tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62323218805661444802024-02-07T14:05:51.809+05:30Prabhu ChawlaPRABHU CHAWLA -Journalist - TV Anchor - Speaker
(www.prabhuchawla.com)Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.comBlogger826125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-66228557759658694182017-05-22T11:30:00.000+05:302017-05-30T20:53:32.179+05:30For biggest slice of ad pie........ Power & Politics/ The Sunday Standard / May 21, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white;">For biggest slice of ad pie, media places histrionics and sycophancy over credible news</span></h1>
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<br />
<br />
<a href="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/5/20/original/Biggest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/5/20/original/Biggest.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: justify;">The medium is now more malarkey than message; a conduit of discord, disorder and dementia. For the past few months, media mashers have been flinging more vitriol at Indian news organisations than at politicians, criminals and sundry lawbreakers. The “dog doesn’t bite dog” principle no longer holds. The disparaging monikers flying thick and fast can stupefy the most ardent synonym seeker—paid media, biased media, sponsored media, sycophantic media and agenda-driven media. The press is not facing the ire of just its traditional adversaries, it’s under siege from within.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">As news organisations place bottom lines and valuations above bylines and validity of news in dictating the nature of content, media personalities are at war with one another. Last week, prominent English news channels were battling over the TRP ratings of a newly launched channel, which shook the smug supremacy of the high and mighty with disruptive marketing techniques. Their confrontation was not over the quality or credibility of content. The veterans accused the new arrival of manipulating viewership figures by violating established legal procedures. The histrionics, normally reserved by the brotherhood of bytes for lawbreakers, was unleashed against their own brethren. The battle for dominance is no longer between the press and politics, but is a series of skirmishes aimed at creating artificial readership and viewership to attract more revenue than creating credible news. This internecine war could demolish the myth that a good content is king.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Croesus colours content with prejudice and malice. News is no longer the illuminating dissemination of information sans indoctrination; it’s now a commercial quantity hawked using the tricks of the trade for selling other consumer products—faking numbers, hyping quality and manipulating the tools and techniques to eviscerate competition.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Numbers are the nemesis of net worth. The Armageddon of Airwaves began last week when the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) accused the upstart Republic TV of using unfair methods to grab TRPs. The NBA asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to intervene. It also approached the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to hold the release of the new channel’s viewership data for illegally listing itself under multiple genres across cable distribution networks. But BARC defied the NBA, declaring the new kid on the block a clear winner by miles ahead of established news channels such as Times Now, NDTV, India Today, CNN-News18. If Republic TV’s figures are correct, it has created history in TV journalism by beating all its rivals in its first week of launch. Unnerved by its spectacular success, its rivals have decided to quit BARC.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />However, the gruesome glove game is not confined to the electronic media. Earlier in 2014, the dispute over the findings of the Indian Readership Survey, by the Readership Studies Council of India and Media Research Users’ Council (MRUC), became serious when several Indian Newspaper Society members met in New Delhi to demand its withdrawal within 24 hours. Interestingly, both BARC and MRUC are owned by media companies and advertising agencies. Both stand accused of favouring some of their own powerful members by manipulating field research. In this tragedy of transparency, nobody’s linen is clean; Republic TV mysteriously acquired more viewership in Tamil Nadu by exceeding its distribution target. Manipulation fathers media mirages; a certain survey showed a particular newspaper had zero readership in a state where it publishes three editions.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />It is evident that it’s not just news organisations, which are plagued with eroding credibility; so is content. Both BARC and MRUC have failed to offer plausible, fair methods of numerating viewership. The buzz in the industry circles is that the biased choices of advertising and marketing agencies, that collect data for BARC and MRUC, are responsible for the skewed findings. With a rising number of newspapers and TV channels flooding the market disproportionately to shrinking or static advertising budgets, the fight for the largest ad pie has blown the thermostat. Hence, a substantial part of news coverage is dictated by revenue considerations over quality parameters.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Until a couple of decades ago, trustworthy content grabbed the largest mindshare. Even newspapers and magazines with small circulations attracted ads inspired by their credibility. Readers were willing to pay for quality content. But once a media baron decided to offer newspapers almost free, the entire economics and ethics of journalism went into a sinister spiral.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />For the past three decades, newspapers are being sold at less than one-tenth of their production costs. With the advent of over 300 news channels, the viewer gets free access to views and news. The current malaise in the media stems from the reality that the consumer is getting content at highly subsided rates or almost free. In their race for profit and burdened by a highly paid top-heavy management, India’s news outfits are dependent on the government and many dubious income sources to survive. Such revenue come with strings attached.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: left;">There were always holy cows in the news industry. Once owners and editors accepted short-term pain for long-term gain. Today the major threat to credibility is from media companies opting for short-term gain without realising that this perilous path will lead to long-term lethal pain. The desire for better access to the establishment or a horror of straining relations with advertisers is the driving principle behind choosing news for print or broadcast. Media owners and agents trot out fake numbers to impress and convince spenders and distributors about their reach without realising that genuine political leaders and credible corporates do not need them to expand their market share.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px;" /><span style="font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px;">For example, Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn’t need sycophantic debates, tilted news and craven columns to maintain his credibility. He is not a leader moved by the choice of panelists and columnists since he is the one dictating the news agenda with innovative governance. Yet, the media unabashedly engages in competitive sycophancy to attract his attention. The four ingredients of a healthy communication network are Content, Credibility, Conviction and Clarity. Unfortunately, in the indiscriminate pursuit of numbers, the media is composing its own elegy instead of scripting the obituary of those who threaten its independence and objectivity. </span></span><br />
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<strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: justify;">prabhuchawla@ newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong></div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-14049064778111412952017-05-15T14:00:00.000+05:302017-05-15T19:23:04.363+05:30As scandals undermine opposition ..... Power & Politics /The Sunday Standard/ May 14, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As scandals undermine opposition power, unity mirage can’t block saffron surge in 2019</h1>
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<img alt="" itemprop="image" src="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/5/13/original/Asa.jpg" title="Opposition leaders" /><br />
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Opposition leaders</div>
Something is rotten in the state of the Opposition. The stench of
failure pervades its decaying leadership, which is powerless to resist
the Surge of Saffron at a time when India needs credible and saleable
alternatives. Desperation leads to deliberation; conflicts of ideologies
or alternatives among anti-Modi forces have been packed away with the
hope that a joint presidential candidate will emerge from the parleys
precluding partisanship. As their satraps crisscross the country
searching for the elusive grail of unity, skeletons of graft and
nepotism are tumbling out of their cupboards with unending regularity.
There is hardly a non-BJP leader not plagued by scams and revolts.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Opposition parties are unable to keep
their flock together, their rank and file falling prey to the
allurements of the ruling establishment. They are unsuccessful in
halting the Modi juggernaut in their states. Moreover, India is yet to
become a nursery of newbies, where emergent leaders like Emmanuel
Macron, Marine Le Pen and Theresa May are incubated to replace the
existing leadership and shake up the system. Like the lotus eaters, the
Opposition’s deluded dream of becoming roadblocks in Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s pursuit of a second term in 2019 is in limbo.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
● Arvind Kejriwal was considered Mr
Clean and Able until former ministers accused him of financial
irregularities and nepotism in government contracts. Over half a dozen
AAP legislators are facing corruption charges and criminal cases; others
are being investigated by agencies. A colleague accused the chief
minister himself of accepting cash for favours (denied later). The party
itself is being probed for fudging accounts.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Kejriwal is facing large-scale
desertions—even leaders once considered his close allies are bidding
adieu in a hurry, holding him responsible for the drift. Kejriwal is no
more seen as a leader with an alternative agenda for governance based on
transparency and democratic functioning. The leader, who created
history in Delhi by winning 67 of 70 seats, acquired opposition party
status in Parliament by trouncing the SAD-BJP power alliance in Punjab
and came second in municipal elections, has been reduced to a political
pariah. Until recently Kejriwal was being romanced by most non-BJP CMs;
West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar wouldn’t miss an
opportunity to visit him when they were in Delhi. The demagogue, who
once drew massive crowds wherever he went, is losing the ‘g’ in his
gloss.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
● Mamata Banerjee, the ‘Tigress’ of West
Bengal, is being eroded within. Over a dozen TMC ministers and MPs are
either in jail or under investigation. Hardly a day passes without the
CBI, Enforcement Directorate or Income Tax come knocking on the door of
party leaders or office-bearers. BJP boss Amit Shah’s next target is
West Bengal; he has vowed the saffron flag will flutter atop Writers’
Building. Though dissent is not visible in the TMC yet, Mamata’s cadres
doubt her ability for a hat-trick. The Bengali middle class, which
catalyses her victory and acceptability, is disenchanted over her
administrative skills or leadership quality. Mamata’s grip over the
minorities and weaker sections in the state is intact but she has been
forced into assuming a strident pro-minority stance, which works in the
BJP’s favour. Her major concern appears to be her failure to attract
disenchanted leaders from other parties or add new cadres to her
stagnant stock. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
● Lalu Yadav sprang a surprise in 2015
by not only winning the largest number of seats in the Bihar Assembly
polls but also by inflicting the first electoral bruise on the
invincible Modi-Shah duo. Since he was legally banned from joining the
government, he got two of his sons important positions in the Nitish
Kumar government. Now, the media expose about his family’s questionable
land dealings in Bihar and Delhi have dented his manoeuvrability in
influencing the political agenda both at the state and central level. So
far, he has contained any revolt in his Rashtriya Janata Dal but the
BJP is exploiting the negative fallout of the scandal, hell bent on
breaking the JD(U)-RJD alliance and repeating its 2019 Lok Sabha sweep. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
● Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav, who ruled
Uttar Pradesh for over a decade, face massive revolts both from party
leaders and family members. Theoretically, by combining with the
Congress, they can prevent the BJP from winning half the 73 Lok Sabha
seats it bagged in 2014. In the May Assembly elections, their combined
vote share was much higher than the BJP, which won a record 326 seats.
Mayawati, reeling under corruption charges, is helpless to prevent many
leaders who helped her win in 2007 from leaving. Meanwhile, Akhilesh is
under constant threat from father Mulayam Singh and uncle Shiv Pal.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
● Naveen Patnaik, the unstoppable Odisha
Chief Minister, is under tremendous pressure from within after the
BJD’s unsatisfactory performance in local body elections. Many former
followers have been speaking against him. Some of his MPs and MLAs are
under investigation for economic offences. Naveen had created a state
record in 2014 by capturing 20 of 21 Lok Sabha seats despite Modi’s
nationwide popularity. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
● Jayalalithaa’s death has weakened
AIADMK so much that its survival depends more on the magnanimity of Modi
Sarkar and less on its current leadership. Many of its leaders are
involved in criminal cases.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Communists who rule Kerala and
Tripura are not positioned to lead the Opposition either; ideological
contradictions make them unacceptable to regional rulers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The BJP cannot take the entire credit for the combined anti-Modi
conglomeration being leaderless and directionless. Modi baiters have to
own up to the responsibility for their failure to serve as constructive
checks on the Centre.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
The ruling party will use every trick in
the trade to dismantle and discredit its opponents. But it is the
responsibility of the Opposition to anticipate and tackle turbulent air
pockets well in advance. The BJP has broken their opponents with both
carrots and sticks. In response, its foes have failed to keep their flag
flying with credible criticism of the government. While Modi coins and
creates seductive slogans and scenarios on a daily basis, his opponents
cannot generate equally compelling narratives. Rushing around like
headless chickens, Opposition leaders expect Modi to slip, toppled by
the excessive weight of promises. In democracy, power flows from ballot
boxes. But Modi baiters are hardly prepared for the battle of ballots.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>prabhuchawla@ newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong></div>
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Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-41011955926704384502017-05-08T11:30:00.000+05:302017-05-15T19:09:02.580+05:30Dravidian Patriarch woos history with dreams .....Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ May 07, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Dravidian patriarch woos history with dreams of opposition unity in birthday spirit</h1>
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Divided they have fallen too often. United they expect to rise
again. Battered by three years of the relentless fury of Modicane,
demoralised and disconsolate opposition parties are anxious to regain
the power—mental and physical—to contain the prime minister’s power
drive. Subsequently, marginalised leaders of minimised political parties
have settled on the upcoming presidential election as a common ground
to pitch their tent, ready for jousts against the saffron knighthood and
its captain.<br />
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<img alt="" height="348" itemprop="image" src="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/5/6/original/Dravidian_Patriarch.jpg" title="M Karunanidhi with daughter Kanimozhi" width="640" /><br />
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What better day for sunny dreams than at
a birthday party, which promises to be a new D-Day for Opposition
unity, however weary the dreamers may be? Last week, Kanimozhi, daughter
of DMK founder M Karunanidhi, flew to Patna—perhaps for the first time
on an important political mission—to invite Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
and master puppeteer Lalu Prasad to her father’s 94th birth anniversary
celebrations in Chennai on June 3.<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
With less than 24 months left for the
Lok Sabha elections, non-saffron parties are desperately seeking a
credible leader and a slogan to take their anaemic ambitions off the
ventilator. In the past, it took a combined Opposition to dethrone
leaders with power and charisma such as Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
In 1977, Indira was trounced when a united political voice warned voters
of her dictatorial style threatening democracy. But Modi is not she.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He is a leader above reproach so far,
resolute yet reverential about democracy, having committed no political
sin unlike Indira & Sons. The Opposition is left to digging deep and
deeper in the political dung heap for filth to be flung at Swachh Modi,
but have only succeeded in dirtying its own hands so far. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Opposition draftsmen are betting on a war machine ‘Made in North, South
and East’ to take on Modi’s mojo. Kanimozhi is in the turret right now.
Satraps of JD(U), CPI(M), NCP and Congress have been holding
consultations to forge an anti-Modi front, prompted by former JD(U)
chief Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar after meeting Congress president
Sonia Gandhi over choosing a common candidate for the Rashtrapati
Bhawan. Yadav felt that such successful interactions could go a long way
in stalling the BJP’s nationwide surge.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He admitted disunity in non-BJP ranks as
the key reason behind the saffron party’s wins in the Uttar Pradesh
polls and the Delhi civic elections. Following which, the CPI(M) moved
into the Operation-Oppose-Modi-Mode swiftly; its amiable, high-profile
general secretary Sitaram Yechury met Sonia in Delhi and Naveen Patnaik
in Bhubaneswar to mull a strategy to avoid a breakup of the non-BJP vote
in the prez poll. But geography makes history. The Opposition’s choice
of Chennai as the ground zero for rebirth rings a bell.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Almost two decades ago, Karunanidhi had
created political history by bringing ideologically opposed parties
together at a rally he organised on March 17, 1988, at Marina Beach. The
political velocity it generated led to the formation of a national
front led by V P Singh, supported by veterans like N T Rama Rao, Devi
Lal, Biju Patnaik, Prafulla Mahanta et al which eventually toppled Rajiv
Gandhi a year later. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Following the Chennai Summit, other conclaves organised by non-Congress
chief ministers had added to the momentum. On January 9, 1989, the NT
Rama Rao-led TDP government held a public rally in Hyderabad to
celebrate its seventh anniversary—attended by S S Barnala from SAD, V C
Shukla from Jan Morcha, Vijaya Raje Scindia from BJP and Devi Lal from
Lok Dal (B). The constellation of non-Congress planets were coming into
alignment.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Next, to celebrate five successful years
of the Janata government in Karnataka, then chief minister Ramakrishna
Hegde organised a public meeting in Bangalore attended by V P Singh,
Bahuguna, Jyoti Basu, Mahanta and E K Nayanar. The Comrade’s inclusion
was significant, since it was the first time the Left was corralled into
participating in an anti-Congress front. Interestingly, all three
initiatives were taken by three chief ministers of three states. History
took an ideological U-turn again in 1996 when various regional leaders,
the Left and the Congress conjoined to topple India’s first BJP
government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now in 2017, little-known woman
politician Kanimozhi, who is better known for her social than political
networking, has been chosen to woo the North where Modi magic reigns
unchallenged.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Her Patna trip was the tip of a national
Opposition iceberg formed to sink the BJP’s Titanic by building a
consensus for the next president. She connected brother M K Stalin with
Lalu and Nitish. The conversation was more about politics than pineapple
pastries; and the massive rally after the Kalaignar’s birthday bash. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Though DMK insiders claim Karunanidhi’s state of mind is too feeble to
think up such a strategy, Kanimozhi’s sojourn carries his typical stamp
of forging impossible alliances, forcing a movement to rise when the
moment arose. When Indira was isolated by top Congress leaders in 1969
during the Syndicate split, Karunanidhi asked his 25 MPs to stand by
her. In 1971, he followed her cue by dissolving the Assembly when she
dissolved the Lok Sabha for simultaneous elections. His strategy paid
rich dividends and his party won an unprecedented 184 seats; a state
record.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now, with the ruling AIADMK in disarray,
Karunanidhi wants to capitalise on the waning clout of his opponents.
