Narendra Modi vs the Dynasty: Contrasting Ideas of India

[Sanku]

Theo, Honestly I did notexpect this from you..

There, fixed it.

[krisna]

whatever TF has against NaMo- always help in finding some good deeds of NaMo.
Thanks TF.
As always critics are far better in shaping our opinions of good people.
IMHO my support is getting stronger by day with these daily doses of non sensical arguments put forth by anti NaMo brigade.

same goes with some of my friends who are virulently anti NaMo.

[pradeepe]

The Wharton brouhaha: Let's get the facts on Modi right

In full below:

Just when one thought that enough ink has been spilled on the 2002 Gujarat riots, comes a new event or act to put the focus back on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi [ Images ] as the sole villain in that unfortunate event.

The recent action by Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, to first invite Modi and then cancel the invitation to him to speak at the Wharton India Economic Forum on March 23, was based on a letter that noted, 'This is the same politician who was refused a diplomatic visa by the United States State Department on March 18, 2005, on the ground that he, as chief minister, did nothing to prevent a series of orchestrated riots that targeted Muslims in Gujarat.'

So the criterion for a good character certificate is a US visa! Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, a succession of South Vietnamese dictators, Zia-ul Haq of Pakistan, were all issued US visas and feted and honoured in that country. Going by the history of US hypocrisy on human rights issues, the denial of a US visa should actually be a badge of honour! Who wants to be equated with the Pinochets or Zias of the world?

But the second part of that charge is indeed serious and that is the CM did nothing to prevent a ‘series of orchestrated riots’. This needs some deliberation and analysis since this has been the most frequently made charge against Modi.

A riot is a social phenomenon that is a collective expression of anger/grief and retribution for a perceived wrong. It also signifies a breakdown of law and order. In this situation the police are often hugely outnumbered by angry mobs. To blame the police for riots is akin to blaming doctor for a disease.

Riots are more akin to a forest fire that is difficult to control and eventually dies down only after the forest is burned down. The best method to control a forest fire is to create fire breaks or prevent the initial ‘spark’ that starts it. Riots generally have a proximate cause as well as long-term simmering grievance. The horrendous Jabalpur riots of 1961 started with the self-immolation by Usha Bhargav who had been raped, the Mumbai [ Images ] riots of 1993 that were triggered by murder of ‘mathadi’ workers and the burning of a family in Radhabai chawl.

The most horrendous Gujarat riots in 1969 (yes, in terms of spread and killings these were much worse than the 2002 riots) began with an attack on Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad [ Images ]. In case of the anti-Sikh riots, the proximate cause was the assassination of Indira Gandhi [ Images ] while the long-term reason was the horrendous killing of Hindus in Punjab [ Images ] for over five years!

The anti-Sikh riots cannot be understood without a reference to the Hindus being pulled out of buses and being shot in cold blood by Khalistani terrorists on a regular basis. The bombing of Air-India’s ‘Kanishka’ aircraft in 1985 in which 329 people were killed was the most spectacular among these acts. The Sikhs were perceived to be the supporters of these acts of terror and became the target of mob violence. In the case of Gujarat riots of 2002 as well, while the proximate cause was the burning of the pilgrims in Godhra, the Muslim opposition to the Ram temple and numerous terrorist incidents were the long-term cause.

To say that the Gujarat riots of 2002 were ‘orchestrated’ would mean that even the Godhra train burning that triggered these riots was part of the design! So according to these worthies, Modi organised the burning of pilgrims and collected mobs to attack the burning train? A simple question that has never been answered is, would the Ahmedabad riots have erupted if Godhra had not happened? This in no way justifies what happened but is a logical question that the Wharton sages must answer!

It has been the Indian experience that serious communal riots have been brought under control only after the Indian Army [ Images ] was deployed. As a member of that organisation, the author is proud that whenever called to do so, the Army has been totally non-partisan and protected Indian citizens irrespective of their faith.

The 2002 Gujarat riots, however, took place under peculiar circumstances. Normally, close to 3,000 soldiers are located in Ahmedabad. But February/March 2002 were not normal times. The Army was removed from peace stations and located on the border, almost 600 kilometres away, in the wake of the December 2001 attack on Parliament. All those who accuse the Gujarat government of ineffectiveness in controlling the riots have deliberately missed out this crucial point.

It should be easy through the RTI Act to find out the exact sequence of events, as to when Army help was requisitioned and when the first troops arrived and from where. As an aside, in the case of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, it is a known fact that the Army in New Delhi [ Images ] and nearby Meerut cantonment was ready but was not called for 72 hours! This evidence is crucial in finding out whether the government of the day acted sincerely or with mala fide intent. It was amusing to see all and sundry demonstrating in the US on the anniversary of these riots.

These worthies have forgotten the 1992 Los Angeles riots that went on for six days or the Mumbai riots of 1993 that went on for a week, but yet want to single out Gujarat for condemnation. Nobody has held Hitendra Desai (Gujarat chief minister in 1969), Sharad Pawar [ Images ]/Sudhakarrao Naik (Maharashtra [ Images ] chief ministers in 1993), Rajiv Gandhi [ Images ], prime minister in 1984 (the central government was in charge of the police in Delhi), Tarun Gogoi [ Images ], chief minister of Assam, responsible for the riots on their watch.

The Wharton worthies as well as the US State Department, hugely influenced by some lobbies, have also forgotten that despite the horrendous attack on the Akshardham temple [ Images ] on September 24, 2002 (29 killed) or the Ahmedabad blasts of July 26, 2008 (60 killed), communal peace was maintained under the same Modi. If he is to be crucified for the 2002 riots, what about these two incidents?

While Modi may not admit it, the fact remains that in March 2002 he had been barely in the saddle for six months and had not come to grips with teh state administration. It is noteworthy that he had held no office before this and had no administrative experience.

Come to think of it, the only other politician so consistently vilified in India was the late Indira Gandhi! The print media (there was no electronic media then) accused her of every political sin from being a ‘dictator’ (even before the 1975 Emergency). She was equally unpopular abroad, with former US President Richard Nixon using choicest abuse against her in private!

The strongest point of Indira Gandhi was her staunch nationalism. Even her worst critic never doubted that. The other trait she exhibited was tough and ruthless action where the national interest was concerned. One has a sneaky suspicion that it is this very combination that some see in Modi and therefore there is a concerted campaign to malign him and somehow prevent him from assuming a leadership role. Imagine an India led by Modi being browbeaten by Italy [ Images ], Sri Lanka [ Images ], Pakistan, China or the US? It is this conviction that seems to motivate his critics.

