Sharrayu Aroskar

I have been following the BJP quiet regularly in the media. There was a sizeable population who wanted BJP to be in power for intellect and integrity reasons. However, the rule was not destined to be in hand for next five years. Never the less BJP has emerged as a largest opposition party and has a myriad contribution to make to influence the government policy decisions positively. BJP supporters in India and living abroad have been waiting since the results for the BJP top brass meeting and lessons thus learnt from introspection.

The media had BJP “atma-chintan” meeting on beat. Some did the job genuinely others either wanted to paint it black or gather news of street side gossip quality. Of the statements that came first from the print media, I was surprised to read one that stated “BJP would re-cast “Hindutva” Knowing the quality of journalism in this country in recent election times, I was waiting for the prints of speeches given by L.K. Advani and Rajnath Singh. It was good to see how BJP supported cultural nationalism.

Ever since I opened my mind and head to politics the word Hindutva was always talked of  as a brand that is pro Hindu and anti Muslim. The word to ears also sounds like Hindu extremism these days. I have heard young college girls talk of voting for Congress because BJP is all good except for too much of Hindutva in them. Even educated urban population both settled in India and abroad abhors this word or translates it into Hindu communalism and hates the party or organization that uses it. Naturally its the BJP and RSS that bear the popular brunt.

It is surprising to see how cultural nationalism was tainted by handful of politicians. More surprising is how the people in general have accepted it and even more surprising is the irresponsible print and visual media that leaves the cultural pride of this country on back tracks to make sure they are running on fast TRP tracks.

In my opinion the term Hindutva coined by Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar is an exemplary concept that unites India with its various colors. It is one that makes the blue complement the orange and orange complement the green. It is one that is so essential within this country that it makes the intrusion of foreign rotten brain difficult to penetrate. This concept of Akhanda Bharat houses and encompasses every religion sect and cast. What is refers to is not those who pray like “Hindus” but those that call this motherland their “aai” “ma” “ammi” “mother” etc. When you analyze this a little more, you start observing examples around that support this concept.

I have relished the sheer kurama at friends place on Id. I was born on Pateti and hence Parsi New Year is celebrated in my home in India every year. Having studied in a convent school and alternatively living outside India for a while I and many of my friends who follow other religions except Christianity celebrate Christmas. All Hindu festivals are always celebrated. We look at the office holidays and regardless of the reason of Diwali, Id or Independence Day, it is always welcomed with all zest. In school what binds you in a group is not your caste or religion or language but it’s the culture that you share with your classmates and like experiences. A random someone following Islam doesn’t backfire on Miyan Musharraf because he is a Muslim. He does that because he stands for a culture and knows that the rest, regardless of their religion will stand by his statement in praise and prove him right. It is not out of coincidence that you see Md. Azzaruddin of the Slumdog Millionaire fame touch feet on the podium in spite of being a Muslim. It is not random that a Muslim stands against imposed “Ghunghat” and a Hindu woman stands against forced “Burkha”.

What this states is that something that binds us all in this Indian subcontinent is not our religion or language it’s the culture that we grow in and experience till our death. This beautiful concept of “Akhanda Bharat” or United India was termed as “Hindutva” and every person who calls India his motherland was called a Hindu.

In light of this discussion, the word Hindutva essentially belongs to neither the Congress nor the BJP. It was coined by Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar who was an ardent freedom fighter and an iron man of Sardar Patel cadre. Thus it is the sub standard quality of the Congress thought and other pseudo secular parties to malign a concept that holds Indian culture together for petty votes. It is the arrogance and lack of understanding of common and historical India within the so called “High Command” that has further perpetuated this. It is shameful that the media endorses such actions and maligns parties like BJP and organizations like RSS. The aftermath of which is anti BJP undercurrent because of the use of the word Hindutva.

In my opinion, no party in this country has a right to recast Hindutva as they anyways weren’t the creators of it. Only thing possible is to champion the concept to build a stronger India or build a secular concept better defined than “Hindutva” itself

While apparently majority of the nation celebrates the coming of a stable government at the center, a sizeable fraction is also disappointed with the results. Though it is always true that the voting population is the one that selects the government we have seen an unexpected wipe out of the BJP from larger states in India. The election this time was fought on grounds of good governance, development and security by the BJP. There was a new hope and “Hindutva”  was tried to be placed in the right perspective of “su-rajya” and equality. In spite this and many more efforts, there was a short fall at all levels. From top brass of the party to an average BJP supporter all of us have something to learn from this. Keeping that retrospection discussion aside, it’s really important to understand what the majority of the population that went to the ballot box really voted for or for that matter did they understand what and whom they have voted for?

No doubt that people have understood the importance of getting a stable government at the center and have trusted the capability of the Congress to do so. The smaller regional parties have been largely shown a red card in national politics.

People have also accepted dynasty politics over meritorious selection. This election has proved that Congress as a party belongs largely to the Gandhi’s and there is very little that can be achieved without a Gandhi family in high office.

Sonia Gandhi’s pro-poor and social tending policies and declaration of them at the right time has as an answer to the Indian population’s short memory proved to be a boon. People saw Congress as an “aam aadmi” savior once again. People have chosen to see the political leader taking trips to the poor, spending nights in a hut whether or not even a city like Mumbai is facing power outages and the economy is making even a middle class lifestyle difficult to sustain.

People have given a loud and clear “OK” to a foreign origin leadership over five decades of committed service to the nation.

People have given in to advertising and media hype about the Congress.

People have ignored the Congressionalisation of the independent positions and organizations in this country. Right from the Indian President to Navin Chawla of the election commission all are pro-Congress entities. CBI’s misuse to either cool or heat up cases against Mayawati, declaration of Jagdish Tytler’s  clean chit by the C.B.I just before the elections or for that matter nullifying the red corner notice against Quatarochi right during election campaigns has been ignored by the people over their daily woes of water, food shelter and a respectable leaving.

People have accepted building of more IIT’s without right infrastructure, people have accepted the reservation in premier institutions and people have accepted to ignore the woes of the defense personal. People have accepted the caste based reservation policies and welcomes the inauguration of religion based policies for the Muslims in the Congress manifesto. People have accepted that Muslims are the only minority in India that need special treatment and rest of the country can fall under a single umbrella.

People have accepted the vote bank politics over visionary agenda.

People have accepted that terrorism is not the responsibility of the running government. People have believed that “Kandahar” was a mistake but have accepted innumerable terror attacks on this land during the Congress reign. People have allowed Congress to sensationalize Godhra and Kandahar to cover the inefficiencies of the running government.

People have accepted that elections can be won without a strong agenda and analysis. People have proved that elections can be won if things spoken in speeches are things that they like to hear.

People have accepted the Congress politics to stay in power with criminals like Shibu Soren and  ideologically disparate partners like LEFT.

Last but not the least, people have accepted their state as it is and have lost hope.

This is according me a verdict of confused Indian citizens who still think that BJP and Ram Sene are the same. Citizens who do not understand the meaning of “Hindutva” and citizens who neither could trust Congress enough but had no option as they could not embrace BJP and they didn’t exactly understand what the party stood for.

Will future change this is something we all need to see. While NDA was in power BJP had a sweeping victory in the Vidhan Sabha elections but the following Lok Sabha elections had a different story to tell. Congress has gotten an opportunity for a image lift and BJP has given it enough pointer as a feedback to do so during the election campaign. It is hard to believe that people largely ignored the fallacies of the last UPA government or did they not feel them? Or may be an alternative option to the Congress never reached that deep. Something we all need to retrospect over.

I was traveling with my friend from Pune to Mumbai last weekend. She is a Nigerian. The current heated political environment has not spared her as well. She is following the news papers dropped at her hotel room every day. While conveying that she is following the news and that she knows of two big parties against each other, she understood that one of them was communal and the other was led by Sonia Gandhi. She also knew that Sonia Gandhi has two kids who are in politics. Now this was a little interesting to me. I debate and analyze Indian political situation with my colleagues and friends here in India but this was an opinion from someone who was an onlooker.  What does a common foreigner think about Indian political scene?

My friend continued to mention her view points. She thought that one of the larger Non-Congress parties is anti-Muslim. She was astonished by the fact that Indians allowed a woman Italian (foreign) origin to compete for the post of Prime Minister. She was amazed that a naturalized citizen can hold such a responsible position in India and no one would object. She strongly thought that was wrong.  She thought that Sonia Gandhi had raised her kids as Indian and her not returning to Italy after her husbands’ demise was laudable. And the next instance I heard the word Sonia Gandhi…..I thought

Swatynatra Veer Sawarkar, Bhagat Singh, Mangal Pandey, Acharya Atre, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Subhash Chandra Bose, Sardar Patel rebelled against the British in vain. What an average foreigner knows about Indian politics is largely about an Italian face that is dressed Indian. An Italian national was always welcome to be a naturalized citizen of this country as daughter-in-law. She took over the Indian political scene to a level that is no more identified by Indian faces. A certificate in English is the only course that was needed to hold power in this country. This was the power to rule and not govern. I was in some sense helpless and in a state of agony at the same time. Where has this Congress taken my nation to? What is the image that my nation has in the eyes of a young foreigner? What is the difference between what is happening now and the dynasty rule that was apparently abolished hundreds of years a go? Where are the names of my leaders who bleed red for this country? Why can’t I hear the names of Vajpayee, Advani, Sharad Pawar, Morarji Desai, P. Chidambaram, Manmohan Singh etc. from a foreigner? If I have to have my country known by a foreign face sixty years after independence then why did we throw out the British? British or Italian what difference would that have made to the image anyways? Directly or indirectly you are under foreign led rule.

Even when a foreigner feels that having a foreign born person govern the nation can be dangerous the Indian National Congress is not willing to accept that. Short sighted as they are, they do not understand the risk at which the nation and national secrets stand when a naturalized citizen is given such a high office. Though the moral temperament of a person cannot be judged by his or her nationality I think that you put your nation too much at a risk of leaking secrets and prone to partial decisions when it comes to holding a responsible office in India. I can tell you this for my experience. I travel a lot for work. My stay in United States of America has been the longest. Tomorrow even if I take up American citizenship for any reason, my loyalty will always be first towards India. It is natural. It is impossible for a person to leave the citizenship of the country that he/she is born and raised, in sense of its meaning in spite of a few papers being signed and stamped to naturalize to a different nation. So is the case with Sonia Gandhi. She has shown today that it is possible for an international by the way of marriage to a political family or otherwise to rule this country with great ease. It is a little astonishing that our constitution did allow this. We were just off of a British rule when our constitution was written by Mr. Ambedkar.. With all due respect for the great work and the person that he was, in my understanding, an amendment to not let this happen should have been a natural outcome. If not then, then why not now? When we know of the threats our country faces! When we know that we are a capable country of a billion people! When we know that we have people who can lead from the front and when we know we have every resource we need to govern this country on our own. Why did India and why did Congress need Sonia Gandhi.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her body guards. Rajiv Gandhi fell pray to the LLTE master minds. The bases of the Congress were leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, Rajendra Prasad. There was a structure thought and purpose the party had. With sudden demise of Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi took over. Probably by the time he could instill a sense and organization in the party or may be even understand things unfortunately he was taken away. The party till then did not have a democratic structure to itself. It was always based on worshiping the Nehru Gandhi family. Suddenly the party crippled without a Gandhi name to show. If you may agree, a good structured and well run organization is not as much people driven. It is largely policy, structure, purpose and ideology driven. No doubt it needs good and capable people but never “a person” in specific. It is evident from what Congress did in 1999 that the party did not have a strong foundation to stand on. The only possible foundation this party has is the Gandhi family and the Gandhi lineage. They had no option but to get Sonia Gandhi to lead the Congress. This was in spite of the sects in Congress not agreeing to this completely. She seemed like the only savior to the age old party.

I wonder what made Mrs. Gandhi take that decision either. I have seen some of her photographs with Rajiv Gandhi at election rallies. Rajiv Gandhi was known to be the leader of masses. Mrs. Gandhi I believe has seen that through. She had seen how the reservation and minority politics seemed to have been working in the favor of the Congress. She has seen the power of “Garibi Hatao” slogan from Indira Gandhi. She has seen the vote bank politics within her party. She has seen the shallow nature of principles within her own party. She also knows how easily people can be transformed into vote banks based on false and ambiguous statements with no substance at all. According to me one thing at she has known is to crush the opposition and stay in power. She also knows that the masses here have a very short memory and anything and everything is taken at its spoken value without much analysis. At least by a larger vote bank.  She knows that Congress needs to be a household name till Rahul Gandhi can take up the Prime Minister position to earn his bread and butter for generations to come.

