Narendra Modi Victory in Gujarat

Narendra Modi Victory in Gujarat

Narendra Modi led BJP to a victory in Gujarat stae legislative (Vidhan Sabha) elections by a decisive almost two-thirds majority over Congress. Congress and pro-Congress, leftist media aided by the notoriously inaccurate exit polls and illegal satta (betting) odds thought that there was perfect storm against Modi and BJP. Their premise was based on the following (in their view)

• Pandering to the communal Moslem vote bank
• Reignition of caste politics and regathering of the elements of KHAM in their favor
• Regaining of Adivasi (scheduled tribe) votes
• Dissatisfaction amongst farmers who were no longer able to steal electricity
• Dissidence in BJP - especially defections in Saurashtra and open reballion led by two former Chief Ministers (Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta) in addition to defction of former BJP stalwart Shankarsih Vaghela
• Illusion that economis development had somehow alluded the majority of Gujarat population
• Perceived lack of suppoert from Hindu organizations like RSS and VHP and initial opposition from Uma Bharati and her fledgling party
  
  So what proved Congress and its media cohorts wrong? What lessons does this elections have for Indian politics? Here is a Cliff Notes version of response for the Indian politicians:

• Voters prefer real security from terrorists over Hindi movie dialogs and cliches written by Bollywood writers.
• People know economic progress when they see it. No amount of fake economic data to convince the populance otherwise will work. Good governance pays!
• Politicians should inspire hope for a better future rather than try to convince the people that all the good work has already been accomplished. This is the subtle difference beteen 'India Shining" and "Jeetega Gujarat". Jeetega Gujarat gives further hope for better future, whereas "India Shining" inspires a "left out" feeling amongst those who are on a path to progress but have not yet quite reached
• The people of India have not yet given up on the corruption free politics - as much as we have come to expect corruption in public life, when people have an opportunity to vote for a clean politician like Narendra Modi they will
• Caste based politics, offering quota and appeasing religious minority is immoral and appeals to the lowest common denominator of our society. People see that - but political parties have no couurage to counter that. But when presented with a real choice between dynamic, honest growth driven option, people will choose that - hands down. Mayawati need not apply!
• We are witnessing the beginning of the end of religious discrimination of Hindus in India. The 82% Hindu majority is not going to accept the divide and rule politics of Congress/Communist anti-Hindu cohorts
• Personality will prevail over party. People like the notion that they have a voice in electing a leader directly rather than delegating that responsibility to a party whose inner politics will choose a leader for them. In Gujarat people chose Narendra Modi instead of a no-name Congress leader, much the same as several decades ago when people chose Indira Gandhi over Congress Syndicate or Congress (O)
• Opportunistic politics will not pay. Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta abandonded their lifelong ideology and asked people to follow them. The people refused, and rightfully so. why should people abandon their beliefs to fulfill the ego of politicians?
• Talk to people and not just your media friends. Congress derived its confidence by reading english medium press reports and editorials which were created based on interviews, scoops and news stories planted by Congress and leftist NGOs. It led to a lot of pre-election "feel good" factor within Congress but did not lead to votes. Modi on the other hand ignored the media and approached the people directly
  
  Gujarat elections results are certain to reverbarate throughout the Indian politics

Narendra Modi The King

NEW DELHI: Having set a new benchmark in terror investigations by cracking the Ahmedabad blasts case in three weeks, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Friday made a fresh appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately clear the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill and help the state acquire more teeth to combat terror.

Stressing on the need for political will to give more legal powers and resources to the police, Mr Modi in his meeting with the prime minister sought prompt central clearance for the GCOCA, pending with the MHA for nearly four years. With MCOCA already in place in Maharashtra, Mr Modi was categorical that Gujarat, which lost 56 people in the July 26 serial blasts, must be allowed its own anti-terror law.

“It is important to understand that this law exists in Maharashtra and if a bomb blast takes place they can use it, but if it happens in Gujarat just 50 km away, I don’t have the law,” he said.

Ironically, Union home minister Shivraj Patil has already ruled out clearance to the proposed anti-terror legislations of half-a-dozen states pending with his ministry. During a recent interaction between the prime minister and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha LK Advani attended by him, Mr Patil had communicated the government’s opposition to the states’ move to enact a law having provisions similar to the repealed Pota.

Rejecting the UPA government’s argument that there was no need for a Pota-type law as there were terror attacks even when Pota was in effect, Mr Modi said: “I want to tell those politicians who have their minds filled with vote bank politics that....despite having Section 302 (of IPC which gives death penalty for murder), murders do take place. Does this mean we remove this clause?” Mr Modi insisted that strong laws were needed to deter the youth from being lured by terrorists for joining in their anti-national activities.

In a meeting that saw a free and frank exchange on security issues between the prime minister, assisted by NSA M K Narayanan, and Mr Modi, the latter shared “specific” leads on terror threats that have emerged from the interrogation of Simi leaders arrested by Gujarat police for the Ahmedabad blasts as well as for planting bombs in Surat. The leads possibly relate to future targets being eyed by the terror outfits.

Sharing the assessment that centres of economic activity are the favoured target of jehadi terror, Mr Modi sought the establishment of special cell comprising intelligence officials of the Centre and economically-progressive states to facilitate constant exchange of information and threat perception among them. “There is a need for co-ordination between the Centre and states and also among the states to combat terror,” he said.

Mr Modi was particularly concerned over terror funding and advanced communication systems being used by the terror outfits. He called for a more pro-active approach by the Central agencies to tap these funding and communication channels, something that Mr Singh and Mr Narayanan readily agreed to.

Also, with Gujarat being a coastal state and intelligence inputs pointing to jehadis’ plans to infiltrate men and ammunition through the sea route, Mr Modi sought further tightening of coastal security.

For once, the discussions between Mr Modi and the prime ministerial establishment rose above party politics and focused on a joint approach to uproot terror. After the meeting, Mr Modi insisted that he had not come to the PMO “as a BJP leader but as a voice of the Gujarat assembly which represents 5.5 crore people.” “We should fight terrorism as a united force,” he underlined.

Narendra Damodardas Modi ( નરેંદ્ર દામોદરદાસ મોદી, ; born 17 September 1950) has been Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat since 7 October 2001.

He participated in the rise to political dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat as its elections organiser in the early 1990s. This was the period which led to the election of the party in 1995. He became Gujarat's Chief Minister in October 2001, promoted to the office at a time when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel had resigned, following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections.

He was re-elected in December 2002 as chief minister with 127 seats in the 182-member assembly. His term has been both attacked for mismanagement of and complicity in the 2002 Gujarat violence , and praised for outstanding administration for turning Gujarat into an economic powerhouse and controlling terrorism.

In July 2007 he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously.

He was elected again for a third term on December 23, 2007 with an emphatic win in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule"