The Jan Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare, and Baba Ramdev II

[Singha]

all the BJP ruled states have opposed this bill, while Left supports it. so between the INC & Left sikular communalists MPs, they would have enough to railroad it through parliament?

[Singha]

RG is called the bahadur shah zafar of the dynasty.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home ... 926752.cms

Son rise, scion set
Chetan Bhagat | Sep 10, 2011, 12.00AM IST

The shift in public perception about Rahul Gandhi has been astonishing in the past year. Surf any news article about Rahul and you will find thousands of negative comments. Seldom has a scion of the first family been criticised so much. One wonders if he will be the last major leader of the first family, much like Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal.

The rise in negative opinions about Rahul is a worrying sign for the Congress, which projects him as its future leader. Of course, many in the Congress believe the internet is a CIA-RSS conspiracy, and they may well ignore these warning signs. However, should they choose to address it, there are steps they may take to stem the growth of this negativity.

Let us understand what has happened. Less than two years ago, Rahul was hailed as a people person, a hope for the future and a youth icon. The nation applauded him for taking a surprise local train ride in Mumbai to counter the Shiv Sena and the MNS. However, today, people are wondering if he is taking us all for a ride instead.

There are two main reasons.

First is the perceived lack of genuineness. Yes, the media still swoons over his trips to villages and halts at dalit homes, but the perception of a lack of sincerity in these efforts has begun to solidify. At least in the educated middle classes, the most often cited question about Rahul is - what has he done? This lack of personal accomplishment, and covering it up with gimmicks, has made it difficult for people to warm to him. Indians have changed a little. Yes, they still love dynasty, but they also want the new successor to have credentials apart from heredity.

If Rahul wants, he could take a challenging, yet manageable role in which he can prove himself. The chief minister's position in Delhi, or even in any of the other Congress-ruled states, could be a good start. Or, he could take on the education ministry and really reform the system to win over the youth. Without true accomplishment, it will be difficult for the educated voter to believe Rahul deserves the top job.

The second reason is Rahul's adoption of the once effective but now totally outdated weapon of the Congress - silence. The silence on corruption scandals and the Anna movement (apart from a last-day, misfired attempt to score the winning shot) and staying away from the media when it comes to important issues do not go down well with the youth. If he wants the Lokpal to be a constitutional authority, why doesn`t he come on TV channels and explain his case for it? Why did he bring it up so late, anyway?

Silence may allow you to evade such questions, but you cannot wipe them away from people`s minds. People keep asking those questions on the internet; they resonate, people assume the worst and ultimately destroy the reputation of a silent person. Talk with humility, sincerity and honesty works better than a contrived silence.

Of course, many in the Congress may smirk at all this, for they believe the educated middle classes don`t matter in elections. Yes, the numbers are still relatively small, but they are rising fast. There are more than 30 million people on Facebook alone, and they are more than doubling every two years. A look at the vote share difference between the two parties will tell you that the margin of victory is not that large.

The Congress may count on the rural vote and claim the voter numbers are much higher there. However, such support is likely to shrink over time. Rural voters are habituated to subsidy schemes like NREGA but are facing high inflation, so their vote is not assured. As rural affluence and education rise, they may also feel less enamoured of dynasty and seek competence instead.

The Muslim vote, the core strength of the Congress, is also not something that can be taken for granted over time. Almost every political party is claiming to be secular now. The new generation that hasn't seen as much communalism as in the previous decades may not feel as persecuted as a community as its elders and may be more ambivalent about its vote.

These shifts in Indian demographics and mindsets are good for the nation. However, they come at a tough time for the Congress. The Congress may well want to align with the trends above, but it currently also faces the risk of an internal implosion - a fallout of the blame game arising from the mishandled Anna situation. The Congress not only needs to project new leaders who look young, but who also think in a new manner.

Rahul's future will depend on these factors. There are some real, solid risks to his career at the moment. However, i wouldn't write him or the family off yet. The lack of a formidable opposition, and hopefully, some sane voices in the Congress might save the day. After all, there are differences between Rahul and the last Mughal. One, the last Mughal wrote wonderful poetry. Rahul doesn't. Two, the last Mughal did not have a sister like Priyanka. And that may finally matter after all.

[csaurabh]

I understand the idiocy of BJP leaders of protecting the CLuless schizophrenic Rahul. The problem is that they believed that the catholic woman is done and Indians will never accept the foreign white christian lady. They were being magnanimous. They thought they will look mean if they leave the SOB to the US courtesy or might have thought the west can blackmail Sonia or it might be the case of "I scratch your back and you scratch mine". Whatever their logic was, it was dumb and stupid.

Bringing in Kalam, EVMs... Most of their acts were interests of the nation and setting up a good example. The way the bloody Maino DIE-nasty brought Naveen Chawla, Prathibha Patil kind of shady characters to kill institutional independence was not attempted by NDA/BJP.

