Advisers to India's Modi dream of a Thatcherite revolution

Reuters ^ | Sunday, April 6, 2:19am EDT | FRANK JACK DANIEL AND RAJESH KUMAR SINGH

[blueplum]

(Additional reporting by Shyamantha Asokan, Nidhi Verma and Doug Busvine; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark Bendeich)

New Delhi (Reuters) - When Indian opposition leader Narendra Modi gave a speech on the virtues of smaller government and privatization on April 8 last year, supporters called him an ideological heir to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died that day.

Modi, favorite to form India's next government after elections starting on Monday, has yet to unveil any detailed economic plans but it is clear that some of his closest advisers and many campaign workers have a Thatcherite ambition for him.

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"If you define Thatcherism as less government, free enterprise, then there is no difference between Modi-nomics and Thatcherism," said Deepak Kanth, a London-based banker now collecting funds as a volunteer for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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How far Modi can go down this road if elected will depend on allies in what is likely to be a coalition government. In the last big poll ahead of the election, the BJP was forecast to end up as the single largest party but fall short of an outright majority.

But merely the possibility that India may move to the right has brought free-market champions flocking home from high-flying careers abroad to join Modi's campaign.

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For better or for worse, many Indians fed up with years of weak leadership, find that no-nonsense image part of his appeal.

"We need action, a do-er," said Kanth. "We have seen enough of pussyfooting in the last 10 years."

[blueplum]

long article at link, Modi looking to create a Thatcher-like "Big Bang" in financial reforms, welfare overhaul, and investing in infrastructure.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Well, I wish him luck.