Narendra Modi becomes India Inc poster boy
NEW DELHI |
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Two powerful industrialists have pitched for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to be India's next leader, a sign of how the controversial Hindu nationalist is gaining momentum going into this year's elections.
Modi is a brilliant orator who has a reputation for battling corruption to bring development to Gujarat, but he is accused of turning a blind eye to the murder of hundreds of Muslims during riots in 2002 and is fiercely critical of Pakistan.
The statements by telecommunications tycoons Anil Ambani and Sunil Mittal were unusual in their frankness and reflect how many executives and members of the middle-classes clamour for someone like Modi to cut through red tape and improve the business climate.
"People like him should be the next leader of the country," Ambani, head of Reliance Communications, was widely quoted by local media as telling a business conference in Gujarat on Wednesday.
At the same conference, Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, said Modi "is very capable of running the whole nation".
Modi is not a prime ministerial candidate but is one of the leading lights of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is trying to unseat the ruling, left-of-centre Congress party-led coalition in elections due by May.
The endorsements underscore how much a player he may be as BJP leader L.K. Advani tries to convince Indian voters his party will be best at managing a trillion-dollar economy that has shown signs of slowing down after four years of boom.
A BJP win could propel India to a more pro-market agenda after years under Congress in which economic reforms have stagnated, to the frustration of many investors.
And Modi is the BJP poster boy.
"India Inc. roots for 'CEO' Modi," was the headline of the Mail Today.
Modi won re-election in Gujarat in 2007 with the help of his development record, despite continued Hindu-Muslim tensions.
That re-election more than anything convinced the BJP a national victory was possible after years of infighting sparked by its 2004 general election loss to Congress.
But Modi has yet to convince everyone he can translate his appeal in Gujarat onto a national platform, with many Indians uncomfortable with his record and his reputation for stoking tensions with Muslims.
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