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The only reason why Rahul Gandhi chose Wayanad, Kerala

Anant Chetan
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The only reason why Rahul Gandhi chose Wayanad, Kerala

On November 30, 2016 Magnus Carlsen from Norway defended his World Chess Championship against Sergey Karjakin from Russia with a magnificent checkmate to end the 16th game of the match. It was a magnificent checkmate because he sacrificed his queen to win the game. (If he would not have sacrificed his queen, he would have been defeated on the very next move, Karjakin just didn’t see the sacrifice.)

Chess is not the only place where strategic sacrifices are made. Clever politicians make significant sacrifices to win their own games like Mr. Rahul Gandhi and Indian National Congress just made one.

Did Rahul Gandhi by filing nominations from Wayanad, Kerala sacrifice 2019 to win 2024 or the one after?

You must have already heard a lot of speculations as to why he filed from there. Congress for example says “it was a popular demand from the south” or “the move is going to uplift the morale of the party in Kerala” they even compared his move to PM Modi’s move when he filed his nominations from Varanasi in 2014.  BJP on the other hand says “Mr Gandhi is looking for a safe seat as he is going to loose Amethi, as his vote share is consistently falling (from 71.78% in 2009 to 46.71% in 2014 and victory margin reduced from 3,70,198 to 1,07,903) and that of Mrs. Irani increasing” or “Mr. Gandhi chose Wayanad because the demographics support him.”

However, these speculations and justifications don’t answer a very critical question.

How did the INC zeroed on Wayanad, Kerala? Why Kerala? Why not Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh or Telangana or Tamil Nadu or north eastern states like Assam or West Bengal? My point is that the reasons/justifications given for him choosing Wayanad stand true for these states too. Why not a constituency in one of these states?

If the intentions were to help the party and uplift the morale, he could have contested from a constituency in Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh, where INC scored 0 out of 39 and 25 respectively. He could have contested from Karnataka, which is in a terrible crisis with JD(S) and Congress’ coalition government. The government literally is in a mess, the MLA’s are being traded, kept in hotels even today. Or even from any of the states where the party surfed on thin ice in 2014 like Telangana (2 out of 17), Assam (3 out of 14), and,  West Bengal (4 out of 42), etc. But they chose Kerala where they had the highest vote share in the state i.e. 31.10% with highest eight seats out of ten. That is why, it would be unfair to compare his candidature from two seats with PM Modi’s candidature from Varanasi.

Because PM Modi, apart from his conventional seat and state, contested election from a state of strategic importance to the party. Not only the state had 80 LS seats, BJP was extremely weak in the state. It could only manage 10 out of 80 seats in 2009. Mr. Modi brought his charm and “wave” to the state along with 73 seats in 2014. However, in case of Rahul Gandhi, this is not the case. It is practically impossible to loose that seat because of the demographics. He does not do any good to the party by contesting from Wayanad from 2019 general election’s perspective.

Moreover, Wayanad Kerala is not the only “safe” constituency. There are several states where Muslim population is more than 30%. J&K has 33.45%, Assam has 34.22% WB has 27.1% which is going faster than twice the rate of growth of any other religious community. These are just a handful states to mention.  There would at least be a  few districts/constituencies in these states where Muslims would be in majority.

On the contrary this decision of choosing Wayanad Kerala, is going to hurt the party in this general election. First, putting a lot of weight in Kerala would impact CPI adversely. CPI managed its lone LS seat in 2014 from Kerala and is struggling to keep its national party status intact. This  “a bigger fish eating a smaller fish” in turn will dent the so-called ‘the grand alliance’ (Mahagathbandhan). Second, their state ally – Indian Union Muslim League’s flag although slightly different from that of Pakistan (the crescent moon faces the other direction) would amplify INC’s pro-Pakistan stance. Which is why they wanted IUML to not use their flags in the rally.

In short Congress sacrificed 2019 elections at the last moment. But why? Congress is simply too experienced to not have seen these factors. It was a calculated move. They knew what they are sacrificing.

Kerala is a state with exceptional strategic importance like no other state for Congress. Why? How?

Kerala has all the right ingredients. It has  three religious communities with more than 15 percent population: Muslim (26.56%), Hindu (54.73%) and Christians (18.38%) as per 2011 census, as of now the numbers would be quite different and surprising for many. Owing to the socialist and communist proclivity of the state INC would fit in the state pretty easily. The party who manages to get a lead in the state would automatically look secular. It does not matter how the party managed the lead.

Now the most important aspect of Kerala; the simmering Sabarimala Issue. In a few years from now, Sabarimala temple would be an issue like Ram Temple in UP. Why? Simply because in the current circumstance, Congress finds itself cornered when it comes to Ram Temple. BJP is fully invested and committed to build a massive temple at the disputed site. However, INC, on one hand is trying to halt this process by employing a variety of tactics (inside the court and outside the court) and on the other hand is trying soft Hindutva approach for instance by portraying themselves as Janeu Dhari and Dattatrey Gotra etc.

The party is now left with a little room to maneuver. They now need a new narrative to showcase themselves secular. Sabarimala solves this problem for them. In a few years from now, when BJP, who at present has negligible presence in the state would rise up for the rights and emotions of Hindus, the then intellectuals would credit BJP of creating a communal divide in the name of Sabarimala temple. And Congress would retain its secular title.

Suggested read: Hinduism: A persecuted religion (Sabarimala)

Good and bad always come in pairs, to experience and understand good, one has to have experienced bad. Likewise, secular and communal also come in pairs, to show a party secular and assert its importance, you need someone to look communal or ugly.

The today’s so-called secular-liberal-intellectuals think that BJP used or rather is using Ram Temple for their politics. However, they forget that the issue existed in 1850s when BJP did not even exist. The issue existed in 1930s when BJP was nowhere around. The British Raj along with the Congress rebuilt the domes when they where destroyed in 1934, again BJP was nowhere to be seen. When it comes to independent India, the cases were filed in the ’50s, BJP was not around. BJP did not even exist but Indian National Congress had always been there, manipulating the issue for its own benefit. If anything at all, BJP is the victim of Ram Temple issue. The issue was carefully nurtured, what we saw in the ’90s was a result of what was done year after year for decades.

Suggested read: Ayodhya Dispute: An unresolved symbolical confrontation

This exact scenario would be repeated, only this time it would be in Kerala. This is the only reason why Mr. Gandhi has filed nominations from a constituency in Kerala. This move diverts all the attention from UP to Kerala. Kerala would become the epicenter of Indian Politics moving forward. It would determine the nation’s mood. This marks a beginning of a new innings.

Congress is a politically astute party, they know they are going to lose 2019 anyhow, it is better for them to start looking beyond 2019.

Thanks for your time and patience!! If you like the post please do visit my blog Infinite Sea Of Opportunities.

