The Narendra Modi thread

[Sachin=GOD]

As I said he'll end up like Yeddiurappa and making Gujarat Janata Party (GJP). Seriously! Is that Mody is dreaming of becoming a PM? Is he living in some LaLa Land? Is he trying to make BJP like a one person centric party (like Congress). Sala dreaming of becoming PM... By staying in news... :hysterical:

he thinks this is Amreeka where if you want to become Prez you go out and shout loud and clear that I'm in the race and I want to be Prez. In India you HAVE to keep a low profile and do things in a subtle manner so as to get publicity without giving the impression that you are hogging the limelight- he's been doing the very opposite of that for the last few months.

[adi B]

As I said he'll end up like Yeddiurappa and making Gujarat Janata Party (GJP). Seriously! Is that Mody is dreaming of becoming a PM? Is he living in some LaLa Land? Is he trying to make BJP like a one person centric party (like Congress). Sala dreaming of becoming PM... By staying in news... :hysterical:

yaar we are used to see NDA in opposition,dekhte hai kya gul khilata hai modi,only time will tell whether he is even a PM candidate or not,if he loses it`ll be a massive slap on his face but he has 7-8 months to get his acts right and start prachar from grass root level..

[bulbul]

As I said he'll end up like Yeddiurappa and making Gujarat Janata Party (GJP). Seriously! Is that Mody is dreaming of becoming a PM? Is he living in some LaLa Land? Is he trying to make BJP like a one person centric party (like Congress). Sala dreaming of becoming PM... By staying in news... :hysterical:

Yeddy gone , BJP able to get only 40 seats , based on those estimates BJP may win 4/5 seats in karnataka , currently its 19 i guess. so tell me from where BJP will get MP seats from South India now?

[bulbul]

he thinks this is Amreeka where if you want to become Prez you go out and shout loud and clear that I'm in the race and I want to be Prez. In India you HAVE to keep a low profile and do things in a subtle manner so as to get publicity without giving the impression that you are hogging the limelight- he's been doing the very opposite of that for the last few months.

Are you assuming these things based on current PM? Con party never keep it subtle ,still they are in power for long time.

[Sachin=GOD]

Yeddy gone , BJP able to get only 40 seats , based on those estimates BJP may win 4/5 seats in karnataka , currently its 19 i guess. so tell me from where BJP will get MP seats from South India now?

BJP will go from 19 to about 10-12 in K'taka. Yeddy leaving is the best thing that could have happened to BJP in K'taka - now they have a lot of time to convince people that they made him leave because he was corrupt - that will get them votes. Besides, it will help their National Campaign as an example of how they don't keep corrupt leaders in the party even if it costs them dearly in the election (although there are still many corrupt leaders in the BJP but still, this will be used as an example by BJP).

Are you assuming these things based on current PM? Con party never keep it subtle ' date=still they are in power for long time.

they are in power for a long time because they are the best in the country in election management and in playing dirty tricks at the very last hour. Most of the elections are won/lost in the last 48 hours when parties literally buy the votes of the undecided voters by all sorts of dirty tricks and Congress party is the undisputed expert in that.

[bulbul]

BJP will go from 19 to about 10-12 in K'taka. Yeddy leaving is the best thing that could have happened to BJP in K'taka - now they have a lot of time to convince people that they made him leave because he was corrupt - that will get them votes. Besides' date=' it will help their National Campaign as an example of how they don't keep corrupt leaders in the party even if it costs them dearly in the election (although there are still many corrupt leaders in the BJP but still, this will be used as an example by BJP).[/quote'] Ground reality right now is BJP is lucky if they win 5 seats. Karnataka voted BJP in last 2 elections purely based on Vajpayee factor.BJP dont have any local leader , unless BJP project a strong leader from center there is no way they are going to win more than 5 seats. Con party already to put 5 leaders in Ministry. Thats waht we are saying , Modi/BJP need to do some gimick like Con party to get power. Just keeping low and asking for votes won't work.

