"...but what are the BJP's views?"

"....but what is the BJP's view" is the new latest fashion question to ask. Any contentious issue that comes up on UPA's plate on which the Congress is divided, almost immediately it places the onus on the opposition to decide! An attempt is made to show that there is no "all-party" consensus, and if such a thing exists, then the party has no problem (never mind, that it actually has no views/divided views!) Few examples since 2009 below.

Caste Census

When the census 2011 exercise began, there was a demand by some political parties that a caste census also be done. Primarily parties like RJD, SP, JD(U) demanded that caste be included in this census. To cut a long story short, the Congress party and BJP haven't taken any decision at this point of time. The PM as usual appoints a GoM, which was not able to take a decision given the deep divide withing the Congress party and therefore wanted a written assurance from all parties (putting the onus on BJP and others) about caste census. The BJP then gave a written consent (despite RSS opposing). Guess the only party that didn't give in writing - the Congress. When asked, Pranab Mukherjee said there is no need for the party to give in writing because he represents the party in the GoM. Indian Express reported that a deeply divided congress agreed for the caste census. A decision was taken just because the ruling party had no view, but all other parties had a view on this! The Congress party expected BJP (or any other significant opposition party) to say no, and then pass the blame perhaps!

Nuclear Liability Bill

I am sure most of us would have forgotten about this government's pathetic attempt to bring in a nuclear liability bill by stealth. This article in The Hindu gives a good summary of the events back then. The government made every damn effort to bring in language that was to the advantage of the supplier. Reports in The Hindu created enough awareness and the BJP now came into the picture big time. Without BJP's support the bill would not go through. And this time, the government rhetoric of "this bill is in national interest" did not work either. The BJP ensured that the deal got better and was beneficial to the country rather than the supplier. It was only after "Union government ... took on board most of the suggestions made by the Bharatiya Janata Party" that the bill was passed. Arun Jaitley severly criticised the government for trying to rush through this landmark legislation, but all was forgotten by evening!

Second Gen reforms

It was one of those rare moments when the Prime Minister decided to speak to the press. He invited TV editors and one of them had the common sense to ask him why reforms were not taking place. Guess what his answer was? The BJP was stalling the Goods and Services Tax bill, and therefore the second generation reforms were not taking place! He said that the BJP wants the govt. to go easy on a "Gujarat minister". Some state governments of the BJP have been opposing GST from like 2009. Amit Shah (the Gujarat Minister) was arrested somewhere in 2010. What link does passing of GST have to do with the arrest of a minister? Is GST the only reform that he has envisioned? If so,has he tried to address the state governments concerns about this proposal? If not, what are the other reforms he plans to usher in? What is their status? No - nothing of this sort is discussed later in the day. The onus is all the BJP's to get the reforms (I guess we should not use a plural form here, given that there is only one law that the govt. intends to bring!).

Telangana

Well, here nothing was specifically asked about BJP. But let's have a quick look at how Sonia Gandhi arrived at her decision. In early December, K. Chandrashekar Rao started a fast unto death demanding a separate Telangana state. On December 7th, Sonia Gandhi ordered the CM of AP to call for an all party meet. In the all party meet, opinions of all the parties were elicited. Guess which party did not give a concrete opinion? Congress! At about 11:45pm on the December 9th, the Home Minister announces that the process of formation of a separate Telangana state will begin! Later ofcourse there was public outcry and he had to withdraw this decision. But even till date, he refers to this all party meeting and says they took a decision only because all the parties agreed to it! Never once did Congress give out a categorical view on this subject.

Terror Attacks

Each time a terror attack happens, guess what media will be waiting with bated breath? How will BJP react? According to many pundits in the media, BJP is not supposed to criticize the government after terror attacks, no matter how many times various cities in this country are attacked. BJP must be a mature opposition party and exhibit bi-partisan spirit when it comes to dealing with terror. And how exactly should it exhibit "bi-partisanship" - not one pundit will even care to elaborate. No pundit will ever ask the Congress why we are being attacked so many times. No questions are asked on why so many attacks under this Prime Minister; no specific questions to ministers concerned - All they care is about BJP's criticism and therefore the "politicisation" of the attacks. Never has there so much onus on the opposition to not point out the deficiency in the government!

