Isliye Modi !

Have we ever experienced such excitement for a General Election in our country? Have we ever waited so desperately for the D-day? The answer is a clear no. The election campaigns by all parties have been huge. For the first time its a three sided National contest between the old and experienced INC and BJP, and the newly formed AAP. A three sided contest seems even more interesting than a triangular ODI series these days. The news channels and print media have all been concentrating solely on the chief election news.

To decipher the mood of the people is a little too difficult a task, considering the demographic dynamics of India. A country of more than 120 Crore people where approximately 80 crore are eligible to vote. How do you understand what each one of them is going to do and who is voting for whom. The question is very serious considering the economic problems the country is facing. The Indian Currency has been constantly weakening. The Country has threats from neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.

The question that stands still is whom to vote for?

The contest is essentially between three candidates, namely, Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal. All three have vast differences in the ideologies they support and the way they canvass themselves and their ideologies. Who and why deserves to win is the question which is to be responded on various touchstones.

The first touchstone is that of connection of the leader with the public at large. A political leader essentially needs to connect with the public at large. Unless the leader is a populist one, it becomes rather more difficult to pull crowds and win the battle of ballots. Narendra Modi has done hundreds of sabhas all over the country in past few months. Three sabhas a day and all of them in different states says a lot about the character of a person aged 63. Narendra Modi would not go to the homes of Dalits in a simple kurta-payjama and have lunch there sitting on the floor. Narendra Modi doesn’t drive a simple Maruti car. He would arrive at a rally in a chopper, dressed up in extravagant outfits that even a youngster would be tempted to wear. Who would want their PM to be behaving like a poor man himself. What hope does he have and what hope does he give to the people if he himself weeps on issues of poverty? 

Although being termed as a Hindutva propagator, and filing his nomination from Varanasi, Modi did not go for a holy bath in the Ganges in front of the whole media fraternity. He doesn’t need to look ‘Aam’ to connect to the public. His chai pe charcha would be held at a posh A/c hall. He doesn’t need to look and behave as an ‘Aam Aadmi’ to connect with numerous others. The only requirement to connect with the public is the content of what you speak. Narendra Modi has been through everything in his life and that makes him comfortable wherever he goes. He can connect to the student crowd at a Delhi college convocation and to a farmer crowd at a rally in Haryana. He can connect with the poor crowd in Orissa and equally so with a crowd of businessmen at Vibrant Gujarat summits. He stays himself wherever he is, but ensures that he connects to the audience and makes sense to them. Probably, the vast experience of dealing with humans has only made him so versatile to be able to understand the worries of a Dalit locality and also that of a posh one.

Everyone should ask his / her ownself a simple question, whom do they want to lead them. Would you want a man sitting on a Dharna while being a State’s Chief Minister to be your leader? Would you want a man whose party was literally forced to pass Lokpal Bill, taking credit of the same lead you? Or you would want a dynamic leader who can speak his heart out on issues that most politicians avoid, to lead you. A man who has the audacity to question China on the issue of invasion into India, Pakistan on terrorism and Bangladesh on infiltration.The Prime Minister represents the country at an International platform. Would you want your PM to be an intense pessimist who is only good in criticising others and having no achievement of his ownself whatsoever? Would you want your PM to be a man who is dumbstruck by a few straight questions from a news reporter in an interview? Or you would want your PM to be a man who has tremendous success as a Chief Minister of Gujarat for over a decade under his belt?

Rahul Gandhi takes credit for passing RTI and Lokpal bills. Has political rivalry stooped down to a level where a Government seeks to take credit for passing legislations? Is it not the job of the Government to legislate?