If Indira Gandhi’s political success is anything to go by, then Modi should not be worried. However, as a nationalist Indian who has some experience and knowledge about the internal security issues (as well as practical experience of dealing with riots), it is time that Modi’s and India’s critics need to be exposed for their double standards, hypocrisy and sheer lies.

Colonel (retd) Anil Athale is a former Shivaji fellow of United Services Institution on internal security and co-ordinator of the Pune-based Indian initiative for peace, arms-control & disarmament.

[Sushupti]

Gujarat plans multi-member Lokayukta, to bring new bill

"We have decided to introduce a new Lokayukta Aayog Bill 2013 in the state Assembly on March 26," Finance Minister and state spokesperson Nitin Patel said.

The new bill, on its enactment, would replace the existing Gujarat Lokayukta Act 1989.

"As per the new provisions, for the first time, Chief Minister of the state has been brought within the purview of the Lokayukta at par with other ministers," Patel said.


http://zeenews.india.com/news/gujarat/g ... 37263.html

[Sushupti]

After cancelling Modi's invitation, Wharton bans media

http://m.oneindia.in/news/2013/03/22/af ... 77857.html

[dhruvM]

This must be one of NaMo's oldest interviews.. Shot sometime in 1999-2000. Must watch. Especially from 17:15 onwards.

[Arjun]

Good find Dhruv.

There's a fair bit of talk out there that says Modi's focus on development and governance is a reaction to the stain of the Gujarat riots - because he feels compelled to 'prove himself' to the world.

What the video demonstrates is that nothing can be farther from the truth. Much before the Gujarat riots - Modi was already marked as a man who was well-known for his innovative ideas, was deeply interested in technology and best practices in various areas. Whether 2002 had happened or not happened is immaterial to this man - he would have embarked on the path of development, innovation and governance irrespective. That's just the kind of person he is and always was.

[member_23629]

Organisers bar media from covering Wharton India meet
This is for the first time in the 17 years history of the prestigious Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) that media would not be given access to its events on March 23.

Serves them right -- they are forced to hide their faces from the world.

[Hari Seldon]

Can Narendra Modi save the BJP in Karnataka?

Scarred by scandal after scandal, Karnataka's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is roping in Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to help it retain power even though he did not make much of an impact the last time he campaigned in the state.

Somebody was right about the k'taka "trap" thing. Only.

NM should ask for votes based on *his* record when he is a candidate, in the national polls. With what pitch can he face KA voters in the state polls? Unless the state BJP unit promises to implement the Gujrat model in toto in KA, why should KA voters bite?

I'd rather NM use his considerable talents and competencies to work behind the scenes, get Yeddy back and screw Anant Kr straight out of the party. I understand that there's a rumor saying that Yeddy's intransigence is probably fueled by the establishment's snooping agencies threatening all sort of testimonal squeezes etc. ... perfectly plausible, IMO. In which case Yeddy is a write off and the BJP fight it out tooth and nail on whatever they have.

[member_23629]

Narendra Modi's Italian love, his Gucci craze

Sounds like spin.

[member_22539]

^Verbal diarrhea at its best.

[chetak]

Narendra Modi's Italian love, his Gucci craze

Sounds like spin.

NaMo's eyetalian love is very well known!!

It's certainly not gucci for sure.

[Muppalla]

Evaluating Sonia, the black box leader

Surjit S Bhalla Posted online: Sat Mar 23 2013, 03:43 hrs

Should Sonia Gandhi, ruler of the Congress party, be congratulated for finishing 15 years in Indian politics? It is not a sign of expertise if an heir becomes king. So why should it be different with her?
What does her political record look like? She formally assumed power in April 1998, but a year earlier (March 31, 1997 to be precise), the Congress party under her leadership (or the formal head Sitaram Kesri?) had withdrawn support to the United Front government. As the table shows, the Congress obtained the same seats as 1996, but 3 percentage points less votes than the P.V. Narasimha Rao 1996 election. The next year, after a full 18 months in power, Sonia’s Congress obtained the lowest seats ever, 114, but kept its vote share equal to the 1996 level.

The same story continues for the next two elections. In 2009, the vote share remained just a notch below the 1996 level, even though the Congress won 206 seats. Note that vote share is an important indicator of a political party’s popularity; the seat share an important indicator of coalition politics. Note also the joint vote share of the Congress and the BJP was the lowest in the coalition-era world, post 1984. Thus whatever the causes, it was not Sonia’s or the Congress popularity that led to its outsized win in 2009.

After the 2009 election, it was quite apparent that Sonia and the party were targeting 272 seats on their own. Given that the vote share had stayed broadly constant and below the 1996 level, this belief in the Congress’s invincibility is not suggestive of political prowess. Thus, the bottom line is quite straightforward — there is nothing in the record to suggest that Sonia has been a successful politician — except (and this is an important but), the vital fact that she is the glue that keeps the Congress together.

There is one other aspect of Sonia-politics that deserves emphasis. As is commonly believed, the strongest threat to the Congress’s popularity and continuation in power is the threat from the BJP’s Narendra Modi. The Congress and Sonia have recognised this threat for several years, which is why, in the 2007 state elections, Sonia coined the phrase “maut ka saudagar”, or merchant of death, to describe Modi’s alleged involvement in the 2002 Godhra riots. Despite losing the Gujarat election in an overwhelming fashion, the Congress has kept up the pressure on the BJP and Modi. Questions are asked by the press of Modi at every forum — why don’t you apologise for the Godhra killings, it happened under your watch as chief minister, so at least admit the responsibility, etc.

These are legitimate questions and suggest that civil society, the media and the middle class are to be applauded for demanding this minimum from our politicians. But why is this analogous demand not made from the Congress leadership and the Gandhi family that was in power at the time of the 1984 riots? In response to a question about the Sikh riots, and at an election rally on November 19, 1984, Sonia’s late husband and then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi stated that “When a big tree falls, the earth shakes”. Not exactly an apology. While some of Modi’s political colleagues have been arrested and convicted for their involvement in the Godhra riots, some of the alleged Congress officials were rewarded with cabinet posts in several Congress governments, including her own UPA rule.

Why is there not a parallel demand for apology from Sonia Gandhi and the Congress? If she wants to be remembered for her political acumen, then one would imagine that she would go out of her way to apologise — and that if she didn’t, the middle class press would hound her, just as it is justifiably hounding Modi. Perhaps one reason the public goes easy on Sonia is because a Congress Sikh leader, Manmohan Singh, has apologised for the Sikh riots. He did it at an appropriate place, Parliament, where he stated on August 12, 2005, “I have no hesitation in apologising to the Sikh community. I apologise not only to the Sikh community, but to the whole Indian nation because what took place in 1984 is the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our Constitution.”

