Bharat Rakshak

kshatriya wrote:I hope AH doesn't end up like Gandhi paving the way for Kejriwal (Nehru)

muraliravi wrote:

kshatriya wrote:I hope AH doesn't end up like Gandhi paving the way for Kejriwal (Nehru)

Neither is AH a Gandhi nor is that puny Kejriwal a Nehru. This whole IAC is a media prop up with no mass support.

Pranav wrote:
It is the corruption issue which has public support. BJP had (and perhaps still has) an opportunity to tap into that anger but they preferred to apologize to the Mainos.

muraliravi wrote:

Pranav wrote:
It is the corruption issue which has public support. BJP had (and perhaps still has) an opportunity to tap into that anger but they preferred to apologize to the Mainos.

Ok, boss. Just barking about corruption with no ideas except for a useless bill will not get them anything. Modi can always talk about corruption and he has ideas. Just put all these AH and stooges in any city in Maharashtra (his home state), lets say pune or nagpur or solapur or Mumbai. The total crowd they will draw in 50 meetings, Modi will draw in one. Thats the difference between just barking with no substance (and also talking nonsense on kashmir etc..) and someone who has a proven track record (and of course the other emotive issues)

James B wrote: Pay for Biryani and Rs 300 and I can also bring truckloads of people.

NEW DELHI: On the day Team Anna decided to turn political, the protest site had supporters from countries like the US, Germany and Denmark.

Pranav wrote:
A lot will depend upon the people who are leading Team Anna's effort ... if someone like Gen VK Singh is playing a leading role then that would have credibility, particularly if Modi remains evasive on the corruption issue.

muraliravi wrote:

kshatriya wrote:I hope AH doesn't end up like Gandhi paving the way for Kejriwal (Nehru)

Neither is AH a Gandhi nor is that puny Kejriwal a Nehru. This whole IAC is a media prop up with no mass support.

chaanakya wrote:India wants to see Strong and honest leader, capable of giving good governance and not a empty minded crusaders.

muraliravi wrote:I would say the ball lies in BJP/NaMo's court. If they are smart, they can easily manipulate IAC against congress and destroy both and come out a winner. I believe that if strategists inside BJP are allowed to work without interference from vested interests, they can end up coming a clean winner. The game is very simple, if at all Anna and his coterie are going to have any effect, it is going to be in 20-30 odd urban seats. All BJP needs to do is talk to its audience in a very targeted way, so that they keep them in their grip. I am sure that if Modi is declared PM candidate and there is no IAC coterie, he would have swept all 30 seats at a 60-40 vote percentage ratio. They have to just make sure that the 60% stays with them. The key again is just talk to your audience, becos with modi, their audience itself is 60% in those seats, so no need to appeal to fence sitters.

As far as rural india is concerned, if team anna thinks, they can even move a hair there, they are truly disillusioned.

RoyG wrote:
You have to see UPA has an architecture. Small chunks here and there will give them a comfortable win. IAC is in itself an extension of congress party. What are those bloody nac parasites doing there?

Samudragupta wrote:I dont understand why esteemed forum members have suddenly became spokesperson for BJP....until and unless there is a purge from the top to bottom of this organisation, BJP is in no position to lead the country....the most pressing issue right now is not BJP or Modi to gain power but to break the hydra of DIE backed network in the whole of India which BJP or Modi himself will not be able to do...
Gentlemen its a Revolution that we need not another transfer of power...Its confirmed that IAC will damage the anti DIE votes but where does in India votes represent the voice of the people....but more than that it will cause immense damage to the network that needs to be unraveled if India really has to meet its destiny....

Samudragupta wrote:It will be a mistake to consider CP as an unitary organisation....its the DIE in it that needs to be contained and destroyed..IAC is a vehicle that represents a genuine Urban India's frustration against the DIE and the constant manipulation of the vehicle by the DIE itself...hence it will always be in a fluid state of fundamental conflict between these two forces...interestingly DIE understands this and hence cannot come up overtly to take over IAC....hence it will be a mistake to concede IAC to DIE so easily...as one member already expressed it is upto the nationalist forces to manipulate this and destroy the DIE

Samudragupta wrote:Ravi,

My own thought tells me that NAMO cannot win this frontal assault which he is trying....the DIE is actually afraid of this frontal assault and hence they are hiding behind networks even IAC which u are calling as a front for DIE....if NAMO is such a strategist as he is made out it is important for him to take out the network first and then destroy the DIE in the final assault.....

