Corporate India’s ‘observation’ at the just-concluded

Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit (VGGIS) that Narendra Modi has all dynamism and vision to lead the country, has set the tongues wagging in political circles.

While the Opposition Congress in Gujarat has lambasted the corporate honchos for projecting Modi as the politician who can lead the country, the ruling BJP seems to be divided on the issue.

At the valedictory function of the VGGIS on Tuesday, Reliance ADAG chairman Anil Ambani had commented, “Narendrabhai is the next leader of India”, while Bharti Airtel chief Sunil Mittal

remarked, “if there is a CEO who can lead this country, it is Narendra Modi”.

Reacting to this, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) spokesman Arjun Modhwadia told Newsline on Thursday that the two leading industrialists had made these remarks not without any reason. The two heaped praises on the CM projecting him as a “national leader” to protect their business interests in Gujarat, he said.

Anil Ambani’s ADAG has proposed to set up a power project and a cement plant in the state, while Mittal has expressed his intention to enhance his involvement in the telecommunication sector. Both the industrial groups inked MoUs worth crores at the VGGIS. In fact, Airtel has already earned a contract for implementing the government-aided multi-crore e-Gram project in the state.

“Modi is a self-styled leader and has been nursing an ambition to become the Prime Minister, ignoring the claim of his political mentor L K Advani for this coveted post. He has made this clear by prompting the corporate champions to project him as the one who can lead this country, when the Parliamentary elections are due,” Modhwadia said.

He added, “There seems to be a hot race in the BJP for the PM, with yet another senior party leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat throwing his hat in the ring.”

The Congress spokesman said it was unfortunate that Ambani and Mittal chose to hold Modi’s brief just to accrue profits in their businesses in Gujarat without knowing the ground reality of Indian politics. “Only a handful of industrialists close to the CM can’t opine or decide about who will be the next PM in the Indian democracy,” he said.

Gujarat BJP chief Purshottam Rupala was guarded while commenting on the issue, saying, “Those linking the successful

VGGIS — attracting huge investments — with this so-called controversy are against the development of the state.”

He refused to say anything when told that his party was already projecting Advani as the NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the impending Lok Sabha polls. “I would not say anything on this. Let’s talk only about the success of the VGGIS,” he insisted.

State government spokesman and Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas was, however, more forthright in his comments. “It’s the appreciation and perception (by Ambani and Mittal) of one’s (Modi’s) personality. What’s wrong if a reporter is nursing an ambition of becoming an editor? As and when opportunity comes…,” Vyas said

He said there was nothing wrong if someone evaluates some other’s performance or efficiency (to be the PM). “(Barack) Obama and Hillary Clinton had fiercely competed with each other in the run up to the US presidential elections. But after Obama won the race, Hillary started backing him up. This doesn’t demean her efficiency or performance,” he said.

Political pundits smell the rat particularly in Ambani’s attempt to project Modi as the next prime minister.

Pointing out that Ambani is very close to Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh of the Samajwadi Party, a political observer said that besides being a corporate honcho, the Reliance ADAG chairman has a “political bend of mind”.

“In his projection of Modi, he may have tried to kill two birds with one stone— to please the CM to serve his own business interests in Gujarat and also kick off a controversy over the PM race in the BJP,” added the political observer.

Driving home his point, he further said Modi must have deliberately kept his senior party leaders like Advani, Arun Jaitely or Rajnath Singh off the much-hyped VGGIS this time to hog the limelight all through the two-day proceedings. At the VGGIS 2007, Modi had invited Advani and Jaitley, besides other senior party functionaries.