Political Opportunism at its best

Maharashtra is today the hotbed where all parties concerned stand exposed . The BJP was expecting an absolute majority in Maharashtra so thought Shiv Sena was dispensable if the numbers supported them and this was evident in the pronouncements before the results . The numbers didn’t support them and Shiv Sena sensed that this was the time to get back. So they asked for the impossible. They insisted that the CM post , knowing that  BJP was desperate for their support . Devendra Phadnavis would have felt betrayed so resigned from this dirty game but BJP at the centre was still at it . 

Meanwhile, the most distant poles Shiv Sena and Congress with the help of NCP masterminded by Sharad Pawar came together . However reluctant Sonia Gandhi might have been the lure was too attractive to avoid an inconvenient marriage . But the speed of execution was so slow and the hard bargaining among all three parties was so intense that every wanted their piece of flesh in an opportunistic relationship. Shiv Sena stood exposed but unfair demand of CM post and in search of that position they aligned without thinking of the consequences after being exposed in public . This bargaining took time that was unprecedented and President’s Rule was imposed . While intense parlays were on BJP was working overtime to use all their weapons in hand to coax , cajole or blackmail the weak links in the opposition and this was not impossible seeing the opportunistic nature of all concerned . 

Sharad Pawar meeting the Prime Minister at a time when when their  posturing  with Shiv Sena was at its peak . Knowing Sharad Pawar and his abilities and his past acts it became suspicious that probably there were chances of a two timing possible . So the weak links were targeted by BJP central leadership and in a nightlong operation a majority was forged and in an operation from dusk to dawn , the climax was the Governor swearing in Devendra Phadnavis as the CM and Ajit Pawar as the Dy CM . This act showed that BJP too was hungry for power . Finally after the SC intervention and the preponement of the floor test , Devendra Phadnavis and Ajit Pawar has to step down for lack of numbers . 

The moral of the story is that public or voters are the lowest priority for power hungry politicians. In the view of the public, all parties stand exposed. Maharashtra leads the country in political opportunism too. 

Bengal Crisis

Last evening whatever unfolded in Kolkata is a grave concern to the federal structure in India . The impending crisis of the accusation that CBI is being used by the Centre by the states , blew up on the face of the CBI . When the CBI stepped in to question the Commissioner Of Police , Mamata stepped in and unleashed the power of the police against the CBI . CBI officers detained , CBI Jt Director held hostage in his house and attempts to arrest him unleashed a high voltage political drama in the state with Mamata staging a dharna and the entire opposition supporting her clearly polarising the political scenario just ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections.

Let’s step back and look at the scenario and what went wrong on both sides and both could have handled it better to avoid confrontation which is detrimental to the country because more states are likely to follow this path even if the Central Agencies would rightfully want to probe charges . So the state and central agencies especially if the political powers are diametrically opposite , will confront each other for their political bosses and that is dangerous because political bosses change with time and the agencies will be used in different directions at different times . The fallacy of the handling by the Centre is that they have not handled the CBI crisis of appointment and removal of CBI bosses and have exposed their intents . It’s too much on the face . The timings of various CBI raids have also been accused to be dubious and have been told to be smelling of political vendetta. Some states have even gone ahead and declared ban on CBI in their states . This means that as per the federal structure, the Centre irrespective of the political affiliations of the states , has to adopt cooperative federalism while ruling the country as was done brilliantly by the then Vajpayee Government. What the Centre could have done last evening had PM Vajpayee been in power (hypothetically), is that it would have appraised the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary of the state about the action . Though the CBI claims it is acting on the orders of the Supreme Court , the due process needed to be followed instead of directly knocking at the doors of the Commissioner Of Police . It was obvious that the kind of aggression and daredevilry that Mamata possesses , it was but natural that she would have reacted that way . But instead of acting on the CBI officers and arresting them , she could have called the PMO or NSA or Home Minister and then acted . 

Political egos run high and it’s imperative that before the elections, rhetoric is at the highest levels . So accusations will fly high from both sides . The Centre through the CBI would hasten the probes against the opposition to make brownie points in the fight against corruption while dragging its feet on Mallya , Raphale and other cases against it. The opposition will hit from ten states in their hand while the main opposition Congress fights it out at the Centre.  Despite all political machinations, the beauty of our democracy will take its first big dent with the Bengal crisis and will have its first casualty in the cooperative federalism due to the confrontationist attitude of the Centre and the State with neither ready to blink first . Beware India !