Rahul, an inspiration

Rudra
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Rahul, an inspiration

There I said it. Rahul is an inspiration. You think it is funny? No it is not. It is absolutely serious. But why am I praising Rahul on OpIndia? Because he deserves to be praised – he is an inspiration. Not convinced? Neither was I. But read on. I promise you that the end of this article, you will fully agree with me.

Rahul is a hope to the millions in India. Those who haven’t ever held a job – will see him and think – yes, I can become a Prime Ministerial candidate too. How inspiring is that? Sure, wannabe chaiwallahs can do that – but chaiwallahs have a job – this is about totally jobless people. And yes, the amount of assets. Go check your bank balance – with whatever experience you have. Look at Rahul’s assets. Now go and dunk yourself in a small cup of water. Yes, this is hope. Not your measly bank balance and one small home that you are either saving for eternity or paying a loan for eternity.

Rahul can barely string a few sentences together without mixing up either grammar, gender, facts, figures, dates or language. Have you ever heard a speech of Rahul where he does not muddle up stuff? I mean, there are a thousand leaders who can articulate – either in their native language or in English or in some other language. We look up to them and say, what a leader. I can never become a leader – I can never speak like them. But one speech of Rahul and the persons eyes glimmer with hope. Yes, I can do it. I can be a star one day. Leader or stand up comedian. I can also be something. He does it for inspiring the people, you duffers.

Rahul is an investment genius. Any asset he touches just grows. And on the other hand, there are people peddling toothpaste and plastic containers and herbal health supplements to supplement their income from a job. Who wouldn’t like to have this skill? Where an asset magically appears at your door and says, take my money, invest in me and forget – I will give you returns. I will grow on my own. Doesn’t happen. You and I and everyone else has to slog. But Rahul, what an inspiration from the investment genius.

And to you corporate types – this is totally for you. Learn from Rahul’s work life balance. I mean, I really don’t need to say more, but I will. Imagine working for a few days and taking off for few weeks. Yes, Rahul never preaches work life balance – he does it. By the way, you corporate idiots get one thing wrong – you take pictures of vacation. He takes pictures of work, not vacation. Take pictures of every work you do, share with boss, prove that you are working hard and voila – you are not affected by performance appraisals and those measly pay hikes you slog for. Your team does it. They take those pictures and go to town with it and you get your increment and promotion while you are in some exotic vacation. Don’t you wish you had a working life like Rahul? Yes, yes, you get the point. Tip: Empower your team so that they stand by you. This is something you wont understand. Second tip: Go big on Rewards and Recognition.

There is something very cool about some leaders. They give you absolute global gyan without telling you any details. And at the end you are either confused or confounded. But they leave you with the big picture. This is a very difficult skill. I mean, you are hungry and someone is speaking about Jupiter. Or Gold from potatoes. Or a fighter plane for 7200 rupees when you cannot even get a second hand phone with that money. You cannot comprehend it. The mouse brain that you have just cannot comprehend it. This is one thing that you cannot aspire for – this is beyond aspiration – this is sheer talent and genius. But isn’t it inspiring? This is called big picture thinking. Yes, yes, you can thank me later.

There is a plan to make a biopic of sorts – it will be abstract art -just a blank screen for you to see and inspire yourself. And a book is on the way apparently, printed on invisible ink.

This is a short post and it cant do justice to the great inspiration that Rahul is. Words, especially from someone like me, who has been a loser on most counts.

But if Rahul becomes the Prime Minister (he is already Prime Ministerial candidate and that is inspiration enough), he will inspire a billion people….Don’t you agree?

Index of ‘hate politics’ of DMK and development centric agenda of AIADMK, BJP alliance in Tamil Nadu

S Ranganathan
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Index of ‘hate politics’ of DMK and development centric agenda of AIADMK, BJP alliance in Tamil Nadu

Some of the main stream visual news channels of both regional language and English often take the ‘index of hate’ expressed by a few people in TN to predict the poll outcome. Often a small fraction of people express their hatred against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tamil Nadu politics since the entry of EV Ramasamy Naicker into Justice Party from congress, has given way only for hatred than governance or any other form of reform. For several decades EVR spitted nothing but hatred, negativity, pessimism, anti-Hindu, anti-God and anti-Bhakti tradition of Tamil Nadu.

In 1967, DMK when came to power, added one more dimension to the politics of Tamil Nadu other than hatred; the open caveat called corruption. The credit for the consecration, glorification and innovating scientific methods for corruption must be given exclusively to M Karunanidhi of DMK and no one else could beat his record till date in engaging in corrupt practices in a scientific manner.

Post Karunanidhi, the politics of Tamil Nadu is witnessing one more new fact called dynasti-sm besides hatred and corruption. For DMK to exist in the state, hatred, negativity, anti-God, anti-hindu rhetoric are inevitable. To the part of the new president of DMK, has introduced anti-Modi politics to his kitty of anti-Hindu, anti-God, hate and negativity dominant politics of DMK.

Dynastic culture and corruption have become the symbol of the party and therefore only the new additional dimension called ‘hate Modi’ is getting picked by some main stream media. Obviously DMK is implanting hate politics against PM Modi but the entire state is not filled by DMK sympathizers or missionaries of DMK. No doubt the DMK missionaries are noisy and vociferous but the people who are silent do not belong to the clan of DMK nor are engaged in hate politics or politics of hatred against PM Modi.

Therefore the index of hatred and negativity spewed by DMK cannot be taken as a reliable sample data to predict the possible poll outcome. After 9 years of AIADMK rule, the turbulence faced by AIADMK and the government headed by EPS, still people of the state do not find any strong reason to dislike AIADMK government nor have found anything so attractive with DMK.

DMK is seen the same way as before, with congress, carrying the heavy load of scam allegations starting from 2G, Aircell-Maxis to Augusta –Westland Chopper gate. On the other hand, several regional parties like PMK, DMDK, TMC who were contesting in the state to establish own political space have joined with AIADMK obviously due to the fact that DMK should not come to power because that will do only harm to the state.  Therefore all these regional parties burying own political ambition have come together to save the state. BJP and Narendra Modi is leading the alliance at the national level.

In a sense, the AIADMK alliance can be called as ‘alliance of virtue’. The positive force always would engage only in spreading positivity, mission of development and sab ka vikas, national security etc., and not in selling falsehood, negativity, hatred, anti-Hindu, anti-God sentiments like DMK. The positive force also will not engage in corrupt practices, nepotism and promoting dynastic culture.

The negative force would do everything possible to spread negative perception, hatred and lies to establish its kingdom. This is the reason why anti-Modiji rhetoric is more visible than PRO MODI feelings and appeal. It is like deep water shall remain silent and shallow water alone would make waves and noise.

