Narendra Modi came, spoke, and conquered
In the last two days, from various platforms, Mr Narendra Modi has outlined his vision and strategy for politics, good governance and people's empowerment, delving deep into his experiences as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Unlike Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had peppered his speech while addressing a gathering of the Confederation of Indian Industry recently, with abstract remarks that had neither purpose nor direction, Mr Modi has illustrated his statements with specific examples. And unlike Mr Gandhi, who found only faults with the system — a system, incidentally presided over by his party for the last decade or so — the Chief Minister of Gujarat exuded optimism that things can be turned around if only governance returned centre-stage. Mr Gandhi saw only chaos all around, likening the country to a beehive to substantiate his belief, while Mr Modi saw an entrepreneur lurking in every Indian who was waiting for an opportunity to unleash his (or her) potential. Incidentally, a beehive is not as chaotic as Mr Gandhi believes; the movement of the bees in and out of the hive is calibrated and well-thought out, unlike the functioning of the Congress-led UPA regime. Having said that, there is really no point in further comparing the two leaders or what they say. Such an exercise would have made sense had there been some parity between them. But, while the Gujarat Chief Minister came across as a person who knew what he was talking — one may or may not agree entirely or partly with him — the Congress MP presented himself as a rather uninformed leader who was at sea when confronted with specifics. Whether it was at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry meet or at the ‘Think India Dialogue' organised by the Network18 Group in Delhi or at a function in Kolkata to address the business community or at a party event in Kolkata, Mr Modi structured his speech accordingly.
Thus, at the FICCI event, which was organised by the women's wing of the trade body, he spoke almost exclusively on the critical role that women can play in the development of society and the nation. He slammed the rising incidents of female foeticide and enumerated steps that his Government had taken in Gujarat to empower women — such as waiving off stamp duty on property bought in the name of women. He is absolutely right in saying that a financially empowered woman gets to play a larger role in decision-making, both at home and in society. At the Network18 interaction which was attended by netas and political commentators among others, Mr Modi switched to the mantra of people-friendly governance and lashed out at the Congress for discriminating against non-UPA State regimes. His definition of Government as opposed to governance struck an instant chord with his listeners — not just in the audience but also the tens of thousands of others who had been glued to their television sets, hearing him out. He carried the theme of discrimination forward at the gathering of business leaders in Kolkata the following day, on Tuesday, alleging that the Trinamool Congress Government in West Bengal led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was facing non-cooperation from the Centre, just as his State did. In one stroke, therefore, he reached out not just to Ms Banerjee but also to the other non-UPA ruled State Governments that have been nursing a similar grouse against the Centre.
Much as the Congress may try — and it has gone on an overdrive to trivialise Mr Modi's success in the recent outings — it cannot dispute his observations. The party cannot contest his belief, for instance, that while politics is about power, governance is about people's empowerment. In sum, it will be clear to the dumbest political observer that Mr Modi has stolen a march over the Congress.