[zumi]

Ground reality right now is BJP is lucky if they win 5 seats. Karnataka voted BJP in last 2 elections purely based on Vajpayee factor.BJP dont have any local leader , unless BJP project a strong leader from center there is no way they are going to win more than 5 seats. Con party already to put 5 leaders in Ministry. Thats waht we are saying , Modi/BJP need to do some gimick like Con party to get power. Just keeping low and asking for votes won't work.

very true Whether it's Congress or SP Party, freebies and publicity go hand in hand, so of much of voting in India is based on personalities, caste/religion loyalties, and good PR. Only now in few regions where good governance is being rewarded by the electorates. Make no mistake Congress party has a war chest built over the last 5 years, and just a month prior to elections expect an avalanche of free giveaways like houses, quotas, land, biranyis, waiver of farm loans, etc. SENSEX always shoots up during Congress national election wins, as artificial spending by Congress kicks in. PS: During the last 10 years of Congress mismanagement only 2.6 million jobs were created, during the NDA rule a whopping 60 million jobs were created!!! But I guess it's too easy to buy off some illiterate farmer or a family of 10 from UP with loan waivers and small land allotments.

[Sachin=GOD]

Dilli Door Ast Nitish’s exit from the NDA forces Modi to shy away from Ayodhya and exposes him to a dilemma that had once dogged Advani

