Dileep Padgaonkar On The Arrogance of Narendra Modi - Distinguish between wheat and chaff

The tenor and tone of Manmohan Singh's address were in keeping with the office he holds. Those of Modi were akin to the rants of Hyde Park cranks or, better still, to the often obscene fulminations of Bal Thackeray at Mumbai's Shivaji Park or those of Akbaruddin Owasi in Hyderabad. Indeed, there are times when you detect disturbing similarities between the oratorical style of Modi and, Heaven forbid, of Hafiz Saeed: the same venom, the same conceit of a Saviour-in-waiting, the same promise of redemption from enemies. The result is that even when Modi makes sense - which he does once in a while - he goofs. The reason is that he is attempting to pit Gujarat against the rest of India and to pit himself, as Gujarat's benefactor, against everyone else. It is as if he has convinced himself that he is Destiny's chosen leader to deliver India from its corrupt, incompetent and unaccountable rulers.

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