The other touchstone for deciding a leader should be the personal achievements of the leader himself. The biggest achievement Rahul has, is his last name; Gandhi. Its legacy. Legacy of tyranny and abuse of power. What has he done by himself? An average person starts planning his retirement after entering into 40’s. This man still seems to be pursuing his internship as a politician. His attendance in the Lok Sabha is very low. He doesn’t participate in debates on major legislations. What is he doing? Its been a decade now. The same decade that Modi has utilized from being just a Chief Minister of a State to the Prime Ministerial candidate for BJP. What has Kejriwal done thus far? He left his government job to work against the Government and for corruption free India. Joined India Against Corruption in furtherance thereof. Left India Against Corruption to form a political party. Came into power, became the Chief Minister of Delhi and left that job also in less than 50 days just because other parties did not support him in passing a legislation. Can the responsibility of running the country be put on such an amateur? Who knows what he might do on being the Prime Minister (Assuming that he becomes). Modi has a record of winning Gujarat elections successfully for three consecutive terms. Has efficiently administered the State for over 10 years. Imagine the pressure that man must have had on facing two setbacks in the first two years of Chief Ministership, first being the destructive earthquake in 2001 and second being the Godhrakand in 2002. Still, Modi has administered and nurtured the State very efficiently. He has brought abundant foreign investments into the State.  

The next issue that needs to be considered while deciding a leader is the future that the leaders show you. The future that Rahul Gandhi can, at best, show, is to widen the communal divide and to grant Scheduled Caste status to a few other castes just a few months before the next election. What plans does he have for the nation? Is the empowerment of people enough? Do people just want to file RTI Applications and be happy? Do people just want reservations for their castes? Do they just want apathy of the leaders? No. The people of this country want to do so well that they don’t need anybody’s apathy, and the Government which provides ample basic, educational and employment opportunities is the best suited and sought for. 

Finally, a leader should be judged on the manner in which he deals with criticism. Rahul Gandhi has always avoided media interactions. Arvind Kejriwal seemed to have been liking the media attention he got only until he was praised by the media. The day his failures as Delhi Chief Minister were brought forward, he started abusing the media. The man who has been most maligned by the media for the 2002 riots does not abuse media on every occasion and declare the whole fraternity to be a paid one. Narendra Modi didn't go haywire and played the 'victim of media card' before the Gujarat 2012 elections. He waited and he criticized the media on the 20th December, 2012. The day on which, he had won Gujarat elections for the third consecutive term.

Go out and vote for change.

Jai Hind.

Increasing Rapes: India Humiliated

“Where women are honored, there the Gods are pleased.  But where they are not honored, no sacred rites yield rewards.”

- Manu Smriti 3.56

In light of the above quoted statement from one of the oldest scriptures in India, one can easily deduce the reason behind the most troubles our Country is facing of late. Women belonging to a large section of the society are not safe in India. Crimes against women are on a rise. The best example as well as the most perturbing experience of harassment is faced by any woman during public transport. Crimes against women are not merely being committed in the remote areas or behind closed doors that one can not witness them; rather the crimes are now being committed in public sphere, and in presence of people, in the densely populated areas, where the perpetrators act as devils and the people as mute spectators.

We look at the increasing rape cases just as other crimes. It is getting very comfortable for us to read a couple of rape cases in the newspapers on a daily basis. It doesn't shock us anymore to read of minor girls being brutally raped. Are we turning into a society where compassion and empathy don't exist at all? Is the humanity shrinking within ourselves?

Rapes should not be seen as other crimes; for instance, theft. It is possible that a person may move ahead after an incident of theft. He may start earning more and possibly forget the incident eventually. But rape is not alike theft. A girl who is raped can not move ahead from that incident. It is not 'just' a crime against women. It is crushing the dignity, life and aspirations of a girl. The incident is imprinted on her mind for the rest of her life.  Physical pain may diminish with passage of time, but the mental pain, the stress, the agony, the helplessness, cumulatively bring her a feel of disgust that she can not forget for the rest of her life. The girl raped in Delhi on the 16th of December last year was a student of medicine and a doctor in the making. So, the rapists have not just raped her body, they have raped her aspiration of being a doctor and to serve the society. Had she been alive, I do not believe, she would have been able to go out and profess medicine. If a girl does not die after being raped, the life that awaits her is worse than death, where she has to forego all her aspirations, plannings and dreams for no fault of her and sit helplessly in a damp corner only hoping such incident had not happened.

