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All day I've been wondering when this or something like this would make it to HN. There's going to be polarization now - left wing or "secular" (believe me that is an overused term here in India) and so called liberals versus an opinionated group of people who believe in the Modi form of government and leadership. Not only is this not a good topic for HN - it is about as bad as saying "Pro big-government Obama wins"…
I will note for the record that I think a democratic election in a LARGE, multilingual country is an interesting process of human society. Participants here who dream of building startup businesses with truly worldwide reach will want to know how economic development is proceeding in the world's second-most-populous country. (Based on likely trends, India will eventually become the world's most populous country in my lifetime.) I think a free press and contested elections give India a lot of advantages over other countries and can serve as an example to China and other large countries still developing to higher living standards.
AFTER EDIT: Now that this is a breaking news story, I'll list a few other English-language reports on the election results here as I gather them from my usual news aggregator.
"Modi Brings India's Opposition Into Power at Last. Now What?" (BloombergBusinessweek)
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-16/modi-brings-...
"Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi claims victory as India's next prime minister" (CNN)
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/16/world/asia/india-election-...
"There are no enemies in democratic politics: Modi" (The Hindu, a newspaper from India)
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/there-are-no-enemies-i...
As before, I am not a voter in India, so I don't have a particular opinion about the voters' choice in the most recent national election in India.
All day I've been wondering when this or something like this would make it to HN. There's going to be polarization now - left wing or "secular" (believe me that is an overused term here in India) and so called liberals versus an opinionated group of people who believe in the Modi form of government and leadership. Not only is this not a good topic for HN - it is about as bad as saying "Pro big-government Obama wins"…
> Please flag this off the front page - there are other more deserving stories. I should learn not to upvote comments before I read them to the end. Oh well... Anyhow, this election result isn't fascinating to me because he is or isn't right-wing/nationalistic/pro-business/whatever, it's interesting because it represents a very strong change of direction in the government. It looks like people were very dissatisfied…
This is a little snarky and off-hand for HN. There are threads seemingly daily to discuss how and why the fraction of the electorate represented by HN commenters is not getting its preferred policy outcomes. There's no need to pull threads on other topics into that morass.
Short background - Has been the Chief Minister (equivalent to Governer) of the Western Indian state of Gujarat for 14 years now.
The Good
---
* Achieved a very high GDP growth rate for Gujarat
* Made Gujarat a preferred destination for big industrialists to set up their factories since he gives land & clearances very readily.
* Developed infrastructure in Gujarat - built roads, highways, flyovers.
* Known to rule with an iron fist - a "my way or the highway" style of politician.
The Bad
---
* Accused of not practising all inclusive development. Critics point to poor performance of metrics such as child mortality rates, education, Human Development Index (HDI) etc.
* Many believe that he did not do enough to stop the Gujarat riots in 2001 where 1000 people were killed. After this incident, the governments of US and UK denied Modi a visa to enter their countries
* Describes himself as a "Hindu nationalist", has a history of making communally charged statements although seems to have cleaned up in recent years focusing on development.
The Ugly
---
* Believes homosexuality is unnatural and is against repealing an 100+ year old law which makes gay sex a criminal offence.
* Formed political alliances with leaders such as Yeddyurappa who has many cases of corruption pending and parties such as Shiv Sena who are notorious for using violence to target ethnic groups.
All day I've been wondering when this or something like this would make it to HN. There's going to be polarization now - left wing or "secular" (believe me that is an overused term here in India) and so called liberals versus an opinionated group of people who believe in the Modi form of government and leadership. Not only is this not a good topic for HN - it is about as bad as saying "Pro big-government Obama wins"…
Our of curiosity, what do you think about the events in Gujarat in 2002?
Submitted in part because a Hacker News participant recently berated Americans on Hacker News for not being more aware of the election in India. (The person who wrote that comment is an American of Indian heritage, I'm pretty sure.) I was drawn to this article from the Google News news aggregator because it was listed as one of the "in-depth" articles. I was also startled by the title because until now I haven't hear…
Here's a short summary to help others who haven't heard much about him. Short background - Has been the Chief Minister (equivalent to Governer) of the Western Indian state of Gujarat for 14 years now. The Good --- * Achieved a very high GDP growth rate for Gujarat * Made Gujarat a preferred destination for big industrialists to set up their factories since he gives land & clearances very readily. * Developed infrastr…
- He equates the plight of muslims murdered in 2002 to a puppy run over by a car [1].
- He has been a life long member of party's most militant wing [2].
- He's not shy about delivering flagrant speeches.
Seems to be a very divisive figure. If I were one of the minorities in India, this would be a very disappointing day.
[1] http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/07/12/narendra-modi-puppy...
[2] http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/05/14/why_ind...
Here's a short summary to help others who haven't heard much about him. Short background - Has been the Chief Minister (equivalent to Governer) of the Western Indian state of Gujarat for 14 years now. The Good --- * Achieved a very high GDP growth rate for Gujarat * Made Gujarat a preferred destination for big industrialists to set up their factories since he gives land & clearances very readily. * Developed infrastr…
> Known to rule with an iron fist - a "my way or the highway" style of politician.
Under "The Good". I certainly wouldn't classify that as a good characteristic in a leader. You want someone who will get things done, yes, but someone who will ignore and bully minority opinions is not a good leader.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Please flag this off the front page - there are other more deserving stories. I should learn not to upvote comments before I read them to the end. Oh well... Anyhow, this election result isn't fascinating to me because he is or isn't right-wing/nationalistic/pro-business/whatever, it's interesting because it represents a very strong change of direction in the government. It looks like people were very dissatisfied…
An analysis of news reports suggests that you're mostly right, but there is a huge factor of the personal charisma of this man. Like Obama, he has played on the "hope & change" motto. Can he deliver, we will have to see. You may downvote if you like, but I still do not see why this should be on the front page of HN!