With uncanny foresight, the constant centrist in this family party has
decided to introduce his political heirs—Stalin and Kanimozhi—to
national leaders before he is rendered physically inactive.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He has played a major role in choosing
prime ministers in the past. He has always aligned with one national
party or the other in New Delhi. The DMK has been part of many ruling
coalitions at the Centre.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The fact that for the first time it is out of power in both the state and Delhi after many years has vastly eroded its clout. </div>
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Birthdays, weddings and anniversaries have acquired new meaning in Modi
era politics. Karunanidhi has the rare ability of converting challenges
into opportunities.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now he has found one. Modi bashers and
baiters seem confident that the waves of Marina beach will break out in
applause lauding their efforts once again. They are looking forward to
landing in Chennai to celebrate Karunanidhi’s birthday, expecting to
have the cake and eat it too. But do they have the reach to swat the
flies on the walls, wandered in from Modi’s kitchen where ideas are
cooking faster than you can say 2019? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><strong>prabhuchawla@ newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong></div>
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Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-82190300125546328442017-04-30T11:30:00.000+05:302017-05-15T19:09:37.849+05:30To Tackle Terror and Desperation in the Valley ..... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ April 30, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="ArticleHead" id="content_head" itemprop="name">
To tackle terror and desperation in the Valley, Modi needs to think about bullet for stone</h1>
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<img alt="" src="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/4/29/original/To_Tackle.jpg" height="346" itemprop="image" title="Stone pelters in the Kashmir Valley" width="640" /><br />
<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>In democracy, the ballot and not the bullet is the wonder weapon
best suited to resolve conflicts and replace governments. When those
rejected by ballots resort to murder and mayhem to destabilise an
elected establishment, the bullet becomes the most preferred means to
erase the threat. The Narendra Modi government has to stand firm on
a-bullet-for-a-stone policy to save Kashmir from dangerous demons
disrupting democracy. Last week, the Supreme Court decided to step in
where successive governments at the Centre and the state have failed in
27 years. It directed all stakeholders to visualise the roadmap for a
meaningfully inclusive dialogue. It also asked the government to refrain
from the pellet policy if the agitators stopped hurling stones at the
security forces.</i> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Numerous dialogues, both formal and informal, have happened in the
past to restore normalcy in Kashmir. Many free-and-fair elections have
been held with record turnouts. European Parliament, a symbol of
pluralism and liberalism, sang paeans to Indian elections. Soon after
the last J&K election, it issued a statement: “The high voter
turnout figure proves that democracy is firmly rooted in India. The EU
would like to congratulate India and its democratic system for conduct
of fair elections, unmarred by violence, in the state of Jammu and
Kashmir. The European Parliament also takes cognisance of the fact that a
large number of Kashmiri voters turned out despite calls for the
boycott of elections by certain separatist forces”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Perhaps, stung by this endorsement and the rise of a first-time
government with nationalist participation in J&K, saboteurs of the
democratic process with lucrative side benefits are running amok in the
state. Stone pelting is their bloody, money-spinning sport, where the
prize is defeating the collective will of the people. In 2016, there
were 2,690 incidents of stone pelting as against 1,157 in 2015—a rise of
almost 250 per cent. Almost half of these occurred in North Kashmir,
followed by 875 in South Kashmir and 567 in Central Kashmir. The year
2016 was also the bloodiest for the security forces since 2008—87
uniformed personnel martyred until last December compared to 51 in 2014.
More than 20 have been killed since January. Last year, 165 terrorist
scalps were taken—also the highest count in the past eight years. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Local factors have less to do with the ominous surge in violence than
the liberal financial and ideological support to separatists and their
agent provocateurs from across the border. Ironically, New Delhi has
given J&K the status of a most preferred state. According to
official sources, between 2006 and 2016 it received per capita Central
assistance of Rs 91,300 as against Rs 43,000 for Uttar Pradesh. This
mega munificence has forced the percentage of people living below the
poverty line in J&K to drop to a minimum of 3.48 per cent as against
25 per cent in 1980. Over 26 per cent live above the poverty line in
the rest of India. Kashmir’s per capita income has been growing at about
12 per cent. Recently, the Centre allotted Rs 19,000 crore of the Rs
80,000 crore development packages announced by PM Narendra Modi to
J&K. But Kashmir is also the valley of illusion. The unrestricted
river of rupees flowing from Delhi to Srinagar has only helped fatten
the assets of the double dealers who have made terrorism and extortion
Kashmir’s cottage industry.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Their scruples are shallower than the Dal Lake in a summer of
discontent. Since containing terror and protecting unarmed civilians
pose a threat to economics, politics and crossborder detente, the sharks
of separatism spread fear by attacking peacekeeping forces by using
women as human shields and stones as weapons. For the past three years,
Modi has kept his mantra for Kashmir close to his chest. He has
maintained a significant silence on the Valley’s precarious state of
affairs. With his predilection for springing surprises, he is expected
to make a move, which will make or mar his image of leader with a
mission and vision. Some of the proposals on his table are:<br />
<br />
• Act on a second surgical strike to destroy all training camps. Modi is
unlikely to face international hostility as most of the Western world
is fighting terror.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
• Appoint a strong governor to keep a check on the state government.
The sell-by-date of current incumbent N N Vohra (81) is past. This
member of the pro-dialogue cabal is instrumental in adopting a soft
line. Modi is under pressure to send a younger person with an Army
background to the Raj Bhavan.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
• Treat unrest in the Valley as treason and a law and order issue.
Use force to contain it at any cost by deploying the BSF in large
numbers. Security experts are peeved with the state government for
removing Army bunkers from strategic points. Militants and terrorists
are scared of the power of India’s military, if it is given operational
freedom and modern weapons.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
• Create fully-trained armed women battalions to deal with misguided female stone pelters.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
• Break the nexus of local cops, separatists and terrorists
responsible for the spurt in attacks on uniformed forces by insulating
the state police from ISI infiltration.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
• Move all the terrorists and stone pelters in Kashmir’s jails to
faraway states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat etc. This prevents
them from establishing contact with their local masters. Terrorists and
their supporters in local prisons have access to modern communication
equipment. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
• Withdraw or downsize the security cover of Hurriyat leaders who
attend prayers with youngsters waving IS flags and raising pro-Pakistan
slogans.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
• Create special jobs for Kashmiri youth in BJP-ruled states to stop them from joining the burgeoning brigade of stone pelters.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To be the Samson of Srinagar, Modi has to flex his muscles against
the devious doves who have infiltrated his system and are pushing for
dialogue with Pakistan in private and in public. Even those retired
officials, rewarded with insignificant sinecures, are writing articles
pleading for engagement with Pakistan—the fount of terror. Modi can win
the Kashmir war only if he takes the less-trodden path ignored by his
predecessors. He has junked the old style politics and politicians. The
time has come for him to also dump professional peaceniks, free
junketers and Pak-friendly chatteratti and adopt disruptive diplomacy
and a determined defence strategy to bring Kashmir back on track.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><b></b><b>
prabhuchawla@ newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</b></div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-57903678863524159442017-04-24T11:30:00.000+05:302017-05-15T19:10:01.782+05:30Despite Green Light to turn off Red lights ...... Power & Politics/The Sunday Standard /April 23, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h1 class="ArticleHead" id="content_head" itemprop="name">
Despite green light to turn off red lights, threat to survival of sanity in governance lingers</h1>
<div class="page" style="display: block; width: 100%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/4/23/original/Despite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/4/23/original/Despite.jpg" height="204" itemprop="image" title="" width="320" /></a>For a
while now, High Visibility with Low Acceptability sums up the incipient
image of the Very Important Person (VIP) in India. Till a few decades
ago, leaders and personalities with low visibility and high credibility
were accepted as VIPs by society. But as the number of beacons (lal
battis) on cars and pilot vehicles—signature symbols of today’s
VIP—multiplied, the pompous personages invited the wrath and disdain of
the common man from whom they demand respect and submission. As ever
intuitive to the pulse of the people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
banned beacons from official vehicles of all ministers, civil servants
and leaders last week.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the past, a few leaders, including a
couple of chief ministers, had made half-hearted attempts to downgrade
VIPs to VOPs (Very Ordinary Persons). However, Hurricane Modi has swept
away red light culture from the corridors of power. Within minutes of
his diktat, Union ministers were observed rushing home or to work sans
the customary red lights flashing on their swanky cars.</div>
<br />
The colour red was not the only sign of a VIP. The paraphernalia, part
of the retinue of a self-proclaimed sultan on steroids was the old
normal—a lethal combination of a beacon-crowned car protected by either
gun-toting commandoes or officious cops insulating VIPs from VOPs. He
hopes a leaner security detail will be the new normal.<br />
<br />
The PM’s
resolve to curtail or contain the VIP syndrome stems from an aversion to
the rising craze among leaders of all persuasions—political, social,
spiritual, Bollywood and business—for government branded security as
opposed to the highly discreet private protection services available
elsewhere in the world. Black Cat commandos, Greyhounds, security
personnel from the CRPF, CISF and other special forces bestow a false
sense of power and importance on the sub-ordinary and undeserving
barnacles clinging to the keel of power. Normally, a protectee’s level
of security is decided on the basis of the threat perception from
unlawful elements or terrorists. But there are examples galore of
individuals getting high security shield against threats emanating from
their own rivals instead of genuine danger. Sometimes an uncivilised
culture lies behind the sense of entitlement. Subsequently, VIPs are
ridiculed as Very Insecure Persons.<br />
<br />
According to unofficial
estimates, India has one cop per 325 citizens. But over 20 security
personnel guard one VIP. The number of VIPs basking under the high
security umbrella has been zooming vertical at subsonic speed. As many
as 500 people are listed as VIPs by the Central government and over
5,000 by the state governments. This laborious list includes lawmakers,
bureaucrats, judges and important leaders of the civil society and
corporate world. Even some media persons sport lal battis as a perk from
obliging politicians who expect quid pro quo.<br />
<br />
This ostentatious
security culture began when some chief ministers, babus and senior
police officials raised their own security level claiming “perceived”
threat perception. For example, in states in the north and the east,
over 1,000 lawmen are deputed to protect a chief minister. But the
newly-elected Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s order to curtail
the use of beacons and downgrade the security of numerous politicians
came to naught. His predecessor Parkash Singh Badal had a security cover
of 1,500, including NSG commandos.<br />
<br />
<b>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</b></div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-27527464454449710082017-04-17T11:00:00.000+05:302017-04-20T17:26:40.293+05:30Modi Proves a Right Mix of Religion .... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ April 16, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="ArticleHead" id="content_head" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 25px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; line-height: 33px; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
Modi proves a right mix of religion and economics is the new recipe for growth</h1>
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<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: justify;">Money multipliers survive by promoting the belief that good economics is bad politics. Now Lobbyists for Cuckoo Liberalism are hawking the slogan that good religion is bad economics and worse politics. They conveniently shy away from mentioning the negative aspects of those religions, which are pushing numerous countries back to the Stone Age and into the maw of terror. Stunned by the mass acceptability of nationalism and welfarism, status quoist illiberals are projecting the rise of Hindutva as a major threat to development. During the past three years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proved beyond doubt that the symbols, songs and syntax of faith make real Vikas Mantras. Saffron is no longer the colour of communalism.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/4/15/original/Modi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/4/15/original/Modi.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: white;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px;">UP CM Yogi Adityanath with PM Narendra Modi</span></span></div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
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Ever since Modi anointed Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the Cassandras of communal connivance are on hyperdrive to eviscerate social and ideological concepts and configurations that remotely resemble Hindutva. They have chosen to be selectively vocal against religion. They prefer not to acknowledge that Yogi, during his three weeks in office, has taken many decisions empowering the minorities and women, enforced law and order, tamed corruption, improved infrastructure and ensured continuity rather than embarking on actions to embolden hard core communal outfits.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
The distortion of the ban on illegal abattoirs and brutal attacks on meat shops by fringe elements did spread fear among the minorities. However, course correction by the unflappable Yogi has made it clear that inclusive administration and not political Hindutva is his raj dharma. It shows the sanguine sanyasi hasn’t deviated an inch from the Modi Model of governance and development. All the 13 BJP Chief Ministers, too, have tried to keep their distance from fringe elements.</div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.2px;">Taking a dvaitik cue from Modi methodology, they wear religion on their sleeves while ensuring good governance. Most BJP-run states perform better on numerous economic parameters than their adversaries.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.2px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.2px;">Despite the stressed international economic environment, India’s economic performance in many sectors has been better than the world’s best. Motivated by Moditva, many neo-believers are inspired by the epiphany that a nationalist makes a better ruler than a leader who follows radical religion or La-La Liberalism. Today, three heads of states—Xi Jinping, President of China, Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, and Modi—have placed their flag and country above all. Donald Trump won the presidency seeking a mandate for America.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
In Europe, nationalism is the new liberalism. Many mass leaders have come to the conclusion that nationalism subtly tempered with religion ensures peace and prosperity, empowered by self-belief. This is a slap in the ugly face of Islamic fundamentalism in West Asia, which is infecting the civilized world through senseless lone wolf attacks and bombings.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.2px;">Modi’s successful nationalism appears to be a heady mix of religion and economics. He feels Ram rajya represents the best model of economic growth where accountability, transparency and equality decide the contours and culture of governance. Modi has rescued many castaway icons of nationalism, social reforms and the Independence movement from abandoned islands of political partiality.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.2px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: left;">prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong></div>
</div>
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Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-2436360118638672892017-04-10T11:30:00.000+05:302017-04-20T17:43:29.705+05:30Opposition parties seek grand unity ..... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ April 09, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="ArticleHead" id="content_head" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.2px; line-height: 33px; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">Opposition parties seek grand unity to be relevant in presidential election</span></h1>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i>They should have paid more attention to the proverb right at the beginning. But they refused to stand united and, so, divided they fell and got bruised, if not battered. Now, after the last Assembly elections, with political extinction staring them in the face, some Opposition leaders are trying to regroup and put together at least a symbolic challenge to a seemingly unstoppable-Modi machine.</i> </span></div>
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<img alt="" itemprop="image" src="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/4/8/original/Opposition_Parties_Seek.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: middle; width: 494.25px;" title="Indira Gandhi with V V Giri" /><div class="AticleImgBottom" style="background-color: #d0d0d0; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-size: 13px; padding: 5px; width: 494.25px;">
Indira Gandhi with V V Giri</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.2px;">Truth be told, there is no leader who can even pretend to be an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in popularity and power at the moment. The geographical and ideological boundaries of the Modi-baiters don’t extend beyond the walls of the offices they occupy. But politics is an unpredictable game of impossibilities and dreams. And they say there’s victory where there’s unity. Which is probably why Rahul Gandhi, Congress President-in-waiting, has suddenly become accessible to those with whom he has rarely exchanged pleasantries in his 13 years of parliamentary politics. Last week, he invited Communist leaders to his office for coffee and discussed the possibility of forging an alliance against the NDA government in Parliament.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: left;">It’s time, you see, to choose the new President. </span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Both the machinery and mathematics of elections are stacked in favour of the ruling dispensation. And Modi is keeping his choice of candidate close to his chest. He can afford to: he enjoys a legitimate monopoly over every administrative and political decision, and his political power exceeds that of even Indira Gandhi, who could make even a lamp-post win, they said. However, if the entire non-BJP political spectrum puts its resources together, it can perhaps bruise the Himalayan halo of the Prime Minister and set the tone for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. For, remember, despite enjoying a brute majority at the Centre and states, even India Gandhi couldn’t ensure an unopposed win for her candidate. In 1969, her candidate VV Giri defeated the official Congress candidate N Sanjiva Reddy. But in 1977, Gandhi (now in the opposition) couldn’t find a credible candidate to fight Reddy who was eventually elected unopposed. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.2px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white;">While Modi maintains a royal silence, the entire opposition has begun hunting for a credible Presidential candidate. Before the assembly elections, Modi was expected to go in for a consensus and force a hardcore Hindutva personality as his choice. But Modi hasn’t started consultations even within his own party so far, leave alone with any known or unknown foes. A few weeks ago, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar was considered to be the consensus choice as he was also honoured with India’s second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan. Pawar has strong credentials as a member of the Rajya Sabha and as former president of the Janata Dal (U). But after his unprecedented electoral gains in UP and elsewhere, Modi is unlikely to accept anyone from the opposition ranks as the next president. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Nevertheless, structured and informal parleys on the matter have already begun in Lutyens’ Delhi. The idea among the Opposition leaders is to bring together some 35 political parties which have more than a 50 per cent share of the Electoral College. Since none of them enjoys a pan-India image or visibility, premium has been put on integrity, seniority and social background of a potential contestant. While Pawar appears to still be in the forefront, the Opposition is also toying with the idea of asking President Pranab Mukherjee to run for a second term. By all indications, he is unlikely to agree, unless requested to do so by both sides. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.2px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left;">prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong></div>
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Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-44258943072652831262017-04-03T12:00:00.000+05:302017-04-20T18:04:14.937+05:30Sinking Congress awaits coronation...... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ April 02, 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sinking Congress awaits coronation of inaccessible RaGa to survive and challenge Modi</h1>
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<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/3/2/original/Rahul_Gandhi_PTI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrary/2017/3/2/original/Rahul_Gandhi_PTI.jpg" height="274" itemprop="image" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: middle;" title="Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi (File | PTI)" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi (File | PTI)</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Will he? Won’t he? Once, that million-dollar question used to be aimed at Prince Charles, heir-in-waiting to the British throne for the last 65 years. But with many more heirs now in line for what is largely a titular position, the old question has become largely academic. The more crucial question that begs an answer concerns India’s erstwhile ‘first family’, the Gandhis. What the nation really wants to know is when the 46-year-old Rahul Gandhi will formally take over the reins of the 132-year-old Congress party from his ailing mother Sonia.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.2px;">Rahul’s uninformed spin doctors try and routinely spoon-feed the media with some titbits about his imminent coronation. But seeing is believing, and with the young Gandhi more conspicuous by his absence than his accomplishments, it’s difficult to take those pronouncements seriously. Because, truth be told, neither the active nor inactive members of the country’s second-largest political party know when they will get a fully functional chief. Only the occupants of 10, Janpath are privy to that secret.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">It’s been seven years since the Congress last held formal elections to choose office-bearers at the central and state levels. Sonia took over as AICC president in 1998 after unceremoniously booting out Sita Ram Kesari in a mid-day coup. She was re-elected in 2001 and 2005. She became party president for the fourth time in 2010, and has remained boss since. Fresh elections were due in 2015, but didn’t happen. Last week, the Election Commission served the Congress a final warning to hold organisational elections by July 15, 2017, or face the possibility of losing recognition.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Since the Congress has survived under a Gandhi banner for over four decades, this is perhaps the last opportunity for the family to prove its political utility and acceptability. Many fair-weather leaders are already hopping off the sinking ship, and the family is under tremendous pressure to stop the party spinning out of its control. Survival lies in forcing Rahul to pull it out of the dangerously choppy sea. But the question being asked by both old and new Congress leaders and elitist opinion makers is this: Forget capturing power from the Mighty Modi within the next decade, can a Gandhi (Rahul) even drum up a credible opposition to him?</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Sonia pushed Rahul into politics and asked him to contest Lok Sabha elections in 2004. He has won from Amethi thrice since then. But the inheritor-in-waiting still needs to erase the public impression of him as a part-time, reluctant leader who performs more vanishing acts than Houdini. As the target of a powerful section of the ‘liberal and secular’ media who hold him responsible for the rise of Hindutva and its icons in India, Rahul also needs to prove that the Congress is not an ideology whose time has gone but, instead, an idea that can never die.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Rahul was appointed party vice-president in 2013 so that he could lead the party during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and eventually replace his ailing mother. He was billed as the youngest challenger to Narendra Modi’s bid for power, but the truth is his road shows and rallies delivered fewer seats than the public meetings that he addressed with his mother.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">And that could be one of the reasons for delaying the transition from one Gandhi to another. If Sonia could be credited for bringing Congress back into power twice, Rahul has been held responsible for the party’s plummeting acceptability in various parts of the country. During the past decade, the Congress has shrunk from controlling two-thirds of the country to less than one-fourth. Even if Rahul does take charge of the organisation, it is going to be a daunting task to put life into an outfit that’s gasping for breath.</span></div>
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<strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left;">prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong></div>
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-4776006438694887392016-05-30T11:30:00.000+05:302016-05-31T19:44:53.918+05:30Assessment that doesn't rely on ....... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ May 29, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<h1 class="">
Assessment that doesn't rely on lutyens' and corporate cosy clubs but on performance
</h1>
<br />
<div class="body ">
<b><i>Bias is boss. The recent ratings of Modi’s ministers by various
agencies show unanimity is subverted by subjectivity. Accessibility,
visibility, connectivity and maneuverability of ministers dictate
perception. As a result, those with access to huge funds, elevated
social status and high visibility in appropriate forums, including the
media, ranked high while ministers with less accessibility, media
patronage, financial lebensraum to oblige favour-seekers and are targets
of corporate ire tanked.</i></b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Frankly speaking, this rating too is
affected by personal biases. But with a difference. It is based more on
my reporting experience of over 35 years, and not by how many times I
wined and dined with powerful but discreet ministers, tycoons and
diplomats. It is based on speaking to bhakts, karyakartas and foes and
friends of the ministers. Making an objective job card of all the 26
Cabinet ministers and 12 MoS holding independent charge is a tough call.
