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Blue is the new Green: Assembly Election Results of 2018

Anant Chetan
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Blue is the new Green: Assembly Election Results of 2018

It can either be a dynasty or a democracy. It can never be both. If a prince wants to be the prime-ministers the only thing we get is a kingdom wrapped in democratic wrapper; exactly like a candy – chocolaty inside and crunchy outside.

If it is true for a prince, it is true for a queen as well. I for one am glad, people voted her out. Come the time, people won’t hesitate in reciprocating it for the prince as well.  In a blink, Saffron “cow belt”remodelled to “Beefy Blue”,  Blue, the new Green or the soft Saffron. The vicious and the vindictive would keep us anchored to the fact that dynasty has no place in twenty-first century India. The gasping prince did borrow some breathing air, but for himself and not for his party. The win, albeit fizzled has revitalized the hapless and the hopeless casting a shadow over the fact that more than 60% (21122091) voters voted against them. Why?  Even with the manufactured loathing for the Queen, BJP managed 38.8% vote share i.e. only one lakh fewer votes than what Congress received. If only the prince had kept himself at bay and away from the state, Congress would have managed a majority on its own.

The victory did come at a huge concealed price. The 2019 prospective prime ministerial candidate, once again, hopefully for the last time, lured people towards addiction, an addiction to freebies. Time and again, politicians have tried to buy the voters, giving birth to vote-banks and unfortunately were successful in their endeavours. Will farm loan waiver or any other freebie solve the problem? He himself accepted the fact that it is not a solution. Moreover, where is the money going to come from? Is there a “Made in Chindwara” machine spawning currency bills that we are unaware of? I don’t think so, I also don’t think that all the taxpayers in the country come from that region. Maybe in 2019, the rhetoric would be “the centre refused the funds”. The election commission of India should take strict actions to deter parties for making claims like this in their manifestos; Mr Raghuram Rajan said this and not just me. Generations after generations and communities after communities have been paying the prices for these freebies. Freebies keep these people poor and dependent on the state, which is exactly what Congress wants. It is easy to divide the dependent. I am glad that a party chose defeat rather than buying votes.

It is time when people realize that whatever is borrowed has to be returned, it does not matter if it is from a person, institution, society or nature. There are no free lunches, sooner or later there will always be a cost for “Free or Borrowed Stuff” 

Much has already been said and spoken about anti-incumbency. However, one aspect that remained obscure in Indian Politics came to surface with these elections. What if, Shivraj Singh Chauhan was not contesting the elections? There has to be some reason as to why the Indian Constitution does not have a clause like the twenty-second amendment to the US constitution that sets a term limit for the US presidents. No president is allowed to run for the office after two terms with an exception of additional two years i.e. a maximum of 10 years. If only this one clause was added in our constitution in some form, dynasty rule would have ceased to exist.  The day PM. Modi was declared the prime ministerial candidate against LK Advani before 2014, Congress knew they were going to witness their defeat and that’s why they tried to make fun of Modi replacing Advani. In BJP the top post deserves and is open for the best and most suitable candidate against Indian National Congress, where the top post is always reserved for somebody from the family. It’s like Haryana Roadways, my baggage my seat.

Even with a vote share of 41%, a notch higher than the Congress’, BJP could not form the government. People went to the polling booths, invested their time, waited in long queues and selected “NOTA”. More than 64 lakh people voted for anything other than that has nothing to do with Rahul Gandhi or Shivraj Singh Chauhan (non-bjp-non-cong-votes). The only reason why Nehru-Gandhi family never disclose any candidate before elections because they know “it does not matter who the face is”, the remote lies at 10 Janpath. If they would have announced the family loyalists Kamal Nath and Ashok Gehlot as the CM candidates, trust me, “NOTA”  would have become the CM for the two states.

The people of Rajasthan and MP are undergoing the same traumatic experience that Madhuri Dixit went through in the 1997 thriller Koyla when she was sent a photograph of young SRK, however, was tricked into marrying old Amrish Puri. You could decide who is who in the two states, who tricked who and who is the villain. Start at 0:40 seconds.

The last step is always the most difficult one, even though you see more blue on the map of India but the truth is that these results increased the likely-hood of a “Congress-Mukt-Bharat”. The lifeline is for the Gandhi scion and not for Congress. People did not have an option in these elections, but they would have it in the general elections. Let them bask in the glory of their superficial success. When the Modi thunder will hit them with their guards lowered, they would find solace in only one thing: Electronic Voting Machines. If only EVM’s could speak!

Also read: The Magician becomes the Hat!!!: The Indian Politician doing tricks and What lies beneath the Mask?

BSP, the ring master or walking stick of congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh?

S Ranganathan
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BSP, the ring master or walking stick of congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh?

The recent victory of the party of the dynasts (Congress) in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh has been overhyped by various media houses, some calling it a strategy or Chanakya tantra or political acumen of the dynasty that has paved the victory of Congress in these states, while some calling it a clear sign of rejection of Modi, etc.

It’s somewhat true that BJP could not retain power and that the Congress has improved its performance.  But the question is whether the victory of Congress in these two states is worth this lavish appreciation or it needs to be interpreted as people are still with Modi and even if they decide to go against BJP, people want to choose ‘none’ than to choose Congress.  More than the victory of Congress we must read the election results to be as stern lesson or warning to BJP.

