Modi’s Illusory Development

                                                                                                 -ARNOLD CHRISTIE

Narendra Modi has appeared in three different avatars during his three tenures as the chief minister of Gujarat. In 2002, he was the “Hindutva Poster Boy”; in 2007, he emerged as “Maut ka Saudagar” for his rivals and as “Hindu Hriday Samrat” for his supporters. Again, in 2012, he changed his avatar and now is presenting himself as “Vikas Purush” for the upcoming 2014 Lok Sabha election.                     

Urban and rural middle classes praise him as the messiah of development and critics thrash him as the master of false propaganda. After conquering Gujarat, Modi has set his eyes on Delhi’s throne; and he is trying hard  to grab it. After the debacle of the Ram Mandir issue, BJP rightly  realized that Hindutva alone cannot  bring it to power at the Centre. Modi is also well aware of this fact and so he has made one more experiment in the laboratory of Hindutva – of development –  and succeeded.

However, many fingers are being pointed at Modi’s so-called development. Critics call it false propaganda. The chief of Press Council of India, Justice Katju, for instance, says, “Modi’s version of Gujarat development is phony.”

Modi’s popularity is said to be the result of PR and media management. Recently, the former BJP ideologue Govindacharya alleged that, “Modi has created his aura with the help of media management.” He knows very well how hype can be created and how people can be brainwashed. Even though Gujarat is far behind many states   on various developmental indices, Modi continues to harp that Gujarat under him has become the number one state in the country. While opposing the Motion of Thanks on Governor’s address to the assembly, the leader of the opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela alleged, “This government and chief minister are making big claims about the state …I agree that there is development but it’s just of some industrial houses.” But the woes of the people in the state are also increasing. “There is development in theft, in slaughtering of cow progeny, in number of suicides by farmers, in state’s debt too there is development.” added Vaghela.

tThe success story of Gujarat predates Modi.  No one chief minister can claim credit for the development of Gujarat. This is proven by the growth rates recorded during tenures of previous CMs of Gujarat. RBI’s Hand Book of Indian Economy states that under Modi’s regime, Gujarat’s growth rate has been 16.25 per cent per annum. During the tenure of the late Chimanbhai Patel, it was 16.75 per cent. Previous governments, under Madhavsingh Solanki and Amarsingh Chaudhary also witnessed 14.8 per cent growth rate.

Modi has managed to impress middle-class and business communities inside and beyond Gujarat through well-planned strategies.  Recently, a visit by an American delegation created a controversy in the media. It was alleged that the delegates had paid 3,000 to 16,000 US dollars to the agency which had arranged the trip. Modi has hired such agencies at a huge cost which, his critics allege, are paid by the state exchequer.

Today, Gujarat is reeling under severe scarcity of water and facing drought-like situation in 17 districts. Gujarat government itself has declared 3,918 villages of 10 districts water-scarcity hit. Narmada is the acknowledged lifeline of Gujarat but farmers and villagers are deprived of its benefits. Former chief minister and once a close associate of Narendra Modi, Keshubhai Patel says, “Narendra Modi had assured to fill up 77 dams of drought-prone Saurastra region through the promised Narmada canal network but it is nowhere in sight.. When will the work start and when will it be completed? Modi government should stop misleading the people.”

Even though in terms of GDP Gujarat had delivered significantly over the last 15 years, in areas of nutrition, education, employment, wages, rural planning, health, status of environment and other indicators of overall health of society, it has performed poorly vis-a-vis other states. NSSO and other sample surveys show that high economic growth rate in Gujarat  has been achieved at the expense of basic human development.

(Arnold Christie is FP Reporter in Ahmedabad).

                                                                  (Published in  Forward Press,  May, 2013 Issue)