General Elections 2014- Transition of power & World Reaction

Bharath.Subramanyam · Post by **Bharath.Subramanyam** » 12 May 2014 05:53

dhanyavadaha Ramana ji

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 12 May 2014 07:07

Philip wrote:Like Harvard doing research into milkman Lalu's railway innovations,so too will the US be engulfed in "shock and awe" when Mr. M delivers.The western approach to fawn over the man or woman in charge,in an attempt to seduce the leader of the pack,so that its own interests can be served,is played out time and time again ad nauseum,cometh an election' or regime change.There are exceptions of course,especially if it is a Russian leader like Putin!

Lallus railway term was actually a fiasco which was lapped up by Harvard intellectuals.It was found later that all those numbers were trumped.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 12 May 2014 07:11

ramana garu a very good observation. Now tgat Rajiv Gandhi crossed the rubicon now it is the turn of the women folks and Caligula to start looting the plebes and the road by which they take the riches leads to Rome and Milan. Nobody would have complained if they were another family Medici based around Ganga Yamuna doab or Godavari Krishna doab. Bu they wmt yo cross the rubicon and get into Rome.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 12 May 2014 07:25

Fox News
Alllahabad. 8th phase.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 12 May 2014 07:30

NYTimes, 8th phase. Leh.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 12 May 2014 07:58

Good luck India, the last phase of 2014 begins. Is the World watching history being made? If Modi wins decisively, these elections will mark a tectonic shift in World affairs - the effects of which will not be evident immediately. A moderate Modi victory will come with its challenges and would require another victory in 2019 to begin the shift.

Irrespective of the politics, politicians and ECI's omissions and commissions; the people of India once again proved their faith in democracy (an average of 64% polling is darn good for a country like India), while countries in the region continue to face their challenges in conducting fair and just elections. Sure there were flaws, some poll rigging, some blood shed here and there. But Indians once again announced to the World their maturity in running the affairs of their country.

Congratulations to all people who conducted and participated in these elections. A victory to dharma.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 12 May 2014 08:05

A_Gupta wrote:
shiv wrote:BRFite vsunder has come up with an interesting thought. Priyamvada Gopal may be the daughter of vehemently anti-BJP Sarvepalli Gopal, who in turn is the son of President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Their images are below in order of age and luminance, etc.
1. You can go to Google Books, and look at the Acknowledgements section of said P. Gopal's book, "Literary Radicalism in India: Gender, Nation and the Transition to Independence". The first names of her mother, father, brother, and names of her aunt and grandmother are there. Since they are not illuminating, I do not mention them here.

http://books.google.com/books?id=lf8wfOR1058C

This effectively rules out the thought that Priyamvada Gopal is the grand daughter of S. Radhakrishnan and the daughter of S. Gopal.

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=lf8w ... ts&f=false

manjgu · Post by **manjgu** » 12 May 2014 08:13

hope modiji gets the numbers !! Bihar could be the spoiler ..lets see.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 12 May 2014 08:21

A_Gupta wrote: 5. Since being politically opposed to Modi & the BJP does not make one a chamcha of the Angrez - a good number of the Indian electorate are not going to be voting for Modi or the BJP - I take it that P. Gopal's opposition is not the issue, but rather bringing up this opposition not to the Indian electorate that makes the decision, but in some phoren rag. I agree that was stupid. But not all stupidities arise from being overwhelmed by West-philia.

P. Gopal is only one of a number of phoren based intellectuals who are "worried" about Modi.

Priyamvada Gopal was noticed only because of a quirk of fate - like a tree falling on one's car. Paranoia on her part or on her behalf are unnecessary.

Why are these people so worried about Modi?

Note that my asking this question does not mean that I am a Modi supporter. But P. Gopal seems to facilely assume that anyone who asks why she or her comrades are opposed to Modi are Modi supporters.

In other words she is answering the question about why she thinks Modi is bad by sidestepping the issue and saying Modi supporters are against her. This makes her rhetoric even more laughable and the idea of prodding her to figure out her depth even more delicious.

Indian elections are vicious and as an observer I found the congress campaign more prone to making personal slurs than the BJP campaign. That said - anyone who joins an election issue in India needs to be ready to accept personal slurs and cannot hide behind issues like "I am a woman. I am a patriot" etc. To my mind Priyamvada Gopal is not coming out with great honour in the way she responds. She is a rhetorician more than a logician. I love rhetoricians because it is easy to play games with them if they have not got their logic sussed out. Christine Fair in her opposition to Modi was equally vacuous.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 12 May 2014 15:20

WTF??? Aren't all campaign offices expected to have "campaign material lying around"? More to this than what the Ophishial Ishtatement says: They probably installed many bugs (if not worse) there.

Ukraine-ishtyle "democractics" by the regime?

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 13 May 2014 04:31

shiv,

That said - anyone who joins an election issue in India needs to be ready to accept personal slurs and cannot hide behind issues like "I am a woman. I am a patriot" etc.

Yes. But.

Find out what happens to almost any desi woman (I daresay it happens with women in other cultures as well) who maintains a presence online, say, on twitter, and expresses her opinions. You get the harassers, the stalkers, the patronizers, etc., etc., etc.. So there comes in an automatic defensive reflex.

