Gujarat | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

11/04/2014

Young professionals in Bangalore favour Modi’s promise, shrug off riots | India Insight

As far as Vinod Hegde is concerned, Indian prime minister candidate Narendra Modi bears no responsibility for the 2002 Gujarat riots. More to the point, Hegde doesn’t care.

Hegde, a 26-year-old stockbroker in Bangalore, said that for people like him, the Gujarat chief minister is the only choice to lead India after countrywide parliamentary elections that began this week.

Allegations that Modi failed to stop or even allowed deadly riots in 2002 don’t sway his vote, Hegde said. And if the ruling Congress party’s candidate is Rahul Gandhi, the choice becomes even clearer.

“Even assuming Modi has been responsible for XYZ, we don’t see an alternative,” Hegde said. Referencing a Twitter post by music director Vishal Dadlani, he said, “If I had to choose between a moron and a murderer, I’d probably choose the murderer.”

Not everyone states their case for supporting Modi in such blunt terms, but interviews with young professionals in Bangalore, the information technology hub known as India’s Silicon Valley reveals a calculation in favour of Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that omits the riots from the equation.

For many people in Bangalore’s highly educated workforce, Modi is a welcome alternative to what is seen as an ineffective and corruption-tainted Congress party. They are part of what some media organizations have called a “Modi wave” that opinion polls, however unreliable, say could bring the BJP to power and push out the Gandhi-Nehru family’s Congress party.

Many BJP supporters see Rahul Gandhi, the party’s leader and the Gandhi family’s heir apparent, as ill suited for the job of running a country that is trying to revive its slowing economic growth and to provide opportunities for prosperity to its burgeoning middle class. (A note for people unfamiliar with this round of Lok Sabha elections: Indians will vote for members of Parliament in their local constituencies, and the winning party’s leadership names its ministers when it forms a new government.)

via Young professionals in Bangalore favour Modi’s promise, shrug off riots | India Insight.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Internal politics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bangalore, Bharatiya Janata Party, congress party, Gujarat, India, Lok Sabha, Modi, Narendra Modi, rahul gandhi

09/04/2014

India’s Election Choice: Growth Economy or Welfare State – Businessweek

Indian elections aren’t known for their clarity. Messy, cacophonous affairs, they stretch across months and almost invariably result in fragmented verdicts. Political groupings are opportunistic, driven by personality rather than issues; competing party platforms are often indistinguishable.

A shopkeeper displays water sprinklers with portraits of Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi in Chennai, India<br />

This year’s parliamentary elections—the nation’s 16th since independence, running from April 7 to May 12—are proving an exception. The distinctions between India’s leading parties are unusually sharp; the race is shaping up as a genuine battle of ideas, a real debate over the direction of the nation.

India’s two main parties are led by men who in many ways couldn’t be more different. Rahul Gandhi, the standard-bearer for the ruling Indian National Congress party, is the scion of a distinguished family that includes three former prime ministers. At 43, he’s also the candidate of youth. Narendra Modi, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is ahead in most polls, is 63, a self-made man, and an experienced administrator who has served for more than 12 years as the chief minister of the state of Gujarat. Gandhi espouses a brand of secular, inclusive politics; Modi is viewed with suspicion by many for a series of bloody communal riots that took place under his watch in Gujarat. (The Indian courts exonerated him of personal involvement.)

via India’s Election Choice: Growth Economy or Welfare State – Businessweek.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Internal politics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bharatiya Janata, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Elections in India, Gujarat, India, Indian National Congress, Modi, Narendra Modi, parliamentary elections, rahul gandhi

25/03/2014

CPM draws Nazi parallel, calls Gujarat model ‘big lie’ – The Times of India

CPM on Monday alleged that the so-called Gujarat model of development and the claim of being riot-fee were based on the “big lies” mantra of Nazi propaganda.

Releasing two booklets – ‘Defeat BJP, Defend Secularism’ and ‘No To The Gujarat Model’ – based on NSSO data and census records, politburo member Brinda Karat and CPM’s Gujarat secretary Arun Mehta said the Gujarat model was based on exploitation. “The so-called Gujarat model is based on cheap labour and its exploitation, very low expenditure on consumption, very high malnutrition, very high school dropout rates and very low expenditure on education and healthcare,” Karat said. She added there was no Modi wave in the country and the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate was just getting desperate.

“Their desperation shows in their actions. They are not only annoying and disappointing their own senior leaders but also giving tickets to those who have been charge-sheeted in the Muzaffarnagar riots cases and attracting people like Amit Shah, who is accused in an encounter killing case, and the likes of Pramod Muthalik (whose outfit was accused of molesting women in Mangalore),” she said.