As the JD-U firmed up its separation from the BJP, Narendra Modi’s decision to quietly cancel his proposed visit to Ayodhya did not get the attention it deserved. This change of mind, which became known to the rest of the country only after it became a big talking point in Uttar Pradesh, was a clear pointer to the troubles that lay ahead for Narendra Modi even as he was trying to placate LK Advani in New Delhi. Mahant Ntrityagopal Das, president of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Trust, had invited Modi to participate in his birthday celebration—billed as an ‘Amrit Mahotsav’—organised in Ayodhya by the Sangh Parivar and sundry sadhus affiliated to it. Planned as a four-day event, the Gujarat Chief Minister was scheduled to visit Ayodhya on 19 June, its first day. Besides participating in the Mahotsav, Modi was also scheduled to offer prayers to Lord Rama at Ayodhya’s disputed site, according to Kamal Nayan Das, disciple and heir apparent of Mahant Nrityagopal Das. “My guru had personally talked to Narendra Modiji and he had said that he would attend the function,†Kamal Nayan Das tells Open on the phone, “But later [Modi] called back to say that he won’t be able to visit Ayodhya.†On the face of it, the 16 June split of the NDA and the cancellation of Modi’s Ayodhya trip may appear unrelated. But the sequence of events matters, with the decision coming at a time JD-U leader Nitish Kumar was accusing the BJP of pursuing a “divisive agendaâ€. As Kamal Nayan Das has indicated, Modi was tempted to visit Ayodhya, given the central position that UP with its 80 Lok Sabha seats occupies in the BJP’s strategy for the next parliamentary polls. His close aide and BJP General Secretary Amit Shah, who is in charge of this crucial state, has been quietly stepping up efforts to polarise UP’s votes. Merely a week ago, while responding to a VHP resolution demanding a law for the construction of a temple in Ayodhya, he said, “The construction of a Rama temple in Ayodhya was never off the BJP’s agenda.†A visit to the town by Modi—merely days before the launch of the BJP’s nationwide jail bharo stir against the UPA Government’s policies—would have been a natural corollary to the groundwork being done by his pointsman in UP. For the Hindutva icon widely seen as the perpetrator of Gujarat’s worst ever communal carnage that took place a little over a decade ago, there could not have been a more apt way to start the party’s campaign for the next General Election. Yet, as Nitish geared up to announce the termination of the JD-U’s ties with the BJP, Modi dialled Nrityagopal Das to politely refuse his invitation. Clearly, Nitish had put a spanner in Modi’s plan to quietly push ahead with his Hindutva agenda even as he pushed into motion a high-decibel campaign based on rhetoric of the so-called ‘Gujarat model of development’. This blending of the two is how Modi’s strategists see him winning the Lok Sabha for the party. The strategy, which would have been rolled out with Modi’s Ayodhya visit, has now been temporarily shelved following the developments in Bihar. Modi can still change his mind and reschedule his visit, but his telephone call to Nrityagopal Das has made one thing clear: blending Hindutva with the rhetoric of development is not easily done. To harp too strongly on Hindutva is to raise concerns about communal strife in the country and remind people of the events of March 2002 in Gujarat. The JD-U’s exit from the NDA has underlined how the two agendas are mutually exclusive. The message of the split has even more gravity because it has come not from an opposition leader or party, but from a party that has so far been the BJP’s largest ally. The need to underplay the BJP’s Hindutva plank, which was flagged by Nitish Kumar as the reason for his party’s exit, was evident even in statements made by BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who, addressing his own press conference once JD-U leaders had made their divorce declaration on 16 June, called the Gujarat CM an individual from a humble background who belongs to a backward caste. “There are some who fear that for the first time an individual is emerging who is not from dynastic politics, who hails from a humble background and is from a backward class,†said Bihar’s former deputy CM. But if the jolt that Nitish Kumar’s exit gave Modi has forced him and his supporters to go slow on Hindutva, any prolonged attempt to do so would annoy saffron cadres and supporters in whose name Modi was given charge in Goa of the party’s electoral campaign as a signal of his ascent to its top. The dilemma has already started rearing its head in UP. Sangh hardliners like Ashok Singhal, Praveen Togadia, Yogi Adityanath and yoga guru Ramdev have started arriving in Ayodhya well in advance, not just to participate in the Mahotsav but also pressure Modi to change his mind once again. For two days after Modi cancelled his visit, there was considerable confusion over the issue. After a news agency ran a story, quoting a VHP spokesperson in Ayodhya, that Modi would indeed visit the holy town, the Chief Minister’s office in Ahmedabad issued a clarification on 18 June saying that on 13 June Mahant Nritya Gopal Das had called him and invited him to take part in the proposed Amrit Mahotsav but he declined the invitation citing a busy schedule. The same day, the VHP spokesperson too issued a statement claiming that he was misquoted by the news agency and that he had never said Modi would visit. +++ The excitement that Modi’s proposed visit to Ayodhya, despite his silent U-turn on the issue, has generated among Sangh hardliners is not difficult to understand. Modi, after all, is the ‘best Hindutva face’ they have had in independent India. From their point of view, a return to the Ramjanmabhoomi issue—once the BJP’s core political agenda but pushed into the background in recent years as it appeared inconvenient for the smooth functioning of the NDA—is what they expect at a time when all eyes are fixed on the 2014 polls. And in a way, it is also critical to any hopes the BJP has of doing well in UP, without which the party would have no hope of a big jump in its overall Lok Sabha tally. The party won 41 Lok Sabha seats in that state in 1991, 49 in 1996 and 52 in 1998. In the 1999 General Election, as the party softened its position on Ayodhya in response to coalition compulsions, the BJP managed to win 29 seats, although it was still the top party in the state. Ever since then, the BJP’s tally has kept falling in UP: it won less than a dozen seats there in the subsequent Lok Sabha polls of 2004 and 2009. But a revival of the Ayodhya issue would not only make things difficult on the development front, it is also the worst thing any prime ministerial aspirant looking for allies can do. For much of the 1990s, even as the BJP was gaining electorally in UP while Advani laboured to polarise votes with various yatras, it was Vajpayee who kept away from this effort and became the Prime Minister of India. That happened simply because the Hindutva card had made Advani unacceptable to the BJP’s allies. However, by the time Advani realised this, it was too late for him. It was to undo this taint that Advani went to the extent of praising Jinnah’s secularism, little realising that it would lead to a loss of support from the hardliners who had till then been his hardiest supporters. The dilemma that did Advani in is what enabled Modi’s rise, but it has not disappeared. Today, it is not Advani but Modi who