Unfortunately, her understanding of the nation and its political scenario is limited. Not only does she lack the experience but she fails to have the vision and connection necessary to place this country on a path to progress. She does not have the educational background or stronghold to hold a post like Chairperson of the coalition. She does not a vision for this country. I say so because I have never seen her in interviews or anywhere else where she is found talking about her vision for this country. I have never heard her having an intellectual and debatable discussion. I have heard her stoop at levels and talk about things that are deemed unsuitable for a person holding her office. I do not expect such shallow speeches from a leader holding the office and position that she is holding now. Blame game politics is may be suitable at corporation election level. I find her speeches of that caliber. She has no political vision or a strategic one. She however knows the power her last name has. Hence she has instilled the “ji huzur” culture in the Congress. Congress now seems like a place where merit does not matter. It’s all about how close you are to the ultimate family. The very fact that she has continued the vote bank politics and disregarded the merit structure shows her incompetence for the position she holds and her lack inclination to country’s development in true sense of its meaning. I sincerely doubt that she “means well”.

Till late 90’s Sonia stayed out of politics for a reason. She stayed in India for a reason. I do not challenge that. For a woman of any origin to lose her husband the way she did is sympathetic. Thousands of women in this country have gone through her pain with innumerable terrorist attacks that this country has seen. Though, what astonishes me is she markets Congress on the dynasty name and assigns a martyr image to the genocide. Something that happened to Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi was a murder of democracy and an end of an individual era. They cannot be called martyrs. I would not even call people who had to give away their lives in TAJ as martyrs. A martyr is a person who is at the frontier knowing that he is out there to take the first bullet on his chest so that it doesn’t hit his countrymen. I think it’s an insult to my countrymen who fight for my country’s defense at the borders when their contribution is compared to leaders who have been assassinated. If you may agree, there is a huge difference between two. I was ashamed of the Congress when they did not object to Sonia making fun of Mr. Vajpayee’s age and knee problems in the parliament. I was ashamed of my countrymen when they allowed words like “maut ka saudagar” to be used on the parliament floor without much protest. I am shamed that my countrymen accept an Italian non-competitive leadership. I am ashamed that an English certificate holder from Italy who married an Indian politician and came into politics just a decade back has the courage to question Mr. Advani’s contribution to India. I am ashamed that our country has agreed to accept whatever Congress throws in their plate when the country and we as individuals deserve more. I am disturbed that only lineage of Nehru-Gandhi family has had an opportunity in this country, thanks to the opportunistic marketing by the Congress. Where are the families of so many freedom fighters and known leaders like Sardar patel, Maulana Azad, Lokmanya Tilak, Damodar Sawarkar? Are we sleeping to drama that is being played or are we just immune?

What Soniya Gandhi and her aura translate into is more interesting to know. All of us know that taking up Indian citizenship is easier than many other countries in this world. It’s all the more easier by the way of marriage. When the Congress today upholds Sonia Gandhi and the people vote her to power, the message to the world is loud and clear. We have conveyed to the world that a person of non-Indian origin without much baggage of experience capability or service to this nation can hold an influential office in India. We have shown the world that this is easily possible. We have shown the world that the larger masses in India can be fooled to believe that Sonia is an “international level” leader. This is the term used by one of the farmers from Rae Barreli from where Sonia is the elected MP. We have shown the world that people prefer Sonia Gandhi’s persona over veteran services of Sushma Swaraj. We have shown the world that we can be falsely influenced.

Fixing this issue is not a one day job or a subject of election campaigns. The naturalization process in this country needs to be stringent and scrutinized. The issue does not limit and end at Sonia Gandhi. Thousands of people cross borders everyday. They are a burden on our economy and threat to our national security. These are the people who should have been in the jail and not Varun Gandhi. There are other laws to handle Varun Gandhi situation. These people can become citizens easily. Thanks to our porous system. They can very well enter politics. They can become popular leaders and they can hold a high position in office either individually or by blackmailing a larger party in need of support to form the government. Lastly you would know, they had entered to leak national secrets to a foreign country and break this country. We would be fools not to see what Sonia holding office as a foreigner implies. We may be fools not to know that there may be many aliens who enter this country with malign intensions are encouraged by the possibility that a alien can be made into something politically strong and influential.

