2019 General Elections News and Discussion

[williams]

RSS need s to give primacy to tribal culture and only give light exposure to mainstream Hinduism if there’s vacuum or inclination. RSS needs to own atheism as well.

Adivasis are potentially more Hindu than us. This effectively was the pattern when Hinduism was dynamic and not ossified.

Indra and shiva all gods are tribal

Take Jagannath. The priests had abject humility/ or hijacked and appropriated and mainstreamed a tribal cult ...or shades of all.

Twitter is a set of cults and many are being cast out of its temples. Sabbathmala and Twitter May be orthogonal but not guaranteed to be so forever. You got hedge on all fronts

Exactly scriptural Hinduism is the newest form of Hinduism. The oldest form exists with the Adivasis. Unfortunately, we are continuing the British policy of destroying these societies in the name of modernizing/mainstreaming them. We are losing ancient knowledge and the very fabric of Hindustan.

[vijayk]

https://m.republicworld.com/opinions/wh ... bhakti?v=1

Read every word

[Krita]

NDA is at its heart a more wealth creation oriented entity where are UPA is a wealth redistribution oriented entity. At the hustings UPA will announce wealth redistribution schemes targeted to its caste and religious vote banks (~20% of the population) which will be paid for by the rest of the population. In the first past the post type elections all UPA needs is to get ~10% of the population's votes which I think is acheivable.

Modi's work may be very good and has also benefitted them personally but all see Modi and his parliamentary strength as a huge threat as emphasized by the padres. FCRA has knocked the bottom out of their conversion dhandha and cut off the padre's knees. hence the padre's utter panic at Modi's re election.

Modi and BJP have ample number of supporters among Christians in Kerala. One of the influential and powerful writers in facebook/whatsapp - Jithin Jacob is a xtian. It is the neo converts, pentecostal and Catholics who are against BJP/Modi. Then there are some of my relatives who initially came out strongly in support of Sabarimala protests. But, now have reverted back to their dhimmitude under peer ( Xtian/commie/mullah) pressure. There are some rumors circulating in family whatsapp that Kerala govt will remove dress code (sari, dhotis) in temples.

[Supratik]

If you don't convert the tribals to mainstream Hinduism the EJs will. We should get this straight into our heads. There is no middle ground, unfortunately. That is what the demographic data says.

[Dileep]

My point on twitter is with respect to VOTE onlee. It reaches and influences only a miniscule % of voters. to some extent "influencing the influencers" may happen, but not beyond.

I work in tech industry. I don't know anyone personally who are seriously on twitter (except a few BRF folk) None of my personal circle folk are on it. But.. everyone is on WhatsApp, forwarding all kinds of crap.

If someone really want to influence people's minds on a massive scale, it must be done by the equivalent of drone swarm, where a reliable backend distribute the content and local 'nodes' sending it to the various innocent groups in which they are member of.

[darshan]

If you don't convert the tribals to mainstream Hinduism the EJs will. We should get this straight into our heads. There is no middle ground, unfortunately. That is what the demographic data says.

There have been informal threats to many big Hindu organisations that have big urban and international presence. Hindus haven't done anything to unite and provide protection to many organizations that want to keep EJs out. What happened to Swami Assimanand is one example. If Gujarat under BJP isn't protected and trust boards are scared, then there's no telling about other places. Even mighty organizations like BAPS are scared and void of leadership to take on EJ since 2004 onwards in Gujarat and BJP in state and center hasn't changed their fears. Especially after Sabrimala like decisions. And we are talking about Swaminarayans here whose Sahjanand Swami's prime goal was to save Gujarat hinterlands from missionaries. It's almost like Bishop that he wanted to outwit has finally outwitted him.

[khatvaanga]

Why this dislike for Arun Jaitley.

He is way too soft going on italians. and tries to be good to everyone..

[vijayk]

चौकीदार विनोद शर्मा
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China has confirmed that not only is Congress losing, but Rahul is getting cut down to size too, in this election. #MasoodAzharGlobalTerrorist

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[manjgu]

on Rahul gandhi , backops ... there must be a photo graph, signatures in addition to biometrics to establish the identity. the date of birth though matches.. if RAga wants he can bury the controversy by clarifying the matter immediately.

[banrjeer]

RSS need s to give primacy to tribal culture and only give light exposure to mainstream Hinduism if there’s vacuum or inclination. RSS needs to own atheism as well.

Adivasis are potentially more Hindu than us. This effectively was the pattern when Hinduism was dynamic and not ossified.
....
Twitter is a set of cults and many are being cast out of its temples. Sabbathmala and Twitter May be orthogonal but not guaranteed to be so forever. You got hedge on all fronts

Exactly scriptural Hinduism is the newest form of Hinduism. The oldest form exists with the Adivasis. Unfortunately, we are continuing the British policy of destroying these societies in the name of modernizing/mainstreaming them. We are losing ancient knowledge and the very fabric of Hindustan.

OK I did not coin "Sabbathmala" ! that was the spell checker!

But let's treat this as a metaphor of how mainstream discourse hijacks our views. We cannot just replace missionaries and do similar things

[abhijitm]

Spoke to few auto rickshaw drivers in Delhi. None are going to vote AAP on the 12th. Note that they were driving force behind kejriwal's rise 5 years ago.

[banrjeer]

If you don't convert the tribals to mainstream Hinduism the EJs will. We should get this straight into our heads. There is no middle ground, unfortunately. That is what the demographic data says.