faces it. Without support from a number of allies, the saffron party cannot think of making a serious bid for power after the next Lok Sabha election. For now, the BJP is merely left with two allies and both of them are numerically insignificant—the Akali Dal and Shiv Sena. Nitish Kumar’s action has thus made a Modi-led NDA look like an impractical proposition. This crucial fact had been underlined by a senior BJP leader in a private conversation with some reporters in Delhi before Modi was appointed the chief of the party’s campaign committee. “Modi can never act like a magnet, which is such an essential trait for any leader in an era of coalition politics,†said the BJP leader, a member of Advani’s camp. While it is true that the JD-U’s exit has given a free run to Modi in the BJP, it comes with a rider. If he fails in these polls, it could result in a dramatic regrouping of the party’s anti-Modi forces. The JD-U’s exit has made it imperative for Modi to show his magic. Each of his moves will now be watched closely, and each of his failures would aggravate his problems. The anti-Modi forces within the BJP and whatever is left of the NDA would then blame it all on the Hindutva poster boy. Not just that. Modi’s woes are unlikely to end even if he leads the BJP to the status of the next Lok Sabha’s single largest party. The 2002 carnage in Gujarat, which is sure to trail him along his campaign path, will not disappear even after the polls. The Shiv Sena and Akali Dal may not have problems in accepting Modi as their PM candidate, but in terms of numbers, these parties would hardly have much to add to the BJP’s tally. Most potential allies with significant number would object to Modi as India’s Prime Minister. That would then turn Modi vulnerable within the BJP. And there is no dearth of those in the saffron party who want to play a Vajpayee. Advani is certainly on top of this list, but then there are many others who would like to turn Modi into Advani. That also explains how delicate the Gujarat CM’s position may become in either case—if his magic works, the question of forming an alliance may wreck his chances, and if it does not, he would be blamed for all that afflicts the BJP. In any case, Advani, who at present appears to have been completely swept away by Modi’s wave in the party, is down but not out yet. The BJP’s war with itself has merely been postponed. In the best or worst-case scenario (depending on one’s viewpoint), the BJP could be faced with the choice of assuming power with Advani as PM and Modi smarting on the sidelines. +++ Where does all this leave the JD-U? While the party has created trouble for Modi and the BJP, it has not made things easy for itself. Nitish Kumar, the face of the party, is not of a caste group with a large numerical presence in Bihar. The state’s Chief Minister, therefore, has over the years been cultivating a support base among ‘Mahadalits’, Muslims and ‘extremely backward castes’ (EBCs). The state has 22 Dalit castes that account for over 15 per cent of the population. Of these, Paswans, who constitute the core vote base of the Lok Janshakti Party of Ramvilas Paswan, are the most numerous, making up a little less than half of Bihar’s Dalit population. In an attempt to carve out a vote base for himself, Nitish Kumar has been nurturing all other Scheduled Castes, having declared them ‘Mahadalits’ (or the poorest among Dalits) and announced a series of packages for their upliftment. Initially, Nitish had grouped 18 Scheduled Castes under this term, keeping Paswans, Passis, Dhobis and Chamars out. But later, his list of Mahadalits expanded to include the last three of these too. The CM has spoken of their empowerment. But, come election time, these voters are still susceptible to local pressure and need a social alliance with one or another dominant caste that would give them confidence to emerge from their homes to cast their votes. As a group, the Kurmi caste that Nitish belongs to does not have the numbers to play such a role, and by parting ways with the BJP, the Bihar CM has lost the possibility of getting such support—not to mention votes—from BJP-supporting ‘upper’ castes and even EBCs to an extent. The 2 June Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharajganj exhibited how vulnerable his Mahadalit voters are in Bihar. It is widely believed that in this contest between Thakurs (supporting the RJD’s candidate) and Bhumihars (the JD-U’s), the two dominant ‘upper’ castes, the constituency’s Mahadalit voters could not muster the courage needed to venture out to polling booths. No less nervous is Nitish Kumar about Muslim voters, who account for over 15 per cent of Bihar’s electorate. Wooing the relatively backward among them, ‘Pasmanda Muslims’ as they are called, has been a key part of his winning formula. In the RJD’s heyday, it was Yadavs and Muslims who kept Lalu Prasad in power, and Nitish’s ability to split and claim a section of the latter is seen as one of the main reasons for the RJD’s rout some years ago. Despite his party’s alliance with the BJP (now snapped), the CM has been consistent in his efforts to keep Muslim voters from drifting back to the RJD. In fact, during seat-sharing talks with the BJP before Bihar’s last Assembly polls in 2010, it was primarily because of the JD-U leader’s plans to expand his party’s base among this minority group that he traded some of his winnable seats—offering them to the BJP—for those in the Muslim-dominated districts of Kishanganj, Araria, Purnia and Katihar. In the 2005 state polls, these seats had been contested by the BJP. The Maharajganj bypoll result, however, indicates that the JD-U, despite all its efforts to win over Pasmanda Muslims, remains precariously placed vis-à-vis minority favour. In this byelection, the majority of Muslims are said to have voted for the RJD candidate Prabhunath Singh, who emerged victorious by a huge margin. A realignment of Yadav and Muslim votes is the last thing Nitish Kumar would want in his state. It would be the end of his politics. But, given the trends, this is the combination that would have taken shape had the JD-U accepted Modi’s leadership of the BJP (and thus NDA). Modi’s ascent in the BJP had already started pushing Muslims towards the RJD. Even before the bypoll result, in the past couple of months, Nitish had sensed the setting in of anti-incumbency against his government. Crowds at Lalu’s rallies had begun to swell, and although they are not yet large enough to pose a threat to the incumbent government in Patna, they could herald a shift in Muslim vote preferences. For Nitish Kumar, much hinges on whether Muslim votes, now that he has moved away from Modi and the BJP, return to the JD-U, whether Mahadalits actually come out and vote in the Lok Sabha polls, whether he is able to wrest the support of EBCs and ‘upper’ castes, and also whether the Congress aligns with his party (over Lalu’s). What is certain is that had the Bihar CM not terminated his ties with the Modi-led BJP, the secular polarisation in the state—particularly between Muslims and Yadavs—would have been so intense that his fate would have been sealed not just in the General Election, but worse still in the next Assembly polls scheduled in 2015. From Nitish Kumar’s point of view, therefore, the risk that he has taken is well worth it. Several leaders in his party believe that he has secured the next Assembly even if he fares badly in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/international/dilli-door-ast

