How Rahul Gandhi can help the BJP increase its membership

The readers of my posts would have gathered by now that I have a distinct right wing tilt. Some of my family members have been associated with the RSS for decades. My studies till class 10 were in a school run by an organization which is part of the overall RSS umbrella.

However, till date, I have never been a member of the RSS or the BJP. I attended a few shakhas, but always because someone took me there, and not out of my own volition. However, today I took the decision to become a formal member of the BJP. I in fact paid money to become a formal member. Not that I will become politically active or participate in dharnas etc. It was a knee-jerk reaction, my personal way of protest when I saw Rahul Gandhi's press conference today.

I do not want to go into the morality or legality of whatever has transpired after the latest assembly elections in Karnataka. I do confess that I wanted a BJP government to come to power, though in retrospect, it looks as if the BJP would have been better off sitting on the sidelines, and let the drama play out.

What pushed me towards my symbolic protest was the sheer entitlement that was oozing from Rahul Gandhi. According to him, the Congress would have "let" the BJP come to power had they won the majority on their own. Let? Does this guy think he owns the country, its Constitution, its institutions (which he claims are being decimated and/or hijacked by Modi and team) and its citizens? Does he think all of them exist to serve at his pleasure? Let us look at what all he did during these elections. He campaigned, in multiple constituencies. I understand that the Congress lost most if not all the seats where he campaigned. He in fact queered the pitch for an INC-JD(S) tie-up by calling the JD(S) a B-team of the BJP (he apparently apologised later to Deve Gowda). Imagine, the party president apologised due to his goof-up. The team which ran to the Supreme Court, and also handled the situation on the ground in Karnataka was not his team. It was managed by Sonia Gandhi, who seems to have been forced to enter the arena.

As soon as it became apparent the Congress was losing, there were obvious attempts to shield him. He was in hiding all the time, from counting till recently. Suddenly, one saw him with a smug smile, delivering a sanctimonious lecture after the events of today. And my God, the sense of entitlement! The way he seemed to insist that the RSS and BJP were destroying "institutions" without any regard. If one were to point out the falsehoods that were peddled by the Congress about the "murder of democracy", the text would possibly run into pages. On top of that were congratulations pouring in from various quarters. The AP CM, who till recently, was part of the NDA, and suddenly started claiming that nothing was being done for the state was one. Another was Mamata. In the recently concluded Panchayat elections in Bengal there have been multiple reports of booth capturing, rigging, rapes, murders etc. which were not even covered in the mainstream media. I understand that in many seats, the election was unanimous as there was no competition to the TMC candidate. After all this, the lady has the gall to lecture about how she believes in democracy.

As many people pointed out, the coming elections in 2019 seem to be clearly demarcated as competition between Modi and the rest of the media and political parties, who seem to be unanimously against him. The BJP has various points in its favour due to whatever it has done till date. Possibly, for the first time, a bankruptcy case has been successfully settled via the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). There are scores of Modi supporters on social media who provide points against the competition. In parallel with whatever populist/welfare schemes are being taken up by the central government, the success of the BJP will also depend upon how Modi and team explain to the population, what they see as injustice being meted out to the country because of the current opposition. Modi and team, do not have a strong ecosystem to convey their view. The Congress does. Hence, if Modi wants to retain power, it all depends on how effectively his work is conveyed to the people, and also on how effectively the opposition's version is countered. This is one reason I titled the post the way I did.

Also, interestingly, there were howls of protests when Yeddyurappa was given two weeks to prove his strength. Now Kumaraswamy has been given the same time. Everything is silent, no protests any more. 

As for Bengaluru and Karnataka, assuming the INC-JD(S) government lasts for some time, one must hope that lakes continue to be rejuvenated, something is done to reduce the traffic congestion, and the white-topping of roads, which I believe was halted before the elections, restarts and finishes. It would also be interesting to see how long the government would last.

Why I abhor the idea of Rahul Gandhi coming to power

This article was prompted by this article I saw being shared on Facebook member, Chaitanya Chinchlikar. Of late I have been in two minds on writing about politics. However this article really got my ranting juices flowing.

As Chinchlikar pointed out it very much looks as if the writer has his head in buried beneath soil. However what really got my goat was the entitlement or inheritance that the author seems to be talking about. It fills me with disgust that we have people like Rahul Gandhi as part of our "leaders" today.

