By Alistair Scrutton
NEW DELHI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Two powerful industrialists have pitched for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to be India's next leader, a sign of how the controversial Hindu nationalist is gaining momentum going into this year's elections.
Modi is a brilliant orator who has a reputation for battling corruption to bring development to Gujarat, but he is accused of turning a blind eye to the murder of hundreds of Muslims during riots in 2002 and is fiercely critical of Pakistan.
The statements by telecommunications tycoons Anil Ambani and Sunil Mittal were unusual in their frankness and reflect how many executives and members of the middle-classes clamour for someone like Modi to cut through red tape and improve the business climate.
"People like him should be the next leader of the country," Ambani, head of Reliance Communications, was widely quoted by local media as telling a business conference in the western state of Gujarat on Wednesday.
At the same conference, Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, said Modi "is very capable of running the whole nation".
Modi is not a prime ministerial candidate but is one of the leading lights of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is trying to unseat the ruling, left-of-centre Congress party-led coalition in elections due by May.
The endorsements underscore how much a player he may be as BJP leader L.K. Advani tries to convince Indian voters his party will be best at managing a trillion-dollar economy that has shown signs of slowing down after four years of boom.
A BJP win could propel India to a more pro-market agenda after years under Congress in which economic reforms have stagnated, to the frustration of many investors.
And Modi is the BJP poster boy.
"India Inc. roots for 'CEO' Modi," was the headline of the Mail Today.
Modi won re-election in Gujarat in 2007 with the help of his development record, despite continued Hindu-Muslim tensions.
That re-election more than anything convinced the BJP a national victory was possible after years of infighting sparked by its 2004 general election loss to Congress.
But Modi has yet to convince everyone he can translate his appeal in Gujarat onto a national platform, with many Indians uncomfortable with his record and his reputation for stoking tensions with Muslims.
TOO CONTROVERSIAL?
The Supreme Court accused his government of turning a blind eye to the 2002 riots, and he was denied a visa to the United States in 2005.
But for executives, many of them major funders of national parties, Modi offers an ease of doing business in Gujarat lacking in many other states.
"In Gujarat all we have to deal with is normal business risk," said Sandeep Shah, managing director of HBS Realtors.
He said India's normal problems -- slow paper work and demands for bribes -- were almost non-existent in Gujarat.
The BJP has welcomed the two industrialists' statements. BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy called it "euphoric rhetoric".
"It is a vindication of all BJP chief ministers who have created business-friendly states."
Shah, who attended the conference, said the statements did not reflect support for the BJP as much as individual support for Modi.
The calls may have sparked unease within the BJP, with fears Modi could overshadow Advani, who at 81 may lack Modi's dynamism.
Some say it is unlikely Modi wants to be prime minister now. He is reported to be preparing huge celebrations in 2010 for the 50th anniversary of the formation of Gujarat state, which he could use to propel his national image.
"Most of the BJP believe Modi is the successor but nobody wants to derail the electoral campaign with three months to go," said Swapan Dasgupta, a political analyst with ties to the BJP. (Editing by Simon Denyer and Jerry Norton)