[Sachin=GOD]

very true Whether it's Congress or SP Party, freebies and publicity go hand in hand, so of much of voting in India is based on personalities, caste/religion loyalties, and good PR. Only now in few regions where good governance is being rewarded by the electorates. Make no mistake Congress party has a war chest built over the last 5 years, and just a month prior to elections expect an avalanche of free giveaways like houses, quotas, land, biranyis, waiver of farm loans, etc. SENSEX always shoots up during Congress national election wins, as artificial spending by Congress kicks in. PS: During the last 10 years of Congress mismanagement only 2.6 million jobs were created, during the NDA rule a whopping 60 million jobs were created!!! But I guess it's too easy to buy off some illiterate farmer or a family of 10 from UP with loan waivers and small land allotments.

the only way for a party to counter the Cong is to present itself to the public as a viable alternative - a party which is different from Cong and one which is willing to fight the election on issues instead of pointing fingers. This can't happen if that party also plays dirty tricks and leaders like Modi do such cheap publicity gimmicks.

[zumi]

the only way for a party to counter the Cong is to present itself to the public as a viable alternative - a party which is different from Cong and one which is willing to fight the election on issues instead of pointing fingers. This can't happen if that party also plays dirty tricks and leaders like Modi do such cheap publicity gimmicks.

in india the majority electorate (illiterates, dalits, muslims, farmers) prefer cheap publicity gimmicks then presentation of viable facts.

