Gujarat minister fasts to promote harmony

Narendra Modi, the chief minister of booming Gujarat in western India, has begun a three-day fast to promote communal harmony, a move seen as an attempt by a man touted as a future prime minister to raise his national profile.

The move comes after a positive week for the Gujarati politician boosted his credentials to become a prime ministerial candidate for the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party in the 2014 national elections.

First, the Supreme Court rejected an application to hear a case that linked him to the deadly 2002 Gujarat religious riots and then a US congressional report said that “India’s best example of effective governance and impressive development is found in Gujarat”.

Mr Modi has been hailed as the main architect of the state’s economic revival since 2001, as his administrative prowess helped Gujarat attract investment and generate an average economic growth rate of about 10 per cent over last decade.

However, it was also under Mr Modi’s watch that more than 2,000 people were killed in anti-Muslim riots, triggered by a train carriage fire in Godhra, allegedly caused by Muslims, that killed 60 Hindu pilgrims.

Mr Modi, who has been criticised for his lax role during the riots, said at the time that “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”, as he maintained that he had nothing to apologise for and denied any responsibility for the violence.

On Saturday, Mr Modi imparted a more reconciliatory message to a crowd of supporters that included members of different religious communities, including Muslims, as he said that Gujarat would never “slip below the parameters of humanity”.

However, despite a dearth of prominent BJP prime ministerial candidates, some political analysts argue that Mr Modi’s makeover might have come too late, as his image has been tainted for nearly a decade.

Nitish Kumar, a secular political leader and chief minister of Bihar, who defied the state’s dismal record to deliver 11 per cent growth in a part of India that many considered lost, has been suggested as a better candidate to defeat the Congress party-led coalition in three years’ time.

Mr Modi, who took charge of Gujarat when its economy was shrinking in January 2001, has been hailed by business leaders for turning the state into a model for growth and development.

“Narendra bhai [brother] is a leader having a grand vision and [he] also has the strength to connect this vision to reality. Gujarat is emerging as a superpower of the 21st century under him,” Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire owner of Reliance Industries, said in January this year at a summit promoting investment in the state.

The BPJ leading figure centred his mandate on reorganising the government’s administrative structure and embarked upon a huge cost-cutting exercise. He also launched a successful campaign against corruption, which helped business in the area.

The overall pro-business environment – which includes improved infrastructure and an industrial-friendly policy framework – has led several Indian and multinational manufacturers to open a factories in Gujarat, including US carmakers General Motors and Ford.

However, for all his success in turning an economically depressed state into an industrial development hub, political analysts say he has a long way to go before he can convince India’s vast Muslim population that he is a respectable candidate for the 2014 elections.