Swapan Dasgupta Google+ Hangout – Full Transcript What Makes Narendra Modi so special? Most Indian politicians who have aspired to be prime ministers and have proffered themselves as prime ministerial candidates have been by and large been anointed out of the party ranks. This was the case with Narendra Modi too but the pressure on the system to anoint him was fundamentally different. Much before the political class in the BJP or NDA had anointed him, he had actually been appointed to that post by a groundswell from below. So they were only formalizing what actually had taken place much earlier. The process of his elevation is quite unique in post-Independence history. The most unique thing is that unlike a lot of politicians he is an inspirational leader. He command respect no doubt but is a man who inspires. To tap energy from below in a larger task of making India great, the inspirational entity is what distinguishes Modi from the rest of the pack. What ideas have really stood out which has led to the mass surge in his favor? Narendra modi means different things to different people. More than anything else it is his uncompromising stand on development and the manner in which he developed Gujarat had never been seen anywhere else in India an unlike politicians who are only concerned with modest achievement that will see them through a constituency this man is offbeat and is not afraid of taking a decision that might be unpopular. at the time of 2007 elections there was lot of difference in opinion in his own party about those who were guilty of power theft and this involved about 1 lakh people who would be fined. In their general manifesto they made a provision for general amnesty and when Modi looked at it he refused to go ahead with the manifesto as the point was to unless order was established into the PSE which had turned a corner after a long time the problem would never be solved. His horizon wasn’t ever short termed. On the subject of defense production about which he spoke in Rewari, in Gujarat seminar and workshops were set up addressing this issue as to how to attract investment. A lot of thought has been given from the perspective of a small state to what can be done. Here is a leader who is willing to learn. who is constantly absorbing new ideas who is anxious to be at the cutting edge of the 21st century, a man who does not think India deserves the second best, who thinks India has the potential and is willing to go the extra mile for it. That’s why a large section of the youth in India are so attracted to the idea of Narendra Modi because for them there is a certain impatience, they are restless and somewhere who epitomizes that raw energy, desire to get on the top- that’s what makes Narendra Modi special. Do you think Narendra Modi will be able to break free from the shackles of the Nehruvian economic model and charter a completely new growth led path? Is it going to be as easy for Narendra Modi in the Centre as it was in the state? This involve some speculation. Narendra Modi does not see Vibrant Gujarat Summit merely in terms of a place where big industrialists come and give speeches or general certificates. He said that he makes it a point to bus in people from smaller towns or metros because he wants them to come and get exposure to the world. There is a monstrous Nehruvian apparatus and a gargantuan state apparatus that we created. In Union Budgets the emphasis is always on allocation of expenditure. The point that is never asked is regarding the quality of your expenditure if at all. You are talking of expanding the reach of the state without talking of expanding the efficiency of the state. NM has made a departure. He has put the word efficiency into the function of the state. We can certainly do without a state that is completely inefficient….and its intrusion into areas where it has no business of being there. One of the reasons why interest rates are so high is because most of the money is being mopped up by the state which leaves very little scope for industry. The basic approach to fundamental issues will be very different with a Modi led Government in the Centre. After that it really depends on the responses from different quarters and a bit of luck. If we persist with the status quo we are once again back to sub 5% growth level, which is not adequate to India…There are people who say they don’t like Modi’s idea of India but there is no one idea of India. What binds us together is the common faith in the democratic structure of the Constitution but the Constitution does bot necessarily state that you must have a gargantuan state. We needlessly injected Socialism, during Emergency, into the Preamble of the Constitution. It was not there before. Let us make this election issue a battle of ideas. Everybody in Luteyns Delhi opposes Modi and everyone from outside wants him there. Is his status as a outsider build a certain aura around him and bring freshness to his candidature? The political establishment does not consist of MPs only. There consists a large body called The Durbar and these people are petrified, they have held certain powers, dominated certain centers, economic planning, intellectual capital is totally vested in the hands of the Left liberals. There have been a small set of people who have governed India with the same idea for a long time and they are worried about him. They decry him socially, the decry him on the fact that he is ‘not one of us’, decry him for the fact that he talks so passionately about his Gujarati identity and they decry him because he has offended unwritten rules of politics. You need a jolt and you need someone from outside the system to shake and question some of the fundamentals. Why should the Planning Commission be so important? Why should India’s foreign policy not be dictated by absolutely single minded national interest? The possibility that such questions will be raised is what petrifies the Delhi establishment. Modi has been drawing great crowds from outside Gujarat for sometime now but it was only after Rewari that the whole reality about the Modi euphoria building up not preceded by a phenomenal degree of mobilization and expenditure of money, that reality has hit home. And some people are changing their tune very very fast because the Delhi establishment are also great survivors and they want to dig their way into some dispensation. Is the disdain for Modi within the select class more of a class bias or because he has a different set of ideas? What dominates the loathing for Mr. Modi more? It is a combination