mordant wit

Leaders love the lights, but Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was not coming to London just to watch Gujarati folk dance at the 'Vibrant Gujarat' show at the Royal Albert Hall, or even to announce some new multi-crore investment by some British Gujarati. In the shadows of what turned out to be a non-visit lay the political agenda of building up a Hindu candidate for the British Parliament.

An Operation Hindu Vote has been going on for a little more than a year in Britain now. It's an attempt to harness the community vote so as to get something back via the MPs who benefit from it. "We are getting in touch with other Hindu leaders, and we want to launch the initiative countrywide," Kanti Patel from the Operation Hindu Vote campaign told Outlook earlier.

Modi in Britain would have helped Labour in Gujarati-heavy areas at a time when Tories are chasing its tail.