Did Narendra Modi make the right moves?

Moditwavada’ instead of ‘Hindutwavada’ seems to have been the touchstone of the Gujarat elections. Exit polls, like pre-poll surveys show that the popularity index of the strongman of Gujarat is still high. Though the exit polls show a slight growth in the vote share for Congress, it seems that this minor shift would not be of much advantage to the party which had hoped to take on Modi head-on. The BSP too would have a better vote share, but political pundits opine that Mayawati’s party would eat into the vote bank of Congress, rather than the BJP. It seems that the dissidents within the Gujarat BJP, the ‘rebel group,’ too could not make a dent to Modi’s popularity. Though there were murmurs within the VHP and RSS that these hardliners were not too happy with Modi, his pro-Hindu stand, including the question about Afzal not being executed as part of minority appeasement, won them back. About two and a half year back, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation study mentioned, “Economic Freedom for States of India” was carried out by Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, the think-tank of the foundation, close to the Congress and its top leaders had come to this conclusion after yzing “economic freedom” in different states of India. Crime in Gujarat is well below the national average. It has a very business friendly environment and very few man-days (productivity) are lost in strikes and lockouts. Corruption is very low and majority of cases that are taken up by the police are ensured complete investigation. In the light of the various poll surveys, pre and exit, Modi’s popularity was high. He is a shrewd politician, feel some. Indian democracy, which is weak-kneed according to many, needs strong leaders. Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi too were strong leaders. Modi’s tough stand made him adorable to many, while several others blamed him for crushing democratic norms within the party and the state. Take your call. Keeping the electioneering in mind, do you think that Modi made the right moves?