of both. The BJP has been perceived or cast as a party of Brahmins but here is someone from one of the most backward castes articulating ideas that were mocked in the past as ideas that are privileged. There are those who have never lived anywhere but in Luteyn’s bungalow and have never paid their rent. They are offended by that this man is bringing out ideas..and at the same time his social background is such that you cannot caricature him and say that he is another Romney. Those who were talking most about how they were empowering the power are those who have a profound sense of entitlement. Its both a class and ideological conflict. One criticism is that Narendra Modi has no exposure of foreign policy. Do you think that it is an impediment and how would he overcome this if he becomes PM? That’s like saying India should not have gotten Independence because the leaders who came into power after Independence did not have exposure to governance and had spent most of their life in prison. The art of governance is not something you acquire through an MBA degree or something similar neither is it something that is bequeathed through inheritance. It comes partly from the belief to carry a lot of people, to show that you have leader ship abilities, to be able to improvise, innovate and to grasp whats there. Narendra Modi when he became CM of Gujarat had never been an MLA or corporator and withing 12 years he had grasped and has done more than be an ordinary CM. To say that you must always be in a position where you have to be born into a particular family or have sustained exposure is a partial view of things. People ask who influences Modi? The answer is that he listens to himself and is open to ideas. What would be the idea of India with Narendra Modi as the PM? There are many facets of India but where we have lacked in terms of absorbing is that we have lost our sense of direction. I believe in the restoration of initiative that the downgrading of a state, at a slightly lower level, the idea of a robust patriotic value in a globalised world are important. What is necessary at the moment is that we take a purposeful direction of India rather than an idea of India. People want to be fixated on identity politics, in glorifying poverty which in a way is a negative legacy of the Mahatma and Rabindra Nath Tagore. They do not see the necessity as why India should aspire to be on the top in terms of the world order. They would rather have a romantic and passive view of India. We need to go beyond that. We can broadly see the scaffolding in place but the bricks and mortars still have to be placed. Sean Faia, Goa One of the biggest challenges facing the nation is the collapsing economy, Reviving the economy will mean moving away from mindless populism. Do you think Mr. Modi can do it as a first time PM? There are certain ideas we have. In terms of NREGA, what we need is a NREGA-2 by which we move away from dole distribution to skill creation and asset building for which people will be paid. Food is primarily state subject. What is relevant to Goa is not relevant to Punjab therefore there cannot be one model to fit all. What we need in India today is a greater thrust on federalism where decision making becomes de -centralised where CM can take decision which are directly beneficial to that state. One of the biggest contributor’s to the crisis is that our macro economy is being grossly mismanaged. the Government is spending far more than what it has earned. We are becoming a net exporter of capital because our industrialists feel its better to invest somewhere else. We are not utilising our raw materials properly. We know there have been power shortages because of coal which is in abundance but is not being mined because of cronyism. Lot of our problems are self made, man made and government made. If all these problems are addressed in the first few years people’s faith will be restored in the ability of India to once again live up to its potential. Its no good saying our fundamentals are strong and we have great potential. There are lots which can be done at the immediate level. Viplove Debaram What is there for Northeast? How would Narendra Modi be any different from any other and how should the people see him? Both economical and emotional issue concerning the North East have to be addressed simultaneously. Tripura is unable to use its land route which is through Bangladesh and so it cannot reach its potential. Arunachal has a problem because of a silly military doctrine we have not built infrastructure. Mizoram has less of a problem. In Manipur it has become attractive to become professional insurgents. Money is being actually paid by the Govt to create insurgency. If a greater degree of federalism is injected into the system it needs a greater level of accountability as far as people are concerned, where politicians can actually be asked questions. Communication has been a big problem. India’s relation with Bangladesh should have been accorded greater importance that our relationship with Pakistan. Money is being actually paid by the government to create insurgency. Can you hear me now? Money is actually being put in by the government to create insurgency. Now what is required to curb it? A greater degree of federalism is injected into the system. It leads to a greater level of accountability as far as people are concerned. Where politicians can actually be asked questions. They don’t have to really bother about who is in power in Delhi. The main job of a lot of north-eastern politicians has been to maintain good equation with whoever is in power in Delhi which is why you often see in some parts like Arunachal you see governments changing on mass from one party to another with shift in power equation in Delhi. That has to stop somewhere. Greater degree I think in that respect in Sikkim the action is done far better. Because Sikkim is single mindedly run. You can say it is one party government. It has only one member of opposition in the legislative assembly. But Sikkim has done far better. But communication has been a big problem in terms of not being able to realize the potential. You know today this issue of Bangladesh and India’s relation with Bangladesh should have been a matter of greater priority than our relationship with Pakistan. But it hasn’t. for very simple reason that it’s some people think that entire life should be dedicated to building generation that needs to work towards building hope that peace will prevail with Pakistan. When your own economy is not well and second there