Narendra Modi vs the Dynasty: Contrasting Ideas of India

member_28502 · Post by **member_28502** » 10 Mar 2014 08:34

AAP is

Paheli AAP Paheli AAAP

to wreck a stable nationalist GOI in the near future

lot of Horse (power) trading will start right after elections

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 10 Mar 2014 08:39

^Very heartening. The states where NM will have final say in ticket distribution should include Guj too, naturally. Hope high-potential places like KA, MH and Asom are also on that list.

Raj'n, CG, Goa and MP have strong CMs, so limited leeway there, I guess.

johneeG · Post by **johneeG** » 10 Mar 2014 08:55

nageshks wrote: Both Victor-ji, and Gandharva-ji are right. Kejri won't be around till next election. It is impossible to sustain a fiction that long. But there is a factor that you may be overlooking. The moment NaMo becomes PM, the Congress will be in a use-him-or-lose-him mode with respect to Kejri. They will organise a riot somewhere, blame RSS, BJP, VHP, <what have you>, and then Kejri and his useful idiots will start a dharna in front of Parliament demanding that the fascist NaMo resign. Western press will go to town with claims of `Butcher Indian PM celebrates win by eating babies in <insert name of place>'. Congoons and Aaptards will begin colour revolution in Delhi, there will be UN condemnations, demands from US that NaMo resign, and threats of sanctions, and what else have you. You saw what the US and the West did in 1949 when Mao came to power in China. Why do you think they will let go of India any more easily? They will try to overthrow NaMo as quickly, as completely as possible, in India. Only if NaMo stops them from regaining control of India for some 15 years will they get disheartened and then come to negotiate sullenly. Until then, they will try to create as much mayhem as possible. I think it is time for India to tighten its belt and brace for a lot of trouble. But at the end of the dark tunnel, we can see a glimmer of light.

The fly in the ointment for the bhestern forces is that 2014 is not 1940s or even 1970s. Unlike those times, in 2014, they themselves are very weak(particularly economically). So, their ability to harm dhesh is significantly less than what it was in 1940s or 1970s.

Prem Kumar · Post by **Prem Kumar** » 10 Mar 2014 09:30

I wouldnt discount their intention or ability to create trouble. The Berkeley Haas-been School of Business initiative is a step precisely in that direction - to be a thorn in the side of Modi, post election. They have already prepared scripts of atrocity literature to be used, once the first riot/terror-attack occurs in India post elections

Prem Kumar · Post by **Prem Kumar** » 10 Mar 2014 09:44

Dont know if this was posted before. An awesome article, that highlights Team-Modi's logistical muscle

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/nare ... 43517.html

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 10 Mar 2014 10:07

Gorkha Mukti Morcha to back BJP candidates. 2 AGP leaders join BJP. Traction in Assam and WB.

Twitter world claims, because of GMM support BJP can count 1 seat from WB now.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 10 Mar 2014 10:18

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 10 Mar 2014 10:46

Yes, they should win Darjeeling although Baichung Bhutia of TMC is very popular.

bhargava · Post by **bhargava** » 10 Mar 2014 10:46

isliye modi

kenop · Post by **kenop** » 10 Mar 2014 10:55

A thought comes to mind.
AAP is trying its best to engage with Modi directly. As it is clear that INC has no hope of making a comeback, they cannot even carry out EVM magic and get away with it. Maybe the EVM advantage can be directed towards AAP. The CEC has ordered only 20000 VVPAT machines. Unless 64 candidates per constituency are in the fray, EVMs will be used. Any usage of EVM magic can lead to restricted NDA performance.
Swamy had mentioned on twitter about a plan B in response to the CEC's plan of 20000 VVPAT machines.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 10 Mar 2014 11:26

75% of the income of political parties (around Rs. 3,674 crore) were received from unknown sources
This is a way of ensuring transparent finding, writes the organiser.
NDTV
http://www.ndtv.com/article/election-ne ... topstories

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 10 Mar 2014 13:03

nageshks ji,

For guerrillas, the fun starts when their adversary is forced to hold ground. As urban Naxals, AAP would be coming into their element when a Hindu nationalist BJP holds the reins of govt., and AAP becomes the most vocal activist opposition to it.