The row about death convicts

Recently, Tamil Nadu assembly passed a resolution recommending to the President to commute the death sentence of 3 convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi +18 others assasination case. This resolution was passed after the President gave the order to hang them. Almost immediately, J&K Chief Minister asks if the reaction would have been so muted if J&K assembly passed a resolution recommending clemency to Afzal Guru. BJP criticizes this statement by Omar. Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal party in Punjab renewed it's demand to grant clemency to Bhullar. And so now our CM from J&K jumps again and asks what is the BJP's view about this. Folks on twitter showed him articles in national newspapers, in which BJP clearly said they do not agree with Akali Dal on this. Not bothered about these facts, he goes on to ask Barkha Dutt the same question, and the diva thinks it is an "good" question. So now you see, it is all about "What is the BJP's views". Not one question on the Congress party's views on these topics (to think of it, they revere Rajiv Gandhi. They should atleast have a view on that right?). No one even bothered to debate what the ruling party of this country thinks about these controversies on death row. The entire debate was centered around BJP and it's stand, despite repeated clarifications. Infact, BJP clarified on NDTV channel that all death convicts must be hanged. And despite that both Omar Abdullah and Barkha Dutt have not yet clarified on BJP's position.

The Jan Lokpal agitation

Events are too recent to recount them all here. A full account of the 11 day fasting by Anna and the massive support he got is here. It all started with the pre-emptive arrest of Anna Hazare. Arun Jaitley gave a spirited speech in Rajya Sabha, detailing how BJP is opposed to some povisions of the Jan Lokpal bill, it supports the right of the citizen to protest and the government killed that right. Everybody praised the speech, said wah wah and some said they'd even vote for the BJP if they can sustain such clarity. Meanwhile, however the Congress is dragging it's feet. the fasting enters into its 4th day, 5th day. Suddenly, again they ask, .."but what is the BJP's view on Lokpal". The BJP has put forth it's views on Lokpal much much earlier, many times (not able to find it, but their website has a draft version). They are again elucidated and again everyone is satisfied. Again the Congress drags it's feet. Now, after 10 days, again people ask " .... but why is BJP not doing anything." That's right - the onus suddenly shifted on to the BJP now! The congress party, which had no freaking clarity on what to do, tried to pass the onus on to the BJP saying, they might not agree and vote on this etc!

I have not gone into too much detail on each of the issues presented above. No discussions on whether we agree with the BJP's view or not - but what is certainly disturbing is the fact that never before has then onus been on the opposition to take policy related decisions! Never before has the ruling party been so callous in it's approach towards important policy matters. And with a compliant media to help it out, the congress party has ensured in seeding the argument that it is helpless because the political class as such is to blame!

That the ruling Congress party can talk on so many issues with different voices and still get away with it is disappointing to say the least. The Congress won a resounding 206 seats on its own in 2009 against the 116 won by the BJP. Pretty much every small party was more than eager to support the congress. Despite such a clear mandate, all we get to see is the government dragging it's feet on every possible important decision. Whilst it is good that we are getting a very good insight into what the opposition's views are, on policy matters, isn't it concerning that the ruling party's incoherence is never the subject of intense debate?

Disconnect of English TV media!

The Hindu has been presenting the findings of a CNN-IBN & CNBC-TV18 ‘State of the Nation Poll’ "State of the Nation" poll, conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. Ofcourse, CNN-IBN also debated them everyday and I haven't seen any of them. The findings of this poll have been published over 5 days. Some observations and interpretations to follow now :)

State of the Media

No no - that poll was not conducted :D. Today's poll findings were about the popularity ratings of various Chief Ministers. The results can be found here. Am just pasting a snapshot of one result below.

Now - here's my question - can anyone show or point to a link, where we can find 5 good stories about the top 5 Chief Ministers? Leave top 5 - 10 good stories of the top 10 Chief Ministers?

Let's leave CMs of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala out of this survey - they just won landslide victories, so their popularity is expected.

• What is it that you always hear about Chattisgarh? Salwa Judum, SPO, Naxalites, law and order.
• What is it that you hear about Gujarat? 2002. Nothing more, nothing less.
• What is it that you hear about Orissa? Last we knew, farmers protesting about land acquisition and before that Rahul Gandhi's visit to Niyamagiri
• What is it that you commonly hear about Bihar? Nitish Kumar is good, bought hope blah blah. One, one indepth story of about how he became so popular?
• What is it that you hear about Madhya Pradesh?? Nothing! (except for having to hear from their former CM, Digvijay Singh on a daily basis!)
• What is it that you hear about Uttarakhand? Maybe many of us will even forget that such a state exists, given the kind of coverage!
• What is it that you hear about Assam? Once in 5 years, when there are elections. That's all.

