Can Narendra Modi lead India, asks Time
magazine
Saturday March 17, 2012 06:46:21 PM,
Arun Kumar,
IANS
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Washington: Controversial Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi features on the
cover of Time magazine which wonders if he can ever become the
prime minister despite his development work in his home state.
"Modi means business but can he lead India," asks the cover story
in the Asia edition of the March 26 issue of the US magazine
describing him as a "controversial, ambitious and shrewd
politician".
"Many Indians recoil at any mention of a man whose name is
indelibly linked to Gujarat's brutality of 2002; choosing him as
India's leader would seem a rejection of the country's tradition
of political secularism and a sure path to increased tension with
Muslim Pakistan, where he is reviled," it said.
"But when others think of someone who can bring India out of the
mire of chronic corruption and inefficiency -- of a firm,
no-nonsense leader who will set the nation on a course of
development that might finally put it on par with China -- they
think of Modi," Time said.
But the US magazine suggests that Modi may pose a tough challenge
to Congress's young scion Rahul Gandhi in India's next
parliamentary elections in the wake of the party's poor
performance in the recent Uttar Pradesh state elections.
"With two years left before the next national election in 2014,
Congress hopes its young scion, Sonia's son Rahul, will refresh
the party, but a resounding loss in a recent state election makes
him look vulnerable," Time said.
"Modi, 61, is perhaps the only contender with the track record and
name recognition to challenge Rahul Gandhi," said the cover story.
"Narendra Modi sits silently on stage in a posture of serene
repose. Today, he is wearing the white of a penitent," said an
article titled "Boy from the backyard" describing his series of
day-long Sadbhavana fasts to reach out to the people of the state.
"It's Modi in makeover mode: an act of self-purification, humility
and bridge building in a state that is still traumatised by the
Hindu-led anti-Muslim massacres of 10 years ago and the flawed
investigations in their wake," Time said.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
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