Highly localized issues and lackadaisical attitudes of several MLA’s and Ministers in these states has defeated BJP and its mission to develop India and achieve ‘Sab ka Vikas’.

The anger people expressed against some of the local leaders of BJP however justifiable it may be, but it has defeated BJP. Several wise people have chosen the option ‘Nota’ than Congress, which is a wonderful sign that people are not so foolish but are very cautious as well.

Both in Rajasthan and MP, people have not given even simple majority to the dynasts which show that people want BSP and SP to act like the ringmaster of the Congress so that Congress is always at the mercy of BSP and SP.  It means even in the marginal victory in these two states, the dynast was made to feel weak and vulnerable.

If there was an anti-incumbency wave, the result would have been different and people would have completely rejected BJP.  But people have neither rejected BJP nor have accepted the Congress.

The local effect also tells another explicit story about the mood of the nation.  At the national level, people still prefer Modi and they do not have any other politicians reliable or worthy enough to rule India like Modi.

The poll outcome is not against BJP or Modiji but against some local leaders in the respective states.  Certainly, the state BJP must introspect and take the necessary corrective actions. The defeat has given lots of scope to BJP for correction, but the victory has not given any hope or scope for the dynasts to introspect or improve as people never want Congress to be independent. It must stand and walk only with a third limb or a walking stick.

The question here is how long will the BSP and SP act like the walking stick for the Congress and allow Congress to enjoy the power. We must watch patiently.

Manthira in Ramayan can also claim victory for sending Lord Ram to the forest for 15 years.  But the story of Ramayana is all about Lord Ram and not about Manthira.  Similarly, Ravana also can claim victory when he abducted Sita to Lanka with the wicked ploy of Subahu and Maricha. But all evil forces were destroyed by Lord Ram. The victory of adharama and aneedhi will not last long. People of India will soon realize that India will be safe only if Modiji continue as the Prime Minister of India in 2019 and beyond.

Our Hindu mythology shows that even God had suffered setbacks and tribulation. Lord Krishna and Lord Rama had endured several odds despite being an avatar of Lord Vishnu.

Modi is working on structural reform of India and not on populist schemes and freebies. Modiji is working for the total and complete development of India. Hope people of India will recognise the incredible feats of Modiji and hope dharma and wisdom will prevail and triumphant.

Three reasons why BJP lost Madhya Pradesh

asamanyavyakti
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Three reasons why BJP lost Madhya Pradesh

BJP, after 15 years, has lost one of its bastions to the Congress. Just 6-8 months ago nobody would have imagined that a “Sanghi state” like Madhya Pradesh would turn over its head and vote the RSS backed party out in what was called a semifinal before the crucial 2019 polls. But, stranger things do happen. In this post, we will try to analyze why this happened and what went wrong.

1) Anti-incumbency: There are some parties that can handle the ecosystem well and nurture it so much that they can keep the hold on power for long. BJP is not one of them. Take for example INC in Maharashtra and CPM in West Bengal. Both ruled for over 30 years in their respective states and held to power no matter what. Yes, you can say the BJP is going to do similar in Gujarat but except that there are no other examples. MP was going to be one but it didn’t happen. Even in MP, the party barely scraped through in the 2008 election. One factor that both CPM and INC employed in their states were to decimate the opposition. Here, the party leaders kept accusing the Congress of land scams, land grabs but the relations were quite cozy behind the scenes. Thus, no actions were taken in any such cases. Congress, even with small amount of seats keep hanging there with 35+% of votes. This time, they got just 5% more and secured a victory. Why are we surprised?

2) Caste Arithmetic: BJP got played this time by the far superior propaganda of the Congress both at the group level and in WhatsApp groups. After the Supreme Court’s decision on the atrocities act, one of the worst places affected were in the Gwalior region. This is the same area which was one of the major centers of Maratha confederacy, the place where late ABV grew up and one of the very few places to elect a Hindu Mahasabha MP in 1951 elections. This time, 7 out of 8 Vidhansabha seats in the Gwalior loksabha seat elected Congress. And, there were reasons for that.

Party’s messaging was totally flawed. First, it didn’t react quickly to the decision and let things get out of hand including violence and deaths in places like Gwalior. Then, it appointed AK Goel, a judge who was part of the said judgment, as the new NGT chief, a decision criticized by Dalit activists and exploited the opposition. In the end, after 6 months of the initial judgment, the government approved an amendment which quickly passed through the lower house. This led to a backlash from the so-called upper castes and groups like sapaks were formed. The sapaks won more votes than the margin of victory of Congress in Gwalior south and made a huge presence in other regions leading to the disillusionment of the said groups from the party. The SC-ST groups, exploited by vested interests, also didn’t like the handling. BJP won only 13 out of the 35 reserved seats, 15 less from 2013.

3) Modi’s Performance: In MP according to Poll data, the prime minister was the least popular among the three major northern states that went to poll this fall. No action against perpetrators of corruption in states where BJP is in power for 4 years like Rajasthan and Haryana, No major boost in employment opportunities due to lack of reforms and constant Gyanbazi seem to be the major factor of this downfall.

