The NaMo Story: A Political Life

Kingshuk Nag

Description

One of the truly enigmatic personalities on the contemporary Indian political canvas, Narendra Damodardas Modi is difficult to ignore. From his humble beginnings as a RSS pracharak to his rise in the Hindutva ranks, and from being Bharatiya Janata Party’s master planner to one of the its most popular and controversial state chief ministers, Modi’s mantra of change and development is gradually finding many takers. Though he evokes vastly different reactions among the citizens for his alleged role during the Godhra aftermath, what is absolutely clear is that he indeed is racing towards the centre stage, making the 2014 General Elections look more like a Presidential system – where, you either vote for him or against him. And that, as they say, is the Modi effect. Kingshuk Nag paints the most vivid portrait of the extraordinary politician who is poised to take on a new role in the coming years.

Sujets

• Politique
• Modi
• RSS
• Mandos
• Indian
• BJP
• India
• Autobiography
• Gujrat
• Politics
• Prime minister
• Politician
• Bharatiya Janata Party
• Namo
• Biography
• Narendra
• Móði y Magni
• Lettres et linguistique
• Political

Informations

• Publié par: Roli Books
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789351940159
• Langue: English

Extrait

About the Book
One of the truly enigmatic personalities on the contemporary Indian political canvas, Narendra Damodardas Modi is difficult to ignore. From his humble beginnings as a RSS pracharak to his rise in the Hindutva ranks, and from being Bharatiya Janata Party’s master planner to one of the its most popular and controversial state chief ministers, Modi’s mantra of change and development is gradually finding many takers. Though he evokes vastly different reactions among the citizens for his alleged role during the Godhra aftermath, what is absolutely clear is that he indeed is racing towards the centre stage, making the 2014 General Elections look more like a Presidential system – where, you either vote for him or against him. And that, as they say, is the Modi effect. Kingshuk Nag paints the most vivid portrait of the extraordinary politician who is poised to take on a new role in the coming years.
About the Author
Kingshuk Nag was the Resident Editor of the Times of India’ s Ahmedabad edition between May 2000 and July 2005, which was the most eventful period in the history of Gujarat with a major earthquake and deadly riots. He received the Prem Bhatia Memorial Award – which is considered the Indian equivalent of the Pulitzer – for demonstrating excellence in political reporting and analyses in Gujarat. Presently the Resident Editor of the Times of India’ s Hyderabad edition, this is Nag’s third book. Alumnus of the Delhi School of Economics, Nag writes a hugely popular blog titled ‘Masala Noodles’ on the TOI site.

ROLI BOOKS
This digital edition published in 2014
First published in 2013 by The Lotus Collection An Imprint of Roli Books Pvt. Ltd M-75, Greater Kailash- II Market New Delhi 110 048 Phone: ++91 (011) 40682000 Email: [e-mail] Website: www.rolibooks.com
Copyright © Kingshuk Nag 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, print reproduction, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Roli Books. Any unauthorized distribution of this e-book may be considered a direct infringement of copyright and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Editor: Padma Rao Sundarji Cover design: Sneha Pamneja Inside front and back cover © Press Trust of India Insert: Pages 1, 2-3, 4, 6, 7 © Getty Images
Pages 5, 8 © Press Trust of India
eISBN: 978-93-5194-015-9
All rights reserved. This e-book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated, without the publisher’s prior consent, in any form or cover other than that in which it is published.
Dedicated to the memory of my mother, Manjusri Nag who spent her last days with me in Ahmedabad and passed away in July 2002 as the riots were ebbing.

