Monday, June 23, 2014

Interesting political brands of India

Charismatic leadership has been absent for a longtime in the Indian political arena. The Indian citizens were bored of the artificial banter of its political class which left them yawning, cribbing and sympathizing with their own plight. 
Former Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh's decade long mute leadership left the capital a dry and boring place till Narendra Modi arrived. A leader who was not scared of making promises, who had a Gujarat model to present to the nation and who wore his heart on his sleeves. I saw the serial watching house wives getting glued to television whenever he was delivering a speech. They found politics interesting, decided to visit Varanasi and enquired where does he purchase his Kurtha from? 

He is media savvy, takes critics by the horns, emotional when necessary and exhibits the marketing skills of an American President. What makes the Modi brand click a note with the citizens? His success story of the governance of Gujarat, his focus on development, his ability to dream, the image of Modi managed through media, his tweets, his youtube videos, his appearance, his energy, leaked stories of his private life and above all his great communication skills. He has been able to clear himself from the post Godhra carnage of Gujarat to a great extent. 

Indian political scene also saw an Arvind Kejriwal, an ex Civil Service officer making huge waves. He was successful in making anti-corruption movement a main stream discussion point in the last Loksabha election. Was elected the Chief Minister of Delhi but resigned as his government did not have enough freedom to operate with the crippled support from Congress. He may have goofed up a tad too much after the resignation of his government, but will always remain as a man who brought the common man's woes to the main stream political agenda. He has all that the Indian middle class value. He went to an IIT, cleared the Civil Services Exam, lives in a joint family with his parents and to top it all his daughter got a whopping 96% in the Class 12 Exam. Somewhat like an American dream again.

Indian politics is witnessing action once again. We have interesting personal brands to look at, evaluate and pin our hopes on. I wish more and more dynamic, deserving people enter the political scene in India. Indian states have also seen some interesting leadership, like CM of Odisa, Mr. Patnaik and CM of Goa, Mr. Parikar who has also showcased development as their main agenda.


Interesting days are back here again for the politically savvy...