The people of the state who remains silent and perpetuate positivity in the state by campaigning for AIADMK alliance are conserving the energy for the last mile run as they have taken not only the responsibility to campaign for AIAMDK alliance but also have taken up the responsibility to save Tamil Nadu from the decaying politics of dynasty, nepotism, corruption, negativity, hatred, anti-Hindu-ism etc.

Like Gandhiji said, one need more courage and conviction to remain non-violent than be violent.  Similarly all those positive people will be silent than noisy. To remain silent and on the mission of development, requires passion, commitment and sincerity whereas for spreading hatred, negativity and anti-Hindu sentiments, payment for the job is sufficient.

EPS has formed a positive bondage with centre and therefore he could accomplish several pro-people development programmes as envisaged by late Amma. Through positive mission, EPS, OPS and Narendra Modi have taken both the state and India to the new trajectory of development, sab ka vikas and national security. On the other hand, the dynasts are fighting for their dynasty and family to engage in politics of loot and nepotism.

The 2019 election is between truth versus untruth, dynasty verses merit & democracy, development of the nation versus development of own dynasty & family, transparency & honesty versus corruption and scam, equal opportunity versus nepotism, positive vision versus hate-Modi campaign, national integration versus minority appeasement.

India to prosper, develop, achieve stability & security and governance free of corruption & scam, India need Narendra Modi and BJP as well as the government of EPS in TN must continue. MGR and Amma were the leaders who diluted hate politics in Tamil Nadu initiated by EVR and was stabilised by DMK.

Hope people of India and people of Tamil Nadu would own up additional responsibility to save the state and nation from the hands of dynastic, divisive forces and would elect PM Modi with decisive margin.

A brave India, India economic super power, India free of corruption and scam, India to remain as a developed nation, India, the leader of global peace and harmony, the country Pakistan would fear the most to engage in any misadventure, such India need Narendra Modi, not the dynast.

Let us elect Narendra Modi and let us save India from Tukde Tukde gangs, dynastic forces and the forces that want to loot our country.

Chowkidar Ranganathan

Left based intellectuals decoded

khalpat
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Left based intellectuals decoded

From time immemorial across the world, left based intellectuals have always attracted people. Even though it’s a failed ideology why do some youngsters like it? It seems it is because most of these left based intellectuals wrap their political ideology very smartly with empathy towards oppressed and for that they use their writing or speaking skills effectively. Thus they come out for many as “good people”.

What if there are no oppressors? What happens when your country starts moving at fastest rate, the head of state is non corrupt, all his ministers are efficient and easily reachable, people start getting basic need items which they were deprived of for many years like bank accounts, toilets, electricity, roads, they start getting clean railways, affordable air ticket, cheap internet, no regular bomb blasts, no major riot?

What happens then? The significance of this ideology based writers, thinkers, artists start diminishing. Actually there are very less or minimal who are actually oppressed as there are no oppressor so now these ideologists are not able to wrap their evil intentions.

What is the way out for them? Well to keep themselves significant, these left based individuals start creating fake victims, they take couple of incidents from billion population blow it out of proportion to show government in bad light. Their whole ideology is based on the concept of oppressor oppressing the victim, so they try to paint the powerful as oppressor.

While doing this they start hurting countries image and actual educated class gets agitated with their tantrums. hence normal people start criticism and when normal people criticize they are harsh. These left based intellectuals who are egoistic, stubborn, but well qualified individuals and for long they have enjoyed the good position with respective governments hence powerful and have huge media presence start presenting themselves as victim and create a soft spot among people of country.

How to deal with them? There extreme reaction and hatred shows they are being dealt. It’s time that people should not fall into their narrative. Vote smartly. It would finish them.

Ease of business under the Modi Government

monishs
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Ease of business under the Modi Government

Lately, especially with elections round the corner, there has been a lot of talk by various opposition parties about how small businessmen are suffering, especially due to the after effects of demonetization and GST. Further, even eminent economists are saying that there is jobless growth in India. Further, all the analysts mention about how industry itself is suffering. I am a small businessman having a manufacturing unit with 35 people working under me. I sell my goods all over India as well as export too. I would like to mention my experiences about these various points –

  1. DEMONITISATION: 100% of the business transactions we make are accounted even though we deal with small companies as well as big corporates. The reason being that everyone requires tax set-off, even in the earlier excise and vat regime. Hence, all dealings are by cheque / bank transfers. Even all vendors and employees are paid by cheque / bank transfers. Cash is required only for minor day to day petty cash purchases. Earlier the major cash expenses were octroi charges paid to various courier boys, who used to get the material by paying octroi. With octroi being abolished, this component of cash expense has been eliminated. With regard to minor day to day expenses for items bought from nearby shops, after demonetization, we set a practice of weekly cheque payments with these shops, reducing the cash outflow. Further, as I did not have any excess cash lying with me, the problem of depositing the same did not arise!

Another advantage was- after demonetization, everybody started accepting cheques and credit cards, to the extent that even the local grocery shop and vegetable vendor, further reducing daily cash expenses.

Who has suffered are the businessmen who dealt mainly in cash. But then Demonetization put them on the the track.

  1. GST – The advantages are GST are numerous.
    1. First and foremost, as complete credit can be availed, there is an incentive for all businesses to purchase with bill, reducing the cash component.
    2. Earlier, for out of state purchases, one had to get C Form from the buyer. This was a huge problem for companies like mine who deal in capital goods and have one time transactions with a lot of customers. Every year, the C Form not received liability came in lakhs of rupees to be paid to the sales tax department. With GST, the whole requirement of getting C Forms is gone, resulting in a lot of savings in time and money. Nobody is highlighting this advantage!
    3. Return filing is now smooth and can be done by any lay person. Earlier, there were Excise returns, VAT returns (in fact, one for CST and one for VAT) – monthly/quarterly as well as annually, LBT Tax etc. Further, along with the returns, there were the mandatory audits and scrutinies, which resulted in corruption and huge wastage of time. Plus consultants had to be paid for the returns as well as audits.

With GST, all this is gone and the return filing, though 2 returns a month, is quite smooth. A lot of service providers too have cropped up with very reasonable fees. Average fee per return is just Rs. 300 to 600 per month. This is very reasonable and affordable even for small businessmen.

Hence, the contention that small businessmen are suffering due to GST and filing of returns is a head ache is totally wrong and agenda driven.

Opposition leaders are saying that traders are under distress due to GST implementation. I meet a lot of businessmen and traders on a day to day basis. However, none has ever complained about GST. Problems of small traders due to GST are figment of the imagination of journalists, economists and opposition leaders.

Further, there are lot of compliances for most factory owners. The first and foremost being getting pollution control certification. Earlier, one had to go to the relevant office, get the forms, fill them and submit them with a demand draft. Then they would visit for inspection, expect something in return when the certificate was ready! Now, this time, I had to fill the form on their website, pay the fees by credit card / bank transfer and the certificate came by e-mail and that too for 5 years! If this is not ease of business, what is!

