Statewide and National runup to 2014 General elections

[Ashok Sarraff]

And after the elections, Mamta will say that she would respect Anna Hazare's instruction to support NM/NDA govt.

[muraliravi]

Does anyone know when Gen VK Singh is joining BJP (if he is joining at all?)

[ramana]

muraliravi, So what is the impact of the Telagana decision on BJP and Congress or is it too soon to tell?

[RajeshA]

Does anyone know when Gen VK Singh is joining BJP (if he is joining at all?)

Well after this Parliament session the election campaign starts in earnest, and decisions will be taken. So if he is an interested candidate it would be known quite soon, I would say in the next 3 weeks.

[muraliravi]

muraliravi, So what is the impact of the Telagana decision on BJP and Congress or is it too soon to tell?

Sir, i am have minimal knowledge of Andhra politics, so best if i dont say anything on that. But in all the bjp 2014 ls numbers i am calculating, i usually give them a big zero in seemandhra and telangana

[bhavani]

I am cross posting from the Andhra forum.

Ramana sir, Nothing will happen to Congress in Andhra, They will lose one election and bounce back in andhra. Jagan will reconcile in 5 years and merge back into Congress. Botsa, Chiranjeevi etc will stick with Congress. probably TDP will become a bit more stronger.

As lot of people, including me have said, the changes that are happening suit (i am also from Andhra) Seema Andhra people. We have been loyal to corrupt Congress more than any other state and Congress has split us. Even now a lot of congress leaders like Chiranjeevi, Botsa are lobbying for the CM post for the remaining 2 months. yada raaja, tadha praja.

http://deccan-journal.com/content/seema ... -shameless

[Kati]

Didi will not touch any front with a 20 ft pole that has the left parties in it.
Also, Anna always needs a hand-towel to propagate his political views. Didi now comes handy after Kejri ran away.

[ramana]

muraliravi, So what is the impact of the Telagana decision on BJP and Congress or is it too soon to tell?

Sir, i am have minimal knowledge of Andhra politics, so best if i dont say anything on that. But in all the bjp 2014 ls numbers i am calculating, i usually give them a big zero in seemandhra and telangana

Good move. Thanks. Can be rest assured.

[member_27426]

Did something I've been thinking of doing for a long time. I've compiled a list of some of the people who've joined BJP in the last few months, especially after Namo was brought to the forefront:

1) Rao Inderjit Singh, Lok Sabha member from Gurgaon, said he would join BJP.
2) AASU’s assistant general secretary Rituparna Baruah joins BJP.
3) Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh has tendered his resignation and the IPS officer is expected to join BJP.
4) Lok Sabha MP from Hoshangabad seat, Rao Uday Pratap Singh, resigned from Congress and joined BJP along with some of his supporters.
5) Ex-BJP leader and current Congress legislator from Lathi Assembly constituency in Amreli district, Bavku Undhad today resigned as MLA and primary member of Congress to rejoin BJP.
6) Raghurama Krishnam Raju quits YSRCP, joins BJP.
7) A prominent leader from Doda district Ishtiaq Wani joined BJP on Wednesday in a function held at party headquarters after quitting PDP.
8 ) Pushpa Leela quits Congress and Joins BJP.
9) BSP MLA from Morena Parasram Mudgal on Friday resigned from the party membership and joined BJP.
10) Former minister and senior RJD leader from Madhepura in the Kosi river belt, Ravindra Charan Yadav, joined BJP along with hundreds of his supporters.
11) Kalyan Singh, the former chief minister of UP is going to join the Bharatiya Janata Party officially on March 2.
12) Lyricist and scholar Jonnavitthula Ramalingeswara Rao exhorted the people to vote for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after launching ‘One note and vote for BJP’.
13) Bavku Undhad, Congress MLA from Lathi-Liliya Assembly constituency in Saurashtra, joined the BJP.
14) Music director Bappi Lahiri joins BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
15) Swabhimaani Shetkari Sanghatana, led by Lok Sabha member Raju Shetty joins BJP-SS alliance.
16) Retired IAS officer RPS Pawar joined the BJP.
17) Former Dainik Jagran CGM Nishikant Thakur joins BJP.
18) R.K. Handa, who retired as director general of police after 35 years of service, officially joins in the BJP in WB.
19) Dilip Kumar Chaudhuri, president of Tax Bar Association of Bengal joins BJP.
20) Former DGP R.K. Mohanty officially joins in the BJP in WB.
21) Former Joint Director of the CBI Sujit Ghosh officially joins in the BJP in WB.
22) Former State Election Commission officer S.K. Madan officially joins in the BJP in WB.
23) Bengali film actor Nimu Bhowmick officially joins in the BJP.
24) Ex-Trinamool MP Bikram Sarkar joins BJP.
25) Former Gujarat Congress spokesperson Aashifa Khan joins BJP.
26) Former Additional Chief Secretary Radha Kant Tripathy officially joins in the BJP in WB.
27) Retired Assistant Commissioner, RPF, R N Das officially joins in the BJP in WB.
28) Former Chief of Customs and Excise Department Bishwajit Dutta officially joins in the BJP in WB.
29) Industrialist Sushil Kumar Agarwal joins in the BJP in WB.
30) Former MD of Tata Group R N Das joins in the BJP in WB.
31) Former CMD of Central Inland Water Transport Corporation Ltd S C Saxena joins in the BJP in WB.
32) Former Home Secretary RK Singh joins BJP.
33) Former Petroleum Secretary Raghav Sharan Pandey joins BJP.
34) Former Indian Railway Service officer Dharam Singh joins BJP.
35) Sunil Shastri, son of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Congress party member joined the BJP.
36) Keshubhai Patel's son Bharat Patel joins BJP.
37) Ex-UN envoy Hardeep Singh Puri joins BJP.
38) Former JD-U leader Sachchidanand Rai joins BJP in Patna.
39) After a lot of speculations, celebrities Rajasekhar and Jeevitha formally joined the BJP.
40) Subramanian Swamy joins BJP.
41) BJP officially announced joining of Laishram Jatra along with 300 members of MPP.
42) Kamalchand Bhanjdeo, the scion of Bastar's royal family, joined BJP.
43) Former Arunachal Pradesh home, finance and civil supplies minister James Lowangcha Wanglat joins BJP.

I'm sure there are many others & the list will keep getting longer now.

Joshi ji, Bavku Undhad is mentioned twice (no 5 and 13) in the list and Aashifa Khan joined BJP long back in 2012, just before the gujarat assembly elections.

[Sri]

Didi will not touch any front with a 20 ft pole that has the left parties in it.
Also, Anna always needs a hand-towel to propagate his political views. Didi now comes handy after Kejri ran away.

Mamta Di also has a super practical problem of getting some kind of relief from center (whosoever is there) in terms of rescheduling some of the massive loans that WB is under. She has no choice. Technically WB is in default. Both Congress and BJP know this. So her support is more or less assured to the party staking claim after elections.

[VinodTK]

Piyush Pandey, Prasoon Joshi and Sam Balsara to helm BJP’s Rs 400 crore poll drive

MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party is lining up an A-team of advertising professionals to execute its election campaign. Sources close to the development told TOI that celebrated lyricist and adman Prasoon Joshi and media planning veteran Sam Balsara have been mandated to handle the Rs 400 crore election account of the principal opposition party.

The creative duties, which involve making television and prints ads, may be split between a few players including a little-known WPP agency, Soho Square. Joshi, who leads McCann Worldgroup here, may be involved with the campaign at an individual level as a lyricist, sources close to the matter said. The media-buying duties, which entail putting the communication across different media platforms like print, radio, TV and digital, have been given to Madison Media. Lodestar UM and WPP's Group M were also in contention for this coveted account.

Besides, Joshi and Balsara, the BJP has also managed to rope in Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director (South Asia) at Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), albeit indirectly, to spruce up its advertising campaign. Pandey's O&M, also a part of Martin Sorrell's WPP group, is likely to oversee the work which will come out of Soho Square, industry sources said.

O&M could not take up the account as the agency on record due to a strict global guideline which does not allow group agencies to work on election campaigns. Pandey has been working with the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government and sources said that on the chief minister's insistence the adman was brought on board. The hotly contested pitch for the BJP election account had several leading advertising and media agencies in the fray as reported earlier by this newspaper in its January 28 edition.

