Students choose Narendra Modi over Ratan Tata as speaker

Whatever the language of politics says, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity is just soaring in the national capital. Modi, who is scheduled to speak at the Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) business conclave on Wednesday, has already revealed his inclination towards the youth power but now even the students are eager to hear him at the SRCC. A majority of students of the prestigious college have reportedly voted for Modi to be the speaker on the occasion this year and even Ratan Tata has fallen behind the high-profile Gujarat CM.

According to sources, at least five Cabinet ministers and even Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi were in the fray but none could really challenge Modi’s appeal to the young minds.

One of the organisers of the conclave said the internal poll was held to make a list of the most-sought after political and business leaders to be present at the conclave and Modi received the highest number of votes. Students from B Com (Honours) and BA (Honours) Economics participated in the poll. He, however, did not share the number of votes polled for Modi.

It was learnt that Tata expressed his regret for not being able to make it to the college for he was already ready for the occasion. Modi, meanwhile, made it clear that he would speak only on business and social development issues at the ‘Shri Ram Memorial Oration’ at the Business Conclave 2013.

Organisers said the BJP leader would spealk about successful business models that helped Gujarat to grow. The topic of Modi’s discourse ‘Emerging Business Models in the Global Scenario’ has been introduced for the first time this year. The conclave has mainly seen business leaders addressing in the last four editions.

College principal PC Jain, although refused to confirm if such a poll was indeed conducted, he admitted that Modi had emerged as a quite a favourite among the students and also praised the leader, saying he was the first to say ‘yes’. “We have a democratic way of selecting the speakers,” he said.