It was almost unanimously felt that the victim in the recent Delhi rape was just unlucky to be there. It could have been anyone. People left hypocrisy and careless attitude behind after the recent incident. There was a huge outrage and public outcry in forms of candle marches and demonstrations all over India for stricter rape laws where the death penalty for rapists was foremost among other recommendations. But the outcry was too late. The girl still could not be saved. After a long brave battle, she succumbed to death. That made the prosecution case stronger, as the charges of homicide were added and the accused looked at death penalty for homicide if not for rape. Hence the purpose of the public outrage seemed to be served. But it can in truest sense be considered to be served, had this been the only rape incident to have occurred in our country. If not, there are thousands of other rapists who are still out there in public domain, living their lives as usual, after squelching the lives of thousands of innocent girls. Thousands of such incidents happen every year, and I vow not to go into such painful statistics and be pained further by analyzing such grossly insensate acts in terms of demographics and other negligible considerations.

Rape laws in India must change. The first change in rape law which is sought to be brought is enhancing punishment. Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code provides punishment for rape, where the maximum punishment is life imprisonment. The primary demand is to enhance the maximum punishment to death penalty. This change is most important and is imminently required. Most people and most political parties sans Congress would agree to it. But the change can not be limited to merely enhancing the punishment. The increase in punishment would be futile, if the conviction ratio stays dismally low. 

What needs to be done in the first place is to ensure that the person accused, if proved to have committed the crime, be convicted for the same. For this purpose, there must be relaxations in 'standard of proof'. Criminal law in India requires the prosecution to prove beyond all reasonable doubts that the accused had actually committed the felony alleged. I reckon there can be some relaxations in the standard of proof in such heinous crimes whilst ensuring that no innocent is punished. It must be the duty of the Courts to ensure that the perpetrators do not elude the process of law. 

The next reform that is required in the rape law is quick disposal of cases. There have been numerous cases where either the accused dies a natural death while awaiting a death sentence, or the poor victim does not survive to see the culprit being taken to gallows. In Indian law, the procedural laws as well as judicial hierarchy provide the criminals with a platform to live their lives in normal state until the case is finally decided. There are provisions conferring pardoning power on the State as well as Union Executive even after the Supreme Court finds the accused guilty. The law does not take its course. The fast track court was set up to dispose of the recent Delhi rape case. This is a positive step ahead and such courts must be set up in every state to ensure that such cases are quickly disposed of. 

Finally, it comes to punishment. Life imprisonment is certainly not sufficient for a person who has made a poor girl's life miserable by committing such a repelling act. The reformist theory can not be applied to such hardcore criminals who could ignore the weeping and screaming of the girl while committing the crime. Such criminals can not be sought to be reformed at the cost of life and dignity of other women. A deterrent approach is the way ahead looking at the increasing number of rape cases. Death penalty must be introduced for rapists at the earliest. Criminal jurisprudence in India advocates for death penalty only in the 'rarest of the rare' cases. Looking at the number of rapes, what case would be considered as 'rarest of rare'? Is it not rare enough that a man has committed such an insane and devilish act? Death penalty should be the law and not an exception for rapists.

Whether addressing the rapist as 'Bhaiya' would reduce such cases, or whether films and fashion have an influence over such rapists is not the debate we should be looking forward to. A rape is the most disgraceful and dastard act that a man commits and he must pay the price for the same. A clear message must be conveyed that the society doesn't need such people. Let us hope the Legislators play their part by introducing the reforms, the executive by bringing rapists before the Courts and finally the Judiciary by convicting them.

PS: I hope to live to see a day where our country is free from such rapists; where a girl can move freely without being under fear of any kind of violence. 

Jay Hind

The Rise And Rise Of Modi

Narendra Damodardas Modi. A name that is considered synonymous to win. A name that the 'neo-middle class' can relate to. A name that has created a cataclysm beneath 10, Janpath. He is not 'just' a politician, he is a phenomenon.

Gujarat elections were always in the limelight. Prime time news shows were all dedicated to Gujarat elections 2012. The reason was obviously the presence of Narendra Modi. But amusingly there were no debates if Modi would win it or not, it was just about the margin. That lays down for you, the stature that Narendra Modi has.

Modi became Gujarat's Chief Minister in 2001 for the first time owing to Keshubhai Patel's resignation for the party's loss in Gujarat by-elections. Gujarat didn't know what was coming its way. Seemed like Gujarat had hit its jackpot. The no nonsense raj had just begun.

