Cromwellian Purity of
Purpose: From Jassuben’s Pizza to Induben Khakrawala
At Mr. Narendra
Modi’s address under the auspices of FICCI Women’s FLO organisation, in New
Delhi’s capacious Le Meridien Hotel, the excitement was palpable.
Modi once again demonstrated his Cromwellian passion to
improve the fortunes of “Bharat Mata” and equivalent purity of purpose. Oliver
Cromwell, of course, was the earnest politician that substantially ended the
era of absolute monarchy in Britain.
In the process, Mr. Modi was mellow and relaxed in his
delivery today to a hall full of mostly women from the elite classes. But,
quietly though it begins, Narendra Modi may be well on his way to striking a
telling blow against the politics of dynasty and unquestionable entitlement.
Modi’s politics of
development and concrete achievements naturally outclasses the politics of
unaccountability, privilege an d vague intention, bolstered at all times with
cringe-worthy sycophancy. Even the desperate scare-mongering is wearing thin.
The increasing number of Modi’s votaries packing the hall, in the studios, and
in the interactive social media, have clearly moved on.
With his flair for extending the Gujarat analogy in all
seasons, Mr. Modi did not disappoint in the context of women’s empowerment . He pointedly avoided the laudatory
achievements of big business in Gujarat on this occasion. Instead, he
concentrated on example after example of successful grass- roots
entrepreneurship by women, with the state playing facilitator in some instances.
Modi spoke entertainingly of the entrepreneurship of
Jassuben’s Pizza and Induben’s Khakra in a modified version of Rahul Gandhi’s
folksy approach. But there was more than sentimentality to drive home his
points. He spoke of tribal women growing flowers marketed in Mumbai, and those
who did likewise with cashews and almonds.
Mr. Modi cited many
instances of female empowerment assisted by his Government in Gujarat,
including the waiver of stamp duty for property registered in the name of women.
He asserted a staunch commitment to gender equality and
decried the incidence of female foeticide all over the country that is creating
a demographic imbalance. Mr.Modi has, and wants to constantly keep promoting,
women’s participation in decision making.
Modi asserted that 50% or thereabouts of the population
consisting of women needs to be brought into the political and economic
discourse on an equal footing with men. And that given a chance, women often
out- performed men in every field, some of them quite unusual in nature. He
mentioned female tour guides in the Gir Forest admiringly.
Mr. Modi felt, in answer to a question, that it was
important to promote tourism to help the demand for handicrafts which are
commonly manufactured by women.
In his speech, he spoke of how the child widow Ganga Ma
introduced the Charkha to the Mahatma which went on to be such a potent symbol
of the freedom movement.
Most News Channels gave the address a build-up of talking
head discussions for over an hour from 10.a.m. today, before the event was
covered live, beginning shortly after 11.30 a.m.
At 1.15 pm, when Mr. Modi finished answering the last
question at the function, the talking heads got to work again, analysing his
pronouncements in acute detail.
“ The Modi Show”, as one channel called it, is clearly on
the road. Next stop, a Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata tomorrow. And then back
to core constituency Gujarat to celebrate Navratra.
(547 words)
8th April
2013
Gautam Mukherjee
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