BJP seems to have shot itself in the foot!

Bharatiya Janata Party has once again decided to play its Hindutva card for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in India. BJP which is part of a larger National Democratic Alliance had a 50-50 chance in 2004 general elections as an incumbent party. It was shocked when it was defeated because of its failure to look after the rural population. NDA at that time was led by highly regarded Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and a record of solid performance. Ever since Vajpayee retired as the head of the alliance, BJP and NDA have gone back to an old and discredited ideology of Hindutva. Do they really believe that this is a winning platform? If they do then they are stone deaf to the voters of this country. Lal Krishna Advani ought to know this!

There are 30 million middle class voters like me in India who are not exactly thrilled to see UPA back in power. When we look at the alternatives, we either stay at home or are resigned to vote for the Indian National Congress and by implication the United Progressive Alliance. Indian voter for some strange reason had the impression that NDA was tougher on the national security issues. It could be because India carried out the nuclear tests under Vajpayee’s leadership. Similarly, Advani was considered a tough Minister for Home Affairs, notwithstanding his actual record! Whatever the merits for voting the BJP to power, it was certainly not for building a ‘Ram Mandir’ or saving the outlandish and a relatively recent phenomenon of ‘Ram Sethu’.

India has been included in G-8 plus 5 as well as in G-20 summits not because of Hindutva, Ram Mandir or Ram Sethu, but despite such backward tribal issues. Indians do not consider themselves as ‘Hindus’ specifically, they are just happy to be a part of the rising tide of India. Indians are thrilled to have a Zaheer Khan and a Harbhajan Singh demolishing the New Zealand cricket team. They are proud of Ratan Tata to have produced a ‘Tata Nano’ or a Rehman for giving music scores for the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire. They are not obsessed with some remote Ram Janmabhoomi or long forgotten Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. India is a rising power and could become the biggest economy in the world by the middle of this century. Does it behove India to have a racist political party? Just THINK about it!

How would you rate P. Chidambaram as a Home Minister?

Palaniappan Chidambaram has just completed 4 months as the new Home Minister of India. How would you rate his performance so far? Let us not compare him to his predecessor Shivraj Patil as that would be an extreme, comparing him to Sardar Patel would be another extreme! Let us judge him for what he was expected to do and what he has achieved. P Chidambaram was thrust into this position in post 26/11 atmosphere when the whole nation was disgusted by the country’s most timid Home Minister, Shivraj Patil of Maharashtra, a sycophant of the Nehru/Gandhi cabal. This dandy (Shivraj Patil) disgraced the country but Bal Thackeray and his Shiv Sena had no complaints with him. So much for their phony ‘Hindutva’ and patriotism!

Since November 30, 2008 when Chidambaram was forced into this position, much to his displeasure, he has performed reasonably well. Except for one minor incident in Assam on January 9, 2009 , there has been some form of stability in the internal security apparatus of India. Chidambaram has been the most pro-active Home Minister in India in a very long time. He is not waiting for the next terrorist attack but has been busy reconstructing the outdated internal security infrastructure in India. This Minister for Home Affairs is adamant on creating the nation-wide hub for National Security Guards and at the same time building an effective and credible Indian Coast Guard . If we had him as our Home Minister to begin with, we might not have been so vulnerable in the first place. Just THINK about this observation!

Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta interviews P Chidambaram on the show ‘Walk The Talk’

Indian Police is threatening the secular fabric of India!

Has India’s stature shrunk after the crisis?

What ‘crisis infrastructure’ is Ratan Tata talking about?

Often wisdom is better than misplaced-valor

The audacity of terror!

Indian Police, our first line of defense!

Is India ready for international terrorism?

Aamcha ‘Coast Guard’ jhopla ka?

India must introduce the ‘National Guard’, now!

India must develop a Blue-Water Navy…

Sakaram and Pandurang to fight terror with a ‘danda’!

A Biswajeet in the Government of India…

Indian political choice, bad to worst?

The NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government proclaimed, “India Shining” in 2004 and called for general elections. They got a drubbing at the hustling. Obviously a majority of the population did not agree with NDA’s assessment. As a result the Congress Party managed to form another coalition under UPA (United Progressive Alliance) and formed the government on May 13, 2004. After nearly 5 years, people feel cheated by a weak central government and are eager to see it defeated. The question is what are their options? The emerging Hindutva demagogue?

