S. PRASANNARAJAN | December 21, 2012 | 16:57
Chief Minister Narendra Modi addresses the people after winning the Assembly elections.A new legend in Indian politics is being written on the banks of the Sabarmati. As Narendra Damodardas Modi soars over the wreckage of his challengers, it is more than a triumphant testament of the politics of prosperity. In a country where the attitudes of its ruling class are invariably incompatible with the aspirations of its people, his hat-trick in Gandhinagar essays the possibilities of leadership and the rewards of conviction.
The size and sweep of his conquest shows in three-dimensional clarity that power, even absolute power, when wielded by a politician with integrity and vision, doesn't necessarily corrupt; rather, it becomes a mandate for change. Today, in an India of calcified reputations in governance, change becomes Modi, and going by the velocity of his ascent, his domain is bound to be larger than Gujarat.
So this victory is only a pause before the next battle, the bigger one, for the highest seat of power. But the armoury is unlikely to be different. If there is only one man standing in Battlefield Gujarat on the day of judgment, it is a vindication of the politics perfected by India's most popular chief minister-and BJP's only regional leader with a national fan following. In Moditva, the bestselling idea of Indian Right, merges the uses of good economics and the reach of evangelical politics. Modi is that rare Hindu nationalist who doesn't shop in mythology for his political wares in spite of being labelled as an ideological zealot; he buys his goods for mass consumption from the marketplaces of twenty-first century. Modi on the stump has never been a salesman of the Great Yesterday unlike desperate right wingers elsewhere.
That is why the overwhelming vote for Modi Part Three is also a mandate for the moderniser who has reaped the biggest demographic dividend of the country: The youth. He ensured them a future. At a time when the professional politician is struggling to overcome the trust deficit, Modi's record in governance highlights the essential virtues of a ruling politician: Honesty and an ability to deliver on economic promises.
This is an excerpt from India Today Cover Story dated December 31, 2012. To read more, subscribe to the magazine.
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