On Wed, 2008-01-23 at 10:33 +0530, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: > Lets put it this way. The average fat, overfed gujju sheth (and the average > deep south redneck with a rusting chevy in his backyard + a shotgun rack > made of deer horns) is deeply racist. And hopelessly inadequate at a > variety of things. [...] > Both those groups deserve exactly the kind of leader that they got now.
unfortunately, when they are a majority, the rest of the population gets to share that leader. however, one difference between george bush and narendra modi, noted by the economist [1], is that the latter was a much more competent administrator. it may not be unreasonable to conclude, as does the economist (like lots of other international media; i am puzzled by the article's claim that there was no coverage of the Modi election victory) that many people may have voted for him simply because of the improvement in gujarat's economy and administration. for many, his rabid sectarianism could be somewhat irrelevant, a bonus, or a risk worth taking. -rishab 1. http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10443177