With its prime ministerial candidate Modi leading from the front, the BJP's communication will be digital-heavy, said sources.

The ruling Congress party had reportedly handed out its Rs 500-crore account to Japanese agency Dentsu and Taproot while its public relations is being handled by Genesis Burson-Marsteller. The Rs 500-crore advertising budget, however, was denied by Congress. The party officially started its mega campaign with Rahul Gandhi taking the centrestage last month in a controversial tagline, "main nahin, hum (not I, we)".

Joshi did not respond to text messages and calls from TOI, while O&M's Pandey said he had not been mandated by the BJP for the campaign. Madison's Balsara could not be reached for a comment.

Modi, who has been one of the first Indian politicians to take to social media platforms, boasts of over 3.4 million followers on micro-blogging site Twitter. "They are expected to use the digital media aggressively and innovatively," said a source in the bJP who did not want to be quoted as the party has not made an official announcement yet.

The BJP's communication around the elections has been picking pace online, although no agency has been formally appointed so far. The party put out full-page advertisements in leading dailies on January 25—National Voters day. The saffron party has been pushing the Modi brand through various social media channels. The party has also been promoting its 'Mission 272+' volunteer initiative online.

Besides the Rs 500-crore ad blitzkrieg which the Congress has planned, the ruling United Progressive Alliance is parallely running the 'Bharat Nirman' campaign. The Rs 100-crore campaign, being handled by ad agency Percept/H, is run from the budget of the information & broadcasting ministry headed by Manish Tiwari.

[Aditya_V]

Didi will not touch any front with a 20 ft pole that has the left parties in it.
Also, Anna always needs a hand-towel to propagate his political views. Didi now comes handy after Kejri ran away.

Didnt they both vote for UPA-1 no confidence motion. Can either of them vote for NDA govt in a no confidence motion.

All these are lies, Communists and third front are Congress B teams who support them when the need arises and to deny opposition space in certain states to BJP.

Thats the beauty of INC, they may not know how to govern or clue how to develop a nation, but know how to play politics

[muraliravi]

Didi will not touch any front with a 20 ft pole that has the left parties in it.
Also, Anna always needs a hand-towel to propagate his political views. Didi now comes handy after Kejri ran away.

Didnt they both vote for UPA-1 no confidence motion. Can either of them vote for NDA govt in a no confidence motion.

All these are lies, Communists and third front are Congress B teams who support them when the need arises and to deny opposition space in certain states to BJP.

Thats the beauty of INC, they may not know how to govern or clue how to develop a nation, but know how to play politics

+1000. SP, BSP, Left, TMC all four of them can support UPA3 if there is a possibility. I would say TMC is worse than left, she is even more anti national and pro islamist.

[RajeshA]

Didi will not touch any front with a 20 ft pole that has the left parties in it.
Also, Anna always needs a hand-towel to propagate his political views. Didi now comes handy after Kejri ran away.

Didnt they both vote for UPA-1 no confidence motion. Can either of them vote for NDA govt in a no confidence motion.

All these are lies, Communists and third front are Congress B teams who support them when the need arises and to deny opposition space in certain states to BJP.

Thats the beauty of INC, they may not know how to govern or clue how to develop a nation, but know how to play politics

+1000. SP, BSP, Left, TMC all four of them can support UPA3 if there is a possibility. I would say TMC is worse than left, she is even more anti national and pro islamist.

That she may be, but she is also anti-Left, and coalition politics in India is also a game of ego!

[Supratik]

SP, BSP already support UPA2. However, Mamata's entire political career is based on being anti-LF (not necessarily anti-socialist). So it will be a huge somersault for her to be backing the same Govt as left and vice-versa (the left considers her to be "keeda").

[nachiket]

SP, BSP already support UPA2. However, Mamata's entire political career is based on being anti-LF (not necessarily anti-socialist). So it will be a huge somersault for her to be backing the same Govt as left and vice-versa (the left considers her to be "keeda").

A potential UPA3 may not need both Mamata and LF. If both offer support, they will choose whoever has the most MPs. Most likely that will be Mamata. Mamata can also do the same thing for a Third Front as long as they agree to keep the Left parties out.

