Asia | Banyan

Narendra Modi has kept his vow to make India like Gujarat

Better infrastructure and higher incomes, but also greater segregation and discrimination

Two hands with pinkies interlocked are shown, with their fingers twisted together in a spiral against a light green background
Illustration: Lan Truong
|4 min read

THE TWO most consequential South Asians of the 20th century were Gujarati: Mohandas Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, respectively the “father of the nation” of India and of Pakistan. So was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who as India’s first home minister cajoled (or bullied) 565 “princely states” into joining the union.

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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Promises made, promises kept”

From the May 31st 2025 edition

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