Really fascinating piece by Michael Habib in Scientific American about how
amazing feathers are: they come in so many different shapes and sizes and
do s...
Showing posts with label BJP. Show all posts
Why Does Its Manifesto Make Not Just the BJP but Everyone Else Too So Nervous?
BJP has finally released a
Manifesto on the election day. The Congress party and others have questioned
the delay and BJP has come with enough plausible explanations which have been
ridiculed by various opponents.
As one congress leader put it, If
the BJP can’t take out a Manifesto in time how are they going to manage the
country’s affairs?
But the real reason for the BJP to be so defensive
and nervous about publishing its manifesto well before the start of the
election instead of putting it off till the last moment is in the Manifesto
itself.
Perhaps the simplest of
explanation is that with the reference to Ayodhya and Article 370, the BJP Manifesto
resembles the proverbial Wolf in Sheep’s clothing.
The BJP was not sure if, for the
one billion voters of India, it will look anything but a dressed up version of
the old wolf they have shunned twice. The party obviously didn’t want to scare
them away by the inevitable media exposure, scrutiny and debate the Manifesto
would have generated in the crucial weeks before the election.
Can India’s Antony Be Its Next Dark Horse Prime Minister?
Let me say this, I barely know
A.K Antony except that we both hail from ‘God’s Own Country’, the little piece
of beautiful land on the tip of the Indian Peninsula, the marvellous beauty of
which is preserved by its anti development politics.
Not a political analysts by any
stretch of Imagination; for that matter not even someone who lives anymore in
the country, there are no pretences of erudition either in this. As a common
man whose eyes and ears are not shut to the abundance of information incessantly
pouring on to the a screen in front of me, I simply exert my fundamental right
to venture a wild guess of my own.
In fact It is Antony’s own words
during a recent campaign which points to this inevitability.
Criticising the Marxist Communist Party, his main political
opposition in Kerala, Antony has predicted that the CPM will be forced to
support the UPA , the ruling alliance to form the next government, as they did in
2004.
The CPM has not only vehemently denied this, but is
strongly harping on the wishful idea of a “Third Font”, a political salad bowl
of nuts, leaves and weeds, hardly palatable to the Indian masses.
Indians are fed up such exotic
diet, meted out to them by several coalitions who only unite to fight and
wither away in the past, lacking common ideology, purpose or will to govern.
The current “Third Front” so far
remains merely as a photo session, with raised and clutched hands of as many
leaders of regional parties as the number of those who want to be the Prime
Minister of India, which has become a ridiculous icon of the fast crumbling
idea of the Union of India.
Nevertheless, manifestation of a political Phobia against the Bharathiya
Janata Party, which has unite the
scattered opposition in the past, is in its highest pitch this time, thanks to
a brazen and aggressive campaign of BJP’s self appointed prime ministerial
candidate Modi himself.
If this manifested in the
previous two elections as a force to prevent the BJP, a party with a hidden Hindutwa
agenda to push minorities to second class, this time it is working as a formidable
force to prevent a dictatorial Modi from grabbing the Prime Ministerial chair
of India.
Abetted by such concerns within
the country’s minorities and even within the BJP itself, various anti Modi
campaigns by various forces, especially by
the newly formed Aam Admi Party of Arvind Kejeriwal, can end up with the Third
Front grabbing a significant number of
parliamentary seats, despite various opinion polls predicting otherwise.
Moreover, the gap between the
results of opinion polls and political reality in Indian parliamentary election
(different from the state elections influenced by local and regional forces), could
be wider, given the massive financial influence exerted on the Indian media
ahead of this year’s election.
All these factors can add up to a
situation quite similar to 2004, as being claimed by Antony, perhaps less rosier
than what is hoped by Rahul Gandhi, his party’s vice president and its potential
nominee for the position of the Prime Minister.
Given the extreme and publicised
ambitions of each of the leaders of the Third Front to become the PM, it is
unlikely that they can agree upon one, especially if the combined strength is
likely to be less than that of the UPA.
It will also be not entirely unrealistic to
expect the two lady Chief Ministers to
keep themselves out of the front, certainly due to the presence of their arch
enemies and in any case as none of their male counterparts will concede them the
coveted position of the Prime Minister.
In such a scenario, the combined
determination of everyone to Keep Modi
out of power, for the good of the nation and their own political survival can crystallise
in to a support of Sonia Gandhi’s UPA in forming the next government.
Rahul Gandhi, the vice president
of the Congress Party is will be , at
best a very reluctant Prime Minister, who will much prefer to be its ideologist
and party builder till at least another election.
In any case, Rahul Gandhi, who
has taken the brunt of the political rhetoric and criticism from each of the
leaders of the Front, (Remember Amul Baby?) is not someone, the elderly Prime
Ministerial aspirants of the front will accept without some heart burn and loss
of face.
That is where A K Antony and his
stature within the party and his consensus building talents will come to the
aid of all Modi haters, perhaps as a silver lining on the dark clouds the next
election threaten to bring over the great nation of India.
If that happens, the leaders of
the CPM which Antony NOW says will have no choice but to support the UPA, will be more than happy to support him, even
forgetting the party ideology.
Many of them, after all, are his compatriots from God’s Own Country.