I have not included farmer distress and rural fatigue with the government as that was also present in previous states like Gujarat. Remember, we are only talking about only 2-3% of the votes. If any of the above factors were corrected before the polls, the perfect storm would have been averted but as they say in Hindi ab pachatay hot kya…?

A primer on how Indians get fooled every time

Virag Padalkar
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A primer on how Indians get fooled every time

India, take a bow. The mid-term results are being hailed as a fresh voice of the common man. They’re being talked about as the voice of dissent calling out against a tyrannical rule of oppression. We never learn. We just never learn.

It is exasperating to see the gimmicks that Congress creates each and every time there is an election in the offing. And it is even more exasperating to watch us fall prey to the nonsense. Each and every time. They say common sense is not so common. And Indian democracy is the best example of that statement. Take the Rafale deal as just the tip of the iceberg. The game was simple. Create a distortion that equals Bofors. Where Bofors was a real scam, Rafale was nothing but a bag of hot air blown around by the Congress. And we fell prey to it. Like a ton of bricks.

The Supreme court gave a clean chit to the government on three aspects of the Rafale deal – the decision to purchase only 36 jets instead of the original UPA order of 126, the pricing and the selection of offset partners. That’s as categorical as can be. Or take the CBI vs CBI “tamasha”. The SC dismissed a petition challenging Asthana’s appointment as Special Director. The court even dismissed a plea seeking a review of this verdict. Now that the election is over, Rafale is no longer needed . . for the time being. The CBI brouhaha has also died down. It served its cause. To obfuscate the real issues and to confuse the gullible public. Us. And boy did it succeed. India, take a bow.

Today it is Rafale and CBI. Yesterday was the brouhaha around petrol prices. It served the Congress to create a hue and cry about it. Nobody went into the issue to understand that the government had nothing to do with fuel prices. But the harm was done. Before the petrol prices were the noise around Vijay Mallya and how the Modi government helped him escape. Now that he is being brought back to justice, nobody is mentioning it in public discourse. But back then, nobody lost a chance to make fun of how the government allowed NPAs to build up and allowed crooks to escape with bad loans. Nobody tried to understand that the government was actually trying to fix a broken system. Nobody bothered to understand how the IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code) worked and how this single piece of legislative reform helped bring so many defaulters to book.

Before the Mallya fiasco was the Maratha agitation. What a bunch of malarkey! Nobody lost the chance to cry hoarse about how Marathas should be given reservation. “Ek Maratha, lakh Maratha” chants of unity were shouted across streets and in massive rallies. Nobody bothered to ask the simple question of why this community did not create pandemonium when there was a Maratha chief minister in the office? Why did Marathas need to call themselves socially and economically backward when 11 out of 18 past CMs have been from the Maratha community? Nobody bothered to look at the politics behind the agitation. The list is endless. Starting with award-wapsi to Rafale, the Congress and their ilk have NEVER lost an opportunity to create a smoke-screen of lies and chaos to divert attention from holistic action being taken by the government in all spheres of governance. And we fell for it. Each and every time. India, take a bow.

Even more exasperating than the “manufactured” dissent is the public’s naivety in lapping all this nonsense up. We’re all to blame. The common man on the street is not only lazy enough to not think about an issue but also dumb enough to create a hue and cry about it without understanding the said issue. It is very easy to criticize without understanding. It takes time to comprehend an issue and form an opinion. Nobody wants to do that.

Truth be told, therein lies the problem. A recent tweet by Anand Mahindra spoke about how enhanced communication technologies have allowed us to get bad news instantly and we believe the world is getting more dangerous and fragile. However, the truth of the matter is that generally speaking, the world is a better place. More people are being fed, more people have access to vaccinations, more countries have embraced democracy and overall child mortality has gone down in the past 200 years. Simply put, bad news spreads faster than good news. It’s easier. This simple fact coupled with the ennui on the part of the general population to comprehend any social issue with any level of critical thinking makes for a potent and fatal combination.

The challenge before the government is not governance. That is being done well. Reform is in good hands, policy-making is holistic and long-term in nature, vital statistics are healthy and the government is on the right track. That is a plain fact. The challenge is to overcome these twin hurdles created by “enhanced communication technologies” and people’s unwillingness to think. How to spread good news faster than “pseudo-bad” news and how to encourage the citizens to think critically and analyse an issue before forming an opinion. Till these challenges are tackled, Indians will continue to be misled by the Congress and their ilk into a quagmire of their own naivety and the nation will continue to suffer.

Isn’t Mahaghatbandhan legitimizing inefficiency?

adithya
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Isn’t Mahaghatbandhan legitimizing inefficiency?

“If you cannot convince them then confuse them” as said by Ex President of US Harry Truman seems to be an agenda of so called Mahagathbandhan/Federal Front which has got first setback  in Telangana Assembly polls.

Following the above mentioned tactic bitter enemies have joined their hands! As said by Prime Minster Narendra Modi, it’s a leaderless and policy less alliance. I think ‘Modi Hatao’ is the sole slogan cum policy cum agenda of this ‘Kichdi’ alliance and remember “Kichdi” is favourite dish of PM Modi. And propaganda is of course jumla of “Rafale”.

Coalition politics was termed in a viral video as legitimizing inefficiency it seems to be true on part of Mahagathbandhan. The spokespersons of the above cited alliance become red faced when this particular coalition is titled ‘Unholy’, most of the regional parties are factions of the Janata Dal which was formed with an intention to keep INC away. Now if they create mutual understanding, it’s contrary to basic idea behind their formation. Isn’t it unholy?