You can't be serious about the hiking of Haj subsidy. It is to show the goodwill and get some moderate muslims into neutral camp (some way to divide the Minority Vote banks ganging up for CON party. Haj subsidy increase is not same as reservations for Muslims as championed by Sachar crook (AP or WB Govt.). Please understand the compulsions of ruling party (that too a coalition) to prove rabid COMMIE, anti-nationals shouting from roof tops Hindu right wing dogs have taken over the country.

This weakness comes from historical reasons. We think we should be gracious in victory. Remember Prithviraj Chauhan who defeated Ghori 10 times and every time forgave him. Ultimately he was destroyed by his kindness.

In reality we should follow the same strategy that the congress follows. Hit them when they are down, hit them hard. The aim should be to exterminate Congrez party by all means. G-family perfidy and secret billions must be exposed. All congress chamchas should be prosecuted and jailed for their role in scams. Their assets should be seized as repayment of scam losses. Kick out Patil, Naveen Chawla and other dubious characters appointed by Mainos. Make the CAG, CBI, Supreme Court etc. actually independent. Come down hard on media for defaming their party. Burkha and co. have plenty of skeletons in their closet. Cancel their licenses. No compromises should be made on terrorism and Paki 'peace' talks. Root out all terrorist outfits. Hang Kasab and co. The motto should be 'In defeat, malice. In victory, revenge' ( from Yes Minister )

[vijayk]

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/why-2 ... 80604.html
Why 2014 could be like 1996

This allegation was followed by a string of many others against the Prime Minister in the years to come. An important milestone was a famous press conference at the Taj in Mumbai in July 1993, where Jethmalani and Harshad Mehta demonstrated how one could stuff Rs 1 crore into a suitcase to validate Mehta’s allegations against the Prime Minister. Jethmalani claimed that one such suitcase was indeed used by his client Harshad Mehta to bribe Rao.

Given his image as an indecisive PM, Rao was vulnerable to allegations made by all and sundry, from pickle vendors to stock market racketeers. In many ways it was this mélange of alleged scams that laid the foundations for one of the worst-ever debacles in the Congress’ political history — the 1996 Lok Sabha elections.

But it was not the mere lack of credibility of the ruling party that resulted in the 1996 waterloo. There are three primary drivers in national elections.

One is the very credibility of the ruling dispensation. Second, how it manages the arithmetic of alliances and/or fragments within itself. And third, how it manages the anti-incumbency factor it faces in many states.

Though the other two drivers work independently as well, the party’s credibility quotient readily multiplies or whittles down its performance on the other two counts.  That is precisely the ground that Anna Hazare has laid for the Opposition. That is what various surveys are pointing to – the mood.

However, it is the latter two factors which will define how the mood translates into votes and seats. Two contrasting polls bring out interesting attributes that could shape the 2014 mandate.

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/stenc ... 57473.html

The survey, conducted by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) from 1,300 locals in 19 states, confirms that corruption has become a big deal with the aam aadmi, both in urban and rural areas, but more so among the educated classes.

A decisive 60 percent of those surveyed felt that the UPA was running a “Very corrupt” or “Somewhat corrupt” government, with urban respondents showing an even higher percentage of disgust at 66 percent. That’s two out of three people. College-educated people were most vehement and angry, with as many as 71 percent agreeing with the above statements. This is the group from where Team Anna probably finds sustenance.

The constituency that thought highly of Manmohan Singh in 2009 — the educated and the literate — no longer thinks highly of his UPA government. B Mathur/Reuters
Rahul baba, you have a problem on your hands in 2014. Manmohan Singhji, your credibility has been shot to pieces — especially on corruption.

But Gadkariji, Sushmaji and Jaitleyji, you have nothing to gloat about. Karnataka is the only state where the people are more concerned about the BJP’s corruption than the UPA’s by a huge margin. You did well asking Yeddyurappa to go, but you have a huge repair job to do.

Interestingly, corruption is a wider issue than the current media obsession with the 2G and Commonwealth Games scams. The survey finds 44 percent of the people agreeing with the statement that “The government has been insincere in responding to issues raised by the anti-corruption movements”, but barely 27 percent of the respondents had heard of A Raja and 25 percent of Suresh Kalmadi. Even fewer (22 percent) had heard of Kanimozhi or Dayanidhi Maran (19 percent).

What this suggests is that the recent incidents of corruption may merely have upped the ante on corruption, but the aam aadmi has more serious concerns about corruption and it goes well beyond the 2G or Commonwealth scams.

Perceptions about central- and state-level corruption also tell the same story. Despite the public’s strong unhappiness with UPA’s poor record on corruption, in many states the concerns are about both central and state corruption. In Karnataka and Andhra, state-level corruption seems like a bigger problem than the UPA’s distant corruption. Dilli door ast.

In Karnataka, for example, 52 percent of the respondents felt that the state government was more corrupt than the Centre, against just half the number who said the Centre was more corrupt. In Andhra, the anger with state-level corruption was 39 percent against 32 percent for the Centre.