Men typically do not face this kind of barrage.

This does not make Ms. P.G. any less or any more of an idiot, any less or any more of a Macaulayite, etc., etc. It does make our conversation more male-dominated. Which is a pity, because per good authority (e.g., Alberuni in his Indica) this was not the case a thousand years ago.

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 13 May 2014 04:40

@A_Gupta ^^^

Priyamvada Gopal crossed the line when as an Indian citizen she called on UK intervention to redress a "wrong" in her home country.

Think about about it. You think MMS did a no-no by exculpating the Empire at Oxford? PG is calling for a Yugoslavia on India to subvert a democratic result.

Such folks are not entitled in a gender neutral way to any courtesies

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 13 May 2014 04:58

Now that the voting is complete, the turnout statistics indicate an all time high turnout record, beating the 1984 figure by about 2%.
2014 Lok Sabha elections see increased voters' participation, breaks turnout records

The 2014 Lok Sabha polls saw 66.38% of the 827-million-strong Indian electorate exercising their franchise, helping the country set an all-time voter turnout record.

The polling percentage in the world's biggest democratic exercise comfortably surpassed the 1984 turnout of 64% when Rajiv Gandhi became the prime minister after the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi on Monday wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter, "The biggest joy of 2014 Elections has been the increased turnout. Braving the scorching heat & the rain people turned out in large numbers."

The 2014 polls also broke the record in terms of voters' numbers set five years ago when the Congress-led UPA returned to power for a second straight time.

Altogether 551 million voters - more than the combined population of the US, Germany, Canada and the UK - cast their ballots this year.

The figure shattered the previous record of 417 million for any general election set five years ago, election commission director general Akshay Rout told reporters after the nine-phase polling ended.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 13 May 2014 07:28

No comment.

Sent: Mon, May 12, 2014 8:02 pm
Subject: Re: Breaking News-why Exit Polls are wrong----Must Communicate To Narendra Bhai Modi

हम मूर्खों के स्वर्ग में जी रहे हैं|
हम एलिजाबेथ के उपनिवेश के दास हैं| हमें स्वतंत्रता कभी नहीं मिली| हमारी स्थिति किसान के बैल से भी गई बीती है| क्यों कि किसान निज हित में बैल की रक्षा करता है| लेकिन एलिजाबेथ ने हमारे सम्पत्ति और जीवन के अधिकार संविधान बनवा कर हमसे छीन लिए हैं| हमारे गुरुकुल नष्ट कर दिए हैं| हमारी हत्या कराएगी| क्यों कि हमने ब्रिटिश शासन का विरोध किया है| चुनाव का कोई लाभ नहीं| चुनाव द्वारा एलिजाबेथ के इंडियन उपनिवेश के दासों से स्वीकृति ली जा रही है कि उन को एलिज़ाबेथ की दासता स्वीकार है| वे उपनिवेश को स्वतंत्रता मानेंगे| उनको जीवन के अधिकार छीने जाने पर आपत्ति नहीं है| [ भारतीय संविधान का अनुच्छेद २९(१)] उन को अपनी सम्पत्ति और उपासना के अधिकार को छीने जाने पर आपत्ति नहीं है| [भारतीय संविधान का अनुच्छेद ३९(ग)] उन लोगों को जिस विधि से भी हो – नपुंसक (बाइबल, उत्पत्ति १७:११) बनाये जाने पर आपत्ति नहीं है| उन को वैदिक सनातन संस्कृति और गुरुकुलों को मिटने से आपत्ति नहीं है| उनको अज़ान, ईशनिंदा, नरसंहार और लव जिहाद से आपत्ति नहीं है| उनको आतताइयों को इंडिया में रखे जाने और विशेष सुविधाएँ दिए जाने पर आपत्ति नहीं है|
हमने १९४७ से ही इस्लाम और ईसाइयत का विरोध नहीं किया| अज़ान और नमाज़ का विरोध नहीं किया| मस्जिद का विरोध नहीं किया| अपने संतानों को गुरुकुल में शिक्षा दिलाने के बारे में सोच भी नहीं सकते| मनुष्य के उर्जाचक्रों में अंकित एक मात्र देवनागरी लिपि और संस्कृत भाषा के उपयोग के बारे में सोच भी नहीं सकते| आज बैल से खेती करने वाला कोई नहीं|

भवदीय:-
अयोध्या प्रसाद त्रिपाठी (सूचना सचिव)
आर्यावर्त सरकार,
(deleted)
ब्लाग: http://aaryavrt.blogspot.com
गणक जाल: http://www.aryavrt.com
पढ़ें: http://www.aryavrt.com/

Long live democracy! Vote early, vote often, may your vote be counted many times, many happy returns!

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 13 May 2014 07:57

Dont worry sir. There is a Lion going to be on the prowl in India soon.

Traitor eating Lion hopefully.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 13 May 2014 10:20

Cosmo_R wrote:@A_Gupta ^^^

Priyamvada Gopal crossed the line when as an Indian citizen she called on UK intervention to redress a "wrong" in her home country.

