Why Modi Will Never Become India's PM?

Bangalore: Despite the much-talked about Sadbhavana mission and endless praises from within an outside the country for his inclusive governance, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s chances of climbing the most powerful post of the country still remains grim. Latest in the series of setbacks, the Gujarat High Court has handed the Ishrat Jahan encounter case to the CBI last week, causing a major embarrassment to the Modi government. The decision came just a few days after the Special Investigative Team concluded that the encounter that killed Ishrat Jahan and three others was a fake one orchestrated by the top cops.

The three day 'Sadbhavana Upavaas’ was a desperate gesture of goodwill from Modi who tried to bring some Muslim faces on stage along with leaders of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. However, his choice to reject a skull cap offered by a Muslim cleric at the event was celebrated in the Indian media which said his new-found love for Muslims is just a sham. While his detractors used it as just another chance to prove his anti-Muslim character, Modi really had to pay for that public gesture which took him back to square one in the political sense. While Modi’s argument of “Why can't I refuse a skull cap and still be secular?” sounds logical in all rational argumentations, it’s no surprise in a society that always moved on symbolism rather than logic where gestures mattered more than any healthy political debates.