This was an apology in every sense of the term. That it came 21 years after the event is problematic, as is the fact that it was tendered by a Sikh. Morally and politically, it is important that Sonia Gandhi apologise. On the 1984 riots, this is the closest that she has come to apologising, again at an election rally on January 26, 1998: “There is no use recalling what we have collectively lost. No words can balm that pain. Consolation from others always somehow sounds hollow”.

We have the matter of an average vote-getting record. We have the matter of the lack of an apology for the Sikh riots. Add to it the fact that Sonia Gandhi behaves uniquely with regard to politics, unlike any other political leader in the world, and the media behaves just as uniquely. Consider the following. Why is it normal to question the integrity and worth of all members of the Nehru-Gandhi political family, including and especially her late husband Rajiv, but not politically correct to question Sonia? Every political leader has been pilloried in India, and in most democracies. Pilloried for being stupid, unfit to rule and worse; yet, such questions are not raised with regard to Sonia. Our free press can make mincemeat of even decent politicians (Manmohan Singh has been variously described as spineless, a night-watchman following orders, Mumble Singh and worse) and yet the press has never even demanded that the chairperson of the Congress for 15 years hold a press conference in a language of her choosing — English, Hindi or Italian.

Consider this: Sonia Gandhi has ruled over the largest democracy, over a billion people, for nine years, and has yet to hold a press conference. Does anyone have a clue about her views and/or thinking on any of the major issues facing the country? Is she just a black box leader?
The writer is chairman of Oxus Investments, an emerging market advisory firm, and a senior advisor to Blufin, a leading financial information company

[Supratik]

This article gives you a good idea of how the Indian left in the West collaborates with the West which was long suspected.
http://www.organiser.org/Encyc/2013/3/2 ... PageType=N

Asymmetric warfare against Hindus
Wharton and Modi

Dr Gautam Sen


THE gratuitous insult recently against Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi by some jumped students of the Wharton India Economic Forum, who possibly imagine they commune with the gods the moment the divine imprimatur of white certification brushes against them, raises some deeper questions. There is something irredeemably malicious and untenable about the role of an overwhelming majority of academics of Indian origin in the US and Europe, who repeatedly disparage all Hindu political aspirations.

The majority of these extraordinarily privileged members of Western academia have accorded themselves exclusivity in representing all the world’s purportedly oppressed. And their unbearably arrogant self-ascription insinuates inviolable righteousness because, once again, they have gained approval from within the heart of great imperialist power centres. Not for nothing did aspirants for fame and fortune in the ancient world of Rome feel obligated to seek endorsement in its imperial capital city.

Yet, as in most human activity, barring rare individual eccentricity, when recurrent social phenomena are evident mundane, self-interested reasons underlies it. Unsparing scrutiny is required of these morally bankrupt, but self-important mediocrities, harbouring hysterical animus against the unwashed Hindu masses, who dare question a hostile status quo. It would be quite erroneous to impute to these rascals, precisely what they are, motives of misguided, liberal sentimentality. Nor is it the case that these derisive, self-promoters are exhibiting a Gandhian counterpart of the Stockholm syndrome because they are victims of a civilisation accustomed to instinctive submission, as a result of the bitter historical experience of defeat.

Their derived personal authority from membership of Western academia, mercilessly wielded at any hint of Hindu self assertion, and tremendous affluence demands analysis of objective situational parameters. It is very difficult for individuals who seek to challenge the essential contours of power and interest to survive in such academic institutions, which are deeply implicated in the multifarious criminal activities, at home and abroad, of their government. Some dissidents are disingenuously tolerated to give an impression of liberal hauteur and tolerance. But that is also a cynical ploy to feign credibility. These academics of Indian origin in US academia are, ultimately, surrogates of US official policy though their servitude status is somewhat circuitous and indirect.

In order to comprehend their real motives for periodic hyperactivity against any Hindu protest it is necessary to recognise their unswervingly selective conscience and associated displays of contrived outrage. Apparently, two incidents have robbed India of its reputation for all time to come and Hindus of any vestige of their human rights. The moment some Hindus demolished the disused Babri structure, the slide down the slippery slope to moral oblivion apparently began unstoppably. Big deal is what common sense might have posited, the one commodity absent when determinedly framing Hindus is the name of the game.

When the grim episode of communal violence and the killing of innocents followed, in retaliation for burning to death of 59 Hindu pilgrims, mostly women and children, it ensured that hell fires would burn for any Hindu with the temerity to raise eyes in its aftermath. The mere demand for the prosecution of M F. Husain, the covert Jihadi, Hindu-baiter, for depicting Hindu goddesses engaged in bestiality, was the icing on the cake that implicitly prompted demands to inflict capital punishment for any Hindu dissent. The meek demand for legal sanction by Hindus has since been routinely compared to Islamist death threats against numerous authors and journalists considered to have insulted the Prophet.
No other episode causes such hysteria and fury, not even the killings of thousands of innocent Sikhs following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, not even the chilling murder of their children, who had petrol poured into their throats and set alight. Shockingly, hardly anyone was punished, and the now anointed saint, Rajiv Gandhi, who, unlike Narendra Modi, gave virtual public approval to these horrendous crimes, is being reverentially celebrated, with innumerable government programmes and symbols named after him.

Yet, the exoneration of Narendra Modi by the Supreme Court, SIT cuts no ice and a mass of completely fabricated evidence continues to assert its Talmudic verity. As for communal riots, despite the efforts of Anglo-American, Cold War academics (e.g. Paul R. Brass) to discover a Hindu angle to every outbreak of communal violence in independent India, Congress governments were almost always in the saddle and cynically indifferent. But no disapprobation is aimed at them because they worship a demented circus animal called secularism, the vile clarion call for Islamic Jihad and Christian assault against everything sacred to Hindus.