Leave youth alone - politics' new low

The politics' new low

One fine day , we have a anti India demonstration in Jawaharlal Nehru University and there are some youth on TVs supporting the actions on campus. The very next day, the President of the Students Union of JNU is picked up for sedition. Pat comes the Home Minister's statement that there is a hand of the terrorist organisations across the border in this incident.

Shockingly in a rare show of unity and strength as well as the height of minority appeasement while compromising national security , Rahul Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury and other senior Communist leaders gathered to support the demonstration of JNU and accused the Centre of curbing the freedom of speech. 

The terrorist organisations in a move to destabilise the social fabric of India , seem to have plotted these protests and politicians have added fuel to fire knowingly and unknowingly for some minority votes . This is what hurts me. Rahul Gandhi showed utter non-understanding of the situation and in a "enemy of an enemy is my friend" formula, he simply jumped the bandwagon and ended up with an egg on the face.

My view is that instead of cheap politics , we should first wait for a minute, ponder at the turn of events , think of the repercussions and then take sides instead of just taking sides blindly. Whether it be BJP or Congress , I am least bothered but supporting seditious behaviour is nothing short of anti-national behaviour. Add to that , to score brownie points , political parties like Congress, CPI-M , JD-U and even Arvind Kejriwal spoke against the action of the Centre. 

What unknowingly  these political parties have done a disservice to the nation by adding fuel to the fire and that was precisely what these cross border terrorist organisations wanted.

Using universities like JNU and Jadavpur University for political gains will create long term fissures in society . If the youth of India are supposed to be the future , and if we corrupt the gennext then we will be left with nothing else.  

PK and the Chhattisgarh Municipal elections

Chhattisgarh Municipal elections are important for the reason that since Prime Minister Narendra Modi started his Lok Sabha Election Campaign and the Modi wave that ensued , this is the first time that the high riding BJP has encountered a dampener. Almost at the same time , PK is riding a wave of adulation and has crossed the 544 crore mark and is inching towards the 600 Cr elusive figure never before achieved in the history of Indian cinema.

While there are many detractors for PK, the basic theme of an alien showing through his antics to the whole country , what the crux of religion is , is a wake up call for the society at large. We fanatically follow Bapus who later turn out to be villains, but by then we have fallen prey to them.

Coming back to the Chhattisgarh Municipal Elections, the BJP with a 3^rd term in Assembly elections also required an alien figure to come and give a wake up call. All that Prime Minister Modi practices and preaches does not happen in Chhattisgarh. The state is cash rich due to minerals and power resources so development is a natural outcome whichever party is in power. But the industries that had signed MOUs are in a limbo due to inaction and find greener pastures in other states where action is faster. This fast action is what made Modi and Gujarat what it is today. So the policy paralysis much touted in the Lok Sabha elections is what ails the state today. Development is a prime term in the Modi Agenda. But in Chhattisgarh, subsidies and freebies and not development is used to win elections. But the game seems to be up. A drubbing in the elections gave a chance for the Congress to see some sunshine.

So like PK, where winnability was the name of the game and Rajkumar Hirani put up a show that touched issues like two god theory- one god that created us and the second god whom we created. Such sensitive issues were raised in good humour and raised by an alien to see that winnability of the movie is not effected by undue controversy. Modi also saw during his election that the selection of candidates was solely based on merit and winnability.

This did not happen in Chhattisgarh. The ugly face of groupism took over and winnable candidates were compromised. In the case of Raipur, while congress fielded a known face of Pramod Dubey and won half the battle , it was needed to let the game of my candidate- your candidate subside and field a candidate who could score over Pramod Dubey. There were only two candidates who could do this – either ex Mayor Sunil Soni or the current President of Raipur Municipal Corporation Sanjay Shrivastava. Just because they belonged to two warring factions , a compromise candidate Sachchidanand Upasane was fielded , who was no match for Pramod Dubey. In civic elections , local faces matter and compromise candidates do not win especially with a strong opposition. The nasha of power is so high that the current set up in Chhattisgarh seems to have become a replica of Congress where the warring Jogi and Baghel factions are out in the open. So winnability took the last seat and the result ensues.

The inference is as in PK an alien teaches us what is right and what is wrong, we need an external force to come and set things right on an urgent basis in the state and see that merit and winnability is not sidelined for sycophancy in the state. Good for the state and good for the nation.