Top honchos back Modi as PM
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Congress ridicules idea Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari today said the industrialists’ opinion did not reflect India’s opinion. “Let me reject this outright. A country, which is inherently liberal will not accept somebody like Modi. In 1933, the German industry had a fascination for another fascist leader, Adolf Hitler. He not just led Germany but the whole world to disaster,” said Tewari, advising the honchos against getting carried away by Modi’s leadership in the age of Satyam.

New Delhi, January 14
This Makar Sankranti, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s kite is flying higher than L.K. Advani’s, with top Indian honchos backing the former as the next Prime Minister of India.

The support for Modi came from Anil Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal, who openly swore by the Gujarat CM as the next leader of India. While Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group said, “If one Modi can do so much for Gujarat, imagine what he could do for India?, ” Mittal lauded Modi’s organisational skills, saying, “We just run companies. But if there is someone who can run a state and the country, it is Modi.”

Back in Delhi, where the BJP was celebrating sankranti at its headquarters, the party top brass chose to react positively to the development. But many insiders were skeptical about the timing (close to the Lok Sabha polls) of Modi’s emergence as the new leader. Officially, BJP spokesperson Rajeev Pratap Rudy took the call and credited the industrialists’ remarks to BJP’s culture of good governance at state level - something, which, he said, was richly reflected in Gujarat.

Lauding the Gujarat CM, Rudy said, “India Inc’s choice is a vindication of Modi’s positive leadership. He is an outstanding leader respected by the world community. Governance is the hallmark of the BJP ruled states and this element is reflected par excellence in Gujarat.”

Even in sounding casual about Modi’s emergence, the BJP could not help taking note of the trust the honchos are reposing in the Gujarat BJP leader. Trouble is that the remarks come at a time when the BJP is yet to recover from the jitters Bhairon Singh Shekhawat gave it. Shekhawat’s tirade against corruption within the BJP was soon backed by Kalyan Singh, who said the former Vice-President was not wrong in exposing corruption.

All these developments, coupled with the latest, naturally don’t augur too well for the projection of Advani as NDA’s prime ministerial face. Important also is Advani’s absence from this year’s summit. This time, Modi alone managed Rs 12-lakh crore worth of investment for Gujarat - more than double of the combined investments announced in three earlier summits.