[bulbul]

the only way for a party to counter the Cong is to present itself to the public as a viable alternative - a party which is different from Cong and one which is willing to fight the election on issues instead of pointing fingers. This can't happen if that party also plays dirty tricks and leaders like Modi do such cheap publicity gimmicks.

Majority of voters not bothered with dirty tricks.

[asterix]

Majority of voters not bothered with dirty tricks.

So you agree what he's doing are dirty tricks... A better way could be to 'apologize' to the Muslims for the Gujarat riots and try to get them on board. He's already been getting Muslim votes in Gujarat. He needs to play smart.. Him sorting out outstanding issues will encourage allies having Muslim vote base... If he's playing dirty tricks then he needs to play them properly... No need to polarize Hindu and Muslim votes. He's already been projected as a good administrator. All Muslims are looking from him is a bit of assurance...

[bulbul]

So you agree what he's doing are dirty tricks... A better way could be to 'apologize' to the Muslims for the Gujarat riots and try to get them on board. He's already been getting Muslim votes in Gujarat. He needs to play smart.. Him sorting out outstanding issues will encourage allies having Muslim vote base... If he's playing dirty tricks then he needs to play them properly... No need to polarize Hindu and Muslim votes. He's already been projected as a good administrator. All Muslims are looking from him is a bit of assurance...

If he apologizes next day Con party will start printing posters , it will be dangerous. Dirty trick i mean some pubicity , its still better than waiting 3 days for arrival of Rahu baba to send relief items to flood rlief state. One thing is pretty clear you cannot win against con party without giving back their own medicines atleast wherever possible.

[someone]

Rahul & Modi, chalk & cheese during crisis The scenes from Uttarakhand have been nothing short of horrific. The mighty Ganga has literally swallowed everything in her path. Dark swirling waters ferociously gorged the innocent, those lucky to survive have received kind grace. The Ganga, probably India’s most contaminated and polluted river is now livid, we have never seen her this resentful. Hell knows no fury like the one that Mother Nature can unleash upon us. Even as premature estimates of the deceased are coming forth, the extent of the tragedy can never be fully comprehended. Even as the sound of the roaring river puts our current Prime Minister completely on mute mode, for almost ten days, another potential prime minister was nowhere to be seen. As the floodwaters ravaged townships that came in its path and as the media (despite a nice long time lag) relayed to India and to the rest of the world the horrific scenes, potential prime ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi allegedly celebrated his birthday in exotic Spain. Of course there is absolutely no harm in celebrating your birthday in Spain or Switzerland, but if you are projecting yourself as a potential leader of this country, you need to be present in the country at the time of crisis. More importantly, you need to take a leadership role in handling a crisis that engulfs the country. But, what does potential prime ministerial candidate do instead? He does what he does best, a disappearing act. And what do the governing party’s loyals do? Again they do what they do best, bicker over relief operations that were conducted skillfully by another potential prime ministerial candidate. I am absolutely amazed at how Modi’s rather efficient operation has been dissected in the most callous manner. Modi is currently a head of state, his primary responsibility as of now remains with his state. Also, it is foolish to believe media reports that Modi saved only Gujaratis. Wrong. The relief operations enabled non-Gujarati lives to be saved as well. Rediff had reported how the disaster management team on the ground conducting the relief operations were highly motivated by the presence of Modi. Here is the link for how the relief operations were conducted in greater detail. There is no ‘saffron spin’ to this, as many like to believe. We many never accurately get an estimate as to how many lives were saved due to Modi’s sensible planning in the disaster management efforts, but one thing is for sure, the Gujarat state machinery indeed is crackerjack at handling a crisis, something alien to the central government and needless to say to the Uttarakhand government. Let's not forget that while Modi was working like a horse, another potential prime ministerial candidate was probably enjoying the nightlife in Barcelona. Actions speak louder than words. If I were a potential prime ministerial candidate of my country, I have no other business but to be in my country at the time of crisis and take on a leadership role. And now, after the last of the birthday balloons have floated to nowhere land, Rahul Gandhi is rushing to Uttarakhand. Rahul’s loyals may have ‘advised’ him in doing so, that is why it has taken him so long to react. A true leader works on instinct when it comes to a crisis that grips the country or even a part of a country thereof. One need not be ‘advised’ to react. And worse, this is not a time for slanging matches nor is it a time for a media circus. A life is a life, no matter which state you belong to. Are people from Gujarat not Indians? Why is such a furor being created? Is it because an efficient leader who is responsible for their wellbeing has saved them? Modi is adept at ‘micro management’, a term most politicians have never heard of whilst waltzing 30,000 feet in the air. Times of India had reported that “As if that was not enough to thumb his nose at a government accused of large-scale mismanagement in handling the crisis, Modi later in the day even offered to "completely rebuild" the temple at Kedarnath using "the latest technology available" in such a way that no natural calamity would ever shake it again. The Uttarakhand CM is believed to have dismissed the statement.” Nothing new, incapable leaders do not offer sensible counter arguments, they usually dismiss sensible suggestions. http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tiger-trail/entry/rahul-modi-chalk-cheese-during-crisis

