Saturday, April 5, 2014

General Election 2014: Whom should I select?

General elections are just few weeks away, and in current situation we have chaotic environment of accusation, development models, policies and issues. Various political parties are pushing their ideologies in front of us in order to get our votes. There are three people are around the core of this election and they are Mr. Narendra Modi, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal and Mr. Rahul Gandhi and there several other options which I don’t find laudable enough to put any views on them not because they limited in various regions and it is very hard to put them all in under one coalition which can form a stable government. But I must admit there are several very highly honest and competent leaders in various regional parties. I am writing this article to put my view in the public domain, it may please some, and may bite others.

Let’s take the man of the hour first “Arvind Sir” to whom I admired most, till the day he didn't resign from the post of CM of Delhi. His decision outraged  and disappointed me. Sir, you promised us change, we trusted you and then with a small hurdle you just give up, you are absolutely right about yourself you are a common man not a leader and I will cast my vote a person who can lead this nation. You give the reason that you had a minority government therefore your hands were tied up, but I think you are unaware of the fact that P.V. Narsimha Rao led congress government was the first minority government to complete its tenure and they did which the country has never witnessed in its history, they pushed the first series of economic reforms and I should remind the people that in 1991 it was almost impossible for the government to advocate the idea liberalization, privatization and globalization as we were living in the socialist and license raaj mindset from last 4 decades. But Mr. Rao had the courage to unshackle the stagnant economy from its barriers irrespective of minority government which many parties furiously opposes the move.
You wanted to push for lokpal which has been passed by parliament, certainly you don’t like but you could have given you own lokyutta more powers and independence and you could have observe how things are taking shape on corruption. After all you are CM of a state and your jurisdiction is on a state only, if you had fail once you could have pushed for other rounds but no, you gave up sating minority reasons, if Mr. Rao has done the same thing then we have been more backward then what we are today, plus you have the luxury of support from everybody including common man to fight against corruption but for Mr. Rao it was never a case.
You suddenly perform an audit of Gujarat and highlighted loop holes and told development in Gujarat is exaggerated  but sir can you please let me know what you have done in your 49 days tenure. No single fly-over, road, sewage system and even a public toilet has been sanctioned. I wouldn't say that it was an ample time to do so but I certainly wanted at-least one single step towards development, but you were most of the time indulge in politics of freebies. Sir, with due respect I want to quote as IT guy “It is easier to find defects and raise bugs in a system than to go and fix them and it is worse when it is designed or coded by other person”. In political terms what you are doing is the politics of opposition, just to oppose and criticize everything, but in the long run you would not be able to survive with this tactics. This only suits to activist.

You are making accusation against corporate houses for irregularities. I agree with you that there may be some people who might be using loop holes in the system for their personal benefits and may be indulge in corrupt practices too.  But what is the possible solution for this? Playing with accusation,echoing and sensitization of economic disparity, is exactly what naxalite group does, the only difference is that they are armed. Take Vodafone tax dispute as an example, in spite of full efforts government lost the tax liability claim to Vodafone in honorable Supreme Court of India and later government passed an amendment to fix the situation which was applicable from a retrospective date, just to get tax claimed by IT department from Vodafone.  Due to an ambiguous law government lost the case, now when they fix it, still they are in talks with Vodafone to crack a deal which is acceptable to both parties (government and Vodafone). Why they are not simply give notice and if they fail to comply shut them down as per the law.

Taking a note on the second option i.e. Congress, I surely don’t want. Mr. Gandhi although you are not part of the current government so legally you should not be blamed for their miss-deeds, but seeing your aura and position in your party I am not going to buy this story. You once express your views on an ordinance and the government takes you turn. How can you say that you were not part of the government? If you are ill-informed or unaware about the government machinery. It was your responsibility to know, to check and to be a vigilante. Congress is all about your family, sir you should have been more proactive. I will say “It is better to be guilty than being idle”.
In your recent interview you were emphasizing that you were busy with party activities which include opening up and improving the democratic process within your party. It was a appreciable job but you forgot that people has given you a mandate to run this nation as well. There were some congressmen doing this job with dedication but they failed. Didn't you see that public perception was getting adverse for the government? If yes you should have pitched in and have taken some responsibility and if the answer is no then I believe the whole discussion is of no use. After all the primary task should be governance not the party activities.But now it is good to see you taking the challenges head on, wish you good luck in future but please forgive for this time.