Rahul Gandhi has never held any public position of responsibility in the country till date. His government was in power for ten years. He had a golden opportunity to work as a minister and learn the ropes of administration. His family has been in politics for much longer. He could have been a minister in any of the Congress state governments. Had he asked for it, possibly he would have been the Chief Minister of a state also. But no, he shirked all responsibility. To Congress sycophants this may seem to be abstinence from power. Sorry, to me it seems to be arrogance to hold the top post in the country without the humility or willingness to serve at any lower level.

He insists on speaking out on topics that seem populist to him. He spoke about Dadri, JNU etc., wherever he had an opportunity to target the ruling dispensation. He did not speak a word on the recent Kerala rapes. He has not commented anything on the recent murders of a student and a journalist in Bihar. He is visible typically only when he has an opportunity to target the government, that too which is not manned by his party. 

He does not seem to have a clue about international affairs. I do not recall any statements worth remembering having been made by him on the Italian Marines affair (I even did a quick Internet search). Though some foreign leaders seem to meet him in occasion I am not sure what is his actual awareness of what happens on the international stage. He seems to want to become a messiah for the masses. While the masses have to be addressed he should remember that there are today a huge middle class and educated youngsters who do want his dole. They want opportunities. They don't want huge statements. They want things to change. They want the situation to improve. 

Rahul Gandhi has lent his voice in support to the JNU agitation. It is now coming out that the protests which also spoke about Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad were funded by the Congress and the Left. ISIS recruits arrested recently are also revealing how they are mingling with these crowds to foment unrest. So is this guy doing anything productive? I do not think so.

We have had three major changes in the recent past which offered a ray of hope to many disillusioned Indians. One was the victory of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi. However, now the less said about Kejriwal, the better. While there seems to be some good work (with regard to school fees) being done, Kejriwal is making a spectacle of himself by targeting the PM at every available instance and with his daily theatrics. The other was Nitish Kumar who first came to power with the BJP's help, promising change from Lalu's administration. He either miscalculated Modi's appeal or wanted to become the PM himself and broke up with the BJP. He is now an ally of the much-maligned Lalu. Lalu's sons seem to be getting more press of late today than the CM. It will be interesting to see what happens during the next state elections. I hope Bihar does not slip back into its erstwhile lawlessness. 

The third was Narendra Modi coming to power. There have been occasional weird outbursts from extreme right wing elements which Modi has not said much/anything about. However in general the government seems to be trying many new things - reforms in bureaucracy, making it accountable, reducing red tape and corruption, renewed focus on energy savings, reforming the railways etc. Shrill voices from the opposition, and absolute non-cooperation from the Congress are putting a spanner into the works. Many Indians will be happy if Rahul Gandhi uses his "power" and cooperates with the government to bring out changes in the country. Let him claim credit after that. That seems to be one department where he needs absolutely no training.

The aforementioned article seems more akin to a paid news article which has a semblance of balance thrown in to avoid exactly this kind of accusation. I hope the writer analyses better before he writes such stuff.

On THE Interview

There would be very few of you who would remain unaware of the recent blockbuster which came out on TV. No, I am not referring to any film, I am referring to the interview given by the one and only Rahul Gandhi. In spite of all statements to the contrary Congressmen all over the country, indeed the world must have had at least one face-palm moment when they saw the interview. I have never been either for or against Arnab Goswami. However today I am thankful to him for having shown what Rahul Gandhi is like. The Congress would have liked him to be in the limelight. However the result has been that he has been in the flood light of ridicule and disbelief.

It beggars belief to think that the INC wants this person to lead the nation. He has no administrative experience whatsoever. He has not even been a minister. Experience to rule the nation does not come by doing party work and by staying in village homes for a few days. The only major thoughts he seems to have to "change the system" and "empower women". We have no clue if he has any clue about how to do this.

After seeing the interview one is hard pressed not to think that there is a serious coterie in the INC which is out to push Rahul Gandhi into power for its own reasons, for, the hand behind the throne is always more powerful than the throne itself, as it is neither visible nor accountable.

I will not go too much into detail, and will touch on but a few things.

1. The guy keeps referring to himself in the third person. What, is he royalty?

2. He reports to the PM and hence does not communicate to the press? This guy claims to want to "change the system" and he does not even speak to the press enough! Well he is in good company. Sonia Gandhi is not exactly known for her talkative nature. Manmohan Singh, I think, has given 2 press conferences which were supposed to be frank and open. They turned out to be whining sessions, to absolve himself of all blame. Please correct me if I am wrong.