[someone]

That's a wonderful article above there. And the last line stands out, many want to disagree for the sake of disagreements. But they do not offer any sensible counter arguments or for that matter any solutions. In crisis, you look for multiple solutions rather than solutions from your favorite UPA government.

[zumi]

So you agree what he's doing are dirty tricks... A better way could be to 'apologize' to the Muslims for the Gujarat riots and try to get them on board. He's already been getting Muslim votes in Gujarat. He needs to play smart.. Him sorting out outstanding issues will encourage allies having Muslim vote base... If he's playing dirty tricks then he needs to play them properly... No need to polarize Hindu and Muslim votes. He's already been projected as a good administrator. All Muslims are looking from him is a bit of assurance...

however guilty he is for the riots, there will never be an apology from Modi (maybe when he retires) regarding 2002 riots, he has stacked his hinduvata image on this event and apologizing will mean acceptance of guilt which will allow the full force of CBI, SC, SIT, media to put him on trail and sentence officially and legally. and rather more important reason and under-reported (dark) reason, is hindu right wing modi voters/fans support Modi happy in the knowledge of that he led the slaughter of thousands of muslims. apologising for this would shatter/betray their belief as Modi being a hinduvata warrior leader. in other words they enjoy and take pride what modi allowed in Gujarat 2002 muslim-hindu riots.

[someone]

however guilty he is for the riots' date=' there will [b']never be an apology from Modi (maybe when he retires) regarding 2002 riots, he has stacked his hinduvata image on this event and apologizing will mean acceptance of guilt which will allow the full force of CBI, SC, SIT, media to put him on trail and sentence officially and legally. and rather more important reason and under-reported (dark) reason, is hindu right wing modi voters/fans support Modi happy in the knowledge of that he led the slaughter of thousands of muslims. apologising for this would shatter/betray their belief as Modi being a hinduvata warrior leader. in other words they enjoy and take pride what modi allowed in Gujarat 2002 muslim-hindu riots.

You are wrong. Firstly, Gujarat riots involved both Hindus and Muslims. So every community was hurt and thus do not make it sound like there is a religiously angle to it. Modi actually did once said he apologizes for any mistakes he did, and next he has been given a clean chit, so why exactly should he do that? And Hinduvata image is BS. The Gujarat people which includes both Hindus and Muslims vote for him for his work to the people. And even his supporters all around are plenty from many communities.