While considering the third and last option Mr. Modi, a man under whose government innocent peoples were killed and he fails to protect that misfortune but he has one advantage over the others in my eyes. i.e.  he got really nerves of steel , a mandatory requirement for a leader. From 2002 to till date every institutional mechanism was use at its full throttle to make him guilty in 2002 riots cases but failed. He not only holds the ground but also now making a pitch for country’s top job. A best examples one one give one rise all gains all odds. In my eyes there can be only two reasons. One he is really innocent, two he is much smarter than his peers which in turn forced me to acknowledge his capabilities. Nowadays people are getting outburst by few months media bashing. He is dealing with it from last decade.
One very profound allegation is made on him that he may be honest but his party is not. It is full of tainted people and when he comes to power he will not be able to take action against him or stop them. I find this allegation baseless because not only his few ministers go to jail in riots cases but also he super ceded his own mentor in terms of career. He cannot be blackmailed. Strong people never respond to threats. If he is vulnerable enough to be restricted, people would have done it long back. He has that caliber to take job head on and lead the people till its accomplishment. Good or bad I can’t comment on that.

Now coming to the conclusion what should I do. It will be never be a case that AAP will form government in center with a clean majority even they do they can’t even pass a single bill in parliament since they are not present in any state therefore no representation in Rajya Sabha, their all bills will be stalled and it means no governance, a possible case scenario worse than UPA-II, and given his track record in minority position and I don’t want him either. Definitely I don’t want congress and third front was never ever in my mind. So in last considering all the good and best option I have, If Mr. Modi could persuade minorities community that he will work for there development and security also then I think he is the only option as if now. 

6 comments:

  1. (1/2)
    Although I agree with you that Narendra Modi is the best suited for the top job of PM in the current political scenario, I differ with you on some of your opinions which you have presented in form of facts.

    1.) You are comparing Arvind Kejriwal's minority government in Delhi with PV Narsimha Rao's in 1991. These are completely two different scenarios. You say that Rao was able to bring so many changes in 1991 inspite of his minority Government. The changes brought by Rao were the need of the hour and all the other political parties supported it because they were not being harmed by any of the changes he did. On the other hand Kejriwal's Janlokpal was a bill which would have sent many people of other parties in Jail(or would at least start an investigation against them). So BJP and congress would never supported his bill, and the only way to get it passed was to come in majority. And to come in majority you need a fresh election, and for a fresh election the current government should resign.

    The counter argument for this could be that why Janlokpal is so important. They could have waited for 5 years and could have passed the bill in their next term.(Assuming they come to power in next term). Dear friend, In India none of the corrupt politician have been jailed and that is because of an absence of strong AntiGraft bill. So this bill was absolutely necessary to create a deterrence for corruption at all levels in the government. After all AAP was formed on this basic agenda.

    2.) You are saying Arvind Kejriwal distributed freebies and not sanctioning any "development work". My dear friend the "freebies" were interim, An audit was ordered and the electricity rates were supposed to be revisited after the audit reports.

    You went ahead and said that no development was sanctioned in his tenure, New projects are not just sanctioned in jiffy, there is always needed a study of what is required and how much would it cost. The budget was due in end of february, and based on the budget allocated only new things are sanctioned. the study for the improvement of the government Infrastructure had already stared.

    Moreover he was busy solving other more important problems that required immediate attention. The corruption helpline, admission helpline, night shelters etc, CAG audit are to name a few.

    3.) You are comparing him with naxalites and saying that he was/is "Playing with accusation,echoing and sensitization of economic disparity". Dear fried I would say that only "zero tolerance" to corruption and unethical practices can bring change that we all deserve in our socio-economic policies.

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    1. 1. How come the situation was different? It was much more difficult as Mr. Rao has outside support of left.
      2. Ordering thing is not enough you had to take it till completion. Nowadays his much of decisions are overturned.
      3. This point was precisely advocate the idea to fix the the loop holes, not sensitize the issue, you still don't have answer to vodafone tax dispute, hyperlink is provided for details.

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    2. 1. As I said, BJP congress would not have supported because that would bill would have put their own people in jail. So its different.