These improbable, Left-leaning loonies, occupying hallowed chairs in supposedly august American universities, smugly sport their badges of imagined, timeless probity and high-mindedness. Yet almost no reputation survives passing sober scrutiny. One particularly perverse specimen from Chicago University, apt to flaunt friendship with India’s Congress President, wrote an extraordinary article in the Los Angeles Times, confessing to fears for the safety of all Indian Muslims in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai carnage. Not a word of sympathy was expressed for its victims or apology proffered when the retaliatory communal killings, across the length and breadth of Hindu fascist, India, she confidently predicted, failed to materialise. Significantly, a Maoist leader from Kolkata publicly applauded the Mumbai carnage, only regretting that any Muslims were killed.
China had brokered a deal between Indian Maoists and Pakistan once they became allies and its common interests converged with those of the US in that model of responsible nationhood, the fountainhead of the contemporary global terror business. Most of the Indian Left, China and the US had joined hands with Pakistan against an Indian State that refused to kowtow to the West. The redoubtable Iqbal Singh, editor of London’s India Weekly, termed this a second front in the Cold War. As a consequence, one of the greatest human rights violations since the holocaust in the former East Pakistan during 1970-71 enjoyed the public support of the Sino-American alliance, with the Indian Left also acquiescing. This is the same the Indian Left that migrated en masse to the very green pastures of the US, to universities across the country, from Harvard and a Madrassa called Columbia to Chicago, Penn and hundreds of others.

Their usefulness to US Cold War aims had arisen from their unrelenting hostility to the Indian State. It was palpably prompted in the case of the cadre of the dominant Bengali Left by the added instinct of pure ethnic parochialism, masquerading as deep thought and augmented by a smattering of Hegel, Marx, etc.! Others, usually from modest socio-economic backgrounds, were sodden in immediate enrichment on joining US faculties and rendered harmless for use as catamites as well. Their mission was to bait the Indian State and its entire evil works and excoriate all manifestations of Indian nationalism, which they rather exaggeratedly associated with contemporary Hindutva.
They remain in situ today, usually at the margins of intellectual life, like Ania Loomba and another member of the sisterhood in Columbia. They comprise the pitiable beneficiaries of affirmative action appointments to the professoriate of non white females. They pontificate sagely on race and gender issues rather than anything mainstream of universal significance in their subject areas. Others of this tribe are unequal to the task of rising to cosmopolitan intellectual life and become interlocutor coolies, interpreting perceived Hindu religious mumbo jumbo and of course caste oppression. All of it endeavours to make a passing show that justifies their handsome salaries. Unfortunately, for them, the US is somewhat less agitated of late by India now, which it had compared to Tojo’s Japan after WWII.

Narendra Modi is all they have left to get a rare high, while they manfully ignore human rights violations of their own adopted country that would have relegated Imperial Japan to a mere apprenticeship. They tolerate Islamic terrorism, fraternise with its ideologues, and have nothing to say about genital mutilation and the worst Islamic violations of women’s fundamental rights that could be conceived. Nor are they willing to even recognize that constant abductions, rapes and murders by Muslims in many parts of West Bengal and the brutal suppression of Hindus in contemporary Bangladesh. Once Modi is elected prime minister of India even US church lobbies, calculatedly approving of Islamic Jihad to keep Hindus off balance, will be unable to prompt the withholding of a visa though he might wish to give the country a wide berth. Some poor Hindu sod will have to put their reputation on the line to keep these pathetic, self-serving creatures in the business of irrelevant mischief.

[Pranav]

http://www.organiser.org/Encyc/2013/3/2 ... PageType=N

Asymmetric warfare against Hindus
Wharton and Modi

Dr Gautam Sen

Incidentally our friend Kejriwal made it a point to express his disapproval of the dis-invite to Modi, in his speech to the Wharton-India forum -

[Muppalla]

Incidentally our friend Kejriwal made it a point to express his disapproval of the dis-invite to Modi, in his speech to the Wharton-India forum -

So even if you have to do right thing when it is related Indian nationalism (unfortunately called as Hindu communalism) these jokers have to do it quietly. It is as quite as having an extra martial affair.

[RoyG]

Arvind Kejriwal is a Naxalite and wants the bankrupt the state. He had no choice but to take Modi's side in order to stay relevant.

[fanne]

did AK talk about Ford funding his living for a long time? Any disclaimers?
rgds
fanne

[abhishek_sharma]

Coomi Kapoor's Column

NaMo and NiKu

Just as Narendra Modi has come to be known as NaMo, Nitish Kumar's short form is now NiKu. BJP president Rajnath Singh has entrusted Arun Jaitley with the Herculean task of trying to bring about a rapprochement between NaMo and NiKu. Even the RSS realises the importance of Nitish remaining in the NDA fold and is aware that the Congress is making overtures to the Bihar Chief Minister. Last Sunday, after his rally in Delhi demanding special status for Bihar, Nitish went to Jaitley's house for dinner. The two share a warm relationship going back to the JP movement. On Monday, the two made a joint appearance in Parliament's Central Hall. At the recent executive meeting of the Bihar BJP, Jaitley was sent instead of Ananth Kumar. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, who in the past shied away from talking publicly about the Gujarat Chief Minister, voiced his support for Modi as a potential prime ministerial candidate conveying to Nitish that Modi's projection as PM by the BJP was inevitable. According to BJP sources, Modi cancelled his meeting in Mumbai on Sunday as a courtesy to Nitish as it was scheduled for the same day as Nitish's Delhi rally. Modi has also decided not to hold any meeting in Bihar for now.

[Sushupti]

Protest at Wharton

http://ishare.rediff.com/video/news-and ... on/8412123

Very creative banners.

[RoyG]

MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2013

Exposé of AAP's "Modi exposé"

Mr. Narendra Modi's government was "exposed" by Aam Aadmi Party just a few days before Gujarat elections. While the so called exposé hardly seems to have cut votes, it did raise a few questions on functioning of Modi govt. Here is the link to AAP's Pol-Khol page.



What it did not do - is raise questions on AAP's method of exposé. Did they tell you the truth? Did they hide any information? Did they lie? You judge for yourself after reading this blog and the links provided in support.


If I am wrong, please leave a comment with valid proof and I will respond.


Before reading below, keep these simple acronyms in mind:
KSK: Electricity Generation Company
GUVNL: Gujarat Electricity Company
GMDC: Gujarat Mineral Development Company


PART 1 - AAP LIES ON ADANI AND GUJARAT GOVT

What allegations did AAP make?
Following were the claims made by AAP to prove that Gujarat Govt is "Adani ki Dukaan" (Meaning, Gujarat Govt. is the front for Adani Group).
KSK agreed to supply power at rate of Rs. 2.25/unit while Adanis agreed to supply at 2.35/unit and 2.89/unit.
Gujarat govt had to give coal blocks through GMDC to Adani & KSK in order to get these rates for GUVNL.
Gujarat High Court passed a stinging order against Modi Government for brazenly manipulating the bidding process and for favoring Adanis.
Adanis backed out of the deal with Gujarat govt, and Modi asked govt to supply 50% of Naini coal block to Adani so that they would supply power at promised rates, even though Adanis quoted higher rates.
Even after this, Adanis unilaterally canceled the agreement with Gujarat govt but kept the coal blocks.
This is the exact statement from Aam Aadmi Party Pol-Khol page:
So, in effect, Adanis walked away with coal blocks without supplying the electricity at cheaper rates.