3. Change the system? There is a book called India, A Portrait, by Patrick French. The maximum no of youth who have gotten in through family connections are in the Congress, this is democracy for you.

4. A guy at his level, who is constantly in the spotlight would have expected to be prepared for the interview. The safest option is to vet the questions beforehand and be ready with the answers. At least he would not have stammered on screen and be seen sweating so much!

5. Talking about concentration of power - Indira Gandhi is probably the best example of this independent India has ever seen, not taking into account her son, Sanjay (Indira Gandhi was accused of having a kitchen cabinet, however this is possibly a greater insult to accused of, than that of being a dictator). Interesting that Rahul did not mention this. He has seen his father and grandmother die. He was born in 1970. He probably saw but was too young to remember the Emergency period in the mid 70s, or rather he conveniently forgot.

6. "When a big tree falls, the earth shakes" seems to be an insensitive remark. This was made by Rajiv Gandhi at the time of the anti-Sikh riots. What was his intent? Many people see it as condoning the riots. However Mani Shankar Aiyar of the INC has a different view. You be the judge.

We can go on like this. However I would only be boring you with details of what you have already laughed about. Also there was a wickedly funny joke I saw online about a quip from Sanjay Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi in heaven. However out of fear of my blog being blocked by the powers that be (as a few sites have) I will refrain from quoting it here.

I think today if not tomorrow, he will, fortunately or unfortunately, become the leader of this nation. I only pray that by the time he reaches that stage he is wiser and more capable than he is now!

On MMS and Rahul Gandhi

A post after two months! Well, this was prompted by Manmohan Singh's latest press conference and an editorial in the The Hindu. 

MMS has confirmed he will not be running for any more terms in office. Let us analyze a few things.

1. He is 81 years old (though he looks much younger)

2. The image of MMS and his government are possibly at the lowest level since he came to power. Possibly even die-hard INC supporters are extremely pessimistic of UPA 3 materializing.

3. There has long been a clamour in the INC to make Rahul Gandhi the PM candidate

So does this declaration raise any eyebrows? I think not. Moving beyond this revelatory or prophetic declaration, MMS has also said it would be a disaster for the country if Narendra Modi becomes the PM. He also believes Rahul Gandhi has excellent credentials, and one asks what are they? This person has not held a single position of responsibility in the government till date. His interactions with the public and corporate India, time and again, reveal his immaturity. This is the person who the current PM thinks has excellent credentials? A person with zero experience? This, my dear readers, I believe will be disastrous for the country, Rahul Gandhi, God forbid, becoming the PM.

Also this press conference like the one earlier seemed to be all about exculpating himself. The UPA government is accused of serious levels of corruption. As was the case the last time the PM once again mentioned political compulsions. He seems to be saying, I am clean, I cannot manage the system around me!

Also do our politicians have no regard for the judicial process? Narendra Modi has recently been cleared of all charges of complicity in the Gujarat riots, still the Congress persists in blaming him for the riots. Whatever the truth, this is a person who has has ample political experience. He has also been the Chief Minister of a state since 2001, hence he has ample political and administrative experience. Between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi I don't think anyone should have any illusions as to who would make a better PM!

If I am not mistaken MMS is a Parliament member from Assam. The present Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi wants to change the time zone to take advantage of different sunrise and sunset times there. The Hindu pointed out that this would add another dimension to the way in which the north east is already held to be different and instead proposes that IST be changed to be 6 hours ahead of UTC in place of 5h 30m like it is now. My question - is it not simpler to change the working hours? Office hours in summer and winter would be different!

Should we be worried for or about "Shehzada"?

Rahul Gandhi had recently remarked that he also may be killed the way his father and grandmother were, but that he did not care. He tried to emotionally involve the audience via the family references. One of the most controversial remarks, as everyone is aware now, was about an intelligence officer briefing him about some developments in UP. 

Now till date he has not clarified further on these remarks. Questions were raised as to why a mere (I don't think I can say this with a straight face) MP was briefed by an intelligence officer. The UP government itself does not seem to have received the inputs shared by Rahul Gandhi. As per news reports the officer in question might not have given accurate information also.

