By Rupang Bhatt, Ahmedabad, 20 April 2012

Few days back when friends were discussing the topic of Narendra Modi’s national leadership in 2014, my intervention was that there are good chances that if Narendra Modi is PM candidate, the story of Rajiv Gandhi winning the national election with clear majority single handedly in mid-1980s may repeat.

Then my friends asked, what factor could give Modi such a big nationwide support, and my answer was: ‘hope’ factor.

Look at the situation of the nation today. Addressing a meeting at the Carnegie Endowment for International peace, an eminent Washington-based think tank, Chief Economic Adviser of India Kaushik Basu said, major economic reforms in India would hit the roadblock and are unlikely to happen before the next Parliamentary elections in 2014. Basu said there is a slowdown in decision making. The unearthing of a series of corruption and scams, he argued, is having its own impact on the psyche of the bureaucracy, who are not willing to take risks. Reforms, he said, have also slowed down because of the coalition government. Another reason for the slowdown is the battle against inflation and drop in agricultural production.

The situation of despair was recently reflected in letter to the Prime Minister written by Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar criticizing ambivalent policies of government.

When the nation is powered by an achievement like successful launching of Agni missile, it adds more responsibilities to its leadership. But while talking about present leadership, read this latest story. It has come out from a letter written by Harold ‘Terry’ McGraw III, chief of the powerful US-India Business Council (USIBC) to the White House.

The letter according to Press Trust of India whispers to Obama about leadership ‘vacuum’ in Delhi and its negative impact over India’s investment climate.

The letter hints that Indian cabinet ministers were so busy dousing fires; they had no time for actual business. As a result, powerful bureaucrats were running the show in Delhi.

“What is apparent is that political power is devolving to strong state leaders, and the vacuum at the Centre is allowing forces in government to move on issues that are harmful to India’s investment climate,” added McGraw in the letter.

Commenting on the letter, Uttara Choudhury in her related article in Firstpost rightly mentions Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as alternative.

The text reads: McGraw may not say it in so many words, but US business has identified states like Gujarat as business-friendly and given up on New Delhi. In September last year, a report by the US Congressional Research Service primed US lawmakers for the return of the BJP to power in New Delhi, with Gujarat Chief minister Narendra Modi at the helm as prime minister, following what US analysts say is a “precipitous” decline in the Congress party’s fortunes due to a string of corruption scandals.

The report said Gujarat had averaged over 11 percent growth in recent years, well outpacing the national rate. It accounts for 5 percent of India’s 1.2 billion people but 22 percent of the country’s exports. Modi has tackled corruption by streamlining “economic processes, removing red tape,” according to the report.

In this context, U.S. Consul General in Mumbai Mr. Peter Haas’s presence on dais next to Chief Minister Narendra Modi was significant.

Mr. Haas in his speech said, “my presence underscores the United States’ ongoing engagement with the state of Gujarat.”

More hints are coming that not only BJP, or the people of India, but the international community too would like to bet for Modi by 2014.

It seems, the best time is ahead for Mr. Modi, and undoubtedly that would be the best time for India too.

Modi is need of the time, and as the Time magazine said in its article on Modi, “If he succeeds, India may never be the same.”

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