AAP also published a file noting by Mr. Modi himself, in which he supposedly orders giving 50% of Naini coal block to Adanis.



What did AAP hide?
There are many things Aam Aadmi Party did not tell us. So what did they not tell us?

Read this news report before we go further: SC admits Adani Power plea against Aptel order

AAP hid from us the following details:
Gujarat govt did not supply any coal to Adani.
Adani is still supplying power to Gujarat govt (GUVNL) at Rs. 2.35/unit without getting any coal blocks.
Adanis are fighting in court against Gujarat govt for not providing coal blocks, yet supplying power at cheap rates. In other words, Modi govt is fighting Adanis in court over cheaper power supply to Gujarat.
Modi made another file noting (page 17 here), in which he said KSK will supply power from Morga-II blocks. So KSK remained an electricity supplier and was not replaced by Adani. Adani was favored only because they would supply power sooner than others (in year 2009).
Adani group's selection was in addition to KSK group's, and both were for different coal mines.

Updated(19/March/2013):
Many Aam Aadmi Party supporters asked for "solid evidence" to prove that Adani is supplying power without getting coal. I am attaching a link to APTEL judgement that ordered Adani to supply electricity even as Gujarat govt denied coal supply to it.

Aptel Judgement against Adani appeal, which Gujarat govt won, for not supplying coal to Adani: http://aptel.gov.in/judgements/New%207. ... 202010.pdf

What is the reality?
Adani is supplying power at 2.35/unit without getting coal blocks.

AAP chose to present selective statements from the pol-khol documents. They hid specific facts outside of those documents (like court case between Gujarat govt and Adanis over coal block allocation over govt's refusal to provide coal).

AAP manufactured these allegations based on old news reports. While it is true that Adanis were proposed to be allotted Naini coal block earlier in 2009, this allocation proposal was canceled as early as 2010.

News reports were categorically hidden from readers by AAP to misguide the public.

"Aam Aadmi Party Effect"
Gujarat not supplying coal to Adanis is not "Aam Aadmi Party Effect", because in 2010 when allocation proposal was scrapped, there was no AAP or IAC.

It is noteworthy that Mr. Kejriwal got documents for his "Modi exposé" from self-proclaimed "Top Cop" Sanjiv Bhatt, whose wife was contesting Gujarat elections against Narendra Modi on Congress ticket. This exposé by AAP was clearly timed to coincide with Gujarat elections, in hopes of ensuring Congress win. If this does not put AAP in bed with Congress, I wonder what else will.

More is coming in other parts of my exposé. Stay tuned.

http://totally-politically-incorrect.bl ... xpose.html

[RoyG]

SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 2013

Exposé of AAP's Modi exposé: Urban Land vs. Rural Land

My businessman friend purchased a lake-front apartment in Bangalore. I'll call him Friend-A. While our group of friends was discussing during our usual weekend get together, this friend of mine happened to break the news. Soon, we started discussing Bangalore property costs, and another friend - I'll call him Friend-B - commented that the price of Rs. 3 Cr. Friend-A paid for the apartment was too high in Bangalore.

Friend-B's argument was that he had booked an apartment in Bangalore itself, and he only paid Rs. 90L for it. It was also on lake-front, and had the same carpet area and similar amenities and was from a premium builder.

For a moment, Friend-A was baffled. He had already paid up Rs. 1 Cr. and applied for a loan from the bank for Rs. 2 Cr. Had he paid too much? It then dawned on him to ask Friend-B where he had bought his apartment. As it turns out, Friend-B bought his apartment well outside Bangalore city, bordering a village; while Friend-A's apartment was right in the center of the city. That explained the humongous price difference in both apartments, with almost same amenities and features but different locations.

You might ask why this discussion is relevant to AAP's exposé of Mr. Modi? We'll get to that.

It's important to know these two departments of Gujarat govt to understand the correct picture:
R&B Dept: Dept that handles and regulates roads & land in prime areas.
Revenue Dept [Website in Gujarati]: Dept that handles & regulates land in rural/non-urban areas.

PART 2 - AAP VALUES URBAN & RURAL LAND AT THE SAME PRICE


What allegations did AAP make?

Modi always gave away land to private builders & industrialists at throwaway prices.
When IAF asked for land, Gujarat govt quoted 8 times the price, and offered at Rs. 8,800/sqm.
PM had to intervene to get land at lower price for IAF at Rs. 1,100/sqm
AAP contended that Modi had no problem colluding with industrialists & businessmen, but when it came to organisation of national interest like the IAF, Modi showed his real face of a corrupt politician.

These are the two exact sentences from AAP's Pol-Khol:
Modi has allotted 14306 acres (roughly 5.67 crore sq meters) of land to Adanis in Kutch area itself.
AND
Similarly, Modi has allotted land to Adanis in many other parts of Gujarat at throwaway prices.
However, when Indian Air Force asked for land from Modi, IAF was charged 8 times the market rate. IAF was offered 100 acre land at Rs 8800 per sq meter.


We'll take a look at area mentioned in the document attached by AAP in their pol-khol page regarding land allotment. AAP pol-khol page compares land allotted in Gandhinagar to IAF for SWAC to land allotted at Kutch for to Adanis "throwaway prices".

Different Land Types & Land Rates
AAP has compared IAF land allocation with Adani land allocation in Kutch. Kutch is a known desert area.


Point A is where Adanis was allotted land and Point B is where SWAC was sold land.


The document AAP shared mentions Koba Village where land was given at cheap rate to Rahejas for an IT Park. Since Koba village is in the outskirts of SWAC and Gandhinagar, I would use that as the primary reference.

In the following map, point A is where IAF-SWAC is located and point B is where Koba Village is located with an IT Park functioning now (there was no IT park before land was allotted). SWAC is located well within Gandhinagar city and Koba village is atleast 10 kms from SWAC, in a rural area. You can also check the map here.



Land rates within Gandhinagar city vary based on the locality, like in any other city. As one moves out of the city and nears villages land rates fall as with any other city.