rsangram wrote:Am new here. I just would like to know how Modi is thinking he can come to power in the current political setup. The Indian electorate is divided into groups. The way I understand it, (and I am inviting views from people much better informed than I am on Indian politics and Indian electorate) as things stand right now, the Tamils will never vote for him, the Telegus will never vote for him, the Malyalams will never vote for him, then moving on North, the Yadavs and other OBCs of UP and Bihar will never vote for him, the Muslims all over the country will never vote for him, the Dalits all over the country will never vote for him, the entire North East barring minor exceptions like Arunachal and parts of Manipur will never vote for him, the Marathas including Shiv Sena will not vote for him, so how does the math work ? Is Modi coming to power just a pipe dream of his and a wet dream of a few nationalists (of which I consider myself one) ?

rsangram wrote:^^^^^ agreed, it is a parliamentary system. But can you please elaborate to educate me.

1. Please explain the math which will allow Modi himself to win 175 seats for the BJP and

2. Please explain in detail why I am wrong about the Dalits, the Yadavs and OBCs and Marathas including Shiv Sena not voting for Modi .

Please understand, I do this in the spirit of learning, not in the spirit of being argumentative. I lurked for a few weeks before I joined and I know that people on the forum, sometimes justifiably so, are overly sensitive to even perceived slights which are not intended.

Thanks.

Aides to Anna Hazare, the 75 year-old Indian anti-corruption crusader who is often compared to Mahatma Gandhi, have announced their intention to launch a political party. Hazare aide Arvind Kejriwal, fresh off a 10-day fast in protest of parliament's refusal to discuss the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill, said in his announcement that the activists would crowd-source the party's name.

"This party will not be like others... the public will decide our agenda. We don't want to win elections ... we want to challenge the existing parties. The donations we receive will be posted on our website ... this will dare the others to follow," he added.

Kejriwal insisted that activists involved in the nascent party were not interested in achieving power, but rather in being in a position to challenge government corruption and look out for public interest from within the system. Crowd sourcing feedback appears to have become a mainstream expression of grassroots activism. "How do we select candidates who have integrity? Write to us and tell us," urged Mr Kejriwal

Team Anna - The Genie's Back In The Bottle

On the evening of August 2 Team Anna (TA) decided to end their fast and confirmed their option of going political. So on prime time TV all the channels were discussing, debating, kicking and screaming over the decision, the nature and the contours of such a new political party. I have a very simple answer and willing to bet on this: There is going to be no TA political party of any kind. Period! Anna Hazare, the anti-corruption activist, never was and never will be a politician. Not because of some arithmetical outcome but because of his own choice. Throughout his life as an activist Anna has been confronting corruption, corrupt politicians or some social evil and that is the mission he has chosen for himself. This has been mostly as a lone ranger. I doubt he ever wanted a large national stage but yet he found himself in one. Perhaps this wasn’t of his own choice or making. The mystery remains over how he got into this JanLokpal (JLP) mess with a Rag, Tag and Bobtail outfit. Having gotten into it, pulling out was never easy even if one assumes it had crossed his mind sometimes. So whose movement was this really? Who were the real actors? And why were they doing this?

So in April 2011 Anna Hazare goes on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to demand a Lokpal Bill. Govt holds talks with his team and agrees to a JLP. That’s when the term ‘TeamAnna’ (TA) was coined. The dais for the agitation was decked with symbols of national pride, patriotic songs were being sung, chants of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata. All very moving! All, except that picture of Bharat Mata as we know. That was communal. Then that Imam Bukhari called for muslims to boycott the movement as it doesn’t give voice for Muslims. Not done! So Kiran Bedi and co. rush to placate the mullah, in vain. Team Anna promised their movement was non-political, no politicians will be entertained, no communal forces would be allowed. Anna Hazare hardly bothered much as long as there was forward movement. Nothing to worry, corrections will be made in the next bout.

The straight-talking, honest Anna Hazare made a deadly mistake though. He praised Narendra Modi and Gujarat. That was that! The secular credentials of the movement were questioned and the world came down on him. Modi immediately even warned him of the consequences of praising him in a personal letter. TA must have advised Anna to make amends. So Anna visits Gujarat and screams “Ghotala hi Ghotala” and there was corruption everywhere in Gujarat; that there were rivers of alcohol and hooch flowing in Gujarat. Okay, credibility restored!

So AK comes up with charge-sheets against 15 ministers, including the PM but excluding Sonia Gandhi. Of course, he had called MPs corrupt, murderers and rapists. A sweeping generalisation by a losing man! And so it came to July 2012 with AK himself leading the charge and going on a fast. He took the opportunity again to condemn Narendra Modi, calling him corrupt and a communalist. Let’s see, Modi has been called a lot of names but surely corrupt has hardly been one of them. Even Wikileaks revealed that a US Diplomat mentioned that Modi is “not only NOT corrupt, but incorruptible”. If AK wanted to score Congress points like a Teesta, Shabnam, Mallika, Sanjiv Bhatt, Harsh Mander or the entire media by abusing Modi, he was a bit too late for that. AK’s political ambitions, though not explicit, were slowly being revealed in bits and pieces by Anna himself.

