The D-Day for Bangalore is just around the corner – Thursday, 23^rd April is the day when we go to the polls and guess who’s competing from Bangalore’s most prestigious constituency?

Captain Gopinath

Known for enabling the dream of the common man to fly, this entrepreneur, who’s now turned as an independent had a very interesting blog on IBN Live. Explaining his rationale for going it alone, he made it amply clear that he didn’t have a fascination to compete the elections for power or money. With assets to the tune of nearly 50 odd crores, Gopi’s clear that he is not in this for the money. Detailing his vision for the country, he’s got the educated elite of Bangalore rooting for him.

Leading the charge is Mohandas Pai, the HR head of Infosys.

Pitted as the “battle” for South Bangalore, this independent takes on the big wigs – BJP’s Ananth Kumar, a traditional winner from this place and a rising young Congressman, Krishna Byre Gowda. It’s certainly going to be an interesting battle and I really look forward to this outcome.

As someone who will vote day after for this constituency, here are a few thoughts that come to my mind:

1. Being an election for the Parliament, the key outcome to my mind is who is going to be the Prime Minister. Choosing to vote for the BJP or the Congress will mean that I have a clear choice as the final outcome with the PM candidate. While I personally believe that one is better than the other (now don’t ask me who), how does voting for Gopinath make a difference to the big picture?
2. I’ve seen the state of several independent candidates in the past – while they somehow manage to make it, they get bought out. But knowing Gopi, I’m assuming he won’t, or will he eventually?
3. I love the value proposition that he brings to the table – India needs a change and some responsible politicians. Mindful of the fact that change is never an overnight thing, should I just kick start that change and vote for him?

The campaign trail has been a very interesting one though. I’ve not had a chance to catch much of this as I have been on the road myself. That said, I have been reading a lot about it on the internet. The big three ( BJP, Congress & JD(S) just love the dirty game of mud slinging. Having a bitter rival in the current CM of the state to come and campaign for him, Ananth tried to cover up the huge divide that exists in the party’s leadership. Not wanting to lose an opportunity, the grand old man of Karnataka, Mr. Deve Gowda used this opportunity to say what a mess that BJP was in, revealing a snippet or two about how some of the BJP top brass wanted to quit and join him! Not wanting to be left behind, the Congress caught on to the “young” India campaign, bashing the idea of having an 81 year old as PM. Interesting to say the least!

Elsewhere, someone has been going about the campaign with ease and class – drawing the educated class into closed rooms, Gopi’s campaign is a fact based & non emotional. Driving into work this morning, I heard this first time voter from an engineering college come on the radio to campaign for Gopinath. His message was very simple – we need change and we know what Gopinath can do – give him a chance! Even before I could get up to work, my phone goes off with an SMS from Gopinath. It goes like this – “The BJP is not winning!, Captain Gopinath”.

Thursday is a real test. Bangalore has sworn to vote and vote in large numbers. Will they vote for a change? I’m not guessing the outcome of this one, but know for a fact that I will vote!

Popularity: 46%

Well, we have heard of Hung Parliament enough to know what a chaos that is going to be. When India had its share of hung parliaments in the last decade, the government did not last long and no one expected too.

This time around, Congress is facing an anti-incumbency factor in many of the states which it ruled – more so in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. In both these places people have been tired of politics, the associated corruption and the countless instances of crime that was witnessed in the last year. Be it the Satyam saga, or the Nagarjuna Finance issue or the Siris Pharmaceutical case in AP or the Mumbai massacre in Mumbai towards the later part of the year, few of the Congress governed states have had extremely poor governance. This coupled with the fact that the economy is in a recession, will only add salt to the wounds of an already bleeding Congress. It will take a miracle for Congress to be reinstated to run the government and Dr. Manmohan Singh as India’s Prime Minister

BJP on the other hand had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. And in 2009, just when it needed to put in all the efforts to show a non-communal face and gulp up as many allies (or strategic partners so to say), it seemed to be going all wrong for the BJP- The month of January saw a BJP ruled state i.e Karnataka facing the wrath of the public when a few radical Hindu fundamentalists, closer to the Sangh Parivar, led by Pramod Muthalik attacked innocent women in a pub. BJP tried to distance itself from this party, but the effort did not seem to have paid off due to the Sangh Parivar connections.

Roll over to March, just when BJP needed all the support from its past allies, BJD (Biju Janata Dal) seems to have backtracked from its alliance – that will be a huge setback for this party considering the ambitious goals it had set for itself in Orissa. Advani’s dreams of becoming India’s Prime Minister at a young age of 82 seem to be a distant reality, unless some of the allies flip their wings in the opposite direction post elections.

That leaves us with an option called the Third Front. The followers of Lenin and the preachers of Marx had often called for a government that is Non Congress and Non BJP. While that seems to be the ideal thought, it might be wishful thinking for CPI or its namesake CPI(M) to form the government with the support of its regional allies.

This is an era of alliance and one man who knows how to play it at the right time is our erstwhile sleeping Prime Minister a.k.a Deve Gowda. He seems to be an extremely serious contender given the fact that he was instrumental in announcing The Third Front along with some regional superpowers including TDP, TRS, CPI, CPI(M), JDU, BJD, Forward Bloc etc.

