Radiating Beyond His Circumference

• Many in the BJP see Narendra Modi as L.K. Advani's natural heir apparent.
  
• His Nano success has made him the darling of the middle class.
  
• His 'tough on terrorism but good with business' formula is being seen as pragmatic and as a perfect usp.
  
• His detractors in the BJP have been mending fences with him. Being with Modi is better than opposing him.

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For some years now, he has drawn bigger crowds than Advani and other BJP leaders. Right-wing ideologue and columnist Swapan Dasgupta says, "The BJP does not have to project Modi as the heir apparent. Everyone in the party knows he is. He looms large as the leader in waiting."

The question being asked is, who makes up Team Modi? There is a core group of bureaucrats. But Modi is his own brand ambassador, who may weigh inputs from various sources but takes all the decisions himself. And he has developed a very clear-cut style. For instance, as he tries to rise above the dark stain of the post-Godhra violence in Gujarat, he has positioned himself very carefully. He talks tough on terror, but does not mention Muslims or the minority community. He has chosen to say nothing about the Bajrang Dal that has been in the thick of national controversy after the assaults on Christians. But it is known that within Gujarat, Modi has clobbered the Bajrang Dal and has no time for the VHP. It is whispered in Sangh parivar circles that Modi will not attend a meeting if VHP leader Praveen Togadia is in the room. A parivar insider reveals: "This attitude of Modi has made it hard for Praveenbhai to operate within his home state, Gujarat. That is why he travels out more and more."

Yet there are those who believe there are limits to Modi's national appeal. Sociologist Achyut Yagnik says, "The Gujarati middle class has a strong mercantile ethos and worships a man who makes it easy for business to make money. But it is not necessary that the middle class in the rest of India is mercantile in nature. They are often service people or those who practise traditional caste professions; they are still somewhat ambiguous about accepting Modi."

But in an age where there are no real heroes or leaders with a pan-Indian appeal, Modi is able to make his presence felt. He may not have acquired visas or the stamp of respectability from the US or EU, but men who control the big corporations of modern India describe Modi as a "dynamic visionary". Much before he shifted Nano to Gujarat, Ratan Tata declared at a packed function in Ahmedabad in January 2007: "You are a fool if you are not doing business in Gujarat led by Narendra Modi". Clearly, Modi is a phenomenon to be watched.