Prime minister Narendra Modi attracts strong, polarised responses: you either love him or hate him…
A few years ago, we invited a public vote to decide on the greatest Indian after Mahatma Gandhi for the History tv channel. The winner, by some distance, was Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. The architect of the Indian constitution is that rare individual: ignored in life, venerated in death. Ironically, we see the opposite with Jawaharlal Nehru: hero-worshipped as India’s first prime minister, now targeted years later.
I interviewed General VK Singh before he became a minister. This was soon after he had retired amidst swirling rumours that he was planning to join politics after his rather controversial exit as army chief. He struck me as a fine man (as most soldiers are) but also a rather angry man who seemed to believe that the entire world was conspiring against him. He spoke with bitterness, over his conflicts with the government, with his fellow senior officers and with the political class.
Here’s a confession: I shed a tear yesterday when I heard Australian captain Michael Clarke…
