One of the most prolific political scientists and writers on Indian politics, Prof. Christophe Jaffrelot, has contributed much to this understanding through his years of research and writings. Arguably the most well-known of his works is “Gujarat Under Modi: The Blueprint for Today’s India,” which contests the issue of how Narendra Modi scaled up at the national level the politics and policies tested in Gujarat, where he is now Prime Minister of India.
For Jaffrelot, Gujarat was a microcosm for the larger socio-political changes that Narendra Modi had envisaged for India. After his appointment as Chief Minister in 2001, Modi inherited a fiscally sound but socially very challenged state in Gujarat. Under Modi’s governance, the rapid industrialization and economic growth of Gujarat became a hallmark of its leadership, firmly establishing him as a pro-business leader. However, Jaffrelot points out that this economic success was linked to a brand of politics that combined Hindu nationalism with neoliberal economic policy.
The politics of polarization is one of the essential dimensions of Modi’s term in Gujarat, as pointed out by Jaffrelot. The 2002 riots in Gujarat, shortly after Modi came to power, were sort of a defining moment in the politics of the state. The violence, which killed more than one thousand people, most of whom were Muslims, drew national and international condemnation. Opponents charged that Modi’s government did little to restrain the violence and even connived at it. The riots and their aftermath helped firmly establish Modi as a strong, decisive leader who decisively fights for Hinduism, notes Jaffrelot.
For Jaffrelot, this politics of polarization was not incidental but strategic in the way it helped consolidate the Hindu vote base and stigmatize the Muslim community to create a more homogeneous political landscape. This model of majoritarian politics was carried over into the prime ministerial campaigns of Modi at the national level by fusing Hindu nationalist themes in a call to a broad Hindu electorate.
Jaffrelot analyzes not only the politics of identity but also Modi’s economic politics in Gujarat. Modi espoused the development model he showcased in Gujarat. Modi underlined infrastructure development, foreign investment, and a business-friendly environment. The Gujarat model was one of rapid economic growth, good infrastructure, and an overall good business-friendly climate. Jaffrelot remarks that amidst impressive growth in most economic indicators of Gujarat, the benefits of growth were very unequally distributed, often concentrated on large corporations and towns and cities at the expense of the countryside and the marginalized.
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The Modi-led economic agenda in Gujarat also formed the bedrock for national economic policies. After taking over as Prime Minister in 2014, Modi launched a series of initiatives, “Make in India,” “Digital India,” and “Startup India,” which were designed to mimic the Gujarat model on a larger canvas. Through this, the government was attempting to promote manufacturing, enhance the digital infrastructure, and encourage entrepreneurship—hallmarks of neoliberal economic policies that defined Modi’s term in Gujarat.
Jaffrelot also refers to the way Modi has administered and initiated bureaucratic reforms within the apparatus of the Gujarat government. Modi had taken a host of steps to make the government lean, trim red tape, and enhance efficiency. He laid emphasis on how technology could be harnessed in governance by promoting e-governance initiatives that would make the government accessible and transparent. In fact, this stress on efficient governance and bureaucratic reforms is being continued at the Center as well, with the Modi administration continuing to push for digitization and administrative efficiency.
The analysis by Jaffrelot goes beyond economics and governance to social and cultural policies undertaken by Modi in Gujarat. On the rise was cultural nationalism under Modi: greater space for Hindu cultural symbols, narratives, and educational curricula revised toward a more Hindutva-based content; huge state support for cultural events and festivals. This was part of a broader cultural agenda aimed at reinforcing Hindu identity and values, which Jaffrelot believes Modi amplified nationally as prime minister.
“Gujarat Under Modi: The Blueprint for Today’s India” by Prof. Christophe Jaffrelot is an elaborate study of how the governance in Gujarat under Narendra Modi was a forerunner to his national policies and politics. We learn from Jaffrelot that Gujarat was indeed a laboratory where Modi did test and refine the blend of economic neoliberalism with Hindu nationalism that went on to define his approach as PM. Politics of polarization, economic reforms, governance efficiency, cultural nationalism—the strategies executed in Gujarat were all to turn out to be blueprints for Modi’s vision of a new India. As Jaffrelot underlines, understanding the Modi regime in Gujarat is a condition for understanding the broader transformations of contemporary India.
