Strengthening the Republic

If Independence Day was the birth of modern India, it is Republic Day that gave this birth a purpose, direction, and a soul. After the end of World War II, many countries attained independence, and democracy as a form of governance found its roots across the world. It very soon became the most legitimate and popular form of governance. However, the real challenge of building the nation was post-independence.

Across the world, independence was achieved at a high cost, after decades of struggle with the colonisers and with sacrifice by thousands of people. In India too, it was a hard-earned gift and valued by millions of citizens. People who led the independence movement saw these sacrifices as a part of their selfless service to the nation and its people. The movement nurtured a different breed of leaders, for whom nation building was the sole purpose of their life.

Millennials are born in a different age- for the most middle-class population that was born post-90s, freedom is a given fact and thus often taken for granted. It is a harsh truth that the current generation of Indians doesn't understand the gift of independence, and responsibility that comes with it.

It will be wrong if we only blame the millennials. Inspiration comes from role models in public leadership. Role models in 50s and 60s were leaders of independence, people who lived for the country and were willing to die for it. In the last three decades, there has been a severe dearth of role models in public life. For people like us who are born in mid-eighties, there was no one to look up to in our teenage except Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who valued dialogue, brought respect in politics. As a teenager, I was touched by his personality only to understand his politics as I grew.

Freedom fighters have played a big a role in educating masses. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore used to write scathing articles criticizing each other's ideology, but had deep respect for each other. It was Gandhi who made sure that his favourite Andrews was there to take care of Tagore when he was not well and raised money for Shantineketan. The titles of Mahatma and Gurudev were given to the great men by each other. Last known respectful debates by political leaders were between Jawahar Lal Nehru and Jai Prakash Narayan about the flaws of democracy. These leaders knew that millions were reading their articles; these debates not only educated the masses but also kept the spirit of true engagement with national issues alive.

India has failed to inspire its current generation. In the last three decades, we haven't seen much of such written debates in the newspaper or respectful debates in parliament.India Against Corruption was a moment of awakening for many, but it's energy fizzled out. India lacks role models in public life who selflessly serve the nation. In a parliamentary democracy with a multi-party system, it is a shame that the nation starves for alternatives and doesn't have leaders to look up to.

Every generation has its own challenges and has to fight its own battles. As a higher percentage of our population is moving towards the upper middle class, and with basics taken care of, many of our young people are in pursuit of meaning in life and are choosing careers in the social sector. It is time that a significantly higher percentage join active politics- in any political party because we need good people everywhere.

India needs to end this leadership crisis in public space. The republic will be strengthened only if many more youth join active politics and lead the country through moral courage and imagination. Preserving the republic can be the highest tribute to makers of India and its constitution.

Narendra Modi is just a symptom

It is not a reflection of Narendra Modi who is endorsing such language in a subtle way, the issue is much deeper. NaMo is just a symptom and it is going to last, if not him then someone else.

The primary reason is the callous and selfish society that we are as a nation. National Interest comes last on our list of priorities, we have ignored the issues plaguing around us for far too long and it has created a vacuum of leadership in our country.

During Independence movement we had exceptional leaders who took the plunge to selflessly build the nation, they gave a promising direction to the country. Nation building became the task of few post then and eventually people with deep selfish interest rose to fill the vacuum.

Now what we see is a result of two generations of ignorance, it will continue unless a critical mass of people don't come forward to build the nation and make it their top priority. It is like in every other space the quality of product is mediocre in our country unless someone brings the exceptional product and we know there are few exceptional products.

We like it or not NaMo and such tribe are going to stay unless a generation takes it as a role to shift this. He is what we deserve and he is the best we deserve at this point of time. I am hopeful to witness the signs of shift in my lifetime.

PS. Its a difficult choice to rise and do something that doesn't have immediate result. There will 'n' reasons why you cant make this choice but there is only one reason to do and that's going to be YOUR personal calling. So, these choices are not for all to make, not everyone is cut out to be exceptional but we all have the sanity to recognise, look for and support such individuals.

https://www.altnews.in/hall-shame-serial-abusers-sexist-bigots-rumour-mongers-followed-pm-modi-twitter/

Problem is much deeper

It was a political surrender by government. - High Court

It's rare that the court directly blames the sitting government for inciting violence. We as citizens need to understand the choices that we have made and the beauty of democracy is that we can correct our choices within a time frame. Our government hasn't been able to handle masses reaction in the best possible ways. They have failed from JNU to Kashmir to Jat agitation to now Ram Rahim. 