Rahul Baba, here’s a tit-bit for you. In Uttar Pradesh, where you are trying to score points over Mayawati, both Centre and state are seen as nearly equally corrupt (at 32 and 30 percent). So maybe you should not make corruption a key talking point.

In Bihar, there is an even more interesting trend: while UPA is seen as corrupt (48 percent) and the state government as a near angel (just 14 percent), the real problems are at the level of local governments – panchayats and zilla parishads. Here the corruption score is 37 percent. Nitish Kumarji, this is your next challenge. Your panchayats are your Achilles’ heel.

[ManjaM]

ABVP wins DUSU elections. NSUI attributes this to Anna Hazare fast and the mass mobilization creating a negative mood against Congress. I am afraid the whole mobilization has come a little too early. The sentiment might subside before 2014.

[Prem]

Ganga Gaye Ganga Ram, jamuna Gaye Jamuna Das

Rahul takes charge at AICC meet, pulls up party leaders

Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have taken All India [ Images ] Congress Committee general secretaries and state in-charges to task for failing to implement the Sonia Gandhi-driven Burari agenda on corruption. He was also unhappy about their failure to spread awareness about the Centre's flagship programmes in states ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] and to implement the Congress president's five-point action programme, outlined in her speech at the party plenary in Burari, which was later adopted as a resolution. In a meeting held on Saturday evening at the Congress headquarter, which had been called to signal that the party president is back in the saddle, Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have taken centre-stage. He apparently expressed his annoyance at the manner in which the Congress president's directives have been ignored on key issues like fighting corruption. After Sonia Gandhi's [ Images ] Burari speech in December, more cases of corruption have come to the fore and virtually rocked the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance [ Images ] government. A number of ministers and members of Parliament have ended up in jail while the movement led by Anna Hazare has hit the government hard on the issue of corruption.
While Hazare's name was not mentioned, Gandhi did point out that the Congress must have a two-year roadmap in BJP-ruled states on how to tackle the main opposition party. He has identified 16 flagship programmes of the UPA which should be popularised in the states and the people should be made aware that they are the Centre's policies and progarmmes.
Gandhi wanted the Union ministers to regularly visit the states, particularly those ruled by the Opposition, and spread the word. These are exactly the same issues which Sonia Gandhi has been advocating in her speeches, but it has had little or no impact on Congress leaders and ministers, who continue to be busy with their own preoccupations. General secretaries and state in-charges have been asked to submit detailed reports of the major activities in their states during the absence of Sonia Gandhi. They also have to submit reports on how far the Burari resolution has been implemented in the various states by the general secretaries. Congress has to face five assembly elections early next year, followed by a few more state elections at the end of the year, over a dozen state assembly polls in 2013 and finally the general elections in 2014. Party leaders say that Sonia Gandhi was the first to seriously flag the issue of corruption at Burari, but there was no response to it either within the party or the government. It was Anna Hazare who hijacked the entire issue and made it into his own agenda, making it a virtual referendum against the government. The question being asked is how and why this was allowed to happen, with the party being forced on the back-foot in the matter. A senior leader said that in the absence of Sonia Gandhi, no one was left in any doubt that Rahul was the boss, even though he has not been given any official designation to that effect. Incidentally, AICC treasurer Motilal Vora, who is also in charge of the administration of committee, was waiting at the gate which connects 24 Akbar Road to 10 Janpath to receive Rahul Gandhi and then escort him to the meeting, just as he does when the Congress president is on her way to the meet. After the meeting was over and Rahul left, again escorted by Motilal Vora, senior leaders went into a huddle in their respective rooms and the mood was reportedly tense.

[sumishi]

Political parties get bulk of funds from unnamed donors TOI -- 11/09/2011

NEW DELHI: Political parties are sourcing a major chunk of their funds from unidentified donors, according to their income-tax returns. Donors' lists and tax returns filed by the Congress, BJP, NCP and BSP for the past five years show they have not identified those who account for most of their funding.

For instance, the Congress collected at least Rs 978 crore through sale of coupons in the five years till 2008-09, for which it has not provided any contributors' list to authorities. In comparison, contributions collected by the ruling party with donors' names account for a mere Rs 85 crore in the same period.

The BJP, which has not proved as successful in gathering funds while in opposition, has made Rs 30 crore through sale of its Ajivan Sahyog Nidhi coupons in the five years between 2005 and 2009. In comparison, it has recieved Rs 95 crore from identified donors.

The BSP, despite its smaller size, has been more successful and innovative in its collection of funds. The party received more than Rs 200 crore through cash donations in just two years (2007-08 and 2008-09). It has not made any disclosure about who its contributors are, claiming that all donations received by it are below Rs 20,000. When I-T authorities tried to unearth the identities of its donors, the BSP successfully argued that all its contributions in cash are made by poor supporters, out of love and affection for the party leader.

The Representation of People Act states that political parties are required to submit details of contributions received in excess of Rs 20,000 from any person or a company.

Those familiar with the issue feel that it is no coincidence that most of the donations don't exceed Rs 20,000 and thus contributors remain unidentified.

