US Congress report praises Modi, Nitish Kumar for fostering growth
14 Sep 2011
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, going all-out to burnish his 'secular' and progressive image in the wake of a relatively favourable Supreme Court verdict, has got an unexpected shot in the arm from a US Congressional panel report, which says that under his stewardship, Gujarat has become a key driver of national economic growth.
"Perhaps India's best example of effective governance and impressive development is found in Gujarat, where controversial Chief Minister Narendra Modi has streamlined economic processes, removing red tape and curtailing corruption in ways that have made the state a key driver of national economic growth," said a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.
The CRS report is the more surprising because Modi had been declared a 'persona non grata' by the US authorities, which means he can never get a visa to travel to that country.
The report by the CRS, an independent bipartisan committee of the Congress, further said, "Seeking to overcome the taint of his alleged complicity in 2002 riots, Modi has overseen heavy investment in modern roads and power infrastructure, and annual growth of more than 11 per cent in recent years."
The Supreme Court has not exactly exonerated Modi of complicity in the Gulberg Society massacre during the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat, but has referred the case back to the trial court, which is being read as a victory by the BJP's Modi and his supporters.
Gujarat and Modi are followed in the CRS report by Bihar and its chief minister Nitish Kumar, who too has been praised for displaying unusual governance and administrative skills.
Kumar of course has been widely praised in the Indian media for transforming Bihar, earlier one of India's worst-performing states on both economic and social parameters, into an example of what clean and efficient governance can do.
The two chief ministers are not exactly friends – Kumar, with impeccable secular credentials, refused to let Modi campaign in Bihar during the November 2010 assembly elections, although his Janata Party (United) is ruling the state in coalition with the BJP.