A mob of people didn't know they were setting Gujarat on fire when they actually set ablaze Coach no. S-6 of the Ayodhya express carrying 58 pilgrims including 25 women and 15 children returning from Ayodhya on the 27th of February 2002. This incident enraged the people of the majority community and the retaliations led to riots. More than a 1,000 people belonging to both the clashing communities were killed, more than 70,000 fled their homes and almost everyone was in pains. There were pains of missing or losing someone they loved or knew, or at least the pain of seeing one's own State in such an ugly form.

It was not even one year of Modi's rule and the riots occurred. Modi's detractors portrayed him as the face behind riots for the reasons best known to them. Such portrayal raised serious doubts about the prospects of Gujarat post- 2002 elections. Modi had to prove his mettle this time and he did it all right. He won 127 seats in the 182 seat assembly; i.e. 10 more seats more than what Keshubhai had left for him. That should be suffice to show what people had understood of Modi, and the accusations on him.

Since 2002, Modi hasn't looked back. The people of Gujarat again voted for him in 2007. This time again he won a 122 seats. Sonia Gandhi came to Gujarat and dared to demean Modi as 'Maut Ke Saudagar'. Modi used it as his trump card, and how. Although, the chief agenda was of Gujarat development, but 'maut ke saudagar' and the Modi special responses to the Sonia comment caught more attention. He ensured an emphatic win for himself. Congress tried wooing voters by perennial attempts to malign Modi for 2002, but it all failed. 'Jeetega Gujarat' was ratified by the voters.

Post 2007, Modi became the face of development where Gujarat saw multi-nationals coming to Gujarat to invest, where the realty sector has been booming, the service sector doing the best it ever has. As they say, 'Self- proclamation is an art.' One person I know who is a master at this art is, undoubtedly Narendra Modi. He has proclaimed himself to be the man behind development, and has done it convincingly. Its not just about saying it, its about making others believe in it. People have believed in him. But alongside this self-proclamation, people have seen the success story of Gujarat being unveiled. In the able hands of Modi, Gujarat has become 'Vibrant'.

The 2012 elections were all about Modi and his political prospects. He was considered as a master strategist for BJP even before he became Gujarat's CM. His strategies were bound to be profitable. One year before Gujarat elections Modi initiated his 'Sadbhavna Yatra', to openly tell every person belonging to a nminority in any sense that Modi cares for them all. This was just to clear the air and rubbish the allegations on Modi having a sense of prejudice, specially for Muslims. For this yatra, he travelled to various districts of Gujarat. This was to ensure that the people of each district in Gujarat could relate to him and consider him one amongst them all and not as a CM who remains within the CM residence, deals with business tycoons and talks only to media.

The sadbhavna yatra laid the path for 2012 elections. The campaigning began, and so did the speculations. The mood was quite obvious. He had done pretty well in Gujarat in the last decade. Modi was seen as one of India's best CMs and prospective BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate for 2014 general elections. There was nothing against him. Some said that there was no Muslim candidate from BJP to which Modi assertively responded saying that 'I am your leader. You don't have to vote for the candidate. You have to vote for me. If you face any problems, directly come to me.' This underlines the prominence he has.

As against this, the Congress had gone from bad to worse since 2009 in the centre. In the state, they had no face to lead the election campaign. Shankarsinh Vaghela was borrowed from BJP. As most people said, Congress had a 'faceless and issueless' campaign. Nothing in their speeches would appeal to people. A congress leader called Modi a monkey and Manmohan Singh, a tiger and he knew he didn't have to wait for election results to tell his conscience who was who. National Congress leaders also came to Gujarat for campaigning. But it all seemed to be a formality that they were performing. Rahul Gandhi didn't dare to go to make one single speech at a BJP led constituency. They thought it was a smart move, as the statistics had not been in Rahul's favour. His success ratio in 2012 UP elections was hardly 11% in the constituencies where he campaigned. Seems he knew his presence is not going to affect the people and votes, at least the statistics would look better this way.

The voters turnout was immense. More than 70% voting in all over Gujarat. Keshubhai and his Parivartan Party were over optimist about the results. On the other side, Congress was hoping against hope that it does not lose in a worse way than the earlier losses.