People in India had great regard and affection for Atal Bihari Vajpayee personally but not much for his Bharatiya Janata Party. The voters also felt safe with people like Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha but not necessarily Lal Krishna Advani. Something similar is the situation with Indian National Congress. Indians consider Dr Manmohan Singh as good and decent man and a competent economist. They are also confident with people like P Chidambaram and Kamal Nath but not with Pranab Mukherjee, Lalu Prasad Yadav, A K Anthony and Sharad Pawar. People certainly do not want the Left Front to be a part of any Central Government in India.

India is the largest bottoms-up democracy in the world and therefore the middle class has no representation in the political process. The rural vote banks overwhelm the urban minority and you have leaders like Mayawati and Lalu Yadav controlling all the political power in the states and the national parliament. To correct this balance, we first need to define the ‘Middle Class’ in India. Conventional wisdom is that India has as large as 300 million strong, middle class in the country. My observation is that this number is over stated and misrepresents the definition of middle-class. A better way to define the middle class is not only the level of education and material worth but to quantify the social skills as well. You need to THINK about it!

India is the second largest “English Speaking” country in the world, after the United States of America. More than 10% of the population conducts its business and communicates in English language. This might seem a small percentage but the absolute number is huge. You are talking about a group of more than 100 million people. Can you imagine what a vote bank of hundred million people achieve in a country like India? If this group of English speaking people is represented by a new party called the ‘Middle Class Party of India’, it would dictate the politics of India!

Bajrang Dal must be banned immediately

Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Shiv Sena are all criminal organizations and must be banned without any delay. At the same time, the Central Government must also ban the Indian Mujahideen (IM), Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and All Parties Hurriyat Conference. These are all anti-national outfits and do not represent either Hindus or Muslims on the main street. I am personally a ‘Hindu Hardliner’ and I take pride in India. My family has spent blood and treasure for the last 150 years for the freedom of India when these so-called Hindus were nowhere to be seen. Once we kicked the British out of the country, the phony Hindus come out on the streets. I am no pseudo-secularist but I take pride in our diversity. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and all the minorities are our own blood. So what if they follow a different god, Don’t we all? Stop this ‘Hindutva’ garbage!

Bal Thackeray – An Interview @ Aajtak – Part-1

Bal Thackeray – An Interview @ Aajtak – Part-2

Bal Thackeray – An Interview @ Aajtak – Part-3

A middle-aged and senile BJP?

Who could have imagined just four years back when the BJP was riding high and India was shining, that NDA (National Democratic Alliance) could be defeated? The congress party was like a retired group of bureaucrats running around in circles. Then the general elections were held in 2004 and the bottom fell under the BJP’s feet! What really happened? Was it just the incumbency fatigue or the rural disillusionment, or both? It could also be a cocky attitude of the BJP and it’s allies. Whatever the reason, BJP is still in the wilderness. True they have done very well in State Elections but nationally their chances look bleak. The main reason for their lack of support is the Hindutva platform. Atal Bihari Vajpayee understood and to some extent even Lal Krishan Advani has been aware of this. But the rank and file of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) appears to be stone deaf to this national anxiety.

The leadership of BJP is either very old or full of middle-aged politicians. There appears to be no young blood waiting in the wings. Bharatiya Janata Party has leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishan Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh on one side who are all 70 years old or more. On the other hand there are leaders like Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar, Gopinath Munde, Vinay Katiyar, Narendra Modi, Vasundhara Raje, Prem Kumar Dhumal, B S Yeddyurappa, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Sushma Swaraj, who are all 50 years old or above. Besides, they all are too ideological for any national acceptance. Vajpayee was their best face that was acceptable to a broad range of opinions. Advani is not bad either as despite his hard-line rhetoric, he would make a fine Prime Minister. The problem is this ‘damn Hindutva’ that does not go too well with most Indians, including majority of Hindus.

Barkha Dutt interviews L.K. Advani for NDTV : Part 1

Barkha Dutt interviews L.K. Advani for NDTV : Part 2

Barkha Dutt interviews L.K. Advani for NDTV : Part 3

Barkha Dutt interviews L.K. Advani for NDTV : Part 4

Barkha Dutt interviews L.K. Advani for NDTV : Part 5