Then one would be seeing real money from all sorts of "humanist, civil-society, religious tolerance and freedom-promoting foundations" pouring in into India from all over - USA, UK, Canada, Scandinavia, Benelux, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, etc. Much of it would be going to AAP, which one can say is now an umbrella organization for NGOs.

They are going to keep hammering Modi and they would be actively looking for issues to incite discontentment and hatred towards the regime, of course with ample support from MSM.

What NaMo needs is to move on quickly to shut off all direct foreign funding for and ownership in NGOs, Media, Religious Institutions, Political Parties, Humanities Depts, and Survey Agencies doing social, cultural and political surveys. Strict laws need to come up and judicial infrastructure needs to be expanded to deal with these issues.

That would be taking out the oxygen from this West-funded anti-Bharatiya ecosystem in India.

Secondly BJP would have to move fast to increase judiciary, and not the sold-out and secular type, but the Dharmic and fair type. Congress-oriented media needs to be finished off.

Unlike other countries, India has a very very vibrant democratic tradition, so it is not that easy to create a Ukraine type situation. But our politicos are also easily sold.

Comer · Post by **Comer** » 10 Mar 2014 13:13

^^ I think the AAP has three acts. 1. Get the trust of useful idiots in rich and middle class to get money/fame 2. Use that to capture the disenfranchised 3. Use the disenfranchised to topple Govt
As long as AAP operates in Act 1 and maybe Act 2, they can be cut off. Unlike their namesake the fake guerrillas' top is filled with rich guys. And the people who support them now have a stake in the system, like economy, security etc.
But once it goes into Act 3 then they will be filled with people who have nothing to lose and want to burn down other people's hard work.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Mar 2014 13:18

chess pieces are on the move for a post-INC regime.

Pankaj Mishra has just been awared a $150,000 prize by Yale for bringing new perspectives on a changing Asia

I guess The Roy is too discredited and tired to be of use in the next phase of the battle. younger shoulders were needed and he is one.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 749278.cms

vic · Post by **vic** » 10 Mar 2014 13:18

Advani is now trying to pump up Congress by saying that they will get around 100 seats while opinion polls & other opposition leaders are predicting sub 60 for Congress. Advani is trying to keep hope alive for Nikku and SS to become consensus candidate. He also is perhaps trying to assure Congress that they will remain relevant and he will protect their interest like they did for him in last 10 years.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 10 Mar 2014 15:09

Published on Mar 10, 2014
'NaMo tea is bribery to voters, violation of model code': India Today

The much-touted NaMo tea has come under the scanner of election commission in Uttar Pradesh.
The state election office has put a ban on distribution of NaMo tea, maintaining that it amounts to bribery to lure voters.

Acting on a complaint filed against Sandeep Malhotra, former chairman of Mohammadi municipality in Lakhimpur district of the state, and several other BJP office-bearers in the city, the state election office has written letters to all district electoral officers directing them to act against free distribution of NaMo tea for violation of model code of conduct.

In a case registered at Mohammadi kotwali, the BJP office-bearers have been booked for distributing free NaMo tea to a crowd at an event where two large TV screens were also put up to telecast speeches by the party leaders. It has been alleged that no prior permission was taken for the event.

According to the kotwali in-charge, the free tea distribution programme which was attended by at least 100 people caused a long traffic jam at Mohammadi-Shahjahanpur road, causing unspeakable problems to the commuters.

Confirming the orders from the state election office in Lucknow, Lakhimpur Khiri District Magistrate Gaurav Dayal said directives had been issued to all those involved in the election duty.

In its letter sent to all district electoral officers, the state election office said complaints have been received from various places about free distribution of NaMo tea to lure voters and asked the officials to videograph all such events and treat them as violation of model code.

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 10 Mar 2014 15:25

vic wrote:Advani is now trying to pump up Congress by saying that they will get around 100 seats while opinion polls & other opposition leaders are predicting sub 60 for Congress. Advani is trying to keep hope alive for Nikku and SS to become consensus candidate. He also is perhaps trying to assure Congress that they will remain relevant and he will protect their interest like they did for him in last 10 years.

vic,

Dont fall for your own hype is the first lesson of politics.

