NATIONWIDE there is a buzz that Narendra Modi’s Gujarat has achieved a lot of progress and has made rapid strides in development and industrial progress largely on account of Modi’s inspiring leadership, unquestioned integrity and good governance. No wonder, 40 per cent of the people interviewed in urban India in the LensOnNews poll have voted for Modi’s Gujarat as the State with least corruption and best record in governance.
Don’t be mistaken into believing that Modi’s popularity is an urban, metropolitan phenomenon, or that it is confined to Gujarat. The buzz about Modi and Gujarat is there everywhere, even in the remotest districts of Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal. This has been reported by many journalists who have covered the BJP’s election campaigns in these states.
Throughout the country, Modi has come to epitomise high quality governance symbolised by unmatched delivery of public services, rapid strides in development, ever-growing public and private investments in the State, clean administration largely free from corruption etc. etc. No wonder, most people across the country would like to have a leader like Modi to lead them.
At a time when the brazenly corrupt Congress led UPA government at the Centre has shocked the nation with its unmatched record in corruption, Modi has zealously protected his image as an incorruptible leader, while also showing zero tolerance for corruption in his governance. While Modi’s personal integrity remains unquestioned, even his worst political rivals and critics concede that he has been able to provide a corruption-free government in Gujarat.
The change in the US administration’s view towards Narendra Modi which denied a visa to him in 2005 is a case in point. In a cable dated November 2, 2006 (84043: confidential), the Consul General in Mumbai, Michael S. Owen wrote, “Modi has successfully branded himself as a non-corrupt, effective administrator, as a facilitator of business…and as a no-nonsense, law-and-order politician…”
Incidentally, Modi is the only political figure anywhere in the world that WikiLeaks cables from the US diplomatic establishment have shown in a positive light.
Under Narendra Modi, Gujarat has made rapid strides in development over the past decade. Go to any part of Gujarat and I bet you will see huge development works underway. Anna Hazare knew full well what is happening in Gujarat when he praised Modi for his leadership. Notwithstanding the unending ranting by pseudo intellectuals of Gujarat, people all across Gujarat say that the State is progressing well. What is important is that the message of development has travelled far and wide defying the designs of opponents to spread calumny about Modi and Gujarat.
Critics are quick to point out the religious divide in Gujarat and how post-2002 riots, Muslims live constantly in fear. All this is bunkum and motivated propaganda by vested interests. In most parts of the State, Hindus and muslims are living in perfect harmony and there is not an iota of discrimination.
Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, a Gujarati himself, was vehemently attacked for saying that Muslims in Gujarat are experiencing development and are not discriminated against. He was only reflecting the sentiments of common Muslims across the State. Save some parts of Ahmedabad, Muslims all over the State are appreciative of Modi’s government and are even voting in significant numbers for the BJP under Modi.
Law and order situation in Gujarat is the best you can obtain anywhere in the country today. In a State that had witnessed periodic communal disturbances under the Congress rule, Gujarat had been remarkably peaceful over the last decade. There has not been a single incident or a day of curfew in Gujarat since 2002. Can any Congress ruled State match that record? Evidently, what goes on in the name of communal tension in Gujarat is propaganda unleashed by vested interests and there is absolutely no basis for such assessment.
Winning prospects
Such is the fast pace of development in Gujarat that people of the State have no doubt in their minds that Narendra Modi will get a bigger mandate in 2012 Assembly elections. The Congress party gloating over a narrow victory in Gandhinagar corporation elections is unlikely to get any cheer in the next year’s Assembly elections. As things stand now, the Congress party will be fortunate to win half the number of 59 seats it won in 2007 Assembly elections and may end up with below 30 seats in 2012 polls.
Congress’s Evil Designs
The Congress party, which runs its ‘scam a day’ government at the Centre is feeling shaky and extremely vulnerable. How does the Congress party take on an unstoppable Modi who has caught the imagination of the entire nation and has emerged as the mascot of good governance? The egregiously corrupt Congress party knows only way: to tarnish the fair reputations of all its opponents to prove that there are no cleaner alternatives or to target them unfairly.
As Modi’s reputation of integrity is impeccable, it has put into operation a sinister plan to implicate Modi in a plethora of cases involving killing of gangster Sohrabuddin and other shady criminals. To ensure success of this strategy, the UPA government is firing all cylinders by subverting various institutions, supplementing efforts of bogus NGOs, muzzling voices of support for Modi and managing media to sharpen its attacks.
Whoever has crafted this strategy for the Congress the party has not learnt lessons from its past mistakes. Narendra Modi has emerged stronger from every attempt that the Congress party has made to destroy him. The present effort to implicate Modi by dubious means will be no exception.
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake,” said Napoleon Bonaparte. “Never interrupt your opponent when he’s destroying himself”, said Paul Begala, a political commentator.
The Congress party is in a self destruct mode in targeting Narendra Modi. It must be allowed to fulfill its death wish.
| Manmohan heads the most corrupt government ever IN a nationwide opinion poll conducted by the news website LensOnNews.com in ten cities across the country, a majority (58 per cent) of the respondents have described the incumbent Manmohan Singh led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre as the “most corrupt government ever.” Only 30 per cent of the respondents thought otherwise, while 12 per cent had no opinion in this regard. Modi’s Gujarat is the least corrupt in the country The voters in the poll were asked, “If you were to name one State government that is the least corrupt in the country today, which would that State be?” No options were given and the respondents were free to mention whichever State they liked. As many as 40 per cent of the respondents to the poll named Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, evidently for its record of performance in providing responsive and corruption-free government in the State. Nitish Kumar’s Bihar was a distant second with 17 per cent naming it as the State with least corruption. Communist ruled Kerala emerged at the third position with eight per cent. The UPA ruled states of Maharashtra, Delhi and Rajasthan figured low down in the order with barely four to five per cent of respondents mentioning them as states with least corruption. The poll also quizzed voters about the voters’ attitude towards the movements initiated against corruption by prominent citizens like Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. Anna’s movement will reduce corruption Asked if they are hopeful that the movement initiated by Anna Hazare will help reduce corruption in the country, 55 per cent of the respondents answered in the affirmative. Only half that number (27 per cent) was skeptical of achieving positive results in eliminating corruption. Most people thus seem to think that the institution of an independent Lokpal as proposed by him, with substantive powers to investigate complaints against the highest leaders and officials of government, will at last lead to real and meaningful action against high-level corruption. Emphatic no to Baba Ramdev’s political plans Baba Ramdev, the yoga guru with millions of followers across the country has been a prominent crusader against governmental corruption. He had announced that he would be launching a political party later this summer to carry forward his ideas. Asked whether in their opinion launching of a political party would be the right thing for Baba Ramdev to do, 55 per cent of the respondents to our poll gave an emphatic ‘No’ for an answer, while only 26 per cent supported the initiative. “Clearly, most people feel that leaders of civil society like Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev should lead the movement for change, but should themselves stay away from the taint of politics,” says K Balakrishnan, formerly Research Editor, The Times of India and presently Editor, LensOnNews which conducted the poll. The LensOnNews poll was conducted in ten cities, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Cochin, Jaipur and Bhubaneshwar among a representative sample of nearly 2,000 respondents, mostly drawn from the middle classes and with exposure to the mass media. The poll was conducted between April 20 and 29 and the findings carry a margin of error of three per cent. |
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