If India Inc had its way, Narendra Modi might well be the country’s next prime minister. A day after Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata hugged the Gujarat chief minister and showered praise on his leadership, holding Modi and his state up as an example for the rest of the country, corporate bigwigs Anil Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal added their voice to the growing chorus.
As octogenarians Lal Krishna Advani and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat jockey for the position of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Modi, 58, is suddenly emerging as a third option, something that was unthinkable even for BJP politicians a couple of years ago, thanks to the taint of the Gujarat riots of 2002.
Speaking at Tuesday’s valedictory session of the fourth Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit, Ambani said, “Narendrabhai has done good for Gujarat. Gujarat has seen progress in all fields under his leadership. Now imagine what will happen to the nation if he leads the nation. A person like him should be the next leader of the country.”
Ambani recalled that his father, the late Dhirubhai Ambani, used to say that “Modi lambi race ka ghoda hai (Modi will go a long way).”
Mittal also lavished praise on Modi and his leadership. “Modi has a magnetic personality, which has attracted several companies to the state. I have had the opportunity to observe him closely during work and I must say that we run only companies and earn money, but if there is one person who can run not only a company or a sector, but a whole nation as CEO, it’s Narendra Modi.”
The plaudits have come as a blow to the BJP, which has just launched a fresh campaign to popularise the idea of ‘Advani for PM’. Senior party leaders refused to entertain questions on the subject on Wednesday.
The Congress mocked Modi’s track record, calling the claim of ‘vibrant Gujarat’ a myth. “It takes my mind back to 1933 when a certain [Adolf Hitler] was hailed by captains of industry,” said party spokesman Manish Tewari. “Our industrialists ought to be a bit more careful in showering praise on a man whose entire edifice rests on corpses.”
—With Rajesh Sinha & Javed M Ansari
