But Gujarat’s voters are not about to start getting nostalgic about their secular, tolerant, pre-1990s past and if some of them who voted for Modi the last time now turn on him, it is not because they have suddenly re-discovered any love for their Muslim neighbours. It will be because in his confidence bordering on arrogance, in his pursuit of a testosterone-laden personality cult of the kind never seen in India, not certainly from a regional leader of a national party, he forgot the very essential need to lace tough governance with smart politics. He either forgot he might have to face elections again, or perhaps his judgment got so overwhelmed by his larger-than-life self-image that he didn’t realise there would be another reckoning in ’07. So the truth now is, in spite of his popularity, his many visible successes on governance, he is now struggling. The truth, also, is that he is struggling partly because of his ego and arrogance, and partly for the wrong reasons, like making people pay for the water and power he has brought to their homes and factories.

In the small town of Vallabhipur in Bhavnagar district, where once a traditional diamond-cutting industry thrived and died because of power cuts, you’d have expected only gratitude for Modi for bringing them 24-hour, three-phase power. But crowds we draw on the “high street” are almost evenly divided, or even a little bit weighted against Modi. Why? “Three-phase power is okay,” says one shopkeeper, “but what use is it if he brought you a jail sentence as well?” The reference is to Modi’s brutal assault on power theft. His government filed 2.8 lakh cases for power theft, something he boasts about in his speeches. But do people really appreciate it? In a more perfect world, they might have. But this is the real world, warts and all. The Congress, on the other hand, promises the return of power subsidies, freebies and withdrawal of cases. The local chemist vends to customers from a dark shop. “Don’t you have power,” one of us asks him, presuming we have finally found evidence that Modi’s 24-hour power claim is a mere boast. “Power is there,” says the chemist somewhat disdainfully, and flicks the switch to turn on the tubelight for just a second. But why is he then working in the dark? “Who will pay the bill? You?” he asks. In the old days, he says, power came only for eight hours. But you could steal it, or simply not pay your bills.

... contd.