While watching the “Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery” book release function on a news channel, it occurred to me that I was perhaps one of the few retired senior officers of Indian military who had the opportunity to observe Narendra Modi closely for nearly four years in Gujarat when he was Chief Minister there. It was in 2010. I was sitting through the interview of potential civil servants at the UPSC, when I was head-hunted by a polite senior technocrat to advise the government of Gujarat on an exciting infrastructure project. Having been at sea most of my naval career and having had enough to do with the bureaucracy in Delhi, I politely declined the offer. However, the bureaucrat was persistent and, with a broad smile, asked me to check the details of the project. Mesmerised by the sheer audacity of the thought behind the project, which was to be built across the Gulf of Khambat, I set conditions for my acceptance. The first thing I told him that I would not report to any bureaucrat but the adviser to the Chief Minister. I knew next to nothing about him then.
Within the month I was in. The following four years were perhaps the most rewarding from the point of view of submitting reports based on interactions with the best experts in about 100 different areas who directly contributed to the preparation of a detailed project report. I resigned the week Modi decided to head to Delhi only because the project had completed about 90 percent of the compilation and I knew that without the firm hand of the Chief Minister at the wheel, it was doomed to be consigned to the bins of the bureaucracy. To those who may doubt the intent of my piece, in the preceding 8 years neither have I met Modi nor interacted with him in any which way. So, here is my take on his leadership as seen through a military lens.
While I was determined to make my team work in a timely and disciplined manner, I noticed that the bureaucracy had gotten used to arriving on time and submitting reports as scheduled. The progress of files was monitored through an app at the CM office. In all my decades of dealing with the MOD, I had rarely, if at all, seen disciplined and time-bound progress of files. For a change, decision-making was swift in this case. Most senior civil servants, who were not used to computers, were struggling to make power point presentations to the CM. I needed to submit my work to the technocrat, who was experienced and senior and the decisions of the CM were recorded before I returned to Ahmedabad in 10 days. For the first time in a long career, I did not have to wait outside anyone’s office. Seemingly controversial recommendations against “conventional wisdom” of governance were not questioned except on one occasion in four years.
The CM, while fully au fait with the project, was dealing with multiple issues of governance, including live video conferences with Panchayat-level leadership. The style of leadership is a favourite military theme. Having seen many top leaders of our own military, I was able to observe the leadership traits of the CM Modi from the side-lines without being hagiographic.
Consequently, the question that arose in my mind is how could a person not exposed to formal education and experience with governance be so well versed with data, facts and ask all the right questions on the subject? So I began to compare his style with the best military leaders of my time – about 40 years – and was able to find answers to most questions. Ironically, however, the military officers were all trained and exposed to styles of leadership before they ascended the ladder, step by step. Ergo, what then was this Modi model all about?
It has taken many years of observation after he took over as Prime Minister and despite the fact that I had predicted that Gujarat was not Delhi and that the bucket of crabs in Delhi would soon pull him down, I have had to eat my hat!
The only logical answer to my question is that serving as a pracharak gives one a rare opportunity to watch and study while working with the common man. I looked for documentation on how a pracharak is selected for grooming and traveling overseas. Modi grabbed every opportunity to watch and learn. I am yet to see a document on moulding a pracharak. Service before self, India first, welfare of the citizen (read soldier) are all military values, too. The pracharak learns how to be a professional and disciplined and not to look for gains both material and financial. Dedication to the cause that has served the Indian Military through the decades is a very similar model.
Have you wondered why Modi walks like a soldier and more importantly salutes like one? Is he a complete package with no flaws? Of course not, but neither did I meet one in the military, even as I adored just a few.
(The author is a retired C-in-C, Southern Naval Command.)