If we watch and read the publications that published these results (and others too), all we will know is that the above 7 states are either screwed or don't exist!! How come their admistrators are so popular then? Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa has a 51% popular rating. 51% !! And what do we know about him?

The question here is not of media bias - we don't hear of good stories from Rajasthan either (a Congress ruled state). The observation here is the kind of negative and banal coverage silly issues get on the english TV media. The above survey results are proof enough of their severe disconnect from the masses of the country.

State of the UPA

Almost every index that was surveyed showed UPA in extreme poor light.

On Terrorism ( the most shocking thing here is that 61% actually thought government's response to terrorism was good in 2009!!) And if one were to go by the commentary of the english TV media - Chidambaram is the best Home Minister the country ever had. The same media house publishes a survey which shows the confidence declined by a whopping ~30% during his time. Another disconnect? (assuming the survey is true).

On price rise (blame on the Central government)

On Corruption (full page here) only one snapshot of a summary below:

Yet, Rahul as PM!

And finally the one thing the entire media wants to happen - Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister of India. 19% respondents want him to become Prime Minister.

Except for the survey on Rahul Gandhi, all the other surveys had detailed break-ups of "urban", "rural", "literate", "college" etc. It will also be interesting to note what these segments think about Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister. The survey (some good questions on the methodology here) covered 73% of rural areas, and it is not surprising Rahul Gandhi get 19% thumbs up as the Prime Minister.

Many have already analysed why despite the congress falling down, the BJP hasn't rised. It is BJP's own failing to counter a massive PR propaganda of the Rahul Gandhi machinery. The media went overdrive to project Rahul Gandhi as an entity that has nothing to do with the UPA government. Look at the state government results - the percieved "Rahul magic" does not work. When it comes to national level politics, then the perception of people is bound to change. Rural people (in general) interact more with the state government - for them a Prime Minister might not mean as much as the Chief Minister means. Urban people are lazy and impulsive - an image of Rahul Gandhi "fighting" for farmers is enough for them to think that he is "the" man. And quite frankly, BJP has so far failed in countering this PR propaganda.

And another main drawback is that the BJP still doesn't have a face for this 2014 campaign (perhaps things will be clear in 2012, post UP elections but any delay beyond that will be damaging). We still don't know if Congress will declare Rahul as PM, but for sure he is their face for any campaign.

A split up of this 19% will reveal much more than what is hidden. I have sent a mail to election@csds.in but haven't received any mail yet. (Update, I just got a reply, and the results are astounding! - below)

Looks like the PR machinery of Rahul Gandhi is turning out to be a success :( .

However, look at the snapshot below.

"The sentiment against the UPA continuing in power is stronger in urban areas and among the upper classes. While in rural areas, the sentiments against the UPA is strong, there are still more people among the sections who want it to continue in power".

Hence a split up of these areas when it comes to the Prime Minister is crucial to understand the Rahul Gandhi "phenomenon". Plus there is little to cheer about - look at that survey. Vajpayee's popularity was 38% in 2004. And yet NDA lost.

By the way, the survey on Prime Minister itself has 3 exclusive questions on Rahul Gandhi.

Padayatra? Show me ONE article that gives us the distance he travelled on foot? Just one.

"Mr. Rambo" and his PR stuff...

Vidya Subramaniam wrote an op-ed in today's Hindu. Titled "The case of missing BJP", the intention was to discuss the BJP's perceived failings as an opposition. And whilst the second part of her article reels out statistics that should get the BJP and its cadre to worry about a lot, there is one more failing of the BJP as Opposition party that she doesn't (or will not) mention.

She dedicates about two paragraphs to the politics of Uttar Pradesh and goes on to talk about the recent Bhatta Parsaul incident in the state. Please read the entire para that am pasting below.

"Conscious of the upcoming 2012 Assembly election, the BJP had jumped into the fight against Mayawati. But once Rahul Gandhi arrived Rambo-like on the scene, the audience quickly moved to his side. Thirsty TV cameras followed the Congress heir's every move, anchors hung on to his every word, and if he made gaffes, as he did, it was so much the better for prime time news. The BJP's Kalraj Mishra shouted himself hoarse. It was apparent that his version of events matched Mr. Gandhi's almost in toto: The police had killed 35 farmers, and hundreds had gone missing, he said, but to no avail. It was the Rahul tamasha that got the spotlight."