20th December arrived and marked a phenomenal win for Narendra Modi. A 3rd consecutive election win. It was not just a win but a significant one. The people of Gujarat accentuated the Modi rule and ruled out the Congress even as an option. Winning a 115 seats out of 182 is no child's play. Alongwith Congress, Keshubhai and  hisparty were also whitewashed. Keshubhai was a CM in his own dreams that he saw, considering the patel community support. His dreams were shattered as his party won merely 2 seats. Modi also won for himself 12 out of 19 seats in Muslim dominated areas which clearly goes on to show Modi magic.

Modi has always been a prominent leader in BJP. With the 3rd consecutive win, he is seen as a Prime Ministerial candidate for BJP, not just by the media but even by the party faces. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi is also speculated to be Congress face to counter Modi at centre. Thus far it's Modi 1- Rahul 0. 

The single party rule is not possible in current political scenario where the regional parties have command over general elections in their states. Modi is seen as a ruler and not a consensus builder and hence is undermined to be the Prime Minister. But this is a wrong perception that people have for him. Had he not been a consensus builder, the business lobby would not have considered Gujarat to be the best place for their investments. Modi is definitely a consensus builder, who can efficiently keep all the allies with him and run the nation, the way he has run Gujarat for over a decade. The nation awaits a change that Modi is.

Jai Hind

Rahul Dravid: Class Personified

The thought of writing something on Rahul Dravid infiltrated through my mind a number of times since the day he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. But I postponed the implementation of this thought for some time by gulling my mind. The most interior part of my heart wished Rahul does a Shahid Afridi and calls off his retirement plan. That hasn't happened, yet. And now the hopes are fading. Not just because he is adjusting to commentating and other things, but only for the kind of a man he is. Once he decides something, no one on the earth can shake his determination.

Rahul has always believed that he was not a gifted player as most of his contemporaries including Sachin and Lara were. Does that make him any lesser? Or it makes him better? One needs more concentration, determination and self-belief that he would eventually do well, when he is not gifted. (Not taking anything away from the gifted ones)

Dravid has been a great cricketer and there is no doubting that statement. He indeed is. Scoring more than 10,000 runs in both, Test matches as well as ODIs is a great achievement itself. Some might argue that numbers can be manipulated. Though, Rahul's greatness as a cricketer cannot be questioned after looking at the occasions when he scored big. More centuries away from India than on the home turf. Many on the bouncy pitches against formidable bowling attacks where most batsmen falter.

As a cricketer, his best shots were the drives through cover region and on drives off yorker length deliveries and the cut shot. I am no cricketer. Watching Dravid play was alike gazing at The Last Supper by Da Vinci, being absolutely clueless of how anyone could have done it so well. The best I can do is appreciate his shots and game. To me, Rahul is not just a cricketer who scored big runs and made a lot of money. He is more of an inspiration whom I feel, I can look upon every time I need a push. There is a lot I have learnt from this cricketing legend. 

He was declared unfit for ODIs as he played a little slow at the very start of his career. It was rejection in the most unclear terms. But he wasn't dejected. On the contrary, he chose to sweat in the field and toil for betterment. He improved his strike rate, increased his range of shots and came back to ODIs to score more than 10,000 runs in his ODI career. This is inspirational. 

Sachin was already a star when Dravid made his debut. Comparisons were obvious. But being unmoved by such media comparisons was the challenge. Dravid never compared himself to Sachin. He would prefer to work harder in the practice sessions than being involved in such useless analysis. This is what eventually paid off. He created his own aura alongside Sachin and never bothered about being undermined by the star power that Sachin possessed. In our lives, we occasionally get entangled in such trivial issues and mess our lives. Dravid should be an inspiration in this area. How simple would our lives be without such comparisons? And Dravid also shows that greatness is achieved without these comparisons and complexes but by sheer hard work.