Every business has to pay various things like ESI, PF etc. Now this too is online along with the returns.

Forming a company results in you automatically getting PAN, TAN etc. within 2 days. Hasn’t this made life easy for businessmen?

In case of exports, earlier proof of exports had to be submitted to the excise dept who would disallow the same in case of late submission. Now, one just has to mention the shipping bill no. in the GST return, eliminating the need for providing hard copies to the excise dept.

As against the hullabaloo of jobless growth, on the contrary it is the reverse, there is a paucity of good people. It is next to impossible to get good quality skilled workers. As against this, the number of fresh Engineers inquiring for jobs is huge. Hence, the problem right now is that people are overqualified. 20 years back, there were ITIs looking for jobs, then there were diplomas who were asking for jobs and now its qualified Engineers who are looking for jobs. Most engineers are not ready to work with their hands and want jobs which involve checking and working on the computer. Now the problem is that there are jobs but not the right candidates.

Does this mean, everything is hunky dory and there are no problems? Of course, businessmen suffer a lot but there life has certainly improved due to the various initiatives of the Modi government. Below is a wish list on behalf of small businessmen –

  1. In case customers don’t pay, it’s a huge loss for the business who has spent time, money and taxes on manufacturing. Making it compulsory for customers to pay and penalizing willful defaulters should be the next step of reforms for the 2nd term of Modi Government.
  2. The number of returns, other than GST i.e. ESI / PF / Factory Act etc. is huge. Can’t these be eliminated in some way and making self-declaration mandatory, especially for smaller businessmen having turnovers upto say 25 crores.
  3. As mentioned above, getting good employees is a problem and Modi government’s Skill India initiative is the most appropriate but needs to be made more popular.
  4. Number of audits and scrutinies should be reduced and preferably eliminated at least for small businesses who do not have the infrastructure and people to complete all such things.
  5. Payment of toll is a pain, not for the expense but for the time which goes in the line. Can’t there be a single toll for a complete stretch. In China, one gets on the expressway and there are no obstructions and toll is applicable when one exits the expressway. Depending upon where one gets out, toll is applicable. Not a difficult system to implement!
  6. Inflation is a huge problem as customers do not increase prices and costs keep on rising. Reducing subsidies and further reducing the fiscal deficit would go a long way in helping out businesses.
  7. The government should not get into providing minimum income guarantee as it will eliminate the urge to work, resulting in increase in wages and Indian products being uncompetitive.
  8. The government should also work towards increasing the strength of the Rupee. Economists as well as IMF talks about depreciating the currency to increase export competitiveness but it is not so. Most input materials are related to global rates and any depreciation in the currency results in increase in input costs. Even being a net exporter, I am for Rupee appreciation. An appreciating currency will result in reduction in costs and prices.

With this, I appeal to all to vote for the Modi government.

7 major hits and misses of Modi Government

Ankesh Kumar
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7 major hits and misses of Modi Government

This summer the heat is really caught up not only with the weather but with the great election year. India is a multi-party democracy system; however, this election is clearly termed out to be in something like- Modi or not to be with Modi. The stage has been set and various people are trying to put various things about how Modi’s leadership. Among all the noises what you hear around you usually end up listening or reading two extremes- ones which say everything right and great about Modi Government or you hear everything wrong about it.

I believe irrespective of intentions- no government or leader can be 100% perfect and there are always going to be hit and some misses. I am trying to put all the Hits & Misses of Modi Government from my perspective by being as neutral as I can.

Major Hits

  1. Zero Corruption

The premise of 2014 Modi’s campaign was completely on anti-corruption drive especially after a series of scam which was unearthed from UPA 1 & UPA 2 era, so it was quite evident that Modi should walk the talk and I personally believe he did. We keep reading about various news where it has been highlighted that power corridor, top scale corruption, lobbying is completely stopped. This government has done a huge amount of public spending and not even single impropriety found to date. There was huge noise about Rafale Deal which was reviewed by the Supreme Court as well as CAG and no wrongdoing was found. This was a big change which was even acknowledged at several industry seminars and conferences by top corporate leaders.

  1. Swatchh Bharat Mission

Modi started a revolution where he involved the citizen of the nations on creating awareness and being part of cleaning our surrounding. He has taken up the issues of Open Defecation, River Restoration, Cleaning of the Ganges and Human Scavenging across the country at the municipal level. I am not saying that we have been fully successful on this but I see the sense of awareness around among people.

  1. Railways Makeover

This has been a great achievement of the Modi Government who has completely changed the face of Indian Railways. Over the ages, we always used to frown and look down on stations, coaches of Railways and in the last 5 years, we have seen massive transformations in all areas of Railways. Be it beautification of stations, providing quality coaches, Make in India Vande Bharat Express, Man, Reduction of Unmanned Level Crossing and roll out of High-Speed Bullet Train. The improvement in Railway Infrastructure is significantly visible.

  1. Achievement in Sports

This is one area which is quite least talked about in Media, however, I believe we have taken a huge leap in Sports in our country. We have more athletes and there is a huge push in promoting all sort of sports, which can be visible in our performances in Olympics, Asian Games, CWG etc. We certainly see huge improvement and awareness in sports and seeing India winning more accolades in sports which were not in its purview before.

  1. JAM & Benefits of Poor without Leakages

When I made my Aadhar Card way back in 2011 and for three years I was wondering what is this for? Mr Modi really gave Aadhar the meaning to it by linking it with Mobile and 31 crore Bank Accounts created with revolutionary Jan Dhan Account Scheme. The direct benefit model helped to benefit the real beneficiaries by removing middlemen itself save around 1.23 lakh crore in the last five years. JAM also gave the boost of schemes like Ujjwala Yojna (A gas connection to BPL family), Aayushman Bharat (World Largest Healthcare Scheme) and various scheme to Farmers and MNREGA labours. JAM also revolutionised Banking Industry with digital payment, UPI and made our life easier in terms of getting Passport, Verification for various other services.

  1. Public Infrastructure Boost & North East Focus

This has been a great achievement of Mr Narendra Modi which kept this pace of economy at the supreme level. Be it Road, Freight Corridor, Ports, Airports, Bridges, Railways, Housing for Poor, Toilets- the infrastructure development is unmatchable speed than ever. The Bharat Mala Project which was conceived by Mr Vajpayee is seeing its real shape today. Mr Modi also put special focus in the North East States which was fully neglected in the last 70 years by building highways, bridges and roads till border which was in shamble.