I have restricted my assessment to the top ten, by using the cardinal
principle of ‘Sirf Kaam Machaye Shor’ (only performance makes a noise).</i></b><br />
<br />
<strong>1. Nitin Gadkari, </strong><em>61, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, and Shipping</em><br />
<a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Nitin-Gadkari.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459838.ece/binary/original/Nitin-Gadkari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Nitin-Gadkari.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459838.ece/binary/original/Nitin-Gadkari.jpg" title="" /></a><em>Spends more time on the road than at work. The minister who thinks most
out of the box. A risk-taker who changes the rule if it obstructs his
agenda. Has activated jammed highway projects, cleared new ones and
upgraded existing ones— a spend of over Rs. 2 lakh crore till 2019. On
an average, about 20 km of road being added to the network daily.
Changed road taxation policy, toll collection laws, made waterways
transport a viable business. Established better coordination with state
governments. (9/10) </em><br />
<figure class="inline-left" style="max-width: 608px; width: 100px;">
<figcaption class="inline-caption">
</figcaption></figure><a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Dharmendra-Pradhan.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459841.ece/binary/original/Dharmendra-Pradhan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Dharmendra-Pradhan.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459841.ece/binary/original/Dharmendra-Pradhan.jpg" title="" /></a><strong>2. Dharmendra Pradhan, </strong><em>47, MoS (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas</em><br />
<em>Low profile. Spends more time researching his portfolio than making
aluring promises. Implemented many of the PM’s social schemes by
exploiting rock-bottom crude oil prices. Ensured gas conections for the
maximum number of rural folk. Was able to implement the Give It Up
campaign, thus saving over `12,000 crore in welfare. Over two million
gave up subsidised connections. (8.5/10) </em><br />
<figure class="inline-left" style="max-width: 608px; width: 100px;">
<figcaption class="inline-caption">
</figcaption>
</figure>
<strong> 3. Sushma Swaraj, </strong><em>64, Minister for External Affairs</em><br />
<a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Sushma-Swaraj.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459843.ece/binary/original/Sushma-Swaraj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Sushma-Swaraj.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459843.ece/binary/original/Sushma-Swaraj.jpg" title="" /></a><em> </em>Despite frail health, the most frequent flier in Modi’s cabinet, and not
just to glamorous destinations. With 5.1 million Twitter followers,
one of the few mantris who remain cyber-connected with not just
diplomats but also with ordinary Indians. Resolves issues instantly.
Created a world record by safely getting back the most number of
captives from countries in IS-occupied territories. Though it is the PM
who calls the shots on global affairs, Swaraj is his most effective
ambassador. (8/10)<br />
<figure class="inline-left" style="max-width: 608px; width: 100px;">
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</figcaption>
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<strong>4. Rajnath Singh, </strong><em>65, Minister for Home Affairs</em><br />
<a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Rajnath-Singh.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459844.ece/binary/original/Rajnath-Singh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Rajnath-Singh.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459844.ece/binary/original/Rajnath-Singh.jpg" title="" /></a><em> </em>This low-profile ministry lands in the news only when terror attacks or
Naxal violence happens. Gets no credit since secretive tactics make
victories classified. Using a comprehensive information network, has
aborted many terror conspiracies hatched across the border. Infiltrators
prevented from striking in India. Brought down Naxal attacks. Police
reform process, stuck in budget constraints, restarted. Made
Centre-state relations smooth. Most accessible minister to BJP workers. (7.5/10)<br />
<figure class="inline-left" style="max-width: 608px; width: 100px;">
<figcaption class="inline-caption">
</figcaption>
</figure>
<a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Smriti-Irani.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459845.ece/binary/original/Smriti-Irani.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Smriti-Irani.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459845.ece/binary/original/Smriti-Irani.jpg" title="" /></a><strong>5. Smriti Irani, </strong><em>40, Minister for Human Resource Development</em><br />
<em>Despite modest educational background, the youngest-ever HRD minister is
the government’s most effective communicator, compared to most
predecessors with degrees and pedigree. Purged the educational system
and other government-sponsored think-tanks of Leftist elements. Stuck to
agenda, unconcerned by attacks from elitist elements within the party
and outside. Introduced sweeping reforms and finalised the New Education
Policy, which will send Macaulayputras on the run. (7.10) </em><br />
<br />
<a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Prakash-Javadekar.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459847.ece/binary/original/Prakash-Javadekar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Prakash-Javadekar.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459847.ece/binary/original/Prakash-Javadekar.jpg" title="" /></a><strong>6. Prakash Javadekar, </strong><em>65, Minister of State (IC) for Environment, Forest</em><br />
<em> and Climate Change</em><br />
<em> </em>Transformed the political and bureaucratic ecosystem. Created a record
by clearing over 2,000 languishing projects. By interacting with
stakeholders, including the states, transformed an anti-growth ministry
through a Jack the Beanstalk approach. Mojo: Grow with Green. Darling of
both big biz and environmentalists. (6.5/10)<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Piyush.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459848.ece/binary/original/Piyush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Piyush.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459848.ece/binary/original/Piyush.jpg" title="" /></a><strong>7. Piyush Goyal, </strong><em>52, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, </em><br />
<em> New and Renewable Energy</em><br />
<em></em>NDA’s Great Innovator. USP is a robust monitoring system. Revived most
PSU power utilities. Mission: Green Energy. Distributed a record number
of LED bulbs. Garnered maximum bids for coal mines, most of which are
yet to start production. Power reforms sluggish with state companies
chalking up huge losses. (6/10)<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>8. Suresh Prabhu, </strong><em>62, Minister for Railways</em><br />
<a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Suresh-Prabhu.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459855.ece/binary/original/Suresh-Prabhu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Suresh-Prabhu.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459855.ece/binary/original/Suresh-Prabhu.jpg" title="" /></a><em> </em>Has used every trick in the book to bring railways on track and convert
it into a corporate-style public sector entity. Mantra: use technology
over human resources to make the infamously accident-prone Indian
Railways safe. His Swachh Rail emphasis on selected, high-traffic
stations paying off. The ministry has given big orders for new rolling
stock and other equipment to private entrepreneurs. No safe clean rail
journey for rural travellers. Instead of finding new sources of revenue,
resorted to raising passengers and freight fares. (5/10)<br />
<figure class="inline-left" style="max-width: 608px; width: 100px;">
<figcaption class="inline-caption">
</figcaption>
</figure>
<a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Arun-Jaitley.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459858.ece/binary/original/Arun-Jaitley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Arun-Jaitley.jpg/2016/05/31/article3459858.ece/binary/original/Arun-Jaitley.jpg" title="" /></a><strong>9. Arun Jaitley, </strong><em>63, Minister for Finance, and Information & Broadcasting</em><br />
<em>Modi’s most well-connected, visible and ominously influential minister.
The din he makes speaks louder than actual work done. Most successful in
diverting attention from ministry’s failure. Status quo-ist. No fresh
ideas to tackle the economy. Raised revenues by taxing the poor and
middle class, while keeping the interests of rich and corporates intact.
Achieved revenue generation boost from increased indirect taxation
rather than inventive thinking. Deficit under control primarily due to
plunge in crude oil prices and reduction of budget allocation for
various social sectors. (4/10) </em><br />
<br />
<strong> 10. Radha Mohan Singh, </strong><em>66, Minister for Agriculture</em><br />
<a href="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Radha-Mohan-Singh/2016/05/31/article3459863.ece/binary/original/Radha%20Mohan%20Singh" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Radha-Mohan-Singh/2016/05/31/article3459863.ece/binary/original/Radha%20Mohan%20Singh" title="" /></a><em> </em>NDA’s worst performer. Despite India’s growth of over 7 per cent,
agriculture growing at less than 1 per cent. No proper administrative
and fiscal system for farmers. Over 35 per cent of the country is
drought-stricken, but this farmer is wandering in the wilderness. No new
reform introduced. No future road map. This list may be
disagreeable to those for whom publicity, and not perception, decides
the parameters of performance. But then, that’s what objectivity about
subjects is all about. (3/10)<br />
<br />
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong><br />
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Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-1580336341890406132016-05-22T13:30:00.000+05:302016-05-24T18:59:50.497+05:30If the Gandhi brand has to regain sheen....Power & Politics/ The Sunday Standard/ May 22, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="">
If the Gandhi brand has to regain sheen, two power centres must make way for one
</h1>
<br />
<img alt="Sonia and Rahul Gandhi" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/If-the.jpg/2016/05/22/article3445021.ece/alternates/w460/If%20the.jpg" height="397" width="640" /><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="widget storyContent article widget-editable viziwyg-section-168 inpage-widget-275878
brickRed1 sundayStandardArticle">
<div class="body ">
<br />
<b>Dear Soniaji and Rahulji,</b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I can appreciate the
pain and disappointment you are experiencing after the Congress party’s
recent debacle in the state polls. In market-driven politics, the
shelf-life of a leader as a brand is tenuously linked with the ability
to attract eyeballs. Under your leadership, the Congress has lost two
more states—Kerala and Assam. Its performance in Tamil Nadu is
lamentable. Apart from Karnataka, it rules just six picayune states as
against the BJP’s nine important ones. The Congress has barely managed
to retain its old numbers in the West Bengal Assembly, doomed by an
alliance with its ideological opponent, the CPI(M). The Left’s loss in
West Bengal, however, was handsomely compensated by its gigantic gains
in Kerala. Both were at the cost of the Congress. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Most of your
loyal leaders and workers, for whom the Congress is a meal ticket, doubt
its ability to provide a secure political future. Some among them are
alarmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission to achieve a
Congress-mukt Bharat may become a reality sooner than later. The party
has maintained its mirage of unity, without a whisper of disloyalty from
important leaders or ordinary workers, who are yet to air their doubts
about your ability to win elections. I’m sure millions of unsolicited
advisories have landed on your desks. I’m equally sure that neither of
you have given them a dekko, because only you can comprehend the reason
your party was decimated. While you, Rahul, made a valiant attempt to
turn voters around by touring poll-bound states extensively, your mother
Sonia was conspicuous by her absence in many crucial areas. Soniaji,
you must realise that the invisibility of the Gandhis during a campaign
renders the rank and file sightless. Millions of Congress workers were
missing you both, since there was no one else to energise voters who are
disenchanted with the current cult and culture of the party. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I’ve
been covering elections for over three decades. For the first time, I
discovered that Congress candidates were not invoking Brand Gandhi to
tilt the electoral battle in their favour. In the past, they chanted
slogans eulogising Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
Today it is you they would hail. In the last polls, however, the
usually unflinching blind faith in the Gandhis was missing. Candidates
looked for leaders and slogans according to their discretion. I could
spot the dilemma churning their minds. The cadre and leaders were split
through the middle. They were unsure about who among either of you
should be chosen as the party’s current and future face to lead it and
rule the country. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Soniaji, you have been at the helm of the
Congress for 18 years. It’s a record. Rahul, you have been in active
politics for over a decade and have held important party positions for
over five years. But total confusion prevails in the workers’ mind about
the role you play in the party. There is no division of power or
responsibilities. The Congress is visibly divided between the Sonia
Congress and Rahul Congress. For the past few years, party leaders all
over India have not been able to discern which one of you calls the
shots. Even chief ministerial candidates, senior leaders, chief
ministers and important office-bearers of the party are frustrated over
the absence of a clear policy-making structure in the party. Most
committed workers believe that more than the party’s infirm image, it is
the existence of two power centres that is causing the Congress, which
had ruled India for five decades, to lose its way. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whenever a new
satrap took over the Congress, they gave it a novel look and vision.
Indiraji created a new Congress by purging the Syndicate. Sanjay
introduced aggression with a Right-of-Centre ideological shift. Rajiv
brought in young blood and modern minds. P V Narasimha Rao tried to
dismantle what he thought was the Rajiv Congress, but lost the plot.
Sitaram Kesri was the only aberration in Congress history. In you,
Soniaji, the Congress found a leader rooted in the Gandhi Parivar
culture. You, however, refrained from any significant surgery though the
body was ailing. You carried the old guard along and ensured that the
party came to power in 2004 and 2009 by forging alliances even with
those who had made personal attacks on you. You re-invented the Congress
as India’s ruling party. But during the party’s decade in power, its
credibility decayed as numerous scams erupted at regular intervals. The
Opposition held you responsible. Some leaders charged you both of
encouraging corruption or being personally involved in some of the
scandals. The jury is still out since no evidence has surfaced against
any either of you yet.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Predictably, perception is precious in
political power play. It is not for the first time that your party has
suffered electoral reverses. From 1977 onwards, its fortunes have passed
through hills and valleys. The Congress had always bounced back because
a leader with national appeal held the rudder. The party is still a
national brand. Even during the 2016 elections, its vote share rose
compared to its performance in the 2014 general elections. But its USP,
the Gandhis, got a battering. The password to victory used to be
‘Gandhi’. Now it is seen as a firewall. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When Modi talks about a
Congress-free India, he actually means India sans Gandhis in politics.
