democracy. And if you want to
grow, you must invite criticism. And I want to grow, I want to invite criticism.
But I’m against allegations. There is a vast difference between criticism and
allegations. For criticism, you have to research, you’ll have to compare
things, you’ll have to come with data, factual information, then you can
criticize. Now no one is ready to do the hard work. So the simple way is to
make allegations. In a democracy, allegations will never improve situations.
So, I’m against allegations but I always welcome criticism.
How will you persuade minorities including Muslims to
vote for you?
First thing, to Hindustan’s citizens, to voters, Hindus
and Muslims, I’m not in favour of dividing. I’m not in favour of dividing
Hindus and Sikhs. I’m 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 that is a danger to democracy also. Religion
should not be an instrument in your democratic process.
My Comments :- ... The point
is – Gujarat Government is reported to have acted within 24 hours of the
incidents and controlled everything. On the other hand, his critics did not act
for weeks – to control much bigger incidents in their states! If Modi does
something wrong, by all means, we must criticize. Else, he will also commit big
mistakes. Ditto for every Politician.
But, criticizing good deeds and good words – is bad politics.
(5)
Here
is another from April,2,13 :
To be..or, not to be (PM)..is not Modi’s dilemma. Whether he should be..or,
he should not be.. is the dilemma of all others.
I have not heard him speak of any of his “Beyond-Gujarat”
ambitions. That is, if at all, he has any. Even if you ask him in his sleep, he
will talk of chey karod Gujaratis, as of today. His vocabulary certainly
is not 1.2 billion Indians. His priority and fixation has been and is 6
crore Gujaratis.
...Who else can be BJP’s nominee for the Post of PM?
There are two other obvious contenders for the Post. 1. Sushma Swaraj 2. Arun
Jaitley. That makes the three potential contenders a trinity. There does not
seem to be much groupism behind the three – although many chorus voices rise in
favour of Modi.
Who amongst them has an ALL INDIA IMAGE? None. As of now.
Modi is a crowd Puller in Gujarat. He has a charisma of his own. He speaks
chaste Gujarati; good Hindi; tolerable English. He may have to improve his
English Delivery significantly to mesmerize the elite of India. The elite of
India has certain attraction towards Modi, positive or negative.
To my mind, Modi’s DEVELOPMENT AGENDA is what attracts
India at large – and quite justifiably.
To the credit of Modi, one must admit that he never spoke
in favour of or against this or that community and this or that religion. At
least, I have not heard him speak of religion and caste in his political
speeches. To that extent, his is the truly INCLUSIVE, DEVELOPMENTAL PLANK.
...If BJP comes to power, it is sheerly on the
development plank of Modi and other BJP CMs. If BJP loses the game, the sole
credit for that goes to the HINDUTVA AGENDA of RSS, VHP and others. ...
But, the top three leaders of BJP still keep a clean
face, devoid of Hindutva colour. Modi, despite 2002 incidents, has been able to
keep a clean record from 2002 to 2013. He never spoke of castes and religions
in any political speech, as far as I have heard. For any Politician in India,
this is very tough. Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj also can claim to be so –
but, their Political speeches are far less outside parliament and outside press
conferences.
The three together can pull it off - if they steer clear
of Hindutva image. All the three are competent and astute administrators. All
the three reasonably have a non-hindutva, secular image – despite all the
efforts of Congress against Modi.
But, the negative point about all the three of them is – none
of them today is a national leader.
They must tour the whole of India, district by district,
preferably together, and address public meetings in every district – and
address press in each district – and meet at least a few people in a few
villages and towns.
For a long, long time, India has not seen a national
leader. And, the result of that today is – most states are governed by local chieftains,
who have almost nothing to do with Delhi. And Delhi has not been adequately
fair to them too.
Who, of the three – becomes the PM is not the real
question. Will the three tour India and meet people across the length and
breadth of each state matters a lot for India and for BJP, in the long run. BJP
and India both need truly national leaders. ...
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