Newcomer Modi won’t have it all his own way

THE scale of Narendra Modi’s victory — a landslide in Indian terms — makes him the country’s most powerful prime minister since the late Indira Gandhi, but also its most controversial.

Since the 2002 riots in Gujarat in which more than 1 000 people were massacred, Modi has been treated as an international pariah. Britain, the US and EU all shunned him for failing to stop the killing as the state’s chief minister.

He has since been cleared of any involvement by a special investigation team, but his refusal to apologise for the loss of life has perpetuated his notoriety.

Modi was born into a lower middle-class family in Vadnagar, Gujarat, in 1950. The son of a railway tea stall owner and one of six children, his life changed when he decided to join the local youth group of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu nationalist group that promotes personal discipline and the need to strengthen national character.

The group is the power behind the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Modi moved swiftly through the group’s ranks. In 1986, he began to work with the emerging BJP and two years later was made state organising secretary for Gujarat. By 1996 he was the party’s All-India national secretary in north India.

Mohan Guruswamy, a former BJP adviser, says Modi was solitary and rigid and voiced frustration at the lack of urgency among older colleagues. Another colleague said he used to speak of India’s need to “give Pakistan a good thrashing”.

His administration was defined by the Gujarat violence and his reaction to it, but he recovered to establish a reputation for strong governance and business-friendly efficiency. His popularity with Ratan Tata, the UK’s biggest private employer, persuaded Britain to lift its boycott in 2012.

So how will he govern the whole country? With a clear majority, he will not be burdened by the need to indulge corrupt politicians or regional allies. But he could be frustrated at the limitations of being prime minister. As chief minister of Gujarat, he had the power to grant land to business leaders and give permission for investments.

“He will come to Delhi and realise he can’t do anything. He will have to reach out across the aisle and carry his party with him . . . he’ll be looking for buttons to push and there will be none,” said Guruswamy. — ©