While much of corporate India, fearful of losing investments, stood silently by Modi even during the darkest days of the riots, public statements of support for the chief minister’s governance were hard to come by. Now though, as the memory of 2002 recedes into the background and Modi tom-toms his development record, more and more public figures are finding it acceptable to align themselves alongside him. A combination of smart image-management and a hardheaded focus on economic development have brought Modi to a point where he now stands poised for a foray outside his pocket borough of Gujarat. It is telling that ever since the 2002 victory, Modi has always chosen to ignore questions about the riots — remember the walkout from Karan Thapar’s interview — focusing instead on the other aspects of Moditva: a heavy bent on development, a tough line on terror (read Muslims) and a unique blend of combative personality politics.

Super-conscious about his legacy, Modi spent his first five years in power keeping aloof from the national media and its obvious questions. The only exception was the HT Media summit and the last phase of the 2007 election, with his references to Sohrabuddin after Sonia Gandhi once again raised the spectre of 2002. In that instance, it ended up playing to his political advantage. After his second triumph, however, the Gujarat chief minister has once again begun to court the national press in a big way, focusing almost exclusively on his governance record. The chief minister’s official website tellingly promotes him as “a manager with a vision” and projects the international awards his government has won, including those from the World Bank, UNESCO and the UN Sasakawa Award for environmentalism. Modi has successfully marketed himself as a man the world can do business with, the US visa refusal notwithstanding. As the rest of India looks enviously at Gujarat’s spanking new roads and power sector reforms, it is easy to forget the larger model of authoritarian development it offers. What also works for Modi is the current climate of distrust and the renewed focus on what is being called the “Muslim question”.

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