Asserting that even detractors of Prime Minister Narendra Modi agree that he is a “phenomenon”, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said that while Mahatma Gandhi took the freedom struggle out of the hands of the elite to turn it into a mass movement, Modi had converted developmental initiatives into mass movements.

Naidu also said that Modi put to effective use his valuable learnings to write a development script for his state of Gujarat as its chief minister and scaled up the same at national level as prime minister. , Addressing the gathering after releasing the book “Modi@20 Dreams Meet Delivery”, Naidu said Modi’s vision, his dreams and Mission India have been shaped by his extensive travels and insightful, experiential journey.

“This is the fundamental differentiator that makes Modi unique in several ways. There is probably no other public figure in contemporary times who has had a comparable experiential journey as Modi,” he said.

‘Modi@20: Dreams Meeting Delivery’ 

Two decades ago, in 2001, a moment came in the national life of India that would fundamentally transform the country, Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Since then, he has been undefeated in every election and has actually gone on to become the Prime Minister of India, winning a second term even there. In 2021, Narendra Modi completed uninterrupted 20 years as head of a democratically elected government–a massive achievement for a political leader. But filling those twenty years with focussed action that leaves a lasting positive impact on many domains is even more special. Modi@20: Dream Meet Delivery is a scholarly effort by eminent intellectuals and domain experts to explore various aspects of the 20 years of Modi as the head of the government.

Advertisement

 

The book reveals the journey of a transformational leader over 20 years, through the words of distinguished intellectuals and domain experts. Modi completed uninterrupted  20 years as head of a democratically elected government– Twelve and half years as CM, and over seven and half years running as PM of India. This is a unique phenomenon with few parallels—not justi in India, but in any democratic polity across the world. To understand this journey a group of eminent people who were experts in their respective domain have written on the subject matter. Modi@20 book therefore, is the only work of its kind to understand why Modi works. 

Vice-President further said, the first prime minister born after independence, Modi, has, over the last 20 years, carved out a unique place in the history of post-independent India, Naidu said.

“Even his detractors, opponents agree that Modi is a phenomenon. He is a phenomenon, whether you like it or not, at the national level and even at the international level also. We are all seing the reports of a person who previously had no administrative experience, becoming a chief minister doing wonderful work, and then becoming a prime minister. In the international arena also, he is recognised and respected, India also is respected and recognised,” Naidu said.

“The book presents different facets of the distinct thought process, the pioneering, proactive approach and the quintessential, transformational leadership style that Narendrabhai Modi has come to be so closely identified with,” he said.

Naidu said the book encompasses the experiential journey of Modi since he left his house at the tender age of 17 and set out on a mission of knowing himself, his country and finally defining the mission of transforming India.

Naidu said Modi is impatient to slow progress and wants everything to be accelerated “because after 70 years of independence, still there are problems for the country”.

“Modi ji’s vision, his dreams and mission India have been shaped by his extensive travels and insightful, experiential journey. This is the fundamental differentiator that makes Modi unique in several ways,” Naidu said.

“Modi’s comprehensive vision is shaped by his deep understanding of the life, works and philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar ji, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji and other leading lights. While the Mahatma took the freedom struggle from out of the hands of the elite to turn it into a mass movement, Narendrabhai Modi, both as the chief minister and prime minister converted developmental initiatives into such mass movements,” Naidu said.

The vice president said that guiding the destiny of the nation as prime minister since 2014 is only an extension of Modi’s tenure as the Gujarat chief minister.

“I have no hesitation in describing Narendra Modi as a scientist who first experiments and then scales up based on results. Modi does yeomen service to the nation by adopting evidence-based initiatives and actions, and reducing the chances of failure,” he said.

At the event, Union Home Minister Amit Shah called the PM an efficient leader. He said, ” Despite Modi’s lack of experience, the latter was made the CM of an earthquake-prone state which he ran efficiently and won several reelections. PM Modi didn’t even have experience in running panchayats when he was made a CM to run an earthquake-marred state. Despite that, he won continuously and ran the state quite efficiently,”

BlueKraft digital Foundation has edited and compiled this momentous initiative. The prominent authors are: Dr Ajay Mathur, Ajit Doval, Amish Tripathi, Amit Shah, Anupam Kher, Arvind Panagariya, Ashok Gulati, Dr Bharat H Barai, Dr Devi Shetty, Manoj Ladwa, Nandan Nilekani, Nripendra Misra, Pradeep Gupta, P V Sindhu, Sadhguru, Dr Shamika Ravi, Shobana Kamineni, Sudha Murty, Surjit Bhalla, Dr S Jaishankar, Uday Kotak, and Dr V Anantha Nageshwaran.