Will he stand a chance ? Not unless Mayawati, Bhajan Lal, Nitish Kumar et al gives up their claim to Prime Ministership.

Speaking of Mayawati and her ambition of India’s first Dalit Woman Prime Minister could soon be a reality. is someone who knows how to play the caste card very well and whether you like it or not, Mayawati and her identity politics is a thorn in The Third Front’s nest. She could very well be the dark horse waiting and watching.

With a hung parliament in the offing, India’s Prime Ministerial candidate too seems to be hung .

It will be an interesting few months to watch the Indian political scenario turning topsy turvy with every passing day. The question still remains – Who will be India’s Hung Prime Minister ?

What’s your prediction ?

Image Credit: Alykat

Popularity: 38%

Abraham Lincoln once said “It is better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt”

I always had a different idea about this statement until recently. My thoughts revolved around the fact that it is always to be on the side of the err than to be not on any side. Likewise, my father always preached and practiced this adage “Wrong decisions are always better than indecisions”.

Many a times in life you’d have across some incidents that changes your perspective about certain way of living. Sometimes you defy the common, sometimes you follow the herd and sometimes you are in a world of your own.

Mr. Vincent wrote an article on elections being bawdy carnival . In the article he focused more on Varun Gandhi and his histrionics, sometimes reminding India of the grim past that it had during election seasons – from Advani’s Rath Yatra to VP Singh’s Mandal Commission, from Gujarat Riots to Pilibhit, the hatred of politics and the politics of hatred growing in tandem, competing with each other and defying the youth of our country a chance to dream of a democratic and secular sovereign .

What Varun Gandhi said was totally unacceptable by any means. Even his so called claim that the video has been doctored, although, seems a bit too clichéd his latest stunt as he surrendered to the law enforcement agencies is nothing sort of a melodrama, causing a near riot and a few clashes of the saffron men with the local police.

I chanced upon an article in Indian Express, which further vindicated my thoughts on this Gandhi.

Apparently, in his writ petition Varun Gandhi submitted

“That the petitioner is a well-educated and peace-loving citizen and has done his BSc Economics from the London School of Economics in the year 1999 till 2002, and thereafter went on to do his MSc in public policy at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in the year 2002-2004.”

Both LSE and SOAS have now said Gandhi’s claim is not accurate. This, if found true, would mean that Gandhi lied under oath and the court can initiate contempt proceedings as well as perjury charges which could lead upto 7 years behind bars. Phew!

If that’s not all, Varun Gandhi has been booked under National Security Act, attempt to murder and for inciting communal riots. This would mean a detention of at least one year.

The last couple of weeks Gandhi has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. If he was in his sane mind, he would never have gotten into something as rotten as this. Such are the times, you do one bad deed and you knowingly or unknowingly get into the habit of doing bad deeds – one after the other and the end doesn’t seem to be in the horizon.

This is definitely a lesson for the youth of this country. It is also a message to the political sycophants of the communal minded that the politics of the hatred will soon see an end in the resurgent India. For once, the UP government has done the right thing. And all my kudos to Mayawati for not succumbing to political pressures. Some might call the arrest of Varun Gandhi as a political vendetta and others might call it being opportunistic.

Whatever said and done, what Varun Gandhi has displayed is the height of futility …an epitome of foolhardiness!

Now, I know why sometimes “Silence is Golden”

Popularity: 23%

Elections in India is like a bawdy carnival. The worst of the country is on display. It is the season of tall promises, of blatant lies, and of hate. Allegations and counter allegations fly thick and fast. Rank opportunism, of some sleeping with the enemy and some others slithering away from their sleeping partners are the norm. It is the season for burying decency and consigning ideologies to the waste bins for a few more seats. These are also times when crores of rupees are spent (or invested) for getting a seat and much more on appeasing voters. This is the microcosm of India and I am frightened to think how any good stew will come out of this cauldron cooked with such filthy and abominable ingredients.

These are times when I temporarily fear that God has given up on India and evil forces are having a rollicking time. I do not see any connections between the law of Karma and the spectacle of politicians reaping a fortune out of hate and divisions. Let me explain why, with reference to the last few elections.

Lal Krishna Advani’s Rath Yatra of 1990 began from September 23 to ‘unite Hindus’ on an anti-Muslim agenda. Jointly planned with the Vishva Hindu Parishad leadership to counter the Mandal card of V.P Singh, the Rath Yatra eventually caused deep polarization of the Indian society by inciting communal passion and goading people to violent communal outburst. At least thirty-nine places along the path of the Rath Yatra were affected by communal violence. Nearly 275 people were killed in these clashes.

Advani felt his Rath Yatra, “brought about social harmony”. He said, “I want to put the record straight, not a single riot or violence took place anywhere during my rath yatra”. Advani later stated, “It was because of Ayodhya and the people’s perception of it that the BJP increased its voter support.” What he said was indeed true. From 85 seats in 1989, the party notched 120 seats in 1991, a jump from 11.36 per cent of votes to 20.8 per cent.

