On a day when Upendra Kushwaha, chief of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party — an NDA member and BJP ally in Bihar — quit the Union council of ministers after terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi an autocrat who had turned the Cabinet system into a “rubber stamp”, BJP president Amit Shah said there was a difference between “firmness and being an autocrat.”
Speaking at a function to launch the book Narendra Modi, the creative disruptor: The Making of a New India by R. Balashankar, former editor of the RSS mouthpiece Organiser , Mr. Shah said Mr. Modi’s greatest quality that perhaps contributed much to his success, was his “ability to meaningfully listen to all, even the smallest karyakarta (party worker).”
Mr Shah, who did not mention Mr. Kushwaha or the resignation of RBI Governor Urjit Patel, said, “There is a feeling that those who have domain knowledge can understand issues and do better. I do not deny it. But I also believe that more than those who have theoretical knowledge, those who are listeners are better at running at the country and Narendra Modiji is someone who listens to all,” he said.
‘Firm and determined’
“For those who term Prime Minister Modi as autocratic, I want to tell them that you do not know the difference between firmness and autocracy. A person who is firm, can take decisions, and works with determination cannot be called autocratic,” Mr Shah said.
“The people have given the right to take decisions to the Prime Minister and not the leaders of opposition parties. The right to take decisions has been given to the Prime Minister by 125 crore Indians and to not take decisions after being chosen by the people is an insult of the mandate given by the people,” the BJP president added.
Mr Shah added that “new governance model based on firmness has been established by Prime Minister Modi without diluting the principles of democracy”. Getting personal, Mr Shah said that he had known Prime Minister for over three decades, and in those years the latter had “meaningfully” heard out even small time karyakartas.
Mr. Balashankar said the book was an attempt to “set the record straight” on the five years. “Prime Minister Modi is a politician who has perhaps faced the most bitter criticism among all politicians in this country,” he said.
Mr, Shah, the chief guest, said the Modi government did not take popular decisions but those that made positive long-term change in the condition of the people.
“Parties get elected in and out of office, but what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has established systems which will remain, and guide the future ,” he said.
