Why is BJP ‘a party with a difference’?

BJP is indeed a party with a difference, and we keep learning about this quality of BJP now and again. Look, the way it spoiled its image by letting its Karnataka and Uttarakhand CMs stick to their seats till it became unbearable. Numerous political observers have talked in current affairs shows that the two CMs in question used their money bags to silence the top brass. We are not sure whether that is true or not, but the trend shows that things are rotting in a big way in BJP’s moral core.

BJP’s handling of Lokpal issue also made the party look like a mirror-image of the ruling major, the Congress. The lack of moral courage, indulgence in insincere rhetoric, resolve to deny the country an effective anti-corruption institution… BJP showed itself as a party with a difference – yes, people are seeing huge difference from its initial image of being disciplined, nationalistic and honest.  
  

The latest act of commission, the entry of Kushwaha in the party leaves the party with a rotten egg on its face. On one hand, the party postures by meeting the president [who is ‘Her Excellency the President of India’ other than a Congress’s hand-picked politician?] and in parallel, the party’s president is busy selling the party’s reputation on a tainted BSP-discard called Kushwaha! 

Sometime back, India News Today talked about a serious internal drift within BJP. The way BJP is declining, it may soon end up being another BSP or SP. We don’t need another instance of what happens to a ‘national’ party when it loses its moral strength and tries to compete with others in third-rate politics. Btw, when the party was supposed to be a relatively honest party, the positive public image might have been because people had not seen its true colours, or maybe it acquired the colours once it came to power.

Anna Hazare's protest exposes government's disconnect with people

Anna Hazare's protest has exposed many rotten things in Indian polity, but I will talk here on a different aspect: total disregard for public by our elected representatives in the government.

Indian parliament is full of people who have learnt politics from their fathers and forefathers (look at the progeny of Gandhis, Scindia, Karunanidhi,  et al) and also many who have learnt politics by way of crime and often defending crime (as lawyers). When UPA came to power, more than the people's true reps, these people got top ministerial ranks. If there are people like Pranab (Advani in BJP) there, they have become too rigid, having been in high positions for ages. Naturally, when it came to dealing with a true people's representative that Anna is, they didn't know what to do.

Since 'engaging civil society' looked to be fashionable, they engaged Anna. Immediately, they realised that they had erred (listen to early press conferences of Kapil Sibal). They not only backtracked, they launched a diatribe against all those in Anna's team. They held press conferences day in and day out, made a Group of Ministers on Media, used Press Information Bureau to the hilt - just to alienate masses further away from the government.  The more people saw faces like Kapil Sibal, Chidambaram (and later joined by Khurshid, Narayanan and Ambika Soni), the more they started hating the government. Manish Tiwari and Digvijaya Singh played good role as villains.

The duplicity of the government, its rigidity and its sheer disconnect with people's feelings were apparent from the day Kapil Sibal opened his mouth first time on Anna's fast in April. The disconnect with people - and government's firm refusal to see the mood on the ground - in the following days has been legendary.

What did the mainstream media do during this period? Recall what major newspapers  and TV channels have been showing for the last 5-6 days? Times of India has devoted almost the entire paper on Anna today, why? One, they are supporting fight against corruption. Two (and this is much more important), they are aligning with the huge groundswell in favour of protest against corruption. In one stroke, they have increased their readership by many lakhs, and a few lakh will become  permanent TOI followers! The point is, alert media houses are seeing opportunity to align with masses while the ruling party has been doing all that it can do to alienate people.

Leave aside their other follies for a moment, and tell me where has the political instinct of Congress to feel the emotions of the people gone? Have they become political General Dyers?

PS: I have been writing on corruption and have deliberately taken a break as far as blogging on it (Have been active on Twitter and have visited Chhatrasal Stadium once.) But this 'We-are-the-rulers-and-care-a-hoot-for-public' attitude of elected reps provoked me to write this piece.

If Digvijaya Singh is their brand ambassador, God save the Congress

Diggy, the Rahul acolyte

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's statement on Mumbai blasts suggests that the party has become victim of a twisted mindset where it sees hand of RSS in every terrorist act. It is unfortunate that Congress has made such leaders its Brand Ambassadors. This vote bank politics spreads communalism and serves the interests of terrorists who want to divide the country on communal lines.

Ironically, it is the Congress leaders who see a communal hand in even innocuous acts of the Sangh Parivar. I am not giving a clean chit to the Parivar fellows, but Congress’s indulging in a propaganda on a matter on which their hands are equally – though differently – dirty, does not wash either.

