Narendra Modi vs Rahul Gandhi in top job battle

by Amit Roy.

CONGRESS PARTY LEADER ‘IMPRESSED’ DURING TWO-DAY UK VISIT.

EVEN Narendra Modi’s supporters in the UK – and there are many of them in the Indian community – will concede that Congress president Rahul Gandhi made a good

impression during his two-day trip to London last week.

“Not as dumb as I thought he would be,” a student was heard to remark after Rahul had addressed some 400 students at the London School of Economics.

And at the lunch hosted for him at the St James’ Court Hotel by the Indian Journalists’ Association (IJA), which from his point of view was the key event in terms of influencing

opinion back home, an invited correspondent admitted: “He impressed me more than I had

thought he would.”

Among other guests, quite a few said afterwards: “No quarter given (by the IJA), but he was honest.”

Modi, who swept to power with an overall majority in a stunning victory in 2014, faces a general election next year. Most experts expect Modi to be returned to power though with a greatly reduced majority. There is no use denying there isn’t deep concern about issues

such as beef lynchings of Muslims.

At one level, the battle will be between Modi and Rahul, though the latter could not be persuaded to say he was the preferred prime ministerial candidate of the combined

opposition parties.

If Modi wishes to be returned to power, his supporters in the UK should advise him that extremist elements in his party who have terrorised minority groups have to be curbed. Back in 1977, after Indira Gandhi’s state of emergency and her son Sanjay’s forcible sterilisation campaign, Congress did not win a single seat in its heartland of Uttar

Pradesh and Bihar. But in 1980, she was returned to power.

Voters in India often give parties landslide wins only to kick them out a few years later. Rahul becoming the next prime minister is still a long shot but, on the basis of his

performance in London last week, it cannot be entirely ruled out.

The enigma of departure for Sir VS Naipaul

SIR VS NAIPAUL was a global figure, which explains why in newspapers throughout the world there is still speculation as to when his funeral will be held.

I can reveal that it has taken place.

It was an “invitation only” affair last Tuesday (22) at West London Crematorium in Kensal Green Cemetery. Only 80-100 of the author’s closest friends and a handful of his relatives were present.

His funeral was a non-religious affair. However, Geordie Greig, the new editor of the Daily Mail who gave a sympathetic farewell address assessing Naipaul’s literary legacy, slipped in a couple of lines from the holy Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita.

Another speaker was his literary agent, Andrew Wylie, who had come from New York.

There was a reading from Naipaul’s 1987 “autobiographical novel”, The Enigma of Arrival.

The music included The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams, an English classic, and Doris Day’s Dream A Little Dream of Me, which concluded sweetly with the lyrics, “Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you/ Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you/ But in your

dreams whatever they be/ Dream a little dream of me.

Lunch afterwards was at Naipaul’s favourite restaurant, the Bombay Brasserie, where he and the Pakistani journalist Nadira Alvi had held their wedding celebration in 1996.

Naipaul’s main hope was that after his passing, his books would live on.

We need a few more books on Naipaul the man – one from Geordie Greig; another from Lady Naipaul; a view of the author through the edited diaries of his first wife, Patricia, whom he married at 22 after they met at Oxford; and, perhaps, most important, about his relationship with India, which began with the prickly An Area of Darkness in 1964, but evolved into a deeper understanding of the land of his forefathers. There also remains

room for a book on Naipaul’s complex relationship with the Caribbean and especially with Trinidad.

Being born there, he had once said, had been a “mistake”.

Boyle exits Bond

TO ME and other admirers of Danny Boyle (right), his departure from the next Bond movie has been disappointing.

In 2009, I went to LA for the Oscars for what turned out to be one of the biggest stories in Indian and British cinema history. Slumdog Millionaire swept the board with eight Oscars, including Best Director for Boyle. It also put its lead pair, Freida Pinto and Dev Patel, on the map.

I had hoped that for the 25th Bond movie in the franchise, Boyle might have called in his

Bollywood connections and perhaps even chosen some Indian locations and stars.

There is speculation that a possible delay in production might mean that Craig, who is 50,

may now be considered too old for what was meant to be his fifth and final outing as 007.

After it was announced that Boyle would no longer direct the Bond movie because of “creative differences” with Michael G Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Craig, I turned to one of the leading experts on the subject – Ajay Chowdhury.

He and co-author Matthew Fielding have just updated their scholarly Some Kind of Hero:

The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films (The History Press ; £20).

Ajay, who is also spokesperson for the James Bond International Fan Club, established

in 1979, confides that his sympathies are more with the producers.

“Albert R Broccoli’s Eon Productions have been doing this a lot longer,” Ajay said. “Barbara

Broccoli's creative instincts have been ahead of the curve. Boyle might have been too brave a choice. Of course, Boyle’s Bond is now a tantalising ‘what if ’… But long-term Bondophiles

keep faith with the Broccolis.”

As for the “creative differences”, Ajay thinks that the “story and scale might have been the key points of debate, but it is pure speculation at this stage. Eon is a well-oiled team and Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have been decisive now – a stitch in time may have saved 007.”

US briefing at India Club

IT IS very encouraging that the US embassy chose the India Club for a media briefing last week.

The venue faces a new threat from Marston Properties who appear determined to demolish

the historic venue despite being denied planning permission by Westminster Council. The briefing was by Helaena W White, London-based spokesperson for India-US relations

and south Asian affairs generally.

It was held ahead of talks in Delhi next Thursday (6) between Mike Pompeo and James Mattis, the US secretary of state and the defence secretary respectively, and their Indian counterparts.

The strategic choice of the India Club was that of Anwar Hasan, the US embassy’s south Asia media specialist. He had frequented the India Club during his days working as a journalist at nearby Bush House.