Rahul Gandhi arrived "Rambo-like". "Thirsty TV cameras". "every move, every word." The sold out media ensures that no stone is left unturned when it comes up to hyping Rahul Gandhi. Before "Mr.Rambo" came onto the scene, workers and leaders of both Samajwadi Party and BJP participated in the agitation, were arrested by the government. But "thirsty TV cameras" did not find all these news worthy. Mr. Rambo said he found bones of humans under heap of ash. VidyaS very conveniently misses out that point. She equates Mr. Rambo's utterances to what BJP's Kalraj Mishra said (which are entirely two different things). Notice how she uses the word "almost". Mr.Rambo misled the PM and yet the media let him off.

And herein lies the BJPs failure. Why is the BJP failing in exposing this massive PR exercise launched by the Congress in tandem with the Indian media? Why is the BJP not unravelling it's own campaign to counter this sold-out media? Rahul Gandhi is behaving like the opposition leader - his plan is to come to power owing to anti-incumbency of UPA2.0 (which is headed by his mother) and yet BJP is somehow not yet ready to counter this offensive? What exactly is the party waiting for? Rahul Gandhi is the V.P.Singh of this government, and yet BJP fails to attack and counter Rambo's PR effectively. Why? This muted silence on part of BJP is not helping matters at all. BJP's performance in the Parliament has been one of the best in recent times. Yet, there is no massive media coverage. The party needs to go on the offensive big time. It needs to bring up this point in every public meeting, in every press conference. Articles need to appear in newspapers, spokespersons on TV need to counter this regularly. Without this, there is no hope.

The second part of the article has many points for the BJP. However, there is nothing new in her data (some of the data is wrong too). Many many analysts on the internet (some, who are BJP sympathizers too) have spoken about these numbers a long time back. Now that we have these numbers in a main stream paper, the audience has just increased manifold. It should worry the BJP that they don't have any presence in important states. However, in my opinion, if BJP doesn't combat Mr. Rambo's PR blitzkerg in a sold-out media, a win in 2014 still looks a distinct possibility.

That's all, Your Honour! : Nov.14-20

Before getting into the details, a top story this week that the ENTIRE TV media has blacked out - The Mediagate scandal!

1. Finally, A. Raja resigned! Late last Sunday night. It was widely expected that Parliament will now function, but the opposition has not budged from its demand on JPC. Parliament has ben adjourned all week because the government is also not budging from its stand of not having a JPC! And amidst all this, for the first time in the history of Independent India, the Supreme Court has questioned the Prime Minister's silence for 16 long months, on a request by Subramaniam Swamy seeking permission to prosecute A. Raja. The Prime Minister has filed an affidavit detailing what all had been done. And then CNN-IBN breaks a story showing how DMK "arm-twisted" the PM into changing the terms of reference for the GoM on spectrum allocation. That the "honest" and "decent" Prime Minister stood as a mute spectator to this loot is also no open secret. However what is elementary, and what our complicit media has very conveiniently dodged this time too, is the gross surrendering of the Congress party, led by Sonia Gandhi, to "coalition dharma". As much as the Prime Minister is guilty of allowing Raja to loot, equal culpability lies at the steps of Sonia Gandhi's house too. Why was she not strong enough to tell DMK that Raja is not acceptable? While the loot was happening, why was Sonia Gandhi silent? That the Congress party has been bending and crawling, even while such open loot was happening, is no big secret. We all know the Prime Minister does not have the political mandate to take on the DMK and it is only the Congress President, Sonia Gandhi who has this mandate. Why then, is Sonia Gandhi above questioning in this whole sordid saga of A. Raja?

2. And Yeddyurappa is back in news! First it was the Bellary brothers' revolt. Later, it was the split in the party. And now, JD(S) released documents that he alloted government land to his sons and other relatives at throw away prices. And also apparently some rules were bent, so that these lands could be acquired. And as expected, clamour for his resignation began. BJP should seriously consider this option too. There are just too many things propping up time and again. The failure of BJP to appear strong when such things are occuring, is a blow to its image in the country. Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa says that all the land has been surrendered and that there is no need for resigning. The BJP central leadership is yet to take a decision on this matter. Looks like we have to wait one more week to see how this plays out.

3. And Jagan is also back in the news! Sakshi channel, owned by him, telecasted a scathing program on how bad Sonia Gandhi is running the party ! A Congress MP running such kind of a story in a state which sent the highest MP's for the party, would obviously make it to National news in any other country, but not in ours! Quite expectedly, all Congress leaders in the state are jumping up and down in anger. They are unable to digest any kind of criticism against their "madam". Some voices were even choking! The Chief Minister, who is steadfast in responding only when "Madam" is insulted has released his mandatory condemnation too. Other TV channels had a field day in "analysing" this open defiance by Jagan. And about the voter - phew! Who really cares, your honour!