Is she Indian or Britiish?

added later that still should not detract us from two things

1. She was called names by some twitterers.

2. In turn she called totally unrelated twitters names that are sexist and slanderous.

Where did we see this kind of behavior? Oh yes now I remember. She copied the play book of those she hates - those who doled out punishment to 100k innocents in Iraq and Afghanistan for 9/11. She also good at throwing around words like "solidarity" which is not going to free those innocent Nigerian school children. As long as one appeases terrorists by bullying those who call a spade a spade, they can find place in the hollowed circles of rabid British left.

Anand K · Post by **Anand K** » 13 May 2014 11:13

X-Posting from Burqa Poll thread since it's about public mood gauging and all:

Brief writeup on CSDS Methodology
and
CSDS page on 2014 Poll

Key takeaways:
0. Uses multi-stage stratified random sampling technique as per CSDS statement. (But is this proportionate or disproportionate type here? Additionally, is it done on sub-strata caste/gender/age basis also for better spread)

1. The first stage of sampling involves the selection of Assembly Constituencies. Assembly Constituencies are sampled through the Probability Proportionate to Size (PPS) sampling method
2. The second stage is to sample Polling Stations within each sampled constituency. Polling Stations are again sampled by employing the PPS method.
3. The final stage is that of sampling respondents, who are selected from the Electoral Rolls provided by the Election Commission. Respondents are sampled by the Systematic Random Sampling (SRS) method
4. The interviews are conducted face-to-face using a standard-structured questionnaire
5. Analysis is by SPSS

The above is as per their "usual methodology" writeup. Now, coming to the 2014 survey itself:

6. All the 536 Lok Sabha constituencies in the 28 states of the country and the NCR were selected for the study and 301 Parliamentary Constituencies were selected from these, with 1340 polling stations areas, by Blind Lottery. (No two stage PPS method?)

7. The questionnaires had questions on a range of different themes, covering topics such as the economy, security, democracy and social values. The questions were phrased so that they did not lead the person being interviewed to any particular answer.
8. About 620 investigators were trained and a total number of 20,957 interviews could be conducted over nine days. (What is background of the investigators, sub-contracted?)

9. "The sample profile shows that the persons interviewed were broadly reflective of the Indian population, in terms of the country’s general demographic profile". (So it implies stratified disproportionate analysis to go into sub-stratum level? They did this after a "blind draw" which is a Simple Random Sampling in the first stage of selections?)

Hah.... what do I know. Amateur onlee, Gurus help. And results are coming in two days anyway. Just wish I saw the channel-research agency contract to see the fine print.

PS: Exit Polls vs Opinion Pre-Poll

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 13 May 2014 14:17

Cosmo_R wrote:@A_Gupta ^^^

Priyamvada Gopal crossed the line when as an Indian citizen she called on UK intervention to redress a "wrong" in her home country.

Think about about it. You think MMS did a no-no by exculpating the Empire at Oxford? PG is calling for a Yugoslavia on India to subvert a democratic result.

Such folks are not entitled in a gender neutral way to any courtesies

+1. What is so special about her? She asks for an intervention in our country because its electorate chooses a leader she doesn't like and on top of it, she expects to be treated with some sort of deference. Arrogant & condescending, not to mention illogical. Take a look at her venom laced diatribes at anyone who thinks differently from her.

The left is basically a group of authoritarian lunatics, who project their belief system on all others - fascist this, fascist that. They cant tolerate dissent and dissenting voices. So they demonize others.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 13 May 2014 14:18

Suraj wrote:Now that the voting is complete, the turnout statistics indicate an all time high turnout record, beating the 1984 figure by about 2%.
2014 Lok Sabha elections see increased voters' participation, breaks turnout records
The 2014 Lok Sabha polls saw 66.38% of the 827-million-strong Indian electorate exercising their franchise, helping the country set an all-time voter turnout record.

The polling percentage in the world's biggest democratic exercise comfortably surpassed the 1984 turnout of 64% when Rajiv Gandhi became the prime minister after the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi on Monday wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter, "The biggest joy of 2014 Elections has been the increased turnout. Braving the scorching heat & the rain people turned out in large numbers."

The 2014 polls also broke the record in terms of voters' numbers set five years ago when the Congress-led UPA returned to power for a second straight time.

Altogether 551 million voters - more than the combined population of the US, Germany, Canada and the UK - cast their ballots this year.

The figure shattered the previous record of 417 million for any general election set five years ago, election commission director general Akshay Rout told reporters after the nine-phase polling ended.

And it would have been far more if the EC had not failed miserably in its job. Lakhs of names missing from voter lists in every state.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 13 May 2014 19:11

ChandraV wrote: Coming to your point on stalkers, most of them are harmless fools - "hai wil u make fraandship with me" types.

I agree with your entire post except the last sentence (quoted above) which could have been left out without your post losing any value.

Stalkers are scary - but a prof sitting in UK is not being "stalked" so she is crying wolf. She is making people imagine that criticism on Twitter is "stalking". That is a mistake. Stalking is an offence and she could take it to the police, but, as I stated earlier the woman is only good at rhetoric, not facts

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 14 May 2014 06:12

Oh, Holy Yak!

The author of this is an expert who is/was at one of the world's largest and best known software developer companies. He knows thing or two - or billions - about computers. This IS scary.