What did AAP hide?
IAF and other industrialists were not allotted land in the same area at different prices.
Adanis were allotted land in Kutch while IAF asked for land in Gandhinagar.
Land allotted to industries & private builders was rural land, outside municipal limits of Gandhinagar city and therefore was held by Revenue Dept. R&B department held the land that IAF asked for, and it was urban land well within Gandhinagar city limits.
In essence, IAF was expecting urban land at the price of rural land.
IAF never asked to reduce the price of land until it was allotted by the govt. Only after the allocation was made, they requested CM directly to reduce the price.
Communication was sent by Revenue Department to the IAF, citing the reasons why price of rural land cannot be equated to price of urban land.
Following screenshots with important parts highlighted are from documents released by AAP itself:


What is the reality?
Urban land is never valued at the price of rural land, whoever may be the buyer. In this case, very clearly land that IAF asked fell within city limits and land that was given to industrialists at "throwaway price" fell well outside the city limits - in villages. Land allotted to Adani fell in Kutch, a desert area.

Another example mentioned in the documents is of DLF Infocity. But DLF got the land for Rs. 5,000/sqm which was the prevailing rate in that local area, along with additional conditions applied. DLF had to pay full money very next month, failing which they would be charged 18% interest for pending amount.

However, in the end IAF got urban prime land of Rs. 8,800/sqm at a price of Rs. 1,100/sqm. So where is the unethical/immoral action of Mr. Modi that AAP is complaining about?

Was Gujarat govt. wrong in following the procedures as laid down by law?
If Mr. Modi had given land in the same area at a higher price or even same price to IAF than he gave to industrialists at the same time, then he sure was hand-in-glove with industrialists. Even if industrialists wanted urban land from R&B dept, they would have to pay the prevailing market rates in that area, as DLF already did for their IT Park. That is the procedure.

Half-Baked Beans of Aam Aadmi Party

Aam Aadmi Party's charges were on the assumption that land prices are uniform everywhere and standard procedure should not be followed in land allocation to defense forces. Recent defense land scams have shown that this is a dangerous idea. If AAP comes to power, will they mark land all over the state/country at the same valuation?


Aam Aadmi Party's methods of exposé involve distorting important government communication and hiding key facts from the public. Aam Aadmi Party is a perfect gang of Far-left deception artists & hypnotists who think they can get away by targeting anyone with distorted information.

Do we now know why Aam Aadmi Party never files court cases in issues of corruption? No, it is not because they believe in Janata ki Adaalat (People's Court). Real reason is that they know very well that their cases would fall flat on its face in the court, on both law & morality arguments.

It's still not over. Part 3 is coming up, in which yet another deception that Aam Aadmi Party unleashed will be exposed.

http://totally-politically-incorrect.bl ... -land.html

Yawn, this Kejriwal along with all his supporters are bloody jokes. No wonder this idiot never takes anyone to court. His cases would be thrown out. This leftist just shoots off his mouth to his posse like some wall street protester while wearing that stupid white hat.

[Pranav]

Yawn, this Kejriwal along with all his supporters are bloody jokes. No wonder this idiot never takes anyone to court. His cases would be thrown out. This leftist just shoots off his mouth to his posse like some wall street protester while wearing that stupid white hat.

Don't get so upset. It is good that you have started addressing the issues. As regards electricity contracts here is the extract from the AAP statement -

In February 2007, Gujarat government entered into two agreements with Adanis to supply electricity at Rs 2.35 and Rs 2.89 per unit respectively.

Interestingly, two months before this, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC), which is Gujarat Government PSU, had offered to the Gujarat Government to supply electricity at the rate of Rs 2.25 per unit. This was much cheaper than what Adanis were offering. GMDC had its own coal blocks and it had offered these coal blocks to KSK Energy Ventures Ltd, who in turn agreed to supply electricity cheaper at Rs 2.25 per unit.

Rather than accept GMDC’s offer to supply cheaper electricity, Modi government decided to purchase electricity at much higher rates from Adanis. Why did Modi do that?

A few days after signing the agreement, Adani started blackmailing Gujarat government. They refused to supply electricity till they were supplied coal by Gujarat Government. GMDC said they would be happy to supply coal if Adanis agreed to supply electricity at reduced rates of Rs 2.25 per unit, the rates at which KSK was supplying electricity, who was receiving coal from GMDC.

Rather than reprimanding Adanis and cancelling their contract for this blackmail, Modi personally intervened. Mr Jose, the Chairman of GMDC was transferred out. GMDC was asked to supply 50% of its coal from Naini block to Adani. Extracts from file noting made by Mr Modi:

“M/s Adani had been given a commitment by GMDC for coal to be provided by them from the Morga –II mines project for a 1000 MW plant on the basis of which M/s Adani in turn submitted his bid in the competitive tariff bid at GUVNL at Rs 2.35 at Gujarat bus bar. In other words, a commitment of GMDC exists towards M/s Adani. Therefore, it is suggested that the 50% of Naini block of 1750 MW can be considered to be given to M/s Adani with GMDC as the mine developer.”

The above file noting made by Mr Modi is completely false. GMDC did not make any commitment, whatsoever, to Adani.

Despite this, Adanis unilaterally cancelled their contract for supplying power in 2009. Gujarat government in turn started buying same electricity from Adani under short term contracts at Rs 5.5 per unit.

So, in effect, Adanis walked away with coal blocks without supplying the electricity at cheaper rates.

Therefore, Modi’s love for Adanis cost Gujarat people very dearly. All these years, the people of Gujarat were forced to pay much more for electricity.

Finally, Gujarat government had to enter into power purchase agreements with other parties at much higher rates.

So the question for you is how much power Adani has supplied at the contracted rates of Rs 2.35 and Rs 2.89, and how much at the higher rate of Rs 5.50, in the period after 2009, when Adani allegedly unilaterally cancelled their contract.

[Sushupti]

[member_22539]

^^One can almost taste the fear in the political scene in India with regard to Mr. Modi.

[ramana]

So what exactly is Nitish Kumar's angst against Narendra Modi? What goes his father?

[chetak]

So what exactly is Nitish Kumar's angst against Narendra Modi? What goes his father?

This is his best and probably only chance of becoming PM himself.

shades of gujral and gowda!

[Sanku]

So what exactly is Nitish Kumar's angst against Narendra Modi? What goes his father?

This is his best and probably only chance of becoming PM himself.

shades of gujral and gowda!

To avoid the Yadav-Muslim consolidation. The margins in Bihar are paper thin.

[VikramS]

NiKu feels that he is the only person who has any credibility to compete with NaMo under the new paradigm.

Since many Muslims vote for him, he is worried about his power if he associates too close to Modi.

He also feels that if a third front government is formed, he will have the best chance to become the PM (the Secular Modi).

UPA is now sending feelers to the left to form a poll alliance.

If that happens and the chance of a 3rd front diminishes, Nitish will have to come back into the NDA fold. However if the left merges with the UPA, the chances of NDA become poorer.