Yes, it’s not an unconstitutional as our constitution makes provision for the same. It’s unnatural cum unethical cum unholy cum immoral! Okay, let’s assume that if this oxymoron phenomenon comes true, who is to be the Prime Minister, is remains to be million dollar question. The sole remedy would be the PM selection on rotation basis i.e, 6 PMs for a week let’s take for illustration on Monday Mayawati,on Tuesday Mamata Banerjee,on Wednesday Yadavs, on Thursday Yachury, on Friday Pawar and on weekends Rahul Gandhi.

In recent Mahagathbandhan meeting SP and BSP were absent. Uttar Pradesh acts a major role in parliamentary elections. This alliance can possibly restrict winning horse of BJP only if it takes major number of seats in UP and it can be done only if they take together SP and BSP.

Quarrel amongst this alliance has already creeped in and hence it proved to be non entity. The nation had already witnessed National front (1989-1991) and United Front (1996-1998).

In the above cited fronts India became a victim of unstable  governments and 4 PMs (V.P Singh, Chandrashekar, H.D Devegowda & I.K Gujral) lost in snake and ladder games.

Mahaghatbandhan can be a substitute to UPA but this would lead to association of YSRC, AIADMK in alteration to TDP & DMK. It’s a wonder to witness how TMC – CPI(M), LDF-UDF, SP-BSP, NC-PDP & INC-JDS and other rivals in respective states face toil and trouble of seat sharing!

TDP & RLSP might have moved out of the NDA but the NDA has other strong allies like SAD, JD(U) etc and even though ShivSena has left NDA it will never join either UPA or Mahaghatbandhan.

Top leaders might adjust or wear the mask of cooperation and support but how do volunteers react? This fancy dress of Mahaghatbandhan is not permanent but temporary and they are acting as per proverb ‘Foe’s Foe is a Friend’! In reality people know if they (rivals) are United then it’s only to rescue themselves from shortage of party funds due to simultaneous defeats. If they think people will vote them by exhibition of unity it’s their (Mahaghatbandhan) foolishness.

Hack: Pandavas are less in number in contrary Kauravas are more in number and remember Modi is single i.e, less. At last who will win?

Chnadrababu Naidu: The real mushroom phenomenon in Indian politics

S Ranganathan
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Chnadrababu Naidu: The real mushroom phenomenon in Indian politics

The new champion of secularism, institution’s independence and ultimate saviour of democracy, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu is proven to be a ‘mushroom phenomenon’ in Indian politics. The way media have hyped and constructed a cult of personality and larger than life image out of Chndrababu Naidu when he formed an alliance with congress in Telengana to contest the assembly election was incredible. The party that was formed against congress ethos and stood against congress for several decades, Chandrababu Naidu dared to sell the same ideology for his selfish political reason. For his sins he is being punished brutally by people of Telenagana and soon the people of Andhara Pradesh also would show him the exit door from Indian politics.

Chnadrababu Naidu just believed that arithmetic alone is sufficient to achieve the political means and people are nothing but mere voting machine and he believed that based on the alliance equation people would vote. People are not fool and nor are voting machine as presumed by Naidu. More than congress, Naidu has every reason to worry. Andhara Pradesh assembly election is not far away and Naidu is in catch 20 situation. Whether to continue alliance with congress or ditch the alliance with congress and contest the poll separately may worry him but both options are not going to make much difference to his political future, he also knows the best. Initially he feared Jaganmohan phenomenon and which compelled him to align with congress to defeat KCR.  Today Naidu has scripted his own defeat and has lots to worry about his own political wisdom which is sufficient to ensure his defeat than Jaganmohan Reddy.

The over intelligence and over ambition over poll arithmetic of congress, Chandrababu Naidu also mocked the idea of grand alliance. If KCR join the grand alliance along with TDP, KCR too may earn the wrath of people therefore KRC is all wisdom may not join an alliance where congress and TDP are the players.

Another big challenge also Naidu is facing. Oppose BJP and Narendra Modi for no reason or align with congress to form a grand alliance at national level or how to set his house in order in AP to do something to put up a decent fight in coming AP election are the issues going to hunt Naidu.

The way media mad cut outs out of Naidu reminds nothing but the mere mushroom phenomenon of Naidu. After the first or second shower, within hours or days, Mushroom with brilliant colurs, design and size would appear in the under story of the forest or over a dead and decayed wood.  It would be incredible to watch the sudden and spontaneous appearance of the mushroom but within hours to days, the same mushroom would disappear from the scene. Today the entry and exit of Naidu from national scene and the image that he got created out of media reminds nothing but Naidu is a mere mushroom phenomena in Indian politics. He tries to grow like a mushroom over dead snag and for which he chose congress the born and sworn enemy of TDP. Neither chemistry, nor arithmetic has worked to his favour and instead he has eroded not only his political base but also his credibility.

Naidu’s only aim was to defeat BJP and Narendra Modi and to achieve the above goal Naidu was willing to do anything including self-destruction self-defeat.