Astride the tiger he had mounted, Advani watched the domes of the Babri Masjid fall on December 6, 1992. Following this, there were riots all over India, particularly in Mumbai. More than 1000 lives were lost in shameful communal clashes everywhere. The chief instigator who brought this about is aspiring to be our next Prime Minister.

Another leader who used the atmosphere of hate and caused divides along religious lines was Narendra Modi. The infamous Gujarat riots happened during his wake. About 2000 people lost their lives during this riot. He was successful in polarizing people of Gujarat along religious lines during and after the riots to devastating effect. In the following state re-elections, the BJP led by Modi, won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly.

The success of Advani and Modi in sowing hatred and reaping votes encouraged the birth of their proto-types in several parts of India. The latest entrant to the tribe is the other Gandhi – Varun Gandhi. He used decadent language of the gutters to inflict deep wounds on a community. Though the Election Commission and the entire world know that he had uttered those words clearly aired on TV, he now says that the tapes were doctored and the voice in it was not his. His party stands by him and his blatant lie. Perhaps this marks the birth of another great rabble-rouser leader who would preside over our destinies.

Rath Yatras that separate people on the basis of their religion apparently makes sense in the short term. The fact is, hate sells. Hate also makes very good news sense. And, it gets votes. However, a possible consequence is, we may resemble Pakistan in the foreseeable future, where the Taliban and other terrorists exert and extend their sphere of influence within that country.

Goodness or quiet, positive actions do not make good news. Nor does it win votes in most cases. But goodness alone can lift us out of our ordinariness and exalt our country and its citizens among the nations of the world.

The Rath called Time also inexorably moves noiselessly to meet our children of tomorrow. What will this Rath called Time beqeath to them? If we in our generation are not careful, our children will inherit the accumulated poison and hate of all the Raths criss-crossing the nerve centres of our nation.

Thomas L Friedman, the author of The World Is Flat was recently asked by NDTV’s Barkha Dutt about what he thought of 9/11. According to him, 9/11 was significant for them (meaning the terrorists). He asserted poignantly that he was a man of July 4 – (American Independence). For us in our country, it is time to test whether we are August 15 people believing in the high ideals of freedom, equality, secularism and togetherness. The elections give us an opportunity to assert our beliefs and the future of our children.

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Popularity: 22%

BJD, BJP, BSP, JDS, JDU, INC, AIADMK, TMC, CPI CPIM, TRS, DMK, TDP and the list goes on…

I was very bad at mathematics and don’t quite remember my permutations and combinations well. If you apply that technique to the 26 letters in the English alphabet with options of 3,4,5,6 lettered outputs, I don’t know what that number will be. That said, I know for a fact that the number of political parties in India may potentially equal that number of political parties. (Pardon me if the mathematical output is more than the number of parties – I’ve already confessed to being bad at math).

The 12^th of March 2009 saw the formation of a 3^rd front – Come papers report the number of parties in this alliance as 8, others say 10!  Assuming that the number is between 8-10, so many political parties with obviously very diverse interests coming together is for political gains! While they may claim to be a united face, I think it is just crap because a sheer look at the names and the nature of the people in there indicate that they will never stick together on ideologies.  Let’s take a quick sneak peek at the who’s who:

Deve Gowda:

Son of the soil and former prime Minster by chance, I distinctly recall his speech on the day of the vote of confidence when he said that “he would rise like a phoenix from the ashes to lead the country again sometime in future”.  To me, someone’s doing this just to fulfill his personal ambition. History is the best indication of how stable our great old man is and the Bangalore knows this more than anyone else. While I can go on and on, I rest my case here.

Jayalalitha :

The queen of the politics of vendetta, one can’t count the number of times she has decided to merge with a party and then break away. If there is someone who has a reputation of having had an alliance with the left, the right, the center, the top and the bottom, it must be her – yes! Except the DMK. Wonder if she will read this and think, why not merge with the DMK for sometime too?

Prakash Karat :

The CPI exec, LEFTIST is the simplest and apt way to describe them. My top of the mind recall for them was the way they threw the spanner into the works when we tried to get the nuclear deal through. I think they remain extremely conservative to date. Proof of their pudding is a look back into a state that they have ruled forever!

Mayawati:

If she was born south of the Vindhyas, she would have been Jayalalitha’s sister – . Elder or younger, I don’t know! There are two schools of thought from my friends from UP – One saying she has done a terrific job and the other saying she is no better than any other average politician. I can’t comment as I’ve never even set foot on that land, but I will however base my assumption on the recent scandalous birthday bash and the preceding hafta vasool. Welcome to the new world order.

Bhajan Lal:

Ex congressman who was dumped by the party after all his sweat and toil! Clear intentions on saying let me do something anti my mother ship. Selfish is the least that I can say!

Chandrababu Naidu:

Emandi garu? Meeru kooda join chesthunnaara?  In my broken Telugu, I meant to say, Et tu Brutus? If there was anyone in the political class that truly walked his talk and stood at the forefront of development, it’s him. I don’t care about the other aspects as I am trying to look for a needle in a haystack analyzing politicians. I don’t know why. If I were you, I will limit myself to regaining what I lost, look at getting back Andhra – there are too many local battles to fight, why go national?