[muraliravi]

SP, BSP already support UPA2. However, Mamata's entire political career is based on being anti-LF (not necessarily anti-socialist). So it will be a huge somersault for her to be backing the same Govt as left and vice-versa (the left considers her to be "keeda").

A potential UPA3 may not need both Mamata and LF. If both offer support, they will choose whoever has the most MPs. Most likely that will be Mamata. Mamata can also do the same thing for a Third Front as long as they agree to keep the Left parties out.

They will need both, UPA3 will essentially be quite short of numbers. They will need all 4 parties SP, BSP, Left and TMC to sustain a govt. Just the larger among the 2 pairs will not be enuf, unless BJP really screws up badly

[Kati]

Some ground realities in Bengal:
minorities constitute about 30% of the population, and 35% of the registered voters. Hence Didi is
playing the pro-minority card blindly - obviously disregarding all the minority hooliganism against
majority members that is going on in rural Bengal. (I just heard that the latest census figures have
indicated that the WB population has now about 34% minorities, and the center is trying to suppress
that info, and it is alleged that the figures are watered down to appease the minorities on one hand,
and not to cause any anxiety among the majority members on the other hand).
The muscle power that TMC now enjoys in Bengal today is primarily a minority force who were with
the left till two years ago. A 10% of the minority's 35% vote bank shift to the other side can topple Didi's
applecart.
Didi wouldn't have enjoyed the minority community's support. But two factors came handy.

[Kati]

The Sachar committee report showed that while Bengal has a high % of minorities, their
representation in the state govt jobs is a paltry 2.5%. On the other hand, in Gujarat, where
the minorities constitute about 9%, they occupy about 6% of the state govt jobs. This simple
fact made the minorities sit up and take notice how the left took them for a ride.
Around the same time, the land agitation in Singur and Nandigram reached its peak. While hindu
farmers in general were more receptive to selle their land for industrialization, muslim farmers were
pretty much dead against it. The police firing in Nandigram brought a large chunk of minorities
in TMC fold. Further, Didi, who graduated in Islamic history from Calcutta University, took her minority
appeasement antics to a level not seen before. She promised AIIMS type hospital near Kolkata exclusively
for minorities, which is highly controversial and the Indian Medical Council objected on ethical ground
saying how a hospital can be set up based on religion. However, minority minions of Didi soon demanded that
the hospital be staffed by minority nurses, minority doctors, etc etc....
....
But ruling Left had another misfortune....... and it came from Unkil......

[KJo]

Why the phuck would a Hindu ever want to do a degree in Islamic studies??
What a waste of time. No wonder there are so many of us Hindus with severe low self esteem.

[Kati]

One of the most influential media group in Bharat is the ABP group which owns the most powerful Bengali daily 'Anandabazar Patrika', English daily 'The Telegraph', women's periodical 'Sananda', literary magazine 'Desh', and a host of other publications including kids' magazine also. ABP doesn't flex its muscle overtly, and works
under the wraps very carefully.
...it is alleged that ABP came under Unkil's particular agency in early seventies when the Vietnam war was going rough. The atrocities by the unkil's forces, including My Li massacre, made Bengal boiling to the seams 9and add
the naxalite movement to that). unkil was concerned that Vietnam influence, naxalite movement may make eastern india go out of Delhi's hand. Actually, IG was receptive to unkil's agency's move to ABP group. The firebrand writers of Kolkata who were penning inflammatory poems causing more heartburn to unkil.......(some are no longer around, many are still alive, and better not to name them here).
...A couple of universities in massaland were roped in, they invited those firebrand bong writers with generous scholarships in the name of 'comparative literature' or 'poetry meet' to the massland campuses...wined, dined, womanized thoroughly.......and voila! once these bong writers returned to Calcutta they started writing romantic poems, novels, etc.....and they were under tight grip of the ABP group. ABP is still a social high-ladder for the Kolkata writers to climb to become "acceptable". One person later rebelled against ABP for which she had to suffer
- and she got cold shoulder from her compatriots in Kolkata. She is Taslima Nasreen.
......It was alleged that the bond between ABP and unkil's agency solidified over time....it is said that the family controlling ABP group gets direct instructions from DC.....
...After Pokhran II, ABP took the cheerleader's role to vilify Bhajpa. After Godhra, it was ABP which commissioned Sharmila Basu (with unkil's blessings) to shed crocodile tears about the "plight of minorities in Gujarat" after the Goghra riot.....