That's all, your honour! : Oct. 24-30

1. Even before we recover from one scam, another one crops up. Like noted caroonist Sudhir Tailang said today - "VVIPS seem to be looting the nation as if there's no tomorrow !". Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan offered to resign in wake of the latest controversy. Army land, on which a 6 storeyd building meant for the widows of Kargil war martyrs, was inexplicably transferred to a civilian housing society - Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society. Now, further more, once this transfer happened, the 6 storeyed building now becomes a 31 storeyed building ! Needless to say, allotments of apartments have been made to relatives of politicians, bureaucrats - and more shocking to three Chiefs of the Army ! While one of them, Gen. N.C.Vij has now surrendered the flat alloted to him, the other two have not yet responded. An RTI application filed revealed that many concessions for the apartments were sought under the pretext that this was meant for Kargil war heroes and martyrs. Also, turns out that Ashok Chavan's mother in law, along with two other relatives, owns a flat in this complex! The murk gets dirtier and dirtier too. Union Ministers seem to be involved, not to mention most state ministers seem to be involved in easily one of the most shameful scams. In a most unusual manner of defense, Ashok Chavan asks what is the problem if "distant relatives" of his get flats!

2. Finally the umpteenth time, the "nataka" in Karnataka seems to have come to an end. The thrid Judge, who was asked to deliver the final judgement agreed with the Speaker's decision to disqualify the 11 BJP MLA's before the vote of confidence. The court is yet to hear the case of the 5 Independent MLA's who have associated themselves with BJP. Even if that judgement goes against he Speaker, the government still has the numbers to survive. Meanwhile, the Income Tax department, has raided some BJP MLA's homes and offices and also some close people of the Reddy brothers (no prizes for guessing who ordered these raids!). Anyways, given that this whole sordid drama has come to an end (atleast it seems so!), it is time for BJP to get back to governance and ensure it doesn't lose it's hold on the sole southern state it is in power.

3. A couple of weeks back, the Central government has appointed interlocutors to talk to all sections of Jammu & Kashmir. Now, the guy heading this group said something like Pakistan's view must also be taken. Also, he asked the students of some university to prepare a road map for Azadi. Now, when political parties got to criticize them, Congress party asks us not to criticize them in "national interest"! Remember that time, when Manish Tewari said that criticizing Rajiv was unpatriotic? Well, seems like we now have new definitions for patriotism and national interest, your honour!

That's all, Your Honour! :Oct. 17-23

1. Post that "nataka in Karnataka" episode last week, some sort of sense was expected to be restored this week. However, the High Court bench, which was supposed to decide on the disqualification of the MLA's delivered a split verdict. While the Chief Justice agreed with the actions of Speaker, the second Judge did not. The matter thus posted to another Judge, who after listening to arguments for 2 days, has reserved the verdict! So the wait continues. Not to lose any opportunity during this wait, the rival camps have begun to make sure their numbers stay intact. However, 2 MLA's of the Congress resigned their seats, causing a turmoil in the party. The opposition's strength has now been reduced to 98 (BJP's strength is now at 106). The suspense will continue till the High Court delivers the judgement. If it is in favour of the Speaker, a mini-election is what we will witness given that about 18 seats will have to go for by-polls in six months. If it is not in favour of the Speaker, a drama in the Assembly is what we will witness. Either way, a thrilling drama awaits us in Karnataka. In the other words, the Nataka has not yet ended!

2. If events in this week are any indication, slowly, but surely, we are going to witness the acquital of all those involved in the Corruption Wealth Games. While the media went gaga last week over the "snubbing" of Mr. Kalmadi by Her highness Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Delhi CM, Sheila Dixit, this week it has slowly begun to ask us if we are too immune to corruption - thereby shifting the discussion towards a "societal and system" failure, rather than pinpointing those guilty. It all started when Mr. Kalmadi hit back at Shiela Dixit saying that she should not point fingers at him and instead set her own house in order. He also reminded us that whilst his budget was Rs. 1650 crores only, her budget was Rs. 16,500 crores! A day later, the president of BJP, Nitin Gadkari held a press conference and questioned the PMO as to why and how it approved all the inflated budgetary expenses. Did the PMO know about the corruption then? Did it verify properly the claims made while these estimates were submitted? These and many such pointed questions were put forth. However, in a pre-emptive move, the IT department raided the house of a BJP leader in Delhi, accusing his relative of grabbing a contract! NDTV promptly reported this "raid" and went on to describe a similar raid on Kalmadi's office as a "visit" by officials! This news overshadowed the press conference. Slowly, it was made out to be a "apolitical" thing. And now the discussions are about our immunity towards corruption! In the meanwhile, CVC is all set to probe 22 agencies involved and in 3 monts a report will be submitted it seems. Let's mark today's date and discuss this again in 3 months time!

