Return of the Gujarat Model

Narendra Modi's new PMO resembles the US President's Executive Office and he will govern through his 'cabinet' of hand-picked super-bureaucrats

The Modi-Shah-BJP establishment has an aversion to anyone but the faithful using the expression “Gujarat Model” to characterise their methods. We can see where they are coming from. Their critics have trade-marked that expression to mean their post-2002 politics of polarisation.

There is, however, a less contentious manifestation of the Gujarat Model as well: Centralised governance. Watch the latest changes in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), with three of his key aides being elevated to cabinet rank, setting a precedent.

This is natural progression from the way Narendra Modi ran Gujarat. But, for everyone’s comfort, let’s simply call it the