Modi not good for India: British media

Narendra Modi as India’s prime minister has caught the imagination of the British media. The dominant theme is that Modi will not be a good PM at home and abroad, and that India’s great democracy deserves much better.

With polling underway, coverage in the British media has picked up, with correspondents of British newspapers reporting regularly from various parts of India and BBC having increased its election coverage in prime time bulletins.

Peter Popham, who was in Gujarat during the 2002 riots, wrote in a column in The Independent: “I can’t suppress a shiver at the thought of Narendra Modi taking office”.

The Guardian, known for its left-of-centre leanings, com- mented editorially: “The best hope of resisting the nationalist BJP, now or in 2019, lies with the Congress... To be able to win over the country, however, the Congress must first find the strength to modernise itself ”.

Amol Rajan, the Indian-origin editor of The Independent, wrote: “The charge sheet against Narendra Damodardas Modi is familiar and well founded: the stench of Hindu nationalism covers him”.

Roger Boyes wrote in as column in The Times: “Don’t expect Mr Modi, if he does indeed become India’s next leader, to be a great conciliator. Don’t expect a smooth diplomat. It looks as if India is embarking on a sea change. We can and must respect their democratic choice. We can also warn our Indian friends, in case they haven’t worked it out for themselves: Mr Modi is potentially big trouble”.

AP PHOTO Narendra Modi with the British High Commissioner to India, James Bevan, at Gandhinagar, in October 2012. The UK was the first country to re-engage with Modi after years of his diplomatic isolation by the West in the wake of the 2002 Gujarat riots.