Naidu Showers Praises on PM, ‘Decodes’ ‘The Modi Phenomenon’
At a gala event at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu showered praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing him as “one of the most popular and iconic leaders of modern India.” Naidu called it ‘the Modi phenomenon’ with an elaborate exposition of his attributes and other factors that contributed to it. Naidu, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, said this while releasing a book ‘Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery’, a compilation of 21 articles by 22 experts bringing out various aspects of Modi’s thinking and performance in various domains as Gujarat Chief Minister and PM for 20 years. Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Amit Shah, Minister of External Affairs, Dr S. Jaishankar, other senior ministers, Members of Parliament, senior Government officials and dignitaries from various fields were present.
Naidu Chief Aspirant for President’s Post
In few months, the nation will witness the President’s election. Naidu is one of the main aspirants to become the next President of India. Being the Vice President, sources close to him says that Naidu “deserves elevation as the President” and that he is “the most natural choice.”
Naidu’s close circle believe that the ruling NDA this time would like to have the President from the south as the current President Ram Nath Kovind is from the north (Uttar Pradesh). Naidu has earlier served as the BJP’s national president. In past five years, Naidu, as VP, has been touring, whenever the Parliament was not in session, virtually every week or fortnight, mainly the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Sources says that this is Naidu’s style to create “personal bonding’ with all the political parties. But many in the opposition ruled southern states complain that Naidu’s frequent visits have stressed the state governments as the CMs and Governors, as per protocol, have to receive and bid farewell to the visiting VP. The problem is that no one except for the PM, and maybe Amit Shah, knows whom Modi-led NDA would choose its candidate for Presidential election.
NaMo’s top 15 Attributes
In his 35 minute exploration of the PM’s mind, methods and vision, Naidu listed various attributes that made Modi “a unique leader and performer furthering the interest of Gujarat earlier and of India now as PM”. Fifteen attributes that underlined Modi’s success, according to Naidu, are: Early experiential journey after leaving home at a tender age of 17 years in search of self, the people and the country through extensive travels and socio-cultural work; Deep understanding of the struggles of Indians and India and their potential; Abiding faith in the potential of individuals and India; courage to dream big and the resoluteness to convert Sankalp into Siddhi; thinking big and acting in scale; Ability to take bold decisions; Being undeterred by temporary failures and episodic surprises; Passion, energy and hard work; Thinking and acting differently; Converting crisis into opportunity; Adopting a ‘bottom up’ approach for policy making and execution ensuring people’s participation;Quest for details and comprehensive assessment of issues and consequences; Deploying the experiences and results of Gujarat experiments for evidence based formulation of policies and programmes at national level; Extensive adoption of technology for effective governance; and Passionate promotion of the mantra of ‘Perform, Reform and Transform’.
How Modi’s Vision Was Shaped
Referring to the quintessential and transformational leadership of the PM, Naidu said, “Even his detractors agree that Modi is now a phenomenon at the national and international level due to which India is being respected.”
Stating that Modi’s vision has been shaped by his long years of experiential journey before becoming Gujarat CM, Naidu stressed that “This is the fundamental differentiator that makes Modi unique in several ways.” In his opinion, “There is probably no other public figure in contemporary times who had such an experiential journey”. Naidu said that the PM’s vision for the country is an expression and manifestation of numerous felt experiences accumulated during his stints as a social activist to start with and later as a political activist.
PM is A ‘Scientist’ & ‘Election Machine’
Naidu described Modi as a “scientist” for extending various schemes successfully implemented earlier when he was Gujarat CM. Referring to Modi being called an “election machine”, Naidu noted that “for Modi, elections are not an outcome of politics but constitute social science with deep understanding of the life contexts of common people and deep insight into their aspirations that make him a successful campaigner”.
Modi Is Impatient With Tardy Implementation
The VP noted that “the ability, mobility and stability (with required majority in the LS) of PM Modi is leading India to prosperity”. Naidu asserted that “Modi is impatient only with tardy implementation of policies and schemes” as India is still facing developmental gaps in 75th year of Independence. Known for one-line comments, the VP concluded by saying Modi is all about Mission of Making of Developed India and one must ensure peaceful environment by ridding India of all tensions to realize this mission.