A Durga Pooja gift from the East to the West

Ashok Desai in The Telegraph, Calcutta:

“The relocation of the Nano plant to Gujarat was not the doing of Gujaratis; it was the government of Narendra Modi that was responsible. And whatever its politics, it is a government that works with dispatch and without hitches.

“Modi is careful about the use of his time. The hangers-on that are characteristic of chief ministers are entirely absent in his case. He spends far more time than they on administration, and much of it on making decisions and pushing people to act.

“A chief minister who rewards action creates administrators around him who act quickly; and Modi’s habit of ringing up people responsible without bothering about chains of command and seniority wakes up civil servants all the way down.

“This style is Modi’s own, and may not survive his passing. And even he has been so effective because he has tamed his party and vanquished his competitors; this is not the natural state of a party in India. Nor should the context be forgotten: he rules over a people who stick to their own practical affairs and shun public demonstration.

“He is a ruthless man, and his prejudices are certainly not such as would serve the country well. But he has shown what even a politician can achieve in this country; as he said, taking Nano to Gujarat is only a small part of it.”

Read the full article: What Modi has shown