Corporate India bats for Modi as PM

From being tagged as the most hated politician in the country post-Godhra carnage to being seen as the future Prime Minister, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi has come a long way.

As the curtains of the fourth Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit drew to an end on Tuesday in Ahmedabad, major corporate big-wigs hailed the BJP leader and his leadership skills, and went to the extent of calling him 'PM material'.

R-ADAG (Reliance - Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group) chairman Anil Ambani said :

"Narendrabhai has done good for Gujarat and what will happen if he leads the nation. Gujarat has seen progress in all the fields under his leadership. Now, imagine what will happen to the country if he gets the opportunity to lead it. Person like him should be the next leader of the
country."

Recalling his father, the late Dhirubhai Ambani's assessment of the Gujarat CM, Anil Ambani also said :

"Modi lambi race ka ghoda hai."

Bharti (Airtel) Group CMD Sunil Bharti Mittal said :

"Chief minister Modi is known as a CEO, but he is actually not a CEO, because he is not running a company or a sector. He is running a state and can also run the nation."

Tata Group boss Ratan Tata was also impressed by Modi and his 'style' of work. He said on the inaugural day of VGGIS :

"I have to say that today there is no state like Gujarat. Under Mr Modi’s leadership, Gujarat is head and shoulders above any state."

He added :

"A state would normally take 90 to 180 days to clear a new plant but in the Nano case, we had our land and approval in just two days."

If you think that the Modi-mania has spread just in India, let me tell you that its not just the 'desi' corporates who were falling over each other in lavishing praise on the Gujarat chief minister, Mr Modi got the thumbs-up from the international community too.

Sri Lankan Tourism Minister M Moragoda said his country had also signed an MoU with the state government for development of mutual tourism. He went to the extent of saying that he highly appreciated Mr Modi’s 'vision and foresight.'

The 'West', which had till now been circumspect about the Gujarat chief minister, too appeared to be shedding its reservations. British MP Barry Gardiner, going a step ahead of Mr Tata, said :

"Gujarat can lead the world."

Well.... why not? In fact, what Gujarat is today is all because of Narendra Modi. After the earthquake, the Godhra carnage and its aftermath, no other state could have bounced back so fast. Even Gujarat could never achieve this sans Modi.

Lets hope that India gets this dynamic leader as a PM soon.....