It
is not only a million dollar question but also the most asked question by
almost everybody in the country, WHITHER GUJARAT? In the last couple of years
and all the more due to scandalized polity, the pundits have turned their
attention to yesterday’s upstart from Gujarat, Mr. Narendra Modi. The saffron
poster boy of yester years have come a long way, for to be considered as a
contender for the country’s top political job.
Interestingly,
the poster boy has to first prove his claim on the home turf. Sort of a
semi-final, the state assembly polls in Gujarat will justify or falsify his
claim. The logic is, he has to win Gandhinagar before he can march on to Delhi.
And the win has to be a convincing win, which is the crux of the matter. In the
state assembly with 182 seats, the man himself has raised the benchmark. He has
claimed that he will break the all-time record and win 151 seats in the
forthcoming election. If the claim is a technique to inspire awe in his
opponents, the trick has not worked. Surely, he remains larger than life, but
slowly the opposition has stated putting its act together. The return of the 10
Janpath ‘blue eyed boy’ Ahmad Patel was the first indication given by INC that
the party is serious about the next election and the reason is not far to seek.
Such
reasons or compulsions of Congress are not unknown. However, in Gujarat, the
party has galvanized into action due to several factors. As mentioned earlier
the coming of Ahmad Patel has boosted the morale of the grassroots worker for
the presence of Sonia’s confidante adds the signature of party high command
about the importance it attaches to the next election. Besides, all the
factions and their leaders are now seen sharing common platform and at least
outwardly it appears that a truce has been made between different factions.
Whether it is a faction led by Shankarsinh Vaghela or Shaktisinh Gohil, whether
it is inspired by Arjun Modhwadia or Bharatsinh Solanki, Congress in Gujarat
has closed ranks. It is an ominous sign of the intensity with which the
opponents are to clash.
As
the storm gathers, new factors are added in this already complex political
scenario. One of the firsts to detonate his arsenal was the ex-Chief Minister
and BJP patriarch Keshubhai Patel. This saddened but wiser man has now formed
his own party and aptly christened it as ‘Parivartan Party’ because it is the
‘Change’ that he is seeking. This leader from Saurashtra had observed silence
for quite long though being sidelined and then ruthlessly marginalized by Modi.
To the extent that he has also ignored completely the formation of new party by
his Guru. And it is this silence that is most baffling of all. Modi’s silence
has now assumed proverbial magnitude. In Gujarat, everyone else has been
speaking but not Modi, barring his tweets and some casual remarks. As if
preserving his strength for the final onslaught, this charismatic leader has
assiduously avoided all controversies. But the day is not far when he will
speak. But the question is; ‘Whether it will stir the state out of its slumber?
Whether it will galvanize his party and the cadre in action?’
As
he has now broken his silence through his clarion call, which he gave while
flagging off the VIVEKANAND YATRA, has raised curtain from many things that
were till yesterday, a probability. Making most clever use of the legendary (or
mythical) figures has been his known trait. This time round, he has attempted
to reach the deep core of Indian psyche by conjuring the image and memory of
her one of the greatest son, Swami Vivekanand. The date chose for the flagging
off of the yatra and of launching his acerbic attack was 911 (that is,
September 11). It is the day when in 1894 Swamiji had given his famous address
in Chicago and captured the hearts and minds of West. At one stroke, Modi has
attempted to address not only Gujarati but also Indians who may be residing
anywhere in the world. He has not only unilaterally expanded his constituency
but has indicated that his leadership surpasses the state boundaries. If the
date and icon have such significance, so is the route that he had got planned.
It was Bahucharaji to Sanand. Bahucharaji because Maruti is putting up its
plant here and Sanand because TATA, FORD and PEUGEOT have set up their plants
here. In short, these are the places that have witnessed the working of so
called ‘Modi Magic’. Largest investments have been brought to these regions.