We need an amendment that stops a naturalized person from holding office at the center. There have to be limits in national interest. The issue does not start and stop at Sonia Gandhi. It just throws open a discussion of implications and challenges that the country will face and the selfishness of Congress leadership by continually denying the existence of these for India. I do not question Mrs. Sonia Gandhi as a person, she may be the finest but what I doubt is her capability and the signal that this nation has given the world with her being in such a strong and influential office.

Amazing isn’t it…

My apartment friends and I used to play this game called “Sakhli”. Sakhli in Marathi means a chain. With one person running around touching the members in play and one touch would mean the person being touched got added to the human chain. The person that was touched first owns the responsibility to form a chain in next run of the game. The players not in the chain yet try hard to remain un-touched by the chain till the end and take huge pride in being declared as winners. We used to play all kind of tactics to avoid being touched. That being a play ground may be 5000 to 6000 sq ft in area; everyone knew that sooner or later every player would be a part of that chain.

You will be amazed to read what reminded me of the outdoor sport we used to play as young school students. I was watching some news channel covering the formation of the “Third front”. I have no clue why they call it the third front. With local parties blackmailing the national ones like fishes mocking at the fishermen in the boat, I think there are around hundred fronts that are going to play a role in these elections. Even a party with one MP elected in the whole nation can get into the “mandwali” business post elections. Leaving away the post election scenario and coming back to the third of the hundreds of existing, I think it’s a business of touch and go.

BJP in 2000 experimented with the pre-poll coalition or alliance strategy based on common ideologies on which other parties in the country stood. I think it was a strategic decision taken by proactive leadership. Small local parties are a reality in India. It was so in 2000 as well. BJP had sensed that no single party in the country can have more than 272 votes on its own. A coalition was imperative. BJP held hands with parties that could help the nation gain its lost momentum on issues that needed the most attention. Foreign policies, information technology, laws against terrorism are a few to name. Since these are issues concerning every Indian any sensible party who was willing to accept the leadership of Mr. Vajpayee and for whom secularism was not anti Hinduism, was a good choice. With Mr. Vajpayee as a catalyst, BJP went ahead to make trust worthy friends to form the NDA.

At that point in time, Congress had two options to go head with, a similar hand holding strategy or mock the BJP for one. Congress chose later. It was an obvious choice at that point in time. In my understanding, after leaders like  Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel , Lal Bahadur Shashtri etc. Congress faced a dearth of ideology as it chose family hierarchy over genuine merit. Had the Congress held right hands back then there would have been a deeper ideological existence in the party. With lack of an ideological understanding of its own, it was difficult for the congress to hold hands pre-election as a reaction to BJP strategy. What if they held wrong hands? What if the hands they held don’t perform in the elections? They will have to break the chain, fall on face and make new bonds. In short it would have been a little shameful in front of the nation. The Congress thus chose to mock BJP strategy of forming a coalition and tried to portray itself as an “ideological” party that can run the elections on its own might. Needless to say, the Congress in the 13^th Lok Sabha elections fell on face. I think their words pre election stood against them to form a post poll alliance. Even as an opposition they opposed policies under the name of secularism. When there was nothing “non-secular” about POTA or removing unnecessary reservations in the country. In 2004 Congress held whatever hands it could the surprise was the LEFT and Samajwadi party. None had anything common to the Congress in type except for wanting power at the center.

With left hand in a wrong one, there was nothing that was going to go right as far as the policies were concerned. No new policies were formed. The government survived on dividends of the already existing policies and then the lack of proactive behavior and American fall out wiped of the entire make up on the UPA government. Now with nowhere to go in the 2009 election on its own, the LEFT to me looks like a child wanting to play “Sakhli”. It’s going on touching every party known in each and every Indian state. If the touch turns gold, the party is entangled in the chain. The LEFT is known for its socialist ideology. None of the parties that have joined hands with the CPI and CPM so far look to me sharing it. I was shocked when Chandra Babu Naidu joined the third front. Either the nation is heading in a direction that nothing but right and I am not able to make sense of it or everybody is coming to the LEFT because no one has a direction to the RIGHT. I am sure the third front will capture a share of voters that would have voted for local parties that UPA or NDA have no Alliance with. With NDA and UPA fighting the elections I see a deem chance that the LEFT will win. But I also see a possibility of the “THIRD FRONT” breaking up when parties that once held the third front hand run hither thither to join the power at the center.