The infighting within BJP has to end for the NDA to have any chance. India might be ready for Modi, but BJP may not.

If that happens, I will rate it as one of the key pivots in the destiny of the Indian state. Another case of leaders not learning from history. The masses will suffer due to the myopia of the leaders.

[Muppalla]

There is no chance of Nitish becoming PM. Run any number of models and math, he can neither become PM under Third Front, nor under NDA/UPA.

[vijayk]

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/why-n ... 73150.html
Why Nitish Kumar is unlikely to break up with BJP for 2014
by Aakar Patel Mar 24, 2013


I am posting this from first post comments section:

The fact of the matter is that any way you look at it Nitish Kumar has boxed himself into a corner.Actually most of the political analysts sitting in Delhi with virtually no clue of Bihar sub-altern politics sprout nonsense and give more weightage that what is his due.

Let me elucidate some basic facts here for such foolish political analysts.

The vote share of various parties in Bihar 2010 elections was

JDU-22.61%

BJP-16.46%
RJD-18.84%

LJP-6.75%

CONGRESS-8.38%


But there are some interesting points here.

1.BJP in Bihar contested only 117 out of the of the 243 seats at stake in Bihar due to alliance with Nitish Kumar whose party contested the rest of the seats.So this 16.46% vote share of BJP is heavily concentrated unlike that of Congress which contested all 243 seats but polled just 8.38% votes.So these are basically wasted votes and any party which allies with Congress is unlikely to benefit significantly from such an alliance.

2.The vote share of BJP throughout the 90's and last decade has been constant at 13-15% of total vote while Congress has virtually stagnated at 8-10%.Indeed there hasn't been an election in past 17 years where Congress polled close to 15% of total vote.This is the main reason why Lalu once exclaimed that leaving a seat in Bihar to congress means losing it.It is the only party in Bihar which has no core vote unlike BJP which is steadfastly supported by upper castes,kayasths and banias,RJD-Muslims and Yadavs,LJP pasmanda Muslims and paswans,JDU-lower backward castes,kurmis and to some extent pasmanda muslims.

4.Upper castes are mainly concentrated in Kosi,Mithila and Magadh regions with thick concentartion in the districts of Dharbhanga,Patna,Bhagalpur,Gaya,Aurangabad,Madhubani,Samastipur,Nalanda.An unusual feature of upper castes are they are highly dynamic and opportunistic and would not bat an eye lid on leaving their favored parties and sailing with any party if they sense it's close to gaining power.This has been the feature of upper castes in almost every state but Bihar has been sole exception to this as higher castes have largely struck with BJP even when it was in opposition for considerable period of time.This can be largely attributed to the fact that other parties in Bihar are largely non Upper caste in their orientation and core base.

5.Many analysts think that once Nitish and JDU get rid of BJP under Modi pretext just like BJD did in Orissa they would get the bulk of the upper caste vote and with his back ward class vote and Muslim vote he would be able to sweep elections.But the stead fast backing of upper castes to BJP demonstrated repeatedly in every tier of election from gram panchayat to Parliamentary polls makes such a possibility impossible.

6.Another interesting feature is that Muslim support for JDU is highly overrated.Actually contrary to public opinion Muslim vote in Bihar has not been voting overwhelmingly for Nitish as is being projected by Delhi media.

Consider these statistics
In seats with above 40% Muslim vote
JDU won just 1 out of the 5 seats it contested although it fielded Muslim candidates in all 5 seats.The vote share in these seats was JDU-32.3% while that of RJDP-LJP was a close second at 27.3%.
In seats with 30-40% Muslim vote ( a total of 10 seats out of which JDU contested 4 seats it won just one seat) while BJP swept all the 6 seats it contested!
Actually it was the heavy OBC-Upper caste consolidation behind JDU-BJP which enabled their historic sweep and not any massive Muslim polarization behind Nitish.
Nitish Kumar knows all these statistics.he is not a fool to be carried away by media propaganda.After all he waited for 16 years to become Bihar CM and knows too well any break up with BJKP would only benefit Lalu-paswan brigade.
Hence he would mellow down and like a cat with its tail between its legs go along with BJP

[Muppalla]

In fact BJP should play a very hard bargain. Nitish should not be allowed to contest more seats this time around and that is extremely important.

[anmol]

Modi’s Fan Club in Uttar Pradesh
It is not a Sangh Parivar outfit, but crucial to its political plans

BY Dhirendra K Jha


While the BJP dithers over a formal decision on its prime ministerial candidate, preparations have begun to make Narendra Modi’s claim even more insistent. The next step in his ascent within the BJP is aimed at gaining a special stature in Uttar Pradesh as an individual leader, much as he has in Gujarat.

In UP, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, this operation is not to be carried out by any of the known Hindutva outfit, but by an informal organisation that has been working solely on the promotion of Modi’s image as an individual, one who happens to be Chief Minister of Gujarat. It is called the Narendra Modi Fans Club (NMFC), a grouping that Modi himself has nurtured assiduously over the past few years in his home state, and is ready to expand itself across UP. “Narendra Bhai asked me to begin work in UP,” says Khursheed Suma, all-India convener of the NMFC. Recounting the brief-though- firm instructions he was given in Ahmedabad by the Gujarat CM on 24 February, he says, “I didn’t want to go [away from] Gujarat, and I told him this, but he said it won’t help if it is done by a Hindu, ‘So you do it’.”

Suma’s meeting with Modi took place on the last day of a three-day workshop that was attended by newly elected MLAs and important BJP leaders of Gujarat. That day, Modi had held a one-and-a-half- hour interaction with these leaders, giving them lessons on time management and the qualities of a politician.

Suma met Modi on the sidelines of that workshop, and the CM said that BJP Vice- president Purushottam Rupala, a close aide of his, would facilitate the effort in UP. “Since then,” says Suma, “almost every week I talk to Rupalaji on how we should proceed on organising the Modi Fans Club in various parts of Uttar Pradesh.”


+++

A 26-year-old resident of Rajkot and geography graduate of Saurashtra University, Suma says the NMFC was formed in 2005 but picked up in the last three years once it got Rupala’s patronage. “Initially, the organisation was called ‘Shri Narendra Bhai Modi Fans Club’, but later Rupala changed its name to ‘Narendra Modi Fans Club’,” says Suma, “That was also the time when he made me its all-India convener and Kashyap Shukla (a local BJP leader) its chairman.”

Though the NMFC has units in almost every district of Gujarat, it is particularly strong in Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Junagarh, Jamnagar, Surat and Vadodara. “Before the last Assembly election, our organisation played an important role in mobilising the youth, especially those of the Muslim community, in support of Narendra Bhai,” says Suma, a Muslim himself.

