Silence the Critics / Disarm Them !

Why does any mention of Gujarat Model of development , immediately invites a lot of critics ?

Why does it create an allergic reaction , even amongst other BJP-ruled states ? And certainly amongst BJP leaders from other states ?

Such allergy and criticism from Congress and its allies is quite understandable , but nothing to worry about

What Narendra Modi – and his staunch supporters , must ask themselves is :

“ By making too much noise about Gujarat Model , are we rubbing it in too hard ?

Are we projecting ourselves as “ holier – than – thou “ ?

By endless repetition of Gujarat story are we alienating , even our ardent admirers ? “

An emphatic answer is , “ YES “ !

And this attitude spells bad – very bad – omen for NaMo and his campaign , over the weeks and months to come

It is high time NaMo and his team start declaring publicly :

“  Gujarat Model is NOT perfect 

Like any other state , we , in Gujarat too, have corruption / scams / murders / dowry-deaths / suicides of farmers and the jobless / land mafias / illegal mining / malnourished children / school drop-outs / communal tensions , etc

All that we are saying is that , we have less of these now than what we had 10 years ago – and , in many cases , less than in other states

We even know that we may never succeed in eliminating these problems completely

All that we are saying is that , we are acutely conscious of our limitations / shortcomings .

We are ashamed of what we do have , and are working very hard to reduce these problems still further

We are open to any constructive criticism , while admitting that we are bound to have slipped-up , here and there

We welcome – from friends and foes – sharply-worded specific suggestions as to what we need to do going forward

We are eager to learn from experiences of other states in tackling the problems of governance – even from currently UPA-ruled states !      “

I believe , only such candidness on part of NaMo team can win friends and silence the critics

You need to win over millions of fence-sitters who are suspicious of your tall claims – even fed up of your trumpeting it endlessly !

Only way you can do so is by giving up your “ High Moral Ground “ ! 

By placing NaMo on a very tall pedestal , you will make it almost impossible for him to live up to the expectations that you are raising !

What is so terrible to admit that even Gods have feet of clay ?

A generous dash of humility will earn you , people’s respect – and their votes

·      *    hemen  parekh  ( 22 Sept. 2013 )