There is something thrilling about the rise of Narendra Modi. Indian politics has been dominated by the Gandhi dynasty since independence. In India’s current elections, the standard-bearer of the Congress party is Rahul Gandhi – whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather were all prime ministers. Mr Gandhi, an insipid figure, was truly born to rule. By contrast, Mr Modi, prime ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata party, comes from humble origins in small-town India. As a teenager he ran a tea stall at the local bus terminal.
Despite his modest beginnings, Mr Modi is likely to emerge as prime minister of India when the votes are counted in mid-May. His rise would send an invigorating message across a country where too many people’s chances are still blighted by poverty, class or caste. That anti-dynastic message deserves to resonate well beyond India. The upper echelon of China’s government is still dominated by “princelings” – men such as President Xi Jinping who are descended from Mao Zedong’s close comrades. The US could well witness another presidential election contested between the Bush and Clinton clans. South Korea and Japan are led by the daughter and the grandson of former heads of government. Politics is also strongly dynastic in India’s neighbours Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar. It would be a welcome change for India to elect a self-made man.
Mr Modi’s election could also provide an important jolt to his country, where the economy has slowed and reforms have foundered. For occasional visitors to India, the deep sense of gloom that has descended over the country in recent years is startling. That pessimism is not confined to intellectuals and economists. A Pew poll taken this year showed that 70 per cent of Indians are dissatisfied with the state of the country – a sentiment that spans the urban-rural divide and embraces young and old. The poll also suggests there is a strong belief that Mr Modi is much more likely than his rivals to tackle corruption and reduce poverty.