Chandrasekhar :

Your only claim to fame is a separate state of Telangana. When I was in school, I was thought that India had 25 states ( I forgot if it was 25 or 26). I hoping my son is not taught of India having a 100 states! Can’t you just aim to value add in what we have? The solution to being Chief minister is not to say let’s create more states.. it’s what you can do as a value proposition for your state dude!

Who’s next? I don’t know as the list is not complete. Seems the parties are evaluating options – to join or not, to ruin or not!

God, please save us from this mess. I want to vote and be a good citizen. With so many parties and people around, whom do I vote for in this cesspool? I have no plans of supporting the 3^rd front, but how do we ensure someone doesn’t start a 4^th front day after?

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Popularity: 32%

The 2009 General Elections are around the corner and the political scene is heating up. These elections will be conducted at a critical juncture and will have a great impact on the country’s economy and society.

The last 5 years have seen lot of ups and downs for the country. India continued to grow as a leading economy but also continued to be the victim of organized global terrorism. Overall, the country remained relatively stable on most fronts. Credit goes to the PM and his staunch supporters within the ruling establishment for the achieving the political stability. But there were also significant failures. The time has now come for the citizens to appraise the performance of this government and decide whether they want a change.

All the political parties have started their preparations for the elections. Coalitions are being formed, manifestoes being prepared and ticket distribution being finalized. The BJP took an early lead in its election preparations. It has projected Mr.Advani as NDA’s PM candidate. On his part, Mr. Advani is trying to replicate Obama’s US Presidential election campaign success and naturally, the theme of bringing positive change is on top of his agenda.

I recently visited L.K. Advani’s website and was impressed to see that development issues were the focus of his election campaign. His website talks about farmers’ upliftment, plans for drinking water to all and rightfully highlighted UPAs failure in the National Highway project. It went on to blame the UPA government for causing the recession and inflation. The accusation about recession was absolute dishonesty on BJP’s part as they very well know that this is a global phenomenon. Despite that, I happily concluded that this election will be setting new standards with regards to the discussion of developmental issues.

Two subsequent events totally shattered my short-lived happiness. First, the BJP party secretary announces that building Ram temple will be the prime election issue, again.If this is the main issue, why was BJP silent about it all these days? Is the BJP not aware that the timing of the announcement alone shows how morally corrupt the party is? This announcement shows their insincerity to voters and is shamefully opportunistic. And what is it going to achieve in improving the lives of millions of poverty stricken people? The only explanation I could think of is that it is aimed at improving BJP’s prospects in UP where it is very weak. But the repercussions of reviving this issue doesn’t look good for the country.

Second, during an election campaign, Narendra Modi hinted that 26/11 had internal support. No doubt about that. But is it responsible on the part of Modi to play into the hands of Pak’s theory about the attacks? The entire Indian diplomatic community is trying to expose Pak’s role in the attacks and here, the “Iron man” of BJP sabotages these diplomatic efforts with extraordinary ease. With leaders like these, do we need enemies?

It is now incumbent upon Advani to clearly state his stance on the election campaign. Does he want to be inclusive and focus on development issues? Or is it business as usual with issues planned to divide people along communal lines? Advani must be the first to admit that this is not the mid 90s when the Ram Janma bhoomi issue was a huge vote generating issue. (IBNLive highlighted this confusion in it’s website)

Since Advani is modeling his campaign along the lines of Obama, he could learn from the US election results that after a period of time, people become tired of the ideological issues and start yearning for real change. In US, the “Right” and the “Left” ideologies were rejected and the pragmatic development oriented centrist policies were welcomed. India is lot more complicated with the caste and regional issues thrown in. However, the overall trend will be in the same direction. The recently concluded assembly elections in a few Indian states are a pointer to that.

Thankfully, a BJP supporter, one Mr.Aditya, has expressed his frustration over this issue and has posted his views in the forum in Advani’s website. He rightly says “NO RAM TEMPLE ISSUE AT THIS POINT OF TIME “.

Mr. Advani, are you hearing?

Image Credit: Bast

Popularity: 18%

The term “India-Bharat” has been quite popular over the past few years. After BJP launched the “India Shining” campaign in the 2004 general election and lost it, many political pundits attributed the loss to the unequal distribution of prosperity between “India” and “Bharat”. They contended that only “India” benefited from the economic reforms whereas the “Bharat” was left behind. While anti-incumbency was the major factor of loss, there is some truth in the unequal growth of “India” and  “Bharat”.

So what is the difference between the two words?

Both “India” and “Bharat” are notional entities that signify the relatively better-off urban areas and the poor and backward rural parts of the country respectively. The term was apparently coined in 1978 by Mr. Sharad Joshi but gained prominence in 2003.

“India” has better physical and communication connectivity and better living standards. The urban economy is based on strong services or manufacturing sectors. On the other hand, “Bharat” has poor infrastructure and living standards and it has an agrarian economy. 70% of the country’s total population lives in the rural areas. The implication of this number is huge.

