Can Narendra Modi ever shake off the stain of the Gujarat riots of 2002? It’s been 11 years since those days and the Gujarat chief minister has won three consecutive assembly elections, making him the Bharatiya Janata Party’s most valuable asset. Gujarat has been peaceful since then and it has continued on its path of development and industrial growth. There are arguments about whether Modi is responsible solely or partially for this growth but there can be little doubt that Gujarat is a successful state as far as industrialisation is concerned, although its record as far as the human development index is concerned is not quite so rosy.

But is development enough to wipe out the stains of the past? Apparently not. Because the Gujarat CM just cannot escape from the ghost of those riots. His recent success at a BJP conclave was immediately offset by a public relations fiasco over an invitation to give the keynote address at the Wharton India Economic Forum. The prestigious event organised by students of the business school withdrew the invitation after protests by students and professors of the University of Pennsylvania, to which Wharton is attached.