India needs a champion of the little guy, not another big man of politics
Kevin Rafferty questions whether Modi is the right person to lead the complex and diverse nation
There is a growing feeling in India that although there are 10 days to go before voting ends, it is all over bar the counting and the celebratory announcement: Narendra Modi, the controversial leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and chief minister of Gujarat, is set to become the next prime minister.
Big business is for him, with all the money that comes with it. Foreign institutional investors have poured more than US$10 billion into India this year on the expectation of a stable, pro-business government with Modi in charge. "He can get things done," one expatriate Indian businessman said, singing from a common hymn sheet of support.
The biggest problem in the rise of superhero Modi as the potential saviour of India is that it follows the "Big Man" model, which is flawed many times over in the case of such a diverse and complex nation
Modi has picked up respectable intellectual support. Professor Jagdish Bhagwati, described as the most famous living economist not to have been awarded a Nobel Prize, told Reuters he saw himself as serving on an advisory council if Modi becomes prime minister.
Far be it from me to dampen Modi's celebration before it even gets going, but some important issues have been glossed over in these hopes that he may be India's saving genius.
Questions persist about whether Modi was involved in the 2002 Godhra riots and mass killings. Some Indians still believe that doubts over his role in that violence disqualify him from the highest office. The United States has refused to grant him a visa because of lingering questions concerning his responsibility, but Washington would not want to continue to deny a visa to someone voted into power by the people of India.
Sensing that power is within his grasp, Modi has presented himself as a potential ruler for all - one who would concentrate on good governance, greater growth and employment.
But his slowness to condemn some incendiary speeches from his party members is a stain on his record. One such member claimed all Modi dissenters would be "packed off to Pakistan". Modi eventually intervened with a tweet that said he disapproved of such statements.