Their choice of action has differed from case to case basis, in some cases entire state machinery was used to crush the dissent. Labels of nationalist and anti-nationalist were pasted on every tongue that moved. We all know the brutality to propaganda that was done to create an atmosphere of support terming both JNU and Kashmir agitation as anti-national.

Story from past

Years back there was a PM named as Atal ji, who asked the CM of a state to resign and take responsibility of mass carnage that happened but alas the parent organization did not allow it to happen because the vote bank would be hampered. Years later that man became Hindu Hridaya Samrat and eventually Prime Minister of one of the greatest gullible democracy on earth.

The problem often in these cases is not whether NM will go out and slaughter people. The challenge is that when they supported such things in past, they created supporters of similar thought process. Now, even if you have tried to undo your image and become holier than thou, you have made an individual choice. People like you because of what they saw in you and became your supporter. Now you have transformed your imagine without publicly accepting that, "I believed in killing people, now I have changed, atleast on the face of it."

The acceptance of crime done irrespective of the fact that it's consciously or unconsciously done becomes the first step to truly change yourself. And in this case that's completely missing. Now, your supporters will do what they revered in you and you will never be able to stop them, unless you accept your sins, go through the punishment and truly cleanse yourself and make a new base. There are examples in history where in people have accepted their faults and went on to become great leaders.

These things were meant to happen in a political system of our country where politician do anything to make sure they win. NM is just an example of one type of politics. Congress will remain a dysfunctional party until they accept they are family run party, then give that up, get new leadership and find new direction. Mostly all parties have a core DNA and they follow it, if they really want to change them, they need to accept their flaws, face the consequence and start fresh.

India is what it deserves and India will be what its people deserve!

Congress: Introspect or prepare to write obituary on hills

Democracy works best when both ruling government and opposition are strong. In current state of affairs in our country the opposition(National Party and not regional ones) is very weak and nearly trembling to death. No matter how strong the government is, opposition plays a constructive role in its functioning. 

It is time for Gandhi family to deeply introspect and see where they are failing the party and eventually the country. If Congress is not worthy of being a strong opposition or even remain a National Party, the family should take responsibility and step down. It's been long that their leaders have been saving Rahul Gandhi, he should step down or take responsibility and stir the party.

Time to step up or step down.

From ruling over largely entire nation, Congress has shrinked to around 6% and there are literally no chances for them to do any magic in UP or Goa next year and very feeble chances of a magic in Punjab. The main state they are in power is Karnataka and few other small states like HP, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur and in an alliance in Uttarakhand. It will be hard for them to retain other states apart from three in North-East.

On the other hand BJP, has brilliantly moved from ruling 19% while Vajpayee was Prime Minister to 65% under Modi. The nation has accepted both its nationalist ideology and development plank. It has very well captured the vacuum created by lack of leadership in Congress. Seeing at the growth of BJP, it is very likely that they seal the results of 2019 much before it actually happens. The elections in many ways are a mind game and dwindle on popular perceptions, with the confidence that Congress has right now, it is very hard for them to even imagine winning 2019 unless BJP does a huge blunder.

One important learning that is becoming important for parties is to strengthen local leadership. With emerging regional parties, it has become all the more important for both national parties to strengthen their local leadership. If we reflect on Delhi and Bihar, the two election where BJP lost post 2014 and Assam where it remarkably has won, one thing that stands out is that in both Delhi and Bihar it did not have a local face. Delhi and Bihar were run on Modi's face value while in Assam it had Sonowal. The voter is intelligent to make a choice when it comes to local and centre.

After election in Karnataka in 2018, Congress might be forced to take a vacation and enjoy writing its obituary in the hills, the only ruled states by them. The only choice they have is to take charge and evolve or become history!

Team Anna: The Political Alternative and its Consequences

Finally the fasting will end on tenth day and with this begins the time for preparation of "General Election 2014". If everything goes as what is shown to common man 2014 will be different but what we often see is not the true picture.It is true that people like Arvind Kejriwal should be part of system and try to bring the change from within. But the big question is, "How will they go about it?"

