Prime minister Narendra Modi’s unique ways of leadership and governance has caught fancy of many people, but now a scholar is doing a PhD on this theme – making it probably the first such study.

Sunil Bhatt, a farmer’s son and a corporate manager, has chosen as the topic for his PhD ‘Leadership, Governance and Development in reference to Narendra Modi’, and it has been registered with the Veer Narmad Sough Gujarat University (VNSGU), Surat, in 2013.

Bhatt has more than 20 years experience in industries and holds a senior position in human resource management. He has a masters in HRD and a degree in law. He has worked with various MNCs and two of the plants he worked at were inaugurated by Modi – giving Bhatt an opportunity to interact with him. Bhatt says he was “influenced and inspired to pursue research on his leadership and governance model which led Gujarat and now leads India towards development”.

“Bhatt found this topic relevant and is very optimistic about it,” says his guide, Dr Kiran Pandya, who is the head of HRD department in VNSGU. He adds that this study will throw light on the governance model which emerged out of leadership virtues leading to development.