Is Modi piggybacking on the forever vibrant Gujarat story?

If the opinion polls and the grapevine in Gujarat is to be believed, Narendra Modi is set to ace the polls all the way. Whether it is Gujarat Asmita or the Vibrant Gujarat story, the charismatic leader seems to be leading. But what is the secret of this messiah of development?

Is Modi piggybacking on the forever vibrant Gujarat story?

Senior journalist Swapan Dasgupta certainly feels so. He told CNN-IBN, " There is entrepreneurship in the DNA of Gujarat. What Modi has done very successfully is harness and package it well. He has also attuned to modern circumstances."

According to him, development has two sides - one is the real face of development and the other is the perception that something is happening on the ground. Political selling of Narendra Modi has been perfect and the development agenda has been packaged very well even though he might not be single-handedly responsible for today’s Gujarat, he added.

Where are the ‘other’ narratives in Gujarat?

Manini Chatterjee, National Bureau Chief of The Telegraph, feels that Modi suppresses alternate voices to project the development story. She said, “People tend to see the Modi story as Gujarat’s story but it isn’t. Traditionally it has been a mercantile state and there are other peculiarities of Gujarat.”

But every state has multiple narratives - that of development and apathy. According to her, the difference in Gujarat is,“The other narrative has got suppressed. The lower class and the poor see the  government as they are - parties of the rich.”

She also feels that in the absence of the vibrant alternative, the minority are forced to keep quiet and go with the popular perception.

Are tribal and backward voters the Achilles’ Heel in Modi’s development story?

According to some, it was easy to sell the plank of good governance to Gujarat’s populace because of its large urban population. But the BJP don’t seem to agree. They claim that there is a 14 percent tribal population in the state and it has the second largest desert region in the country, Kachchh, which is economically backward but has benefited as well.

Aakar Patel, noted columnist, said that out of 14 seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes, 11 were bagged by the BJP. He said, “It shows that Modi dominated tribal Gujarat as well.” According to him, one should be cautious about using words like development in India. “We are essentially caste-based voters and Gujarat is no different, " he added.

What is the magic in Modi’s development story?

His dictatorial control of the state, critics say. Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patnaik and Shivraj Singh Chouhan have also sold the development story - but they have done it in the most economically backward states in the country.

According to Swapan Dasgupta, Modi has successfully posited private entrepreneurship as a complement to the state machinery. In a state where industrial growth is one of the highest, this encouragement works like manna.

He said, “Modi has never glorified poverty. By and large, he lets private capital be. He stands for minimum government.”