There have been informal threats to many big Hindu organisations that have big urban and international presence. Hindus haven't done anything to unite and provide protection to many organizations that want to keep EJs out. What happened to Swami Assimanand is one example. If Gujarat under BJP isn't protected and trust boards are scared, then there's no telling about other places. Even mighty organizations like BAPS are scared and void of leadership to take on EJ since 2004 onwards in Gujarat and BJP in state and center hasn't changed their fears. Especially after Sabrimala like decisions. And we are talking about Swaminarayans here whose Sahjanand Swami's prime goal was to save Gujarat hinterlands from missionaries. It's almost like Bishop that he wanted to outwit has finally outwitted him.

Wherever vibrant Tribal cults should be mainstreamed. If they are moribund or EJ ised then resort to the mainstream indic as plan B.

[sudeepj]

Exactly scriptural Hinduism is the newest form of Hinduism. The oldest form exists with the Adivasis. Unfortunately, we are continuing the British policy of destroying these societies in the name of modernizing/mainstreaming them. We are losing ancient knowledge and the very fabric of Hindustan.

OK I did not coin "Sabbathmala" ! that was the spell checker!

But let's treat this as a metaphor of how mainstream discourse hijacks our views. We cannot just replace missionaries and do similar things

You need to provide some evidence that this is actually being done and not just a concern you have. My experience is that RSS is sensitive to this aspect and does not force outside concepts to tribal societies in a way that destroys their own cultures. Hinduism is unique that it always adds something and tries to include, never tries to remove existing ideas.

Eventually, one day, when there is gharwapasi, my prediction is that prophet/son of god claims will be included in some way too!

Wherever vibrant Tribal cults should be mainstreamed.

Cults.. ??? Seriously?

[vijayk]

ElectionAdda (INDIA)
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@electionaddaEN

Modi Has Emerged as New Maas Dalit Leader in UP. Behanji Should Be More Worried than Didi.

ElectionAdda (INDIA)
‏
@electionaddaEN
In Todays Mahabharata; Krishna, Arjuna & Abhimanyu is Played by 1 Character. Seems Present has taken a lesson from History.

He is Defeating Everyone Single Handedly in this Lok Sabha War. 100+ Youtube Kauravas + 20 Kings of Small Kingdoms (States) with Duryodhana are in Real War

[Suraj]

Modi’s war chest leaves election rivals in the dust

The ruling party has showered money on Facebook and Google advertisements, spending six times more than the Congress since February, according to data from the two firms. Modi merchandise abounds, as do Modi marketing sites. The money puts the BJP in an extraordinarily powerful position, even over logistical issues such as how to get its leaders to election rallies.

A Congress official said the BJP had the funds to reserve most of the country’s fleet of helicopters for hire for 90 days, making it difficult for opponents to get hold of them.

“We have never ever seen an election with such disparity. Financially, we cannot compete with them,” said another veteran Congress politician, who requested anonymity. He and another high-ranking Congress official said they expected the BJP to outspend them by a factor of 10.

A third Congress source estimated the disparity at twice of that. Two BJP officials declined to provide an estimate of spending, but one said the “BJP definitely has a big war chest and has more funds at its disposal than the Congress.”

Political strategists said: “Congress has received far lesser funds because of a perception it is unlikely to win the election.”

[williams]

Modi's work may be very good and has also benefitted them personally but all see Modi and his parliamentary strength as a huge threat as emphasized by the padres. FCRA has knocked the bottom out of their conversion dhandha and cut off the padre's knees. hence the padre's utter panic at Modi's re election.

Modi and BJP have ample number of supporters among Christians in Kerala. One of the influential and powerful writers in facebook/whatsapp - Jithin Jacob is a xtian. It is the neo converts, pentecostal and Catholics who are against BJP/Modi. Then there are some of my relatives who initially came out strongly in support of Sabarimala protests. But, now have reverted back to their dhimmitude under peer ( Xtian/commie/mullah) pressure. There are some rumors circulating in family whatsapp that Kerala govt will remove dress code (sari, dhotis) in temples.

In my circle, any Christian (all sects) and even some Muslim friends who are younger (ie less than 40 ) are all Modi fans. The older folks are kind of divided.

[Sanju]

Please watch and enjoy...

https://twitter.com/i/status/1123403305646903296

[williams]

You need to provide some evidence that this is actually being done and not just a concern you have. My experience is that RSS is sensitive to this aspect and does not force outside concepts to tribal societies in a way that destroys their own cultures. Hinduism is unique that it always adds something and tries to include, never tries to remove existing ideas.

Eventually, one day, when there is gharwapasi, my prediction is that prophet/son of god claims will be included in some way too!

I am not talking about RSS. But the state/central govt and mainstream Hindu ecosystem. For example in most National Parks tribals are not allowed to visit their own places of worship and are exploited by the state forest depts. ASI should have documented many of the Tribal folklores. Those folklores should find its place in our school books. Research on Tribal culture and religion should be encouraged in universities. I expected those things to happen in the Modi Govt. Except for FCRA cleanup, this Govt did not do a lot to enhance Indic/Dharmic cultural identity.

[banrjeer]

OK I did not coin "Sabbathmala" ! that was the spell checker!

But let's treat this as a metaphor of how mainstream discourse hijacks our views. We cannot just replace missionaries and do similar things

You need to provide some evidence that this is actually being done and not just a concern you have. My experience is that RSS is sensitive to this aspect and does not force outside concepts to tribal societies in a way that destroys their own cultures. Hinduism is unique that it always adds something and tries to include, never tries to remove existing ideas.