He and his party have projected you as the symbols of all that was wrong
in the UPA government. Today, both of you have to decide not just your
own political futures, but also that of your party. India needs a strong
and constructive Opposition led by credible leaders. One of you has to
opt for VRS, so that there is only one Gandhi in charge. In new age
politics, individuals personify ideology. The idea of the Congress is
immortal. But if the Sangh Parivar acquires the domains of the
pre-Independence Congress, the fault lies with the Gandhi Parivar. It is
between you two to decide which Gandhi has the chutzpah to revive the
sinking and shrinking Congress. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<b>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</b></div>
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-49997796586917997182016-05-16T14:02:00.000+05:302016-05-17T14:10:04.585+05:30Executive's assault on Judiciary .... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard / May 15, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="">
Executive's assault on judiciary will only kill the essential spirit of the constitution</h1>
<img alt="" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Executive.jpg/2016/05/14/article3432857.ece/alternates/w620/Executive.jpg" /><br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
<div class="body ">
<i><b>
</b></i><div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><b>It is the destiny of men to pass into the great beyond one day. But
the institutions created by mankind are meant to survive to promote and
protect the system. Though their arbitrary misuse of power causes
critical confrontations. The Indian Constitution—the world’s
longest—strongly emphasises the division of power between the executive,
judiciary and legislature. The wise men and women who wrote it
anticipated a conflict between politicians and judges. They, however,
hardly foresaw the depth of animosity that could rise between the two
pillars of democracy.</b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The oppugnancy between the executive and
judiciary is not new. But today, it has escalated into a turf war rather
than a civilised disagreement in the spirit of the Constitution.
Rattled by the rising number of judicial verdicts against various
actions of the executive and legislature, politicians across the
spectrum have unsheathed their swords against the judiciary.
Legislatures, including Parliament, have been turned into platforms to
launch diatribes against the judiciary.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
During the last session of
Parliament, the judiciary was targeted sans serious provocation. None
other than Finance Minister Arun Jaitley led the attack. The House was
discussing financial issues, but he chose the occasion to hit out at the
judiciary, accusing it of destroying “step by step, brick by brick, the
edifice of India’s legislature”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Jaitley was echoing the views of
not only PM Narendra Modi, but also of former PMs like Manmohan Singh,
as well as a number of powerful leaders across parties. Last year, Modi
lamented the rising tendency of judicial activism. Addressing a
conference of Chief Justices and CMs, he had said, “It is never too
difficult to deliver justice within the boundaries of the law and
Constitution. But it is very difficult to find the truth between
perception and reality. It must be pondered over whether five-star
activists are driving the judiciary today… if havoc is created to drive
the judiciary. It has become difficult to deliver justice in an
atmosphere of perception”. He also criticised the long vacations enjoyed
by high court and Supreme Court judges, especially the month-long
summer break in the apex court. His predecessor had expressed his
annoyance with the judiciary by warning, “The judicial family must
consider the ills that face the judicial system with concern and find
quick solutions for it. Any further delay in finding such solutions will
only jeopardise the integrity and efficacy of judicial institutions”.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
India
is not alone where the political leadership is concerned about what it
perceives as judicial encroachment. In the 1800s, America’s Founding
Father and president, who was the principal author of the Declaration of
Independence, Thomas Jefferson had noted, “Judicial activism makes a
thing of wax in the hands of judiciary which it can give the shape as it
wishes.”Apart from politicos, the judiciary is also under attack from
agenda-driven civil society. There are numerous examples of activists
attacking judicial pronouncements, which went against their ideological
convictions.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If political leaders have been acerbic in their
criticism, judges have not kept schtum either. In April, Chief Justice T
S Thakur, while sharing a platform with the PM, made it clear that his
fraternity cannot be blamed for the executive’s mistakes. Speaking in a
voice trembling with emotion, he clarified, “It is not only in the name
of a litigant or people languishing in jails but also in the name of
development of the country, that I beseech you to rise to the occasion
and realise that it is not enough to criticise. You cannot shift the
entire burden on the judiciary.” He responded on judicial vacations by
saying, “Do you think we go to Manali or some other hill stations to
enjoy ourselves? If he (the PM) thinks we have long vacations, he is
entitled to hold on to his views. But only a judge, his wife and
children can tell you how much judges enjoy in the vacations.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Behind
the verbal duel between the judiciary and executive lies the reality of
various arms of the latter abandoning their basic duty of providing
responsive and clean governance. During the past two decades, the courts
have rapped the executive’s knuckles on various issues by:</div>
<br />
•
Quashing the National Judicial Accountability Act, which would have
given decisive role to executive in the selection of judges<br />
• Striking down caste and religious reservations by various states<br />
• Barring politicians from contesting polls after conviction and vacating seats<br />
• Taking serious view of scams and ordering court-monitored probe<br />
• Preventing state governments from playing with environment<br />
• Striking down imposition of Article 356 in Uttarakhand<br />
• Giving freedom to investigative agencies to probe politicians and civil servants without seeking approval of any authority<br />
• Cleansing the corruption-ridden BCCI, which is largely dominated by political leaders.<br />
It
is not the judiciary, which is becoming more involved in the
administration of the state, but the rising number of citizens who are
approaching various courts for the redressal of their grievances after
they failed to get justice from government departments. The state is the
largest litigant in India. According to legal luminaries, the judiciary
has stepped in whenever the executive has failed. But politicians
assert that unelected persons cannot be given the power to reverse
decisions taken by an elected government in the public interest.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A
prominent jurist fired a robust rebuttal, maintaining that the
Constitution was written on behalf of the people while it is only
one-third of the voters, which elect a government. Fortunately, the
judiciary enjoys far more credibility than the executive. Any attempt to
damage its reputation through insulations and legislations will only
kill the essential spirit of the Constitution. At a time when the nation
is witnessing the growth of confrontationist politics, any attempt to
weaken the judiciary will strike at the roots of Indian democracy and
its Constitution.</div>
<br />
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong><br />
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-90773418816679594002016-05-09T11:30:00.000+05:302016-05-10T20:49:48.125+05:30As Messenger Becomes the Message ...... Power & Politics/ The Sunday Standard/ May 08, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="">
As Messenger Becomes the Message, Media Must Scrutinise Itself to Retain Reliability</h1>
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/As-Messenger.jpg/2016/05/07/article3421097.ece/alternates/w620/As%20Messenger.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="body ">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The media is under threat from within. It is no longer seen as a
credible medium. Its messages are massacred mercilessly. Never before
has its credibility and dependability been under so much scrutiny.
Profanities like crooks, paid media, sponsored news brokers, and
‘bhakts’ are heaped on journalists. As competitive and confrontationist
politics, coupled with valuation and TRP-driven media organisations,
dictates political engagement, the entire tribe has been tarred
unilaterally with the black brush of scepticism. Numerous news outfits
and prominent journalists are being exposed for their coloured
ideological views instead of being lauded for earth-shattering news
breaks. They are known for what they speak and not by what they write.
Agenda-driven opinion and biased news peddled by some of us as
‘exclusive’ or explosive stories drive the print and electronic media.
This has provided political parties and their promoters tactical tools
to destroy the fourth pillar of democracy. Are newspersons the most
preferred targets because they are asking too many inconvenient
questions? Or because some of us do not mind our own business and meddle
in someone else’s?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For the past few months, it is not political
leaders but the media, which has been targeted by the social media and
rampant rumour-mongers to tar and test the image of the journalists as a
genre. Last week, over half a million references were made on myriad
Internet platforms to unnamed scribes, who are suspected to be involved
in defence deals in the past few years. According to media reports, one
of the journalists was called for interrogation by investigative
agencies. Another is under their scanner for receiving prodigious payoff
from defence dealers. The agencies are yet to come to any conclusion.
By not naming and shaming the journalists, the ruling establishment and
power-seekers are shifting the blame from the real culprits to the
fringe players. Journalists involved in shady criminal deals should be
treated at par with other suspects. By revealing their names in public
interest, the profession’s credibility as a whole will be rescued from
ignominious insinuations. Jurists and legal luminaries are convinced
that by going public with the names of those summoned for questioning on
their role in the AgustaWestland and Rafale deals would only strengthen
the case of the agencies and save various institutions from becoming
victims of a sinister scheme.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Defence procurements are a major
source of tainted money worldwide. Many global leaders have been named
in scandals involving defence deals. It’s been proved that loot stashed
in tax havens was from purchasing hardly required defence equipment.
Over the past four decades, a multitude of dirty deals on Bofors guns,
Scorpene submarines and fighter aircraft have been exposed. Since the
Congress ruled India for over five decades, most such deals were signed
on its watch; hence its leaders and followers have always been perceived
as the suspects or beneficiaries. As India spends over $12 billion
annually on importing defence hardware and software, this provides
enough scope for middlemen, senior officials and their political masters
to tailor specifications according to the highest bidder’s wishes. As
the market for weapons, including fabulous flying machines, grows,
multinationals hustling them use sophisticated skills to influence the
decision-making process in the government. Some in the media and defence
analysts and security experts have become the most sought-after
influence peddlers. These corporations fund a multitude of well-funded
think-tanks in the US, Europe and the UK to enrol prominent journalists,
opinion writers and retired defence officials as faculty members or
visitors. Many of these think-tanks have opened shop in India to
camouflage their real mission. According to reliable sources, the
government has already started the scrutiny of Indian frequent flyers,
who spread their carbon footprint to participate in seminars dealing
with defence and strategic issues. The inquiry is also aimed at
unearthing the financial supporters of the think-tanks to discover if
the defence industry is supporting any of the big fish. Some Indian
civil servants, journalists and opinion-makers have been part of these
institutions for short or long durations. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Undoubtedly, there are
some bad apples in the media basket. But that doesn’t give the enemies
of freedom of expression the right to kill the medium through the
massive and ominous use of state machinery, corporate muscle power and a
malicious whisper campaign through the social media. With the rise of
trolls as the most effective agents to counter propaganda-driven
dissemination of views and news, the mainstream media is under pressure
to mend the way it reports news. Some of us have gone cyber-active not
to give news but unpalatable views against the established political and
corporate order. Once journalism was an institution, which encouraged
hard news rather than advertising the faces behind it. Young journalists
were told to report facts and carry both sides of a story. Now many
credible civil society leaders feel that numerous journalists draw
conclusions first and use convenient facts to bolster their
predetermined views. Many journalists express their opinions on the
social media in a way that exposes their ideological or personal
predilections. Some names are associated with a leader or a party. As
journalists and media owners claim to be serving the public cause, they
are entitled to all the facilities and courtesies available to other
institutions performing similar responsibilities. But if the media has
to retain its reliability, it has to subject itself to robust scrutiny.
All mediapersons should follow the same rules and regulations, which
elected representatives do. The declaration of assets, contacts,
corporate and political affiliations and sources of income by leading
journos and editors would definitely help in restoring the people’s
faith in the profession. So far, the media had the monopoly of seeking
accountability in others. Times have changed. Now readers and
viewers—the real patrons of the media—are asking it to be accountable or
perish.</div>
<br />
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong><br />
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-9355315271637745172016-05-02T11:30:00.000+05:302016-05-02T18:35:36.554+05:30UP in Arms to Dig Ugly Past of Enemies ...... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard / May 01, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="">
Up in Arms to Dig Ugly Past of Enemies will Endow no Party with Brighter Future</h1>
<img alt="" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Up-in-Arms-to-Dig.jpg/2016/04/30/article3408849.ece/alternates/w620/Up%20in%20Arms%20to%20Dig.jpg" /><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><b><br /></b></i></div>
<div class="body ">
<i><b>
</b></i><div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><b>Poison kills poison, as Duryodhan discovered to his chagrin. When
used in ignorance, it kills both the dispenser and the dispensee.
Parties assume that poisonous attacks are the only method to flummox
foes. Today, past acts of omission and commission have become lethal
weapons to neutralise opponents. For the last two years, no party has
refrained from digging up the past of adversaries and flung the
unsavoury parts into the political abattoir. Promises made during the
elections, in 24 months, are not even a remembrance of things past. None
of them have taken out peace marches, candlelight processions or
walkathons to the Human Rights Commission office to protest the fact
that 300-odd drought-struck districts are being denied even basic
facilities like drinking water. Instead, defence acquisitions meant to
protect the country have become public pantomimes of poisonous
projectiles.</b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Undoubtedly corruption, bribery and nepotism are
major threats to the survival of democracy and good governance. But they
need to be tackled by investigative agencies. Let the law take its
course. But, like the rapacious Indian rivers in flood, Indian laws,
too, have deviated from their original course, thanks to the massive
encroachment and erosion on the polity by politically pushed probes.
None of the well-connected bribe givers or takers in the Bofors scandal
have been brought to book, even after 30 years. Shouldn’t Indian leaders
be worried about the saboteurs within who derail the legal process?
Isn’t the fact that those named in the AgustaWestland scam continue to
perambulate through Lutyens’ Delhi’s charmed circles a cause of worry?
This shows that the caucus of corporate cartels, middlemen, political
leaders and civil servants who paint files and proposals in the colours
of the cocktails and cuisine served at coterie dinners is alive and
well.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is a deserving topic for a doctoral thesis as to why not a
soul has been convicted for over a dozen major corruption scandals in
the past 40 years—the Bofors affair, the Scorpene deal, the Airbus
payoff, the Barak Missile scam, stock market manipulations etc. If
scandal-ridden Italy, where probity in public life is under a shadow,
can conclude the `3,546-crore helicopter scam trial and jail important
officials, including the chairman of tech-giant Finmeccanica, how come
all key players in the scam, whose names have popped up in India, are
roaming around freely in the corridors of power and are VIP guests at
political and corporate weddings? An FIR was registered in 2013 and only
a Delhi-based lawyer was arrested. The grilling of star suspects was a
farce. They were invited for a ceremonial trip to the offices of the
investigative agencies. Letter rogatories were dispatched to a couple of
countries, routinely seeking details of the transactions. It is only
after the Italian trial was finished and its contents made their way
into the Indian media and Parliament that the agencies decided to summon
the suspects or witnesses.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is evident that all such scandals
remain unresolved, only to be later used by parties to their advantage
during and after elections. Undoubtedly, the chopper scam is one of the
dirtiest defence deals in recent times. The UPA government signed it
under pressure from lobbyists. It was cancelled after the media exposed
the role of powerful middlemen. The Italian court has concluded beyond
doubt that dirty dealings dominated the sign off. But in India, the
issue has turned into a fight between the ruling BJP and the Congress.
The government is copiously quoting from the verdict to expose the role
of Congress leaders in helping middlemen make money. The party is
hitting back for the delay in nabbing the real perpetrators. Ironically,
the papers were signed during the UPA regime, though the process to
acquire the helicopters began after NDA came to power. In the absence of
any visible and credible action against the Indian suspects, the
Congress has decided to brazen it out. It has adopted a similar
approach, as the Bofors strategy. Since NDA I failed to prosecute any of
the suspects during its six-year rule, the Congress has given itself a
clean chit. It has challenged the BJP to prove any of the allegations
against it or its leaders. Mysteriously, some of the accused were
acquitted because investigative agencies failed to produce any original
document in court. Curiously, successive Central governments led by
either party never approached the Supreme Court to appeal against the
lower court orders. Even in L’affaire AgustaWestland, the Congress is
trying to turn the tables on its foe. It asked the NDA to explain the
reason for the defence ministry’s U-turn over banning Finmeccanica in
August 2014, and then diluting the decision a few weeks later.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The
moral of the current political slugfest is that parties are still in an
election mode. Both the text and subtext of the debate are written
using negative adjectives. By spotlighting the past sins of the
Congress, the ruling dispensation is giving a fresh lease of life to the
demoralised and decimated party. Voters had peremptorily shrunk its
tally in the Lok Sabha to just 44—the lowest since Independence. The BJP
must keep in mind that double jeopardy prevents anyone from being
punished twice for the same crime. Indira Gandhi was ejected by voters
for imposing the Emergency. But she was back in 30 months because the
ruling Janata Party was obsessed with sending her to prison instead of
providing a better government. But the Modi government is not Morarji
Desai’s. It has provided a corruption-free system. It has ensured
economic stability and decisive leadership. Despite a few flip-flops on
Pakistan, India is considered a prominent player in international
diplomacy. It has become a superbly attractive and glamorous destination
for foreign investors. Instead of projecting its achievements to put
opponents on the back foot, NDA strategists have chosen the path of
aggressive confrontation. They are convinced that revealing the ugly
past of its enemies will endow it with a brighter future. But it
shouldn’t forget that the mandate the people gave it, is not to harp on
murky antecedents but to cleanse politics and provide a clean and
productive present and future.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>The moral of the current
political slugfest is that parties are still in election mode. By
spotlighting past sins of the Congress, ruling BJP is undermining its
own achievements and giving a fresh lease of life to the decimated party</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong><br />
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-48325003902559719772016-04-25T13:30:00.000+05:302016-04-26T18:54:21.274+05:30Nitish's ATOM Politics .... Power & Politics/ The Sunday Standard/ April 24, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Nitish's ATOM Politics May Well Set Contours of Confrontation for the Next Election</span></h2>
<img alt="PM Narendra Modi (left) with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Nitish.jpg/2016/04/23/article3396441.ece/alternates/w620/Nitish.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="body ">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>The road to good intentions is paved with hellfire. Any foolproof
planning in Indian politics missing a clear roadmap promises more
chances of failure than fortune. Slogans can ignite riots but cannot
deliver victory in war. Without even waiting for the outcome of the
recent Assembly polls, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has announced his vision
and mission with sass and sauce. PM Narendra Modi wants a Congress Mukt
(Congress-free) India, but Nitish has blown the bugle for all non-BJP
parties to gather under his banner to establish a Sangh Mukt Bharat
(RSS-free Bharat) to save the democracy.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nitish began his first
stint as the JD(U) chief with the ideological intention to polarise the
two national parties along political groupings. His clarion cry appears
to have united all non-BJP parties to oust Modi in 2019. But both his
admirers and detractors are baffled about this hurry in going public. Is
he convinced that Modi is losing charisma and acceptability faster than
anyone expected? But Nitish’s moves clearly reveal that he has declared
war on the Saffron Parivar. He has projected himself as the only
credible alternative to Modi. His promoters are convinced that he is as
clean as the PM. They feel his Vikas Purush tag is equally convincing if
not more than Modi’s.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Since Nitish has the advantage of rallying
the minorities behind him and attracting a load of liberal and secular
middle class votes, they have decided to demolish the PM’s core
credentials. He had venomously said, “Management is more important than
event management.” It is evident that Nitish has drawn up his field
guide well and formulated a strategy for a long-drawn-out battle. He had
made an attempt to forge a Bihar-type Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance)
in Assam, but failed after the Congress refused to surrender its space.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The
timing and tone, however, of the Bihar CM’s declaration are
interesting. He, along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad, sprang a surprise by
stopping the Modi juggernaut in the state by scoring a decisive victory
over the BJP in 2015. While the BJP’s defeat raised questions over its
invincibility and Modi’s popularity, it also emboldened Nitish to extend
the Bihar experiment to other parts of the country. He is aware of the
ground reality that almost all the non-BJP parties, including the Left,
are feeling insecure under Modi’s dispensation. The Congress dreads the
lethal use of government apparatus to not only topple its governments in
smaller states, but also to dig up dirty pasts of many of its senior
leaders and former and current CMs. To add fuel to the fire, the Modi
government is moving at bullet train speed to dismantle all the
institutions controlled by the Left and anti-RSS elements.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In
reality, Modi’s direct confrontation with non-BJP parties, including
some of its regional allies, is creating a favourable environment for
the creation of a political alternative. Historically, credible
substitutes have emerged against powerful personalities and their
actions, which their opponents projected as a threat to democracy.