Cool temperament. One quality that can undermine or nullify any shortcoming of oneself. Firstly, one can concentrate on the job at hand without being distracted by unavailing issues. Secondly, one can gracefully face the rough times and failures. Dravid had perfect temperament to be a great cricketer. The most easily imaginable situation is Dravid coming out to bat at no. 3 just after a very important wicket has fallen. Fielders are brought closer. Three slips, a gully, short cover, short mid on, forward short leg and the fast bowler steaming in. Sledging, or at the least, morale lowering chats among the fielders should be commonly going around. To stay calm is the only key one has. One losing temper in such a situation, may risk the game his team is playing for. Dravid didn't lose temper. He started loving the job of leaving those deliveries outside the off stump and just let his bat speak on a poor delivery. And his bat spoke volumes. 

A human expecting the circumstances to suit his emotions or aspirations would be inviting misery. It is his job to suit the circumstances prevailing. Dravid just retained this in his mind. He suited to every condition. He would accept the job as a wicketkeeper when India had no specialist wicketkeeper- batsman. He would accept the job of captaincy being wary of how that could harm his personal game. He would come out to open the innings when India fell short of a good opening batsman. And it was not just that he tolerated these conditions. He enjoyed them and worked hard to do well in each of these jobs.

Dravid was perennially inspirational. One last thing was left to be done. That was his retirement. He had a fabulous series in England a few months ago. Then he went to Australia with the team but had a poor run. It was not the best time for him to quit. A few home series were lined up in 2012, which would have given Dravid his chance of retiring on a high. But this man was determined. He felt it was his time to hang his boots and he did so. There was no looking back.

The last classy batsman retired from cricket. There won't be any more of those clinical innings with the most classy shots. Cricket would always miss Rahul. But he shall remain an example for numerous youngsters in numerous facets of life and in numerous ways. 

Thank You. 

Contemporary Indian Politics

News channels and newspapers are becoming synonymous to grief, misery and despair. There is nothing in the newspapers, reading which can make one happy. Its all about the bad or the sad news. The last time, I remember reading an article that made me happy was about India beating Pakistan in the T20 world cup. As a citizen of the country, I expect more from Manmohan Singh than from Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The latter occasionally takes you on a joyride with his helicopter shot, but the former has miserably failed to deliver. It is not just about the UPA government, even otherwise, the sorrows of common people have just soared in the last few years. 

Manmohan Singh recently made a public statement which goes as, "If we are going down, we are going down fighting." It is indeed a matter of joy that he made a bold statement after such a long time, but I do not see any hope in it. 

India is failing on three counts. Firstly we are failing economically, secondly on moral grounds and finally on political grounds.

The Ratings agencies have downgraded India's credit rating owing to its fiscal policies. The value of Indian rupee has slipped to an all time low against the US Dollar. The economic downturn in the west has affected us badly. The industrial growth in several states has come to a standstill. Even in this situation, nothing substantial is being done. If something is attempted to be done, it is rejected by the allies of the UPA itself. A situation of complete policy paralysis has arisen where the inflation is constantly on the rise and the government is a spectator whereas the masses, victims.

The State Legislative Assembly is a sacred institution where the policies and laws for the State are enacted. Is it not horrendous to find Ministers watching a porn film while the proceedings in the Vidhan Sabha are going on? What worse could be done by them? This situation would have been untenable, even if the Ministers were caught watching a devotional film, as they are expected to watch, observe and participate positively in the law making process, failing which would be a dereliction of their duty. In any case, this was a pure case of watching obscene movies. There is no further moral degradation imaginable.

Months later, a Senior leader of the Congress and a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India was found in a compromising position with another lawyer, whom he allegedly incited by offering her a judicial post. If the CD is believed to be true, it brings up a serious case of the conduct of such highly reputed people and the image of the higher judiciary that they portray in the minds of people.

The central government has absolutely failed to deliver to the expectations of people after the Anna Hazare storm hit them in mid 2011. Promises after promises were made, only to be broken subsequently. At the fag end of 2012, there is no idea of whether any Lokpal bill would ever be passed. 

A cartoonist draws some cartoons, where the parliament is not shown as one would expect. But does putting the cartoonist behind the bars, solve the issue? Or the parliamentarians acting sanely, in the interest of public would do so? Throwing chairs and screaming like school going kids does in no way show that the parliamentarians themselves respect the institution.

Sonia Gandhi decided to visit a rape victim's family in Haryana. It does not seem to be a co-incidence of the rape victim being a Dalit girl. There is no harm in visiting such needy and downtrodden people in the remote areas of the country. The harm is in aiming at votes for doing so.