Eventually, one day, when there is gharwapasi, my prediction is that prophet/son of god claims will be included in some way too!

Wherever vibrant Tribal cults should be mainstreamed.

Cults.. ??? Seriously?

[ramana]

This Rahul Gandhi's citizenship issue is going nowhere. UK Company House registry does not have biometric authentication of company directors. In the event all that the inquiry will show is that there existed a company and it had as director and secretary by the name of Raul Vinci. How does one say that he is the same as the current Congress president?

Good question.
1) The Cambridge M Phil is also given to Raul Vinci.
2) Rahul Gandhi listed among his education qualifications of obtaining M Phil from Cambridge but there is no record of him being a student there.
3) Subramaniam Swamy said last night on TimesNow that Italy gives citizenship to children born of Italian citizens and Soniaji had submitted an application to Italy in name of Raul Vinci when he was born. He will produce a copy of that when need arises.

[disha]

I am not talking about RSS. But the state/central govt and mainstream Hindu ecosystem. For example in most National Parks tribals are not allowed to visit their own places of worship and are exploited by the state forest depts. ASI should have documented many of the Tribal folklores. Those folklores should find its place in our school books. Research on Tribal culture and religion should be encouraged in universities. I expected those things to happen in the Modi Govt. Except for FCRA cleanup, this Govt did not do a lot to enhance Indic/Dharmic cultural identity.

All of above is good. What is the ministry of tribal welfare doing? Again tribal welfare is also a state subject! So what efforts are the state doing there?

The below statement is pure BS. Candidly calling out the statement below as BS (apologies for coming out strongly):

Except for FCRA cleanup, this Govt did not do a lot to enhance Indic/Dharmic cultural identity.

Since, here is what GOI has done for Indic/Dharmic cultural Identity:

1. How 3 union ministries have worked together: https://swarajyamag.com/economy/religio ... experience

2. Successful completion of Kumbh mela. This was a very clean and efficient operation.

3. Varanasi Corridor Project: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 381158.cms

The above are just few which I cited. There are several others all over the nation.

--- compared to ---

https://www.thestatesman.com/india/on-m ... 29940.html

It was the year 1954. Independent India was about to turn seven. A newly free nation full of dreams and aspirations was marching ahead under the democratically-elected Congress government led by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In Uttar Pradesh, which was even then the country’s most populous state, the Congress government was led by the state’s first Chief Minister, Govind Ballabh Pant.

The year was significant for both the state, the Hindu population of the country, and the politicians for one particular reason – Kumbh Mela. It was after all the first Kumbh in independent India, held in PM Nehru’s home city of Allahabad.

But what happened on 3 February 1954 has since gone down as one of the most horrific chapters in independent India’s history. On that day, lakhs of devotees had arrived at Sangam to take a holy dip on the auspicious occasion of Mauni Amavasya (or New Moon day). But by the end of the day, around 1000 people lay dead on the ghats and around 2000 others injured due to a stampede.

The horror of that stampede was captured on camera by a photographer from Amrit Bazar Patrika – NN Mukherjee. Aged 41 at the time, Mukherjee was at the Sangam to take pictures of the event. In his memoir published by Hindi magazine ‘Chayakriti’ in 1989, Mukherjee described the stampede, the horrors he witnessed, Nehru’s presence at Kumbh on that day and what made Pant call him a ‘h******a’ (b*****d).

___

The day of Mouni Amavasya in Kumbh in 1954 was a day of tragedy for me besides, of course, a day of achievement as a press photographer. I was the only one who could take pictures of a stampede that killed over a thousand people, who were crushed at the Kumbh Mela. I get goosebumps even today recalling how I took photographs by crisscrossing over the bodies of dying or dead men, women and children, who had fallen on the ground after a collision between two groups. My clothes were torn to pieces in the rush. A dying old woman had grabbed my pant with who knows what hope. I tried in vain to free my pant from her grip; and when the grip loosened, it had torn off a part of the cloth.

…

Two days before the bathing day of Mauni Amawasya, the cholera vaccination had been stopped. As a result, a large number of people started entering the Sangam area from the morning on that day.

The then Prime Minister (Jawaharlal Nehru) and President Rajendra Prasad were to come for a bath at Sangam on the same day. Thus all the police and administrative officers were busy making arrangements for their arrival.

I stood on a tower near a barrier at the Sangam Chowki. At around 10.20 am, Nehru-ji and Rajendra Babu’s car came in from the Triveni Road, went past the barrier and headed for the Kila Ghat. A large number of onlookers, who had been stopped on both sides of the barrier, began breaking past the barriers down towards the ghat. A procession of sadhus was moving on the other side of the barrier. The procession went awry due to the influx of the mammoth crowd. When the mob came crashing at the slope of the barricade, it appeared like waves made by standing crops when a storm strikes just before they tumble. Those who fell could not rise again. The cries of “save me, save me” rented the air in all directions as people ran helter-skelter trampling others under their feet.

Many fell in a huge well nearby, and no one could come out. I saw with my own two eyes, someone crushing a three- or four-year-old child. There was someone trying to escape by swinging on the wires of an electricity pole. In a bid to take his photograph, I had to go over fallen people.

It is also surprising that even though more than a thousand people trampled to death, the administrative officials were ignorant of it because till these officials were enjoying tea and snacks at the Government House (today’s Medical College) till four o’clock.