Suddenly I like the East Ukraine system of Popular Democracy much better. Results less than 2 hours after polls closed. All paper ballots. No need for counting. Pre-poll predictions (PPP) deadly accurate, with the emphasis on deadly.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 14 May 2014 06:27

PG and her tribe are the "Lord Haw-Haws" of the West in their diatribes against India and her leaders...who are toadies of the West.
They pontificate and defecate upon India from their cushy lifestyles in the West,paid hirelings of the spin doctors of the neo-imperialists and latter-day "Crusaders". They should be treated with the contempt that they deserve. Such Haw-Haws who denigrate India should be banned from entering the country.They can live comfortably as refuse..sorry,refugees in their adopted homelands.

It is amazing how few front page articles of the Western media have celebrated the largest ever democratic vote in the planet's history.It is almost as if they are embarrassed that India can hold such a massive election,without any cheating (no disreputable "chads" US election style here!) and rigging,and that too with so little violence. They are deeply envious and jealous that India is the world's leader in democracy and cannot stomach the fact,which is why every attempt is being made to denigrate Mr.Modi as a racist leader of a "right wing Hindu nationalist party".So what do we call US parties? The Democrats,the "Left wing donkeys?".Or the Republicans,"Right wing latter-day Crusaders" ?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 15 May 2014 05:50

PG et al are suffering from Fractal Recursivity!

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 15 May 2014 09:28

Bharath.Subramanyam wrote:Wanted to run a theory by the gurus here.

Theory one:
The first time Nehru-Gandhi family's moral authority was exposed was in Emergency. Till that time any corruption in Congress could be explained away by pointing it to a minister in centre or state. Always the family was above moral questions (even after 1962 war people didn't question or defeat Nehru). It seems Nehru Family was like the Emperor of Japan who was considered not just the sovereign in the ruling sense, but also in the moral sense. I have read some reports/books which says how the Japanese media even after WWII never questioned the Emperor. Also there is very amazing document/book which talks about how General MacArthur was advised by sociologists & anthropologists in US were advising him on how to make changes to Japan. One particular item they told him was that don't remove the Monarchy altogether, since it is seen as an embodiment of Japan and moral. They said (if I remember correctly) that if Monarchy is abolished or attacked in open, it would lead to huge resentment against the US army and the army will face daily attacks.

When I talk to elders in my family (Especially 80+ people), they had some romantic notion of Nehru. It seems there was Japanese style idea in India also, that Nehru can do no wrong. It seems it rubbed off in to Indira also initially. It looks like Emergency broke off this sheen in most parts of India. Of course Indira won back in 1980. But the moral hold of dynasty took a beating. From there on, it has been slide downwards. Of course there is always an inertia effect that will run its course. But by 1989 Congress (12 years from the end of Emergency) had come to levels below 272. May be even before 1977, people would have found fault with Congress on various issues, but I don't think the moral authority of dynasty was ever questioned till that time.

I feel it was the beginning of the end.

Do give me your thoughts, critique, suggestions.

I think quite accurate assessment. The finer points are this :

(1) all the major rivals of Nehru eliminated in a combo of British selection and the Gandhi-Motilal-Jawaharlal clique. So no other "stalwarts" around to get Indian political focal attention of people in general. But please note that even in the very first general elections Congress+Nehru got only about 45% of votes cast. It started to decline in vote share almost steadily - with usual fluctuations.

(2) that sort of support should be taken more as him representing a strong unified Indian state than a personal divine status in the overall populace. There were always sycophantism in Indian politics coming out of the feudal, medieval courtly culture. But sycophantism is an even stronger sign that such "imperial" status is actually insincere.

(3) having said that, the people needed a symbol of a fresh start - and a deliberate avoidance of all the trauma and negatives associated with transition. Typically that sort of avoidance + older remnant feudal mentalities in both the aam and the elite helped create a temporary aura.

But do remember that INC got around 45% of votes in first gen elections, they immediatelt did away with dual constituencies as they saw that the Nehru-name did not work in constituencies where "rival" identities were also allowed, and substantial populations blamed JLN for Partition related violence, as well siding with vested interests against relatively poorer sections. The socialists+left began to arise right from that time in GV, and todays Laloos/Mulayams or Karats would not be there had not the Congress and Nehru were seen at the time as working in the interests of big-biz+other traditional exploiters.

Anand K · Post by **Anand K** » 15 May 2014 11:00

India elections: Big Data throws up interesting trivia

SanjayC · Post by **SanjayC** » 15 May 2014 11:12

Cosmo_R wrote:@A_Gupta ^^^

Priyamvada Gopal crossed the line when as an Indian citizen she called on UK intervention to redress a "wrong" in her home country.

This kind of crap has been going on for a long time, with opportunist Indians even giving presentations against India in the UK and US parliament / Congress or even the UN, to make a case for intervention / UN sanctions / invasion -- it is nothing but treason, and these traitors need to be given third degree treatment.

