Modi's "famous" Gujarat model not working in Delhi: USA's top neoconservative think-tank scholar comments

Sadanand Dhume

By A Representative
America’s top business daily, “The Wall Street Journal” (WSJ), has warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the Union budget that he should realize, “the famous Gujarat model is not working in Delhi”, adding, “A vast country cannot be run like a relatively homogenous state.”
In an opinion piece by a right-wing columnist based in Washington DC, Sadanand Dhume, WSJ recalls Modi’s days as Gujarat chief minister saying, “A chief minister can succeed as a hand-on manager, but a prime minister needs to set a broad policy agenda and trust his colleagues to execute it.”
Dhume is currently attached with the Washington DC-based American Enterprise Institute (AEI), considered in the US as “one of the most influential pro-business right-wing think tanks” researching on public policy issues and the “country’s main bastions of neoconservatism.”
Dhume says, “Modi often slows down decisions. A chief minister can succeed as a hand-on manager, but a prime minister needs to set a broad policy agenda and trust his colleagues to execute it.”
Accusing Modi of having “frozen in his old job” of Gujarat chief minister, Dhume — who has been a strong Modi supporter — says that Modi “hasn’t grappled with the central question facing India of rolling back the role of the state in the national economy.”
He says, Modi refuses to “accept that the national media must be engaged professionally and won’t just regurgitate facts sheets and press releases”, as he is known to have done in Gujarat, adding, “Rather than hire a provisional media advisor, he treats the press with disdain.”
Pointing towards why governing India is different from Gujarat, Dhume says, “When Modi became prime minister, the challenge was to adapt the ethos that powered the Gujarat model — efficiency, ambition and business-friendliness — to the vastly more complex of running India.”
Dhume notes, the only thing in which he has succeeded in transferring the Gujarat model is his “willingness to woo investors and efforts to make doing business easier”, adding, this has helped foreign direct investment rise by 24% to $42 billion in 2015 despite global slowdown.
Yet, he says, India is different from Gujarat, as seen by what Christophe Jaffrelot, well-known political scientist at Ceri-Sciences Po in Paris, said – that “only about 1% of Gujaratis work for the government, compared to 16% in leftist-dominated Kerala.”
Titled “Mr Modi, You’re Not in Gujarat Anymore”, the WSJ article says, “Though wooing business is a fine idea, and a welcome change from the country’s recent past, the parallels with Vibrant Gujarat … as seen in the Make in India summit in Mumbai earlier this month ... revealed a problem.”
“Nearly two years after taking office, a Prime Minister famed for his administrative skills has yet to show he can run a federal government. Instead of setting a broad policy agenda and hiring the right people to execute it, he has been focused on micromanaging the day-to-day administration”, he says.
While conceding that Arun Jaitley’s budget on February 29 is an “opportunity” to show that his government stands for a “market-oriented approach to the economy”, Dhume suggests, there appear to be little signs that Modi will move in that direction.
“For now, Modi appears to believe he can run India the same way he ran Gujarat. He has centralized authority … and prefers working directly with bureaucrats rather than delegating to his Cabinet colleagues. He often runs through checklists of stalled infrastructure and industrial projects himself”, Dhume concludes.

Comments

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Civil society flags widespread violations of land acquisition Act before Parliamentary panel

By Jag Jivan Civil society organisations and stakeholders from across India have presented stark evidence before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj , alleging systemic violations of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013 , particularly in Scheduled Areas and tribal regions.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Concentration of wealth in India at levels 'comparable to colonial times', says new report

By Jag Jivan A new report published in March 2026 by the Centre for Financial Accountability and the Tax The Top campaign paints a stark picture of deepening economic disparity in India, documenting a concentration of wealth that it argues is “comparable to colonial times.” Titled Wealth Tracker India | Tax the Top. Close the Gap , the compilation presents data from the World Inequality Database and the Hurun Rich List to illustrate the meteoric rise of the ultra-wealthy alongside the stagnation and debt burdens of the majority.

Protesters in UK cities voice concerns over alleged developments in Bastar region

By A Representative Demonstrations were held across several cities in the United Kingdom on March 28, as groups and activists gathered to protest what they described as state actions in India under the reported “Operation Kagar.”

Dr. Ram Bux Singh: Biogas pioneer’s legacy gains urgency amid energy crisis

By A Representative In an era defined by a global energy crisis and a desperate search for sustainable solutions, the visionary work of an Indian scientist from the mid-20th century is finding renewed, urgent relevance. Dr. Ram Bux Singh , a pioneering figure in biogas and renewable energy , is being posthumously honored by the Government of India, even as his decades-old innovations provide a blueprint for today’s challenges.

Search This Blog