…

My colleagues at Amrit Bazar Patrika were afraid that I, too, must have become a victim of the stampede. But when I reached the office at around 1 pm, the newspaper’s owner, Tarun Kanti Ghosh, gleefully lifted me up and cried, ‘Neepu has come back alive’. I said that I had also brought the photographs of the accident.

Government officials rejected the reports of over a thousand people dying in the stampede. They issued a press note stating that only some beggars had been crushed to death. We presented before the officials the photos showing women wearing costly ornaments among the deceased, indicating that they came from well-off families.

…

On the second day of the accident, the administration made mounds of bodies and set them on fire. No photographer was allowed near the site. To take photos, I dressed like a villager, carried a small camera in an umbrella and pretended that I was there to see the body of my grandmother one last time. I fell on the feet of a constable…one official allowed me on the condition that I return quickly after seeing my ‘grandmother’.

I ran towards the bodies and fell on the body of an old woman crying. Then I quickly took a photo of the burning pile of bodies. When the picture was published the next day, then Chief Minister Govind Ballabh Pant let out a curse, ‘Where is the H******a photographer?’ It was a big compliment for me.

—

In the aftermath of the incident, Nehru suggested that politicians and VIPs should refrain from visiting the Mela. The tragedy forced subsequent governments to ensure better crowd management at such gatherings. Though the 1954 Kumbh Mela tragedy was one of the worst in the history of independent India, stampedes have haunted the mega religious gathering frequently. Over 30 people were killed in a stampede at Kumbh as late as in 2013.

(The text attributed to NN Mukherjee originally appeared in Hindi in Scroll.in on 4 February 2019. Text translated from the original by Manas Sen Gupta.)

Edited out my own holier-than-thou statement.

[ramana]

Why this dislike for Arun Jaitley.

He is way too soft going on italians. and tries to be good to everyone..

Velvet hand in velvet glove?

Maybe that was the need for first term.
This emboldened RaGa to hug and wink at NaMo in Lok Sabha.

[disha]

Spoke to few auto rickshaw drivers in Delhi. None are going to vote AAP on the 12th. Note that they were driving force behind kejriwal's rise 5 years ago.

You should talk to your driver and your milkman and your housemaid. Till that point the analysis for Sad'jee is not complete!

[ramana]

Disha et al don't get astray and lose focus.
No more tribal this or that.

[sudeepj]

You need to provide some evidence that this is actually being done and not just a concern you have. My experience is that RSS is sensitive to this aspect and does not force outside concepts to tribal societies in a way that destroys their own cultures. Hinduism is unique that it always adds something and tries to include, never tries to remove existing ideas.

Eventually, one day, when there is gharwapasi, my prediction is that prophet/son of god claims will be included in some way too!

I am not talking about RSS. But the state/central govt and mainstream Hindu ecosystem. For example in most National Parks tribals are not allowed to visit their own places of worship and are exploited by the state forest depts. ASI should have documented many of the Tribal folklores. Those folklores should find its place in our school books. Research on Tribal culture and religion should be encouraged in universities. I expected those things to happen in the Modi Govt. Except for FCRA cleanup, this Govt did not do a lot to enhance Indic/Dharmic cultural identity.

Williams ho ki Bannerjeer ho? :-(

This is a bit much to take. He has converted zali wallahs to janeu dharis.. What more do you want?

[banrjeer]

-----
You need to provide some evidence that this is actually being done and not just a concern you have. My experience is that RSS is sensitive to this aspect and does not force outside concepts to tribal societies in a way that destroys their own cultures. Hinduism is unique that it always adds something and tries to include, never tries to remove existing ideas.

Eventually, one day, when there is gharwapasi, my prediction is that prophet/son of god claims will be included in some way too!



Cults.. ??? Seriously?

I don't have evidence except whats in the press article which has some some comforting facts but also some lines of concern. I would like more details.

I admire the RSS , its one of the few orgs out there. We should find out how to help in the right efforts and outreach.

As for "cult" yes hinduism can be regarded as an umbrella of cults I see nothing pejorative in calling it such. The rituals and yatra surrounding Jagannath is a "cult" with tribal roots.

Traditionally it should be the duty of priests/pujaris/brahmins as a guild to preserve, revere ancestors, culture and record the history of their patrons. The Adivasis are such patrons, not heathen fodder for missionaries. As for economic betterment perhaps that is more assured if Modi is back.

As for countering pro evangelical leftist intellectuals: the argument can be: Why do you crucify and heathenize Adivasis and not accept them for who they are?

[hanumadu]

Guys, please follow @RahulGandhi and reply to his tweets. His is one handle all congressis support with retweet and reply. We need to drown their voices. Follow and reply enmasse, against him of course.

When he first created his handle, the replies would be overwhelmingly against him. Now they are mostly in support of him. Its only a couple more weeks till the elections. Spare some time for these two weeks and counter his tweets.

[Rudradev]

Excellent article by Annat Jain on TOI Blog

BJP plays the long game: Reclaiming the ‘Idea of India’ for the next century

At the best of times, Indian parliamentary elections are chaotic and transactional affairs. Disguised under a thin veneer of ideology, political parties mobilize sub-group identities to capture the resources of an ever-expanding state in an environment of general scarcity. Political ideologies converge once elections conclude, and state resources are then used to perpetuate networks of patronage to retain power in subsequent elections. Amidst the parade of politicians of modern India, only a few have ever sought to conduct themselves otherwise; fewer still have achieved it. Ideology is the first casualty of India’s politics.