While the I-T department finds nothing amiss about it , the pattern of parties getting funds from people who wish to stay anonymous has engaged the attention of anti-graft campaigners.

Flush from their success in pressuring the government on the Lokpal bill, they have now decided to campaign for full transparency in political funding.

Income-Tax authorities have looked at accounts of four major political parties -- Congress, BJP, BSP and the CPM -- for two assessment years between 2006 and 2008.

Though they found everything in order and also certified the accounts of these parties, activists led by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has demanded a thorough probe into parties receiving undisclosed contributions which constitute up to 90% of their total funds collected in any particular year.

The ADR has written to the Central Board of Direct Taxes demanding a probe into the large cash donations received by political parties. "There is a dire need for a thorough investigation and scrutiny of the source and flow of such donations to curb the flow of black money into the coffers of political parties," said Anil Bairwal, coordinator of ADR.

He alleged that parties are misusing the RP Act by taking multiple donations from the same persons but keeping each contribution within the limit of Rs 20,000 so that they don't have to disclose donors' names. "Make it mandatory (for every party) to issue receipts with full details of name, address and amount contributed," Bairwal said.

[csaurabh]

ABVP wins DUSU elections. NSUI attributes this to Anna Hazare fast and the mass mobilization creating a negative mood against Congress. I am afraid the whole mobilization has come a little too early. The sentiment might subside before 2014.

I'm sorry are you under the impression that the whole 'mobilization' will even be remembered in 2014?
Remember that 6 months after Mumbai terrorist attacks , Congies swept the Mumbai polls.
The movement accomplished absolutely nothing. A quick pic as a reminder



For most of us, Lokpal bill was like a reality show. Now that its over, its already a fading memory.
The only thing it may have exposed was the stupidity of Congress chamchas and impotency of Rahul Gandhi. Though this wasn't really unknown to most of us.

[Pranav]

Team Anna press conference at Ralegan Siddhi: http://zeenews.india.com/video/showvideo12992.html

Members of Anna Hazare's core committee came out strongly against social activist Aruna Roy, who leads the National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information, stating that what she proposed as an alternative to the Jan Lokpal Bill was “against the law and the Constitution.” Ms. Roy had not suggested an alternative Bill or law, but merely “a proposal, a concept note,” said Mr. Kejriwal.

He said Ms. Roy had wrongly alleged that Team Anna had not discussed the issue with her, in spite of having had three meetings with the members. “When we were supposed to meet her in [veteran journalist] Kuldip Nayar's house, she sent us back from the gate saying that she didn't want to talk to me. We tried, but she is not ready to engage in dialogue,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

He said there were three major differences between the Jan Lokpal bill and Ms. Roy's version. She demanded that if the Prime Minister was found corrupt, then both the Lokpal Bench and the Supreme Court Bench should give permission for his prosecution. “How will the Supreme Court give permission to the police to conduct a trial in the lower court? This is unconstitutional,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

Ms. Roy has suggested that officers of the lower bureaucracy be made answerable to the police and not to the Lokpal. If the police were unsuccessful in handling a corruption case, then an appeal can be made for inquiry to the Vigilance Commission. According to Mr. Kejriwal, this provision is against the law. “You cannot change the Code of Criminal Procedure. That is unconstitutional,” he said.

The other point on which Team Anna disagreed with Ms. Roy was on the Citizens' Charter. “According to Ms. Roy, all public grievances should be a part of the Charter. This is not possible. It has to be focused on corruption,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

Stating that her opinion on the anti-graft legislation was “not right,” Mr. Kejriwal said: “We are still open to discussion. She can have a dialogue with us on any open forum.”

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a ... 442072.ece

[vijayk]

Here is another corrupt CON media working the DIE-nasty pontificates:

http://tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?fil ... _Argal.asp
Amar, Argal, Advani

The cash-for-votes scam has had strange fallouts. An arrest one could never have imagined. And some political grandstanding that raises disturbing questions

BUT THAT, roughly, is where the simplicities of the cash-for-votes scam end. On 8 September, leader of Opposition LK Advani stood up in Parliament and made an assertion that was masterfully astute, yet, morally shocking.

Defending the two BJP MPS Ashok Argal and Faggan Singh Kulaste, jailed with Amar Singh for their role in the sting operation, Advani admitted in Parliament that it was he who had authorised the sting operation and dared the UPA government to arrest him as well.

As politics goes, there couldn’t have been a better joust. The UPA — already beleaguered by a dozen crises — can hardly dare to arrest him and Advani has skillfully managed to put the government on the backfoot for arresting supposed “whistle-blowers”.

The problem is this would have been both a politically astute and morally noble position if the BJP MPs and the cash-for-votes sting operation had really been a bona fide whistle-blowing operation.

That is, if the BJP MPs had been approached by the UPA to jump ship and the MPS or the BJP had decided to expose this by asking a media house to sting the shameful bribe offer.

