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As predicted in this column last week, the Gujarat strongman, Mr Narendra Modi, has proved all exit polls wrong and returned to power by a thumping, even though slightly reduced majority, compared to the 2002 elections.
Well, not always does being proved right brings happiness. At best, it is resignation, and it is indeed resignation with which many Indians — not all of them Muslims or Christians — have digested the news of Mr Modi’s resounding victory in Gujarat. Study the body language of the victor, his unmasked arrogance and lashing out at the media that the Gujarat Chief Minister loves to hate — the BJP General Secretary Mr Arun Jaitley, however, turns the phrase to charge that Mr Modi is the man the media loves to hate — and not a word or gesture that can reassure the petrified Muslims of Gujarat about a more inclusive growth in the development mantra that he constantly sings. The message is loud and clear: I have hit upon the winning formula and anybody who suggests that I tweak it even a wee bit needs his/her head examined...Read...
Well, not always does being proved right brings happiness. At best, it is resignation, and it is indeed resignation with which many Indians — not all of them Muslims or Christians — have digested the news of Mr Modi’s resounding victory in Gujarat. Study the body language of the victor, his unmasked arrogance and lashing out at the media that the Gujarat Chief Minister loves to hate — the BJP General Secretary Mr Arun Jaitley, however, turns the phrase to charge that Mr Modi is the man the media loves to hate — and not a word or gesture that can reassure the petrified Muslims of Gujarat about a more inclusive growth in the development mantra that he constantly sings. The message is loud and clear: I have hit upon the winning formula and anybody who suggests that I tweak it even a wee bit needs his/her head examined...Read...