It is worse that Diggy is seen not only as one who speaks all nonsense on behalf of Sonia and Rahul, he is the party’s torch bearer in UP and a close associate of Rahul. Heis a courtesan waiting for the day his boss becomes the country’s PM. In this respect he is more dangerous than his mentor, the wily Arjun Singh. Dangerous for the boss as well as the party.
You may like to see my earlier take on Rahul's SS-Simi link and Diggy's cussed secularism. 

Kapil Sibal, Chidu and Bhardwaj: look at your public face, Sonia!

If the UPA claims to be a party that cares for the common man, and it indeed comes out with some very good poor-friendly and citizen-friendly programmes, why does it not have people at the helm those who care for the people? People who are above reproach? People who really represent people? People who are not always soaked in their elitism and arrogance, machinations, pettinesses and a contempt for the real India?

Take Chidu. His public stand on naxalism, Telangana, anti-Christian violence in Orissa, centre-state relations…. You name the topic and we can tell you how he bungled the issues and made it worse to handle. A politician who won his seat with state power, and all his party candidates lost in the recent legislative elections, does he  deserve to be the federal home minister? You might say, he is efficient; then, bring a strategist, an MBA or a proven administrator to hold this post. At least we’ll get rid of terrorism and naxalism, if nothing else.

Take Sibal. He is 'contempt for others' personified. Nobody can have ideas better than him. Nobody can, of course, beat his connections among Delhi’s super rich. He bungles again and again and the government finds him fit to negotiate with the civil society. Remember how he messed up negotiations with Anna before they could barely be salvaged? Now, his utterly opaque and cunning talks with Baba Ramdev and its aftermath has left your party bruised in public eyes like never before. Yes, his second innings with Anna too is proving a disaster.

Bharadwaj. Does he deserve to be a governor? A governor who plays petty politics with his ‘own’ government in the state has no right to be there. He should represents the state and he should also represents the centre, so he has to be a very mature, impartial patron rather than a party to the games state’s politicians are playing.

If you allow such cronies to represent your government, madam, the charge of remote control and being anti-public will stick on you. Only you are there to blame for your fall, if you do not encourage honest politicians with mass base. Your people-friendly policies will bring you no votes either if these brats spoil your case again and again. You have shown maturity and grace before, you must show it now with your acts. Only then the people will like you, vote for you and give you the respect you deserve.

Joshi‘s PAC and Congress intrigues

Dr MM Joshi, PAC chief

Parliamentary bodies have been created to sort out matters that would be lost to party politics in the full house, but nowadays parliamentary committees have also become kabaddi play grounds between the ruling and opposition formations.

Dr Muli Manohar Joshi is known to be rigid guy. Tose who know him closely say that his stagnation within BJP too is partly due to his inflexible approach. When the opposition’s demand for JPC on 2G scam had generated heat enough that it had become an embarrassment for the ruling coalition, Joshi smelled an opportunity to show his power as PAC chief. In fact, BJP had to come to terms with him when he declared that PAC would look into 2G irrespective of the JPC.

Joshi’s report, as leaked to the press, is a document that embarrasses Congress, especially the PM. If during depositions and examination of papers in JPC, certain omissions and commissions came to light, it is the duty of the PAC to bring them in the report. There is the issue of using moderate or harsh wordings and making inferences out of weak evidence. Being what he is, Joshi could not have given a report that exonerates PM, and – as reported in the press – there is surefooted evidence against PM’s inaction and wrong action by people close to the PMO. A more flexible chairman would perhaps tried to reach consensus and allowed differing opinions, including his, as annexures to the report.

But what Congress is resorting to is also what Congress is supposed to do. [For that matter, which other party that is there in India today would not do that?] So, it gathered the scam tainted and CBI hounded parties – Mayawati’s BSP, Mulayam’s SP and DMK – to cobble up majority within PAC and reject the PAC report.

Congress does not have conviction to clean up its governance systems and courage to accept criticism. Joshi does not have courtesy and humility to reach sort of consensus in drafting the PAC report. All parties swear by parliamentary democracy, and PAC has very senior parliamentarians as members. If they cannot rise over their party stands even in parliamentary committees, it only shows the immaturity of our democratic institutions even after sixty years of their working.

PS: JPC will not only have severe divisions: BJP will try to avenge its defeat in PAC, Congress will be more vociferous, and Chako is no angel.

what ails BJP? part II: bloated vacuum

BJP needs to look deep into its health and do ruthless surgery if it wants to be a party to reckon with. RSS made an attempt to do so and gave them Gadkari, but it proved to be a superficial surgery like cutting away cancerous growth without curing the body.

Now, let’s ask a question probing its past. Why did BJP need Ram janmabhoomi controversy to win power in the first place and why did it need Atal Bihari Vajpayee to hold the power for three terms?