The outcome of recently held assembly election sends clear messages to all political forces. But the message for the Naidu is harsher, bitter and punishing in nature. Greed, power hunger, negative politics and assuming people as mere voting machine are not going to work in Andhra politics anymore and only the politics of development of Narendra Modi led BJP alone going to win in 2019.

Here is why BJP’s mission 2019 is an arduous task ahead

neonair
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Here is why BJP’s mission 2019 is an arduous task ahead

Every nation gets the government it deserves – Joseph de Maistre

The adage can’t make more sense than today considering the shocking results of the elections of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan & Chattisgarh. Its no doubt a serious setback for the ruling BJP and it wouldn’t be preposterous to add that this might have been the worst day in the electoral history for BJP in recent times and also that 2019 is a herculean task ahead. If at all anything positive that will emanate from this debacle is that BJP hopefully gets more vigilant, sharp  and cognizant about things if at all they are serious about returning to power.

Running through today’s results so far it seems like the Telangana results have clearly shown the TRS is a party that’s here to stay. The first attempt in Gathbandhan heralded by TDP-Congress  has failed miserably with KCR walking away with a comfortable win. Congress has been wiped off from North East.

So where and when it started falling apart for the BJP?

The UP elections was a brilliant victory nothing short of saying that it was home run, despite the opposition, the left leaning liberal media and other parties pinning every blame on demonetization ranging from deaths in hospitals, heart attacks due to standing in lines and all such absurd theories. The first hint of trouble came in the form of Gujarat results. The very own home state of the Indian prime minister that elevated him to where he is today. The BJP scored a victory but the seats were considerably less compared to the 2012 win. The Congress was frighteningly close and the fact that it made sharp inroads in what was considered to be the bastion of the BJP was enough for many to be alarmed.

Then came Karnataka where it couldn’t form a govt. The Congress – JDS grabbed the opportunity and formed their govt. The ever loyal media turned it into another opportunity to showcase how the “master strategist” Amit Shah despite all his political maneuvering was not able to form a government and was brought to his knees. Make no mistake the perception layout was set which the Congress fully exploited that to their advantage. Hard core BJP supporters may not agree but the ground reality is different. People started giving room for thought if BJP is really worth their votes and if Congress was surging closer. The by polls held after that where Congress won with a huge margin was another shot in the arm for Congress and a major setback for BJP.

Today’s polls are nothing but an intense sequel to what happened in past few elections. The defeats are snowballing and unless the BJP and its think tanks do something to turn things around its going to be a tough battle ahead.

Problems as observed by common people. (Just a random analysis):

Communication: One key area where the BJP has miserably failed and faltered which has resulted in a lot of damage. Starting from 2014 there have been enough instances where the media has twisted words or quotes and resulted in massive embarrassments for the BJP. Though the truth may be uncovered later by the social media teams who vigorously defend the party leaders, the management or party bigwigs have zero interest in rectifying things or taking any suitable action against it. Its a known fact that the media is not friends with BJP. The GST is a very effective tax reform for the public and when it was introduced there was no effort taken by BJP to let the people know how and where it works. There were enough instances where restaurants ripped off customers and people were unhappy as they themselves were not aware how the GST worked.

Same for the Asifa case right before the Karnataka elections. There was a lot of misinformation being spread targeting everything from religion to the safety of women under BJP rule. All suddenly stopped after the Karnataka elections. In fact the lawyer who took up that case and was hailed as a heroine has ended up being a mockery now after she was sacked by the aggrieved family. Now she is reduced to whining on twitter by tagging the regular bunch of journalists saying this or that.

The Rafale issue that’s being peddled by the Congress and its loyal media. To this day its yet to show any concrete evidence of any corruption but the BJPs weak defence and clumsy handling has worsened matters and changed the perception against them among the common people .

Anti corruption Stand: The BJP came to power in 2014 primarily due to the corruption done by congress over the last decade they ruled. The BJP made good use of this and made it an important tool to gather votes in which it succeeded. Prime Minister Modi himself had made it clear that the guilty will be punished. Its been nearly 5 years since the PM has taken over the mantle but not one Congress leader has faced the brunt of any corruption done. Most of the corrupt opposition leaders who were terrified of seeing Modi in the center seem relaxed now with most of their worries having evaporated. Even the ED raided Robert Vadra recently after all this time and the party has lost its standing in Rajasthan thereby making it doubtful if any action will happen after all. The grand old party Congress has been in existence for decades and it goes without saying they have effectively played well when it comes to handling their opponents while in power.

As a common man it makes a difference because in his opinion the center has everything at its disposal whether its the investigating agencies, the ED or whoever required. Its been 4 years and the centre was asleep on acting on any of the corrupt leaders or scamsters of the UPA era which makes any average voter think. An average voter may not be concerned about India’s political clout whether India gets Vijay Mallya or Christian Michel extradited. The result is what matters. If they fail to convict anyone in the Agusta Westland scandal then their anti corruption stand will be in tatters with the opposition quickly claiming its a political witch hunt.Given the strategy and effective communication of Congress it wouldn’t be a big problem for them. If they can give headaches to the BJP abt any non existent scam in Rafale then it’s clear what they are capable of.