It is all good for two seat contending candidates/communities to say we support Modi, but when one of them is chosen, the other will try to sabotage him. Nobody plays that game better than congress.

Until now, Modi didnt had to pick among the rivals. We were at that stage where everyone supports Modi and are transitioning to the second stage. This is a critical stage. No hype , no surveys will save Modi if he cannot handle this transition. Until now only the confirmed and easy candidates have been declared on both sides.

As this transition happens, expect some communities/people to backtrack, some new communities/people to come in. BJP in earlier days used to lose the fight here, lets see what happens now.

Expect every constituency to have a Yedurappa reentry battle. Declared candidates WILL be bought and traded. You want to know constituencies where the congress candidates have fights? Look for the vote share of the elephant, he/she will be the first candidate who will be bought by congress/its opposition.

SanjayC · Post by **SanjayC** » 10 Mar 2014 15:58

Singha wrote:chess pieces are on the move for a post-INC regime.

Pankaj Mishra has just been awared a $150,000 prize by Yale for bringing new perspectives on a changing Asia

I guess The Roy is too discredited and tired to be of use in the next phase of the battle. younger shoulders were needed and he is one.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 749278.cms

New generation of native sepoys is being glorified and feted by the Whites to suitably impress Indians as to how great the sepoys are and how their views should be given lot of weight by the Hindu savages.

SanjayC · Post by **SanjayC** » 10 Mar 2014 16:00

RajeshA wrote:nageshks ji,

For guerrillas, the fun starts when their adversary is forced to hold ground. As urban Naxals, AAP would be coming into their element when a Hindu nationalist BJP holds the reins of govt., and AAP becomes the most vocal activist opposition to it.

This problem can be easily taken care of by ordering CBI and income tax investigation into funding of AAP and the murky business dealings of its "aam" leaders, and cases filed, preferably with a six month jail term. This is how Cong keeps Mulayam, Laloo and Mayawati as pets.

Manish_Sharma · Post by **Manish_Sharma** » 10 Mar 2014 16:33

Zee News is showing the clipping of "prasun bajpai and khujliwal's sting" right now.

kapilrdave · Post by **kapilrdave** » 10 Mar 2014 17:53

Well I don't think anyone who follows news channels with his brain in place would be surprised by this video. And those who don't use brain will remain AAPTurd forever.

member_20317 · Post by **member_20317** » 10 Mar 2014 21:01

What to make of the SS & MNS troubles. SS is going to hold its own meeting tomorrow. Without MNS does there remain any chance of having a good vote percentage. Will we have to stop only because of these two?

member_28468 · Post by **member_28468** » 10 Mar 2014 21:21

Aaj tak is also showing somnath bharti links with american companies .

Modi magic??

vivek.rao · Post by **vivek.rao** » 10 Mar 2014 23:16

vishant chaudhary wrote:Aaj tak is also showing somnath bharti links with american companies .

Modi magic??

Nope. After the expose of Kejri's match fixing they have to pull some drama.

Modi has to remember this. Destroy a lot of media and Birlas after taking over. Investigate for money laundering, looting and cleanse this poison from India once and for all.

PAIDEMDIA, sting media (Kahitans,Tehelkas,Gulails,IBN,NDTV and even HT,TOI,IE) all needed to liberated from anti-national,traitor characters.

Kejriwals,Sisodias,Roys,Yogendras should be marked and exposed.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 10 Mar 2014 23:18

Something to chew on.

From Muraliravi in the COngress game plan thread....

ramana wrote:Politicsparty guy is hyperventialting. But the core message is Congress is preparing for post 2014 election debacle by setting up pappu as fall guy.

http://www.politicsparty.com/shownews.php?newsid=387

Ramana ji,

I would still go slow. If you recall, around march of 2009, many thought if emergency will be declared becos they thought congress wil lose and will just go to the bins of history. This party has an uncanny nack of pulling victory from the jaws of defeat. In this election, if BJP dips to 170 and congress manages 120, I will call that a congress victory. Becos at 170, BJP cant form govt, cong will prop up kejri as PM with support of other parties.

Now, are we all sure BJP will cross 170, I am not even 50% sure about that. Roughly speaking Divide BJP's prospects into 3 regions, West + Union Territories (MP, CH, RJ, GJ, MH, Goa and UT's); UP & Bihar, Rest of India(JK, HP, UTT, Haryana, DEL, JH, Assam, KA, other states where BJP is a zero).

