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Here's a short summary to help others who haven't heard much about him. Short background - Has been the Chief Minister (equivalent to Governer) of the Western
by cmadan 12y ago
Here's a short summary to help others who haven't heard much about him.
Short background - Has been the Chief Minister (equivalent to Governer) of the Western Indian state of Gujarat for 14 years now.
The Good
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* Achieved a very high GDP growth rate for Gujarat
* Made Gujarat a preferred destination for big industrialists to set up their factories since he gives land & clearances very readily.
* Developed infrastructure in Gujarat - built roads, highways, flyovers.
* Known to rule with an iron fist - a "my way or the highway" style of politician.
The Bad
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* Accused of not practising all inclusive development. Critics point to poor performance of metrics such as child mortality rates, education, Human Development Index (HDI) etc.
* Many believe that he did not do enough to stop the Gujarat riots in 2001 where 1000 people were killed. After this incident, the governments of US and UK denied Modi a visa to enter their countries
* Describes himself as a "Hindu nationalist", has a history of making communally charged statements although seems to have cleaned up in recent years focusing on development.
The Ugly
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* Believes homosexuality is unnatural and is against repealing an 100+ year old law which makes gay sex a criminal offence.
* Formed political alliances with leaders such as Yeddyurappa who has many cases of corruption pending and parties such as Shiv Sena who are notorious for using violence to target ethnic groups.
- breitling 12y agoFrom what I've read about this guy, there seems to be a lot more to add to the "ugly" column. - He equates the plight of muslims murdered in 2002 to a puppy run over by a car [1]. - He has been a life long member of party's most militant wing [2]. - He's not shy about delivering flagrant speeches. Seems to be a very divisive figure. If I were one of the minorities in India, this would be a very disappointing day. [1] http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/07/12/narendra-modi-puppy-reuters-interview-idINDEE96B08S20130712 http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/07/12/narendra-modi-puppy... [2] http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/05/14/why_indians_should_fear_a_bjp_election_win_siddiqui.html http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/05/14/why_ind...
- yepyepyep 12y agoI no longer live in India but have a large extended family that does. Being in the minority, they are filled with paranoia about what this could mean. I'm still skeptical if anything bad will happen but I am also not living there.
- chaofguan 12y agoI bet you are just a shill playing minority card again.
- Brakenshire 12y agoSeem to be quite a few newly registered, aggressively pro-Modi accounts on this thread.
- not_that_noob 12y agoIt's the RSS Internet Wing I'm sure
- chaofguan 12y agono, I am not. In fact I am not even Indian but hatred you are showing is quite obvious. I think you had relation to party that lost election or you can't digest the election results.
- snambi 12y agothere is nothing to worry about. India has always been a secular country/land from time immemorial. The idea of muslim hindu division is of recent times, starting from british rule. India has been ruled for many centuries by muslims and christians (british).
- sachdevap 12y agoThe idea of a Hindu Muslim division predates the British rule. It has been in existence since the later Mughals[1] (Aurangzeb and his successors). [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus#In_the_Mughal_empire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus#In_the_Mu...
- ebbv 12y agoInteresting to me that you have: > Known to rule with an iron fist - a "my way or the highway" style of politician. Under "The Good". I certainly wouldn't classify that as a good characteristic in a leader. You want someone who will get things done, yes, but someone who will ignore and bully minority opinions is not a good leader.
- cmadan 12y agoI agree with you (FWIW - I didn't vote for him), however it is often cited as one of his positive qualities by the Indian media since there is the perception that the outgoing Prime Minister Mammohan Singh was too soft and was unable to rein in his ministers and push through policy changes.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- chaofguan 12y agoIndians don't have to live with standards set by US/UK. So India has its own thing. Take it or leave it.
- pagade 12y agoBJP alliance with Shiv Sena is since last 25 years! Why would it come under his ugly?
- sheri 12y agoThere was also a hidden camera operation which interviewed quite a few of the perpetrators who were leaders of VHP and Bajrang Dal (A few of the right-wing Hindu organizations). A bunch of them claim Modi's explicit approval for the riots. The comments and the interviews are disturbing to say the least. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truth:_Gujarat_2002 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truth:_Gujarat_2002