Contents
Author’s Note to the Second Edition
Author’s Note to the First Edition
Introduction: Winds of Change
1. Modi as Prime Minister: What will he do?
2. Son of the RSS
3. BJP’s Master Planner
4. The Delhi Years
5. Riots and After
6. Vibrant Gujarat
7. Fear is the Key
8. The Sadbhavana Experiment
9. Modi: The Man
10. The Chinese Connection
11. ‘Mahatma Modi’: Building a Brand
12. The Victory Campaign
Author’s Note to the Second Edition
The NaMo Story has never been out of the news ever since the book was published a little over a year ago. This is not surprising considering that the subject of the book has been the focus of national news in the period. Encouraged by the overwhelming public response, I have added two chapters to the book. Instead of the chapter on whether Modi can become prime minister, the new chapter added is ‘Modi as PM: What Will He Do?’ It is early days still but the Modi mission is becoming clear and the chapter dwells on his style of governance and policy initiatives that are likely. The last chapter of the book is a new addition. Titled ‘The Victory Campaign’ it sketches the remarkable electioneering done by Modi in an election that elevated him to the corner office in South Block. As readers know, this was an election that became a referendum on Modi. At least those who voted for him saw in Modi a new hope for the country, albeit different people saw different things in him. At the risk of being accused of boasting, I would like to point out that the name NaMo was earlier restricted in some sections of Gujarat. What this book did was to popularize this shortened name for Narendra Modi across the nation. Thus NaMo has become a household usage throughout the country.
Modi is going to be around as Prime Minister at least for five years and his tenure is likely to be full of action. Thus there will be continued focus on the subject of the book, nationally and internationally. Therefore it is not unreasonable to expect that this second edition is not going to be the last one.
Kingshuk Nag June 2014
Author’s Note to the First Edition
You can love him, or hate him, depending upon your predilection, but there is no way that you can ignore Narendra Modi. He is one of few, truly enigmatic personalities gracing the contemporary Indian political scene. This is my raison d’être for writing his biography. As early as 2004, I could discern that this man would leave behind all his political rivals, including his (then) godfather L.K. Advani, and become the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) official prime ministerial candidate.
In 2009, I was confident that Modi’s moment had come, but the opposition within and outside the BJP was so strong that the man had to cap his ambitions for a few more years. In mid-March 2013, as I write this note, there are clear indications of the fact that Modi is racing towards centre stage, aided not only by his resolve but also a weakening Congress regime. His forceful speech, promoting the Gujarat model of development as an alternative to that of the ruling Congress alliance and delivered to the enthralled students of the Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) is a clear indication of his intentions. But the protests that raged outside the college show the opposition that he will have to face on his journey to 7, Race Course Road. They also demonstrated the vastly different reactions that he evokes among the citizens. That this was not an isolated incident is clear from the proposed video talk that Modi was to deliver to students of Wharton in the beginning of March 2013. Even as the talk scheduled was cancelled following protests from a section of the university faculty and student bodies, there was a howl of counter protests. Barely a fortnight before his SRCC speech, Modi offered the services of ‘the BJP’s Gujarat unit’ to the new BJP boss, Rajnath Singh, to strengthen the party nation-wide. Considering that the BJP’s Gujarat unit is nothing but Modi (the BJP’s Gujarat unit president, an unassuming gentleman lost the 2012 polls as even Modi romped home victorious for the third time), this was a thinly-veiled proposal to be made the prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections. Taking a cue, BJP’s senior leader Yashwant Sinha was quick to openly demand that Modi be declared the party’s prime ministerial candidate, as his candidature would result in the party getting more votes and seats. Sinha said that during his travels across the country, he had encountered numerous demands from BJP workers and common people that Modi be declared the candidate for the highest executive office. Former actor and now BJP MP, Shatrughan Sinha seconded his proposal even as the new party president, Rajnath Singh, warned party workers against airing their views in public. His contention: it is an intra-party matter and must be decided by BJP’s Parliamentary board. Rajnath’s warnings (read fears) have fallen on deaf ears as more and more BJP members are joining the Modi bandwagon. Over the next few months, the numbers are bound to swell as the chorus for Modi will reach its crescendo. But let us not harbour any illusions: much of this hype could be the result of a well-orchestrated effort, blessed by none other than Modi himself.
Sinha has vociferously demanded Modi’s candidature, but I am not sure how well the two know each other. I have discovered that strangely, most of Modi’s fans are not known to him at personal level. Those who do, mistrust his ambition. Modi is highly individualistic and has no friends or family that he is close to. He lives alone and even his mother, who resides with his brother in Gandhinagar, does not come to stay with him. In India, this seems a trifle surprising. But as I said, Modi is unique. Nobody can take him for granted, not even those whom he works with closely. I have seen many politicians of Modi’s own party trying to get his horoscope analyzed by astrologers, in an attempt to figure out what he will do next! The Congress party, clearly on the back foot by the Modi onslaught, is still trying to figure out how to deal with him effectively. The grand old party’s responses are mixed and varied. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for long the butt of jokes of Modi, reacted by commenting in Parliament that ‘ jo garajte hai, who baraste nahin ’ (those who make tall claims do not deliver). This was in response to Modi’s description of the Prime Minister as a ‘night watchman’ (keeping the wicket safe for Rahul Gandhi). Rahul himself declared Bheeshma like that he would not marry in what was seen as a counter to Modi who never tires of declaring that he does not have a family and thus has no vested interests. However, it seems that like before, the Congress calculates that Modi’s controversial image that draws extreme reactions will stymie him. Modi is also aware of this but hopes that if a government delivers good governance and (as he told Indo-Americans in a video address) ‘serves the people selflessly then the people will forget the government’s mist