2019 is different. Beneath the viciousness and the cacophony about personalities and dynasties, an ideological battle is being fought on three existentially important issues confronting modern India: cultural identity, national security and the economy. On all three issues, substantive clarity and differentiation have now emerged between the positions of the BJP and the Congress. Rarely has the messaging of the two contenders been more sharply defined, or the choice between the two more stark.

In 2014, BJP’s leadership seemed unsure about the degree to which they could – or should – embrace their historical platform of Article 370, 35A, Ram Janmbhoomi etc. The issue of UPA’s decade of corrupt reign remained front and centre. In 2019, this has changed. While they were never unsure about the righteousness of their cause even during decades on the margins, deep confidence has now emerged in BJP’s leadership team of Modi-Shah-Jaitley about the achievability of their purpose.

The BJP and the RSS are no longer insecure about being perceived as interlopers in New Delhi. Indeed, they are the ‘establishment’. Now, Modi speaks calmly and surefootedly about BJP’s core platform. He is setting the agenda, confronting the Congress and all regional parties, and demanding that all political parties clarify their positions rather than lurk in ambiguity.

This is a fundamental change in approach that has happened for two reasons. First, if the true wages of power is confidence, the BJP’s dominance of India’s political landscape over the last five years has allowed it to earn it in abundance. This has given the BJP leadership the courage to execute upon the lessons of the second observation, the directional reality of which has been best recognized by Arun Jaitley, modern India’s foremost political strategist: At the point of convergence of India’s evolving political-economy and shifting demographics lies a young, aspirational middle class which will soon become a billion in size, and this electorate will possess right-of-centre positions which are in-sync with that of the BJP on the three core issues of national identity, national security and a liberal market economy.

As such, the key question of 2019 (and for the next several decades) will be as follows: Who will best address the hopes and fears of a billion-strong aspirational middle-class with subaltern origins from India’s countryside. This is an electorate that will have no memory of seminal Indian dates such as 1947 or 1975, or even of 1984 or 2001. They will have little affinity with Nehru’s vision of an anglicized soft-state governed by early-20th century European romanticism. And, they will oppose the hagiography surrounding the then urban Indian elite who negotiated their way into post-1947 power behind closed doors. Most of all, they will resent the petty-dynasties who populate the Congress leadership and have governed India contemptuously ever since.

This new electorate will demand economic security, historical dignity and national pride. And as their levels of affluence rise, exposure to the world and technology will allow them to make the journey up Maslow’s pyramid of needs with great speed.
In that journey, their needs will evolve: They’ll start with clamouring for economic freedom and a market-based economy as the only organizing principle that can deliver them jobs and wealth. They will insist on reclaiming India’s historical role as one of the key centres of civilization for the world, and for it to have the capacity to project force globally to protect its national interests. And, they will demand that India’s cultural definition of itself be restored to an unsaid (and potentially indescribable) Vedic historicism thousands of years in the making, and which is the core constituent of the making of every Indian’s worldview irrespective of their religion.

The sociological evidence for such shift in political sentiment is best seen next door in China, and which is, ironically, the only other civilization-as-nation managing similar issues: the rise of a young, proud, and nationalist middle-class in China. Just as the new Chinese middle-class has not followed the expected trajectory of demanding greater social freedoms along with their rising incomes, the new Indian subaltern middle-class will not seek to define modernity along the lines of Western individualism but alongside historical and uninterrupted Indian traditions of social organization. (Thin anecdotal evidence is already arising, for example in the way the new Indian middle-class is more likely to seek marriage as per the very Indian practice of ‘arranged marriages’ where families lead such search, rather than the expected individualism that is the norm in the West.)

They will be, in short, an electorate tailormade to receive the RSS’ and BJP’ messaging. For almost a century, the RSS (and then the BJP) have been consistent about articulating a message of cultural reformation and right-of-centre economic policy. It is to their good fortune that their message will achieve deliverance at the hands of this new India.

The BJP is playing the long game. While the Congress is yet to come up with a coherent issue for 2019, Modi’s three-issue platform is setting the BJP up for a golden period of electoral dominance that could last for decades to come.

What are the three core issues of 2019, and of the new electorate?

Cultural reformation and national identity:

The BJP has made ‘culture’ and ‘national identity’ as core issues of the 2019 campaign. This is a vast and complicated subject, including severely contested anthropological issues of nationhood, religion and citizenship. This ideological position informs the positions not only of Article 370, 35A, the Citizenship Bill, Ram Janmbhoomi … but also, core foundational issues that involve the very definition of what it means to be Indian: Hindutva.

Barring the echo-chambers of the academy and the media, the general mood of the new electorate has already begun to shift and to support BJP’s view of the world. This will only accelerate along with the increase in the size of the new electorate, forcing even all political parties to adjust themselves to adjust to the BJP’s point of view. The clearest evidence is the manner in which the Congress leadership has felt compelled to make overt displays of their religiosity, something that was inconceivable for previous generations of the party’s leadership. While the Congress’ actions could be mere election tactics, this could not have happened if they did not themselves sense a major shift in the sensibilities of the nation.

