Narendra modi : A political biography
Author : Andy Marino
Publisher: HarperCollins, Rs599
Narendra modi: the gamechanger
Author : Sudesh Verma
Publisher: Vitasta, Rs399
There has been a sudden spurt of books trying to decode Narendra Modi. RAJESH SINGH scrutinises two of them and asserts how the prospective Prime Minister is being repeatedly interpreted of late
Narendra Modi’s critics are rattled by the spate of books that have been published on him in recent weeks, listing out his successful model of governance and inclusive growth in Gujarat and his leadership skills. They are worried that the new narrative will subsume, or at the very least largely dilute, the venomous propaganda they have with great care orchestrated over the last decade and swayed large numbers of people into believing in the falsehoods they have spread about the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Prime Ministerial candidate. So, many of them have taken to studiously ignoring the publications or, if they have been compelled to take note, have dismissed them as works by Modi-acolytes that deserve to be taken with a pinch of salt. From their perspective, Modi-bashers are the torch-bearers of free-thinking (not to speak of secular ideals), while those who have a good word to spare for him are definite stooges with their minds hopelessly poisoned.
The hate-Modi business would have continued to flourish unchallenged had not the BJP catapulted him to the national stage and made him the Prime Ministerial candidate. Suddenly, publishers, who had earlier shown little interest in an alternative discourse which did not demonise Modi, realised that readers wanted to know more about him than what his detractors in the media, non-Government organisations and sundry others including ‘secular’ writers, had been pushing down the people’s throats. Also, writers recognised that there was more to the man than the filth he had been targeted with; that there was not just a human side to him but also the administrative success to his credit. Suddenly, many people believed that here was a man who could be India’s Prime Minister — and he could, therefore, be not that bad. Of course, those that refuse to do so, cling on to the belief based on assumptions — like noted writer Salman Rushdie, who anticipates that a Modi-regime would be a “fairly bullying one”.
Two among the more prominent books that have hit the stands in recent days (and been the subject of animated discussions) and cocked a snook at Modi-baiters, are Andy Marino’s Narendra Modi: A Political Biography, and Sudesh Verma’s Narendra Modi: The GameChanger. In theme, they are similar; in the approach to their subject, they are not too different. But in style they are poles apart. Verma’s book is a bit more detailed, whereas Marino has written with a flourish that often depends on verbal theatrics and an ‘outsider’s’ perspective.
With that ‘foreign’ refreshing outlook, Marino notes at one stage, “Perhaps the greatest irony of the prejudice against Modi since 2002 is that it has actually helped him. It has provided Modi with a smokescreen for amending or evolving Hindutva in ways the VHP and its cronies would never have allowed otherwise.” Marino is a British author and television producer who penned the book after Modi gave him rare access. If the writer had baggage prior to the assignment, he either concealed it effectively or shed it conclusively. In any case, it does not show in the book.
As political biographies go, Marino’s book is a well-researched one, though personal nuggets on Modi are few and far between. This is because the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate (the phrase could change to Prime Minister-elect post-May 16) had little personal in his life. His difficult yet happy childhood; his craving to achieve something meaningful as he entered his teens; his marriage in name; his decision to quit home and wander through the country in search of a higher bidding… all these form part of the book. What stands out are not the details that Marino provides — it’s not the first book to do so — on the 2002 violence, but the author’s accurate analyses and interpretations. It’s something that could come only from one who has not been burdened with prejudice of one kind or the other. He writes, “Beneath the surface there are more calculating reasons for Modi’s continuous demonisation. One is the wide and potent electoral appeal of the BJP’s softer and more inclusive reworking of the Hindutva ideal. Another is that Modi is an uncomfortable example for the Congress and other ‘secular’ parties like the SP, BSP, JD(U) and the left. His programme of empowerment is a challenge to their own model of entitlement…”
This should have been obvious to in-house secular commentators, but has hardly been. It strengthens Marino’s remark on the “narrow-sightedness of the conventional critical position”. He explains: “Modi is hectored daily for a riot that occurred over a decade ago, despite the many investigations which have failed to result in legal convictions or even charges against him.” These are difficult positions to accept for the hate-Modi brigade, and it is no wonder that Marino is not its idea of a best-seller.
Besides being everything that Marino’s book is, Sudesh Verma’s GameChanger has deep insights into the domestic political play that has resulted in Modi’s rise to the national stage and the consolidation of his position despite initial rumblings from sections within the BJP. It traces his humble beginning as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak pracharak to Chief Minister of Gujarat; it tells of the challenges he faced in the form of having inherited a nearly failed administration; it narrates with drama but in detail the aftermath of the Godhra train-burning incident — how Modi responded and how he was unfairly reviled for the violence. And, of course, Verma tells the story of Gujarat’s transformation from a prosperous State to an even more prosperous one — now driven by policy and not the whims of an individual; now rooted to true inclusive development and not manipulated by divisive politics in the name of secularism. The result is that Modi has won three terms as Chief Minister from the people of his State.
like other writers, Verma too deals with the thorny issue of whether Modi will be able to win over Muslim support. The author has no definite answer, but he points to the small thaws that he sees. He quotes All Indian Muslim Personal law Board member, Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi as saying, “If Modiji becomes the Prime Minister, I think, there will be no discrimination in the country.” The Mufti admits that earlier, he was an “extremist Muslim for a long time” and that he had “no shame in accepting this”. What changed his positionIJ “One meeting with Modi and I was a completely transformed man”, he says with rare candour.
Indeed, he is a rare one. More such ‘conversions’ have to happen if Modi is to gain widespread acceptability among the minority community. A small beginning has been made here and there. The process could perhaps have been quicker but for the obstacles that the hate-Modi brigade members, terrified of the entitlements they will lose if he becomes Prime Minister, continue to place in the way. The question is: Will these prevail over the promise of positive change Modi has promised to the nationIJ Verma quotes British documentary film-maker Antonia Filmer as having said that Modi is, like Margaret Thatcher was, a nationalist, champion of free market economy and equally capable of empowering the poor and the deprived. Verma adds, “Also, there is another comparison. Thatcher was a workaholic and the daughter of a grocer.” Well, well…