This completely changes the nature of the sting. It is no longer a bona fide whistle-blowing operation exposing an actual and on-going wrong-doing but something cynically engineered by one political party to bring down another. Such a sting — a sort of morality test to see who would stumble in a generic atmosphere of corruption — would have been tenable if it had been undertaken independently by a media house that had nothing to gain from it. But here the BJP clearly stood to gain: it had a vested interest in bringing down the government and seizing power itself.

Frustratingly, few seem to grasp this essential difference between a media house and a political party undertaking a sting of this nature.

Often there are comparisons to TEHELKA’s own famous and controversial sting into defence corruption back in 2001. The simple answer to that is TEHELKA did not stand to become prime minister or defence minister by testing the virtues of the establishment. But Mr Advani does.

The scums in Tehelka are frustrated by the fact that people don't see any difference between Tehelka and BJP. Tehelka won't become PM but your foreign agent is ruling roost. How do we know that you are not working for foreign agency or Sonia or Quattrochi to destabilise the BJP Govt.?

It is not like BJP leaders were asking for bribes in a contract and you infiltrated the network and video taped the deal. You initiated the conversation and asked some idiot to take you to the next level. Bandaru Dattatreya was never a decision maker or was seeking customers for his boss.

I think this is what BJP has to be careful. NDTV, Tehelka, CNN/IBN will run such several stings in these 3 years to destroy their credibility.

People often mistake TEHELKA’s stand on this issue as a partiality to the Congress. But nothing could be further from the truth. Our anxiety is about a point of principle: can our parliamentary democracy be reduced to political parties engineering stings against each other to topple each other from power or erode each others’ political capital? Will elections soon be made redundant? The next time the BJP is in power, should the Congress set out on a fishing expedition to test the morality of its weakest link and use that to unseat an NDA government?

Hear hear... She has principles...
Where were those principles when you were working for CON party and foreign agent. How do we not know that you are being for services by CON ITALIAN MAFIA?
How come there are no more stings now?

[sumishi]

Is the honeymoon with the crown prince over? -- Swapan Dasgupta, in TOIlet (no pun intended!), 11/09/2011

There are odd moments when apparently trivial incidents portend larger trends. In early 1989, the Patna station of All India Radio was at the centre of a bizarre controversy. During a live broadcast of a children’s programme, the presenter invited kids from a studio audience to recite a short poem. When it came to his turn, a small child, barely out of kindergarten, blurted out something that had caught his fancy: "Gali gali mey shor hai, Rajiv Gandhi chor hai."

Indignant loyalists were quick to detect a "sinister conspiracy" behind a child’s fascination with a slogan he had heard around his mohalla. But few dared to draw the obvious conclusion from the embarrassment: that questions over the Prime Minister’s integrity (badly affected by the Bofors controversy) had become a part of everyday discourse in households.

Last Wednesday, hours after the bomb blast in Delhi High Court, Rahul Gandhi encountered a hostile crowd as he made the mandatory political visit to a hospital. A crowd, waiting anxiously for news of their seriously injured family members, booed the Congress’ heir designate and shouted hostile slogans.

The regime did its utmost to underplay the incident and some TV channels even suggested it was the handiwork of "political activists". But as with the AIR broadcast, the implication of the heckling was glossed over.

That 2011 is fast turning into the UPA government’s annus horribilis is obvious. Yet, the Congress has comforted itself into believing that the steep fall in the government’s popular standing has not rubbed off on Rahul. It has been presumed that the Congress general secretary’s detachment from everyday governance would lead to a situation whereby the dynasty was perceived as the most obvious saviour in the country’s dark hour. The calculation was that any craving for change would be internalized within the ruling establishment.

At the risk of over-reading the implications of the hospital kerfuffle, it would seem that the strategy is not working out. Rahul’s "game changer" speech that he read out to the Lok Sabha last month failed to galvanize India. On the contrary, he was mocked by the pro-Anna Hazare crowd at Ramlila Maidan for his lofty aloofness and his unwillingness to engage with real issues on a sustained basis. At a time when people cried out for upright and deft political management, Rahul cast himself in the role of a not-terribly-profound pontificator.

In just over a fortnight, the popular mood has changed dramatically. Opinion polls that indicated residual faith in the Congress despite fierce dissatisfaction with the government’s performance, are now recording rising support for the opposition and BJP in particular. For the first seven years of his political life, the crown prince was showered with popular (and media) indulgence. They forgave his indiscretions and failures, ignored his all-too-frequent withdrawals into private life, boisterously celebrated his occasional successes and worshipped his ‘potential’, both real and projected. Congress cheerleaders painted him as the "youth icon" and foretold a future dispensation of young inheritors—well-spoken, well-groomed men and women from pedigreed political families, the proverbial babalogs.

The honeymoon seems to be finally over. There are still some 32 months before another general election, and 2014 could miraculously turn into annus mirabilis if a smug BJP decides to fall back on day-before-yesterday’s slogans, techniques and leaders. If Rahul continues to falter, the custodians of dynastic rule may even be inclined to whip out its secret weapon— Priyanka Vadra . In 2011, the plot is still unfolding and the conclusion is still many episodes away.