[nachiket]

Why the phuck would a Hindu ever want to do a degree in Islamic studies??
What a waste of time. No wonder there are so many of us Hindus with severe low self esteem.

Err, in Mamata Didi's case, she might have been too dumb to gain admission into any other program.

[Kati]

Didi , a good street fighter, couldn't dislodge the left from Bengal for several reasons due to one solid reason;
that is - she didn't enjoy the backing of ABP Group.
She could have dislodged left back in 2006, but her fate didn't favor her.
After Jyoti basu stepped down and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya took up the reign, ABP was at loggerhead
with the left for various reasons. Basically each was trying to control the other. ABP group's net worth is higher than some of the smaller states in Bharat. Under Jyoti Basu, CITU was constantly poking its nose in ABP's matters through instigating the worker's union. ABP workers' union went to strike, and in retaliation ABP fired hundreds of CITU sympathizers, but still didn't submit to Jyoti basu's whims. It shut down its publications for almost 60 days, paid its other staff...but still didn't negotiate. it always had, and still has a very deep pocket.
After Buddhadeb Bhattacharya became CM, he held a private meeting with ABP's headman Aveek Sarkar to seek a truce. It was alleged that a formula was worked out. At the national level, ABP would support left (go against BJP mostly, and INC at a lesser extent), and at the state level it would criticize the left - just 'bakwas' to show its neutrality.... This formula worked fine, and came very handy right after Pokhran II and Godhra riots....
...
When Didi broke ranks with INC and formed TMC, it was basically because she refused to be bought up by the left. The rest of the state-level INC leaders were secretly bought up by the left. Jyoti Basu started this arrangements by giving land, flats, school admission to opposition leaders' family members to keep them under leash. Except one person - that is Didi.

[Kati]

Didi is a street fighter. Except the last 3-4 years, she lacked a politician's acumen. She was too straightforward. She enjoyed a massive support in rural areas, but still couldn't master enough strength in terms of seats in 2006 state election. When TMC broke away from INC, she received ABP Group's tremendous support. Left thought it was further fragmentation of the opposition, and hence it was gleeful to see Didi forming the TMC. But when it became clear that Didi is taking over the entire space of the opposition then it got alarmed. The rise of Didi was supported by ABP, and then it tried to discredit her too. She became the butt of many political jokes in Kolkata circles, and this was partially responsible for her poor showing in 2006. It was alleged that ABP instigated a few TMC mid-level leaders to sabotage the party's prospects....
... then again, this ABP group decided to be the king/Queen maker again in 2010-11. Unkil wanted to pass the nuclear bill, and faced the stiff opposition from the parties opposed to the bill- from left to right. It was alleged that the ABP's head guy, who once held a truce with Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, was entrusted to make the left amenable and vote for the nuclear bill. Buddhadeb-babu refused to play the ball in spite of repeated overtures from ABP.
(had it been some other left leader, things could have been more favourable to unkil.). Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has a respectable persona in Politbureau, and his opposition to the nuclear bill made the entire left withdraw support from UPA. Enraged ABP head decided to teach the left a lesson in Bengal. Overnight Didi got the full backing of the ABP Group. Long articles started appearing in Kolkata newspapers how left is morally bankrupt, and how Didi can stem the rot, etc etc etc.
...
Didi won the election with a landslide.
...
Did has now returned the favor. ABP head's wife is an "artist" though there are serious allegations against her, which can be discussed some other time). Didi has allocated a prime plot in east Kolkata for her (the artist) to set up a new studio/art school. Official price of the plot is about Rs. 100 crore, but in open market the plot would fetch not less than ten times of the official amount....