[Sachin=GOD]

Narendra Modi: Neither secular nor brave

I would not have thought that the BJP could be so entertaining in an otherwise sombre weekend following the Uttarakhand tragedy. Of course, there was Narendra Modi and what Union minister for information and broadcasting Manish Tiwari described as his "Rambo" act. But rather than express ire at the Gujarat CM's antics, the Congress should be amused that Modi is floundering for issues and even looking for a photo-op during a disaster by 'rescuing' 15,000 people, all on his own--something that even our armed forces together could not accomplish easily. Disaster tourism is not new to Modi. He did much the same during the 26/11 attacks on Bombay. While the commandos were inside the hotels shooting down the militants and attempting to save as many people as possible, Modi arrived at one hotel, hoping to get some mileage by poking his nose into another government's business. No one paid him any attention --he had hoped to milk the tragedy for the New Delhi assembly elections that were taking place the next day. The BJP lost anyway and the Congress returned for a third time. So Tiwari should leave Modi to worry about whether the people will remember his Rambo act in 2014 when it did not matter to voters even a day later in 2008. Tiwari should worry about better things--like Bharat Nirman, for example. Of course, every CM has the right to be concerned about citizens from his or her state who might be in distress and I suppose Modi more so than others because he has a debt to pay to India after sinking six crore Gujaratis into the highest per capita debt of all times and of all states. So, of course, he must rescue Gujaratis first (as against Indians in general)--it will help lighten the debt before the 2014 polls. And instead of poking so much fun at Modi, Raj Babbar should have realised that is why he had only Rs. 2 crore to give to the Uttarakhand relief fund when even badly governed and backward Uttar Pradesh had Rs. 25 crore to spare. I have heard he might add another Rs. 3 crore - that's as far as vibrant Gujarat can afford, I discern. I am surprised that the Congress is unable to understand his dilemma--he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't, as was obvious from the bad Press that he got in Gujarat--from Gujarati newspapers - which lammed him for "appeasing Muslims'' by turning down the opportunity to visit Ayodhya--may be that's why he subsequently spoke of Kashmir and called for a uniform civil code that upset other political parties. After all, he was recently under pressure from the RSS who was unhappy at the death sentence sought for his own minister Maya Kodnani, who has been indicted in the 2002 riots. The RSS thought he was appeasing Muslims. So didn't he have to make amends and give the RSS a bit of `vasuli' for helping him on the way to becoming prime minister? However, even BJP president Rajnath Singh lightened the grim mood when he exhorted Muslims to ``forget and ignore'' the killings of their brothers and sisters in Gujarat after the Godhra incident of 2002. I laughed myself silly and appreciated his great sense of humour in turning the blood and cries of Muslims killed in those riots into a joke - or was that his own way of `appeasing' Muslims without quite apologising for what his party had done to them in 2002? But the icing on the cake was Goa CM Manohar Parrikar whose latest TV interview was very revealing. He made Modi look like a novice, though tempering his criticism of the riots with some condescending praise and clearly positioning himself as Vajpayee to Modi's Advani in the event the BJP is unable to find enough secular allies in 2014. Hain, Rajnathji? What does that do to your own plans? The Shiv Sena, which is now lamming Modi for his `Guaratis only' act, has earlier described him as ``pseudo secular''. Even a non-secular party like the Sena recognises the crying need of BJP leaders to be seen as, ahem, `secular', however they may define it. But that can happen only when Modi offers, along with the Kedarnath temple, to rebuild the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Neither he nor his party is, however, lion enough for that.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorial-views-on/sujataanandan/Narendra-Modi-Neither-secular-nor-brave/Article1-1082715.aspx

[someone]

^^^^ Firstly, what a baseless article. And then maybe, isn't that the real problem. One loves to label Modi this or that. But when the same question arises on what exactly is the very definition and who exactly is the example ( say like for secular), there is no answers and absolute silence. Labeling Modi is very common and more than often, he gets label for doing anything or even not doing anything. It's a problem of neutrality and setting a proper benchmark which Indian critics and media needs to address and fix. Till that happen, it's always going to an abusive debate with Modi as subject as his critics will only have abuses but no counter arguments or suggestions.

[surajmal]

Why do people support BJP/NDA?