  1. Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act and Fugitive & Economic Offender Act

In India, we have never seen any corporate house had any fear of losing its ownership and punished for being defaulted in crores of money. Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act has given the teeth to Banks and Lenders to take ownership and recover money. We have seen now Industrialists are falling in line in terms of paying back to the bank or losing the assets. Mr Modi has highlighted Black Money and Economic Offense in a global forum and the new law has seized billions of assets across the world. This indeed a great achievement of government and its intention to clean up the system which used to allow these offenders on state patronage.

There are few more Hits which is quite talked about and that’s why I have not listed here.

Foreign Policy:

This government has fared best in terms of Foreign Policy where our standing today as one of the Global Leaders who has been treated seriously by major Power. Mr Modi focussed on Foreign Policy from the time he has taken up the office of PM and which reflects the importance India getting today in International Forums and initiatives in Tourism, Trade Negotiation, Defense Deals, Yoga Day and many more.

Defence Infrastructure:

This government really has taken care of basic needs of Indian Armed Forces from OROP, Accessories like Bullet Proof Jackets, Several Arms deals which were stuck for long such as Rafale, Missiles, Naval Ships and Make in India effort.

War on Terrorism & Naxalites:

This Government has been tough of terrorism and we have not seen a single terrorist attack beyond J&K and one incident in Pathankot. The government confidence and giving full support to armed forces has been witnessed in Surgical Strike and Balakot Air Strike where this government showcased that it will not take any attack lightly. We also see a huge drop in Naxal violence at an all-time low.

 Major Misses

  1. No Conviction of Scamsters

This I consider is as the biggest failure of the Modi Government. The entire 2014 election was fought on the premise of Anti-Corruption mentioning list of scams like CWG, 2G, Coal Gate, Chopper Scam, Sharda Chit fund, NPA Loans, National Herald Scams, Money Laundering by few leaders, Robert Vadra Land Deals and not a single conviction or no one has been booked so far. In fact, in 2G Scam, A Raja got bail and court termed that scam never happened. The government had five years but made no progress to give feeling to the population that these scams happened and someone has been punished towards it. The kind of narrative Modi has built to book all the scamsters now can’t be hidden in the pretext of our slow processes in the investigation and judicial systems.

  1. Poorly Managed Demonetisation

I have supported the intention behind Demonetisation, but I believe this was not thought through in terms of its execution and final output. The government didn’t even consider basic details of how many no. of ATMs is in working condition in each bank, how these ATMs would get calibrated with new currency and the digital reach itself was not well covered to supplement the demanded cash which led to huge chaos and hardship for common people at the cost of nothing. The government kept on changing its narrative of outcome expectation of demonetisations like terror funding, fake currency, moving to digital payments, black money etc and at the end, we don’t know what we benefitted. The government final submission is the taxpayers got doubled, and few lakhs company got unregistered and lots of accounts are in red list where IT is still seeking details, but I feel somehow the government failed to convince people at large its real benefit besides there was quite big disturbance in economy and now the cash in circulation is still at a similar level.

  1. GST Implementation

Implementing GST in India was a milestone for this government however the structure of GST and the way it was implemented with lots of confusion on no. of filings, documents, systems being down and frequent changes in rules and procedures reflected that the implementation of such a tax reform at this scale was not planned properly. The main objective of GST to bring all those in ambit of filing tax return who never even bothered to do any paperwork in terms of invoicing, filing return, filing input tax credit etc., however, the in initial days of it’s launch GST filing was so complicated it really confused lots of small traders which was never used to such paper works. India is known for developing best of IT systems in the world and yet there were glitches on GST site, server breaks down, technical snags added to the problem.

However, I must appreciate the government being flexible here to simplify the process in time and review of multiple tax slab by kept on revising as per market needs.

  1. Transparencies on Data & Reporting

There was a standard way the government used to reports its statistical data to the public through various agencies. Modi government revolutionised and modernised the central agencies by the body like Niti Aayog and restructured PMO and implemented various schemes like Skill India, Mudra Yojna etc. which fuels economic growth and new nature of job creation. We have seen government now questioning agencies like NSSO, CMIE on their methodology and their age-old definition of real job or labour, but at the same time government never came up with the alternate method to capture these data in structure way to reflect real data on economy and jobs. This has created a lot of confusion on what’s the real data and who owns it in its true sense.

  1. No Smart City

This was a pet project of Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi to build 100 smart cities and some investment allocation along with identification and phased implementation started with huge fanfare. The five years was quite enough to at least build one smart city model however we have not seen one such great implementations and any effect on the ground. In fact, as per me, the urban infrastructure has been deteriorated in major cities across the country. Smart City could have been a great model to showcase how technology & infrastructure capability to service the citizen but somehow it reflects more on events and conference than in reality.

  1. Slowdown Private Investment and Export

This was the problem which was inherited to this government in the form of NPAs and high-interest rates which literally slowed down the Private Investment in most of the sector. The gap between public spending and private investment is quite high now and not improving. We see similar things in export where the growth is stagnant in the last five years. These are mostly because of external factors however government some way could not able to kick start it. The government failed to pass Land Acquisition Bill Amendments and Reform in Labour Law also made an effect on this. This also has a ripple effect in Job Creation & Industrial Outputs.

  1. Perception management due to Cow Vigilantism

This I believe was more of perception battle which Modi has lost because of too much rise in reporting as well as media coverage in violent cases related to Cow Vigilantism. I was born and raised in Jharkhand and I know that this is not a new phenomenon where villagers take the law into the hands to protect their cattle but in last five years that way opposition and few media highlighted these incidents and connected to the central government somehow not managed well by BJP functionaries. There was always gave a mixed signal on this subject which shows BJP a party of hooligans in a few areas.

At last, we must give it to Mr Narendra Modi that since from the time he came in National Politics, people at large has become involved in political discussion & discourses. He has set a new trend of performance-based politics and set a new benchmark which will be an uphill task for any other leaders to fulfil. I have never seen anything like this in past, the way this government has been scrutinised on even smaller issues which have made public at large more aware and alert.

Let’s see where this election leads where we have Mr Narendra Modi is one side and lots of options at another side.

From corruption to casteism: The Samajvadi manifesto

Divyanshu Singh
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From corruption to casteism: The Samajvadi manifesto

While the SP faces internal disturbances, their Manifesto presents a rather vague and unclear socialist strategy.

For a manifesto, the Congress’ was available easily and digitally transferable along with supporting 4 languages.

State and local parties do not project their manifestos and plan of action as it should be. Most of the manifesto is derived from @Twitter Accounts of the party leaders.

Similar was the case for the SP.

1. Wealth inequality

Akhilesh Yadav has these views about the income in equality of India:

But this claim completely ignores the fact that wealth and income inequality are two different facets of the society. The amount of wealth owed to others must also be taken into account.

Unfortunately, he also ignore the reducing gap of weather and income in India, where according to World Bank’s statistics, on average, a 1% increase in per capita income reduced poverty by 1.7%.