The recent results have conclusively proved that Congress is still a force to reckon with. It was down but not out. The Gujarat, Karnataka and today’s elections have only emboldened them. Modi wave no longer exists. No matter no speech or jingoism will help. If it did it was before 2014 not now. The ground reality has changed. People need a robust government and that is what they voted for in 2014. People need to see some action on what was promised and what has been delivered. People voted for a strong Prime Minister who had impressed everyone with his no nonsense attitude, administration and developments in Gujarat but today many are disillusioned with his silence. Many had expected a strong stand against the Maoists, Naxals and the Kashmir terrorists. But so far the govt has failed in communicating with the masses about anything done on that front. The arrest of so called Urban-Naxals was again showed as a vendetta battle by the Center against law abiding citizens. If its botched up then that is enough ammo for the opposition to harp on.

The moves of the next few months are crucial as they will culminate in the results that will determine the destiny of next electoral battle.

Neo Nair  🇮🇳 @fighter_nair

India’s Prime Minister Narendra  Modi: A charismatic leader

kalyani06
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India’s Prime Minister Narendra  Modi: A charismatic leader

Narendra Modi, whenever this name comes in our mind, it reflects a strong character, a shining persona, a proud, a valor that belongs to our nation, India. A persona which is fascinating in a way that anyone around him either supporters or oppositions, can’t resist his presence.

Mr. Modi has been the role model to millions of people since his face came into lime-light. A person who knows how to achieve the hardest goal in life. A person who never get tired and weary. A person who arose from dirt and became diamond. A person who has paved his way through his hard work and dedication. A person who took pride for being an Indian.

Another most charming thing about his personality is when he speaks he catches immediate attention of audience. He connects with them instantly. It’s the power of his speech and his fascinating persona, which has made him globally popular (most popular Indian leader on social media, with 50 million people following him on Twitter). A leader for everyone without any discrimination based on religion, caste and color. He even got the title Of “People’s Leader”, when he was gaining victory after victory in every election in India.

If you look at his background, his childhood days were adverse. He was poor, unable to afford very good education and any luxury. What he really had was a dream and determination. He dedicated himself for selfless service of his country. He never enjoyed any of those luxuries in his life like other privileged people. What he enjoyed was sacrifice, devotion and dedication for his country, his motherland.

His rivals often taunt him by using term ‘Chaiwala’, but they don’t know that those hardest days of his life, garnished him with an amazing talent of connecting with mass, gathering their attention, which helped him to win the highest authoritative power. He proved that, even if you don’t have money or back of powerful elites, you can reach to top only through your hard work and determination and that’s what his life is all about.

Since 1947 Congress was the major ruling party in India. In spite of having a strong lobby in media, money power, and back of elites, the ship of Congress got sunk in 2014 in Modi wave. That wave just came and swept every single opponent away. All powerful and so-called elites’ parties were washed out towards shore and that ‘Chaiwala’ became the prime minister of one of the largest democracies in the world.

Since he took the office he is the focus of the world. He took India immediately on global platform to enhance its image in international market. He has always been thoughtful towards the growth and development of his country. Through his creative ideas and diplomatic skills, he has gathered a lot of appraisal internationally. As United Nation’s Environment has bestowed Prime Minister Modi with the 2018 ‘Champion of the Earth’ award for their leadership in promotion of solar energy.

It’s the dedication and capability of  this leader who decided to took India toward a global recognition. With his charm and popularity, he attracted global leaders from developed countries like USA, Russia, Israel, China, Japan to improve India’s economic and political ties. Today everywhere in world Indians feel too much proud of him as he has given them a global identity and strength.

Since his four years of tenure he has started countless new project regarding country’s development. He has pushed India towards a fastest growing economy through make in India Policy. He has started a lot of new schemes for welfare of Indian citizens in health, education, safety, jobs and other sectors.

Corruption has reached to the its lowest point during his tenure as he never had any insecurities regarding his own background and character. Being one-man army, he has nothing to worry about like other dynastic parties, who has been severely indulge in corruption to hold their power and position for its coming generations.He openly criticized Pakistan  and called it mother of Terrorism without hanging in appeasement politics. He does not have any fear to say and hold truth that makes him unique among other leaders.

He has his inclusive way to deal with all hurdles and stand firmly. What he believes he believes, no one can manipulate or cheat him and that is what really hurts his opponents. He is the person who values and respect his origin, his ideologies and his countrymen. What ever he does, he does for betterment of his people although his opponents have been relentlessly trying to nail him down. And that is what makes him a renowned leader. His constant rise on International diaspora and relentless efforts to uplift India from bottom to top reminds me of a couplet by Famous poet Allama Iqbal:

Hazaron Saal Nargis Apni Benoori Pe Roti Hai
Bari Mushkil Se Hota Hai Chaman Mein Didahwar Paida

(For thousand years the narcissus was lamenting its lack of luster;
With great difficulty the one with true vision is born in the garden)

Here is why I am happy with the Statue of Unity rather The Statue of Change

Anant Chetan
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Here is why I am happy with the Statue of Unity rather The Statue of Change

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
― Albert Einstein

It has been more than a month since the world’s tallest statue “The Statue of Unity” was inaugurated by our prime minister. Even before the event it touched some nerve leading to deafening cry; writers, bloggers, news anchors, politicians were found using chicanery to win some battle. It is a waste of tax payers’ money, there would not be enough tourists, the location is not appropriate for tourists and so on and so forth. Since, there have been official claims that the tourist destination is witnessing around 30,000 visitor every day, we can put the tourism related concerns in a bag. Although, unlike the exercise of conducting exit polls which are completely futile, non-value add, wasteful and have no impact whatsoever, the debate on why the Statue is a waste might have affected the assembly elections that took place recently. 