To hit 200 seats, BJP desperately needs to hit at least 95 in the 1st segment, 55 in UP and Bihar and 50 in the rest of India.

If you see carefully, Congress has a card in each of the regions to dent BJP by 5-10 seats at a minimum. In the western area, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh are their targets. If they can cut BJP to size in MH (which is their weakest state in that entire region) using MNS (they guy has announced that he will contest and smartly supported Modi to ensure that his voters are even more confused whether to vote BJP/SS or MNS). I am sure congress is capable of pulling BJP down from 17-18 projected in MH to 14. Gadkari and Munde are fighting down to the micro level on whether Pune seat should go to Anil Shirole or Girish Bapat.

Chhattisgarh as much as we all love to fancy, is not in the Modi wave zone at all. It is a remote state with its own dynamics. Last time BJP swept it. This time in the assembly polls, they just barely scraped through. They will find it extremely hard to retain that number. So there you go, in the western zone, if you factor in these 2 states, to hit 95, BJP needs land slides in RJ, GJ, MP to propel them to the 95 number.

50 in the rest of India is a big ask too. If you look carefully, the biggest contributors to the ROI (rest of India) for BJP are JH and KA. The damage in KA has been done 2 years ago itself. Anyway BJP has somehow crawled back into the scene. But still can they go beyond 12-13 in KA or will they go down to 10 based on local factors remains to be seen. See JH also, the state is reeling under a Modi wave, but JVM has put up a smart cand in Ranchi and now BJP is struggling. 2 more seats like that, the projected 11/14 becomes 8/14. One state they can count on is UTT (they will win worst case 4/5). If you look at Himachal, its not that easy, BJP did well last time and the candidates this time may have a hard time pulling it off. I wont be surprised if only Anurag Thakur pulls it off. The only reason BJP is projected to do well in Haryana is the AAP factor which is splitting the congress vote down the center. But I am sure, cong goons will force AAP to backoff in the last minute. This ROI is BJP's weakest region overall. If congress plays it well, BJP may not even scrape through with 30 seats in this entire region. Delhi will still vote AAP even if some of its voters may back Namo. The game is that all the M voters of congress will vote AAP in Delhi and that is enuf for them to produce an awesome result.

So with these 2 regions if congress can cut BJP to size at 90+30 = 120 seats. BJP needs a whopping 80 seats in UP & Bihar to hit 200 and 60 seats even to hit 180. Of the 30 they will contest in Bihar, they may pull off 20-22. So they need a minimum of 38 seats in UP to even hit 180. I am not expecting a single seat in WB, Orissa, TN, AP, Kerala. It is very easy to get excited by seeing crowds at Namo rally and predict 4 seats in Orissa. But that is just unwarranted optimism.

I see congress being able to stop BJP at 160 seats itself. BJP is banking on UP to a big extent to pull themselves out of this hole.

fanne · Post by **fanne** » 10 Mar 2014 23:25

yup spot on!!

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 10 Mar 2014 23:30

^^ fanne which party are you supporting in these election?

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 10 Mar 2014 23:32

Massive SNAFU underway in MH due to stupidity of Uddhav. Let us hope that these guys dont break up the Maha Yuti at the last moment.

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 10 Mar 2014 23:33

vishant chaudhary wrote:Aaj tak is also showing somnath bharti links with american companies .

Modi magic??

damage control

fanne · Post by **fanne** » 10 Mar 2014 23:43

Indian National Prty

muraliravi · Post by **muraliravi** » 11 Mar 2014 02:42

This full Gadkari-MNS is going to prove very expensive. Modi also should be blamed equally. He was the one who called RT to Gujarat a year ago on a state visit. He very well knew that SS will get pissed off and he cannot even touch MNS with a barge pole if he wants votes in UP/Bihar. In my opinion, this is a very poorly scripted drama.

Now they should do damage control so that the bihar politicians dont take advantage of the screenshots (maybe i stretching it too far on this, if they wanted to, they could have done that with the modi-rt photo ops and Niku could have used that to break the alliance), but Shiv Sena will surely use this to bargain even more seats.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 11 Mar 2014 03:04

^Yup. I share the gloom of realism on the dhaga.

