What Kejriwal should learn from Chanakya

There was a Telugu movie some time back titled Leader. It features the now-hunk and he-of-the-single-expression Rana Daggubati. It was about the son of an assassinated Chief Minister who becomes the CM in line with his dying father's wishes and sets about cleaning up the state's corruption-ridden politics. I don't see this movie actually happening in the real world but it is a good watch.

In the movie the protagonist moots in the state legislature a proposal to set up an anti-corruption body which will have the power to prosecute everyone. There is vigorous opposition from politicians cutting across political lines (sounds familiar?). He is advised by an elderly politician to remove politicians from the list of people the body can investigate and this immediately finds favour. The logic was that the people in the upper echelons depend on bribes from the lower echelons. If the lower echelons were trapped automatically the bribes for the top will stop. So he was employing one class against the other.

Now coming to today's India Kejriwal and team seem to be after all politicians in India. He must remember a few things. The memory of people is short-lived. Indira Gandhi was voted out of power in 1977 post the emergency. However she came back to power soon. This was at least in some measure due to the incompetence of the Janata government. However people were willing to forgive her. Salman Khan has been accused in hit-and-run and animal hunting cases. In the recent past he is probably the cinema actor whose films have grossed the most at the box office. Kejriwal has decided to take on the entire political establishment. This is foolish, to say the least. For one, in my opinion people of our country don't care enough. Even if they do they care for a very brief time. Look at the fate of Anna Hazare's movement. Hence Kejriwal needs to take a leaf out of Chanakya's book.

What Chanakya had done was probably not ethical but was steeped in realpolitik. He first took the help of some rulers like Malayaketu to remove the Nanda dynasty. Later he removed Malayaketu as he was a threat to Chandragupta. I request correction if I get my facts wrong. Kejriwal should understand and apply the concept of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". If he is correct he should use the current opposition parties to rid the ruling coalition of unwanted elements. Later on he should focus on the current opposition. I remember a discussion on NDTV where there was an NCP representative, Prakash Javadekar from the BJP (I seriously think he should be replaced) and Ms Damania among others. The discussion, or should I say arguments started with Ajit Pawar. The NCP rep who is also the head of one of Air India's pilots' union was brazen in his arguments which was quite irritating. He was being cornered when Damania raised the issue of Gadkari and she and Javadekar started fighting much to the relief of the NCP rep. In this din the whole issue gets forgotten.

So my dear Kejriwalji, please get your focus right. Apparently comedy is all about timing. Let us ensure that the current anti-corruption movement does not end up as a sad joke.

Gadkari - the man of the season

First of all, I do not want to be sued by Nitin Gadkari. Recently Anjali Damania, an RTI activist went live on national TV to state that Gadkari tried to dissuade her from pursuing her investigation into the alleged irrigation scam in Maharashtra. I am not very sure what proof the lady is carrying and it is perhaps very unwise to make that allegation in absence of any proof, even if it is true. 

Now apparently Gadkari had said that there were business dealings with Sharad Pawar. I am not very clear on this. However I was suddenly reminded of a Sanskrit sloka when I saw a news article that an amendment has been made by the BJP to its Constitution to enable heads of the state and national units to serve a second term. The most prominent beneficiary of this move would appear to be Gadkari as his terms ends in December this year. This was done apparently because the RSS felt that the job of overhauling the BJP begun by Gadkari was incomplete. Maybe he is indeed the best person suited for the job. I am not making any allegations, but to my knowledge the richest BJP President till date has been Gadkari who is a businessman and agriculturist (the link to Pawar?).

The sloka goes like this.

यस्यास्ति वित्तं स नरः कुलीनः 

yasyaasti vittam sa narah kuleenah
स पण्डितः स श्रुतवान गुणज्ञः 

sa panditah sa shrutavaan gunagyah
स एव वक्ता स च दर्शनीयः 

sa eva vaktaa sa cha darshaneeyah
सर्वे गुणाः काञ्चनमाश्रयन्ति

sarve gunaah kaanchanamaashrayanti

The meaning goes something like this - the one who has wealth, he is said to be of noble ancestry, said to be a scholar, a man endowed with good qualities. He alone is an orator and a handsome one. All qualities are dependent upon (possession of) wealth.

When the BJP is gearing up for the 2014 elections (though far away) and a possible election before that (unlikely though) would Sushma Swaraj or Arun Jaitley who are leaders of the opposition have been better choices? There is a lot of talk about Modi being the next Prime Ministerial candidate. Would he have been a good choice? The last choice is difficult as Gujarat is scheduled to go to the polls soon. Still, just wanted to express my opinion.

Also Yeddyurappa is in rebel-mode again. He is not very subtly giving hints to the BJP by praising the Congress saying they have never let their leaders down. Seriously? If this is indeed true this could have been because the tallest (officially at least) leader for most if not all of the time has been a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Apparently Gadkari started out as a BJP worker and is today party President. I hope this continues and we don't see people who think of party posts as family heirlooms (more than the case is today, if I may say so).