Narendra Modi addresses supporters at the domestic airport in Mumbai on September 30, 2013. (AFP/Getty Images)
It looks increasingly like Narendra Modi’s bid to become next prime minister of India will falter only if voters decide that his role in the 2002 Gujarat anti-Muslim riots is disqualifying. After all, the economic record in his Gujarat state speaks for itself, and Modi’s charisma on the stump leaves all rivals in the dust. So that he was endorsed on Thursday by Kiran Bedi (who has since walked her words back a bit), a prominent social activist who was the first woman officer in the Indian Police Service, could end up being a turning point in the campaign. Recent weeks have been seen local media scrutinizing Modi for his role (or lack thereof) in the decade-old attacks, but a ringing endorsement from a woman seen as both progressive and an expert on public safety helps stanch the bleeding and even change the narrative.
Indeed, Bedi specifically cited “stability” as a motivating factor in the decision, which surprised many political observers because of her close ties to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his recently-formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). She also pointed to corruption, Modi’s favorite subject on the campaign trail, as another reason for savvy voters to ditch outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Congress Party. Speaking of Singh, his harsh attack on Modi as unfit to lead — coming when he announced his own retirement from politics last week — helped set off the latest rehashing of the Gujarat riots. Bedi’s very public announcement (made both on Twitter and at a lecture) has the hallmarks of a coordinated pushback by a Modi campaign determined to move forward. Bedi is internationally known for her work in India and with the United Nations, just the kind of validation Modi — a Hindu nationalist at his core — needed. There are only so many times his enemies can ask questions about his past; now that Bedi is on board, Indians may be ready to embrace Modi as their future.