Alternatives:

• Floating a New political party
• Going with Baba Ramdev's Party
• Supporting existing political party
• Starting Small with few people from their team contesting 2014

If they feel that they can launch a new political party and contest from all the seats and win, then this would be over estimating your potential. The better alternative would be selecting few corruption free people (better would be the team people) and lobbying for them in elections. Would like to bring in picture, the by-elections of Haryana last year where Team Anna supported few candidates and all those lost badly. 

If they go by supporting Baba's political party and contesting from all the seats then coming to majority would be a dream but yes they might get few seats like Haridwar. Baba has always been a questionable figure and everyone has seen the rift in the team when he became part of it. This seems to be a tough alternative but if it comes into force the loss would be more of BJP than congress because of its common vote bank with that of Baba's.

Supporting another political party takes them close to BJP but still the picture is not very clear because BJP is also full of corrupt politicians but for sure less sycophants and sometimes sycophants are more harmful than corrupt people. One thing is very clear whatever they do BJP would be at larger loss than Congress because due to anti-incumbency the votes were to swing BJP's side and with an emerging Anna options votes would be divided. It will be hard for Anna to win but it will become harder for BJP and this will surely help Congress  to take dividend from this vote division and it might emerge as UPA-3 with lesser vote percentage than what they have got in UPA 2. For sure if Congress has done the damage to the country, BJP has done larger by not being a worthy opposition and the choice country has been looking for.

It seems a tough battle in front of Team Anna, on which way to go. Politics has always been a tough game in our country. All the things have to be kept in mind because these are the things that make Nation, one decision by a man in power can change the course for future generations.

Jai Hind !!

Learning from U.P. elections !!!

People say that politicians don't have to face consequences but I have mostly been against this(rather IAS officers don't have to undergo a test once they are selected, they might get transferred but they still remain IAS where ever they go). For a politicians who wants longevity in his political life he has to face results.


As the poll results are being announced in the recent elections held in five states, there is a very peculiar phenomena going around but the big question is "Will our national parties reflect on their acts and learn from the results ?" As said earlier, this election is going to set the mood for 2014 Parliamentary election. It is time for our national parties to come strong on their agendas and of course with strong leadership.


Here I would try to summarize the important message that are being unfolded as the ballot is counted:

1. Clearly people have expelled Mayawati for the work she has not done. UP needed development not public parks. How can a hungry man go and enjoy in the park ?  Mayawati forgot that statues dont vote & voting does not happen in well carved public parks and kept constructing more and more statues, parks. She missed getting voter ids for all the statues, might have got few more seats. People want development and that has truly reflected in the result. She should have learned from Bihar's poll result but she did not.
2. SP emerged the strongest, reason being the only choice among all, amazing work done by Akhilesh and the connect that the party has with ground workers. Assembly elections depend a lot more on local leaders rather than big names or rather surnames. Akhilesh had emerged as the new face among the youth leaders but probably Mulayam will take oath as the new CM and the challenge ahead for Akhilesh would be to keep a check on the famous Gundaraj of SP in their last government (SP fielded nearly 90 candidates with criminal records.)
3. Congress has done a satisfactory job, it has got much more than it deserves. All involved in corruption, playing the communal card with Muslim reservation, bringing their biggest face Rahul Gandhi and even using "beauty" Priyanka to get the votes has not worked for them. This shows voters are mature enough to decide on whom to vote, they might come to see the duo but that doesn't mean that they would vote for them. Now the important thing is that whether the much hyped chopper campaign and the man behind it will once in his life come forward and take the responsibility.
4. The party which came into existence as "Party with a difference" has to rethink on the way ahead. Completely lost without a credible leadership, they need to take a break and think on how to move ahead for 2014 election. The only party that "seems" democratic in our country has to restructure itself otherwise they will repeat similar performance in 2014 also. It will not be the failure of BJP but it would be their dis-service to the nation of not giving the people a choice other than Congress. 
5. Both Congress and BJP have to respect the regional parties like BSP, SP in UP; AIDMK, DMK in Tamil Nadu or Trinamol Congress in WB. It is very clear from current political scenario that there will a coalition government in 2014 also. BJP needs to partner with Mamta(Trinamol Congress) and Jayalalita (AIDMK) to enhance their chances of forming government in 2014 and the good thing is that both these leaders are not very happy with current disrespect they have got from Congress. This is a chance for BJP to strengthen their alliance with regional parties. 
6. We cant say that movements like "Jan-Lokpal" had any effect on the election but for sure Hazare should be given the credit of spreading the awareness among masses which resulted into large turnouts of voters. 