Also, 10 per cent increase in a country’s average income will reduce the poverty rate by between 20 and 30 percent.

(See Adams, R (2002) Economic Growth, Inequality and Poverty: Findings from a New Data Set here and Policy Research Working Paper 2972, World Bank here.)

So, instead of the “distribution” of weather, they must look forward to higher growth within the economy, as it has been the focus of the NDA Govt. Even Brookings have predicted that around 44 people are pulled out of poverty every minute in India.

2. Schemes

Akhilesh Yadav has mentioned two schemes implemented in UP for the Central government:

But these schemes didn’t fare well in UP itself. For example, the Samajwadi Pension yojna had been riddled with corruption. Also, the Yogi govt identified 43000 dead people receiving the benefits of the Pension scheme.

Even the Lohia Scheme had its share of criticism, where 6.5 crore have been allocatted to wrong hands.

Using these corrupt and seemingly unproductive schemes may not surpass the success of PMAY and starting another scheme would increase the dead weight of bearucracy of the central government.

3. Army Pension

Akhilesh Yadav has put forward the following suggestions:

But the army already has very specific pension schemes already in place even before the NDA govt was in power.

Increasing the Pension would put pressure, unwanted in nature, upon the Central Exchequer. Instead, better quality equipment for the army and better intelligence resources to deter insurgency- both internal and external should be recommended.

Increasing workload of the government by adding unwanted and overhead expenses is an old trick of the SP to trick the masses and credit for other’s works.

Rahul Gandhi travels back in Time

Pankaj Vaidya
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Rahul Gandhi travels back in Time

Jawaharalal Nehru was sitting with V. K. Krishna Menon inside his residence at the “Teen Murti Bhavan”.

“Sounds Unbelievable” he said “Are you sure these people are not frauds? This may be some American conspiracy.”

“I don’t think so.” replied V. K. Krishna Menon. “We have cross verified their story. They have got many gadgets which are from the future. It is amazing the way they can describe every minute detail of this house Teen Murti Bhavan”. They know every nook and corner. And you know what? The lady who claims to be your great granddaughter looks just like Indiraji. I believe they are indeed your descendants.”

“Wow” said Nehru. “Send them right in.”

Krishna Menon goes out and comes back and announces “Sir, your granddaughter-in-law’s advisers, Mr. Ahmed Patel, Mr. Shashi Tharoor and Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyer.”

Mani Shankar Aiyer immediately rushed to Nehru, fell at his feet and started sobbing with joy. “Now that I have met you, my life’s goal is achieved now, Oh great one.”

Nehru gets irritated and says “Please stop embarrassing me with your sycophancy.”

As a rattled Mani Shankar Aiyer stepped back, Shashi Tharoor whispered into his ear, “It’s alright Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyer. It is still September 1947 and he has still not got used to your sycophancy.”

Mani Shankar Aiyer gets irritated and complains to Nehru. “Sir, Mr. Shashi Tharoor wrote a book about the British rule titled Inglorious Empire.”

Nehru tells Shashi Tharoor, “What an ignorant fool you are. The British Empire was the most glorious one in history.”

An annoyed Shashi Tharoor says, “And Sir, Mani Shankar Aiyer was collecting money for the Chinese soldiers.”

“Wow. you are a true gentleman.” said Nehru looking at Mani Shankar Aiyer appreciatively.

Now, Mani Shankar Aiyer grins and whispers in Shashi Tharoor’s ear. “As you said, it is still September 1947.”

“Where are my descendants?”, asks Nehru getting impatient.

“Just coming” says Ahmed Patel, “Actually they are fascinated with this Teen Murti Bhavan in its ancient form and are loitering around. They have only seen it as a museum. Here they are.”

Nehru gets up and hugs each one of them.

Ahmed Patel introduces “Your granddaughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi.”

“Hey, I am so pleased to meet you. You are of British origin, right?”

“No, Italian” replies Sonia Gandhi.

“Why did my grandson have to marry someone from a fascist country?” said Nehru irritated.

“But I studied in Cambridge” said Sonia Gandhi.

“But your English accent is not so good. Not an original English one” said Nehru.

“Sir, your great granddaughter Priyanka.” said Ahmed Patel.

“Hey, you look just like Indira. So happy to see you.”

“And your great grandson in law Robert Vadra” said Ahmed Patel.

Nehru looked at Robert Vadra and then back at Priyanka “What did you find special in this gentleman?”

Priyanka replied, “He has a good business acumen and a great sense of humour.”

“No Sir.” said Robert Vadra “I am just a mango man in a banana republic.”

Nehru looked at Priyanka annoyed, “Is this the sense of humour? You could not find someone better? Indira as it is made a bad choice in choosing a spouse and it seems it is getting worse with each generation.”

“Sir, your great grandson. Rahul Gandhi” said Ahmed Patel.

Nehru looked at him and asked him “What are your plans for the future of India?”

Rahul replied “Let me ask you the same question. What are your plans for the future of India?”

Nehru said now visibly irritated “Things are truly getting worse with each generation.”

Rahul Gandhi responded “Ek aisi machine banunga ki ek taraf se aalo dalo, doosri taraf se sona niklega.”

Nehru said amazed “Great, I never imagined science would advance so much in 70 years from now.”

Krishna Menon interrupts and says “Sir, let’s not waste time on pleasantries. They have come here on a mission and they have a very short time. Let’s start with the agenda.”

“Please go ahead” said Nehru and added “I am so happy to see that you have maintained my legacy for so long.”

Mani Shankar Aiyer said “Yes. But there came some men along the way who tried to disrupt your legacy. Your immediate successor, a commoner discontinued some of your socialist economic policies and brought in the green revolution and milk revolution.”

“What?” said Nehru, “Socialist economic policies is the only way. Tell me who is this person and I will ensure he does not become my successor.”

“Not to worry.” said Mani Shankar Aiyer “We got things back in control soon. However, in 1991, another commoner became Prime Minister and he completely undid your economic reforms. He practically removed the government control of business. This over time led to private enterprises in forbidden areas like telecom, aviation and television. We now have more than 20 types of toothpaste.”

“What?” screamed Nehru. “Such a waste, these 20 types of toothpaste. This should never have been allowed.”

“There is a solution to this.” said Mani Shankar Aiyer.

“What?” asked Nehru.

“Please take the Hyderabad issue to the United Nations.” replied Mani Shankar Aiyer.

“How does that help?” asked Nehru.

Mani Shankar Aiyer replied “Once the matter goes to the UN, the UN will order a ceasefire and Sardar Patel’s hands will be tied and he would not be able to bring Hyderabad State in the Indian Union. The man who will destroy your economic legacy is already born in the Hyderabad state. If the Hyderabad state does not accede to India, he never will get an opportunity to become Prime Minister and challenge your legacy.”

