Love him or hate him, you just can’t ignore him. He is Modi, Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat. The mere mention of his name evokes controversy. To his admirers, the Gujarat CM is a no-nonsense leader --decisive, single-mindedly purposeful and with an uncontested reputation for honesty and personal integrity. To his bête noirs, Modi’s style of functioning is authoritarian, divisive and unsuited to a diverse country such as India.
Past tense, future imperfect?
At present, it a battle between prefix and suffix – chief minister Modi or Modi, the prime minister-in waiting. While the man has made his mark as a chief minister who delivers, he has been unable to rid himself of the smear of being anti-Muslim. The horror images of Gujarat riots still linger at the back of every liberal-inclined citizen's mind. He has never shown any remorse for the anti-Muslim carnage of 2002. Modi’s path to grab New Delhi’s throne is not going to be easy. He has to decide which is more important to him — his present or his future.
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Who’s the boss?
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Darling of the opposition
Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Ajay Singh praised Modi and asked the District Congress Committee (DCC) chiefs to emulate the way the Gujarat chief minister mingles with people in villages and provides immediate solution to their woes.
Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had admired Modi for agricultural development in Gujarat. The Maharashtra CM praised Gujarat's innovative methods in building small irrigation systems for agriculture.
Congress Party lawmaker Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, who was speaking on the occasion of a sermon by celebrated Jain ascetic Tarun Sagar in Ahmedabad, called Modi a 'lion'.
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In a recent opinion poll by the India Today, 21% of those surveyed thought Modi should be the next Prime Minister; Rahul Gandhi polled 10%.
National Conference (NC) patron Farooq Abdullah’s described Modi as an able administrator.
Britain has ended a boycott of Modi, over the religious riots in Gujarat in 2002.
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Modi means business
Modi's claim to fame is as an effective economic manager whose pro-business policies have attracted billions of dollars of investment and removed hurdles to foreign and domestic companies setting up shop in Gujarat.
The state today is the most preferred destination of industrialists because of the stability of its government, its infrastructure and its law and order.
According to Assocham, Gujarat accounts for the highest share in the total outstanding private sector investments including both domestic and foreign private sectors across India as of June 2012.
Of the total outstanding investments in Gujarat worth over Rs 14.8 lakh crore, private sector accounts for over Rs 10.3 lakh crore thereby registering a share of about 70% in the overall investments across the state.
In 10 years, Gujarat's auto industry has grown from one modest plant to an expected capacity of 700,000 cars in 2014, including billion-dollar investments announced last year by Ford and Peugeot.
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Bull in a china shop
The Gujarat CM mocks at Manmohan Singh, fumes at Ahmed “Mian” for labelling him “Sultan”, rants at “Madam Soniaben” and ridicules “Rahul baba.
A list of Modi’s controversial statements in 2012
1) Modi took potshots at union minister Shashi Tharoor's personal life, saying his wife was once his “50-crore-rupee girlfriend”.
“Wah kya girlfriend hai. Apne kabhi dekha hai 50 crore ka girlfriend?” (What a girlfriend?. Have you ever seen a 50-crore girlfriend), Modi said at an election rally, in an apparent attack on Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar. Click here for more
2) Modi attributed the high rate of malnutrition in his state to "beauty conscious" young girls watching their weight. In an interview to the Wall Street Journal, Modi said: "Gujarat is … a middle-class state. The middle-class is more beauty conscious than health conscious. "If a mother tells her daughter to have milk, they'll have a fight. She'll tell her mother, "I won't drink milk. I'll get fat." Click here for more
3) Modi targeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi by claiming that Rs 1,880 crore has been spent from the public exchequer on her foreign trips and her 'treatment abroad'. He said a response given by the government -- to an RTI application filed by a youth in Harayana -- was the basis for his claim. Click here for more
4) At a meeting of the BJP in Rajkot, Modi said Bihar had slipped into socio-economic backwardness ever since casteist leaders took centrestage in the state.
In a lighter vein, Modi joked about Biharis’ pervasive “influence” on television, saying “80 per cent of the crew (of news channels)” came from the state
5) Modi hit back at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accusing of 'misleading' the nation over the issue of Sir Creek. The CM warned the Prime Minister against the giving of Sir Creek to Pakistan. He further said that in reply to his letter on Sir Creek issue, Prime Minister's Office gave him "no answers". Click here for more
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