We need a Patriot Act with specific provisions to regulate the conduct and behaviour of Indian citizens abroad. It should have punishments for Indian citizens carrying Indian passport working against India in other nations to defame it through false propaganda or to incite international intervention in its internal affairs. The law needs provision for confiscating the passport of such traitors, jail terms, fines and disallowing them from leaving the country in future through exit control list. Treason should never become fashionable, and should be put down with extreme prejudice.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 15 May 2014 21:18

Not a single voter turns up for repoll at 5 polling stations in Nagaland

KOHIMA: Repoll at five polling stations under 39-Sanis assembly constituency of Wokha District in Nagaland reported zero turnout on Thursday, a senior Election Commission (EC) official said.

Polling officials waited for voters since morning, but not a single voter turned up, returning officer (RO) for Lok Sabha polls in Nagaland Temjen Toy said.

Though there was no official communication from the voters behind the 'nil' turnout, Toy said that villagers were resenting imposition of the repoll and questioned on what grounds the EC ordered it.

Repoll was ordered at 10-Lakhuti-I, 11-Lakhuti-II, 13-Lakhuti-IV, 36-Lakhuti-VII and 37-Lakhuti-VIII, under sub section (2) of section 58 of the Representation of People Act 1951, stating that the polls on April 9 were void.

The Congress submitted a complaint to the EC on April 25 alleging that the April 9 elections had been marred with massive proxy voting and election malpractice demanding repoll in over 1300 polling stations.

The ruling Naga People's Front (NPF), however, lodged a complaint with the EC against its decision of repolling alleging that the move was ordered on "mere allegations" of the Congress.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 15 May 2014 21:46

chaanakya wrote:Not a single voter turns up for repoll at 5 polling stations in Nagaland

KOHIMA: Repoll at five polling stations under 39-Sanis assembly constituency of Wokha District in Nagaland reported zero turnout on Thursday, a senior Election Commission (EC) official said.

Polling officials waited for voters since morning, but not a single voter turned up, returning officer (RO) for Lok Sabha polls in Nagaland Temjen Toy said.

Though there was no official communication from the voters behind the 'nil' turnout, Toy said that villagers were resenting imposition of the repoll and questioned on what grounds the EC ordered it.

Repoll was ordered at 10-Lakhuti-I, 11-Lakhuti-II, 13-Lakhuti-IV, 36-Lakhuti-VII and 37-Lakhuti-VIII, under sub section (2) of section 58 of the Representation of People Act 1951, stating that the polls on April 9 were void.

The Congress submitted a complaint to the EC on April 25 alleging that the April 9 elections had been marred with massive proxy voting and election malpractice demanding repoll in over 1300 polling stations.
The ruling Naga People's Front (NPF), however, lodged a complaint with the EC against its decision of repolling alleging that the move was ordered on "mere allegations" of the Congress.

Again shows how CEC Sampath has converted EC to Elect Congress mission.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 16 May 2014 01:42

SanjayC wrote:
Cosmo_R wrote:@A_Gupta ^^^

Priyamvada Gopal crossed the line when as an Indian citizen she called on UK intervention to redress a "wrong" in her home country.
This kind of crap has been going on for a long time, with opportunist Indians even giving presentations against India in the UK and US parliament / Congress or even the UN, to make a case for intervention / UN sanctions / invasion -- it is nothing but treason, and these traitors need to be given third degree treatment.

We need a Patriot Act with specific provisions to regulate the conduct and behaviour of Indian citizens abroad. It should have punishments for Indian citizens carrying Indian passport working against India in other nations to defame it through false propaganda or to incite international intervention in its internal affairs. The law needs provision for confiscating the passport of such traitors, jail terms, fines and disallowing them from leaving the country in future through exit control list. Treason should never become fashionable, and should be put down with extreme prejudice.

Sorry, but that's been tried. PRC does it. So did the Soviet Union. Didn't work so great. US does it differently... see Jane Fonda's experience.

There is a thing called Freedom of Expression in the Constitution and its Fundamental Rights. That includes the Freedom To Be an Idiot.

Other citizens have the Freedom to Point Out that One is An Idiot. They need to use it, to make everyone else aware of what said idiot has said, and what is wrong with it.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 16 May 2014 04:08

Courtesy: Hindustan Times.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 16 May 2014 04:10

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/t ... 013789.ece

A three-tier security cover is in place at the 42 counting centres across the State for the Friday’s counting of votes for the 39 Lok Sabha seats. A total of 13,626 police personnel would be deployed for security duties.

Talking to The Hindu, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar said there would be 15 tables in each of six halls for a constituency. The total manpower is likely to be 13,000-14,000. Counting of votes for the Alandur Assembly constituency would also be taken up on Friday. Trends were expected from 10 a.m., Mr. Kumar said.

After the completion of the counting of postal votes, counting of votes polled in the EVMs would be taken up after 30 minutes.

There would be 62 observers at the rate of one-three observers per Lok Sabha constituency. Additional observers were being deployed if the distance between two halls was huge in any counting centre. Chennai South and North and Thanjavur were provided with additional observers, besides micro-observers for each table.

The websites of the Election Commission and the Chief Electoral Officer’s office would be updated at the end of every round. A copy of the round-wise and table-wise result would be given to the agent.

After every round, results would be announced before the next round started. The Returning Officers would obtain authorisation from the observers before declaring results.

