Barackface

a state poll that has taken on the flavor of a national referendum. ..... he will cement his position as India's leading opposition politician and its top contender to succeed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ..... Modi is the messiah who will rid Indian politics of sloth, corruption, and petty identity politics. With his no-nonsense management style and inspirational leadership, only he can deliver the economic development Indians crave ..... For his equally vocal detractors, Modi is forever tarred by anti-Muslim riots that occurred 10 years ago ..... his reputation as the country's best economic administrator and most business-friendly politician .... the chief minister is that rarest of creatures in India: a politician more interested in public service than in pelf or promoting his progeny. .... In a land swaddled with red tape, Modi is seen as a go-getter. In a culture of inherited privilege -- where politicians tend to hand down power to their children like a family heirloom -- the chief minister comes from humble stock and has risen through dint of effort. He began his career helping an uncle run a railway-station tea stall in his hometown and then worked his way up the ranks of the Hindu-nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer Corps) and its sister organization, the BJP, before being catapulted to the chief minister's job in 2001. .... He's one of India's few politicians -- Singh is another -- whose declaration of a meager net worth (about $245,000) doesn't evoke guffaws of disbelief. .... The state has averaged double-digit growth rates over much of Modi's 11-year rule. With only 5 percent of India's population, last year Gujarat accounted for 16 percent of the country's manufacturing and 22 percent of its exports. The Economist calls it India's Guangdong. .... While much of India continues to suffer from potholed roads and daily brownouts, Gujarat offers investors modern highways and a reliable power supply. Many of India's tycoons have lavished praise on Modi for running an administration responsive to their needs. In 2008, Modi famously persuaded Ratan Tata to build the Nano, the world's cheapest car, in Gujarat after Tata Motors ran into land-acquisition troubles in West Bengal. Every two years, Indian and global businesses line up at the Vibrant Gujarat summit to pledge billions of dollars to the state in India's most high-profile investor gathering. Foreign companies that have set up shop in Gujarat under Modi, or announced plans to do so, include Abbott, Bombardier, Ford, Peugeot, and Suzuki. ....... a strong following among the pan-Indian middle class and the Indian diaspora. A poll by India Today this year declared Modi the country's top pick for prime minister: 24 percent of respondents chose him, compared to 17 percent who preferred Rahul Gandhi. ...... Traffic at a Google Plus "hangout" featuring Modi in August reportedly crashed the website's servers. Many of Modi's most fervent supporters are hypernationalists who seem to view opposition to him as unpatriotic. ..... garnered the third-most votes worldwide in Time magazine's annual poll to help choose the "100 most influential people" in the world. But though 256,828 people plumped for Modi -- about 10 times the number who picked U.S. President Barack Obama -- even more (266,739 people) gave the chief minister a thumbs-down. ..... For his part, Modi stoutly denies any wrongdoing and says he should be hanged if found guilty. In April, an investigation ordered by the Supreme Court cleared him of culpability for the riots ..... while Gujarat has grown fast, other states have grown faster still .... Most states that have grown faster than Gujarat either are much smaller or are starting from a much lower base. ..... No other Indian chief minister stands up publicly for the idea of small government, fiscal responsibility, getting the government out of business, and providing people jobs rather than handouts. ..... Narendra Modi may well be India's best chief minister. But he'd still make a terrible choice for prime minister.

Gujarat's economy: India's Guangdong

So many things work properly in Gujarat that it hardly feels like India..... There is constant electricity, gas and abundant water. The state government, he says, kept red tape to a minimum, did not ask for bribes, and does not interfere much now. .... Most of the men, the villagers say, work for small industrial firms for a wage about 50% higher than they would get in the fields. The road to Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city, is privately operated and boasts four lanes. It passes through a countryside that is visibly industrialising. ...... It might yet play the role of industrial locomotive for the country, as Guangdong province did for China in the 1990s. There is lots of excited talk about exporters switching from China to India. Sanjay Lalbhai, the chairman of Arvind, a textiles maker and clothing retailer based in Ahmedabad, says such a move is "imminent" in his industry. ..... The state government uses the usual tricks to try to jump-start growth, including special economic zones. ..... less onerous labour laws, passable roads, reliable electricity and effective bureaucracy. ...... Gujarat could be a vision of India's future, in which manufacturing flourishes, soaking up rural labour. Its economy is expected to grow by double digits, even as India's rate slows to 7-8% this year. The state may also be a springboard for Mr Modi, who may contest the national leadership of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party

Modi to plan BJP’s 2014 battle from CM office

there is buzz in the party’s central office about how to leverage the man who has emerged the most important figure in the party gallery. There is also ambivalence about Modi on the way to become numero uno in the party. ..... The BJP enthusiasts of Modi feel that the Gujarat strongman will make mincemeat of the Gandhi scion in a duel between the two. ..... the choice of making Modi the campaign committee chairman. ..... Asked as to who would replace Modi in Gujarat and who is the second most important person in the state BJP, the reticent office-bearer said that there is no second man in the state party hierarchy, and that Modi occupies all the slots from “1 to 1001”. Modi will not leave his chief minister’s office in Gandhinagar until after victory in the Lok Sabha election. It is for this reason that there is talk of giving him a role in the poll campaign without disturbing the set-up either in Gandhinagar or in New Delhi.

