Narendra Modi, the national politician, was born in the shadow of violence. Under fire for his alleged role in the post-Godhra anti-Muslim ...
Narendra Modi, the national politician, was born in the shadow of violence. Under fire for his alleged role in the post-Godhra anti-Muslim riots in 2002 and almost exiled from the Bharatiya Janata Party for failing to do his rajdharma in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s well-known rebuke to him, Modi managed to survive – rising again like a proverbial phoenix from the ashes.
After the tumult of 2002, Modi’s long journey to the prime ministership has rested on an unusual but canny gamble. Instead of unequivocally denying his role in enabling Hindu mobs to unleash acts of savagery on Gujarati Muslims, Modi refused to accept blame for the violence while gladly embracing the image and idea of being the protector of Hindus.
The riots of 2002 strengthened his standing with hardliner Hindutva supporters. For them, Modi stood as a natural leader of Hindus and a brave, honourable man because of the pogrom against Muslims in Gujarat. In May, in a tweet that got her account permanently suspended, Bollywood actor and Modi devotee, Kangana Ranaut, invoked this very image of Modi, when she asked him to show his “virat roop”, or heroic avatar, of the “early 2000s” to the Trinamool Congress in the aftermath of the Bengal elections.
Consummate political animal
Consolidating power...