Let us try to diagnose the problem slightly deeper. Look at the top leaders of the party: LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi, Venkiah Naidu, Rajnath Singh, Jaswant Singh, Nitin Gadkari, etc etc. Whom will you tick if I ask you to spot among them people with these qualities: oratory and command over language, understanding of Indian and international matters, understanding of party line on different matters, personal charm, reputation as a person with integrity and political experience? Chances are that you would tick them all. Then why is BJP not the ruling party?

Could you spot among them one whom you can call a mass leader? A leader who can take all partymen together? One who can be seen in command and capable of steering the country in the right direction if made a PM? To me, Modi seems one who has these qualities, but he has many similarly-placed leaders who will pull him down the moment he is seen rising above them. They collectively shape the party opinion against his aggressive right-wing stand. That takes us to the other point.

What is the plank on which BJP can be sure to win a general election? Development? Farmers’ welfare? Price rise? Economic downturn? No, sir, no. These are general issues and the ruling Congress has handled them rather satisfactorily. Unless one of such issues rises beyond the government’s handling or a war breaks or government is unable to handle the situation after the likely September verdict on Ayodhya, BJP is bereft of any plank. If Narender Modi, in his own style, raises some emotive issues that strike a chord with the majority, the party starts feeling nervous about likely alienation of moderates and Muslims within and outside the party and that of state-level partners like Nitish. So, how can a party without a definite goalpost devise a winning strategy, however good planners, orators, honest leaders it may have?

The nation needs a strong opposition. An opposition that is a constant threat to the ruling formation, not one lost in its own vacuum of true leadership.

I will further analyse the problems of BJP in the next post in this series, sometime later.
You can see all posts relating to BJP here. 

BJP’s credibility, Advani’s repentance

Advani in his heydays

After saying sorry to Sonia Gandhi for his remarks against her, LK Advani says, the demolition of Babri masjid is harming his party’s credibility. Why this attainment so late? Was he not the biggest BJP leader on the spot when the structure was demolished by an insane crowd? What did he do to stop them? In fact, the question that should be asked is who invited the crowd there? Was it not his ‘mandir wahin banayenge’ [=We’ll make temple there only.] slogan that created the hysteria?

Advani’s recent regrets seem to be linked to the recent Supreme Court notice against him on Babri demolition case. By showing remorse now, the face of BJP is trying to secure his personal interest but at the cost of credibility of his party he is purporting to preserve. Whether right or wrong, Advani’s and BJP’s credibility lies in being a Hindutwa votary unless they want to change their philosphy. Of course it will be good for the country if the party adopts a more secular worldview, but it must make up its mind.

India News Today feels sad for BJP that whenever it has an upper hand against the ruling coalition, Advani seems to get pangs of guilt or a vision opposite to his party’s. The two regrets follow his earlier statement praising Jinnah, the most hated person for the Hindutwa ideologues. 

Let BJP think of its credibility in a more credible way. No? 

Pl see our earlier takes on Advani-speak here.

Pl see India News analysis of what ails BJP here.

flag at Lal Chowk: brinkmanship BJP style

BJP's anger is understandable, so is its frustration. But it is doing itself little good by the tokenism called flag hoisting at Lal Chowk on the Republic Day. It is good that terrorists have so far ignored the provocation, and the government is being firm.

What BJP wants to score with this act is to show itself in the bold nationalist frame - and it feels it will give the party some lost ground. The party perhaps feels that stopping it or allowing it to succeed, both will make BJP a champion of Indianism and show Congress as a weak party afraid to take on terrorism for fear of losing Muslim votes [since terrorists in this part of the country belong to Muslim religion and the UPA has been dilly-dallying hanging Afzal Guru, the terrorist sentenced to death in Parliament bombing case].

And what BJP is most likely to gain is a self goal if it does not listen to sanity now. Till now, BJP yatra has been peaceful and it has achieved its purpose in a limited sense. BJP must now take a high moral ground and call off hoisting of tricolour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar.It should listen to its ally, Nitish and saner voices within the party, if there are any. It must recognise that politically too, stretching the issue will only hurt its own interest because -

• Its core constituency of nationalist Indian is thinning in spread as well as in intensity of ferver. The upwardly mobile, neo-urban and moderate among the 'patriots' may not like it if the issue goes out of hand;
• The focus of BJP's fight on corruption and price-rise will get severely dilutes as it will lose space to Kashmir, it will alienate other opposition parties presently with BJP in fighting corruption, it will take away the energy and focus within BJP from more pressing issues;
• Kashmir, at least at present, is not a bigger issue than price-rise and corruption -- the twin issues on which the ruling UPA is on back foot. Raising Kashmir will only allow the UPA to breathe comfortably without giving BJP any political dividend;
• It will also alienate its allies like Nitish, and make other regional parties avoid it during the coming assembly and later general elections.