3. The National Advisory Council headed by Her Highness Sonia Gandhi has decided to place 80 crore people of this country in the "food security" net. At various levels, these people will be gauranteed of 35 kgs of rice at subsidised price. The draft was released just yesterday, and more reading is required. However, please note your honour - Her Highness has decided to place 75% people of this country in the "poor" bracket and make sure the rest 25% pay up for earning more! That's all, your honour!

That's all, Your Honour! : Oct.10-16

Warning: This is a very longgg post :). Essentially because am documenting the entire K'taka saga that happened this week, before speaking about the Common Wealth Games. Thanks in advance for reading :)

1. The "Nataka in Karnataka" caption lived upto its expectations this week! Not sure who the hero was, but was crystal clear who the villian was. That honour has been bagged by the Governor of the state, His Excellency Hans Raj Bhaadwaj! The Speaker of the assembly disqualified 11 rebel BJP MLA's and also 5 Independent MLA's (and hence strength of Assembly came down to 208, and BJP had 104 MLA's in its fold). He was quoting the Anti Defection Act, but many were of the view that this act can be applied only after the MLA's actually vote in the assembly. However, since the Speaker has decided, the matter can only go into the court. However,our villian decides to take matters into his own hands and shoots of a letter to the Speaker asking him to retain the original configuration of the house! What business he had writing to the speaker, only he knows! Anyways, te D-Day came. On the morning of 11th October, these 16 MLA's barged into the assembly, broke windows, one MLA even tore his shirt and dared policemen/marshals. For the first time, policemen entered the floor of the house and had a scuffle with the MLA's. And since the doors seemed open for all, MLC's MP's etc etc all walked into the house. It was a literal free for all !

And amidst all this confusion, the Speaker declares that the government won the trust vote, by a show of hands! Yep, amidst all this confusion, the Speaker declares that the government wins through a voice vote. And this infuriated the governor even more! Without even waiting for a report from the Speaker, His Excellency H.R.Bharadwaj sent a report to the Central government recommending President's rule !! At a time when all were focussing on the legality of the action of the Speaker, our villian gave the perfect twist, thus hogging the limelight all for himself again. Quite obviously this was a stupid move, evident from the fact that the Central government (whom he wanted to impress in the first place) was not too keen. BJP was in a battle mode now, seeking the Governor's recall citing all his stupid actions.

And then our villian, as is his wont - gave us a new twist! He writes to the Chief Minister the next day (12th Oct) saying he is willing to give him "another chance" to prove his majority on the 14th of October! After recommending that the government be suspended, he now talks about another chance! And what is the legality of this "offer"? Was he advising? Was he ordering? What about his earlier recommendation then? Whatever he writes and recommends has lega connotations, why behave like a school principal? And come to think of it, this guy was the Law Minister of India in UPA 1 ! Why was he in such a hurry? Whom is he trying to appease? Just when we were trying to find answers to these questions, comes the new twist!

His Excellency holds a press conference and starts speaking like the opposition leader of the state! He says there is no development in the state, there is lot of corruption etc! That's right - instead of just talking about the confidence vote (which he had no business talking about,in the first place) he goes on and on about governance, BJP leadership et.al ! H.R.Bharadwaj finally succeeded in proving that he is just a stooge of the High Command of his party, with little or no respect to the dignity of the post of Governor. It is not hi business to comment upon aspects of development, governance etc. The people will get to decide all that - the Governor is just he titular head of the state and has to come into the picture only when there is a constitutional breakdown. Quite evidently, this man doesn't care for such etiquitte.

Anyways, the CM accepted the "offer", and won the floor test with a 106-100 majority. The High Court is yet to rule on the suspension of the 5 Independent MLA's though. Even if the court cancels their disqualification, there is no danger to this government.

The Governor's actions and the attempts by another Excellency H.D.Deve Gowda to cash in on this whole episode aside, this trust vote is a huge eye-opener for BJP. These dissent activities seems to have become a regular happening, thus hampering governance and good will. If no serious attempts are made by the party to address these issues, it sure will take a long time to recover from these losses!