Nitish’s plan is to portray Modi as an intolerant and arrogant leader,
who along with the RSS, his ideological mentor, poses a serious threat
to the nation’s unity and secular character. In 1977, Jaiprakash Narayan
brought all non-Congress parties together to oust Indira Gandhi after
she imposed the Emergency and suspended fundamentals rights.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Parties,
from the north to the south, sacrificed their partisan interests with
the singular aim of defeating the Congress and demolishing Indira’s
leviathan leadership. The experiment lasted for less than 30 months, as
the elements, which came together to challenge her, started to squabble.
The first ever anti-Congress initiative died an untimely death with
Indira’s triumphant return to power in 1980.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For the next nine
years, the Congress once again acquired total control over national
politics. It won most of the state polls in 1980 and later harvested a
record number of over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha after Indira Gandhi’s
assassination. Rajiv Gandhi was seen as an agent of change for a better
India. But his charm faded even earlier than his promoters expected.
Once again, corruption emerged as the ubiquitous glue to bring all the
non-Congress parties, from the CPI(M) to the BJP, occupy a single
platform to remove Rajiv and his coterie. There was a difference though.
Unlike 1977 when the Janata Party plunged into the electoral battle
without a PM candidate, the Opposition fought the 1989 election under
the leadership of Congress rebel V P Singh who enjoyed a reputation for
impeccable integrity. Their motto: defeat Rajiv, who was leading a
corrupt government.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For the next decade, Central governments were
formed on the basis of opportunistic alliances in which individuals, not
ideology, played a decisive role. But Modi changed the rules of the
political battle. Soon after winning the Gujarat elections in 2012, he
planned his move in advance to take over 7 Race Course. He tried to
bring smaller parties together, with the weak Manmohan Singh—who was
protecting and leading a corrupt government—as his target. It was for
the first time that a Lok Sabha election was turned into a Presidential
election by another name, in which Team Modi converted the war into a
struggle between the indomitable, clean development man Modi versus
Manmohan. Modi won without even a symbolic fight.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Today Nitish
wants to convert the next Lok Sabha election into a conflict between two
individuals backed by distinctive ideologies. He tried to lead the
anti-BJP coalition when he left the NDA in 2013. It failed to take off.
Even now, his resolve to forge an ATOM (alternative to Modi) has run
into hurdles posed by leaders like Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav, a
section of the Congress and other regional leaders. At the moment,
Nitish enjoys the full backing of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and West
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. But they can also put spanners in his works
in progress, and both are unacceptable to the Congress. Moreover, the
Congress wouldn’t like anyone to give the impression that it has
accepted Nitish over Rahul to lead the anti-Modi campaign. Rahul has the
advantage over Nitish since his party and family are still a draw
across the country. Nitish, however, has defined the contours of
confrontation for the next election. The Opposition not only wishes Modi
would lose his sheen, but also expects 900 million voters to give a
chance to another individual, ignoring the absence of an ideological
identity. For now, however, it is an uneven battle between the
omnipresent Modi, the vaguely visible Nitish and the occasionally
visible Rahul Gandhi.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong><br />
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-36472354476284487572016-04-18T12:30:00.000+05:302016-04-22T19:50:16.840+05:30Celebrating Messiah of Mhow way to ..... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ April 17, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="">
Celebrating Messiah of Mhow Way to Revive Those Forgotten by Nehruvian Plutocracy
</h1>
<br />
<img alt="125th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr B R Ambedkar at Parliament" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Celebrating.jpg/2016/04/17/article3384041.ece/alternates/w620/Celebrating.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="body ">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Social reincarnation is often the opportunistic face of politics.
Hence, it is no surprise that a leader, born 125 years ago, in a family
of ‘untouchables’ in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, is being reborn as a 21st
century prophet of competitive politics for 125 crore Indians. Last
week, hardly any leader worth his salt failed to remind ‘We, the People
of India’ about Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s overwhelming contribution in
restoring social equilibrium in a caste-infected nation. PM Narendra
Modi flew down to Mhow last Thursday. Sonia Gandhi addressed a massive
rally there a few days earlier. Needless to say, the media was
predictable beneficiary of the government’s largesse unlike the target
audience that represented an unsung Indian class revolution.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Undoubtedly,
Dr Ambedkar was of a different league. He was an elitist in attire but a
sanguine social reformist in words and wisdom. Ideologically, he wasn’t
a Congressman. After participating in the freedom struggle, he floated
the Independent Labour Party and contested the Lok Sabha elections in
1952. But he lost to the Congress candidate Narayan Kajrolkar. PM
Jawaharlal Nehru had included the Dalit firebrand in independent India’s
first Cabinet. In the pecking order, however, Ambedkar wasn’t perceived
as the cardinal leader of Dalit interests. Babu Jagjivan Ram, a low
caste Congressman from Bihar, was placed three notches above him. For
the next quarter century, the Congress went on to project ‘Babuji’ as
the messiah of the socially discriminated until 1977, when he broke away
to float his party, Congress for Democracy, which later merged with the
Janata Party.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Today, the political panorama, including the
Congress and BJP, has appropriated Ambedkar as its ideological deity.
For more than 50 years, none of them thought of him as a personage who
deserved the Bharat Ratna—21 awardees came before him until he was
conferred with the award in 1990, when VP Singh was the Prime Minister.
Ironically, both the national parties have today scored ahead of the
smaller parties, including the BSP, which thrive and survive in his name
in the National Ambedkar Worship Exhibition. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ever since Modi
became the PM in 2014, he has made Ambedkar the fulcrum of his strategy
of political expansionism and vote acquisition. Since the BJP was
perceived as a party dominated by Brahmanical moorings, Modi conceived
an idea to transform the untouchables as India’s most touchable of
identities. He directed all ministries to plan special events throughout
the year to celebrate Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary, forcing other
parties to become also-rans. He led his ministers, chief ministers and
party cadres on the social media to project Baba Saheb as India’s most
revered statesman.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The revival of the Ambedkar cult reflects the
growing realisation among all political parties that the Messiah from
Mhow continues to be the most powerful figure in winning electoral
battles. None of the political parties in the west or north of the
country can complete its electoral manifesto without dropping Ambedkar’s
name. Even the RSS is competing with parties in promoting Ambedkar as a
reformer, forgetting the fact that he was against Hinduism and also
favoured Muslims. Sadly, the Ambedkar legacy is being exploited only in
the name of reservation. If one devotes the time to scan through his
speeches and books, Ambedkar was much more than a mere promoter of caste
quotas in Parliament, state Assemblies and government jobs. His
admirers are only minimising his stature as the person who believed in
the modernisation of Indian culture and reducing large land holdings so
that poor farmers could prosper. He argued for a larger role for big
industry. He also warned the Congress leadership and Nehru against
supporting China’s bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
Instead, he wanted India to fight for herself—a battle which India is
now fighting to lose. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ambedkar’s idea of reservation was aimed at
making Dalits stakeholders in the national narrative rather than
existing as ornamental glyphs of socialist symbology. Though India has
just about 15 per cent Dalits among its legislators and babus in its
ranks of governance today, they are hardly equal partners in running the
affairs of the state. Even 66 years after the establishment of the
Constitution drafted by Baba Saheb, Dalits are treated as outsiders even
if they have become, in name, insiders through reservation. The vested
interests in the current political system dangle the reservation policy
as a carrot to Dalits, thus denying them the right to become part of the
real establishment. For example, no Dalit has ever become the PM,
finance minister, external affairs minister or education minister of
India. Jagjivan Ram almost became the PM in 1977, when Morarji Desai had
to resign. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But a combination of Brahmanical forces within the Janata Party, along with the Communists, opposed his elevation. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Not
more than a dozen Dalit leaders have risen to the post of chief
minister in the past six decades. Though Dalits in the Indian Civil
Services form just 15 per cent, very few of them have became chief
secretaries or Director Generals of Police. Not a single Dalit has made
it to the post of Union Cabinet Secretary. Above all, Dalits are
unwanted companions or guests at social and private functions hosted by
upper caste liberals and eidolons. Rarely is a Mayawati, Ram Vilas
Paswan or Jitan Ram Manjhi invited to cosy dinners organised by the
chatterati and corporate caliphs.Inexplicably, while the deification of
Baba Saheb is becoming a glamorous hobby, his idea of egalitarian India
is being lacerated. As the Father of the Constitution, Ambedkar has
acquired a much bigger stature than the Father of the Nation, Mahatma
Gandhi, who is remembered less and less as a Dalit champion. Ambedkar’s
excessive dominance in the political credo, however, has eclipsed Nehru
more than Gandhi. Hence, most Nehruvians have refrained from hailing him
as the reformer who influenced the course of modern India. The Festival
of Ambedkar, being celebrated by Modi and his party, is definitely
meant to revive luminaries, who have been forgotten or dumped by the
Nehruvian plutocracy.</div>
<br />
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong><br />
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-23332635409253214012016-04-11T12:00:00.000+05:302016-04-12T15:20:00.560+05:30Modi's message is Loud and Clever ..... Poweer & Politics /The Sunday Standard/ April 10, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="">
Modi's Message is Loud and Clever: While in Govt, Work for India and Dream for India</h1>
<br />
<br />
<img alt="PM Narendra Modi at a rally in Nagaon district in Assam on Friday" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/modi.jpg/2016/04/09/article3372145.ece/alternates/w620/modi.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Advice is just a pseudonym for infiltration, especially in administration. There was a time when videshi was considered the most effective panacea for all ills plaguing Indian governance. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi perceives anyone with foreign connections in ministries as a devious influence peddler. Last week, following instructions from the PMO, the Health Ministry embarked on a purge of over 150 consultants who were advising it on various health-related issues. Most of them have been working in the government for many years, and are handsomely financed by prestigious global organisations like WHO and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. </i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A large number of these have been involved in programmes that monitor the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in India. Modi’s choice of the Health Ministry as his first arena to sweep away foreign influence in the government has upset and disrupted a well-knit system which permeates government agencies, influence policies and whose final beneficiaries are its financiers. The PM may be talking about Invest-in-India to Make-in-India, but he is not in a mood to take any advice from anyone other than those he feels has only India’s interests at heart. During the past 23 months in office, he has welcomed the largest number of foreign entrepreneurs, professionals and other icons than any of his illustrious predecessors at 7 Race Course. Yet, he has refrained from inducting foreign-educated advisors or experts sponsored by the West in key positions. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He has been closely monitoring the role of foreign-funded NGOs and other consulting agencies, which were counseling various ministries on myriad social, economic, environmental and health issues. He instructed trusted officials in the Ministry of Home, Finance, the CBI and RAW to review the role of over 100 such outfits, which had found ingress into the government. According to Home Ministry sources, foreign-sponsored consultants were not only feeding data and exclusive information to other international agencies through their participation in global seminars and conferences, but also through various research-based NGOs in India. Some of these individuals and organisations were also directly or indirectly involved with those who have been hounding Modi since 2002. To add fat to the fire, key officials of these bodies were the ones who lobbied in the US and the West to deny Modi a visa. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now, the government has drawn up for special scrutiny, a list of over 700 foreign-linked or -funded consultants working with ministries such as Power, Finance, Environment, Education, NITI Aayog, Roads and Transport, Agriculture, Non-Conventional Energy, Mining, Petroleum and Natural Gas and Defence Production . Even some of the prominent PSUs have been identified for special screening, thanks to their association with foreign consulting firms. The PMO is convinced that most development and infrastructural projects have been delayed for a decade and more, only because of the convoluted spins given by these firms to ensure that India will continue to depend heavily on imports. For example, during the early 1980s when Indira Gandhi was prime minister, a blueprint to make India fully self reliant in petroleum products by 1990 was finalised. Yet, even after 35 years, the country spends billions of dollars on importing crude oil. Even though the Health Ministry has the largest number of foreign-affiliated advisors, India still suffers from the maximum number of diseases and reels under an inefficient health administration. The environment ministry was home to consultants from the World Wide Fund of India, while experts from Britain’s DFID worked for both ministries of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation until December. Yet both the ministries haven’t been able to get rid of parasites. During one of the numerous ministerial reviews by the PMO, it was discovered that outside experts were hanging on to their jobs much beyond their contractual terms, on one pretext or the other. None of the senior officials or even the ministers could offer credible excuses for those still clinging on to the government. It was decided that the Home Ministry will do a thorough review of each one of them. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Ministry later on hinted that most of these consultants are tailoring their reports for ministers and bureaucrats to influence policies in such a way that it promotes the commercial interests of their parent agencies. For example, the government suspects that the quantum of the HIV/AIDS infected population in India was artificially raised to get, not only more funds from the Indian government but also to help specific pharma companies manufacturing medicines that treat AIDS. Highly exaggerated statistics on HIV victims has brought India a bad image in the world. What upset the Modi government was the inability of these consultants to reverse India’s negative image on hygiene, environmental protection, clean energy and inclusive education. Instead, the very institutions, which had drafted these experts into the government, have been playing anti-India roles on international platforms. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The reality is that the Indian political leadership has been suffering from an inferiority complex since Independence. Since various prime ministers from Nehru to Manmohan Singh saw it as their mission to establish their imprints and road maps for faster economic development, they laterally inducted large number of experts hired by international agencies to assist the government. Manmohan even packed the Planning Commission with a record number of foreign consultants soon after taking over as prime minister in 2004. This led to furious protests from the Left, forcing him to abandon the move. The Finance Ministry has always been the preferred destination for foreign-educated economists. They have been following the revolving door principle. Almost all its Chief Economic Advisors have sometime or the other been on the rolls of foreign institutions that include universities. They come to serve India and go back to the West after the government, which appointed them was ousted. Numerous Parliamentarians and others have raised questions about the undesirable influence of these money mandarins on India’s fiscal and monetary policies, which they think are guided by the ideological fancy of their permanent habitat—the US. The ongoing purge of foreign elements from the government and other institutions appears to be part of Modi’s nationalist agenda. His message is loud and clever: while in government Work for India and Dream for India. </div>
<br />
<b>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com
Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla
</b></div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-26986842507298140782016-04-04T12:30:00.000+05:302016-04-04T14:35:34.827+05:30Any Attempt to Kill the Spirit ... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ April 03, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="">
Any Attempt to Kill the Spirit Behind the Slogan Bharat Mata ki Jai is Anti-national
</h1>
<img alt="Members of the Muslim community chant Bharat Mata ki Jai in Meerut" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/aap.jpg/2016/04/02/article3359943.ece/alternates/w620/aap.jpg" /><br />
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<b>
</b>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><b>India’s first PM Jawahar Lal Nehru discovered real India when he
wrote his 595-page book Discovery of India in 1946. Written during his
four-year stay in Ahmed Nagar Fort Jail, Nehru spoke about India’s
ancient civilisation, culture and the greatness that was polluted by
invaders from outside. Four decades later, Shyam Benegal, a genuine
liberal, wrote and directed the historical drama Bharat Ek Khoj based on
Nehru’s book in which Roshan Seth, a Nehruvian and Doon school alumnus,
played the role of the former PM. The first episode was titled Bharat
Mata ki Jai (BMKJ). The first scene showed a group of villagers
welcoming Nehru to a public gathering with chants of BMKJ. When Nehru
asked his audience if they knew the meaning of the slogan and whose
victory they were aspiring for, initially no one had an answer. Finally,
one of the young farmers said Bharat Mata meant the dharati (land),
which was their mother. But Nehru refused to accept that it was just the
earth beneath their feet; he said Bharat Mata referred to the whole
country, to its mountains, rivers, sky and seas and, most importantly,
to its people. It was the only in the victory of its people that Bharat
could find its victory, he said.</b> </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But having said that, he chose
to end his famous Tryst with Destiny speech at Red Fort in August 1947
with Jai Hind, not Bharat Mata ki Jai. Despite being one of India’s
leading freedom fighters, Nehru chose to ignore the fact that the slogan
had been coined by those seeking freedom from British rule under the
leadership of the Indian National Congress, and that people of all
faiths proudly chanted it during protests against the British. Powerful
freedom fighters like Liaquat Ali had to face the wrath of brutal
British controlled police for shouting BMKJ and Vande Matram.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That
was then. Seventy years after Nehru wrote his book, his disciples and
progeny are still engaged in an exercise to discover the idea of India
and define the space and importance of BMKJ. Not only political parties,
even civil society leaders, Bollywood icons, writers, social
media-savvy religious gurus and organisations are fiercely fighting to
either own or disown BMKJ. For every champion of Bharat Mata, there is
one who feels pride in declaring himself or herself anti-national by
refusing to chant the slogan. Indeed, it has become the biggest issue
dividing the country along communal and political lines. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
With
elections becoming a permanent feature of every calendar year, India’s
idea- and issue-starved political parties have made nationalism (ours vs
theirs) the main plank for the coming polls. While the Sangh Parivar
led by PM Narendra Modi has made the chanting of BMKJ the only credible
test of one’s loyalty to India, its adversaries insist that undiluted
faith in the Constitution of India is the solitary symbol of patriotism.