It’s however interesting to see parties like CPI and CPM that were so far known to have an ideological structure to its existence succumbing to “Congressionalisation” of Indian politics. Come what may votes is all what matters to them. Age old policies like reservation, minority favoritism, still have a place in Congress manifesto. Development and abolition of poverty are words only to be printed and spoken during election speeches. The rest is about being in power for 5 years and attempting to do so year after year.

Media is the power house these days. Especially with Lok Sabha elections in row, the stories to crack down are enormous and any dramatic “masala” added to each one is nothing but a help to the TRP climb. Arun Jaitley missing at the major BJP leadership convention was taken up as the issue. I was still hoping that Mr. Jaitley would be the first person to be contacted by these media houses. A skilled orator that Mr. Jaitley is I was thinking that the issue would be “rafa dafa” in a couple of days.  To my surprise that did not happen. I did not see Mr. Jaitley speak to the media but the person covered in the wave was Mr. Sudhanshu Mittal.

I had never heard about Sudhanshu Mittal before. I must agree that I wasn’t as involved in reading about Indian politics before. I had heard of the Mr.Pramod Mahajan’s death and Rahul Mahajan’s admission to the hospital but never about Sudhanshu Mittal. Suddenly the name flaunts in the media circle. Mr. Mittal has claimed to be in politics since 25 years. He claims to wear khaadi since std 9^th. Coincidentally I found a photograph on the outlook magazine dated sometime in June’06 that shows him in suit and shirt with Mr. Pramod Mahajan. Neither the suit not the shirt looks to be made of khaadi. May be the material is IndianJ Machine spun or hand spun, “Indian” is what may be the leader meant when he claimed to have been wearing “khaadi” since std 9^th. Or may be he meant I wear khaadi “also”. Media is known to twist and turn sentences to appear as they want them to be said for “masala spice”.

Sudhanshu Mital was interrogated when Mr. Moitra was found dead due to heavy dosage or drugs in June of 2006. Rahul Mahajan whom probably the BJP was planning to sport as an answer to absence of “very” young politicians in BJP was caught in the drug over dosage case. Things were being talked about a parallel economy running within Mr. Mahajan’s circle. None of these charges were proved I suppose and no one still knows how Mr. Moitra had died and why.Or may be some do but the general public doesn’t. Rahul later claimed to have been poisoned not knowing what was put in the wine that he was drinking. Could be true but all this was never directly related to BJP as a party. Though Mr. Mahajan was a face in BJP, Rahul was just his son Jr. Rahul was never a member of BJP and wasn’t in politics then. He still isn’t but I think the image polishing that has been going on post Big Boss is either for films or for politics. It’s definitely not wasteful. With the drug dosage issue hot in June 2006, media stormed the BJP with questions. Some Sr. BJP leaders chose to be indifferent by calling it a family matter, some talked a about not letting the family alone but of them Mr. Munde had no choice but to take on the media questions as Mr. Mahajan’s brother-in-law. Amidst there were claims in the media that Mr. Mittal reportedly had some dues to Mr. Mahajan and Mr. Moitra was the person who knew about it. Police was apparently questioning Mr. Mittal for being at the site when the over dosage happened. Mr. Mittal however claims that he was there on request of one of Mr. Mahajan’s another close aide after the over dosage happened and rushed Rahul to the hospital.

Two years later, Sudhanshu Mittal is now given the co-charge of the election campaign in north India. It would have been better if he was not heard in the media before. I would have still liked him to be the co-promoter with his claim on having scientific approach to election campaigning with every village and tehsil on the maps he has at button click. However, the man was in the media for some wrong reasons in June 2006. For someone like me who has never heard of him before and chooses to Google the name, the responses aren’t very much in favor of the man and his name. With the expertise he could have been used as a back office champ without declaring his name for the position yet. He could have been brought into lime light once the campaign would have turned into votes in north India. At least, the latest searches on his name would have been positive. If this matter doesn’t settle quickly with internal patch up within BJP the opposition will have a towel sized issue to cover up its “potli” of unethical or non-popular claims in media or otherwise. I am wondering if this is what is going through Mr. Jaitley’s mind when he is silently saying “NO” to Mr. Sudhanshu before he “(m)eats-all” his brain strategy just for the name he has made in the media so far. In this time of media Raj Mr. Jaitely is probably fearful that with most of the media houses propagating anti-BJP sentiment, this new “Nath” can cause BJP image trouble that he is trying to maintain and improve through his campaign strategy.