Is India Heading Towards the Best Decade For Investors?
 |
| A congruence of recent political development in India auger a period of stability and growth |
Despite the relative success of the first UPA government of Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh, heralding reforms and forward looking policies encouraging foreign investors, the second term which will end this year had shaken investor confidence in India.
The bottom line is, unlike their first term in power, albeit with the support of the Indian Left, the UPA is a minority government without real law-making clout in its second term which will end this year.
The government was virtually handicapped warding off waves of anti-corruption sentiment, set off by an irresponsible CAG who went on presuming mammoth losses on the Government's populist policies, which the opposition rode to stall law making and policy implementation, abetting national growth.
Despite all this, the UPA2 still has produced an impressive above 5 percent GDP growth while the U.S. and Europe by and large reeled under a double dip recession.
A congruence of recent political developments in India, however, auger a period of stability and growth in the coming decade which savvy investors will look forward to.
India, a Democracy of the People, for the People, By the Gifts.
Allegations of bribery of the electorate by Obama administration were raised by Romney after he lost the last US Presidential election. He might have been very close to be true had it been any election in India.Electorate in India are won by timely gifts of anything from a kitchen grinders to a laptops to the electorate or even promises of such gifts if elected to power. In every state election, political parties declare the gifts in their manifesto.
In a national election, gifts are more subtle and the UPA chair person Sonia Gandhi has understood this weakness of the Indian electorate more than anyone else.
Sonia won the last election by forcing the Finance Minister Chidambaram to divert $ 13000 Million to write off farmer loans and distribute unemployment benefit under a minimum work assurance scheme.
Sonia and the UPA has put in place measures to capitalise on this by ensuring direct credit of cash subsidies in to bank accounts and the food security bill (which the BJP has stalled so far) which will be put in place well before the election by an ordinance if everything else fail.
There are however other reasons why the UPA will return to power and possibly with a better mandate, ensuring good investment climate and growth rate.
Corruption has different meanings in Indian Politics and Indian Life.
For 1.3 billion people of India, corruption is a way of life and something they can't live without. Paying a few bucks to get a rail ticket or cooking gas or college admission for a child is taken for granted, which the most agitated anti corruption protestor can't deny not having ever done.Again, Sonia Gandhi has learned this truth and has put in to great use, to win regional elections, by supporting tainted popular leaders accused of corruption, though not always proved and punished.
Though no leader has ever lost an election in India because he or she is accused of corruption, fight against corruption is the only activity of parties in opposition, to stay alive and relevant till the next election, creating hurdles for governance at the cost of growth and development of the country.
Despite all the moralistic clamour by the urban elite, privy to high wages, who can't get the benefit of infra structure and services from the lower paid public sector, which the political opposition plan to ride on and use as an election plank, as corrupt leaders have been re elected in several states.
With administrative reforms within the party and better care in choosing candidates, UPA is closing this electoral ploy of the opposition, determined not to lose the election on this account.
Next Indian Election of 2014 Already Won by the UPA!
BJP sort of lost the election when, propped up by the Hindutwa organisation RSS and an Indian origin business lobby in the US, Narendra Modi, self proclaimed architect of development and BJP leader foisted himself as the next Prime Minister of India.
As a matter of fact the next election has already been won by Sonia and her UPA by a sort ofHara-kiri conducted by the BJP recently in their conclave in Goa, also saving the US administration a major dilemma.
Despite propaganda by thousands of misguided urban Indians who hang around social media and have no clue of reality of a billion villagers, Modi's ploy backfired when one of the real architects of BJP and its perennial Prime Minister in waiting , Advani revolted.
The problem is the anti Muslim tag of Narendra Modi by condoning a riot in 2002 leading to the death of thousands of Muslims has stuck with Modi, no matter what development he has claimed.
The Goa episode resulted in the split up of the NDA alliance , destroying any chance of BJP putting up a fight to regain power from the UPA. The departed partner JDU has claimed :
People are scared of even talking of Bihar's asmita (pride). This is not good for democracy. I say this with a sense of responsibility. An entire party has been bulldozed in the name of workers and cadre. Whoever criticizes gets abused on Twitter and Facebook. Abuses are heaped on journalists as well as others, who don't agree with a particular viewpoint or join in the propaganda. Is this democracy? What happened to right to dissent?
Monsoon Havoc Is More Votes for the Ruling Party In Disguise.
The Indian Monsoon, which bring in the rain every year to sustain agriculture has a great effect not only the economy, but also the national elections.Traditionally, If the Monsoon is good in an election year, a happy electorate will be with the government with lower food prices and all round prosperity. As the Monsoon this year is more than good, despite havocs and death, the UPA can rest assured of a cheerful mood with the electorate.
Pending Reforms and Projects Can Only Move Forward.
Dr Manmohan Singh and his government which is on a life support by warring local parties with vested interest to complete the current term, in fact has a free hand now to push reform agenda and stalled projects. With nothing to lose and only an election to win, such actions will fill the rest of the term, paving sound foundation for economic development.
Things can go wrong in political calculations. However for India, if the pro capital BJP will somehow garner the power and win the election, Indian business will only stand to gain.
Either way the coin flips in the Next election, foreign investors with capital stand to gain in the India Story , at least for the next decade.
Reach Author Shred Pillai On Google
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