[Kati]

Earlier Didi learned a good lesson for supporting NDA. Left used it to full advantage in 2006 against her. ABP Group also used it then to criticize her. So she is not going to make that mistake....so she is trying to maintain a distance from NaMo. After the recent state elections in NE states, Didi realized that she has an all India potential. Earlier, her focus and only focus was Bengal politics. But, now, like an emboldened snail she is coming out of her shell. In Manipur, TMC has 7 seats. In Arunachal Predesh TMC has 5. She has a tremendous following in Assam and Tripura. ...
Didi's biggest asset is her simplicity and her clean image. Left tried to put muck on her, but it didn't stick. She hasn't stolen a single rupee belonging to public. ...and people know this, and this is spreading. Kejriwal will be a puny in front of Didi in terms of honesty. Other TMC big guys are neck deep in corruption, but not Didi. She refused a posh state government accommodation, transportation, and lives in the small house (glorified hut) where she grew up. Two of her (out of six) younger brothers are basically goondas, and once started extorting money from local businesses in Didi's name. Once she came to know about it, she left her small house 9shared with one brother) and wanted to break all relationship with them. She lived for a few weeks at TMC's office with her mother. The after the elder-most brother settled the matter amicably, and she went back to her modest house. Recently, her nephew, who is another 'Yuvaraj' in Kolkata, and heads TMC's youth wing, has been given stern warning Didi not to sully her honest image. This image of honesty will probably give her enough mileage in the indian politics. For the time being, TMC is focusing on estern India, and will be a serious player. Didi plans to expand her base in Jharkhand, Bihar, eastern UP, Odisha, and the NE states. If she manages about 50-60 seats then that's it......she will call the shots in the indian politics.

[VinodTK]

Asaduddin Owaisi: 'The only political beneficiary of Telangana will be BJP'

[ShyamSP]

Asaduddin Owaisi: 'The only political beneficiary of Telangana will be BJP'

BRF member: The only political beneficiary of BJP benefitting will be MIM.

[devesh]

there is a lot of misdirection in that "interview". also, the title is flawed. he is talking about many things, and BJP only figures in one paragraph.

it will take careful sifting to understand what his real fears are. but he's definitely clever in all the issues that he brings up.

fundamentally though, I think the primary thrust of MiM and Owaisis since Operation Polo has been:
1. Hyderabad as a "core" Mussalman "center".
2. Buffer area around Hyderabad which has enough mutual rivalries and competing entities among Hindus to ensure survival of the Ashraf power, and expansion through conversion and long term Jihadi agenda.
3. Use this internal hedging among Hindu factions as an "attraction" to gain Gulf support and leverage.

I think Owaisis are now evaluating seriously the new equations: on some level they feel "pride" that their lost fiefdom is once again back to being "separate". but on the other hand, they remember very well, that right before this region got submerged into Kosta political rivalries, they received a thorough thrashing and if not for Delhi's "rehem" by using IA to block out the retribution of the locals, they would have been wiped out completely.

they remember that history well. regardless of what nonsense the deracinated elites brainwashed by secular institutions sprout on tv channels and media, ultimately, the Telangana "nali ke suvar" handed a very good beating just 60 years ago.

[devesh]

Asaduddin Owaisi: 'The only political beneficiary of Telangana will be BJP'

BRF member: The only political beneficiary of BJP benefitting will be MIM.

how? please do explain.

[devesh]

also, BJP's projection in Telangana is not likely to follow a conventional pattern. the existing leadership will not last for long. between now and 2017, most of the BJP top ranks and leadership will be poached and Kishan Reddy himself is at the fag end of his career in BJP. if he is a chameleon, he might switch Jhandas and take up the Hasta. they will start from scratch and most likely will have to abandon Hyd completely.

this is where any special status to Hyd is extremely useful. Chiranjeevi introduced something like that yesterday, apparently. not sure if it got stricken or what? but in the coming days, any such proposal would be a good thing. I would welcome it. Modi would probably jump on it as well, as he should.

[subhamoy.das]

Bengal will again be divided. The assertiveness of the muslims have started and on the rise as with there appeasement. Just wait for another 20 years. It will become like J&K with a hindu majority area, a muslim majority area and a gurkha area. I have kept my exit route to US open for that day. I may even settle in a BJP ruled state. My father's proficy, who witnessed the Partition time Kolkata riots, will come true.