Only a maximum of four persons would be allowed with the candidate to the Returning Officer’s room for receiving the certificate of election. Counting agents would not be allowed to bring in their mobile phones and electronic devices.

The entire process of counting was being videographed, and the CD would be kept in the custody of the District Election Officer. Mobile telephones, i-pad, laptop or any such electronic device with recording facilities would not be allowed inside the counting hall. The observers, the Returning Officers and the Assistant Returning Officers would, however, be exempt from this rule.

Liquor shops and bars would remain closed on Friday.

MurthyB · Post by **MurthyB** » 16 May 2014 05:27

Hats off to this rickshaw driver:

Hopes of a Generation Ride on Indian Vote

Take Gaurav, the auto-rickshaw driver, who had come to New Delhi from a farming village in Uttarakhand. He acknowledged that he was better off than his father, having acquired a cellphone, a television, and access to good hospitals.

But he was not happy; on the contrary, he was madder and madder. The city’s clogged roads had become such a frustration, Gaurav said, that when he stops in traffic his knuckles go white clenching the handlebar. When he overheard passengers speaking positively about Congress, he would stop his auto-rickshaw, claiming it was broken, and ask them to get out and walk. He was eager, even desperate, for some change that he could not quite explain.

And, more evidence that western universities, especially the humanities departments, are becoming cesspools of leftwing fascism, which is why so many Indian marxists seem to be infesting them these days:
Bonfire of the Humanities

Last month, Brandeis University banned Somali-born feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali as its commencement speaker, purporting that "Ms. Hirsi Ali's record of anti-Islam statements" violates Brandeis's "core values."

This week higher education's ritualistic burning of college-commencement heretics spread to Smith College and Haverford College.

On Monday, Smith announced the withdrawal of Christine Lagarde, the French head of the International Monetary Fund. And what might the problem be with Madame Lagarde, considered one of the world's most accomplished women? An online petition signed by some 480 offended Smithies said the IMF is associated with "imperialistic and patriarchal systems that oppress and abuse women worldwide." With unmistakable French irony, Ms. Lagarde withdrew "to preserve the celebratory spirit" of Smith's commencement.

On Tuesday, Haverford College's graduating intellectuals forced commencement speaker Robert J. Birgeneau to withdraw. Get this: Mr. Birgeneau is the former chancellor of UC Berkeley, the big bang of political correctness. It gets better.

Berkeley's Mr. Birgeneau is famous as an ardent defender of minority students, the LGBT community and undocumented illegal immigrants. What could possibly be wrong with this guy speaking at Haverford??? Haverfordians were upset that in 2011 the Berkeley police used "force" against Occupy protesters in Sproul Plaza. They said Mr. Birgeneau could speak at Haverford if he agreed to nine conditions, including his support for reparations for the victims of Berkeley's violence.

Mr. Birgeneau, Ms. McCartney, Mr. Weiss and indeed many others in American academe must wonder what is happening to their world this chilled spring.

Here's the short explanation: You're all conservatives now.

No one could possibly count the compromises of intellectual honesty made on American campuses to reach this point. It is fantastic that the liberal former head of Berkeley should have to sign a Maoist self-criticism to be able to speak at Haverford. Meet America's Red Guards.

These students at Brandeis, Smith, Haverford and hundreds of other U.S. colleges didn't discover illiberal intolerance on their own. It is fed to them three times a week by professors of mental conformity. After Brandeis banned Ms. Hirsi Ali, the Harvard Crimson's editors wrote a rationalizing editorial, "A Rightful Revocation." The legendary liberal Louis Brandeis (Harvard Law, First Amendment icon) must be spinning in his grave.

Injuns are contributing here too.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 16 May 2014 07:35

Election Results Live ScoreCard

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 16 May 2014 07:38

Friends,

It is late evening where I am. I've worked a long day, done 45 minutes of rigorous exercise, but I'm not hungry for dinner, not at all. A little while ago, I remembered the last time I felt like this. It was many, many years ago when awaiting the results of very large scale board or entrance exams.

Not a mere world cup sporting event, no... while we can abandon ourselves completely to the excitement of cricket in the moment, there is yet something within me (at any rate) that retains a broader awareness that cricket is just a game. Tonight is like a morning many years ago, waiting for one of those moments on which your entire life would turn, shoulder-to-shoulder with crores of others who, like you, had invested their hopes, labour, time and wealth into a trial of colossal significance.

To pass the time until counting actually begins, let me tell you a story. It's a true story. This happened about a month ago, when I got a rare peek at the crumbling foundations of a shadowy empire.

A close relative of mine received a Padma Award, and in the last week of April, I flew to New Delhi for the ceremony.

Arriving in New Delhi after 16 hours in the air was strange enough. Every other time I've flown into India, Jet Airways has unfailing provided every passenger with an immigration and customs form to fill out prior to landing. Not this time. We were told: sorry for the inconvenience, but no forms are available.

What to do? I marched through the endless corridors of IGI terminal 3, carry-on in tow, and arrived at the Immigration Counter. But to my surprise, no one there was offering any forms to fill out either. I waited my turn in the unusually fast-moving line. At the counter, the official cursorily glanced at my passport and stamped it. There was no expectation, it seemed, of the form that I always hand over to Immigration when arriving in my home country.