“Interesting.” Said Nehru.

“And there is something else.” Continued Mani Shankar Aiyer. “I know you are planning to reorganize the Bombay State into 2 separate states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. But this state Gujarat will always pose challenges to your legacy. Right now, there is Sardar Patel. Later, in 1977 another Gujarati will become PM and jail Indiraji. And in 2014, a commoner will emerge from Gujarat who will practically threaten to erase your legacy by 2019.”

“What?” screamed Nehru.

“But, there is a way out.” continued Mani Shankar Aiyer. “The Nawab of Junagadh wants to join Pakistan. Let him. That will practically make the Saurashtra peninsula a part of Pakistan. Jinnah is of Gujarati origin. So just like you allowed Jinnah to walk away with Balochistan and Sindh, let him walk away with the remaining parts of Gujarat. This will ensure, nobody challenges your legacy for centuries.”

“Interesting” said Nehru. “Can you please do one thing? Can you please go to Birla house and try to convince Mahatma Gandhi and then ask him to convince Sardar Patel? Krishna Menon, can you accompany them?”

“Why Birla House?” asked Rahul Gandhi. “Don’t we go to Raj Ghat to meet Gandhiji? And why is Gandhiji staying with Birlas and Ambanis?”

As Nehru looked on confused, the group left to meet Mahatma Gandhi.

Along the way, the group chanced upon a middle-aged gentleman with a 2-year-old toddler.

“Hello Sir” Krishna Menon greeted the gentleman and looking at the toddler he added “Walking around with your Grandfather?”

The toddler looks around and fixes his gaze on Mani Shankar Aiyer and keeps looking at him judgmentally.

Mani Shankar Aiyer gets irritated and asks “Why are you staring at me? What do you think I am?”

“Idiot” replied the kid and everyone burst out into laughter.

Priyanka Vadra said “What a sweet baby. What is his name?”

“Markandey” replied the grandfather.

“Let’s go.” said Krishna Menon and the group proceeds.

At the Birla House, Gandhiji looked at the group and said “I don’t get it. What is your problem if that kid from Hyderabad wants to promote free enterprise? Government should focus on governance and not interfere too much with business.”

“And what about Gujarat?” asked Mani Shankar Aiyer.

“What about Gujarat? You want me to give away Porbandar and Sabarmati to Pakistan? Not that I am attached to either. But just making you realize what you are asking for.”

“Sir”, interrupted Mani Shankar Aiyer. “Do you want your killers to rule India?”

Gandhiji replied “If I am going to be killed, so be it. I have already forgiving my future killers. I bear no ill will towards anyone. And let the people of India decide whom they want to govern them. I do not want to dictate this decision.”

“Sir”, interrupted Mani Shankar Aiyer. “This hateful ideology aims to create Congress free India.”

“I have anyway been requesting Jawaharalal to dissolve the Congress since we became independent. Good that at least someone has taken the initiative.” replied Gandhiji.

Turning to Ahmed Patel, Gandhiji added “You are from Gujarat. Do you realize that if Gujarat goes to Pakistan, you will never be in position to advice Jawaharalal’s descendants?”

“Oh, I never thought of that.” exclaimed Ahmed Patel. “Mani Shankar Aiyer and his stupid ideas.”

“Sir, I would request you to think over your decision again.” said Mani Shankar Aiyer.

Gandhiji became a little angry and replied “This division has led to so much bloodshed and you still want to divide people further? If I had known how low Jawaharalal’s descendants would sink in their greed for power, I would never have made him the Prime Minister. And will you please stop misusing my last name Gandhi to fool the people of India. Now I need to prepare for my prayers. So please leave me alone. Else I will need to rethink my decision to make Jawaharalal the Prime Minister of India.” The group scurried away from Gandhiji’s presence in the next few seconds.

The group returned to their Timecraft. Their pilot was waiting for them.

“Can we make one more halt in 1980s before going back to 2019?” asked Priyanka Vadra.

“No.” replied the pilot. “This Timecraft can only sustain two journeys through a wormhole. We have already made one. And besides, I have bad news for you. We have a technical snag. One of the three engines has failed.”

“What? Are we stuck over here forever?” asked Ahmed Patel worried.

“No” replied the pilot. “We have 2 options. Option 1 is we need a spare part to make the broken engine work again. But that spare part will not be invented till 1948. So we have to wait till then.”

“The second option is that the Timecraft can still travel with 2 Engines but then it will be able to carry less load and we will need to leave one person behind. We will need to make a separate journey some another time to get this person back.”

“That’s difficult” said Sonia Gandhi “We have already spent a fortune just for this single journey. We cannot afford a second one, unless we return to power in 2019.”

“Let’s leave the pilot behind.” suggested Mani Shankar Aiyer.

“And who is going to drive the Timecraft through the wormhole?” asked Shashi Tharoor.

“We have already spent a fortune on this stupid idea of yours to travel back in time. Now please don’t give any more of your stupid ideas” said Sonia Gandhi looking at Mani Shankar Aiyer.

In the meantine, a Chaiwala with a steel kettle and some steel glasses approaches the group. “Saheb, Chai?” he asks Mani Shankar Aiyer. Now Mani Shankar Aiyer loses his temper and screams at the Chaiwala, “Get lost, you neech chaiwala.”

The Chaiwala takes the insult personally and creates a scene. Soon a mob collects and sympathises with the Chaiwala. The people in the mob surround Mani Shankar Aiyer and close in on him menacingly but stop and respectfully step back and bow their heads as Mani Shankar Aiyer starts abusing them in polished English.

Sonia Gandhi looks at Ahmed Patel and says “Thank God it is 1947 and not 2019. Are you thinking what I am thinking?”

“Yes” says Ahmed Patel “We cannot afford such risks in 2019. Everyone onboard! ”. In a few seconds, the Timecraft takes off with one passenger less than when it had landed.

Some time later the Timecraft lands back in new Delhi. Shashi Tharoor takes a deep breath and says “Such a reassuring smell of pollution. We are back in 2019.”

The next evening, the pilot is having coffee with his friend at a restaurant in Chennai.

The friend asked him “Who among them do you think gained the most from this time trip?”

“Of course, me.” replied the pilot. “I did some research by walking around and got more ideas for my sequel to the book Twisted Threads.”

“Wow, nice.” replied the friend and asked “I heard some rumours about the third failed engine. But wasn’t the Timecraft supposed to have only 2 engines.”

“Yes” replied the pilot “It was a twin engine Timecraft.”