I write here for a civil society first, not in particular to the educated class but a class that thinks common sense makes generic sense and education is an aftermath of the same. I don’t want to be cryptic here but lets think of things that have stopped India from seeing through what progress it should have post its independence.

British did what they could. I am not too sure if it is right for me to expect a lot out of that rule but I still think they left us with some infrastructure but shaken spines. I don’t want to name leaders I think should have stood a little straighter than they did. I would like to mention though Swatyantra Veer Sawarkar is my hero. Read between the lines if you can.

That was history, rulers ruled and India waited for governance. Of the 14 times that our Lok Sabha was formed it was just thrice that non-congress led governments were in power. Being in power what the Congress party has done and I as an individual with sense of self respect for my country and common sense that is in general common in a society that wants to progress with pride and responsibility strongly oppose:

State of emergency: A state of emergency declared by a Prime Minister needed her to put the freedom fighters in jail. I have read of dictators doing this. I guess Mrs. Gandhi could pull it through without much opposition as the media wasn’t as vocal as it is today and anyone who could initiate an action was already in jail.

Reservation: Babasaheb Ambedkar was a leader with a sense of pride and far sightedness. Writing a constitution of a complex and multicultural country requires sharp analytical skills and knowledge of the law and system intricacies. In my understanding India is one country that has a constitution that is written thinking of the complexities and challenges decades down the line. I respect the far sightedness it’s architect had. In this constitution, Dr. Ambedkar proposed a reservation policy for the dalits in this country to give them a helping hand till was required to take a developmental path. He was for eliminating the reservation system after some years. He probably missed to define those years in the constitution and sadly we lost him quite early than we thought we would. Congress without understanding the thought and reason behind the initial reservation policy made it a marketing tool to get votes.

I know of a case in my rental apartment in Pune. My maid servant earns just enough to run her home and put her kids through school. Her son secured 89% in SSC. I was amazed at this considering the conditions under which he would have had to study. But that did not fetch him admission to good diploma engineering school. He had to seek an alternative. Guess why was this the case? A reserved candidate who came from a similar background or better than his, though with lesser merit got the prestigious seat. Thus RESRVATION OVER MERIT rules even after 60 years of independence.

I am thus not surprised that Sonia Gandhi who has never ever uttered a single word on policies in India but only makes typical CONGRESS STYLE speeches of “hum garibi haaenge” and “hum Pakistan ko muh tod jawab denge” in midst of a rural crowd is  in upscale position in Congress regardless of her performance in governance. First the lady who hails from Italy has got the Indian political system and meaning of ruling the country wrong. Her actions speak for her ignorance. In my opinion Mrs. Gandhi feels that politics is about waving your hand with fingers joined so that it does not lose the congress feel. Secondly, she thinks that patriotism is not to be questioned for her because she has lost her mother-in-law and husband to terrorism. Thirdly, she thinks that ruling in the government is not about ideology but keeping the numbers above half the strength of the house come what may.

I wish to tell her this. Any leader who has been assassinated in this country is a loss to each of its citizens. We feel your pain as a family but that does not give you a certificate of patriotism or approval to your policies against terrorism (that there weren’t any that can be debated is a different question altogether). My country men fight on borders of this country, my country men have lost their own lives and also their near and dear ones in terror attacks here, there and everywhere in the country. So Mrs. Gandhi don’t make the assassination of our leaders a political issue just because they are your family and because the rest of the country who has lost kins is not standing to be elected.