The country cannot aspire to become a super-power when vast majorities of its people do not gain from the increasing prosperity. So, reducing the “prosperity” divide between the urban and rural India should remain a top priority for the future governments.

India can learn a few positive things from how China is tackling this inequality problem. China is investing heavily on projects that will transform large parts of its rural areas to urban centers. By doing this, China hopes to prevent massive migration from villages to cities that put enormous strain on the existing urban infrastructure and reduce the opportunities in the villages.

So, here are some solutions that could reduce the divide.

Renewable energy

Significant resources should be allocated for setting up of renewable energy infrastructure in the villages. Most villages of the country receive abundant sunlight (about 6 months a year) and sources for bio-energy are also significant. Tapping these energy sources can be accomplished by providing subsidies for installing solar panels and bio-energy harnessers that power lights, computers and other electronic devices. Tax breaks for the solar panel manufacturing firms will ensure lower cost for these technologies..

Agriculture

Investment in agriculture is very essential to increase the productivity of arable land. Subsidies can be provided to projects that improve the irrigation systems and also farms that employ effective water conservation techniques. Improvement of roads and access to technology will enable farmers to reach the market faster and get better price for their produce. Investment should also made into food supply chain, like cold-storage (mobile and stationary) facilities to prevent rottage of food which in turn puts more money into the farmer’s pocket.

Knowledge

One of India’s strengths is the emphasis on knowledge. We should make sure that everyone in the village has access to knowledge by investing heavily on primary education. More schools should be opened, more teachers be recruited, higher salaries for teachers be provided to motivate more qualified people to join the profession and a big push be given to computer literacy in the schools. This factor is an absolute must for the long-term sustainability of the India’s growth.

Connectivity

Improvements to the physical (road, rail, air) and digital(telephone, broadband) infrastructure should be carried out at an urgent pace. Once sufficient connectivity is achieved, knowledge and technology firms should be encouraged to move farther from the cities and closer to the rural areas. This will generate employment in the villages, reduce migration to cities, enable professionals to work closer to home and ensures fairly equal distribution of wealth.

While I acknowledge that the government is not oblivious to this “India-Bharat” divide and is sincerely doing quite a lot of work in bridging this divide in the form of plans like Bharat Nirman and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, more ambitious targets should be set and the progress strictly monitored.

Many of the problems like terrorism and Naxalism can be eradicated by lifting people out of poverty. By giving more growth opportunities to more and more people, social harmony and national unity can be strengthened. The political leadership should unite and summon all the will it can, to succeed against these challenges. The task is difficult but very much doable.

Popularity: 23%

In the late 80s and early 90s Narendra Modi  was virtually unknown. He fought very hard to accomplish the tasks given to him by the Senior Leaders of BJP. Towards the later part of the decade, we saw a belligerent Modi moving closer to his political ambition of becoming the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

In 2001, Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat, got promoted to the office at a time his predecessor Kesubhai Patel lost the by-elections. In July 2007, he became the longest serving Chief Minister.  Later the same year, he was re-elected for the third consecutive term as the CM.

In 2001, just when he took office Modi was given the task of rebuilding Gujarat. This was in the wake of the biggest natural calamity India had seen – The Gujarat Earthquake which killed nearly 20000 people and another 170000 injured.  Modi was a man on a mission

In 2002, he faced the biggest test of his life – There was a communal riot in which Hindus and Muslims killed each other following a Godhra train incident. The riot killed nearly 2000 people and about 150000 were displaced.  The entire nation was pitted against him and some even went to the extent of terming the Godhra incident as an attempted genocide, a largescale massacre.

Modi did not sit quiet. What followed was a successful stint – one after the other. In his first term as the Gujarat Chief Minister, the economic growth touched 10%. In 2007, the growth touched a stunning 11.5% reducing the fiscal deficit of the state economy by a stunning 50%.

Other noticeable achievements included infrastructural developments, electrifying rural Gujarat, the Narmada success story etc.

Narendra Modi’s leadership and his extraordinary capabilities made him the darling of media. And soon a brand called Moditva emerged. Modi translated excessive criticisms and a burgeoning popularity into mass votes which made gave him a landslide victory in his third time.

Advani once said about Modi

A leader who, after being subjected to a malicious and prolonged campaign of vilification, has been able to impress even his critics with his determination, single-minded focus, integrity and a wide array of achievements in a relatively short time.

The year 2008 saw Modi take a complete u-turn with industrialists and politicians alike yearning for a piece of the pie in the Gujarat success story. Budha’s pain was Modi’s gain. Under the leadership of Modi, Gujarat opened the doors for Tata and Sanand became the Nanoland.

Modi did not stop there. He continues to woo Bangalore based IT and BPO companies to set up their units in Modiland. 

If this was not enough, Modi surprised all his critics as late as last week. He embarked on a demolition drive of “illegally built temples” in Gujarat including that of a Sai Baba and a Hanuman shrine. Facing the axe are another 161 illegally constructed temples.