Admittedly moi did get carried away n somehow assume 200 to be the lower bound for lotus. Now it seems more like the upper bound only.

And lest there be any doubts, 2014 is IMO, modi's best and perhaps last chance to take delhi. If he loses this one, he'll never really recover. Unlike raul.

disha · Post by **disha** » 11 Mar 2014 03:08

ramana wrote:Something to chew on.

From Muraliravi in the COngress game plan thread...

...Cut BJP to size in MH (which is their weakest state in that entire region) using MNS (they guy has announced that he will contest and smartly supported Modi to ensure that his voters are even more confused whether to vote BJP/SS or MNS). I am sure congress is capable of pulling BJP down from 17-18 projected in MH to 14. Gadkari and Munde are fighting down to the micro level on whether Pune seat should go to Anil Shirole or Girish Bapat.

Relaaax Muraliji. All this dhoti-shivering is not good for health

If Marathi manoos wants to be confused, wants to vote along caste/clan lines and just like their brethren across the border in AP who love their sonia ammas and chinna ammas - what can we do other than hand wring, call it karma and move on?

NaMo et al has made it clear that UP and Bihar are the major states to concentrate on. If they can do 40+30 in UP/Bihar - they are 40% through. From the winds going on in UP/Bihar it does appear that 60-80 is an achievable target. And here is another reason why:

An excellent analysis from R. Jaggi - Firstpost:

Why cheques issued on Muslim vote bank may bounce in 2014 by R Jagannathan Mar 10, 2014

The Hindu vote bank lasted all of 15 years – from 1989 to 2004. It began with the Ram Mandir movement, and petered out with the fall of the NDA in 2004, as rising prosperity and fast growth gave Hindus a reason to think beyond self-defeating communalism.

The Muslim vote bank has been with us since partition and independence – nearly 67 years now. But even this vote bank is showing cracks in the vault and elections 2014 could mark the beginning of the end. The Lok Sabha elections due next month will offer Muslims their last chance to vote as a community, to vote against someone rather than for something. Every party is issuing another cheque against this vote bank in the hope that the face of Narendra Modi will scare enough Muslims and ensure their cheque does not bounce.

If the results of the recent assembly elections are any guide, some of those cheques proved a dud. In Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi, Muslims voted in large enough numbers for the BJP despite the announcement of Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. He campaigned prominently in those states – enough to scare Muslims, if they wanted to be scared. On the contrary, many of the Muslim candidates put up by the Congress were defeated, and in Delhi the only Congress candidates to survive the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) onslaught were the Congress’s own Muslim candidates. In Gujarat, in the 2012 assembly elections, Muslims voted in large numbers for the BJP. But for their support Modi would not have been able to register his third big victory. The loss of votes to BJP renegades like Keshubhai Patel and his GPP was compensated by a larger vote share from Muslims this time.

As Zafar Sareshwala and Asifa Khan noted in an article in Firstpost last year: “More than 31 percent of Muslims voted for BJP (in Gujarat) in 2012. Out of 12 Muslim majority constituencies, eight were won by the BJP. He (Modi) may not have given a single assembly ticket to Muslims, but in the local elections in February-March 2013, more than 200-plus Muslims were elected on a BJP ticket.”

This is not to suggest that Muslims have developed any sudden affection for the BJP or Narendra Modi, but they are no longer willing to vote for the rest merely because of scare-mongering. In recent months, several Muslim clerics and maulanas have willy-nilly come to accept that building the BJP into some kind of ogre does not serve the community’s real goals.

An India Today cover story on the Muslim mind quotes Abdulla Bakhavi, Imam of the Makhdoom Masjid in Mallapuram, Kerala, as saying: “Modi and BJP may be more moderate than they are in opposition. So let’s try them out too.” This has been the refrain from other clerics and maulanas too. While the imam may not represent common Muslim sentiment, there are broader reasons why Muslims are no longer willing to be treated as a vote bank.

Here are a few reasons why.