is emotional issue. And I think we have seen that indifferent treatment and discriminatory treatment which is being meted out to large number of north eastern people in either Delhi, Bombay, etc. it needs to be recognized that education is one avenue where north east can move ahead. That is one of their great strong points. And if those opportunities are somehow by extremist issues and by discriminatory treatment etc. then it creates a problem so you have to be firm and even about these things. The amount of time we talked about specially minority issues even a quarter of that to the emotional needs of the people in the north east we would have been better off. But I think next time Modiji comes to a Google Hangout I suggest you also ask him this question. One of my suggestions to him was when you formally start your election campaign start it from Arunachal because first rays of sun are seen in India in Arunachal. From election strategy point of view I cannot say much but yes Assam will give a considerable chunk of votes to Narendra Modi in the coming elections. Ms. Jyoti Prime Minister Narendra Modi – What does it mean for India ? As you know that he is very popular among women what does it mean for women from women empowerment point of view as well as women education point of view. You see I think what really has to be seen is what Narendra Modi means for the rest of India. Is you have to see what the approaches he has taken in Gujarat are? Everyone says Gujarat is not India we know that’s true but what is the approach that defines a lot of Narendra Modi and one of the approaches is empowerment, economic empowerment and personal empowerment. Three issues which have been made. The nature of gender discrimination is archaic idea it exists in certain parts of India but it has to be combated. So a political person who has an inspirational quotient in him has to also combine to some extent the role of a social reformer. This is very important in my view. In his own way we might criticize him for different things. Jawaharlal Nehru too realized this a lot of legislation social legislation was done not because of economic returns not so much because of lot of electoral returns but because it was necessary to have more just and fair India. I think therefore Modiji this time will have to wear two hats one of a politician and secondly a person who is also a reformer. I recall a particular speech which someone told me and since you are from Gujarat you understand that he made a speech where he said that the problem with Gujarati is that we have been worshiping Lakshmi for too long and not Saraswati adequately. I think that tells you something and I think it is that combination of Lakshmi and Saraswati which is what women are concerned. Rangesh, Trichi That Delhi elite hate Modi how will he navigate through the same system to say move his legislation in the Rajya Sabha that BJP does not have workable majority in Rajya Sabha. I think it is very interesting point and it needs to be stressed. Firstly, I think he will have to redefine center state relations. Which means that India must become more federal. That more decisions must be taken by the states with the only caveat that they should be transparent and with a premium on efficiency. Rajya Sabha yes you may receive legislation but India issue is not totally legislation we have too much of legislation the point is we need actually more executive actions. It’s not really new legislation is important it is execution. It is more executive actions which is called for. It’s difficult to foresee how it is going to shape up. But it is going to be an issue which is worth thinking about. Anupam, Beneras How does Narendra Modi as prime Ministerial candidate for BJP will change electoral dynamics in Uttar Pradesh? Actually it is quite interesting last week there has been a theory that has been floated that the main reason why Modi has become a buzz word in Uttar Pradesh is because of the Muzaffarnagar riots. I just want to draw your attention to an opinion poll which was done two and a half months ago by CNN-IBN along with CSDS which is Centre for Studies Developing Societies which is one of the most reputed ones which in the past used to involve likes of Mr. Yogendra Yadav etc. it’s an academic research and in that research two and a half months ago they suggested that BJP would get something like 35+ seats in Uttar Pradesh so the seeds of a yearning for Modi were already there it has nothing to do with Muzaffarnagar riots. Why were that seeds there because I think Uttar Pradesh more than anywhere else also recognizes tremendous amount of stagnation which has happened. Uttar Pradesh recognizes the phenomenal damage which reckless identity politics has done the division of UP with one part dominated by the Muslims, one part dominated by the Yadavs,, one part dominated by God knows whom. This is what has been the exasperation with this that you parceled societies and created petty kingdoms and put an end to all hopes of UP so Up has once again apart from a chunk in western UP has reverted to their place like Beneras it’s a place of religious tourism and money order economy. So they go to parts like Azamgarh and in other parts they go elsewhere Bombay and Delhi and other places. So it has become money order economy. So frustration with that a belief it is difficult to define from where this belief came the belief that Modi somehow is a magician. You know for a politician it’s a great thing but that has no doubt and I think I can stick my neck out in the last time we saw the belief in someone with a magic wand who can change things was when Gandhiji told different things to people of UP to a peasantry whom nothing political had ever been said. In this time of intense politization we see very different thing. So it is opposition to stagnation and really a belief that this man might actually be able to change things now you what is fascinating thing about this is that here are dizzing expectation of what Narendra Modi can be. People have reposed lot of emotional capital in this man particularly I have seen young people in the social media etc. he has no choice but to live up to it. And if I am to give him a message on his 64th birthday apart from saying happy birthday is that look there is too much faith people have put into you. You can’t let them down. They won’t let you down in the elections you can’t let them down after the elections.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 04:04:53 +0000
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