FOR Narendra Modi, the Vibrant Gujarat Summit has been a stage for receiving applause since the days he was the chief minister of the state.
The vibrancy of the summit helped him to mould the mindset of the nation in a new way. The Modi brigade had high hopes the summit will bring in the much-needed shine for the crucial election year of 2019. Much to their disappointment, the summit reportedly failed to meet expectations. An abysmal turnout of mere 19 corporate participants was seen, even after the business houses were well aware of the PM’s interest in the summit and even old regular attendee since 2003 Anil Ambani did not attend. It’s learnt that given the Rafale controversy, the state government didn’t even post him an invitation. Rafale was also the reason that Dassault Aviation was missing from the ‘Opportunities in Defence and Aerospace’ session. Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani had visited Mumbai for promoting the meet. The 2019 Vibrant Gujarat Summit also registered lesser-than-expected participants from the US and UK. Investment commitments were also very small. For instance, at least `20 lakh worth investments were announced during the 2011 summit; MoUs were also signed but at the end of the day, only 10 per cent was received. One can imagine when Chief Minister Modi could not convert more than 10 per cent MOUs into business, how can Rupani perform better than his boss.