If BJP is really serious about India, India News Today would advise it to focus on price-rise and corruption, and also put its own house in order in Karnataka. Be bold there, not in Kashmir, where peace is getting a faltering chance again.

You can see all BJP related posts here.

Reshuffle was sham; news was on the sidelines

After the reshuffle of his cabinet, the Prime Minister talked to the press. What he said gives the true message rather than the act of oath taking and portfolio rejig.

a. It is only a minor reshuffle, a more ‘expansive’ exercise will be done after the budget session of parliament.
               I have hardly shuffled the pack. I don’t care for what you expected of me. I and Sonia know the best about how to run the government and the country.

b. I am not an astrologer to say when the prices of essential commodities will be under check.
              Like Pawar and Thomas [whom I have given independent charge of Food ministry], I too cannot take responsibility for price rise. Prices will rise when there is more demand and when international commodity prices rise; the government can do little to check it. I am an economist and so I know much better than you all together. Don’t you see we are taking all the actions we can take, and I am helpless if no improvement takes place. 

c. There is no ‘instant’ solution to the staking of money illegally by Indians abroad.
              Supreme Court’s saying that this is outright theft and suggesting that the government should do something is just lofty advice that the SC is habitual of making. We are bound by treaties etc and can hardly put pressure on other governments and banks to disclose black money held by Indians.

d. We are committed to end the stalemate in parliament. We are prepared to discuss everything on the floor of the house.
             There will be no JPC on 2G scam, whatever you opposition parties do. We will not change our stand and you can do a damn because we have the majority. In any case, if you don’t allow bills to be passed, how does it affect my or Soniaji’s health?

Now, if the media and public at large expected something earth-shaking from the cabinet reshuffle, they have rightly been proved wrong. When did you find Manmohan taking impactful decisions? It was media, helped by government’s own spin doctors, who’d foolishly thought Manmohan will (i)bring new faces to inculcate dynamism and freshness, (ii) remove corrupt ones to give a strong message against corruption, (iii) bring in experts to handle ministries tackling inflation, infrastructure, investment, reforms etc, and (iv) promote and demote ministers based on their performance. If you find the same wine in the same bottle, don’t fret. Be prepared to suffer them.

Kapil Sibal’s defence of Raja: how low will Congress sink?

What Kapil Sibal said yesterday in Raja’s defence is utterly specious and devoid of credibility. What he said might be technically arguable, because a lawyer of his stature is not likely to be wrong there, but the type of politics and governance the Congress is displaying is despicable for more reasons than one.

One, when it is a fact that Raja gave only one hour or so for submitting bids that required filling longish documents and submitting drafts, what does it show other than blatant favouritism by twisting procedures? Is it not an impropriety to predate a press release so that only your men know of the bidding? Does any amount of argument that Raja had not been asked against first-come-first-served by PMO or that NDA ministers also followed the same procedure make the loot pardonable? Does any amount of corruption that people in NDA government might have indulged in [that is what Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari, Jayanti Natrajan and other Congress spokespersons harp on on television] make Raja’s decisions right? 

What Sibal is saying is that Raja murdered an innocent because NDA beat up an innocent too, and that’s why Raja did no wrong.

Two, why are we hankering on presumptive vs substantive loss to the exchequer and the correctness of CAG calculations? Do these matters of detail take away the sting out of the massive crime and breach of public trust that have been committed? 

Is the Congress trying to say that Raja murdered the innocent with only four stabs but the opposition and CAG are saying that he stabbed the guy ten times, so Raja did no wrong?

Three. The more the Congress tries to argue in favour of Raja’s actions, the more it makes light of the impropriety most of the political masters in India indulge in. In a Minister or public authority’s role you are not a lawyer or a businessman; in fact you should not even act as a party-politician when you are taking a public decision. You are there to make right policies, implement them rightly and take actions only with people’s good in mind. You should be ready to sacrifice personal gains for the general public good. You should, by your conduct, lead the bureaucracy under you and those who follow you otherwise. Do any of you politicians remember the oath you took at the time of taking charge as a Minister? 

Four. For the sake of parliamentary functioning, Congress is supposed to take the leadership role. By joining issues instead of extending its hand, it will further alienate the opposition. Will it gain by doing so? Will the country gain? Will the democracy gain? The sole responsibility for letting parliament run smoothly rests with the ruling party, like the running of a household traditionally rests with the father. If the houses do not run smoothly, dear Manmohan, Sonia, Sibal and your likes, you are to blame, not the opposition.