2. All this week, the Commonwealth games fever gripped most of us. Indian sportspersons put up an excellent show this time. After a gap of 52 years, we won a gold in the track events. The women's relay team won the 4x400m gold, another team won he 4x100 bronze medal. India also won the Gold, Silver and Bronze in the women discuss throw event! More than the medals, the stories of almost all the medal winning sportspersons made for very inspiring reading. How children of auto drivers, tribals made it to this place, after going through unbeliavable road blocks is stuff of legend. Men and women from small towns that we have never heard of, heralded a whole new beginning to the sports chapter in the country. We won 38 Gold, 27 Silver and 36 Bronze medals. Each of these 101 winners are the new inspiration for us to aspire for better heights the Asian Games and the London Olympics. Hats off, to the real winners!

And since the games have now ended, time has also come to turn attention to the Corruption Wealth Games! For the record, a commission has been set up to probe everything related to the conducting of the games. It is becoming increasingly clear that Suresh Kalmadi will be made the sole culprit of the whole muck. All other leaders will be let off, and our ever compliant media led by NDTV, has already begun to acquit Sheila Dixit, for starters! And apparently, both the PM and Sonia Gandhi have met only the medal winners and not Suresh Kalmadi, and the media is hailing it as if this is the most exemplary "punishment" meted out ever! So much for accountability, your honour!

That's all, your honour! : Oct. 3-9

1. "Kashmir was an outstanding issue which needs to be resolved. It is a political issue and cannot be addressed through development, employment or good governance only" Now, it is but natural to think that such kind of a ridiculous statement can come only from some vague guy not interested in practical solutions. Agreed it is a political issue but to brush aside development, employment and good governance is little too childish. Now what do we have make of it when this statement comes from the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir? Not just this, he went on to say "J&K acceded to India in very unique circumstances and did not merge. Had we merged with India, we would not have had a special constitutional position". Yep, you read it right. The full speech is not available anywhere for download. The entire media has only reported parts of speech here and there and almost all headlines were talking about the protests by opposition members! Yep - the Chief Minister says all this stuff and we are interested in reporting how the opposition reacted. This blog piece by "i_panchajanya" gives an excellent summary of how the media covered this shocking speech by the Chief Minister. He goes on to "assert" that his government is not a "puppet" (sure, why would we think so - given his timely "action" for all the crises, it is a sin to think his govt. is a puppet!). Just playing to the galleries and to the separatists ideas will help solve your problem, Mr.Chief Minister? And please don't keep wondering how this man is still holding this job despite so many deaths - that's how immune we have become to inefficiency. Even if it is costing lives.

2. Finally, it is about the games and not about Shiela, Kalmadi et.al. The Commonwealth games have finally begun and the opening ceremony recieved wide kudos for a majority of audience! The event was excellently choreographed, showcasing the rich cultre and heritage of India. Right from the beginning wherein drummers from various parts of the country started their to the "swagatam" dance by the kids, to the yoga performance, to the dance forms of India - everything was way beyond anybody's expectations! Also, we have had a very rich medal haul so far. We have won golds, silvers, bronzes in archery, weightlifting, wrestling and shooting. So far we have even won bronzes in swimming, gymnastics and even in the 10,000m race! This is the first time we are winning medals in the swimming and gymnastics category. The muck and the controversies surrounding the games will only be refreshed after the games are over. Till then "come out and play" !

3. BJP seems to be having a fascination for the "natak" in Karnataka (pun not mine :D). After some recent fiascos, this time it all began when dissent started brewing after a recent cabinet expansion by the Yeddyurappa government. And within no time, 18 MLA's withdrew their support to the government! BJP has a 5 MLA majority in the assembly and this move has put it in a minority. As it happens in such cases, all MLA's first went to Kerala, and then to Chennai and finally to Mumbai! Hectic negotiations (read "how many crores would suffice" stuff) are on, and so far 4-5 MLA's are back into the BJP fold. The Congress has categorically said it will not support the JD(S) now. However, all this muck is bringing in instability in the state thus removing the focus from governance issues. The confidence vote is scheduled for the 12th of this month - need to see how this crisis will play out.

4. So Rahul Gandhi has spoken again. This time, he has enlightened us by saying that there is no difference between RSS and SIMI. He thinks both encourage "fanatics" and are "fundamentalist" in their views. Just so that readers know, SIMI is a banned terrorist organisation. One might have huge differences with views of RSS but to equate them to a banned terrorist organisation speaks volumes about the intelligence of the Enlightener. That's all, your honour!