But 2011 is nevertheless an important landmark. Historians may characterize these turbulent months as the time India shed its deferential submissiveness towards the ‘first family’. The Gandhis will remain the adhesive that joins a disparate Congress family. At the same time, a mood of rebellious individualism is threatening to unsettle the cosy world of entitlement on which dynastic politics rests.

The boy who unsettled the airwaves in the final months of Rajiv Gandhi must be nearing 30. Did he unwittingly kick-start a new age of insolence in which ordinary people can raise their voices and talk back at those who imagine they were born to rule? We live in exciting times.

[RamaY]

Priyanka Vadra would do an IG on her handlers. These EJs do not understand Indian woman (that is why their discomfort with women leaders; perhaps something to do with Christian sexist mindset).

[JwalaMukhi]

^ That's lot of hope riding on Bianca vadra.

[sumishi]

I'm sorry are you under the impression that the whole 'mobilization' will even be remembered in 2014?
Remember that 6 months after Mumbai terrorist attacks , Congies swept the Mumbai polls.
The movement accomplished absolutely nothing. ...
...
For most of us, Lokpal bill was like a reality show. Now that its over, its already a fading memory.
The only thing it may have exposed was the stupidity of Congress chamchas and impotency of Rahul Gandhi. Though this wasn't really unknown to most of us.

Would disagree some. The UPA corruption stigmata will be remembered for a long time, since corruption, as part of every facet of normal life, will serve to remind folks on a day-to-day basis. Cannot say the same about terrorist attacks, which are once-in-a-while incidents.

[RamaY]

^ That's lot of hope riding on Bianca vadra.

[Pranav]

Priyanka Vadra would do an IG on her handlers. These EJs do not understand Indian woman (that is why their discomfort with women leaders; perhaps something to do with Christian sexist mindset).

And after that, the children of Bianca and Robert?

[vishvak]

Priyanka Vadra would do an IG on her handlers. These EJs do not understand Indian woman (that is why their discomfort with women leaders; perhaps something to do with Christian sexist mindset).

And after that, the children of Bianca and Robert?

If Sonia Gandhi can pull this until now, what stops Biaanka, Raaburt & Family to continue trial & error? What have they got to do exactly other than turn up to show their surname and talk better than Sonia Gandhi?

[Atri]

Priyanka Vadra would do an IG on her handlers. These EJs do not understand Indian woman (that is why their discomfort with women leaders; perhaps something to do with Christian sexist mindset).

what makes you think this way?you think she has it in her? Yes, she's strong and more capable than the imbecile brother. But doing an IG on handlers? This is assuming the fact that the phrase "doing an IG" refers to an act that is good for Indic Rashtra.. I don't think 1971 scale of events are due in coming 3-4 years(migrations in India. The scum can stew in the pot for some time now).

Apart from 1971 and 1974, what did IG do? The gains of Dec'71 were lost in Shimla (I know Mrs. G's political and international compulsions and am sympathetic towards her; but was shimla good for India?). What about the 1966, an year which catapulted her to top?.. IG's "Vipareeta Raajayoga" which materialised in Tashkent..

[ManjaM]

^^ Atri ji, I keep hearing this again and again that Bianca Vadra is a more capable leader than Rahul baba, shes smarter, mentally strong etc etc, but what is the evidence that she is any of the above. The only news snippets i hear about her are the articles where she has said that she prefers to be out of politics. Just like Rahul baba is being judged after repeated failures at leadership, Bianca Vadra needs to be judged on repeated successes, isnt it?

[Theo_Fidel]

We do have one data point. She married Robert Vadra. Presumably because he was her intellectual equal...

[RamaY]

Let me clarify.

I was referring to the fact that IG was propped up by a group of selfish politicians thinking that she would be easy to manipulate. The reality was that all those senior congress leaders died nobody where as IG turned out to be a reasonable leader in the long-term.

If she ever becomes leader of INC, Binaka would be forced to shed her Vadra-ness in no time and be forced to become a mother of down-trodden.

We are looking at 2019/2024 elections and by the time she would get into her 50s and her children (in 20s) would bring their own dynamics.

I sincerely hope all this remains a hypothetical scenario. I sincerely hope the die-nasty ends forever.

[Jarita]

^^^ Not going to happen - Bianca Vadras new hairstyle and khadi sarees notwithstanding. Unless propped up as fronts for geopolitical powers, this generation is benefiting from the residual goodwill of the past. This will not necessarily translate into votes.

[Philip]

It's a long way to the next election.What matters now is for the "centre to hold",that is if you are a Congressman.If you re not,then the desire to batter the party into the ground with scam expose after scam expose is terribly attractive.Can the Opposition keep up the momentum till 2014? The AH movement is a tool hat they can use,by jumping onto the AH's bandwagon.But this is a dangerous course too if their own state govts. are seen as being equally corrupt.The parties that cut the deadwood out will benefit at the polls.The date of Mouse Mubarak Singh's departure is of critical importance.