A party that tries to search for facts and issues to browbeat the opposition, instead of introspecting, saying sorry, taking corrective action and compensating with better governance is a morally sick party. Prudence too says, such a party will not prosper politically in the long run.

India News Today maintains its earlier stand on 2G scam, because happenings of late are only proving it right. Do see our earlier posts:
Parliament logjam
Overscamming NDA: Sonia style
High time you resign, Sardarji
Sonia, Rahul, Manmohan, your words sound hollow
Shame on you, Raja... more shame on you, Manmohan

Srikrishna report: escape valve can't douse Telengana fire

Srikrishna Committee report on Telengana was supposed to give sufficient elbow-room to the Union Government for maneuver, and it has done this well. But rather than reducing the fire for a new Telengana state, it would only stoke it. How can a Government not give Telengana to its people when the main constituent of UPA, Congress, put this in its manifesto and the entire Andhra assembly unanimously approved it? How will the pro-Telengana people swallow it? Besides the emotional attachment of Telengana people, politicians' stakes are too high to be allowed to fritter away.


No doubt it is a difficult call and has unseen political and other implications, but where is the safe escape beyond Srikrishna? If this report was an escape valve, can it douse the fire? [No escape valve does that.] In desperate search of another escape valve, will they somehow bring in Supreme Court and hope that the djinn  rests in peace?


PS:
You can see the Srikrishna Committee report in full here and annexures here; its  summary is available here.

India News Today's earlier take on Telengana here.  

Bofors: seven reasons why it is still relevant

Rajiv Gandhi indulged in it, VP Singh exploited it, NDA unsuccessfully tried to use it to kill Congress, Congress has been trying hard to bury it, but Bofors is such a sticky gun that it surfaces again and again.

If you feel that the political gun powder of Bofors scam is used up due to age and the gun proving their worth during Kargil war, you might prove wrong. If you feel that it is too minuscule a bribe case as compared to the latest scams, you might again prove wrong. Bofors has the potential to embarrass Congress like no other scam, India News Today will explain why.

One, Bofors is the mother of scams involving big politicos in India. Whenever you talk of corruption at the highest places, you will recall Bofors. It is now a generic name of sort, like Surf for washing powders, Maggi for noodles and Favicol for gums.


The second point is an extension of the point raised above: since it is a generic name, it has become part of the folklore and has a place in people’s memories. You say ‘Bofors’ and people in their forties and above will recall it. Even those not active in politics or interested too much in news will remember something shady done by Rajiv… some Quattorcchi guy from Italy in news for taking commission… some relevance of Sonia’s coming from Italy…

Three, Bofors involved the Prime Minister, none lower. Though Narasimha Rao too was also dragged into securities scam by Harshad Mehta, it did not stick on him.


Four, Bofors involves the Gandhi family – the tower of faith and fountainhead of power for the Congress. Nothing embarrasses Congress more than a finger pointed at Gandhi family.


Five, Bofors has come at a wrong time. In the season of scams, one more reference to scam means that much more trouble. Moreover, CBI’s failure to nab the culprits in Arushi case and its closure of Bofors case give the impression to the common man that CBI is dysfunctional and biased.

Six, it blunts the government’s and Sonia’s new ploy to avoid JPC on 2G scam: to have new laws to fight corruption. “If you are serious about fighting corruption, punish those already found guilty,” will be a common man’s refrain.

Seven, it will unite and embolden the opposition. With time, the opposition was getting divided on JPC issue and the matter had the potential to become a drag for the opposition. On Bofors, left and BJP (and also the erstwhile socialist splinter groups) will have a unanimous stand: bring culprits to the book. They also will be able to project that they have been proved right that commission was indeed paid to people close to Rajiv-Sonia.

telengana: too hot to handle

Andhra is on fast these days! Jagan Mohan, Chandrababu Naidu and now Congress MPs. Within three days, the Srikrishna Committee is going to give its report, and the chances are that it favours setting up of a Telengana state [or will it give an analysis on pros and cos of carving out a new state and draw no conclusions?].

Part of the mess is Congress's creation and part of it is beyond any party's handiwork. The treatment meted out to TRS by Congress, Chidambaram's 'smart by half' statements, the mid-way division among MPs and MLAs of various parties on their support or opposition to Telengana, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) by the pro-Telengana forces in the State... the brew has become rather too hot.  You won't be surprised if government officials, trade unions, university students, municipalities and other local governments - all pro-Telengana people join the stir planned by the JAC. There is likely to be a lot of damage to public property and wide-spread disruption of transportation and essential services. Also expect fasts unto death and self-immolation bids. If the state and central government do not handle the arising situation deftly and firmly, the agitation is all set to go out of the hands of its present leaders. It is a nightmare for any party at the Centre.