Without Advani's picture?

Elections for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Elections are due on the 23rd of November. All parties (except PRP) are campaigning with full rigour. Pamphlets are also being distributed in each house, and mine was no exception.

What caught my attention was the BJP pamphlet. Two reasons. First one is that the pamphlet actually talks about local issues and what the candidate will do about it (TDP pamphlet spoke only about the candidate, Congress pamphlet had only pictures of all leaders!).

The second reason was more perplexing. The pamphlet did NOT have a picture of Advani, but had a picture of only Vajpayee! Is this a pre-cursor of things to come? :)

PS: My earlier blog on Advani before the elections is here.

The Next Vajpayee for BJP ...

I will come straight to the answer. It has to be Sushma Swaraj. Let’s consider the second rung leaders in contention for the top posts in the BJP.

Rajnath Singh – We have clearly seen that he has failed as the President of BJP. Not just because of this loss, but because he was not able to lift his party in his home state, UP. On top of that, he doesn’t possess a pan-india appealing personality. There is a higher probability that the neutral voters will reject him instead of siding with him. He has a very hardliner image, and has practically overseen the disruptive opposition over the past few years. His presence as the BJP head might enthuse the cadre, but his presence as the Leader of Opposition will dampen the citizens. For sure.

Arun Jaitley – He is Urban, and that's what will hold against him. He cannot sway a gathering of rural people with his oratory. He is more of an organizational man than a people’s man. He hasn’t won too many elections till now. He has been incharge of some really succesfull party victories in Assembly elections, but his recent behaviour during 2009 polls doesn’t inspire any confidence about his performance at the national level. His choice for the post of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha did raise a few eye brows (justifiably so), but it's best he remains the stragetist because that's what he can do best.

Venkaih Naidu – He too has the image of a hard liner. I have heard him speak many times, and I must say he has a lot of clarity in his thought process. Unfortunately, he hasn’t seen an electoral success for fairly long time. His failure to build the party in the Southern states is a black mark, and it was under his presidency that the BJP lost the 2004 elections. Venkaih Naidu can be best used to articulate the policies of BJP, but it is difficult to envisage him in a role wherein he will decide on their implementation.

Narendra Modi – Arguably, one of the best administrators of this country, but his entire political life will be haunted only by the anti-Godhra violence. None of his developmental programmes will take a front seat while in campaign for an all India election. The Congress, the Left, the media will all focus only on one single issue, and that is what will become his bane. Outside Gujarat, it is extremely difficult for Modi to obtain votes based on developmental agenda.

The likes of Vijay Malhotra, Naqvi, Javedkar can never be serious contenders for this post. The “lost generation” of the BJP – Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Murli Manohar Joshi are automatically out of contention. That leaves us with Sushma Swaraj.

Sushma Swaraj has been Chief Minister of Delhi for a while. She was also a minister in the Vajpayee government. More importantly, she is now the most moderate face and the only strong woman in BJP. She has the capability of gaining an All India appeal. A case in point is when she gave Sonia Gandhi a very tough fight in Bellary, Karnataka. She learnt Kannada in no time, and started speaking fluently in no time! Her presence has a much stronger appeal than the combined presence of the other leaders mentioned above.

She cannot enthuse the cadre as much as Vajpayee did, or for that matter she might be the ideal person the cadre wants to see at the top. But, there are enough leaders to cater to the cadre. It is not the cadre that the BJP should fear of losing; it is the undecided voters that it should fear. Sushma Swaraj should be made the Leader of Opposition. There are rumours going around that Rajnath Singh might become the LOP if he has to step down from the post of BJP President. Nothing will be more suicidal than that.

After becoming leader of opposition, Sushma should start touring the entire country and start building an image for herself. The speeches should not be negative, but promising in content. Her approach in Parliament has to be co-operative, and at the same time should not be seen as mellowed down. Being a good orator, she can win many debates hands down, but the important thing is to carry that message outside of Parliament too.

BJP lost partly due to the bad image that was projected in the media too. The media managers did not draw up plans to counter attack the ruling party, once they were attacked. This cost the BJP a lot, especially with the urban voters. Sushma Swaraj is the only person in BJP who can bring back those votes, because she is the only person who can show a lot of promise. The rest of the lot cannot. The neutral voter is looking for a fresh face that can bring back the previous sense of decency to politics, and from BJP only Sushma Swaraj has that image.

What about the next Advani then? The answer to this question was lost along with Pramod Mahajan. Only time will tell now...