The statue not only emboldens the role of the Iron Man of India in shaping up the country but also signifies a Change, a change in governance, a change that neither Congress nor its supporter can live with; and had to downplay it. When was the last time we saw a minister inaugurating something for which he himself laid the foundation stone? The then chief minister Mr. Narendra Modi laid the foundation for the statue in 2013 and he himself as the prime minister inaugurated it within five years.

What we are accustomed of is an IIT alumni chief minister fiercely fighting to take credit for a signature bridge that took whooping twenty years to complete and was still incomplete at the time of inauguration. Pseudo-intellectuals claim that “the development did not start after 2014, the Indian GDP was growing before as well.” Indeed, the development did not star after 2014. But the thing is you do not walk in a sprint and claim that you were trying. The countries that did not even have a functional civilian governments also grew at some rate. India, a country of billion plus people should have grown at rate greater than at the rate it was growing. It is not difficult to find countries who got independence after us but are at a better place than us.

If the intentions are right government projects don’t always need eons to complete.

The naysayers during the next level mudslinging contest added some genuine concerns. A poor country like India needs to fight poverty and unemployment, it needs schools, colleges and hospitals and not temples or statues. In addition to this there are myriad of ancient monuments that need proper maintenance. I agree to all these concerns and I also believe that PM Modi is doing exactly that. One question before I go ahead; in 2013 when the foundation was laid, BJP was ruling less than five states in the country. Where are the schools and hospitals in the other 20+ states ruled by Congress or other regional parties? State like Kerala did not even have a disaster management team and they tend to compete with Gujarat Model of Development. All these states did not built temples or world’s tallest/largest/first/biggest anything. Did they?

As far as maintenance is concerned last year PM Modi announced an “adopt a monument” scheme. You would have remembered the huge uproar left-liberals created. In short, if it is heads I win and if it is tails you loose.  By the way do you know  the reason as to why the monuments were not maintained even though there were funds allocated for this purpose? You could start with finding the group of people receiving the funds for the maintenance of Red Fort before Dalmia Group was made accountable for the next five years. Or do you think no body was receiving crores before? Accountability might be the reason.

Smart people made so many calculations as to how many years will take to break even or if at all it breaks even. But where did this 3000 crores go? Is the statue made up of 2000 rupee bills(or may be the old 500/1000 rs bills)? I think the money went to the people who either sold different raw-materials or employees of different firms/entities who used their skills to build the world’s tallest statue. As per L&T CEO and MD S N Subrahmanyan, “The Statue of Unity, apart from being a symbol of national pride, and integration is also a tribute to India’s engineering skills and project management abilities.” The experience and exposure would be used in future. The hosting district gets contracts to improve the connectivity, highways, bridges and railways.  Connectivity is the key for development, Congress and its supporters will not agree to this as they didn’t do it for the last 70 years. They are not upset because of unemployment, they are upset because some people or group of people or community that used to get money in the form of freebies and subsidies are not getting it any more and the people who work are earning.

The big mindset change that Modi Government is trying to bring is earning by working  and getting richer by working hard in contrast to depending on state for receiving freebies or charity.

Coming back to 3000 Crores. Out of this, the center government’s contribution was less than 200 crores, some contribution was made by private companies, some by public sector companies and rest by Gujarat government. How big is 3000 crores? Just to give a perspective, the state of Maharashtra makes more than 3000 crores  by taxes levied on alcohol (spirits and beers) consumption and that too in only three months.  There can be several other examples like this- Reliance has added more than Rs 2,88,000 Crores in last ten years to the national exchequer in the form of taxes or twenty eight thousand a year on an average i.e. nine times the amount used for the statue. Where was all this money going all these years? used in appeasement?

In fact it is with everything  that PM Modi does. Bullet train, we don’t want it, Statues we don’t need it, Temples we don’t need it however, when we travel to a different country, we find the exact same things interesting. Our eyes glitter when we travel in an Inter City Express that runs at 320 kmph; we get mesmerized when we see gigantic Cathedrals and Churches. We spend our savings just to climb to the second floor of Eiffel Tower. I simply cannot understand why people oppose these things in India? Is it because Modi is doing these things? or because the “Gandhi” is getting sidelined or because the Mughalia-Sultanate is getting sidelined? Or because the people with self respect, who work, are getting empowered? The reality is if people are getting opportunities like this they would never be a part of vote banks. To win elections, parties would have to work. Why would some parties who feed on vote banks like this?

The left-liberals had to somehow bring their love for Mughalia-Sultanate into the debate. So they compared the statue with none other than, their favorite Taj-Mahal; although there are 34 other UNESCO World Heritage sites in Indian. A thought! the professionals who directly or indirectly contributed in building the statue would have put it in their resumes for obvious reasons. Did the professionals who contribute in building Taj-Mahal do that? I heard some one took their hands along with their resumes.  Yes, Taj-Mahal is an architectural masterpiece but it is one of the many such sites in India. As far as its inclusion in the list of wonders of the world, I could not find any document stating that other than the 2006-07 the new seven wonders contest organized by a Swiss private company. In fact some Indian Media houses invested a lot of money for getting Taj in that list (vote for Taj campaign).