One obtaining scenario is that Congress sets up the new Telengana state and takes the credit for it. In that case, TRS might support it in the next Lok Sabha elections and Congress gets mass support in the new state. As for the remaining Andhra, with its present rule, it can slowly win over the people by announcing many sops to it and explaining how it will prosper better without the Telengana region. But this is too optimistic a scenario and it might not unfold that way. All other scenarios are bad to very bad for Congress.

In administrative terms, at the national level the choice is more difficult for another reason: there will be stronger demand for smaller states such as Gorkhaland, Harit Pradesh and Vidarbha. The experiment with three new states a decade back has borne only mixed fruits.

old man's anger: सठियाए बूढऊ की सनक

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has demanded an apology from the opposition, accusing them of destroying parliament.

His outburst has come after they rejected his offer of a special session to discuss the JPC issue on 2G scam. Looks like the old village man who thought nobody would defy him, but when he found that people didn't listen to him, he started cursing them. In Hindi, they call such behaiour sathiyana [सठियाना, to be above 60], but you cannot blame Pranbda on that count; he is much older than 60.

"In the entire winter session, they did not allow any opportunity for any discussion on any issue....They have created deadlock in Parliament. They have destroyed the institution. They should apologise to the nation," says the man known to take cudgels on behalf of the Congress whenever the party is in trouble.

If the ruling formation is really serious about parliament, why is it not agreeing to a JPC, which is an established institution in India's parliamentary procedures. Where is the question of a debate on JPC, not a JPC? What is holding the Congress from agreeting to a JPC?

India News, fully neutral to party politics, fully supports the opposition on this issue and condemns the dilly-dallying by the Congress on JPC.

Diggy is the new secular face of congress; only it's cussed secularism

Digvijay Singh, as was apparent from the last few months, has been let loose by Rahul [and Sonia] for two reasons: to keep harping on RSS-terrorism links and put pressure on BJP, and also to test waters of Muslim loyalty. India News earlier commented on Rahul's RSS-Simi parallel and Chidambaram's Saffron Terrorism statement.

Diggy: India News

Congress and Diggy cannot be faulted if they remain within democratic limits in criticising RSS for whatever links some of its leaders have with right wing terrorist organisations. They also have full legitimate right to embarrass their political adversary, the BJP. However, Diggy is going beyond the thin line that separates criticism from brazen political attack. Even being most brazen in political attacks is OK, but not when it might lead to communal tension. It is not OK also when it needlessly hurts sentiments of a community or some innocent persons.

Have a look at what Diggy is doing:
He issued a statement saying Karkare [the police officer slain in 26/11 terrorist attacks] feared Hindu terrorists. Karkare's wife has denounced it but Diggy is firm.
The RSS in the garb of its nationalist ideology is targeting Muslims the same way Nazis targeted Jews in the 1930s, Digvijay Singh has said recently.
The roots of terrorism in India lie in BJP leader LK Advani's rath yatra, Diggy said today.

India News is not pro-BJP so it will condemn any wrongdoings by RSS and BJP, but what Diggy is doing is no less than the charge he is making against RSS and BJP. He is giving a handle to those among Muslims and  Hindus who are on hunt for opportunities to create tension. He is provoking terrorists. He is opening old wounds. He is making a media- and social- issue of a non-issue at present. It is pity that Congress, especially Rahul and Sonia are encouraging him to do so.

An example of cussed secularism.

parliament logjam

Parliament has not conducted business for over 15 days as the opposition has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee [JPC] probe into 2G scam in which the former Telecom Minister, A Raja is the prime suspect. Many efforts by the ruling coalition have failed to make the opposition budge.

Many papers have blamed the opposition for their lack of responsibility. Congress has put all the blame on the opposition for the stalemate. Its spokesmen have even said that the main opposition party BJP fears a discussion on RSS-linked terrorism and that is why it is not allowing parliament to function. The PM has appealed to the opposition to not sully the country's reputation and not weaken the democratic process.

India News Today holds the ruling UPA solely responsible for the logjam. It is the duty of the ruling formation to ensure that there is no major confrontation with the opposition, and it is the duty of the opposition to embarrass the government for its follies.

On the content of the conflict too, it is the UPA and especially its flag bearers - the PM and Sonia - who are to blame. What are they gaining by not agreeing to a JPC probe? If they are clean, they should have agreed to a JPC immediately and not make it a prestige issue and a shameless defence. In fact, they should have gone one step forward: hold JPC, also let the existing probes continue, devise a coordination mechanism so that there is no conflict of authority among probing agencies, ensure that the probes are done in a time-bound manner OR offer to have an external probe to be supervised by a JPC.

