Charity begins at home. The sequitur would be that prosperity prospers at home. Ever since Narendra Modi became prime minister in May 2014, Gujarat has been the recipient of government largesse. A state that had acquired jaundiced notoriety after communal riots in 2002 is now a riot of richness as India’s favourite Investment destination. Last week, news broke that the largest ever investment in recent times would go to Gujarat, and not Maharashtra as was previously believed—Rs 1.54 lakh crore by Vedanta Ltd and Taiwan’s Foxconn to set up a semiconductor project in Gujarat. But is Gujarat’s highly publicised prosperity a sign of Modi’s favouritism? Or does history hold hidden lessons lost in the syllabus of post-Independence positioning that favoured northern and central Indian provinces where the Mughal-colonial shadow fell the darkest? Modern Gujarat, created only in 1960 along linguistic lines after its neighbour Maharashtra was carved out of Bombay State, was championed by Sardar Patel’s close associate K M Munshi, without whose ardent arguments it would not have been what it is today—a region that regained pride in Gujarati identity. Synthesising its cultural unity with political reality visualised by the Chalukyas, who ruled for over 600 years, Munshi saw his state as connoting “the much larger linguistic zone in which the language known as modern Gujarati is spoken at the present time”.
Like much of India, the historical alterations to Gujarat’s archetypal Hindu society, which was diluted by both Islamic invaders and colonial powers that profited from the region’s vast riches, fueled Munshi’s appeal for Gujarati cultural Renaissance—which Modi now perceives as the bedrock of India’s Economic Renaissance. Lusted after by Muslim transgressors from Mahmoud Ghazni in 1026, who looted the riches of Somnath Temple, to Portuguese and British traders who profited from Surat’s vibrant commercial ethos, the birth of contemporary Gujarati is a revenge against the invaders: its foundation was laid in Somnath, arguably the most famous plunder by an Islamic tyrant. Modi’s munificence towards his home state is merely an extension of the restoration of his state’s past glory, for the prime minister lives in the future where the past is a marker for course correction.
That Gujarat comes before Maharashtra in the national anthem could be a phonetic coincidence, but for Modi, the Vedanta-Foxconn MoU “is an important step in accelerating India’s semiconductor manufacturing ambitions. The investment of Rs 1.54 lakh crore will create a significant impact to boost economy and jobs”, said his tweet. Amit Shah’s blue bird chirped, “...Bhupendra Patel has shown how development work can be done without speaking. In this one year, Gujarat has reached new heights.” In a state going to the polls later this year, Patel will be leading the BJP’s push to stay in power, beating 22 years of anti-incumbency. The results will be as much an endorsement for Gujarat’s most famous son of the century as it is for his party.
But under fire was Vedanta group’s Chairman Anil Aggarwal, who reasoned that he had no say at all in choosing Gujarat—a telling statement for a billionaire considered close to Sharad Pawar. His fall guy was Foxconn. But this feeble defence found few takers. In the current power structure, Indian corporates need a safe investment haven—and Gujarat is their heaven. Unapologetic about promoting his home state, unlike other prime ministers before him, the pro business, tech savvy Modi is emotionally, culturally and politically connected with his janmabhumi and karmabhumi. During the past three years, he visited Gujarat 25 times and spent 36 days there. But he hasn’t ignored Uttar Pradesh either, which has elected him twice from Varanasi and sent over 70 BJP MPs to the Lok Sabha simultaneously. He made 67 visits to UP, where he spent a total 78 days. It is another state that gets maximum Central support. Modi is clear that he owes his rise to both states and isn’t deterred by criticism of regional favouritism. When once G stood for the Gandhis, now it exemplifies Gujarat; most sensitive posts are headed by the Gujarat cadre or Gujarati officials. Major government projects have gone to people with the G-connection for building vistas and edifices of political and cultural importance that would be the legacy of ModiRaj for future centuries.
Modi became the maxim and maximum thanks to his longest tenure as the state’s historic helmsman. Gujarat, where development and communal calamities became identifiable tropes, catapulted him to the national level. Of its 21 chief ministers since its inception, Modi ruled for an uninterrupted 12 years, from October 2001 to May 2014. Ironically the past eight years have seen four CMs in Gandhinagar. Modi is a prime minister with a difference who champions his roots as no other predecessor has. Only Indira Gandhi beats his record by enjoying 17 years in office, but Modi has a long way to go. Jawaharlal Nehru, too, was PM for 17 years. Between father, daughter and her son Rajiv Gandhi, the Family ruled the country and the Congress for over four decades. They were all elected from Uttar Pradesh. But the state only gained notoriety for its BIMARU status. Blighted by backwardness, the constituencies that represented not just the Nehru-Gandhis but PMs like Charan Singh and Chandra Shekhar are still struggling to overcome underdevelopment. India’s largest state’s growth rate remained far below the national average for almost six decades. It was only after Modi that UP got a facial. Indian PMs, banking on the complacency of their national status as a favour to their constituents, have been notoriously negligent towards the states of their birth and belonging. Narasimha Rao, a former Andhra CM, rarely supported his state. The architect of economic reform’s prosperity, Manmohan Singh, wasn’t the fiduciary of Assam, which sent him to the Rajya Sabha thrice. Even long-surviving CMs like Jyoti Basu preferred to bask in their charisma than improve their states’ fortunes. Even Morarji Desai, India’s first Gujrati PM, never scored a home run. The only exception is Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, who has pulled his state out of the poverty zone to turn it into one of the best governed states in the country.
Modi has ensured that the banks of Sabarmati should midwife the new India Growth Story. His ministers officially visit Gujarat more frequently than any other state, including the ones which elected them. Gujarat accounts for about 10 per cent of the GDP with just less than five per cent of India’s population. It has been developing faster than the rest of the country even before BJP came to power in 1995. Under Modi, it became a single window clearance centre for investment. Its USP was that Team Modi delivered the sanction letter to a potential investor before he or she left the state after submitting formal proposals. Modi loves big numbers. The world’s biggest statue—Sardar Patel’s—is in Gujarat. Modi brought Narmada water to Gujarat. His dream now is to make Gujarat the global model of good governance. It’s currently number three in FDI and GDP growth—the PM wants it to be Numero Uno. Modi has fully understood the power and fear of the prime minister’s chair. Stakeholders who abhorred him with a vengeance before now adore him with reverence. For Modi, clarity begins at home.