[niran]

OT alert:
Dr. MMS has formed his own committee(for want of proper words)
he still is looking for legacy, the nook deal he had hoped failed
he had planned for a "White knight savior" act to steal the thunder from AH
and claim the glory and legacy for hisself but baba RG put paid to that with a surprise
visit to 7 RCR couple of hours ahead of the parliament session and his speech.
the tussle between dynasty followers and MMS is at the top currently, he who wins shall claim
the PM seat.

[sum]

^^ Uh-oh, does it mean a suicidal deal with TSP is in the offing to ensure a permanent lagacy for MMS?

[niran]

^^^ No, too much pressure against it from the likes of kids cousins SHQ etc.

[abhischekcc]

It was sad to see RG booed at the hospital,many forgetting that his own father Rajiv, was also a victim of terror.It however indicates as to how low in esteem the party's image has sunk.The victim's families were xpressing their anger at the party for the attack.

Philip, the anger was not directed at the party, but at Rahul Gandhi himself. The last statement he made about terror was the infamous "99% success, 1% failure" sentence. He had been vilified then also, but the kangressi chamchas did not realize how insensitive that statement was to the people of India. It amounted to saying that Indians deserve to die, and that too by the person projected as the PM-in-waiting by the congress.

Now, if rahul gandhi comes to express 'sympathy' with the victims of terror, is it any wonder that he was booed out of the hospital. He should feel lucky that he was hospitalized in the same hospital.

[kumarn]

Come on. Do you expect people to remember such obscure comments from chote malick?

People are getting sick of terrorist attacks, just like they got sick of hearing about Rajas and Kalmadis on a daily basis resulting in the AH and BR agitations. The pain threshold is getting reached slowly. The booing was just the first sign of it. If the pakkhanis and their chelas do not desist, which they won't, they and the indian political class may be in for a big surprise from the mango public.

[Atri]

^^ Atri ji, I keep hearing this again and again that Bianca Vadra is a more capable leader than Rahul baba, shes smarter, mentally strong etc etc, but what is the evidence that she is any of the above. The only news snippets i hear about her are the articles where she has said that she prefers to be out of politics. Just like Rahul baba is being judged after repeated failures at leadership, Bianca Vadra needs to be judged on repeated successes, isnt it?

This (that PG is better than RG) is the buzz I hear from some chaiwalas of my acquaintance who deliver tea and morning Idli-Dosai as breakfast to certain home on Janpath. Apparently, the only criteria which is taken into consideration while making this judgement is the difference in the mental constitution of sister from that of brother. The theories about certain mental illnesses of RG are already in market now, thanks to wikileaks, hence it is OK to speak about it.

All they require is a healthy person to prop up.. Entire system is calibrated to rally to this figurehead and carry on ruling their "Mansabs" and "Jaagirs" (Fiefdoms) which have been distributed to so many members belonging to the network of this imperial dynasty. Who knows, we may see emergence of the next unlikely Michael Corleone of the family, who did not want to enter family business in first place and when he was forced to enter, ended up eliminating everyone, friend and foe to become a supreme leader. But that, IMHO, is unlikely to happen in country like India in given fractured times with a dynasty which nurtures itself on divisions of society and not commonalities.

So, given a "healthy" figure-head, all the satraps can happily carry on their business. The chain remains intact as none of the satraps become too powerful vis-a-vis each other. They also say the sister is more "steady" nature-wise. But how much of it is truth and how much of it is "Chaaploosi", One never know.

Think of post Aurangzeb Mughal emperors which ruled the "red-fort" from 1707 to 1858. Rest of India (including the delhi) was someone else's. But this figurehead was necessary. One attempt to seemingly touch the safety of this figurehead ended in Panipat. Because this figurehead is not a person or a family. This is a deep rooted network which tied together by generations of marital and familial connections. Old favours and suitcases filled with embarrassing dossiers about each other other. One cannot pick a fight with all the 10 heads of Ravan simultaneously. And one has to wait for time when Raavan allows one head to be sacrificed in order to ensure survival. Thus we then have 9 heads to worry about, so on and so forth.

I hope nothing similar to EIC emerges this time, while this slow decapitation of entrenched Raavana and the network which props him up is ongoing. Because in this process, many a Panipat, will happen again. This is a multigenerational process (multi here refers to more than 2 )

[abhischekcc]

Priyanka Vadra has one handicap - Vadra (as in Robert).

She cannot become contender as long as this albatross is across her neck. Moreover, he is India's answer to Zardari, our own Mr. 10%. His life and shady deals will come under scrutiny, and in some ways he will prove to be a more 'punchable' punching bag, because he is not a woman.

Media management will become as twisted as a plate of spaghetti, pun intended.

[abhischekcc]

Come on. Do you expect people to remember such obscure comments from chote malick?

Some things stick.

[niran]

^^ his job is done, mohtarma P has offsprings all she need is is a scene where she holds
two lil keeds a white saari on with dark glasses covering her eyes and watching a pyre,
that will ensure a thumping victory for con-men.