The Congress strategy is to stonewall a JPC at all cost, shorten the winter session, be offensive, blame opposition for the stalemate, show that BJP governements in states are equally corrupt, and make poor Pranab Mukherjee request the opposition to agree. It is an inherently faulty strategy: from ethical as well as political points of view. Good that Congress didn't fare well in Bihar. Otherwise they would have been much more belligerent  - and foolish.

bihar elections and a reality check

Bihar elections in 2010 have proved some 'myths' and disproved some 'facts'. The most, it is making people give extreme judgements on caste, development, Nitish's charm, etc etc.

India News Today gives below some ground realities that need to be kept in mind while judging Bihar elections.

•  In Bihar, caste remains a strong reality. Caste here means [unlike in metros and big towns where youth from the 'higher castes' seem to have a genuine grudge against 'reservationists' taking away their jobs without fair competition] deprivation and humiliation versus economic dominance and muscle power.

• Nitish was not a caste-less politician. He rather cultivated some castes too well. His casteism has been different from Lalu-Paswan casteism in that (i) he has tried to reach the economic benefits to the castes he's sought to favour more than others; (ii) in doing so, he has not discriminated against other castes; and (iii) his social justice has gone to the needy and downtrodden, not to his kin and his own community.

•  Bihar still remains a poorly-developed state. In Nitish's rule, roads, electricity, children's enrolment in school, primary health etc have got a boost, but the benefits have reached sparsely and have not reached many parts of the state. Nitish has not been able to implement many recommendations for social and economic development, but his overall score is commendable.

• Bihar politics will also remain criminal infested, whichever party comes to power. JD(U), with the biggest seat share has also the largest number of criminals getting into the Legislative Assembly. 

• In the current elections, the NDA has got just 39% of the votes polled. The constituent parties, JD(U) and BJP,  have got only about 3 percent vote swing in its favour. Yet, this is significant. NDA has not only retained its support base, it has brought in fence-sitters. This, despite the usual anti-incumbency factor that would go againt the ruling formation if it did not perfom well. There was no anti-Lalu wave but Nitish's genuine-sounding contrast of his own rule with that of Lalu-Rabri rule seems to have made people think. 

• Nitish's win is as much a vote in favour of his image and his work, as it is his keen political acumen supported by a sensible poss strategy. There was opposition from within his party as he did not favour the partymen too much during his rule; his alliance with BJP was a double-edged sword.

• Poll alliances do matter: had BJP- JD(U) combine split, BJP would sure have lost some seats and so would JD(U). Not to talk of sentiment, even by simple arithmetic it would have harmed the constituent parties. For example, BJP would have to fight elections in more seats than it fought [102] and wold not have won there but would have taken away some of JD(U) seats. On the other hand, in the 91 constituencies that it has won, it would have had to suffer fight with JD(U) instead of getting voter and party support. 

• It is only a matter of speculation whether Lalu-Congress-LJP combine would have given a bigger challenge to Nitish-BJP. However, it is logical that people would have thought of it as an alternative to Nitish. Some undecided lot might have jumped towards them and given them a few more seats. Besides, as argued above, the non-NDA votes would not have got divided so badly. 

• The fracturing of votes partly due to Congress and RJD not going together has resulted in smaller parties getting a whopping 27 percent vote share.

• Direct benefit of a scheme to those for whom this is life-changer seems to pay instant dividend: It is widely believed that the NREGS helped UPA win for the second term. In the case of Bihar, teacher recruitment, providing dress to the policemn and salaries to teachers, school enrolments, giving cycles to girl students, cash benefits for cleanliness etc given by Nitish government must have influenced poor voters a great deal. Similarly, a good law and order situation must have influenced middle class and women. Such influences seem to cut across party and community lines.

• When people get fed-up with violence and poor governance, they would brave difficulties and threats to teach the wrong-doers a lesson. They defied Maoist threats and thronged to poliing booths in large numbers, and they didn't forgive Lalu-Rabri and their musclemen kin. Earlier, they seemd to have wilted under threat from musclemen, but this time they gave the muscles two hoots. As much as clean governance, people seem to vote for clean image of the leader [in Western context, it would mean more in the sense of sexual relationships] when other things are equal. Since the voting population in India is mostly a victim of routine corruption, the slur of dishonesty sticks life-long on politicians.

• Timing of campaigns also matters. Congress suffered for many reasons. One of them could be too early and small-time entry of Rahul Gandhi on the scene. His impact might have been washed away by Nitish's subsequent showing.

such a grand victory, nitish babu!!

India News Today knew and almost everybody knew [except Rabri and Lalu - if you don't know them, they are husband wife team of buffalo-shepherds from Bihar] that Nitish will win by a comfortable margin. But Nitish has done much better than all predictions and expectations by winning 204 out of 243 seats.

