To
describe in one simple sentence, what makes Narendra Modi click or why should Narendra Modi be considered a
successful political leader, one must say it’s his ability to pluck victory
from defeat and do it almost single-handedly.
Creditably for him, all these years since 2002 Modi though had good team mates in the likes of Arun Jaitley and Amit
Shah, he has been practically a loner
in his strive to remain politically relevant to his party, his state
Gujarat and also the nation – the ‘raison d’etre’ – a reason to
justify one’s existence!
Modi over
the last decade has able to brave
through the challenges from all corners – political rivals in Congress and
other secularists, international community and numerous forces within his own
party.
Today, everyone including the European Union and
United Kingdom
seem
to be falling in line.
to be falling in line.
His admirers say Modi has always challenged the concept
of ‘status quoist’, a feature hailed in Indian polity and instead he had banked
on certain ‘out-of-box’ thinking and actions.
Narendra Modi
represents uniqueness in the Indian political scene in more ways than one. He
has a very humble political background and from the hind side, he has or had
nothing in his favour. The caste, the political party and even the family
background; nothing in normal circumstances would have worked for him.
The party he
represents and today leads in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections as the
prime ministerial-candidate is outright dismissed as ‘communal’ Hindu
chauvinist outfit owing allegiance to the RSS in Nagpur.
Although the
party has tasted power in the centre for 6 years under the illustrious Atal
Behari Vajpayee, the party does not have pan-India presence yet.
Even in the
run up to the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP’s one of the chief challenges is to
ensure party’s comparatively good performance in states like Andhra Pradesh and
Odhisa where the saffron party remains organizationally weak.
Caste wise – he
is an OBC – a Teli unlike political dominant castes like Dalits of Mayawati or
the Yadavs. Moreover, very few in BJP have risen against the hierarchy of an
upper caste dominated leadership.
Even the RSS, the fountainhead of the Sangh
Parivar, which backs BJP with ideological moorings, cadres and resources is
known for their historical ‘weaknesses’ towards Brahmins, especially from
Maharashtra. The repeated attempts to push Sanjay Joshi, a known Modi
bete-noire in the affairs of BJP, could be easily understood from this
perspective.
In the run up to the
December 2012 Gujarat assembly polls, many BJP
leaders and spokespersons maintained that if one obvious factor that weighed in
favour of the man of the moment - Narendra Modi – was his assertive approach. By
refusing to be defeated he had in a sense emerged a winner long before the
battle was over.
The December 26, 2013 court ruling in Ahmedabad is only one part of that feature in the man.
As Narendra Modi
himself has said a number of times, that confidence comes from a politician’s ability
to read the ‘pulse’ of the people.
One can refer to Modi’s comments given to this
writer in 2002 when he was castigated for his now infamous ‘Hum panch, Hamarey
pachis’ remark against absence of family planning by Muslims.
“Whatever you all
in the media have to say, say! I don’t mind. I know the pulse of the people and
they do approve my comments against large families and absence of structured family
planning system,” he had told me in 2002.
Over the decades this confidence has not only come handy for
him but has also represented the basic characteristic of a man, who is
otherwise at the receiving end of large scale criticism from possibly all
quarters.
It is his assertive approach that makes things different. Modi has
shown that without kneeling down before the western powers and Americans, he
can compel the US and United Kingdom to
come closer to him.
A few inferences:
A key
takeaway from Modi’s success tale will be that this virtue or trait can be
either born with or can be nurtured too.
A focused liking for one’s ambition gives
a purpose to actions and as a result of this passion would come in.
But it can
be kept in mind that according to modern management theory, Passion is not the
same as a single-minded determination although in pursuance of one’s goal all
elementary essentials body, mind and spirit would play their respective roles
in pursuing a passion.
According to Nancy
Huber’s book ‘Leading from Within’ passion
for a higher purpose is characterized by openness to possibilities and passion along
with possibilities give one the courage to go for the kill. Narendra Modi
cannot agree more.
The reputation of a successful person and the credibility about it lies in the story of his or her struggle. Success, therefore they say, is how high once bounced back from the rock bottom.
$$Pursue the goal and preferably taking an
off-beat road:
Narendra Modi’s track record also exemplifies that
avoiding a beaten track puts one on advantage and helps to gain competitive
edge over the rivals. The single-minded approach led him to the use of IT tool
– the social networking sites – first time by any Indian politician. He was not
mellowed down by the near isolation he faced, he chose a bigger and much wider
audience of IT users and the rest is history.
ends
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