So on the one hand I think we should be worried for him, for his safety, that another young (again, difficult to say this with a straight face) life in the country might be lost. On the other hand I should be worried for this country. This person does not seem to have the maturity to keep sensitive intelligence reports (true or false) to himself. Also if I remember correctly he was blaming the BJP for creating hate via communal politics. This hate had supposedly given rise to terrorism to which his family had fallen victim. I am worried about this person's grasp on not only the country's history but also that of his family. I am currently reading a book called "India, a Potrait" by Patrick French which is quite informative. Indira Gandhi was assassinated after Operation Bluestar. The terrorist behind this Bhindranwale was propped by none other than Sanjay Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. Further Rajiv Gandhi had sent the IPKF to Sri Lanka. He was assassinated by the LTTE for his involvement in Sri Lanka. 

Thus Indira Gandhi fell victim to her own politics and there was nothing religious about Rajiv Gandhi's death. Does Rahul know this? Or is a potential future PM of this country simply lying to the people to garner votes? 

 

Another small technical point which had come to my mind. Jawaharlal Nehru is said to have come from a family of Kashmiri Pandits though there are doubters to this claim. Let us assume this is true. Now Feroze Gandhi came from a Parsi/Mohammedan family. Going by Indian traditions his progeny with Indira Gandhi would count as Parsis/Muslims. Apparently Rahul Gandhi countered a party member's claim that forward castes were not doing well in the party by pointing to himself. Leaving aside the point that this argument is null and void as he comes from the first family and he would still have made it had he not been able to spell his own name, how does he claim to be a Brahmin? I have no problems with any person from any caste occupying any role, I am just curious.

Is Digvijay Singh serious?

First of all I have a doubt. Unless I am wrong I believe that it is legally wrong to suppress truth about a crime when you know a crime has taken place. Look at this article. Digvijay Singh says that family should not be attacked. He claims to have evidence against Vajpayee's son-in-law but does not want to mention it. Can someone from the police department please question this man? This person says his party has never attacked family members. If my memory serves me right, some time before Vajpayee became the PM there was a comment either from Sonia Gandhi or (most probably) Ghulam Nabi Azad. The quote was to the effect that Vajpayee is a bachelor. So how come he has a daughter? Vajpayee retorted that he had never seen that kind of character assassination in politics. I am not a career politician. Digvijay Singh is. I believe he should get his facts right before he goes onto national press or television.

Also if I am not mistaken in many cases it is the relatives and family members of politicians who help in hoarding unaccounted-for wealth. So I believe Digvijay Singh wants all politicians to go scot free. They should only remember to keep their black money with family members, no questions asked!

He is said to be the political guru of Rahul Gandhi. There is a tale by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Apparently he came across a big frog being swallowed by one variety of snake. The frog was too big for the snake. However it was not willing to let the frog go. Thus both were suffering. Had it been a cobra it would have long since consumed the frog. Sri Ramakrishna says that this was like the relationship between an unfit guru and his disciple. If the guru is not proper both have to suffer. Is this the reason why in spite of all his "efforts"Rahul Gandhi does not seem to be making any headway anywhere (apart from maybe in the Congress and in some select foreign holiday destinations)?

Further what is it with Beni Prasad Verma? This man is bent on shoving his foot into his mouth whenever he opens it. Unfortunately I do not remember his previous gems. Detractors of Salman Khurshid must have been cackling with laughter when they heard his remarks - that 71 lakhs was too small an amount for a central minister to embezzle. True, in this day of 2G and coalgate when the scams are in hundreds if not thousands, sorry thousands if not lakhs of crores 71 lakhs is too small an amount!

There was a report in today's paper that Mamata was in the know about the Railway Minister's recent decision to hike fares (even if it was nominal). This came after all the hungama about the increase in fares and Mamata's public posturing about the PM needing to sack Dinesh Trivedi. Apparently even opposition leaders were in the know and it was thought that the hike was unavoidable, given the present condition of the Indian Railways. 

Why are our politicians afraid of coming out into the open about something that they secretly acknowledge is for the greater good? Are they afraid that people (read voters) will see them to be anti-poor, anti-middle class and anti-everything in general? As soon as Mamata started making noises one of the ideas doing the rounds was that Mamata privately agreed to the hike but was publicly raising a cry to maintain her pro-aam aadmi image. If this is not true then Mamata is indeed turning out to be a populist demagogue of the most dangerous kind. Our politicians should not shy away from public debate on issues like FDI in retail, deregulation of petrol prices and such issues. They should stop thinking that the aam aadmi cannot understand such issues. If that is the perception they should strive to educate them and then take executive decisions which are in the interest of the country.