These are the towns that were till yesterday like any other non-descript
semi-urban conglomerates; today they are thriving hubs of industrial
activities. In Modi’s game plan, all this has happened because of ‘Him’. His
maiden speech at Bahucharaji has given away his electoral strategy. It is
‘development’ that ‘he’ has made in Gujarat, industries and investment that he
has brought, schemes and projects that he has not only envisioned but
translated into reality. And undoubtedly, he has got executed a few that he can
trumpet about like BRTS and RIVERFRONT in Ahmedabad, new work on Narmada, power
projects that have apparently made the state power surplus including an eco
friendly solar power project for producing 600 MW power at Charanka village in
Patan district. But the list falls short of the tall claims made by him and his
hand-picked bureaucrats and junior ministers at the bi-annual extravaganza that
have been aptly called ‘Vibrant Gujarat Summits’. MOUS of Hundreds of thousand
Crores are yet to see the light of the day and still more glaring discrepancy
is in the employment generation. In 2011 summit, Nectar Life sciences Ltd,
Neesa Agritech had promised employment to 20,000 and 990 employees whereas the
infrastructure projects announced in the same summit by Makson Infra and Makson
SEZ had promised to generate employment for over 100,000 persons. Not lagging
behind in tall promises were the SEZ projects by ANIQUE, Sealand Ports and
Chervil Infrastructure that had promised employment to 20000, 30000 and 40000
persons. No data is available from any of these companies to show what has
happened with their promises of employment and that is the thorn in the flesh.
The dismal record of employment generation by the gigantic schemes of Modi is
glaring in his face. His bravado and rhetoric cannot conceal this basic fact
that the state has performed miserably in terms of the employment generation
for the local population.
The
discontent is gradually getting louder. Congress having put its act together
has been able to articulate this discontent. Congress leaders already camp in
this newly industrialized region and addressing the public meetings ask the
villagers that how many of them have found employment in the new factories.
But
still this is not the whole story. The apparent lack of employment generation
could be shrouded in the high lumen radiance of infrastructure development, may
it be wider roads, larger ports, huge buildings and factories and gigantic
schemes. But the trouble is brewing much deeper. It simmers in the remote
villages of the state and the reason for its hidden fire lies in the most
innocuous of the follies. Narendra Modi has knowingly or unknowingly pressed
the vital chord of Gujarati sensitivity. His projects have systematically or
inadvertently gobbled up the GOCHAR LAND of Gujarat villages. GOCHAR is the
land traditionally and historically reserved for the cattle of the village. The
word comes from ‘Gau’ means cow and ‘Char’ means fodder. This is the land where
the village cattle go to graze. It is the lifeline of these silent livestock.
In his zeal for development and industrialization, Modi and his government have
in many places grabbed this land. A silent contempt is gradually taking shape
and an opinion being voiced. A label that Modi is anti-village, anti-farmer has
already taken roots.
Such
feeling would not have got channelized but for a non-descript farmers movement
taking shape in a remote Saurashtra town, Mahuva. Here, state’s renowned
industrialist was given away 1200 acres of land to set up a cement plant under
the pretext of the land being wasteland. However, the farmers’ anger got
channelized when they found that the local MLA supported their opposition to
the cement plant though he belonged to BJP. The state was on the threshold of
its turning point. The ‘satyagraha movement’ against the plant launched by Dr
Kanu Kalsaria not only stalled the project but forced its promoter to shift out
of the state. The movement had far reaching consequences because the farmers
tested victory and the ‘leader of Mahuva’ was hailed as ‘the man of the
masses’. But for his innate sobriety, commitment to the Gandhian values,
shyness and simplicity, this man could have by now posed the strongest
challenge to Modi instead he has preferred to build the movement. Touring
remote interior villages of the state of Gujarat, this man, with his meager
resources and handful of supporters delivers his message in his soft yet deep
tone that ‘Modi is no friend of farmers’. The sleeping helmet, which he had entered
without whisper, is abuzz with vitality when he is about to leave. The
political action thus enacted has no pre-determined script, nor grand
preparation. But, it is working. Though the pace is excruciatingly slow, no one
can say how it could cover the length and breadth of Gujarat, but the fact
remains. Dr. Kanu Kalsaria is THE
challenge to Narendra Modi. On one side is the Empire, a man with 10 years in
office, unlimited resources, state machinery and the great style and oratory
that can bring dead to life and on the other side is a man, lean, frugal, soft
spoken, hesitating; without resources, without party machinery and without
claim or promise. How could there be any contest between the two?
But
therein hides the microcosm of truth. History is witness to such unequal
battles. Not always, the results are dramatic. Many a times the rebels become
the silent martyrs, soon to be buried in the annals of history. But, this is
Gujarat, a crucible for experiments in national consciousness. A decade ago it
had given to the nation Narendra Modi. And more than a century ago it had given
Gandhi and Sardar. It has not run short of her ability to present yet again, a
person of great caliber and significance. The question is whether the time has
come for a new person or whether Modi has to make his final assault on Delhi?
Only the time will tell.