Perhaps, it is the over-enthusiastic imposition of BMKJ by the Sangh
Parivar that has contributed to the equally-aggressive opposition of its
detractors.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The battle for grabbing a nationalist trophy acquired
religious overtones last week when leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom
Deoband issued a fatwa asking Muslims not to chant Bharat Mata ki Jai,
calling it un-Islamic. The same seminary also advised madrasas across
the country “to hoist the Tricolour and celebrate Independence Day and
teach students about the Indian freedom struggle and the country’s
original spirit of unity in diversity”. Earlier, sensing growing
resistance to BMKJ, the RSS had clarified that people should not be
forced to participate to chant the slogan. But now, with the anti-BMKJ
missive emanating from the Islamist organisation, hard-core Hindu
outfits have been quick to question the nationalism of the minorities. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It’s
ironic that a slogan like BMKJ, which was created to unite the nation,
is now polarising the country. Ever since Independence, political
parties, social organisations, NGOs and RSS-affiliated outfits have
chanted Bharat Mata Ki Jai at their functions, without any interference
or protests from any quarters. Over a decade ago, there was some
brouhaha over the singing of Vande Mataram, which was met with
recriminatory (and what some would call threatening) responses like
“Agar is desh mein rahna hoga, Vande Matram kehna hoga (If you want to
live in this country, you shall sing Vande Mataram)”. But never have we
seen such a confrontationist atmosphere in the country as we see today.
Indeed, Vande Mataram is sung at many official functions without any
protest from the audience.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This leads one to believe that the
current opposition to BMKJ is aimed at bringing all Sangh Parivar forces
to one platform and converting the debate into an issue of threat to
freedom of expression. Those who oppose the slogan claim that nowhere
does the Constitution provide for the invocation of BMKJ. A coalition of
liberals, neo-communalists and Leftists has been formed to defeat any
attempt by the ruling political dispensation to dismantle the current
eco-system which hardly recognises the importance of national flag,
national geographical identity and judiciary. This group invokes
selective and subjective use of the Constitution to protect its
political perks and imposes its personal choices on the rest of the
country. It swears by the Constitution when it serves its ideological
convictions. It has no problem if the National Anthem is sung at every
function attended by the President of India, or at the beginning and end
of the Parliament session. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But when the Constitution talks about
prohibition, the same people see it as a threat to their fundamental
right to consume what they will. They support a judicial verdict that’s
aligned to their choices but hit the streets if the courts deliver
judgments based on constitutional provisions that disrupt their
lifestyle. Undoubtedly, the foreign-educated current crop of
intellectuals, media stars, political leaders and elitist business
leaders have brilliant minds. But they are only half educated when it
comes to the idea of the motherland. BMKJ was not a gift from any
narrow-minded sectarian Hindu leader or organisation. Bharat Mata ki Jai
was the most successful non-violent verbal weapon forged by a
freedom-starved crowd which helped end the 200-year-old British rule and
sent the English packing. Any attempt to kill the spirit behind the
slogan runs the risk of being labelled anti-national. BMKJ is just an
assertion of independence from slavery of every colour and nothing more.</div>
<br />
<b>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</b></div>
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-13406381583513365032016-03-28T13:30:00.000+05:302016-03-30T17:29:10.051+05:30As Parties UP the Glam Quotient ...... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard / March 27, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h1 class="">
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<div class="" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">As Parties Up the Glam Quotient, Ideology May Become Fading Star of Indian Politics</span></div>
<h1 class="">
</h1>
<img alt="BJP named former pacer Sreesanth as its candidate for Thiruvananthapuram" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Sreesanth.jpg/2016/03/26/article3347722.ece/alternates/w620/Sreesanth.jpg" /></div>
<div class="body " style="text-align: justify;">
Politics and entertainment have long been brothers—both require a
measure of magnetism, a talent for self-promotion and an instinctive
feel for media manipulation. No wonder, come election time, the world of
politics likes to pull in the stars and the trappings of stardom.
Ideological icons fall by the wayside as glamazons from the world of
cinema and sports clamber onto political bandwagons for electioneering,
and political campaigns morph into entertainment shows. This year
promises to be no different. For the elections in five states, even
mighty leaders like Narendra Modi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi
have despatched their best hunters to scout for cine stars and sports
icons as well as literati and chatterati who can expand their share of
the political market. In situations where the party has no more than a
symbolic presence in the region or state, local celebs, who’re au
courant with regional politics, have been roped in to move the
electorate.<br />
<br />
Last week, the BJP announced that it was fielding
former cricketer S Sreesanth as its candidate for Thiruvananthapuram.
Since Sreesanth has become known more for match-fixing and dancing than
for his medium pace bowling, he was banned for life from playing cricket
by the BCCI in 2013. But, clearly, the ruling party at the Centre
believes that he is still capable of bowling out its rivals in a state
where it’s struggling to open an account.<br />
<br />
Now, Tamil Nadu has been
dominated by screen stars for the past 50 years, as was undivided
Andhra Pradesh (with NT Rama Rao, who was as successful in the political
arena as he was in cinema, along with Jayaprada, Chiranjeevi, Mohan
Babu, Kota Srinivas Rao and, more recently, Pawan Kalyan). In Tamil
Nadu, the state’s biggest film stars created political parties for
personal ambition rather than ideology. It was easy, as the charisma of
MG Ramachandran, Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa easily moved the masses to
bring them to power even as many others turned out to be also-rans. Of
late, both the Congress and BJP have been struggling to persuade Tamil
filmstars like Vijaykanth, who formed the DMDK in 2005, to join them as
an ally to increase their political share, but with little success.<br />
<br />
In
West Bengal and Assam, too, the parties have identified famous persons
from sports, art, culture, cinema and society to help them with their
electoral mission. The BJP, for instance, has decided to field a member
of the Subhas Chandra Bose family against CM Mamata Banerjee. This
despite the Bose family having nothing to do with the Sangh Parivar
except for the fact that Modi went out of the way to make some secret
documents public and hosted the Bose family at 7 RCR.<br />
<br />
But then,
all political parties without exception have been diluting their
declared ideology over the past few decades. The process began with the
catapulting of Indira Gandhi to the top in 1969 when she took over the
Congress after the first split. The khadi dhoti- and Gandhi cap-wearing
leaders were purged and a new crop of people bearing personal loyalty to
Indira was drafted into the party. Though the Congress still swore by
secularism and Garibi Hatao, Indira was seen as the Congress. Later on,
Dev Kant Barooah, the portly and balding party president, redefined the
party’s ideology by giving a slogan: Indira is India. Congress leaders
of the time insisted that the personality of their leader reflected what
the party stood for: socialism, secularism and democracy. Indira
Gandhi, for sure, didn’t depend on glamour or corporate leaders to win
an election. In fact, the joke at the time was that even a lamp post
could win an election if it was backed by her.<br />
<br />
It was Rajiv Gandhi
who introduced glamour and a corporate culture into the Congress. A
natural charmer, he inducted technocrats Arun Singh and Arun Nehru into
politics, took India into the 21st century through technology and
responsive government, and gave a new twist to Congress’ ideology. But
he also relied on glamour from sports and Bollywood. He brought his
friend Amitabh Bachchan in to defeat the formidable Hemwati Nandan
Bahuguna. Later on, biggies like Rajesh Khanna, Sunil Dutt, Raj Babbar,
Govinda and Ramya from Karnataka too came in to fight elections on
behalf of the party. The Congress was also the first to field former
cricketer Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi as its candidate from Bhopal (but he
lost). The trend continues till today, with over a dozen filmstars and
sportspersons holding key positions at the Centre or the states.<br />
<br />
With
Congress using the glam quotient (GQ) to maul its powerful leaders, the
BJP also decided to fall back on its fair and lovely supporters. Lal
Krishna Advani, a film buff and cricket enthusiast, opened the party
doors for both film and sports stars. He brought in Dharmendra,
Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini from Bollywood and
cricketers Navjot Sidhu, Chetan Chauhan and Kirti Azad for their
vote-catching capacity. Now the Modi-Shah duo is taking forward the
strategy of using GQ to bolster the party’s electoral chances.<br />
<br />
The
GQ bug has even hit regional parties like the Trinamool Congress, Biju
Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and, specially, Aam Aadmi Party, which has
mastered the art of roping in the maximum number of local and national
icons for expanding its base.<br />
<br />
With each party fighting to maximise
its GQ, the Indian political establishment has the globe’s largest
number of movers and shakers from the glamorous world working for it.
With over 40 prominent film personalities and some 20 sportspersons,
India is leading the world followed by the Philippines and the US. The
UK, the mother of democracy, has been able to absorb less than a dozen
leaders from non-political background. In Europe too, political parties
rarely rope in film stars or sportspersons to win elections for them as
they feel that the shelf life of the bold and beautiful paratroopers is
limited.<br />
<br />
Back home in India, however, the story is quite
different. This despite the fact that, with the exception of some
regional parties, the nation has seen all its ‘political celebrities’
vanishing without leaving any trace of an ideological contribution. If
this continues and parties fail to create credible, acceptable leaders
from their shrinking base of committed cadres, ideologically led Indian
politics will be replaced with musings of egoist leaders and
ideologically bankrupt-but-highly successful stars from the film and
sports arena rather than the real world of the politics of heat and
dust.<br />
<br />
<b>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</b></div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-51410685622997902182016-03-21T13:00:00.000+05:302016-03-22T19:59:56.722+05:30Development Card BJP's best Bet..... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ March 20, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Development Card BJP's Best Bet to Stop the Kashmir Valley from Drifting</h1>
<img alt="Mufti (left) and Abdullah" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Development.JPG/2016/03/19/article3335961.ece/alternates/w620/Development.JPG" /><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">Experiments in political engineering can throw up strange results, as seen in Jammu and Kashmir. In January last year, keeping aside its ‘non-negotiable’ nationalistic ideology, the BJP decided to strike an experimental deal with the pro-separatist Peoples’ Democratic Party of the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Now, after 14 months, the BJP seems to have discovered something rotten in both the taste and odour of the power it has consumed in the state. The experiment of fusion politics, mixing nationalism with separatism, has proven to be a recipe for disaster. Ever since the Mufti died two months ago, his successor Mehbooba Mufti and the BJP leadership have been holding both public and secret parleys to revive the dead alliance. Officially, they have been exuding confidence about the formation of the new coalition government, and yet both have been talking about the lack of a confidence-building road map for a political reunion.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
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Any alliance made on the basis of convenience rather than conviction, collapses sooner than later. In a state like Jammu and Kashmir, where a love for money and romance with extra-territorial ideas dictate the political narrative, any formation which threatens established social and political order is bound to fail. The BJP has been unsuccessful in imposing its brand of politics and societal practices on the PDP, which survives by supporting and feeding those who oppose the Valley’s integration with India.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
The tug of war between the PDP and BJP is not just for grabbing proprietary right to a few power plants or any special package. It is a confrontation of two ideologies and the idea of India. Mehbooba wants J&K to remain emotionally separate from India while the BJP wants to erase all legal, social and economic hurdles and make the Valley a part of the national mainstream.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
By joining hands with the PDP, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP Chief Amit Shah expected to restore the secular character of the Valley. They thought they could push the state government to facilitate the safe return of the Kashmiri Pundits, with full liberty to do business and participate in the electoral process. The Centre linked the entire economic package and phased withdrawal of the armed forces with the rehabilitation of the Kashmir Pundits and the tightening of the noose around separatists. But Mehbooba is no Mufti, who could survive on his own charisma and credibility. Indeed, she has acquired political legitimacy only by pandering to the sentiments and tears of those whose relatives have died while participating in attacks on civilians and Indian Army personnel. She has realised that by staying with the BJP, she will lose her traditional support base.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
The current constitutional crisis in the Valley is also a manifestation of the confrontation between two political dynasties led by Mehbooba and Omar Abdullah. Both of them are competing with each other in painting the BJP as a threat to the autonomy and welfare of the Kashmiri people. Both of them are determined to marginalise the role of national parties such as the Congress and BJP. While the Abdullahs have been a part of national politics, Mehbooba has always confined herself to the Valley. The Abdullahs also enjoy the support of a small section of the Hindu minority in the Valley and Jammu region while Mufti survives only on Muslim backing in the Valley.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
It is, however, the complete failure of both the Congress and BJP to erode the core constituency of the National Conference (NC) and PDP. Even after 69 years of Independence, a substantial majority of Kashmiris are hostile to the idea of calling themselves Indian. The Congress has ruled the state for 12 years alone and over 50 years as part of a coalition or with the support of a regional party. The Abdullahs ran the state for over two decades. If one includes 10 years of Congress-backed NC rebel Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, the NC was in command of the sensitive state for almost 30 years.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
Pakistan has never accepted the reality of Jammu and Kashmir as part of the Indian Republic, and till 1990, has supported and financed the separatists. When it failed to destabilise the state, it started armed infiltration and used local operatives to bomb and kill civilians and army personnel. The Centre’s attempt to use governors for neutralising extreme elements also failed. Even the current governor Narendra Nath Vohra, a favourite of every party, has not succeeded in diluting the impact of the separatists by ensuring proper development of the state by using his charm over the local government. On the other hand, Pakistan’s objective was to halt the economic development of the state and sow the seeds of terror. It has succeeded. In spite of liberal money flow from New Delhi, the state’s GDP rose by less than 1 per cent during 2014-15 down from over 13 per cent the previous year. The lack of development and misuse of funds have generated more unemployment and have pushed the youth into the hands of anti-national elements.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
But development has never been a glue that’s bonded ideologically opposed political parties. With Pakistan in a mood to talk, the best solution open for the BJP is to play the development card, treat separatists as enemies of the state, and appoint a governor who bothers far more about greater governance rather than his own survival. In the past seven decades, instead of coming closer to India, the Valley has drifted into the black hole of politics of opportunism and convenience. If matters remain the way they are, the black hole will seal itself and darkness will endlessly prevail. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>PS: Last week</b> I wrote about why Modi adores Sri Sri. Last week, Art of Living Guru took to Twitter to prove his worldwide acceptability. He tweeted twice as follows:</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
19/03/16, 1:35 am: The World Culture Festival had 767,436 locations in 188 countries viewing the webcast according to our webcast partner, Livestream’s report.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
The social media partner reported 1.4 bn impressions on Twitter & 30 mn engagements on Facebook during the World Culture Festival.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
For Modi, visibility on social media is an accelerator that keeps him going.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; </strong><strong>Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong></div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-19013686551860132442016-03-14T11:30:00.000+05:302016-03-15T20:25:48.897+05:30For Brand Modi, Endorsing ..... Power & Politics/ The Sunday Standard/ March 13, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="" style="text-align: justify;">
For Brand Modi, Endorsing New Age Gurus Tiny Price to Win Over Classes and Masses Alike</h1>
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/For-Brand.JPG/2016/03/13/article3324147.ece/alternates/w620/For%20Brand.JPG" /><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="body ">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There’s no business like the godmen business, they say, with no fixed
working hours, exotic travel, much public adulation, and no need for a
shave every morning. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
No wonder, saints and self-styled godpersons
have been around from time immemorial, most of them symbols of
sacrifice and wisdom. Some made mountains and caves their natural
habitat. Others lived in palaces and forts, as advisers to the throne,
with kings and queens running to them for salvation and solutions. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Today,
in the 21st century, we still have gurus and preachers of all shades
and faiths, and with solid community, caste or religion support. If
yesterday, they were courted by royalty, today they enjoy the patronage
and protection of the kings of polity. For, they represent vote banks
and mould public opinion. From Punjab to Kerala, from Gujarat to Assam,
the nation is dotted with men and women who act as spiritual advisers to
the ruling classes and a source of inspiration for the masses. In the
process, some of them acquire the image of kingmakers or influencers of
government policies.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Consider Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Baba
Ramdev, who have done some admirable work in their respective fields.