Modi invited widespread criticisms for his actions especially from VHP – the erstwhile ideological partner of the BJP. In fact Ashok Singhal, of the VHP compared his government to that of Aurangazeb’s. Modi loyalists however argued that he was painting a picture of a Nationally acceptable, Secular Leader

Read the words once again – “Nationally Acceptable, Secular Leader.” Wow !!!

That made me think a dozen times before I wrote this article.

Is Narendra Modi really trying to lead by example ? Your comments please…

Popularity: 28%

Image Credit: Ahin Sajain

This is a season of “change”.

People across the world seem to have embraced the idea that “Change is the only thing that does not change”.  Barack Obama campaigned and won on the plank of “Change”. His opponent John McCain also was forced to change his campaign slogan to “Real Change”. Now someone in our country is chanting the mantra of “Change”. Guess who? It is Mr. L K Advani.

Let us pause for a flashback. On July 11,2008, the US newspaper Washington Post published an article titled “India’s Unlikely Obama“. The story in Washington Post started like this “An 81-year-old Hindu nationalist who wants to become India’s next prime minister has chosen an unlikely model for his election efforts, the Internet-based campaign of Sen. Obama.

For a few months, a small team of political strategists, computer specialists and management graduates in New Delhi has been studying Obama’s speeches and slogans, Web site, campus outreach and rhetoric of change “.

The article went on to say that Mr. Advani’s campaign plans to use modern technology tools exactly the way Obama did.(”Replication, No; Inspiration, Yes” says one of his aides).The campaign team is planning to use text messaging, social networks, emailing, and a website to start mobilizing young people to bring to their fold. They wanted to create a bottom up participatory movement just like Obama did.

Mr. Ramachandra Guha, political historian, had this to say

That particular campaign style worked for Obama because he is a young, fresh-faced, charming man who promises change. But Advani has too much baggage, both good and bad, attached to him. It strains one’s credulity to imagine the austere, unsmiling Advani being rebranded like Obama.

Now, back to the present.

Today (Nov 8, 2008), IBNLive had this news item “Advani follows Obama, launches a website.”". I was curious about how L K Advani is executing this “Change” strategy and hence I took a look at his website. It has both Hindi and English versions.

The viewer is welcomed by a message from L.K.Advani himself. He talks about his “dreams” of the country, “aspirations” of the Indians and, the usual suspect, “change”. In his welcome speech of a little less than 2 minutes, he used the word “Change” 4 times.

The website then provides the viewer information about Advani’s vision of India, videos of some of his speeches, stance on issues, details about his memoirs, press releases and links to his party. It also has interactive features like forum and options for netizens to provide suggestions and ideas for NDA’s governance.

People who like to participate in the campaign can enroll for Volunteering or join his party. You can compare Advani’s website with Obama’s website at BarrackObama.com

This “Change”strategy worked in US. But will it work in India?

It could work because

1. Like Advani says, India has a lot of young population with around 100 million new voters. This voter segment is more technology savy and can make a difference in the election.
2. The party with the most strong cadre base usually has a good advantage. Technology allows wider reach, speed of execution and enhanced fundraising capabilities.

It might not work because

1. Just like the “India Shining” campaign, the reach of this campaign might be restricted to the urban areas where the party is already strong. The election campaign in rural areas which are untouched by these advancement in technologies will continue the old-fashioned way.
2. Obama’s support was broad based – white, black, Hispanic, Asian, native American, male, female, etc. Will Advani be able to bring voters of all castes and religions to his fold?
3. L.K.Advani’s age.

Now what about Indian National Congress and Rahul Gandhi? According to the article” Rahul’s office said that while it, too, has “flooded” the YouTube and Flickr Web sites with images of Gandhi, such campaigns cannot go far in India, where Web reach is limited and a quarter of the population lives in poverty, ..”.

I found this very ironic considering the fact that INC’s young leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot and others who are educated abroad do not have confidence in technology. Particularly at a time when INC’s hold on the urban and more educated voters is waning.

A more relevant question for INC is, who can first time voters better relate to – 80 year old Advani or 38 year Rahul Gandhi? Perhaps, INC is not realizing their strengths.

It will be interesting to see how this “Change” strategy plays out.

What to do you think?

Popularity: 21%

A recent article in IBN Live exposed the conversation between Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and her accomplice, Ramnarayan Singh, which is clear enough to the whole world that it was she who planned the attack.

If you read the “caught on tape” carefully, she doesn’t seem to have an iota of regret of the blasts in Malegaon and Modassa. She confirms that the bike used was hers. Sadhvi goes a step further when she asks her accomplice as to why the no. of deaths was so less.

What followed was the usual political fallout

1. BJP first shies away from getting associated with Sadhvi
2. Uma Bharati dares BJP
3. RSS steps up its support to Sadhvi
4. BJP seconds RSS
5. BJP, RSS claims that the arrest of Sadhvi is a political conspiracy 

We have seen these kind of dramas earlier in the cases of Shibu Soren, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Pappu Yadav, Chandraswami – the Godman et al. All of them became national figure – Alas! For the wrong reasons.