First, they are now spoilt for choice. In the battleground states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and elsewhere, they not only have the Congress, the BSP and the Samajwadi Party, but also AAP. While Muslims may vote tactically to defeat the BJP in some states, the mere fact that they are no longer wedded to one party indicates that they won’t be voting out of fear alone. In fact, some Muslims leaders are likely to campaign actively against so-called secular parties to expose their failure to deliver on promises to Muslims. This, despite worries in some quarters that if Muslims vote for new parties like AAP, the BJP could be the gainer. Many Muslims may be more angry with their claimed benefactors than their tormentors.

Second, they are discovering their power of agency. Outside of Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Hyderabad, Muslims have seldom had Muslim parties to choose from. Now they do. In West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and even UP, there are Muslim parties that seek votes on their own terms. They are not yet close to inflection point, but their mere existence makes the other parties focus more on real Muslim issues rather than just religious symbolism. They are also offering Muslims more than just token representation. Like any other community, Muslims are voting on secular issues like jobs, education and freedom from discrimination. They want credible representation in mainstream parties.

Third, demography is now working for them. According to India Today, in 46 Lok Sabha constituencies they constitute 30 percent or more of the electorate; in over 100 constituencies their vote makes all the difference between victory and defeat for the top two candidates. Muslims are beginning to count for many parties.

Fourth, the community is no longer a monolith. They have begun to vote along class lines rather than just religious lines. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar has managed to create an alliance of Pasmanda (lower strata) Muslims and Mahadalits. Modi has roped in Ram Vilas Paswan to bring in both a section of the Dalit vote and a small chunk of the Muslim vote.

Fifth, the turning point in the Muslim mood of fear of the BJP may have come on the day of the Patna blasts during a Modi rally last year. As journalist MJ Akbar noted: “When bombs went off in the middle of Modi’s oration at the Gandhi Maidan, his response became the acid test. He could have become provocative under pressure. Instead, he delivered his best lines. Impoverished Hindus, he said, had a choice — they could either fight poverty or they could fight Muslims. And impoverished Muslims could fight Hindus, or they could fight poverty. That summed up the mood of the nation, and calmed even those Muslims who did not want to believe what they heard.”

Muslims may not vote for BJP or Modi this time. But they are not going to be stampeded into voting for the so-called secular parties either. They have abandoned fear and forsaken fear-mongers. When they press the EVM buttons to choose their representatives, this time they may vote more as individual Indian citizens rather than as a collective vote bank.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/why-c ... ef_article

So if the rest of the Indian voters chose to remain on the wrong side of history, what are you and me going to do about it?

gandharva · Post by **gandharva** » 11 Mar 2014 04:56

Narendra Modi wants Varanasi, and he will get it!

Narendra Modi, who wants to become India's next prime minister, will fight the Lok Sabha election from Varanasi, considered to be the oldest living city in the world by millions of Indians.

This Lok Sabha constituency's importance is that the political message of Hindutva need not be spelt out to the electorate if and when Modi arrives in New Delhi from Gandhinagar via Varanasi.

If Modi wins the Lok Sabha election from Varanasi, it will be a great act of identity politics rarely seen in Indian politics.

Why does Modi want to contest from Varanasi?

All things ancient, all things that symbolise Indian civilisation, can be seen in this city, in bits and pieces, sometimes even in the flowing waters of the Ganga.

It is imperative for Modi to relate to India's history in some way, as he cannot appropriate the glorious history of Independence that the Congress boasts about.

But with Varanasi, he can go beyond India's movement for Independence from the British.

Varanasi is particularly attractive for Modi as he has a penchant for developing ancient holy sites.

Moulding tourist attractions from traditional pilgrimage spots is an alluring proposition for him.

The Ambaji temple near the Rajasthan-Gujarat border and the Somnath temple in Saurashtra bear testimony to this.

Incredible changes have been made to these ancient sites -- the kind of change that middle class Indians would appreciate -- by the Modi-led Gujarat government.

Last year, Modi wanted to renovate the iconic pilgrimage sites of Badrinath and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, but the state's Congress government got wind of his plans and nixed it.

The debate was initiated to give the task of renovating Badrinath and Kedarnath to private companies, but the Congress-led government in Uttarakhand didn't budge. They kept the reconstruction, which has tremendous religious value, also under it control after terrible floods that ravaged the state last year.

For political, religious, cultural and personal reasons, Modi will contest from Varanasi.

