PEOPLE, PEOPLE

NARENDRA MODI:  The Chai-wala from Mehsana, Gujrat had reached the  PM’s ‘gaddhi’ and what an accomplishment it is! Can we term the BJP getting majority to itself to rule the country, as an end to coalition politics (at least for some time)? The Indian industry is pumped up to see him in action. He could achieve what many stalwarts of BJP (who are supposed to be much higher in social order than him) could not. Surely there could be heartburns when he decides to invite his party men to join him in the Cabinet. Let us wait and see.  One suspicion on him is how he is going to appease and take the trust of Indian minority communities. They could be worried about uniform civil code, Ram temple and repealing article 370 on Kashmir etc. Knowing him, based on his performance of the past in Gujrat, one thing is certain; Narendra Modi wouldn’t be found wanting on decision making.

RAHUL GANDHI: What a whimper he turned out to be!  An abstract personality who used a queer strategy to show his connect and empathy with the poor countrymen, could not sustain the campaign which he led for the Congress Party.  With his only fame to glory being a Gandhi progeny, the man never understood the country, its people and the politics. The electorate had seen him thru finally, it seems. What a show he made, smiling to glory, addressing the Press, happily owning up the responsibility of the election debacle! Will he ever learn?  Will the country ever be saddled to bear him as its PM in future?

SONIA GANDHI: The back seat driving is over. She could relax now and look after her health. Whatever be, one should admire that the lady is sheer steel. It really takes so much of guts to be the uncrowned queen of a country where once she came in as a bride of a native. She had undergone the transformation very well. Anyone in her place could have crumbled or ran away! Not her, of course. And, surely, there is plenty to look after and the unlimited assets, movable and immovable, created by her ‘family’ preserved here and there…

PRIYANKA GANDHI: Still a stunner, she continues to be the aspiration of millions of Indians. More articulate than her brother and more connected to the masses of India, everyone felt and wanted her to be in public life, leading the fortunes of the Congress Party. It never happened that way. The country’s loss had been the gain of Vadra, someone who came out of nowhere and took her hand (and surely benefitted a lot by it). Who knows, for the Congress Party, maybe she is still the ‘reserve’. Certainly we would hear about her a lot, in time to come….

NITHISH KUMAR : As one of the Socialist thinker and follower of Jayaprakash Narain, his early political life was that of a vagabond dreamer leader. He led an uneventful life until he met his mentor Mr George Fernandez under whose tutelage he sprung up to become a visionary Railway minister of the country and with that reputation, as the progressive Chief Minister of Bihar, one the most backward of Indian States. There too he did wonders to take the state out of the clutches of Lalu Yadav’s corrupt legacy. Ambition took the better of him (he nursed strong hopes being the leader of the nation one day) and that led to his ‘fights’ with Narendra Modi and finally that led to his nemesis. Will we hear about him again? Being from a state called Bihar, it is unlikely……

RUSSI MODY: He was a colossus once, on whose shoulders rested the largest company of the largest business group of the nation. Until Ratan Tata took charge of the Tata Empire, he was the heavy weight of the group and mainly within the company and the group, his writ ran. When Ratan Tata came to the helm, his fall started. Someone who had ingrained with the Tata’s name so much, it must have taken huge efforts by him to erase the distress of rejection in the last phase of his life. After living up to a full life of 96 years, he bid farewell, before seeing his namesake take charge of the nation. Salutes to the Corporate doyen!

CAPTAIN KRISHNAN NAIR: A late bloomer in business, he had created some of the finest edifices of Indian hospitality, before he took his journey to the heavenly abode at the ripe age of 92. In that sphere in India, his name compares only with the Oberoi.  A person with childlike enthusiasm and full of vigor, he was positivity personified. While most of his enterprises are located outside the state of his birth (and wisely so), his love and concern for Kerala was always high.  Though seemingly he had achieved everything in his life, including rare recognition such as Padma Bhushan, one is not able to fathom as to what were the thoughts in his mind when his group has a debt of about INR 5000 Crores at the time of his death! We read that only Socrates the Greek thinker cleared all his debts before his death.