Their ever-growing visibility and clout in the current political
dispensation is an indication of the renewed importance of the guru in
the establishment. Both have easy access to the nation’s high and
mighty; both have followers across political parties. Corporates,
Bollywood stars, even diplomats, stand in awe of them and touch their
feet. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not indifferent to
their lure. Indeed, the duo provides him easy access to two extreme ends
of the Indian social milieu and a huge audience that the Prime Minister
loves to engage with. Last week, when Modi chose to attend, and
address, the World Cultural Festival (WCF) on the banks of the Yamuna in
New Delhi, it reinforced the relevance, effectiveness, acceptability
and credibility of India’s saintly symbolism. By spending over three
hours at the venue, Modi left no one in doubt that his faith in Sri Sri
and his Art of Living (AoL) foundation was unshakable. Not only did Modi
and his ministers dismiss with contempt all criticism of the event,
they ensured that the entire might of the state was mobilised to make
WCF a grand success. Modi, in fact, called WCF a Kumbh of all cultures.
Harking back to history, the Prime Minister addressed Sri Sri as
Parampujniya Guruji (most revered) and said, “This is the Kumbh Mela of
culture. Through Art of Living, the world has got to know about India. I
remember a reception by the Art of Living family in Mongolia. We are
all linked not only by economy but also by culture.” </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Much like
the maharajas of yore, Modi clearly understands the utility of the
new-age gurus. Known for his attention to detail, the Prime Minister
knows that both the AoL chief and Ramdev represent the pulse of two
major social groups. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar connects him with an upmarket,
global following. Indeed, among Sri Sri’s disciples and admirers are
the chatterati and upper middle class of all parts of India as well as
leaders from the Western world and Muslim-dominated West Asia. He also
has a huge following in South India. Above all, his organisation
possesses huge skills and expertise in mobilising large numbers of
people in many parts of the world. Given that Modi has been targeting
the Indian diaspora and people of influence during his foreign visits,
he finds in AoL a natural ally. Ever since Modi took over as Prime
Minister in 2014 (when Sri Sri was one of the few spiritual leaders to
come out in his support), AoL has been connecting him with many
international leaders. Though Ravi Shankar’s posturing on Indo-Pak
relations may be at variance with that of the Prime Minister and Sangh
Parivar, Modi has allowed the AoL guru to pursue people-to-people
contact with Pakistan. AoL also has powerful connections in Jammu and
Kashmir, where it is considered to be the most secular link with the
ruling party at the Centre. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If Ravi Shankar is useful to the
Prime Minister owing to his connection with the world and liberal India,
Baba Ramdev delivers to Modi the rural and urban poor and middle class.
The Baba, who belongs to a backward class and has made ‘Everything
Desi’ his mantra for success, is one of the rare spiritual leaders with
hardly any formal education and training. The 50-year-old guru started
his Patanjali Institute to bring yoga to the common man and, within a
period of two decades, has acquired over 25 million followers across the
country. His yoga camps are attended by over 10,000 people daily. While
Sri Sri promotes breathing as an instrument of wellness, Ramdev
emphasises on physical exercises. In the past few years, Modi has been a
frequent visitor to Ramdev’s ashram in Haridwar and has always invited
the Baba for any important official function held in connection with
spirituality. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There may be a connection of conviction between
Ramdev and Sri Sri and the Prime Minister, but critics believe the
relationship is based on an understanding of mutual advantage. Modi
detractors have already charged the NDA government with doling out huge
financial and other concessions to both the gurus. For the New Delhi
event, they point out, the Union government not only gave a massive
grant, but it also deployed the Army to create the infrastructure at the
venue. Now, with AoL beginning the sale of daily use products like
mineral water and toothpaste, their suspicions are even more heightened.
On his part, Ramdev has never hidden his commercial interests. His
swadeshi Pathanjali has taken on well-established multinationals selling
FMCGs and hawks energy drinks, beauty creams and yoga DVDs. Various
government agencies, including the defence ministry, are among his
clients. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Given their huge fan following and resources, both AoL
and Patanjali’s dependence on the government is quite baffling and
erodes their credibility. But for Brand Modi, it is a tiny price to pay
for the endorsement of Sri Sri and Ramdev who mesmerise a substantive
section of Indians, here and abroad.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong></div>
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-19126265515903909842016-03-07T13:30:00.000+05:302016-03-07T14:02:03.079+05:30Assembly Polls will decide ...... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ March 06, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="">
</h1>
<br />
<h1 class="">
Assembly Polls Will Decide Which Way the Fortune Cookie Crumbles for the Big Five</h1>
<img alt="(From left) Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, J Jayalalithaa, M Karunanadhi and Mamata Banerjee" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Assembly-Polls.JPG/2016/03/05/article3312202.ece/alternates/w620/Assembly%20Polls.JPG" /><br />
<div class="relatedContents-caption">
<span style="background-color: #999999;">(From left) Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, J Jayalalithaa, M Karunanadhi and Mamata Banerjee
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="body ">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Opportunism trumps ideology, come election time. The axiom appears to
be metamorphosising into a fact in the ongoing countdown for the
Assembly elections. During the next few weeks, over 170 million voters
in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will vote and
elect 824 new leaders. But, even before a single nomination has been
filed in any of the states, political parties and their supreme leaders
have begun looking for new allies and causes for seeking a legitimate
mandate. Since politics is the art of converting symbolic-egotistic
impossibility into a remunerative possibility, the leaders are working
on a negative agenda, where the others’ defeat is more important than
their own victory.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In Tamil Nadu, the Karunanidhi clan wants to
dislodge current Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa by forging an alliance
with those who have hardly anything in common with the DMK, including
caste or religion. In West Bengal, the Reds have gone forth and merged
with the tricolour to defeat Mamata Didi. Never before has a formal
alliance between the Marxists and Congress taken place in the state just
to trounce a ruling political deity. In Kerala, the BJP is out to
cohabit with caste-led small parties only to stop both the United
Democratic Front and the Left Democratic front from grabbing power. The
BJP doesn’t and can’t become the ruling party in the state but, in
anticipation of a photofinish outcome, it wants to win at least a couple
of seats and thereby play kingmaker. In Assam too, the BJP is confident
of forming its first legitimately elected government in the Northeast
by polarising the entire electorate along regional and communal lines.
It has been able to instal a rebel Congress government in Arunanchal
Pradesh by breaking it. In Assam too, the BJP has split the Congress by
admitting a large number of partymen during the past few months.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A
prerequisite to winning the battle for ballots is a meticulous
deployment of logical contours and formations. Hence, breaking parties
matters more than projecting an alternative leader or an agenda for
governance. From Thiruvananthapuram to Guwahati, thus, political parties
have unleashed deal-makers to strike visible and invisible deals with
caste dons, religious gurus, corporate promoters and local
opinion-makers to market their parties. But none of them have put forth
even a strategy that’s synchronised with its ideology or leadership for
seeking the mandate.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The outcome of the coming elections has
serious implications for five individuals: Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
BJP president Amit Shah, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, DMK
chief Karunanidhi, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. All
of them have points to prove. But the stake is especially high for the
BJP, which is still battling the dilemma of whether or not to fight the
elections in the name of the Prime Minister. Of the 824 Assembly seats,
the BJP won less than double digits during the 2011 state elections.
Riding on the massive Modi wave, however, the party led over its rivals
in 114 Assembly segments in the May 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Currently,
the BJP has the highest number of about 1,000 MLAs in all the states
put together; that is some 100 more than the Congress. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But the
BJP doesn’t expect to form the government in any of the states except
Assam. It is neither a ruling party nor an influential group in any of
these states. After its ignonimous defeat in Delhi and Bihar, Shah and
his team need to reverse the downward turn in the electoral fortunes of
the party. The beating in the two northern states was seen as a mark of
the diminishing appeal of the Prime Minister and the fallibility of Shah
as master strategist. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But the saffron party doesn’t have a
single local leader in any one of the four states, much like Bihar and
Delhi. In fact, it is confronted with formidable local leaders. Even a
79-year-old chief minister like Tarun Gagoi is giving the BJP a serious
fight in Assam after remaining in power for just over a decade. Though
the BJP has formally forged an alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad and
appointed a new state party chief, it is still depending on the Congress
rebels to give it a majority. Buoyed by winning seven of the 14 Lok
Sabha seats in 2014, the BJP is confident of forming a government on its
own. The party led in 79 of the 126 Assembly segments during the Lok
Sabha elections although it had won barely five seats in 2011. Its share
of popular votes rose tremendously from 11.45 per cent in 2011 to
36.50 per cent in 2014. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to party managers, both Modi
and Shah have decided to move manpower and resources to Assam and win it
at any cost. Though it has indirectly projected Union Minister of State
for Sports Sarbananda Sonawal as its chief ministerial candidate
against Gogoi, it dreads an unprecedented backlash from the Muslim
community, which determines the outcome in about 30 seats. The
Muslim-dominated AIUDF won 16 of the minority seats and led in 24
segments in 2014. The Congress party is already trying to strike a
strategic alliance with the Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF to defeat the
BJP+AGP combination. West Bengal’s case is more dire. There, the BJP is
faced with the same threat of polarisation of votes along religious
lines to prevent the division of anti-Mamata votes. The party has only
one MLA in the current Assembly and has not been able to groom a
state-level leader even after leading in 24 Assembly segments. In
southern states, the party is conspicuous by its token presence outside
the state Assemblies. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well, 2016 is not 2014 when Narendra
Damodardas Modi was taller than all the other leaders put together. In
2016, he may still be the tallest leader individually, but the BJP has
failed to create anyone who can stand up to the likes of Mamata,
Jayalalithaa and Nitish Kumar. Going by the early signals, both Mamata
and Jayalalithaa are likely to romp home with handsome victories while
the Left may stage a comeback in Kerala. For the BJP to prove to the
country that the Modi-Shah partnership wasn’t a one-knock wonder, it
needs to beat or at least repeat its 2014 Lok Sabha performance in terms
of vote share.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong></div>
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-25672174039186332652016-02-29T14:00:00.000+05:302016-03-07T14:09:59.692+05:30Women with Power of Durga ...Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard / February 28, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="widget storyContent article widget-editable viziwyg-section-167 inpage-widget-276059
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Women with Power of Durga and Modern Mind Can Show the Way Forward in Politics
</span></b></div>
</div>
<img alt="Smriti Irani (left) and Mayawati" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Women.jpg/2016/02/27/article3300217.ece/alternates/w620/Women.jpg" /><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Smriti Irani (left) and Mayawati
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ancient Hindu philosophy depicts the balance of the universe as
dependent on the perfect harmony of the male and female principle. The
rise of 38-year-old Union HRD Minister Smriti Zubin Irani symbolises the
growing shakti of the female voice in Indian politics. Irrespective of
the aggression and strategic nuances of the content of her speeches
within and outside Parliament, Irani has set new paradigm of the
fiercely uncompromising incarnation of the New Woman Politician. On the
face of it, she is just one of the 95 female MPs in Parliament. But ever
since she took over as India’s youngest and first woman education
minister, she has dominated the academic and political narrative. For
the past few months, she has been grabbing headlines and prime time
space for her ministerial performance. Never before has an education
minister occupied the mind space of opinion-makers for so long. Is it
because she is a woman who has successfully stormed a male bastion? Many
adore her. Many more abhor her. But there is hardly anyone of relevance
who can afford to ignore Smriti Irani. The force of her decisions and
assertions, wrong or right, shakes up the most complacent in the
establishment. She has admitted to not holding a degree from any
glamorous university. Yet a large majority of elitist institutions
worldwide are engaged in dissecting and disparaging her personality.
Many of her admirers claim that she is a target not because she belongs
to the Sangh Parivar, but because she articulates her ideology and
beliefs much more convincingly than many of her Ivy League detractors.
She has even been mocked as “Aunty National”—a blatantly sexist
description by any standards—by a smuttily snooty and nefarious
neo-aristocracy. Unfortunately, to the chagrin of many of the exclusive
Indo-Anglian club, a girl from a lower middle class locality of New
Delhi speaks fluent English and delivers her arguments more vigorously
than most of them. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Such vicious personal attacks are reminiscent
of the verbal venom spewed at late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Undoubtedly, she was the author of many controversial decisions. The
reality, however, was that she took on the male-dominated world of
politics and taught many of her seniors lessons in powercraft. When she
challenged the Syndicate’s supremacy, they responded by splitting the
Congress. Yet, by sheer force of personality and conviction, Mrs Gandhi
was able to decimate her opponents within and outside her party in three
years. During her 16-year tenure as Prime Minister, with a brief
interruption in between, she remained the most preferred target of her
political foes until her assassination in October 1984. Today, there are
many fearless women of substance who face resolute resistance from
their male and even female opponents; for example, take three former and
current women chief ministers—Mamata Banerjee, J Jayalalithaa and
Mayawati. None of them have been accorded the political respect normally
given to male chief ministers. All three remain in the crosshairs of
their adversaries. In Delhi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has always
been on top of the list of her political enemies as the target for the
choicest of adjectives.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Despite facing continuous antagonism, most
women leaders, from Irani to Jayalalithaa, have succeeded in creating
popular acceptability and an independent space for themselves. Sonia has
broken the record for holding the post of the longest-serving Congress
president in the history of the 130-year-old party. It is the example of
their patience and prowess that is inspiring more and more women to
become lawmakers at the Centre and in the states. The current Parliament
has the largest number of women MPs ever. Even in the states, one out
of 10 MLAs is a woman.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Irani is the latest icon in the pantheon of
India’s powerful female leadership, who is not only dictating the
national agenda but is also proving beyond doubt that it is merit that
has raised her to the position she holds than anything else. With more
and more women participating in debates and dialogues, all political
parties are looking for opportunities to replace non-productive male
leaders with effective women warriors. As the HRD minister launched her
high-powered verbal fusillade against her detractors in the House last
week, the Congress couldn’t find an alternative woman leader to counter
her with equal, if not more, voltage. Of the 31 women MPs in the Rajya
Sabha, the Congress has the largest number—nine. The BJP has just four.