Minority Politics: 13% of the population in India is Muslims about 80% Hindus and the rest. We all form a cultural and socio economic strength of this country. The first divide was initiated by the British and the Congress has taken over to make sure that the divide remains for them to be used to secure the 13% vote bank. My question to Congress is many fold. If 13% is a minority then what is the Kashmiri pandit population in Kashmir which reduced from 15% in 1941 to 0.1% in 2006. Why does secularism to Congress mean anti Hinduism and crippling the Muslims by calling them minority? Why didn’t the Congress declare Kashmiri Pandits in the valley as minority to guard their interests and protect them in the valley? The Nehru family is Kashmiri Pandit. Then why didn’t the Congress leadership then or even now feel the need to call Hindus in the Kashmir valley as minorities if they were upfront about Muslims being a minority in rest of India? The answer is simple, 15% of the Kashmiri votes then and 0.1% of the votes now might not have transformed into enough votes for Congress to take up that issue. It is after all about vote bank.

Had Congress not done the further divide in this country India would have had lesser incidences of communal riots. Every element that tries to disrupt this country is an enemy, be he a Hindu, a Muslim, a Sikh or Christian.

Terrorism & POTA: The BJP led government realized the danger that the country was facing and it’s after math. POTA was a master brain of BJP. When the bill was to pass in the house, Congress opposed it calling it non-secular. The bill was opposed by the Congress led opposition just because it was a master brain of the BJP. Post 26/11 the Congress led government used the same bill and put it to pass in the house. This is like copying assignments in school and then going first to the teacher to make sure you get the credit of your friends work. Shameful that this happened in the government and media did not raise the voice enough. I respect Mr. Advani led government and the support they offered to pass the bill inspite of knowing the dirty game that Congress had palyed.

POTA never discriminated against Hindus and others. It was applicable to every enemy of this country. Sadly the word secular is defined as something else in the dictionary that the Congress leaders use especially Mrs. Gandhi. Secondly, the Congress lacks the farsightedness needed to tackle terror. Opposition to POTA by the Congress and ill preparedness of our state security forces has proved this. Congress always finds itself in reactive mode rather than a pro-active one.

Sonia Gandhi: My readers must be wondering what a shift from policy centric view to being personal. But yes I would not have opposed the Congress party as much as I oppose its leadership and existence today if it wasn’t for its party president. Sonia Gandhi with her mistaken understanding and half baked knowledge about India went on to advertise the hand that she had never fully held. She thinks that it is all about making promises in rural India, shaking legs with the tribals wearing Indian etc. I have never heard her speak about Congress ideology and policies for India. Other leaders do the job for her. If that’s the case why is the lady in power as the Congress president? When all of us know that people who cry in front of the world media like Renuka Choudhary and Sahin Pilot become her favorites. The world watched India in shame when Indian nationals were pleading in front of a woman of Italian origin who was refusing to take up the position as a Prime Minster. Didn’t the country have an alternative then? Congress leaders should have thought above party politics when they put the buttering show in front of the media. They should have sorted this internally rather than putting up a show for the world that humiliated Indians across the world. I laud Mr. Pawar for standing for a thought and forming a separate party. It’s unfortunate that he had to form an alliance with the same leader that he had opposed to.

Blunt promises: Congress has made many promises to the people of this country of all classes. I seriously doubt whom this has exactly benefited. When TATA NANO is the talked about car in the world and pride of India in a sense, the center did not consider it a requirement to interrupt when Mamta created a fiasco in West Bengal, Not too sure what the concerned ministry was busy with. I am sure it wasn’t Satyam as they did not catch it until it happened. Localites in Mumbai and Maharashtra are suffering for lack of governance in Bihar and UP with the population migrating in large numbers here. Neither the state congress govt. nor the one at the center seems to notice or care. They however want all 48 constituency seats from Maharashtra. Shame!

Over a period of years an average voter was looking for a change. The BJP government at the center did a lot better than the Congress in those five years. Infrastructure, technology, economic and foreign policies. There was a logic and intellectual debate possible for their actions. One mistake though was India shining and the drop outs from the party there after. I am not too sure how difficult it is to get back the lady in Saffron. If the leaders can she can win a lot of MP for BJP and BJP can give her a face and respect she needs again.

To sum it up BJP is the most feasible alternative to the Congress government for the 15^th Lok Sabha. I would like to see this country respecting merits. I don’t want to send my kids abroad to fetch education just because their parents can’t afford education in India and that they don’t belong to any reserved category. I would like to see a culturally diverse and respectful population. No one is a minority here. This is everyone’s country. I urge the minorities in the country join the main stream with BJP and flow like a river rather than staying all life like a stagnant lake that is so dependent on parties like Congress feeding them that water forgets how flow through the rocks.