Mamata Banerjee exemplifies the term antagonist in its truest sense. One would seriously doubt if she even considers the proposal before rejecting it. But, there is more to it. West Bengal is an economically poor state. So, Mamata Di is correct in outright rejection of any proposal where the poor people are going to be affected. Be it the petrol price hike or FDI in retail, she does not look at the issue on merits as doing so would not fetch her more votes. She added a flavour to the vote bank politics while announcing the withdrawal of her support to UPA. The Ministers of TMC were to submit their resignation after Friday Namaz, according to her. The choice of words seems to be perfect, where nothing else but vote banks are aimed at. 

Arvind Kejriwal makes serious allegations against Robert Vadra of lobbying with DLF ltd and taking interest free loans from the latter. If the allegations are true, it is just another story of the families of politicians being treated as Dukes and Duchesses. If not, it would be a failure on the part of Kejriwal of not gathering proper evidences. 

            The political parties need to introspect as to what they are doing. Whether they are giving the national interest, primacy over their personal interests? This introspection is required immediately. If the politicians don’t, the voters certainly would.

Jai Hind. 

Narendra Modi: The Protagonist Or A Devil?

India is a Union of States comprising of 28 States and 7 Union Territories. Randomly, if you go out and ask people belonging to a particular state if they know Chief Ministers of other States, it is highly improbable that one would be ignorant about the Gujarat CM. Narendra Modi is most definitely, a populist leader and the following saying goes well for him "You may love him, you may hate him, but you just can't ignore him." 

The fact that one statement made by him becomes a news headline and a topic of debate for days together is itself evident of the fact that he is a renowned leader. Even the criticism he receives for a statement made by him shows the importance of his statement.

There are two images of Narendra Modi. The first image is that of a hardliner Hindu seen as a Chief Minster who did not take appropriate action during the 2002 riots in Gujarat. On the other hand, Modi's followers see him as a pro-development protagonist under whose administration, Gujarat has progressed tremendously. 

Somehow, the horrors of 2002 still haunt the Gujarat Chief Minister. Anything he says or does is read in connection with the 2002 riots. For instance, the Sadbhavna fast was considered to be a move by Modi to woo Muslims. But that wasn't the sole agenda. During Sadbhavna fasts, Modi also gave a feel of Sadbhavna to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It was a move to bring the '5.5 crore Gujaratis', as Modi often refers to as the population of Gujarat, to be on a similar footing and feel good about being a Gujarati and not about belonging to a particular caste or religion. 

The Media and Modi's opponents probably do not wish to let the 2002 riots be evaporated from the minds of public, precisely voters. To a certain extent, they would be justified in doing so as Modi seems impeccable with the charisma he has and the crowds he can pull. Who could have imagined that Modi would be able to capitalize on a remark by Sonia Gandhi during 2007 Gujarat polls where Modi was referred to as 'Maut ke saudagar'. One can safely say that the said remark went in Modi's favour. Yet, the attempts to malign Modi on the same ground has been attempted persistently.

With the Gujarat polls due in December this year, the electoral fever seems to be catching up. Recently, Modi gave an interview to a Urdu daily. The interviewer was Shahid Siddiqui, a former SP member. The interview has been much talked about in the last week. The so-called controversial statement by Modi was that he did not apologize to anyone for the riots and expressly said that he may be hanged in public, if found guilty in the riots cases. What more would one expect after a decade of such an event and when the man has been maligned for over a decade for inaction during riots. Had he apologized, the media would have read the interview as a matter of regret and would have assumed his role in the riots. So, not much can be done in such situations. At least one should laud his courage to say that he may be hanged. Not many would have the courage to say so.

All such drama is excepted once again. The Modi regime has done pretty well with the sole agenda of development. One can witness the difference in the Gujarat in pre-Modi era and the post-Modi era. The decade of Modi's rule has got various accolades for Gujarat and its efficient administration. Modi has been praised for the development of state, but one more aspect worth commending is the peace and tranquility in the state. There has been no major riot case since 2002. One needs to acknowledge the fact that this is indeed an achievement as Gujarat has been notorious for such instances in the past and that communal riots have been going on in this state since long. Also that the terrorist activities and attacks have also been very less as compared to other states while keeping in mind the geographical location of Gujarat which shares border with Pakistan. 