[Shanmukh]

also, BJP's projection in Telangana is not likely to follow a conventional pattern. the existing leadership will not last for long. between now and 2017, most of the BJP top ranks and leadership will be poached and Kishan Reddy himself is at the fag end of his career in BJP. if he is a chameleon, he might switch Jhandas and take up the Hasta. they will start from scratch and most likely will have to abandon Hyd completely.

Sorry, but who will poach Kishan Reddy? Unless you mean it in the literal sense of the term?

[devesh]

^^^
quite literally he might either fade away politically or just switch affiliations. I'm not sure he is the kind of guy who can take on what's coming. I could be wrong. but let's see.

[Kati]

Bengal will again be divided. The assertiveness of the muslims have started and on the rise as with there appeasement. Just wait for another 20 years. It will become like J&K with a hindu majority area, a muslim majority area and a gurkha area. I have kept my exit route to US open for that day. I may even settle in a BJP ruled state. My father's proficy, who witnessed the Partition time Kolkata riots, will come true.

^^^^^ We have been saying this for the last 15 years already.
However, one good thing has Mamata done, that is removing left from the power, who used to appease the minorities under the table, and kept both sides under leash in the name of "liberal bengalee secularism". The districts of Murshidabad (85%), Maldah (60%), North Dinajpur (45%), South Dinajpur (50%) have already crossed the halfway mark in minority population. The border areas of Nadia, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas are becoming so lopsided that middle-class hindus are selling their properties and looking for settling somewhere else. Yes, in another 15-20 years we'll be witnessing another J&K. Gulf money is pouring in through the border, and more than 1500 mosques built recently along the entire border have now become a headache for eye-bee.

However, there is a silverlining. With Mamata's open and brazen appeasement of minorities the polarization has started in south bengal districts, and it is happening for a good reason. Earlier,
due to stiff left opposition, where pro hindu groups couldn't crystalize, now they are finding
ground under their feet. yesterday's left hindu sympathizers are now openly calling for pro-hindu stand since they are at the receiving end of the muslim hooligans pampered by TMC.......
So, the left assertion that if BJP makes an inroad in bengal in a bigway, then it is due to TMC, but for a different reason. Mamata is not courting BJP, and mindful of minority votebank she is actually
courting the muslims blindly. And this is driving a good chunk of hindus to support NaMo.

We are living in an interesting time........... More later.

[KJo]

Why the phuck would a Hindu ever want to do a degree in Islamic studies??
What a waste of time. No wonder there are so many of us Hindus with severe low self esteem.

Err, in Mamata Didi's case, she might have been too dumb to gain admission into any other program.

Bhai saab, Didi has 4 degrees. And one among them is a Law degree. She ain't stupid. Greedy and selfish and crazed, but not stupid.

[Supratik]

Kati, much of what you say is CT perhaps with an element of truth. The Left is used to calling everyone opposed to it as receiving money from CIA. So was the case of Ananda Margis (a sect). Many left cadres believe that Mamata is in direct pay of CIA. And I doubt that a media group can have so much hold on who becomes CM or PM. The ABP group since my younger days in the 80s has been consistently pro-INC. So it has attacked the left as well in later days the BJP. The ABP was not a fanboy of Mamata in her early days. Many hard core Congress supporters had the choicest abuse for Mamata for breaking the INC. They supported Mamata only when it became clear that she is the only person capable of toppling the left. The ABP group again started attacking Mamata after she became CM.

I see no reason to assume that census figures in India are manufactured and not real. So this census is going to show Muslim population at 26-27%, not 35% as you claim. The last census figures came out under NDA, so even less reason to fudge Muslim figures. The exaggerated Muslim figures are shown to scare Bengali Hindus from taking a harder religion based stand and support parties like the BJP (i.e. if you support BJP, Muslims will do this and that becoz they are 50% of population, etc). If you study the growth rates of Muslim population in WB, about 1/3rd of the population left the state following partition and their numbers came down from 29% to 19%. It has shown more growth in the next few censuses perhaps some natural and some of them returned after the Nehru-Liaqat pact. It is only after the Left front took power that numbers begin to rise significantly, 1981-1991, growth rate 36%, 1991-2001 26%. I see no apparent reason why numbers should go so high except illegal immigration. This ties in well with the reports that there was Govt-illegal collusion in settling down Bdeshis.