On development, Karat said that according to NSSO records, 90% of people in rural areas of Gujarat spent only Rs 75 per day on food and essentials. She said the dropout rate was as high as 58% while employment rate grew at 0.4%, much less than the national average. “Narendra Modi and P Chidambaram are equal in terms of jobless growth. The so-called Gujarat model is only for the corporates and not the people,” she said.

Mehta said a myth was being spread that there was 24-hour power supply in Gujarat. “In rural Gujarat, power supply is not for more than six hours. Also, 1.21 lakh applications for power connection are pending for five years,” he said.

via CPM draws Nazi parallel, calls Gujarat model ‘big lie’ – The Times of India.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Internal politics, Politics | 1 Comment »

Tags: Bharatiya Janata Party, Brinda Karat, Gujarat, India, Narendra Modi, National Sample Survey Organisation, p chidambaram, Pramod Muthalik

07/03/2014

India’s anti-graft party takes aim at Modi’s economic model | Reuters

Indian opposition politician Narendra Modi, who leads opinion polls ahead of next month’s general election, faces pressure from a small anti-graft party attacking his economic model on his home turf, the thriving state of Gujarat.

Arvind Kejriwal and friends (Photo credit: vm2827)

The pro-business leader has presided over rapid economic growth during more than 12 years as the chief minister of the coastal state, and slashed red tape to attract companies such as Ford, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors.

Now, Modi promises to replicate his state’s development model nationwide if he becomes prime minister.

But Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, on Friday said small businessesin the state were being shuttered, public schools and health services were in poor shape and claims of regular supplies of electricity were not true.

“What is your development model?” Kejriwal asked as he tore into the heart of Modi’s campaign, saying that 400,000 of the state’s farmers who had applied for electricity connections years ago had yet to receive them.

“If you haven’t even given a connection, how will you give them electricity?”

India’s western state of Gujarat has been hailed for rapid measures to develop infrastructure and provide stable power supply, but critics often say it lags behind other states in social development.

“What we’ve seen in the last two days is quite shocking,” Kejriwal told reporters at a meeting on the edge of the state’s commercial capital of Ahmedabad.

Kejriwal, who was denied an audience with Modi, questioned the Gujarat chief minister’s claims on farm growth, job creation and clean governance, and suggested he was too close to big business.

He was on a tour to study conditions in Gujarat, as part of his party’s first national campaign since bursting onto the political scene with a stunning victory in Delhi’s local election in December.

via India’s anti-graft party takes aim at Modi’s economic model | Reuters.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Internal politics, Politics | 2 Comments »

Tags: Aam Aadmi, Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi, Gujarat, India, Kejriwal, Modi, Narendra Modi

11/02/2014

UPDATE 1-U.S. ambassador to meet India’s Modi, ending isolation | Reuters

Modi‘s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is considered the favourite to form a government after a general election due by May. He is also the chief minister of Gujarat state, where in 2002, Hindu mobs killed at least 1,000 people, most of them Muslims.

Narendra Modi at a BJP rally (Photo credit: Al Jazeera English)

“We can confirm the appointment,” a U.S. embassy spokesman said. “This is part of our concentrated outreach to senior political and business leaders which began in November to highlight the U.S.-India relationship.”

via UPDATE 1-U.S. ambassador to meet India’s Modi, ending isolation | Reuters.

Posted in Diplomacy, GeoPolitics, India alert, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Al Jazeera English, Bharatiya Janata, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Gujarat, Hindu, India, List of Chief Ministers of Gujarat, Modi, Narendra Modi, United States

22/01/2014

Syrian Conflict Leads to Cumin Boom in India – India Real Time – WSJ

A recent The Wall Street Journal article examined the boom in India’s cumin exports as a result of the conflict in Syria. A reporter’s photo diary from one of Asia’s largest spice markets Unjha in the western Indian state of Gujarat where cumin sales have seen an uptick in recent months.

As of Jan. 13, the acreage of cumin fields in Gujarat, which accounts for 75% to 80% of India’s cumin crop, was up 36% from a year earlier to 1.12 million acres, according to the Gujarat agriculture department. India’s exports of cumin surged 93% between last April, the start of the fiscal year, and September, to 67,500 tons, according to the Spices Board of India.

Syria was India’s biggest rival in exports of the yellow-brown spice, which is a crucial ingredient in Middle Eastern, Asian and Mediterranean cuisines and adds a dash of flavor for kitchens in the West.

Besides adding flavor to food, cumin is also used as medicine. It was even used in preserving corpses as mummies in ancient Egypt.

via Syrian Conflict Leads to Cumin Boom in India – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in Economics, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Asia, Gujarat, India, middle-east, Spices Board of India, Syria, Unjha

26/10/2013

Congress should apologise for Muslim ‘terror slur’, says Modi – The Hindu

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lashed out at his key rival Rahul Gandhi at a rally, alleging that the Congress vice-president defamed Muslims by suggesting some Muzaffarnagar riot victims were being cultivated by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.

Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, party president Rajnath Singh and other leaders at a rally in Jhansi on Friday.

“Instead of levelling allegations at an entire qaum [community],” Mr. Modi said in Jhansi, “he should disclose the names of those who were in touch with the Inter-Services Intelligence.” “If he cannot do that, he should render a public apology to all Muslim youth.”

Mr. Modi’s effort to position himself as a defender of young Muslims against terror-related slurs comes against the backdrop of allegations he was personally complicit in faked encounters, as well as the pogrom of 2002.

Mr. Gandhi had sparked off a still-snowballing controversy on Thursday, saying that an intelligence official told him that the ISI had made contact with a group of 10 to 15 Muzaffarnagar Muslims who had lost kin in the riots. His remarks were made at a rally in Indore.

However, Uttar Pradesh Additional Director-General of Police Mukul Goel had said the authorities “have no such information.”

Mr. Modi criticised intelligence officials for sharing classified information with a Member of Parliament. “The nation wants to know why intelligence services are reporting to him and why they are giving input for his speeches,” he said.

These allegations were mirrored, almost word-for-word, by Uttar Pradesh’s Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan – ironically himself alleged by the BJP to have been involved in the riots. He said Mr. Gandhi “should reveal the names of the youths who were in contact with Pakistan’s intelligence agency or else he should apologise to Muslims.”

Influential clerics, including Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, Maulana Abdul Iran Miyan Farangi Mahal and Maulana Saif Avbas Naqvi, condemned Mr. Gandhi\’s statement.

via Congress should apologise for Muslim ‘terror slur’, says Modi – The Hindu.

Posted in India alert, Internal politics, Politics | 1 Comment »

Tags: Congress, Gujarat, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Inter-Services Intelligence, Muslim, Muzaffarnagar, Narendra Modi, Pakistan, rahul gandhi, Uttar Pradesh

14/04/2013

* Rajnath non-committal on Modi’s PM candidature

The Hindu: “Amid speculation about Narendra Modi’s projection as BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, party president Rajnath Singh on Sunday remained non-committal on the issue but hailed the Gujarat Chief Minister as the “most popular leader in the nation”.

BJP president Rajnath Singh with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. He expressed confidence that no ally of NDA including JD(U), which has been expressing reservations against Mr. Modi, will go out of the alliance. File photo

Mr. Singh also expressed confidence that no ally of NDA including JD(U), which has been expressing reservations against Mr. Modi, will go out of the alliance.

He maintained that the final authority to take the decision regarding the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate remains with the BJP Parliamentary Board, and added, “…only the board that will decide what parameters it adopts to decide about the PM candidate.”

Referring to Mr. Modi, a top JD(U) leader had on Saturday said at the party’s national executive meeting that “being popular is a different thing and becoming Prime Minister is another.”

via Rajnath non-committal on Modi’s PM candidature – The Hindu.

Posted in India alert, Leadership change, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bharatiya Janata Party, Gujarat, Janata Dal, Narendra Modi, National Democratic Alliance, politics, prime ministerial candidate, Rajnath Singh

14/04/2013

* India’s JD(U) Refuses to Back Modi

English: Image of Narendra Modi at the World Economic Forum in India (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WSJ: “India’s Janata Dal (United) party Saturday signaled that it would continue to oppose efforts by the Bharatiya Janata Party to make Narendra Modi the main opposition alliance’s prime ministerial candidate for the next federal elections, citing the failure of the Gujarat chief minister and BJP leader to stop deadly anti-Muslim violence during the 2002 riots in the western Indian state.

The Janata Dal (United) instead backed former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani as the prime ministerial candidate for the BJP and the main opposition National Democratic Alliance for national elections that are due before May 2014, JD(U).”

via India’s JD(U) Refuses to Back Modi – WSJ.com.

Posted in India alert, Leadership change, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Gujarat, India, Janata Dal, Narendra Modi, National Democratic Alliance, politics

12/01/2013

* India Industry Praises Modi at Gujarat Conference

WSJ: “India’s top industrialists and foreign diplomats met at a conference in Gujarat state Friday, singing praises for the pro-business policies set in place by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a man widely tipped to be a leading candidate for prime minister in 2014.

Mr. Modi took the compliments in his stride, smiling and clapping, and even rising to give billionaire Anil Ambani a hug after a particularly laudatory speech at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

“Narendra Modi is a king of kings, a leader of leaders,” said Mr. Ambani, chairman of the $76 billion Reliance Group.”

via India Industry Praises Modi at Gujarat Conference – WSJ.com.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Leadership change, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Anil Ambani, Gujarat, India, Modi, Mukesh Ambani, Narendra Modi, Reliance Industries

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