This fast has united India, claims satisfied Modi

Ahmedabad: Narendra Modi has broken his three-day sadbhavana fast - he accepted a glass of juice with much ceremony from a lot of smiling politicians and saffron-clad priests. And announced a new mission. The Gujarat Chief Minister will now extend what he calls the success of his sadbhavana fast by spending a day in each Gujarat district, fasting.

"I will not rest on my laurels...I have to take Gujarat forward." And then, in slow, measured words, "I will take Gujarat forward to take India forward. The prosperity of a country depends on the prosperity of the states," Mr Modi said, calling himself a man of action in what was more election speech than thanksgiving. (Highlights of Modi's closing speech)  

Elections are due in Gujarat in 2012, and Narendra Modi looked his constituency straight in the eye and spoke - in his speech, the most oft-used term was six-crore Gujaratis, who he said "are my God". But the nation was never far in his speech either; that together with the rhetoric of other top BJP leaders suggested Mr Modi is an important part of the party's plans for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections too. (Watch: Has Modi stolen BJP show from other leaders?)

Sources say the BJP's projection and Mr Modi's grand show are part of a plan -that he could well call for elections much earlier than November 2012, to win Gujarat on the good governance plank and then have enough time to help the party consolidate at the national level for 2014.

But the walk to Delhi will be tougher than the Gujarat run. In the last three days, Mr Modi repeatedly sought to underscore that "I don't play vote bank politics...I don't discriminate on the basis of religion...I decided I would not run a government to win the next election."

As he ended his fast he recounted how a few years ago, the Sachchar Committee on minority welfare visited Gujarat. "I was asked what I do for minorities here. I told them, 'My government does nothing for minorities.' They were shocked. What a statement to make. I told them, my government does not do anything for majorities either. My government works only for six crore Gujaratis, for their collective good and progress. I don't follow these divisions. This road of vote-bank politics is not for me." (Read: Modi on politics, poetry and Rahul Gandhi as PM)

But one uncomfortable moment exposed the one big chink in Mr Modi's carefully constructed political armour. A visiting Muslim cleric, among the many who came to the fast, tried to make Mr Modi wear a "skull cap" worn by Muslims. The Gujarat Chief Minister said a visible no. The BJP tried to dismiss it as a non-issue, but the cleric took offence. "Modi's no to imam cap is an insult on Muslims and humanity...he is a Ravana," he said. (Read: Controversy over Modi's alleged refusal to wear skull cap)

Mr Modi will have other battles on his hands. Not least, competition within the BJP, which has seen a leadership tussle ever since the Vajpayee-Advani era faded out. Publically, however, the party's top leadership backed him. The clearest endorsement yet of Mr Modi for a bigger national role came when former party president Venkaiah Naidu said, "There is no leader to equal Modi in all of India. We ask the Congress, we have Modi, who do you have? People ask if Modi is PM material. Where is the doubt? Mr Modi should get ready to serve the nation."

Not so fast, says important ally, the JD(U). It has questioned Mr Modi's national acceptability. "Modi has failed to discharge Rajdharma in Gujarat...when he can't do justice with five crore people of a state, how will he be able to deliver justice to 125 crore of the country?" PTI quoted JD(U) spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari as saying. Mr Tiwari said, "There is still a sense of fear and insecurity among the people in Gujarat," and also that he found "the body language of Modi during his speech in Hindi after beginning his fast full of arrogance." (Read)

At first there was only diplomatic silence from Nitish Kumar, the man the JD(U) sees as the rightful aspirant for the job that many say Mr Modi has set out to get with his attempt at an image makeover - the Prime Minister's post at the head of an NDA government. And when he spoke, it was only to say, "Our alliance with the BJP is limited to Bihar and Jharkhand...we have no alliance in Gujarat". The message was between the lines - Mr Kumar was predictably distancing himself from Mr Modi. (Read: Nitish Kumar's wry remarks on Modi's fast)

But there are new friends. J Jayalalithaa sent two senior AIADMK leaders to wish Mr Modi well and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray flew down to Ahmedabad and gave a thumbs up to the Gujarat CM as a potential Prime Minister. (Read: Modi would make good PM, says Raj Thackeray)

And then there is the claim that even political foes cannot deny Mr Modi's efficacy in governance. Sushma Swaraj had a story to share. At a recent meeting of the national integration council, she claimed, "Mehbooba Mufti, the leader of the PDP, a party opposed to the BJP, said that a Muslim friend of hers wanted to invest in Gujarat and was astonished to be quickly granted an appointment, and that when he did meet Mr Modi, had a decision in half an hour." (Read: Modi has passed agni pareeksha, says Sushma)

"You can accuse an Advani or a Sushma of bias when they praise Modi. But this was Mehbooba Mufti," Ms Swaraj said, adding that Modi was the sort of leader who braved heat and dust to reach the smallest villages to ask if little girls were being sent to school. "His development plans do not seek out Hindu or Muslim...Development does not discriminate, it favours everyone," she said.