In many ways then, the resolution of India’s culture and identity issues can only happen in the coming decades when both, the new electorate has become large enough in order to allow politicians to adjust themselves accordingly, and, a new political vocabulary has been created and accepted. In 2019, it is not possible to carry forward meaningful debates on any contested national issues using the tired vocabulary of the past. Over the last few decades, the attempts to explain complex thoughts in one-word summaries (say, Hindutva) has been unsuccessful for the BJP. Instead, its use unleashes a torrent of pre-configured constructs on each side, immediately ending prospects of advancing the discussion rationally.
It is the creation of this new vocabulary that will be a challenge (and an opportunity) for the BJP in the coming years. An entirely new language that can calmly explain the relationship between India’s Vedic birth and an inclusive present for all Indians in the 21st century, and which can be explained to a new electorate unburdened by history or by the coded language of contemporary India.

In doing so, the BJP may have a chance to finally heal both, the open wound of India’s partition, and the subconscious anger of a people for the centuries of assault on their Vedic civilization’s living fabric. It is self-evident that this reconciliation cannot be achieved with the violence that some fringe elements of the BJP have displayed in the last five years, but graciously and confidently so that the course of the nation can be set differently. Just like it can only be the BJP who can organize peace with Pakistan, it can only be the BJP which can reorder the debate around culture and identity for the next century.
For more than a thousand years before the birth of Christ, India’s tremendous agricultural surpluses allowed it to create a complex Vedic civilization with a daring understanding of life and consciousness. For a thousand years after, India was the civilizing force for many parts of the world. India peacefully gave its commerce, mythology, tenets of law and administrative organization, religion, language etc. to the Indianized states of Asia and beyond. (George Coedes has published a remarkable work of scholarship on this subject.)

The BJP would do well to tap into India’s overall economic growth and rising cultural confidence to reclaim and redefine the ‘idea of India’ for the next century by addressing the following three issues plainly and calmly.

National security and India’s engagement with the world:

As a matter of some irony, a hundred years from now, historians will remember Modi’s greatest legacy to be the creation of a new foreign policy doctrine for India rather than the culture wars which gave him his initial rise. Alone amongst the Prime Ministers who have preceded him, Modi has shown the capability to play the bold, long game.

While keeping one eye on the neighbourhood, he has sought to reengage with the world in a markedly different manner than previous governments. Modi has shown both, a willingness to create a calibrated response to Chinese actions when prompted, and – equally importantly – the ability to scale down tensions when needed. He has sought to deepen the relationship with new allies as a first step towards enhancing strategic options but realized that old relationships are important. He has shown the willingness to take the battle to the other’s backyard, and yet, not present India as easy to provoke. (In this, the new electorate will pose a challenge: newly-affluent sub-population groups are always hyper-nationalist and easy to inflame, and the BJP needs to be able to rein-in its fringes.)
All of this is coalescing into a nascent, yet undeclared ‘Modi Doctrine,’ and which will focus in-time not on Pakistan, but on India’s two most important foreign policy relationships: the US and China. As India joins them in the club of the three largest global economies, India must engage deeply with both to articulate each’s expectations of the other, and to participate more fully in the reordering of the global order.

India’s relationship with each is unique, and yet, the three are tied together via an evolving US-led Indo-Pacific strategy whose scope and manifestation is yet to fully unfold. India would do well to avoid the incessant posturing and hesitation of its past and move forward to protects its interests wherever such allegiances may lie.
But between the two, it is the relationship with China that will soon become the fulcrum of Indian foreign interest. For a thousand years predating the Islamic invasions of India, China and India fought quietly and fiercely for dominance of Asia with competing ideas of philosophy, civilization, law, administration and religion. In the annals of history, the length of such rivalry probably exceeds that of any other two nations. Indeed, the pre-medieval ‘great game’ was the fight between the equally powerful and rich civilizations of India and China for influence in Asia, the evidence of which now lies scattered across South East Asia in its ruins, its culture and its religious sub-structure.

India’s foreign policy apparatus is hopelessly ill-equipped as of now, with insufficient diplomats and an equally insufficient ambition. Over the next five years, Modi must build the scaffolding within which a $10 trillion economy (and in time, a $20 trillion economy) can protect its foreign policy interests for the next hundred years. Its endgame: friends should admire it; adversaries should respect it and enemies should fear it.

The BJP has rightly made national security the central subject of the 2019 elections: The state’s primary duty is to exercise its monopoly on the use of force to provide law-and-order at home and security at the border. To make up for decades of neglect during which India has lost the respect of its neighbours and made few new allies, Modi must document his foreign policy doctrine, and propose, without reservation or delay, that India seeks global partners who represent common values, common long-term interests, and a framework within which India can operate as an equal partner to protect common interests.

The end of the administrative state:

Modern India continues to suffer from a socialist worldview first laid by Jawaharlal Nehru, and on which Indira Gandhi built a ruthless and expansive ‘administrative state’. This ‘administrative state’ has functioned as an invisible state-within-a-state, and is comprised of an enabling framework of sprawling state-owned companies and state-led institutions; year-after-year, it does a bewilderingly efficient job of destroying national wealth.

This is the nerve centre of India’s problems: Unless the BJP dismantles this superstructure, all else is bound to fail. Without economic strength, grand national ambition is mere posturing.
Modi threatened to demolish the administrative state in his run up to 2014. But the last five years have left scope for a much deeper resolve for 2019-2024. Case in point: In 1951, the number of government-owned public sector units was five. By 1984, Indira Gandhi had made that 220. Surprisingly, even the BJP increased the number from 290 in 2014 to about 340 in 2018. (Numbers sourced from Prannoy Roy’s well-researched recent book, “The Verdict.”)
Modi risks falling into the trap common to all earnest leaders: the belief that they’re different because they’re personally honest, and that with sincere effort, they can manage the economy. That’s wrong. The modern economy is unimaginably complex. It cannot be comprehensively understood, let alone be effectively managed, and certainly never by the very state-institutions and bureaucracy that have been at the centre of its despair. Modi’s increasing attempts to do so reflect his gradual embrace of the administrative state as the tool through which he seeks to deliver the promised reforms, ignoring the reality that both forces are actively opposed to each other.