By the way since Taj Mahal is already mentioned, how is it a token of undying and everlasting love? If only Mumtaz Mahal was using facebook, her time line would look something like this:

Born -27 April 1593
Married – 30 April 1612 (second wife)
Feeling loved with eight others
Feeling lucky to be the favorite wife of all 9 wives
Feeling blessed – A baby
Feeling blessed – A baby again  and again and again (total 14)
Love kills!!!! 17 June 1631

Where is love in all this? How do you define love? Although, she died during the child birth of her fourteenth child, but sources claim that Shah Jhan had something to do with that. She was a very clever woman. As per the stories, she nudged the emperor to bet his throne in a game of chess which he lost and she won. She ascends the throne, giving free rein to her ruthlessness and ambition. This is where the emperor realizes that she has to be stopped.  She supposedly falls and dies. Was she pushed or it was an accident?

Thanks for reading!

Also read:  Ayodhya Dispute: An unresolved symbolical confrontation  
and Why Congress should lose 2019 for its own good.

How Modinomics stabilized the fuel economy of India

Shubham Singh
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How Modinomics stabilized the fuel economy of India

Recently Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid A. Al Falih who is also representative of the de facto leader of the OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), in his speech specifically mentioned Prime Minister Modi’s name and applauded his efforts in cooling down global crude prices.

Minister Al Falih said that the Prime Minister of India has been continuously working in defense and for the protection of Indian consumers against the higher global crude oil prices. This all happened during multiple conversations both in India, Saudi Arabia and wherever PM get the opportunity to talk about the issue.

Fuel acts as a very important role in any country’s economy. When Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, the international crude oil prices were low, so was the price of fuel in India. But soon various reason formed a very disastrous situation in country. Fuel prices went up at the peak. People went against the government and were asking for lower fuel price. They were blaming that PM is just silent on the situation and doing nothing.

India faced several ‘Bharat Bandhs‘ in protest against fuel prices. Though the external factors were the reason of the hike but opposition was continuously trying to take the political benefit from the situation. Rumours were spread that central government has increased the tax on fuel and is not ready to take it down, despite knowing the fact that state governments also put tax on the fuel.

India is 80% dependent on imports to meet its oil needs. The country imports oil from Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria and UAE. The rise in price was due to a confluence of international factors.

OPEC cut down production for more than a year. This sent the crude price soaring. Supply was disturbed due to the situation of political turmoil in West Asia and Venezuela. US sanctions against Iran are also affecting international oil prices.

Opposition may criticize the situation but they are also not much far away. Fuel prices rose exponentially in 2004-08, UPA government started subsiding fuels to keep the prices low. Situation turned even worst as it led to rise in current account deficit. So to cope up from the situation, they issued the oil bonds amounting to Rs.1,42,202 crore to oil companies. The interest rate was also high ranging from 7.33 percent to 8.4 percent.

However there is no strict rule that lower international crude oil prices must lead to lower domestic fuel prices. This is because, under a free pricing regime, petrol and diesel are priced according to what consumers are willing to pay rather than based on input costs. There are various other factors which results in the indirect increase of the retail price.

When the price of crude oil is high in the International market, the oil companies are forced to cut down on their supply to the retail market in order to drive up the prices to competitive levels. It is worth noting that crude oil prices have been on an upward trajectory ever since January 2016 when it hit rock bottom. The agreement between the OPEC nations to cut down production in late 2016 has provided it more acceleration.

At the recent OPEC meeting in Austria’s capital city Vienna. The Saudi Arabia Minister was asked about the US President Donald Trump’s warning to OPEC through a tweet. Trump warned against cutting oil production and thereby causing prices to increase.

Al Falih said, “President Trump is the President of the largest consuming country of petrol, 21 Million (barrels) I believe and thereabouts, that’s 20 per cent of global markets if not more. And the consumer in the US just like the consumer in France, just like a consumer in India, just like a consumer in Saudi Arabia, wants affordable energy. So he has every right to wish for affordability of energy for the citizens of the United States and he is very vocal using his favourite communication tool which is Twitter, and we hear him and we take his views seriously”.

Praising PM Modi’s contribution he said, “But we also take the views of Prime Minister Modi who is equally vocal. We just met with him in Buenos Aires and privately he made those points of view very, very strongly that he does care for Indian consumers. I have seen him 3 times in India at various energy events in India where he was also very vocal”.

PM Modi addressed the third annual meeting of chief executives of top global and India Oil and gas companies which held in October. In the meeting he raised the concern that crude oil prices, which are at a four year high, has affected global growth, causing inflation and upsetting budgets of various developing countries including India. PM Modi had also pushed the oil giants to invest in oil and gas exploration and production in India. To his concern regarding consumers, Al Falih had commented, “We heard it today, loud and clear, from prime minister”.

Situations today are getting better, the retail price of the fuel has come down and it is decreasing. It will decrease further as OPEC has also started working on the promise made to India. Government is working on its import strategies reworking its import strategy by targeting various factors like Iran is also ready to trade with India in Indian currency itself. Renewable energy is also being focused upon so that reliability on the crude oil could be lowered.

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