There will be great debates and analyses on why the oppositon was so badly routed, why Prince Rahul's charm did not work, which area worked for whom and so on, but the most plausible reasons for the outcome will sure be:

• too much family and 'jaat' linkages in RJD-LJP: none of Lalu clan has won.
• visible development: road repairs and new roads, more jobs, less migration, more children enrolment in schools - all are visible, however patchy they may be.
• less crime: the 'goonda raj' of Lalu period is much under control, better overall law and order situation.
• less casteism, though in Bihar of the day, caste equations are important; also, less discrimination on caste basis.
• better administrative support as the official machinery is less frustrated and less Lalu-ised.
• Rahul's rhetoric looked too distant.
• 'Pipli live': was it one of the factors, though a marginal one?

India News Today's earlier posts on Bihar elections / politics were:
Nitish coming back; Lalu's lalten dims
Bihar elections: jaat, in-laws, outlaws

nitish coming back, lalu's lalten dims

The final phase of the long Bihar assembly elections is over. Except for a few incidents, the polling was peaceful and over fifty percent people voted despite threat from the Maoists. A post-poll survey by a leading media group says, Nitish will come back again.

Counting of votes will happen on 24th. Bihar has over 5.5 crore [=55 million] electors and voting occurred for all 243 constituencies in six phases spread over a month. In the outgoing Assembly, the ruling parties JD-U and BJP had 88 and 55 seats; RJD and LJP had 54 and 10 seats; and Congress had nine seats.

 According to Star News survey, Nitish will win thumps down with 170 seats, while an earlier The Week survey had predicted hung assembly [ Nitish alliance: 110-122; Lalu alliance: 77-89; Congress: 23-29]. My personal estimate is that Nitish's combine will win by a comfortable majority. Maybe, Congress wins more than what Star News survey is telling [22 seats] at the cost of Lalu-Paswan.

Post-election analyses will tell who voted en-masse [if at all] for Nitish, why Rahul's magic didn't work there, why people didn't find any light in Lalu-Rabri's lalten [=lantern]. For now, it appears that his clean image, progress in Bihar during his term [though it has been patchy] and his cast equation have resulted in a better vote share for his alliance. But he must now work for upliftment of the entire Bihar, without any cast, communal and regional consideration. He must also rid Bihar politics of nepotism and muscle power.

I am not a JD (U)  fan and do not subscribe to the Kurmi and mahadalit politics of Nitish. However, I would be happy if JD(U)+BJP or Congress come to power. If the survey predictions come true, the state can have a chance to not suffer RJD+LJP and possibly have better days ahead. That is enough to make me happy. For now, only this much and wishing Biharis a post-Chhat good life.

My earlier post on Bihar here.

Bihar elections: jaat, in laws, outlaws

For political observers, it looks very normal that Bihar elections are once again going to be fought on caste and communal lines. Within that, it is the blood relation with entrenched politicians and muscle power are what matter. There is hardly any chance of a modern agenda such as development, honesty/corruption, societal issues and reforms taking centre-stage, though hollow slogans around 'aam-aadmi' [common man] will be coined and raised.

As of now, a number of re-alignments are taking place but these are of minor consequence. The major political formations seem to be more or less settled: the ruling JD(U)-BJP alliance with Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi at the helm; RJD of Lalu Prasad Yadav, joining hands with LJP of Ram Vilas Paswan; Congress with no big leader but Rahul Gandhi’s charisma to ride on.

As expected, the selection of candidates by different parties is going mostly on the basis of caste equations in the constituency. Second most important criterion is winnability among the candidates shortlisted on the basis of caste. Relationship with top party functionaries is another major criterion: the closer the relation, the better. About one-fifth of the nominations in the first phase of elections are from relatives of politicians. This time, the relationship criterion has been further refined: parties are accommodating relatives of even politicians of the opposing parties. Personal integrity is a liability, even among parties that swear by morals. In fact, one’s image as a formidable goon scores much over honesty: voters seem to be voting more out of fear than regard for moral values or their own welfare. A winning combination is the wife of a criminal: you have a woman, husband's muscle, relationship - all in one.

A rough analysis of the candidates in the fray for the first phase by NGO shows that about one third candidates have a criminal record, going by their own affidavits filed before the Election Commission, and one fourth have serious cases against them. This is likely to be the tip of the iceberg as far as information about criminality of candidates goes, because (i) no one is likely to expose his criminality if he can hide it, (ii) people do not file FIRs or file court cases against criminals out of fear, (iii) the numbers reported are only the cases filed; with roots in police, mafia, administration and politics, many criminals do their activities indirectly, without a smear on their clothes.