At stake is not only the reform process but the moral arc of India and the long-suffering soul of the average Indian, corrupted through decades of bending to the whims of the administrative state. Modi and Jaitley understand, a few other Indian politicians, that economics is not about mere budgets or numbers; it is a moral philosophy, requiring of each citizen a framework around which they make individual choices.

As such, reform must begin where the decline began: The government ownership of banks and enterprises. Everything else is mere tinkering. Modi-Jaitley must establish a target so bold that its execution can launch a multi-decadal period of double-digit GDP growth which will end, once-and-for-all, not only the curse of poverty, but also, India’s second-tier status amongst great nations.

When faced with forces one doesn’t understand, it is expedient to revert to a known vocabulary of Indian politics: Secularism, polarization, Hindutva, nationalism etc. This is understandable; language allows us to make sense of the known world, and to share such comprehension using a shared platform of understanding.
But language is also a weapon. In the hands of the Indian politician, language is used to ambush those who think differently. For the new India that will emerge with this new electorate, the BJP may need a different set of words altogether so as to create, without arrogance or anger, what George Kennan wrote of as the “placid give and take …, in particular: The tempering of all enmity and all intimacy, the balancing function of personal self-respect, the free play of opposing interests.”

Through long years of internal perseverance (and some demographic manna), BJP now finds itself in an enviable situation: An ability to shape the nation for the next century as it had long promised it would. If now it were to fail to act decisively, it would only have itself to blame.

[vijayk]

https://m.republicworld.com/opinions/wh ... bhakti?v=1

Read every word

Similar sentiments as above

Then I saw lists in newsrooms, you know those talking heads or people to ring for quotes. The names were remarkably the same, segregated as bhakts (always people of Hindu religion) and seculars, right wing and left wing, feminist and conservative. According to this ocean of stupidity you cannot be a person of faith (and certainly not a practising Hindu in personal life) who upholds secular ideas politically, could be fiscally right wing and a feminist without subscribing to ideas and struggles of women and womanhood developed in other settings. In the Indian context that last should read ideas imported from the Anglo-Saxon west where one wardrobe was made to fit all till very recently. There’s nothing urban or rural, conservative or modern about being disrespectful and without manners, especially deaf to lived and acquired wisdom. Remembers, seers are called seers for a reason.

Something is happening in India and nobody can and must attempt wrapping their fingers around it. India is listening to itself and by the likes of it, is pleased with what it's hearing.

Irresponsible politicians are comparing turnouts at Prime Minister Narendra Modi rallies to crowds adulating Germany’s Adolf Hitler. Others say if Modi returns to power, it will be the end of civilisation in India

.
Something major is happening in India and the collapse of the Indian National Congress (INC) cannot explain it all. Neither can the spectacular showing of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) star campaigner Modi in the last few weeks of elections. Many polls predict a comfortable win for the BJP and their alliance partners. But there’s something else afoot.
First, I would like to believe it is the end of self-loathing that has brainwashed generations of Indians into believing they are made of inferior stuff, a self-loathing so vicious that loathing becomes a profession irrespective of the matter under discussion. When you are rootless, you tend to get a little ruthless, first with facts and then with the frustration that your fictional world is only that – a desolate land of fiction without faith, fable without fact, comedy without humour. Crumbling citadels of hopelessness resemble the wrath of defeated armies retreating without direction.
Faith is about principles – it is religion for some, a way of life and method of work for others. A life without principles means you are all things to all people, therefore nothing to anyone. That’s scary, especially if your entire life has been one of self-obsession and greed masquerading as public service.


Second, billions of Indians are rising in an unprecedented manner drowning the cacophonous market chatter that is restricted to a few pockets of urban India. They are rising in hope, not hate and they are taking over the levers of democracy whether it is in the amount of information they consume, questions they want answers and choices they make. The levers of democracy have shifted to Indians and a crumbling opposition is evidence of their impatience.

Consider this. People of faith are also people with principles. They take principled and informed positions irrespective of where it is coming from or where it originates. Look around you. The principled are rarely shaken by daily winds because the alliances they knit are not instant coffee.

[Suraj]

Excellent article by Annat Jain on TOI Blog
BJP plays the long game: Reclaiming the ‘Idea of India’ for the next century

An incredibly well written article. I've hardly ever read something like that, which left me engrossed while simultaneously causing my eyes to well up in some places. The author describes the situation extremely well.

There's a bit of rah rahing in at the end in favor of privatizing PSUs, but I think in this case, the author is giving insufficient credit to the extent to which the statist system is still in place and has the political backing of the center left (especially the shrill CPI/CPM extremes)

[UlanBatori]

Nice timing of letter to RaGa from Ministry. May be a sign that the "Juggernaut"'s wheels have got over static friction and are now rolling. The Rafale and Chor lies may have done it, and orders gone out to start prosecuting.

[Suraj]

3) Subramaniam Swamy said last night on TimesNow that Italy gives citizenship to children born of Italian citizens and Soniaji had submitted an application to Italy in name of Raul Vinci when he was born. He will produce a copy of that when need arises.