Even the best laid plans can terribly go wrong. AK didn’t provide for that. In his political quest he alienated not just supporters but many of his own team members. This list of bloopers and blunders are too long but here are some lessons:

… In a movement like this the media was already paying enough attention. There was no need for AK or for TA or Anna to constantly be in the media and suck up to them with interviews, sound bites and turning panellists. TA was too naïve to see the media is a puppet there to destroy them. Never accept sham awards from the media.

… Never criticise anyone to merely score silly points. Narendra Modi was all praise for Anna and has never criticised TA or any of their members. Yet turning an anti-corruption movement to also one against Modi is a fatal mistake. TA simply had no idea how many Modi supporters had initially supported them.

… Never lose focus. If it was JLP why turn it into a demand for SIT against some ministers? Never abuse by generalisation like AK and TA did with all MPs and govt workers.

… Never antagonise and side-line your own team members in an individual quest for glory.

… Most of all, the JLP movement never had to be secular or communal. It wasn’t a pre-requisite. It should have been just open to all citizens. By constantly catering to muslims and minorities TA became another Congress party. They forgot that a huge majority of their supporters were actually anti-Congress and anti-Fake-Secularism. Stay away from unrelated cases and issues (like those of Sanjiv Bhatt). You end up being terribly stupid.

In the end nobody stunted TA, not the Congress, not the govt but their own team did. Though TA has stated they will seek a referendum from their supporters on forming a political alternative I don’t think that is going to happen. There is going to be no political party by TA, regardless of any silly referendum. I don’t think people were desperate for another political alternative. I cannot say who but I can definitely say there has to be one person or a group or an entity that popped the genie out of the bottle in early 2011. On August 2, 2012 the Genie went back into the bottle and will stay there for a long time.

In a post on his blog, Hazare wrote, “Today we have ended the work done by Team Anna. Team Anna was brought about in order to press for the creation of the Jan Lokpal. We have decided not to maintain any relations with the government. Because of this, from today all the tasks done under the name of Team Anna have ended and from now the Team Anna committee ceases to exist.”

The post comes a day after the group, consisting of anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal, Bedi, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and other members of Team Anna met with Hazare yesterday; reportedly to discuss the future of their political plans.

Her comment was in direct contrast to the statement made by Prashant Bhushan that Anna’s announcement was not a surprise and was the ‘logical next step’ in the movements transition to a political one.

In his blog post, Hazare said that while offering a political alternative to people, he had placed the various problems of forming a political party before them and was seeking their answers on possible solutions.

“If this is done (the political alternative is achieved) then I will travel the country for the next one and a half years and will awaken the nation’s people. I will appeal to people to choose candidates with ideal characteristics to be sent to the Lok Sabha,” he wrote.

Key Team Anna member N Santosh Hegde also appeared to be in disagreement with Anna Hazare‘s decision to disband the team, which he said could have “gone on” to create a mass awareness on corruption and maladministration without resorting to the path of fasting.

“I feel sorry (about the decision to disband the team) for the reason that the movement started by Anna for a strong Lokpal was the need of the hour…It (the movement spearheaded by Team Anna) had progressed sufficiently and controversy or difference of opinion in regard to whether Team Anna should contest elections or not is unfortunate and which must have led to Anna disbanding the team,” the former Supreme Court judge said reacting to Hazare disbanding the team.

Middle class Indians fed up with corruption had flocked to Hazare’s protest last year, which Ramdev also supported. But the government dragged its feet on his demand for an ombudsman and political apathy among many wealthier Indians sapped his movement of its support.

Ramdev’s support, however, comes from the far more politically active rural poor, angry that they have not benefited as promised from the country’s economic rise in recent years.

Security was tight at the protest. Police squads patrolled the periphery of the grounds and paramilitary soldiers scrutinized visitors as they were scanned by metal detectors to enter the grounds.

Thousands of young volunteers in white T-shirts with Ramdev’s image printed on it helped manage the swelling crowds, shepherding people into roped enclosures erected to prevent stampedes. They distributed bottles of water to the thousands of elderly supporters, while ambulances and firefighters kept watch.

An army of volunteers prepared vats of spicy potato curry and deep-fried bread in a vast makeshift kitchen set up to provide free lunch to the protesters.