I think this excessive focus on Muslim numbers is to scare Bengali Hindus from voting BJP and keeping them under INC-Left intellectual control. Even with these numbers Muslim votes are concentrated in certain regions principally central Bengal. The other thing I am hearing is that with exit of the Left Hindu outfits (including RSS) have started appearing all over Bengal.

[Kati]

Supratik-dada,
your statement below appears to be mixed with uncertainty. the illegal immigration has been taking place unabated for the last twenty years. Some left politicians were/are notorious for encouraging this. late forward Block leader and left front minister Kalimuddin Shams was notorious for issuing thousands of ration cards to his illegal ilks (it was alleged that in one day 70,000 cards were issued in Baj Baj- Khidirpore area).
Probably you haven't witnessed first-hand the rapid change of demography taking place closer to Kolkata - in North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas. Large areas (from Bhangar to Malancha to Canning to Gosaba) which used to be 70-30 (H-M), has now becoming 30-70. Huge areas of Sundarban are being cleared up by illegal migrants from across the border, who are calling their new settlements as "New Bhola" (i.e., they are originally from Bhola, BD), "New Sandip" (i.e., they are
originally from Sandip, BD). These areas have no civil administration; police and local eye-bee personnel are afraid to venture in these areas.

I see no apparent reason why numbers should go so high except illegal immigration. This ties in well with the reports that there was Govt-illegal collusion in settling down Bdeshis.

I think this excessive focus on Muslim numbers is to scare Bengali Hindus from voting BJP and keeping them under INC-Left intellectual control. Even with these numbers Muslim votes are concentrated in certain regions principally central Bengal. The other thing I am hearing is that with exit of the Left Hindu outfits (including RSS) have started appearing all over Bengal.

True, after the left rout, the pro hindu groups are finding it easier to assert their presence, and they are getting huge support in rural areas.

About ABP, well, listen to the seniors.....well before left came to power, it was wooed by the particular agency. As I said, ABP doesn't want to give the impression that it wields tremendous power, but it indeed has tremendous power. Currently it is going soft on Mamata after some initial fire and fury. Interestingly, it is going soft on NaMo too, and highlighted NaMo-Powell meeting with much fanfare.
so people are wondering "ABP-ka matlab kiya?"

[Supratik]

Nahi bhai where is the uncertainty. ABP group is powerful or it thinks its powerful but that it is in collusion with Americans is a little far-fetched at least I have not seen "evidence" of that. Their stance on many non-political issues is nationalistic. They have been critics of the left sometimes openly other times not-so-openly and they don't like the BJP.

I already said that the data from 1981-2001 suggests infiltration and I have interacted with people from the border areas who corroborate infiltration and change in demographics. I will wait for the 2011 data to see how things stand now. However, I hope you will agree that part of the problem is the one-child policy adopted by Bengali Hindu families. The UPA has deliberately not finished the border fencing so that they get more voters. I hope if Modi comes to power he "seals" (and by seal I mean really seal the border), check issuance of visas (it should be totally based on reciprocity i.e. if Bdesh gives 5 we give 5 as nearly 1.2 million visitors have disappeared after entering India in the last 20 yrs) and deport illegals from Assam (absolutely necessary to dislodge INC from Assam while we have to cautious in WB and calibrate our response to the situation of minorities in Bdesh plus education specially of women in the Muslims of WB).

[Atri]

Yes, In kolkata I experienced gangs of muslim boys deliberately speeding on motorbikes in gangs, late in night through hindu neighbourhoods. Just to piss off the sleeping people. No one does anything because every one knows police won't act and in worse case, jail the complainant for disrupting the communal harmony.

[subhamoy.das]

these days in the malls u will see loads of muslims showing off their assertiveness on Id wearing scul caps etc. All the rapes, mostly done by people with muslim last name. Polarization has already started. And the feeling that if u are a muslim, u can get away with commit the crime, is on the rise and will eventually spill over as a muzzafanagar event. watch out.....