I have a concern and I hope the appropriate authorities are listening. Our Indian judicial system needs an overhaul. In the case mentioned above and many more such cases, the Indian judiciary seems to have been losing its stand. Here is my message to the Indian lawmakers as well as the judiciary system 

• You don’t see audio tapes, transcripts as proofs
• You don’t take circumstantial evidence into cognizance
• You don’t believe the eye witnesses
• You don’t consider solid material proofs provided by the police or investigating authorities as “proof” enough

 What else do you need?

You are not worried about the dead and their families. Have you ever thought what would it be like if you had to lose one of your own? 

You don’t care about the blood and sweat given by our Jawans or Constables to nab the criminal and in many cases even preventing attacks. 

No wonder why goons like Raj Thackeray, Pappu Yadav, Arun Gawli flourishes in a country like ours. No wonder most of the politicians get away with crime. 

Time you changed. Time you brought guilty to the docks. Time you gave justice to those who suffered and those who will suffer.

Popularity: 11%

Image Credit: Joel

The recent arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh in connection to the Malegaon blasts in which 6 people were killed and many injured has sparked off a fresh round of controversy. While the Sangh Parivar has called her arrest a political conspiracy to malign Hindus, it also distanced itself from Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the three charged with murder by the Maharashtra Police for her alleged role in the Malegaon and Modasa blasts on September 29. Pragya was a former member of the national executive of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the RSS.

Pictures of the Sadhvi with BJP President Rajnath Singh and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan are in circulation in the media. The event: a condolence meeting after the death of state Education Minister Laxman Gaur in February 2006. This has led to charges that Sangh and BJP were behind the terror conspiracy.

Terrorism all over the world is a law and order and police issue. Only in India terrorism is about competitive identity politics. Now, as we enter election season, bombs are being wrapped in party manifestos. The BJP which had positioned itself to be in the fore front of anti-terror campaign suddenly finds itself in the backfoot as “secular” parties have used the arrest to undermine BJP’s anti-terror plank. Also Congress and its allies would like to take this opportunity to deflect some of the criticism coming their way after the string of bomb blats and the charge that it’s soft on terror.

However in my view both the “secular” and “communal” parties are gaining nothing in this war of words on the issue of terrorism. Instead of condemning acts of terror irrespective of the religious identity of the terrorist

Amar Singh has been the first to go off the mark. First he demanded a judicial probe into the Jamianagar encounter, and then called for a ban on the Bajrang Dal, all with his eyes on the party’s traditional Muslim vote in Uttar Pradesh. Forget the Indo-US nuclear deal, Amar Singh knows that the real battle is for the Muslim vote on the street, which in 2007 showed signs of drifting away to Mayawati. Instead of standing forth as someone who demands an impartial police investigation, Amar Singh believes this is the time to show he is the protector of Muslims. If Amar Singh was a true friend of the community, he would assert that a criminal deserves no religious identity.

On the other side, the BJP too which was sounding confident of using the terror plank in the coming elections and tapping into the age old subterranean suspicion of the “mussalman” that exists and is growing in sections of the Hindu electorate.

However now with the arrests of Sangh affiliated members in a terror case it would find difficult to sound hawkish on the issue of terrorism. People are bound to ask that the BJP and its associate groups rave and rant against Islamic terror. But what is their view on Hindu terror?

No matter who wins the nation does stand to loose in this debate. The common man on the street is confused. On one hand he needs to identify with his clan and his political identity without having to justify or support illegal activities. In this poll season one thing is for certain that the last word on this issue is still to be heard. The only thing one can be sure of is that politicians would like always try and gain maximizes their gains by harping on the insecurities of the common man, both Hindu and Muslim. One can only pray that this doesn’t cost more lives on the streets of India.

The politicians need to answer the call to the noblest urges of your chosen profession. The nation needs to be accorded higher priority than votes and vote-bank politics. Let them realize that every vote garnered from the ashes of blast victims or from the sufferings of nuns raped would not be doing justice to the great democracy that is India.

Popularity: 18%

Image Credit: bbjee

About a couple of weeks back, we ran a story Mamata sings for Singur, Tata says Tata Tata, bye bye. When we ran this article we were pretty sure that Tata would eventually move out of Bengal. And they did, leaving a thousand farmers wondering about their future.

West Bengal is supposed to be the intellectual capital of India. With the likes of Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Netaji and thousands of learned men, this land of the learned has slowly and steadily become the land of agitators, unions, addas, lazy babus and most of all “pointless” fighters. Their greed and fight for unjust right has always landed them in trouble with Corporate India. Now, every corporate or multinational that plans for India will plan India sans Bengal.

I am happy for the farmers of Singur that they got back their land. But I am not happy with the fact that thousands of farmers who were in the brink of rejoicing a great future for their children, a secured job and an opportunity for growth will miss it indefinitely until a new Corporate messiah dawns the soil of West Bengal.

I will not be surprised, if a few of these farmers take some extreme steps. We have already seen this happening in other parts of the country where farmers took their lives after they landed themselves in financial crisis and Singur is no exception.