All the best to the new governement !! Let's hope for developmental work from this government.

U.P Hungry for Change !

U.P. has always been the hotspot of politics in our country. The party that governs UP has remained largely at Centre with ease. But since last two decade we have witnessed a change in this and the result has been coalition governments at centre. BSP and SP emerging to be the largest in last two decade have played a big role in formation of government at centre. The counter effect to this is that both Congress and BJP are forced to form coalition government. BJP came to power only after sweeping in UP election and the day since it lost its hold in UP, it has been struggling to form a government at centre.

Both BSP and SP had been playing politics of caste, liquor and goons. BSP playing the cards of lower caste (dalit) vote bank and SP getting the privilege of backwards and Muslims votes have dominated in UP in last few elections. Rewinding five years and going back to 2007 elections Mayawati came up with a magical formula of Dalit-Brahmin coalition, she made S. C. Mishra party secretary and a new slogan was coined “Brahmin Shankh Bajayega, Hathi Badhta Jayega”. She gained huge advantage and came to power but the upper caste voter has alienated BSP and once fooled in 2007 is now looking for options in Congress and BJP.

Congress which has been under pressure due to alleged role of its leaders in high level corruption and the Jan- Lokpal movement is waiting for its Yuvraj Rahul Gandhi to do the magic in 2012 election. BJP on the other hand has been a party largely without focus, without leadership (but many leaders) and with an anti- Congress agenda rather than an agenda of developmental politics. One more thing which has always been against BJP is their communal image and their Hindutva agenda. In UP Muslims don’t turn out to vote for BSP, SP or Congress but they vote the party that can win against the BJP candidate. Jan- Lokpal movement was a lifetime opportunity for BJP to mend its basics and emerge as a strong alternative in front of people but they have lost this opportunity badly.

The recent voter turn-out in UP election clearly shows a huge increase in percentage voting in comparison to 2007 election. This can be majorly due to two reasons, firstly the increase in awareness among voters and secondly they are fed up of current government or system.  We can’t deny both because we have witnessed huge public movements (protests) against the system not only in India but also in different part of world in last one year.

Hopefully we will elect a better government in UP and it will follow the pursuit of development as seen in Bihar and few other states of our country. March 6 will also decide the trend for 2014 general elections in our country.

What does Bihar's Poll result teach the nation ?

First of all many congratulations to Mr. Nitish Kumar for being victorious once again. For me this is not a victory for JD(U)-BJP alliance but it's a victory for our nation.  This could be the turning point for Indian politics. People of Bihar have shown us the path which is very vital for development of the nation. They came out of their houses to vote for development and for me this is the perfect quintessential of changing Indian mindset. I would like to point out certain lesson that Bihar's poll result has taught us.

1. When Bihar which is considered to be the most backward state of India can go on polls with development as agenda and emerge successful, then why not rest of India. Bihari's have shown the right path to rest of fellow Indians. So, now we can define a beginning of new political system in India: Politics of development.

2. Dynasty politics will not work everywhere. It doesn't matter whether you have ruled us for 15 years or 60 years. You have to be there with the people, work for them to get vote. It's not an election of Lady Shri Ram College where only girls have to vote. Mindset of public is changing and they know who is better for them Yuvraj or a leader from their soil.

3. BJP took the right lesson from Orissa mishap, which happened just before the last  general election. (They broke their 11 year old alliance with BJD because of seat sharing issues, which resulted in a landslide loss for both parties) Here in Bihar they understood the charisma of Nitish and followed whatever he demanded. Firstly it was not an easy decision for BJP leadership to keep Mr. Modi out of Bihar and secondly they agreed to the seat sharing formula set by Nitish.