      2. It would be taken till completion, Let him come to power again. He knew that he would win again, that's why he asked for fresh elections. He did not fled as a lot of people are saying, Fleeing is when you do not want to come again, and that is not the case.

      and FYI Rao managed by enagaging in "deals" with BJP and other parties time to time. Also the by-elections helped him

      3. I would say again, "zero tolerance" is what is required right now. It is bound to get sensational if you raise your voices agains the mighty.

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  2. (2/2)
    Now speaking of Narendra Modi, you present him as "A true Leader" and with a man who got "nerves of steel".

    I would reiterate that he is the best option available but not because he is good but because others are worse. I definitely do not want congress or third front to be in power and AAP is a little immature and lack organization to handle federal governance.

    Having said that, I would not expect that after Modi comes to power that things will change and we will have corruption free government and India would become a great developed country. That is because, you my friend along with a lot of people in the country failed to understand the basic concept of India's democracy.

    India has a parliamentary form of Government(in contrast with the Presidential form in the US). In India people choose their representatives in the Lower house of the parliament who become the lawmakers of our nation. The political party with the highest number of elected MPs is invited by the President to form a government and is required to prove a majority in Lok Sabha, and these elected MPs choose their leader who becomes the Prime Minister.

    With BJP declaring their leader before the elections, combined with all the media hype and publicity Indian elections have become a presidential form of election and people are discussing who is the better PM and deciding on that their vote. Instead, the discussion should be who is the best person to represent them in the parliament. The Indian elections were designed that way.

    So its not Modi who is going to come in power, its BJP who is going to come in power. And it is full of corrupt and criminal minded people. So when you say that he cannot be "Blackmailed", you are completely mistaken. It would not be possible for him to bring in strong anti-corruption laws or any other laws which would affect BJP's MPs.

    When I caste my vote I would be checking the credentials of the candidates of my constituency, the party he represents and the capabilities of his party leader. Please note "all these three combined together'. I would not vote for a corrupt person in my constituency just because his leader is Narendra Modi.

    It made me really sad when you said "he is much smarter than his peers which in turn forced me to acknowledge his capabilities". What did you mean here.? You are impressed because he was able to dodge the legal machinery and got himself a "clean chit" even though he was not innocent. My friend if you believe he is innocent and then you are endorsing him, its completely fine. But if you think he is guilty and you appreciate his tactics to befool the law, then its very much detrimental for our democracy.

    At the end I would like to say that even though Arvind Kejriwal may not be the best candidate for Prime Minister in 2014, but he represents the "the new form politics". The politics which India deserved since 1947. The politics citing which BJP was formed, but deviated. So if a candidate in my constituency represents AAP he is representing this new politics and if the BJP candidate is "communal or corrupt or criminal or carrying his family's legacy ", I would vote for AAP.

    As my friend Chandra points out "Arvind Kejriwal has shown me something, which I cannot not expect to see even in my wildest dream. After Delhi election, I have realized, what have been written in theory of democracy has real practical impact.",

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    1. what you have telling is true but name one party which's prime ministerial candidate you are not aware? AAP/congress etc. At least BJP has declared it in advance. Just for FYI in past congress has always declared its PM candidate, whatever you are telling is only theoretical.
      I am not a fan of Modi but just think for a moment how hard in this country for a lower caste ( I didn't wanted to put this logic but I have to ) person to rise in top position. Did you know anybody apart from Dr. B R Ambedkar? from one decade every institution mechanism was put in place to back him down, but failed. Please have some generosity to acknowledge it. Many BJP leaders have tried there aura to create a mutiny but failed, I don't want to take names.
      In last, my point only point is in 2014 general election I have to select an option, regarding the current scenario I have to select a practical option. Even AAP wins with overwhelming majority they can't get a single bill passed in parliament as they have no representation in Rajya Sabha.
      I agree that Mr. Kejriwal has brought many positive in current political arena but for current situation Mr. Modi is a viable option. But in 2019 in will be a good scenario when it will be a BJP v/s AAP. I will love it

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    2. I had already conceded that Mr Modi is the best PM candidate we have right now, And I agree that AAP does not have any representation is States and hence none in Rajya Sabha so It would be difficult to get the laws passed.

      And yes, What I say is theoretical, because every party have their PM candidate(even if they have not declared), And may its because I am Idealist :)

      The point which I want to make is that we should not vote to make Mr X or Mr Y the Prime minister, but we should vote for the best candidate who can represent us in Lok Sabha.

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