In a smart and quick move Tata Motors on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Gujarat government for relocating the Nano plant to Gujarat. The plant will be located in Sanand, near Ahmedabad and will have an initial capacity of 2.50 lakh units, which will be expanded up to 5 lakh units. The project, comprising the mother plant and the vendor park, will come up on an area of about 1,100 acres.. This project is expected to generate over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.

It is learned that the launch of Nano, will be slightly delayed – apparently in the first quarter of 2009. Tatas had earlier said the rollout will be in the last quarter of this calendar year.

According to sources close to Tata Motors, the company would assemble the first few units from their Pune and Pantnagar plants. Tata Motors currently makes  the Ace Minitrucks from its Pantnagar facility.  It would be interesting to watch Tata sticking to its original promise.

Whatever said, Budha’s loss is Modi’s gain in the fight for Nanoland.

On a different note, immediately after Tata’s exit from Bengal Karan Thapar ran a “War of Words” show on CNN IBN featuring CPM politician Neelotpal Basu, Trinamool politician Trivedi, industrialist Sanjeev Goenka and industrialist Rahul Bajaj. Here is the link – Tata gone, West Bengal wonders whom to blame

Popularity: 21%

Dear  Dr Manmohan,

How is life in Delhi? I heard that you just scraped through the trust vote….I didnt say it, some one else said it. I also read it in Hindustan Times.  My hearty congratulations to you, Sir ! Tussi great ho ji ! You are indeed a King….No wonder Singh is King all over.

But  what am I hearing ? Your allies allegedly bribed the MPs to abstain from voting against the motion-That I must say wasn’t fair, if true. Please order an investigation

What I must say is that you have proved yourself to be a true Sardar. You had the last laugh and you have definitely made us proud – snub the Akalis, CPMs, BJPs etc. and move along the right path. You have my wishes.

As a netspyder, I have been watching the developments in India, over the last few days. I am glad that some conclusive decisions have been taken and the entire country is with you. However, I have certain qualms.

What I do not understand is

CPM going against their ideologies

Not that I ever cared for theirs, on any day.  Give them another term and they will take the country back to stone age. Now that you have the power, I’d like to see the changes that you bring about. You may have a second term in succession. Good luck !

Advani advertising his voice (Read Ad Vaani)

Even at this age he aspires to be more than a deputy.  My guess is he will become another somnambulist Prime Minister like Deve Gowda. Considering the future of India, I think there has to be an upper age limit for becoming the Prime Minister of the country. Else, they will not have the strength to tie their own dhotis before they go to some important meeting.  A true “miss-representation” is in the offing. Let me tell you this – you are way dignified and eloquent.  May you be our Prime Minister for another term.

TDP voting against you

TDP, I thought, is a progressive party. May be they are too hungry for another election.  I think they had enough of YSR. The truth is Andhra Pradesh has had its best time when TDP was in power. May be you want to ally with Chandrababu Naidu – he is a nice man. May be that’s the solution for progressive allround growth.

Criminalization of Politics

Do not understand the sudden emergence of the criminals, pseudo criminals, super negotiators, power hungry societal wastes – How could you even think of seeking their support ? On one hand you say let the government fall, we shall let the nuke go thru – great statement. On the other hand you are allowing the nuke to grow within the system itself. You are setting wrong examples to the youth of this country.  Stand by what is right – Taking support from criminals is nothing short of being a criminal. You did not do well on this scale.  I forgive you !

I still support you for what you have achieved but I don’t deter from calling a spade a spade. Do well, next time – Ok ?

Youth of the Congress

What are you doing with the Youth power? There is plenty of talent out there – Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rahul Gandhi,  Naveen Jindal,  Sachin Pilot et al. Give these young guns the power and see where they take the country. They are the future, they are the young battalions of the Congress. I think it is high time that you replace some of the outspoken octogenarians in your party and replace with the future of India. I am yet to see some commendable steps taken towards empowering the young politicians.

I have lots to speak and I will speak. It is upto you to take it or leave it. May be a true economist that you are, you should give an ear sometimes for a vote later. It pays !

That said- my vote is guaranteed. I will not say to whom, though. Keep guessing !!!

Satsree akal ji

~Kandamangalam

Popularity: 21%

The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (the congress led government) stands for a Vote of Confidence after the left wing allies withdrew thier support in protest with the controversial civilian Nuclear concord.

While Mr. Singh has promised the government that it would prove its majority, and the war is on for the last 36 hours, and the vote is at a close point to be called in a few minutes.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members showed bundles of money from a bag in the air, causing an uproar in the Parliament and alleging that they had been offered bribes to support the Vote of Confidence.

Mr Chatterjee (the hon Speaker) called it a “very sad day” for the Indian parliament, adding: “Nobody will be spared if found guilty.”

What would the result now be? Who would win?

With the left withdrawing their support, the government can now rely on only 226 members in the 543-seat parliament, which would now need 46 more to be absolutely sure of a majority, Congress holding its 153 ceats and BJP holding 130 seats, for the win congress would need a majority and even a single vote may make a difference.

Hold your breath, to watch whether Congress would win the Vote of Confidence or would it loose it? More News to flow in soon.

Popularity: 18%