88 per cent of 35,808 India Today website survey users LIKE Modi

Out of the nearly 35,808 votes polled till 9 am on Thursday, 87.5 per cent netizens liked him as the leader of the state .... The survey findings, in fact, indicate that he might look beyond the political boundaries of the state and might go ahead to achieve his prime ministerial aspirations as an NDA candidate in the 2014 general election.

Record 70.2 per cent voter turnout in Gujarat Assembly polls, says CEC
Modi, touted as PM candidate, set for Indian poll win

Election results due in the Indian state of Gujarat on Thursday are likely to seal Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi's status as a frontrunner in 2014 national polls....... Gujarat, which has a population of 60 million people ..... He campaigned during the state election on a platform of economic expansion and investment. .... "The development in Gujarat is only but a manifestation of good governance"

Gujarat elections: The rise of Narendra Modi

As a child, he runs away from home and heads to north India, living with sadhus - or holy men - for months before returning to Gujarat in the late 1960s to serve steaming cups of tea alongside one of his brothers at a stall in Ahmedabad. ..... To this day, the riots haunt Modi's government. In 2012, one of Modi's former ministers, Maya Kodnani, is sentenced to 28 years in jail alongside 30 others for the violence. ........ Gujarat today is one of India's wealthiest states and Modi's supporters credit him for bringing uninterrupted power supplies, smooth roads and a flood of investment to the state. ..... the 62-year-old is also an avid Twitter user ..... For the first time during campaigning in India, Modi uses 3-D projections of himself to appear "live" on stage at simultaneous events.

Exit poll predicts huge win for BJP's Narendra Modi in Gujarat Assembly elections

A post-poll survey today predicted a bigger victory margin for BJP in Gujarat Assembly elections as compared to the 2007 outcome, saying the ruling party could get 129 to 141 seats out of a total of 182. .... Congress is likely to get 37 to 45 seats in the Assembly with a vote share of 36 per cent against BJP's 48 per cent ..... In the 2007 Assembly polls, BJP had won in 117 seats while Congress had bagged 59.

Gujarat poll success imminent for Narendra Modi; PM candidature still under doubt

The forecasts range from around two-thirds seats to a landslide for the ruling BJP in the 182-seat Gujarat assembly, relegating the opposition Congress to even fewer seats than its tally of 59 in the 2007 polls.

Exit Polls Predict Landslide Victory for Modi

the BJP was likely to win between 118 and 140 seats, the Congress party a distant second with between 40 to 59 seats ..... Gross domestic product in the state has grown at an average of 9.59% in the five years to March 31, 2012, compared to the national average of 7.9% ...... Gujarat is home to several of India’s largest industrial projects, including the world’s largest oil refinery, run by Reliance Industries Ltd., and Tata Motors’ factory for its Nano mini-car. ...... Critics point to his links with Hindu right-wing groups and his administration’s failure to stop communal violence in his state in 2002 that killed over 1,000 people, mostly Muslim. This, they say, makes him unfit to lead a state, let alone a country as diverse as India. Mr. Modi has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He has tried to win over more of Gujarat’s Muslims through initiatives like last year’s three-day public fast for social harmony. .... Mr. Modi himself has never publicly stated his ambition to become prime minister. ...... “My impression is that he will not be acceptable. Other political parties in the NDA are not prepared to go with a person whom not a single Muslim will vote for” ..... Current BJP allies such as the Janata Dal (United) and the Telugu Desam Party are staunchly against him as a PM candidate because of his alleged links to the 2002 communal riots. Putting Mr. Modi as the BJP’s candidate for Prime Minister, may push these parties in the hands of the rival Congress party-led alliance

Why India Is Forced to Reform Its Economy
Will Narendra Modi's PM ambitions be boosted after Gujarat win?

a victory that could launch the prime ministerial ambitions of one of the country's most popular but controversial leaders.

Modi spent all Wednesday in office, clearing pending files

He also reviewed the preparations of Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit - 2013..... More than 5,000 delegates from 100 countries are likely to participate in the biannual event. Japan and Canada are the partner countries for the 2013 summit. The event is scheduled on January 11, 12, 13 at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. This year, a facility for online signing of Memoranda of Understanding has been created. Innovative initiatives, small-scale industries and technology will be the focus areas of the summit.

Guj polls: Parties’ poll SMSes beeped on 1.5 crore mobiles

By the time campaigning for the first phase of assembly elections ended, BJP and Congress together had sent text or voice messages to about one lakh people in each constituency. ..... at the rate of 20 paise per message .... Gupta added that through candidates and friends, they had gathered leads of at least 80,000 mobile numbers in each constituency. ..... the messages sent by the BJP were routed through a Mumbai-based firm. Congress used a portal created by a Pune-based company to send its messages.