But most of the Congress grande dames are too old or ill-equipped to
face the feisty minister. MPs like Wansuk Syiem from Meghalaya, Viplava
Thakur from Himachal Pradesh and Naznin Faruque from Assam have hardly
made any impact in Parliament. Frankly, it was not the Congress but
Mayawati who gave Irani a run for her money as a champion of her core
constituency. Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma are
formidable voices, but they are helpless to counter the political
artillery of the acclaimed actor-turned-politician. Other senior leaders
like former Union ministers Mohsina Kidwai and Ambika Soni are
conspicuous by their non-participation in any heated debate. From the
non-BJP parties, only Mayawati and Jaya Bachchan have been able to make
an impression with their interventions.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the Lok Sabha too, the
Congress lacks powerful female speakers. On the other hand, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi ensured that comparatively younger women
candidates were given tickets during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The
average age of women MPs is 47 as against 54 for men. The younger lot
belongs to the BJP. Led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, the
saffron bloc is packed with powerful women orators like Kirron Kher,
Meenakshi Lekhi, Poonam Mahajan and Maneka Gandhi. The Congress, with
its paltry 45 MPs, has hardly any women gladiator except first-timers
like Sushmita Dev from Assam. With the emergence of Irani and her type,
the Congress has to realise that Sonia Gandhi alone is not enough to
move the masses. She needs the assistance of more shaktis in the Indira
mould. Indian politics is stuck at the crossroads of a gender crisis,
from where only women possessing the magnanimity of a mother, the
unconquerable power of Durga, and the multidimensional perspective of a
modern mind will show the right way forward.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<b>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</b></div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-53513891476482345602016-02-22T12:30:00.000+05:302016-03-07T13:32:31.917+05:30Save Symbols of Nationalism from ...... Power & Politics/ The Sunday Standard / February 21, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="">
Save Symbols of Nationalism from Becoming Victims of Divisive Agenda of Neo-liberals
</h1>
<img alt="Police stop demonstrating students during a protest at JNU" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Save.jpg/2016/02/21/article3288292.ece/alternates/w620/Save.jpg" /><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Police stop demonstrating students during a protest at JNU </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="body ">
Nations whose nationalism is destroyed are subject to ruin— Mahatma Gandhi.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The
poignant irony of ideology is that the Father of the Nation would have
never imagined that India would be debating the concept of nationalism
seven decades after his martyrdom. And that too over the arrest of a
student leader from one of India’s 500-odd universities. The paradox of
patriotism is that the noble notion of nationalism is under threat from
those individuals who swear by Gandhi’s nationalistic legacy. Last week,
the entire Indian society was dangerously divided over the definition
and desirability of swearing by one’s nation and her integrity. For a
class of liberal opportunists, nationalism is just another adjective to
be used or misused to propagate the idea of a country without borders
and exercise the freedom to damage and insult the avowed symbols of
India’s pride. There are many counterfeit liberals, who bask in the
illusion that nationalism is just another marketable product, which can
be peddled on the auction block to the highest bidder from India or
abroad. They don’t seem to understand that for a mammoth number of
people, nationalism is an article of faith. India’s National Anthem, its
Tricolour and borders are the three undisputed and non-negotiable
pillars of nationalism.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hence it is tragic that in India exists a
cabal of conspirators, who, bound by their idea of education and
political predilections, has made these three symbols a matter of
dispute. The questionable activities that happened at the Jawaharlal
Nehru University were aimed at demolishing the idea of India. The
involvement of JNU Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar may be a
matter of dispute and judicial scrutiny. In a free country like India,
anyone can legitimately question the invoking of a dubious sedition
charge against Kanhaiya. But there is not even a shred of doubt that the
motives of the organisers and participants at a gathering on campus
were to glorify Afzal Guru, the Indian Guy Fawkes who was hanged for
conspiring the 2001 Parliament attack. Yet, ever since Guru went to the
scaffold and an unmarked grave, a section of the intelligentsia and
illiberals has been mocking the Indian state and its highest judiciary
for sending him to the gallows. Such is the fate of all traitors
worldwide, ever since the history of nation-states began. None of the
propagandists of “freedom of speech” are questioning an undisputable
anti-national event where slogans like ‘Bharat Ki Barbadi (destruction
of India)’ were raised. Even the pro-Guru event organised by a former
Delhi University teacher SAR Geelani at the Press Club of India was
ignored by them. They have been able to convert it into an episode
celebrating freedom of opinion and academic autonomy. Many of them have
been educated in the US or UK. Have any of these professional pundits of
pseudo-patriotism ever heard of any American or British institution
lauding and eulogising the killers of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther
King or John Kennedy? Have they ever attended any seminar held by the
American establishment to discuss water boarding at GITMO? American,
Russian and European forces are killing hundreds of terrorists in Syria,
Iraq and elsewhere on a daily basis. Why have none of our modern
freedom fighters ever raised a finger against them? The current US
Presidential election is dominated by the issue of saving the nation
from the terror threat and debating the morality of banning a certain
community from entering the US. Never before has an American derided the
‘Star Spangled Banner’ or mutilated their national flag. Instead, they
display it with pride even in their front yards to signalise the power
of democratic beliefs.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But in India, invent-a-cause and
hire-a-crowd has become remunerative for political parties, which have
been dining out on secularism ever since the word became an apology for
cynicism. The protest against Kanhaiya’s arrest wasn’t confined to New
Delhi. A bigger protest march was organised in Jadavpur University,
where students raised anti-India slogans and supported the ‘Azadi’
rhetoric raised by Guru. Even media organisations and journalists took
sides in the fight between supporters of nationalism and its opponents.
Many of them pleaded to understand the psyche of the student, which is
rebellious by nature. But the modern Indian student is more interested
in MBA than Marx.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Undoubtedly, it was the loony faction of the
BJP, which provided a handle to the illiberals to pillory the government
by attacking journalists, while the issue of the deification of
terrorists and their tool-wielders was pushed under the secular carpet.
Since the JNU event was organised by some extremists from J&K, it
was clearly an attempt to jeopardise India’s unity. These are the same
elements that refuse to sing the National Anthem or hoist Tricolour in
the Valley.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The current confrontation between the Left and Liberal
Lampoonists on one side and the Saffron forces on the other is an
attempt to weaken the symbols of nationalism by converting the JNU issue
into a cry against suppression of dissent. If intelligence agencies are
to be believed, the country will face more attacks on the idea of an
inclusive India, its flag and its National Anthem. Some parties even
questioned the timing of the HRD ministry’s decision to direct Central
universities to hoist the Tricolour in campuses. Both the Jana Gana Mana
and National Flag were conceived by genuinely nationalist and secular
leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel and Maulana Azad. But in India,
the duplicity of dissenters is being passed off as virtues. Many of
them call themselves Hindus, yet they oppose integral Hindu traditions.
They support the ban on cow slaughter but relish a Kobe beefsteak, well
done. The bathos of their crocodile tears is that even as they mourn the
killing of our jawans, they toil to prove their secular credentials to
Pak diplomats. They take out candle light processions and lobby for the
continuation of the Indo-Pak dialogue over the graves of our soldiers.
They turn a blind eye to the Obama administration’s duplicitous decision
to provide F-16s to Pakistan, which will be eventually used not for
peacekeeping but against India.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The blame for the revival of
ersatz-liberalism lies at the door of a section of the ruling
establishment. The trigger to shrink PM Modi’s gigantic stature was
provided to his detractors from within. Modi has to evolve a mechanism
to prevent India, the Tricolour and Tagore’s immortal ode to nationalism
from becoming victims of the divisive agenda of the neo-liberalists.
After all, nationalism threatens their luxurious existence.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong></div>
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-84486494529427493362016-02-15T13:00:00.000+05:302016-03-07T13:21:26.957+05:30Burning Air Miles to wee High and Mighty ...... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard/ February 14, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="">
Burning Air Miles to Woo High and Mighty, Naidu Shrinks His Political Share at Home
</h1>
<img alt="Naidu with Yoshiro Tanaka, chairman of Mayekawa Manufacturing Ltd" src="http://media.newindianexpress.com/Burning.jpg/2016/02/14/article3275855.ece/alternates/w620/Burning.jpg" /><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Naidu with Yoshiro Tanaka, chairman of Mayekawa Manufacturing Ltd </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
A vassal with a vessel has become PM Narendra Modi’s man at alms. Of
the five southern CMs, Andhra Pradesh’s Chandrababu Naidu is perhaps the
most mobile and visible political chief executive of any state. He is
in New Delhi almost every month, either to seek special status for his
state or special packages from Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
After NDA II came in, he has visited the capital 23 times and spent 27
days—the highest number of days any CM has spent in the capital. Naidu
is on the prowl. Going by his mobility, both in India and abroad, he is
spreading his carbon footprint far and wide. And he is quite proud of
it. He thinks burning air miles is the most effective way of making his
state globally known. A few months after taking over as chief minister
in June 2014, Naidu asserted, “Our state needs proper marketing and I
have done that for Hyderabad in the past. Now I will do it for Andhra
Pradesh. Every two or three months, I will visit a foreign country.”
Even after 20 months in office, his Market Andhra mission is still to
deliver dividends. Naidu’s office is always seeking new destinations at
home and overseas for him to visit and organise road shows to attract
investment. So far, he has visited five countries over seven visits and
has spent 29 days trying to convince global investors and MNCs to put
their money where his mouth is.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Andhra leader’s current woes
stem from the steadily declining financial position of his state.
According to reports, Andhra Pradesh’s first budget after the division
of the state revealed a revenue deficit of `60.6 billion for 2014-15. It
got worse during the second budget, when the revenue deficit saw a
substantial upward revision to `142.4 billion because revenue generation
had declined by 9 per cent. Even now the state cannot meet 25 per cent
of its capital expenditure. The chief minister, however, is obsessed
with the construction of new capital Amravati. Naidu expects that he
would showcase his expertise in creating modern cities by making
Amravati one of the world’s state-of-the-art metropolises. He had earned
global laurels by making Hyderabad one of the most attractive IT cities
of India when the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was part of NDA I. Despite
his love for technology, Naidu was mauled in the state elections and
remained out of power for over a decade.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But the Andhra apothecary
of financial ailments hasn’t given up his obsession with foreign
investments and chasing glamorous infrastructure ideas, when instead he
should be focusing on deliving basic amenities to the majority of the
five crore denizens of his state. For the past 19 months, he has been
spending more time with foreign or Indian corporate leaders to set up
new projects in a state, which is not showing any significant rise in
demand. During his trips abroad or to New Delhi, Naidu has been
parroting the same demands to potential investors and political leaders.
For example, he has visited Singapore twice. In November 2014, he spent
three days inspecting wastewater treatment systems and studying the
Singapore Model for the development of a new capital for Andhra. He was
back there in September 2015 to discuss details for the development of
Amravati and invite Singaporean PM for the inauguration function to be
held weeks later.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A similar story unfolded during his two visits
to Japan. He flew to Tokyo first in November 2014 for a five-day trip.
He signed four important agreements with Sumitomo and persuaded Isuzu to
show some interest in investing in Andhra Pradesh. He was back in Japan
nine months later to convince them all over again to set up new plants
or at least open offices in his state. Being comfortable in the company
of corporate honchos, Naidu is one of the few CMs who are conspicuous by
their presence at the World Economic Forum—an annual rendezvous for the
world’s rich and mighty who go to Davos to make merry and network at
lavish dinner parties than do any serious business. Naidu was present in
2015 and 2016, and confabulated with numerous MNCs in a specially
created meeting hall where officials from his state made hi-tech
presentations. It’s true that Naidu seems to be dead serious about what
he is doing, but so far, he is yet to make public the outcome of his
foreign forays. This has forced even his party leaders and opposition to
question his opulent style, while pillorying him for neglecting the
state’s drought-affected areas.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Even his capability to influence
Modi is under scrutiny. Two decades ago, Naidu was the kingmaker. In
1996, he played a key role in making both HD Deve Gowda and I K Gujral
Prime Ministers. He could gain any concessions for his state from the
Centre. But this time, he has hardly succeeded in getting a special
financial package or status for his state. Two weeks ago, he was in
Delhi to persuade Modi to grant Andhra special status—a demand made
twice earlier. Naidu has adopted any excuse to get a boarding pass to
Delhi, whether to hold meetings with medical equipment manufacturers, to
invite PM Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and other Union ministers to
attend Amaravati’s foundation stone-laying ceremony or to meet numerous
ministers to get various pending projects off the tarmac. None of the
other non-BJP chief ministers such as Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee,
Akhilesh Yadav or Jayalalithaa are seen in New Delhi chasing Modi’s
ministers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Many TDP leaders in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are
unhappy over Naidu’s excessive periods of absence from state politics.
Some are even deserting the party. After being routed in the recent
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, the TDP is now facing
an exodus of MLAs and the threat of being reduced to a non-entity in
Telangana. Last week, the TDP legislator from Quthbullapur, A P
Vivekananda Goud, joined the ruling TRS and claimed more desertions
would follow. The TDP won 16 Assembly seats in 2014. About half the
legislators have left the party. If Naidu’s party is on the verge of
extinction in Telangana, it is also confronted with massive
disenchantment in Andhra Pradesh. Most party leaders, including MLAs,
have been unable to meet the CM for a long time. Naidu’s over-emphasis
on urban development at the cost of ignoring rural areas and small towns
has provided ammo to his foe KCR to create an adverse political
atmosphere against the TDP in Andhra Pradesh. Naidu’s future lies more
in making his state a viable, stable and healthy entity than creating
isolated oases of affluence. By flying high at state expense to woo the
high-end audiences, he is shrinking his share in the local political
marketplace to a shadow of what it was.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</b></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6232321880566144480.post-35394478425449631622016-02-08T11:30:00.000+05:302016-02-09T19:49:29.223+05:30J & K Logjam shows politics of ...... Power & Politics / The Sunday Standard / February 07, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h1 class="" style="text-align: center;">
J and K Logjam Shows Politics of Additionalism Can't be at the Cost of Ideology of Idealism</h1>
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Experiments have dynamics, delivery and destiny of their own. In
Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP’s experiment to form a coalition government
with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was fated to end in frustration,
fiasco and failure. In new age politics, the Ideology of Idealism has
been replaced by the Politics of Additionalism. Instead of rationality,
the arithmetic of additionality is the new mantra to grab more and more
of the political market share. Parties are forging alliances
indiscriminately just for power’s sake. The BJP-PDP deal forged in
February 2015 was seen as a masterstroke. For the first time, the
saffron party became a part of the ruling dispensation in a state where
the BJP’s progenitor Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee spent his dying days in
despair in a dilapidated jailhouse. BJP President Amit Shah and PM
Narendra Modi walked the extra mile to accommodate the sentiment and
concerns of late J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to form
the government on March 1, 2015. For the BJP, it was a chance to bring
the Valley into mainstream politics. For the PM, an alliance with a
party sympathetic to the separatist cause was a trophy to show the rest
of the world that the BJP has the democratic mandate to rule the state. A
formal Common Minimum Programme (CMP) was finalised. As long as Sayeed
was alive, the coadunation machine was cruising along at a comfortable
speed despite the undercurrents of ideological turbulence. Both parties
were bound by the electoral verdict to keep the National Conference (NC)
and Congress away from power. Over 65 per cent of J&K voters defied
the terror threat and voted. But they gave a fractured verdict. For the
BJP, it was its best performance ever in the J&K Assembly polls.
Though the party’s maximum haul was from Jammu—it polled 23 per cent of
the total votes as against 22.7 by the PDP, 20.8 by NC and 18 by the
Congress.<br />
<br />
But fate is a fickle mistress. Despite the decisive
mandate, Sayeed took over two months to form an alliance with the BJP.
Shah and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti announced that they had “ironed
out” their ideological differences. Finally, Sayeed took over as the CM
and senior BJP leader Nirmal Singh was sworn in as the state’s first
non-Muslim deputy CM. This implied that the NDA government at the Centre
could depend on the PDP’s support in Parliament. But the seeds of
discord were nascent in the CMP itself. It stated the coalition
government would ensure “all-round development of Jammu and Kashmir” and
follow the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (with all, the
development of all)’. It was agreed that controversial and contentious
issues such as Article 370 and the Arms Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA)
would be referred to a high-power committee, which would be represented
by both parties and a few eminent non-political personalities. But
within a few days of swearing-in, Sayeed gave the credit for the high
voter turnout to separatists and Pakistan’s non-interference in
Kashmir’s tortured politics. “If, God forbid, the Hurriyat and militants
tried to disrupt the elections, these would not have been as
participative as they had been,” the CM said. This was challenged by the
BJP. Over last year, the partners were engaged in shadow boxing over
Article 370 and the issue of hoisting the state flag along with the
Tricolour. The 56-year-old Mehbooba had always been uncomfortable with
the BJP’s ideological push in the state administration. Now, her
father’s demise has led both agonised allies to do ideological
introspection. Mehbooba had the sudden epiphany that PDP’s association
with the BJP was unpopular with her core constituency in the Valley.
Sayeed’s agenda had been to get a Central financial package for J&K
and very little about issues like more autonomy to the state. Today, his
daughter wants the political issues to be settled first before deciding
to restore the coalition government. On its part, the BJP leadership,
including Modi, has decided to stick to what they call the ‘Mufti
Vision’ and refuse to settle for anything less.<br />
<br />
Mehbooba is
unwilling to lose PDP’s political space to its arch rival NC by making
concessions to the BJP. She was shocked to discover that Sayeed’s
funeral, held at his hometown in Bijbehara, was poorly attended while a
few days later, the funeral of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Shakir Ahmad
in nearby Pulwama drew a mammoth mass. Unlike Sayeed, Mehbooba has
always had a soft corner for the separatist cause. Though she joined
politics in 1996 as a Congress MLA from the Valley, she has persistently
opposed the “excessive repression” of Kashmiris by the Central military
forces. She was at the forefront of agitations against fake encounters.
All of 2015, she had mostly stayed away from any dialogue with BJP
leaders; the strategy was to project Sayeed as the dove and Mehbooba as
the hawk. Now, she is acting true to form, seeking a credible assurance
from Modi to oblige her agenda—scrapping AFSPA, getting the Army to
vacate land under its supervision, and the return of power projects from
the National Hydro Power Corporation—before forging an alliance.
Meanwhile, both the NC and Congress are mounting pressure on her to
fulfil the promises made to Kashmiris. The BJP is unwilling to totally
abandon its hardline nationalist and Hindutva policy. Most of its
leaders, both from the state and Centre, are against giving any
concessions to Mehbooba. The party is caught between a rock and a hard
place.<br />
<br />
The J&K imbroglio has forced it to rethink its strategy
on forming alliances with ideological adversaries for the sake of
getting a share in the government. In other coalitions, the BJP is
suffering because of the unsatisfactory performance of regional allies
like the Akali Dal in Punjab and Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP in Bihar.
Adventurist exercises like roping in caste dons in the Bihar elections
didn’t yield results. Party insiders feel the Politics of Additionalism
should be used to add to its kitty more voters and workers instead of
caste and communal leaders. The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra is
already riddled with conflict, bringing disrepute to the state BJP
leaders.<br />
<br />
L K Advani, the maestro of the Art of Additionality, had
roped in a legion of regional parties to form the 24-party NDA coalition
at the Centre in 1998. It lost the elections in 2004 and 2009 because
most BJP’s allies dumped it to protect their ideological identity.
History is repeating itself. Modi and Shah stand to lose the BJP’s core
constituency in J&K thanks to the BJP-PDP squabbles. Insiders feel
that the party’s leadership should abjure the statecraft of striking
deals or risk facing political isolation. To gain a durable and natural
expansion of the BJP’s and NDA’s acceptability in the long run, the Twin
Turbos need to stick to their intrinsic ideology and agenda for
governance.<br />
<br />
<strong>prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me on Twitter @PrabhuChawla</strong><br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
Prabhu Chawlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06119001489920599205noreply@blogger.com0