More detail on this: Italian citizenship can be automatically acquired by birth from an Italian parent, even if born outside Italy. That is Italian nationality law.

There's a caveat as to whether this is the maternal or paternal line. The paternal line can pass citizenship for an indefinite number of generations regardless of where the person's born. The maternal line only was possible starting in 1948 (many European countries had/have such sexist nationality laws where citizenship could primarily be propagated through a father but not a mother).

Now this next part can be confusing: RaGa was born after 1948 to an Italian born mother, so he is technically Italian from the moment of his birth. There are many to whom such eligibility to another citizenship applies automatically (including me, not to Italy though. This is how I know about this technicality). Indian citizenship law is ok with this, UNLESS the person attempts to voluntarily acquire any other citizenship they are entitled to. Essentially 'it is ok if you have some other entitlement because of circumstances beyond your control. You remain Indian, as long as you don't try to gain that citizenship'.

So the critical part is not whether RaGa is Italian by birth. He is, on paper, but if he never tried to acquire it, he remains Indian according to Indian law. However, if SoGa did anything at all to register RaGa's at birth as an Italian national, that automatically invalidated his Indian citizenship, unless he later attempted to naturalize/register as Indian once again.

[ramana]

I like Primus poem "Ek Nayi Azaadi" and it captures the new spirit of India very well.

[Ardeshir]

Subramanian Swamy Interview: BJP Would Have Got Only 160 Seats If Not For Balakot

If the Modi government had not carried out strikes inside Balakot, Pakistan after the Pulwama attack, Swamy says, the BJP would have been looking at only 160 seats in the election.
In this interview, Swamy spoke about where the Modi government went wrong, whether Modi will be PM again, and how he would tackle unemployment if he was finance minister.

“The main problem is his (Modi’s) extraordinarily unhealthy centralization of decision making. And the utter disregard that party president (Amit Shah) has for the worker,” he said.

Is there a Modi wave?
His credibility is certainly very high. People do think that of all the leaders in the fray, he is the best.

There is a lot of discontentment over the poor performance of the economy in the past five years. My view is that this discontentment would have been submerged if we had begun the construction of Ram Mandir. There was an expectation that he would do it if we get absolute majority, but Modi didn’t give much attention to that. Even at the last minute, he could have handed over the government land to start the construction of the supplementary parts of the Ram Mandir, but he didn’t do it.

The more I think of SuSwamy, the more I feel he is a trojan horse. No wonder Modijee has kept him out of the government.

[ramana]

Atheist Krishna view of Xi JinPing after UN declared Masood Azhar


https://twitter.com/Atheist_Krishna/sta ... 12385?s=19

[ramana]

Ardeshir
SuSwa is a Trojan Ass.

[vijayk]

SuSwamy is infinitely egotistic which clouds his judgement. He just needs massage of his big ego always

[KL Dubey]

Now this next part can be confusing: RaGa was born after 1948 to an Italian born mother, so he is technically Italian from the moment of his birth. There are many to whom such eligibility to another citizenship applies automatically (including me, not to Italy though. This is how I know about this technicality). Indian citizenship law is ok with this, UNLESS the person attempts to voluntarily acquire any other citizenship they are entitled to. Essentially 'it is ok if you have some other entitlement because of circumstances beyond your control. You remain Indian, as long as you don't try to gain that citizenship'.

Correct. This is called "latent claim" to citizenship of another country, and indeed there are probably a lot of Indians with such "latent claims". And vice versa there are many non-Indians with "latent claims" to Indian citizenship.

It is only when a person tries to avail of the privileges/facilities afforded by that latent citizenship, that there is an issue. As far as I have read, the Indian nationality law is not 100% clear in listing out such activities.

Certainly, acquiring the passport of the other country is considered by Indian law as acquisition of that country's nationality. But in my opinion the law should be broader and include all privileges that are afforded specifically by that citizenship. A passport is basically a travel document. Other things like registering to vote (in countries where only citizens can vote), carrying out certain occupations or business only open to citizens of that country, etc. should be included as proof that the person has exercised their latent claim and thereby lost the right to Indian citizenship.

In Pappu's case, the real question will be is whether he - or even his mother on his behalf - had exercised any privileges of foreign citizenships. Even if Antonia did something on his behalf when he was a minor, he would still lose Indian citizenship but would be allowed to apply to reinstate it when turning an adult.

[bhavani]

SuSwamy is not a very dependable and has a huge bloated Ego. He loved Rajiv gandhi, hates Sonia Gandhi. i think his hattred for current gandhis is more about a personal grudge rather than a real principle. But he is a real intelligent person and he can be dangerous if he starts employing his intellect in a bad manner.

[Rudradev]

Dr BB says in a recent article that NYAY has backfired on the Congis. There is not much awareness of it in the population. Among those who are aware, urbans, UCs and middle class plus are the most aware while rural, poor, SC, ST etc. are the least aware. So the awareness is highest among those who have the most cause to be angry and distrustful of NYAY, and the lowest among those who could possibly welcome NYAY

Article also gives some interview quotes from people in the recently-Congified states saying that INC hasn't lived up to its farm-loan waiver promises from before the 2018 RJ, MP, CG elections... so no bharosa that they will actually follow through on any NYAY-vay.

ADMINS: hope it's OK to paraphrase top-line summaries of BB's articles from behind the paywall. If not, please remove.