[Sanku]

^^ his job is done, mohtarma P has offsprings all she need is is a scene where she holds
two lil keeds a white saari on with dark glasses covering her eyes and watching a pyre,
that will ensure a thumping victory for con-men.

Rest of the his inconvenient family is anyway gone, his time should be soon in coming.

[sumishi]

...This (that PG is better than RG) is the buzz I hear from some chaiwalas of my acquaintance who deliver tea and morning Idli-Dosai as breakfast to certain home on Janpath. Apparently, the only criteria which is taken into consideration while making this judgement is the difference in the mental constitution of sister from that of brother. The theories about certain mental illnesses of RG are already in market now, thanks to wikileaks, hence it is OK to speak about it.....

Naaahhh....I think PG better than RG is a testosterone mandated thingy among the dicksonians, while the pussycats are influenced by oestrogen to go gaga over RG's dimples.

[Klaus]

Sanku: Remember a certain character who fed on the food portions of the other family members, all of whom were imprisoned by the blind king? A TTD vip cannot be for only basic utility purposes.

The OT thread beckons...

[Jarita]

Latest tweets by Subramaniun Swamy indicate that Rajmatas housekeepers from her desh are not allowing any Indians to meet her. Neither MMS nor Ahmed Patel are able to meet. Only goras.

[sumishi]

Anna threatens another Lokpal Stir -- Team to hold Referendum in Constituencies of MPs part of Panel: TOI - 12/09/2011

RALEGAN SIDDHI: Fresh from their triumph at Ramlila Maidan, Anna Hazare and his team declared on Sunday that they will hold "referendums" in constituencies of MPs who are part of the standing committee on the Jan Lokpal bill, asking people whether they should vote for their representatives who oppose the bill. Hazare threatened another stir if their demands are not met.

"The referendum is meant to gauge people's views on those who oppose the Bill. In next six months, Anna and his team will tour the states where assembly elections are due, to create awareness about stand taken by political parties on the bill," said Arvind Kejriwal.

Anna Hazare said he will tour the country and answer those opposed to the Jan Lokpal bill and not give up until the government passes the bill. "If required, I will again start an agitation again, if not from Jantar Mantar or Ramlila Maidan, then from some other place in Delhi," he said.

There are some "over smart" people in the government, Hazare said. "When I was in Delhi I saw five to six people in the government acting as if they were the PM. There was complete confusion and Sonia Gandhi was also not there", he said.

Arvind Kejriwal, fighting off charges of corruption, said, "By October 15, an audit report of expenses incurred by India Against Corruption (IAC) during April 1 to September 30 will be put up on IAC website. All members of the core team will declare their assets. A three-member committee of retired HC/SC judges will be formed to look into complaints about alleged corruption in the expenses." Team member Prashant Bhushan said allegations were made about Anna and his team members. "We will send them defamation notices and seek apologies," he said.

"I appeal to people to form teams and visit colleges, offices and societies to spread awareness about the bill. We are forming sub-committees that will meet party leaders and create awareness about Jan Lokpal bill", she said.

Commenting on the recent police firing on farmers agitating against land acquisition in Maval, Anna said grabbing farmers' land and firing on them were not signs of a democracy.

"That is why I believe gram sabha's approval for any land acquisition should be made mandatory," he said.

[IndraD]

In an explosive revelation, Swiss banking whistleblower Rudolf Elmer has said even cricketers and filmstars hold secret accounts. While refusing to give out names of tax evaders, Elmer accused the Indian government of not doing enough on the black money front.

Fearing reprisals, Elmer declined to reveal names of "politicians, cricketers and filmstars". He said it's "all about approach", saying if the Indian government was at all serious about bringing back black money. Elmer cited the example of the US which had succeeded in getting the list of tax evading Americans who held accounts in tax havens.

"The government is not committed. I think society has to put pressure on the Indian government to act. India is a big country, which is getting stronger by the day. It has the negotiating power," Elmer told Headlines Today executive editor Rahul Kanwal, while responding to a question as to how India needs to proceed on the issue of black money.



http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/rudo ... 50967.html

[Sanku]

Sanku: Remember a certain character who fed on the food portions of the other family members, all of whom were imprisoned by the blind king? A TTD vip cannot be for only basic utility purposes.

The OT thread beckons...

You will have to explain a bit more Klaus-mahodaya, I will wait for it in in the OT thread.

[vishvak]

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/rudo ... 50967.html

Some contradiction from the report

Rudolf Elmer is a former employee of Swiss bank Julius Bar, a highly reputed Swiss bank. Elmer worked at this bank for more than 20 years and...

...claimed to have found evidence that his bank was helping its clients evade tax. He said he was fired when...

Is the concept of numbered accounts approved by U.N. or is it all about ad-hoc practices in first world European countries?

I am sure more than just the money, even more damaging will be reports of who all knew about & approved these cesspools.

Also if there is any time about 'fearing reprisals' part that stops this brave man even in first world Europe.