Modi is usually ridiculed by Congress as a communal leader. How do they forget the kind of action taken by Congress during the anti-Sikh riots in 1984? The investigations against some cases of 1984 riots are still pending and politicians like Jagdish Tytler are still out in public. Why does then Congress stress on speedy trial in the 2002 riots cases. There is no hindrance or resistance against such speedy trial and convicting those found guilty in the Gujarat riots cases, but the Congress is itself not clean and it seems to be an amusing metaphor when Congress talks of speedy trial in such cases. 

Modi is indeed a threat to the Congress, not just at the state level, but at the national level as well. I have no doubts that the BJP tally would be benefited if Modi is declared as their Prime Ministerial candidate. Moreover, the rampant corruption and inefficient administration of Congress at the centre would all add up to Modi's benefit. Lastly, if we look at the larger picture, Modi shares a good rapport with J. Jayalalitha and several other regional leaders who would be ready and willing to support Modi as Prime Minister. 

Only time would show what the actual political scenario is at the state as well as national level, but I would say, the Modi regime has been beneficial to the people of Gujarat and a sense of economic as well as physical security has been established in the people of Gujarat and I don't see a political turnaround in the upcoming State elections.

Jay Hind.

Indian Presidential Elections 2012: Hype or Hope?

The only thing Indian media has been revolving around, for the last whole month, is speculating who would be India's next President. The value of Indian Rupee is contantly slipping and the inflation soaring, but that didn't seem as much important to the media houses. Interestingly, the speculations and the crazy merry-go - round over the successor to Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhavan appealed the masses as well. Prime time shows and editorial pages of the newspapers were all packed with the Presidential news.

This trend is unprecedented. For the first time, there is so much fuss about who would be our next President.  Does that not indicate about how much the people are annoyed with our present President? As is evident from a bare reading of our Constitution, the President hardly has discretion to exercise and decisions to make on his own. Almost everything the President does, during whole of his term is on the 'Aid and advice of the Council of Ministers'. Why then would everyone be so anxious to have a new, a better president with minimal powers? Is it that a better successor would at least create a better global image of the nation? 

Pratibha Patil has been criticized as a President even more, probably because her predecessor was a highly qualified and an inspirational Scientist. People do not expect a President to perform exceptionally well as the first citizen of the country, but at least make such public appearances that would carry the image of brand India and not the ones that are marred by various controversies. Mrs. Patil was dragged into various controversies. Be it regarding protecting her brother in a murder case, or divulging funds to a family owned trust or her post- retirement home. That is the least one would expect to go around even with the President. 

Be it so, the hunt for President started like a TV reality show, with all the melodrama. Political Parties gradually got into the act of deciding the Presidential candidate. Firstly, Congress not naming their candidate for so long. Once they officially name Pranabda as their candidate, their most trusted ally, for no reason apparent, TMC leader and Bengal CM, Mamata Banerjee teams up with Mulayam to name none other than the present Prime Minister as their preferred choice for the post.Such a statement is obviously intriguing as it reflected that Mamata has no faith either in Manmohan Singh as PM and Pranabda as Prez. Let us not go into the coalition dharma debate but accept the fact that the UPA is definitely vulnerable. They badly need those 20 seats of Bengal, which Mamatadi holds. Further, Sangma from NCP and Ram Jethmalani from  BJP have decided to contest the elections, even with a god idea of the support Pranabda has. 

However, in the end, Pranab da is nominated as the Prez candidate by Congress also getting expressive support from SP and BSP and with speculations that he would sweep an easy victory even if he is contested. But one more issue needs to be gone into. Pranab has been a savior for UPA in the times of crisis, then why was only he named as Prez. Evidently, he could not do much to save Indian economy from the world crisis. The Rupee kept on slipping, inflation rising and market transactions at the low of a decade. But, he deserves a retirement of this kind. A man who has been at the whelms of Congress since 70's surely deserves it all. 

Let us now hope that 19th July gives us a new, a better, a rather more inspirational President who would lead India from the front and take us ahead with the vision of India 2020. 

Jay Hind.