Things got stranger. I asked outside customs: do we need to fill a form to get through? No, not at all, not unless you have something to declare, came the answer; otherwise you can go.

I walked out into the blistering Delhi night, fully aware of two things. First, apart from the stamp in my own passport, the Government of India had no record whatsoever of my arrival in the country, what flight I came in on, what date, where I intended to stay... nothing. Secondly, my carry-ons could have been filled with a million dollars in cash, or however many kilos of RDX, heroin, Bibles, take your pick. And nobody responsible for enforcing the law would have known a thing.

This, at a time when elections were already in full swing. I have never flown into Delhi before, so I hope someone can enlighten me if this is normal there.

I was driven to Ashoka Hotel, ITDC, and checked into my room. The Ashoka is one hell of a weird place. There is exactly one simpering sitar-and-violin orchestral tune, probably composed by All-India Radio's in house staff, that constantly... I mean constantly... plays on the PA system. It is inescapable... at the reception, in the lobby, in the corridors, in the elevators, in the coffee shop, everywhere you go this tune is playing through the speakers day and night. Inside the rooms you see a strange portmanteau of hurried excess fallen to hopeless decay. There some obviously expensive chrome fixtures that control the electrics, ornate fittings in the bathroom, a personal fridge and tea-kettle, a flat screen SAMSUNG TV... and only about half this stuff works. It brought to mind the Commonwealth Games... vast amounts of money, some of it spent on outward appearances of sparing no expense while the rest was pocketed, and nothing left afterwards to stop the quick decline into disrepair and rot.

The next morning, jet-lagged out of my brain, I accompanied the awardee and some other family members to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

I will say this. The White House has nothing, nothing whatsoever, on where the President of India lives. It was, after all, constructed to overawe even the wealthiest and most aristocratic of our princes. Once we rolled in through a heavily militarized side-gate, the great sandstone edifice sprawled everywhere... 5 whole acres of built-up area, surrounded by even more acres of Mughal gardens laid out in perfect, manicured symmetry. We climbed up a long flight of marble stairs, each the breadth of a cricket pitch; behind us towered the dull pink shaft of the Jaipur Column. After a series of pat-downs and metal detectors, we shuffled through a yawning archway into the cavernous Durbar Hall, its great vault shaped in a likeness of the Sanchi Stupa.

Inside the Durbar Hall were government servants. So many, many government servants. There were perhaps 20 rows of seats for the guests, and at least 25 ushers in pale grey safari suits, bumping into each other as they tried to show you to your seat. There was at least one major-domo wearing a full suit and tie whose sole job it was to usher people to the bathroom. Right to Employment, I thought. Then there were of course, more people in pale grey safari suits who were not unctuous and pot-bellied but wiry and steely eyed... putting those guys in plainclothes couldn't have fooled anybody. In addition there were guards in full ceremonial uniform of the Jaipur Lancers, stone-faced, standing by each of the naves and alcoves that ringed the Durbar Hall. Scarlet banners embossed with the seal of Bharat in gold hung, perhaps 30 feet long, from the walls around. The panoply was impressive, but I had to wonder... if they had only half the number of government servants there, not only would the ceremony have been more efficiently run, but they'd probably have needed only a quarter of the security detail.

Then, with a blast of fanfare, a dozen more Jaipur Lancers marched down the aisle, each over six feet tall. Barely visible through the column was the nut-brown head of someone who seemed a child in comparison. The Rashtrapati had arrived.

The ceremony went off slowly and unremarkably, though of course I was happy for all the awardees, and particularly my family member.

It was the reception afterwards that was most interesting. It took place in the Ashoka Hall, separated from the Durbar by an immense interior courtyard and several expanses of broad, carpeted steps.

I am not a Dilli Billi. My family and I are many light-years away from that set, or even from the cocktail-party circuit in our hometown of Mumbai. So it was extremely odd for us to be in this room full of people where every fifth or sixth person you looked at was someone ordinarily visible, to the likes of us, only on television screens or newspaper images. It wasn't impressive or awe-inspiring, just very fundamentally weird.

The Rashtrapati was there, of course. He is a tiny, tiny man... not even five feet tall is my guess. During the ceremony, he stood on a raised platform that hiked him up perhaps eight inches relative to those he was pinning medals on. He was a gracious host, and personally went around greeting each and every awardee and all their guests, even me, with a namaste and a large, gap-toothed grin. Jet-lagged as I was, the experience of seeing Pranabda up close was surreal. I noticed, too, that while his thinning hair is all grey, his eyebrows are startlingly black.

There is a certain way that the Delhi elite have of comporting themselves at social events. People with a glass or hors-d'oeuvre in hand will look at you over the shoulder, out of the corner of their eye, size you up for familiarity, see if you are anybody they should be bothered to acknowledge or talk to... then, dismissing you quickly for a nobody, they will neatly swivel their torso and neck away as if to make it appear that they hadn't noticed you in the first place.

I got this sort of sidelong glance from a Sikh military officer in dress greens. Shamelessly, I continued to gawk at him after he swiveled away. It was only after reading his shoulder insignia that I realized this was Bikram Singh. Not a very impressive sort, for all the ribbons sprouting from his chest.