The Bharatiya Janata Party claims this will help BJP candidates in nearly 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the Purvanchal region, or eastern Uttar Pradesh, and a dozen seats in adjoining western Bihar.

The spanner thrown in Modi's plans by veteran BJP leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Varanasi's sitting member of Parliament, is sensational because it reveals the BJP's fault-lines.

It also shows that Modi gets what he wants, always.

The Modi camp will be ruthless, yet patient, till the BJP's Central Election Committee meets on Thursday, March 13, where it will decide to announce Modi's candidature.

Dr Joshi, at the most, is a political irritant who didn't help Varanasi, a great symbol of ancient India, improve itself in any manner.

Modi's supporters argue, "The seat held by any member of Parliament is not the fiefdom of the elected MP. It is the party that has the right to distribute seats. When Dr Joshi's constituency was shifted to Varanasi from Allahabad, did the party ask anybody in Varanasi first?"

Dr Joshi, it is claimed, has an aversion towards helping members of his constituency solve civic issues.

Varanasi, a major tourist attraction, faces enormous civic problems, but Dr Joshi has not been of much help in solving local issues.

After the very public embarrassment the party faced due to Dr Joshi's resistance against Modi's candidature, the BJP will have to declare the Gujarat chief minister as its candidate from Varanasi.

Dr Joshi has no option but to contest the Lok Sabha election from another constituency.

After all, how can a leader who wants to become the prime minister of India, be perceived as someone so weak that he can't even get the Lok Sabha seat of his choice?

http://www.rediff.com/news/column/ls-el ... 140310.htm

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 11 Mar 2014 05:10

Why this much churn in seats distribution? Man, I am so afraid of BJP screwing themselves again and again. Why this insistence of fighting in UP? What is the gain?

LakshO · Post by **LakshO** » 11 Mar 2014 05:13

Disappointed over behaviour of BJP allies in MH & voter mentality in AP

My preference is:
1. Outright majority for BJP 272+ so that NaMo can clean up the stables
2. BJP hits 220+ and can have NaMo leading the coalition
3. BJP hits 180+ with SS/RNS/LKA leading the coalition
4. BJP hits 150+ and sits in the opposition; 3rd/4th front or whatever with outside support from CongI

5. UPA3

emigrate from India

Right now, 2 or 3 looks like a realistic possibility.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 11 Mar 2014 05:14

^Good. Rotating sitting MPs bets local anti-incumbency against the sitting MP and the siting MP satrap still gets to save face by contesting and not sabotaging the lotus. Small win-win I'd say. Good that lotus doesn;t have too many sitting MPs in UP (onlee 10 I hear) of which only a couple will retain their original seat tickets (Yogi Avaidtyanath for one).

gandharva · Post by **gandharva** » 11 Mar 2014 05:17

SwamyG wrote:Why this much churn in seats distribution? Man, I am so afraid of BJP screwing themselves again and again. Why this insistence of fighting in UP? What is the gain?

It's like Arjuna performing "Khandav Prastha" Dahan(burning) for building "Indraprastha". Obviously, Nehruvian snakes will run here and there with hissing sound. No need to get worried.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 11 Mar 2014 05:24

PB Mehta pukes bilge as usual.

http://m.outlookindia.com/article.aspx/?289751

Poor chap's anal ysis can;t get over the fact that amid all his overly verbose anal lyzing, what he is ultimately saying is "Vote for Modi" without being able to get himself to say that 'devil's' name ('devil' in his own words)

Can only hope that such think tanki types fade into yawnable oblivion in an NDA sarkar, sans patronage, privileges and access. Yawn.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 11 Mar 2014 06:18

disha wrote:
ramana wrote:Something to chew on.

Muslims may not vote for BJP or Modi this time. But they are not going to be stampeded into voting for the so-called secular parties either. They have abandoned fear and forsaken fear-mongers. When they press the EVM buttons to choose their representatives, this time they may vote more as individual Indian citizens rather than as a collective vote bank.
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/why-c ... ef_article

This is the victory for India and person Modi , the instrument of this paradigm shift in mentality , a good sign of democracy maturing at grass root level. Modi have made politics ,election issue based and hopefully cement this gain for posterity sake. Future generations will thank him for this.