Take FDI in retail for instance. Granted, there might be a community of shopkeepers who might get adversely affected at least in the short term. However the middle class (which also includes these shopkeepers) would stand to gain from reduced prices and greater efficiencies in the supply chain. Why does the government not highlight such issues?

Moving on, the Gujarat Congress is up in arms against two articles published recently in the US. One was by TIME magazine and the other by the Brookings Institution. These seem to have praised Modi for developing Gujarat into what it is today. This seems to be a very good example of sour grapes. India is a free country where we have an independent Election Commission. Modi is still winning support of the people. The riots constitute an ugly blot on our democracy. However till date no court has found Modi to be guilty of anything with regard to the riots. So does the Congress not believe in our courts? Is it not contempt of court to pre-judge the guilt of Modi? Naveen Patnaik is a person who has been facing spectacular success in Odisha (I do not like imposing one's language on others, I prefer Orissa) has a personally clean image and is said to be working for the development of the state. Today more and more the Indian voter seems to be voting for development rather than for anything else. The Congress however seems intent on tarring Modi with the communal brush at every available turn. Its leaders insist on minority appeasement (remember Salman Khurshid's claim about Sonia Gandhi shedding tears about the Batla House encounter? I believe his wife, Louise lost the election).Salman Rushdie targeted young leaders like Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi. He pointed out how minority appeasement failed. Our politicians should realize this and develop more guts as far as national interest is concerned.

Born privileged, will blunder!

Rahul Gandhi's advisors must surely be hoping they could turn back time. He launched his UP campaign on the birthday of his grandfather. However as has been highlighted by the media, two things have occurred which the Congress could have done without.

One was the kicking of the opposition workers who broke through Rahul's security cordon. Granted, he is under SPG protection and is a high profile target. However the intruders could have simply been pinned down and taken into custody. But we saw political leaders queuing up to kick the SP workers. Apparently an FIR has also been filed against these leaders.

The other was Rahul Gandhi's use of the term begging. Bihar and UP contribute a lot to the migrant labour force in the country. This is still no reason to call the people of UP beggars. There is such a thing called dignity of labour. The Congress might say the labourers would not be in that state if other opportunities were available. However is this true? Due to the MGNREGS there is a shortage of labour throughout the country. A farmer with small holdings might opt for menial work in construction, manufacturing etc during the off-season to sustain himself. However with the scheme in place he is assured of work for 100 days. If he is satisfied with his income there is no incentive for him to take up further work. 

Both incidents show a certain arrogance in the young(?) leader. He did not stop his over zealous party people from indulging in violence. The beggar remark shows the political immaturity of the Congress leader even though he has such qualified mentors and has spent so much time in the public eye. One can only wonder if this person is suitable to be the leader of this country, for it is a granted thing that unless he sacrifices the PM's post a la his mother he will become the PM of this country one day. Coming back to the title of this post - only Rahul Gandhi can probably commit such blunders and still escape unscathed, for it is the sycophancy of his party members that will sustain him throughout his political life.

Hobson's Choice

This is a term I learnt during my Intermediate days in Visakhapatnam (for the uninitiated, that means classes 11 and 12). This is the Wiki link.

Look at this article. Can there be a more blatant example of trying to reach out to a votebank? Why did I use the term? Today voters in Bengal face that situation exactly. The CPM has been in power for too long, has taken some unpopular decisions and is not exactly the most popular formation today. The Congress and (especially) the NDA have not been very significant players anyway. So the only option for the voters is the Trinamool Congress. 

Rahul Gandhi was in town recently. The arrangements made would have left one wondering if the PM or the President was visiting. For god's sake, he is a king-in-waiting, save us the inconvenience till he at least becomes king. His impact on the forthcoming state elections remains to be seen.

Elsewhere Telangana supporters are protesting against the use of the word Komaram in Pawan Kalyan's new movie. Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party was against a separate Telangana and the name is apparently someone associated with the Telangana region. There were protestors earlier against Junior NTR's Adhurs as he also did not support a separate Telangana apparently. I am currently reading the White Tiger by Aravind Adiga which I received as a gift. It's quite an interesting book. The term poverty porn comes to mind, but at the same time it is a thought-provoking book about India today, what we have done to our people, what has become of it. Well-to-do (middle class also for that matter) Indians and especially politicians should  ideally read it. Combine my thoughts from the book and what I see happening daily and I cannot but feel a sense of disgust with the cesspool that is the Indian political sphere today. Will I step up and do something instead of just commenting? Let's see.