Shuffling past the garden door was another Sikh, shorter, with an unmistakable blue turban. I have to tell you, that pagdi is immense. It is at least twice the regular ratio of pagdi-to-Sikh that we are generally accustomed to seeing. And on Manmohan Singh's brow, the turban seemed to weigh a hundred kilos. He shuffled by like a creature coccooned in his very own ethical frame of reference, almost unaware of where he was going or who was around him. His jaw was set in some sort of general-purpose grimace, perhaps an attempt to look sociable. Behind his glasses, the eyes were unseeing slits. As I watched him, his palms and elbows would sometimes jerk up, mechanically, in a namaste to no one in particular. I think that had been a hard morning for Dr. Singh... he had just found out, from a bellowing press corps, that his own brother had joined the BJP. I wonder, if he had read half the things I have written about him over the past ten years, whether that mummified expression on his face would have changed at all.

Turning around, I saw that my mother was actually conversing with an elegant Punjabi lady in a floral pink sari and gold-rimmed glasses. She didn't look fancy at all... no jewelry to speak of, and she projected no attitude of being anything but the sort of pleasant "auntie" you might see your mother or sister chatting with at a wedding. It was only later that I realized this lady was Manmohan Singh's wife, Gursharan Kaur. Whatever I may think of Manmohan Singh and his government, I have to say that Gursharan Kaur was a very down-to-earth person, at least in a social setting, with no "First Lady" airs whatsoever. She appeared at least 10 years younger than her husband, and in a much calmer mood.

In sharp contrast to the gloomy figure of the Prime Minister was Sushil Kumar Shinde. This guy is a consummate politician. The expression he wore on his face can only be described by this:

Looking like a criminal tomcat with his gleaming bald head and his stout bulk crammed into a beige bandh-gala suit, he bobbed around the reception, effusively greeting some guests (fellow Dilli Billis and select political awardees) while utterly ignoring others. If he was worried at all about how the elections were going, he showed no sign of it.

It was all getting too unreal for me, so I decided to concentrate on the food. I had been looking forward to the food for some time... after all, you would imagine Rashtrapati Bhavan sets the highest table in the land, no? Unfortunately, it was not so. I've eaten better at many weddings. There were: very ordinary samosas, even more ordinary veg sandwiches, a watery paneer shashlik, halfway-decent chicken tikkas, and for desert an anar-bhog as well as a "nut brownie" (basically a sponge cake with a tiny fragment of nut buried somewhere in each slice). I guess the Commonwealth Games really drained the budget for this sort of thing. Either that, or the caterer (probably retained for a handsome retainer-plus-kickback by Sushil Kumar Shinde) reaped one hell of a profit from the event.

The government servants were still everywhere... uniformed bearers who couldn't manage to keep the limbu-pani glasses or the coffee/tea carafes filled, and dozens of grey-safari-suit guys who milled about doing absolutely nothing at all.

As we drove away from this bizarre event, I couldn't help thinking that I'd glimpsed the last days of a stagnant, dysfunctional regime at its very heart. There was a lassitude here, a sense of going through the motions while fully understanding that no matter what you did, it couldn't possibly have any significance. A helplessness, a stultifying indifference radiated from Manmohan Singh like a beacon, brighter than his starched white kurta; like paralyzing afternoon heat, it enervated everyone around him, the entire apparatus of his government and all its hangers-on. The sense I had there was the feeling you had going to a government-owned bank in the bad old days when they were all nationalized... nobody cared, everybody behind every desk knew fully well that whatever service they did or did not provide, it wouldn't make any difference. In fact, the only difference was that in the banks, the Prime Minister was a photograph in a frame. Here the Prime Minister was not a photograph in a frame... but he might as well have been.

And that's my story. Count on!

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 16 May 2014 08:03

Thanks! Almost like being there, without the jet lag. Congratulations to your relative and you, by association.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 16 May 2014 08:04

Hey, what is this bijnej of "XYZ LEADS in ABC constituencies"? Don't these electronic machines just give you the numbers in a snap?

symontk · Post by **symontk** » 16 May 2014 08:24

I walked out into the blistering Delhi night, fully aware of two things. First, apart from the stamp in my own passport, the Government of India had no record whatsoever of my arrival in the country, what flight I came in on, what date, where I intended to stay... nothing. Secondly, my carry-ons could have been filled with a million dollars in cash, or however many kilos of RDX, heroin, Bibles, take your pick. And nobody responsible for enforcing the law would have known a thing.

Your details are already with them from airline. The luggage's are scanned thru green channel

sum · Post by **sum** » 16 May 2014 08:49

UlanBatori wrote:Hey, what is this bijnej of "XYZ LEADS in ABC constituencies"? Don't these electronic machines just give you the numbers in a snap?

^^ Multiple EVMs from a constituency being counted one by one

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 16 May 2014 09:16

O Wow! NDA looks headed to form a govt. Hope they stay united, though BeeJayPee has nearly the votes and seats to go it alone now.

asbchakri · Post by **asbchakri** » 16 May 2014 09:23

BJP+ 304