Theatrics of the theatre artists: Naseeruddin Shah leads a befitting sequel to the #awardwapsi drama of the last time

Arun Dash
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Theatrics of the theatre artists: Naseeruddin Shah leads a befitting sequel to the #awardwapsi drama of the last time

Many social media researchers have openly pointed out that filmmaking in Bollywood is majorly financed by money-launderers sitting abroad and has mafia links from the Middle East. And hence, if for any reason people boycott TV and cinema, say for a year, the black money generation would dry up and thus will have a major impact on the bodies that spread terror in India. I never took it that seriously until yesterday when a group of theatre artists including some Bollywood actors lead or perhaps inspired by Naseeruddin Shah have decided to campaign against PM Narendra Modi to safeguard India from disintegrating. In a statement released, the 616 signatories appealed to people to “vote against the BJP and its allies” and to vote for a secular, democratic and inclusive India.

Wasn’t that shocking? Secular – that very word sent a chill down my spine. To me, this episode of theatrics by the theatre artists brought in such shock that for a while I perused through the list of people who are part of this congregation.

I, as an informed citizen, with no political affiliation, have admired Narendra Modi for his strong persona, positive vision and tangible performance in governance over the past five years. His workaholic lifestyle to polish India to shine better every day has always been the talk among the youth. His unparalleled oratorical skill has inspired many to look up to him as a strong and ideal leader. His able team of ministers have delivered so well over this tenure that they are now perhaps the first Indian government to hand over to the common people a printed report card of their performance while they campaign for the General Elections 2019.

1) The rupee has consistently performed well.
2) Inflation is under control.
3) Roads and railways have prospered like never before.
4) Corruption and scams have dried up like never before.
5) The Ganges is getting into better shape.
6) A solid attempt has been made to educate people about the need for cleanliness as part of the Swachh Bharat campaign.
7) Toilets have been provided to most of the needy.
8) Close to 100 per cent electrification of India has been done.
9) Direct benefit transfer via Jan Dhan account has been made possible, weeding out the middlemen.
10) India’s international stature has grown like never before.

These are some of the popular things that an informed citizen has seen happening. I am sure there are many more to add to make it a comprehensive list.

Yet, why a congregation of 600 plus artists is behind Narendra Modi? It was unsettling until someone triggered the thought that many of their direct benefits in cash and kind have been curtailed after Narendra Modi’s ascendance to the PM’s chair. The Padma and other awards that usually have a lion’s share of these artists as recipients, much to their dismay, have flown the common man’s way. And also, this is perhaps a befitting sequel to the #awardwapsi drama of the last time.

Why else will someone loving India unconditionally would forgive someone feeling ashamed to utter ‘Vande Mataram’ and go against this government? Why else will someone feel intolerant in a country like India, which is home to the people of the most tolerant religion? Why else will a bunch of artists go against a man who is working tirelessly to take their country to greater heights? Why else will someone question PM Modi’s secularism when the Islamic nations like UAE certify (#Zayed award) that India is the safest place for Muslims? Don’t you smell an agenda there?

Yet, as long as the informed youth is clear about Narendra Modi’s intent and passion, such theatrics by the theatre artists would end up as a flop show beyond the first-day.

Do not gift victories to looser, elect a government to develop Tamil Nadu; fulfill the dreams of Amma and MGR

S Ranganathan
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Do not gift victories to looser, elect a government to develop Tamil Nadu; fulfill the dreams of Amma and MGR

The 2019 election is being watched with extra care in the state of Tamil Nadu. The reason being, the prominent leader of AIADMK– Amma J Jayalalitha is no more to campaign for the party. To fit into the shoes of Amma is not possible for any leader of AIADMK but EPS with the support and guidance of OPS successfully citadel the legacy of Amma to develop the state and uplift socially and economically weaker sections of people in the state.

Unlike DMK, AIADMK from MGR’s day till EPS, has never promoted the culture of dynasty or family rule where the immediate and extended members of one family alone shall be the ministers, MLA’s, MP’s and only the dynast of the party is eligible to become chief minister of the state if the party is elected to power.

The trend at all India level is quite clear that all aspirational Indians starting from Septuagenarians to Octogenarians to youths to home makers to first time voters, all want Narendra Modi led BJP as India’s next Prime Minister. No person with reasonable sense of understanding about the divisive and hate politics played out by the congress party and DMK ever want congress to come back to power at centre as well as DMK in the state. Further the dynast of the congress party is seen as an all-time entertainer than as a leader who can either lead the grand old party or the country. Similarly the immature and untutored utterances of Stalin of DMK also prove him to be a mere platform politician than a leader of class and merit like MGR, Amma or Karunanidhi.

AIADMK was passing through a phase of turmoil and tribulation soon after the demise of Amma. The Sasikala family wants to hijack the party and that government and that has definitely dented the image of AIADMK government. The panic stricken MLA’s of the party were initially clueless for some time and that too has affected the stability of the government. However, the leader of necessity and adversity, EPS got emerged and brought the governance back on track, speed up several welfare schemes as aspired by Amma, made the economy of the state robust, made power surplus state and has gained the confidence and appreciation of people. Certainly PM Modi also displayed extravagant interest over Tamil Nadu and supported the EPS-OPS government to fulfill all the dreams of Amma to make the life of downtrodden people happy and meaningful.

Tamil Nadu is facing all time shortage of water due to disastrous failure of monsoon for the two consecutive seasons. But the prudent administration of EPS has ensured uninterrupted drinking water supply to even every nook and corner of Tamil Nadu.

The formation of new government by Narendra Modi at the centre is certain. If the state government render and receive support to the central government, such mutualism would benefit the state a lot than the political party. This was the political philosophy of MGR and Amma. Whereas DMK had a different political philosophy and that is why in spite of DMK being part of UPA1 and UPA2 government did nothing to the state, except the scam allegations of 2G, Aircell-Maxis etc. The Tamils were brutally killed in Sri Lanka but DMK government in the state and in the centre did nothing to save the Tamils.  It was family, dynasty and how to benefit from power are the political philosophy of DMK.

If people elect DMK-Congress alliance, that may prove victorious to DMK alliance but not for the state of Tamil Nadu.  Such an effort would be like gifting victory to a looser.

The state of Tamil Nadu will be the big loser. Therefore people of the state must abstain from DMK, congress affiliation while casting their franchise this time because voting for DMK is not going to make any difference either to their life or to the state.

Those who want to change Tamil Nadu and India must vote for AIAMDK alliance. If people give power to the winner will do great job and not victory to the weak or obvious loser.

DMK and congress are engaged in negative politics, politics of pessimism, hatred and spreading lies. DMK is further engaged in propagating anti-Hinduism, anti-God and is against the bhakthi tradition of Tamil Nadu. DMK has reduced its politics to minority appeasement and divisive-ness.

Hope people of Tamil Nadu will vote for development, national security and sab ka vikas initiatives of PM Modi than the development of one family, dynastic politics and politics of corruption and nepotism.

Chowkidar Ranganathan

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