So highly did Modi and Rupala appreciate the NMFC’s efforts that its chairman Kashyap Shukla was fielded as a BJP candidate from Rajkot in Gujarat’s recent Assembly polls. Shukla, however, lost the election.

According to Suma, the NMFC will start getting its unit in Lucknow up and running next month. “We have been asked to concentrate initially on Lucknow. We will then organise the youth, both Hindus and Muslims, in other districts of the state,” he says, adding that the setting up of NMFC units in various districts of UP would be followed by a rally to be addressed by Modi in Lucknow. “We are told that the rally would be the beginning of Narendra Bhai’s campaign for the next Lok Sabha election,” he says.

The UP expansion idea has assumed urgency in the last few weeks, but it first took shape around the middle of November last year, even before Modi’s triumphant return to power in Gandhinagar (a foregone conclusion, though, as many in the BJP saw it). Lalji Tandon, the BJP’s Lucknow MP, wrote a letter to Rupala informing him of the NMFC’s plans for his constituency. ‘Narendra Modi Fans Club has been constituted in Lucknow. This body plans to organise a meeting of Shri Narendra Modiji,’ says Tandon’s letter, dated 18 November, requesting Rupala to arrange Modi’s Lucknow visit.

Though Rupala promptly forwarded the letter to Modi as well as Kursheed Suma, no action could be taken since they were preoccupied with the Gujarat polls. Once things started settling down, however, and Modi began working on his strategy to enhance his appeal beyond Gujarat, the issue was revived and Suma instructed to get the UP operation going. “I have had several rounds of telephonic talks with Lalji Tandon, Kalraj Mishra and Neeraj Gupta (a Lucknow-based BJP leader) after Narendra Bhai gave a green signal to organise the Modi Fans Club in Lucknow and other parts of UP, and Rupalaji took the initiative into his own hands,” says Suma.

It is no secret that the Sangh Parivar sees UP as a communal cauldron that could be stirred to the BJP’s electoral benefit by the Gujarat Chief Minister. Modi also appears aware of his ability to stir up support in India’s largest state. It could not only polarise votes decisively in favour of the BJP, but also act as a unifying force for the party. In addition, Modi, by selling the so-called ‘Gujarat model of development’, could also help the party gain a sizeable chunk of middle- class votes. The proposed move would be a significant departure from the 2011 UP Assembly polls, when the state BJP was apprehensive of inviting Modi to campaign there for fear of losing secular Hindu votes. For the next general election, both Modi and the Sangh Parivar know that UP results could make or mar their prospects of reclaiming power at the Centre.

Presently, the BJP is in complete disarray in UP. In the 2004 and 2009 general elections, it won 10 seats—only an eighth of the state’s total Lok Sabha seats. Party leaders are desperate for a revival, and they believe that turning the state into a springboard for Modi will return the party there to its glory days of the 1990s. Leaders and cadres of the BJP, particularly in UP, point to the party’s past record in the state to back the belief that so long as they fight elections on their core Hindutva agenda, they win a large number of seats in the state. The BJP won 41 Lok Sabha seats in UP in 1991, 49 in 1996 and 52 in 1998. In the next general election held in 1999, as the party softened its Hindutva stance in response to coalition compulsions, its UP tally fell to 29, a Lok Sabha contingent that nearly got whittled down to single digits in the two general elections that followed.

For a party that once had strong showings in UP, this amounts to being banished to the margins of politics there. However, as the NMFC gets active, the BJP expects to turn its performance trend back upwards. Current ground conditions also favour Modi’s brand of politics. The past year has seen nearly 50 communal incidents, over a dozen of which have been major flare-ups.

In one such riot that engulfed Faizabad on 24 October last year, one of the slogans raised by Hindu communalists, as they set minority-owned shops aflame and vandalised a mosque, was: ‘UP bhi Gujarat banega, Faizabad shuruwat karega’ (UP too will become Gujarat, beginning with Faizabad). It was only shortly afterwards that Lalji Tandon wrote Rupala his letter of 18 November on the NMFC initiative and proposed Modi rally. Even more significantly, while Modi & Co took time to respond to the letter, BJP leaders in UP went determinedly ahead to play up the Modi factor in state politics. On Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 88th birthday, for example, hoardings and posters depicting him alongside Modi appeared in Lucknow, the constituency that had elected the former Prime Minister to the Lok Sabha five times (from 1991 to 2004). The current MP Tandon, who considers himself Vajpayee’s successor of sorts, even told mediapersons, “I welcome Modi to contest from Lucknow. We will work according to directions received from our central leadership.” Equally explicit were the printed slogans on hoardings and posters. ‘Badey Lakshya Ki Hai Taiyyari, Ab Hai Rashtra Dharma Ki Baari’ (To achieve a big target we prepare, it is now national duty/religion’s turn), declared one of these, leaving the word ‘dharma’ to reader interpretation.

That, however, expresses not just what is on the state BJP’s mind. Modi, too, seems well disposed to the idea of contesting Lucknow’s Lok Sabha seat. “Recently, the state party had sought our opinion on whether Narendra Bhai should contest from Lucknow or a parliamentary seat in Gujarat,” says Suma. “I am of the opinion that he should contest from Lucknow because that would show that he is acceptable even outside Gujarat.”

Though the BJP is yet to take a formal decision on the constituency that Modi will be fielded in, if he does win Lucknow, it is likely that the Sangh Parivar would declare him Vajpayee’s successor. And if he succeeds thus in capturing the prime minister’s post, the NMFC could get a big boost as a personal brigade—given solely to his ambitions and all he stands for.

[vijayk]

There is no chance of Nitish becoming PM. Run any number of models and math, he can neither become PM under Third Front, nor under NDA/UPA.

The ITALIAN MAFIA and CON PAID media knows one thing:

Appeal to the ego of idiotic Indians. They will just screw the other guy or pop the bubble and feel happy.

The MAFIA's hope is to just use the friends to stoke the ego of that moron and make him punch Modi. Even he says "I am not in mood", the PAID scoundrels would publish it as "I am not for Modi".

The scoundrels are so desperate. Knowing this very well also, a lot of RSS leaders fall for tricks of PAID media for 2 sec attention.

But that is the tragedy of India.

God comes to his bakht adn asks what he wants. The guy says "Double what my neighbour wants". God goes to the neighbour and asks what he wants. The neighbour wants to know what the first guy wants. Upon hearing what he wanted, he asks "Take off my one eye".

[Supratik]

Sanku, the margins in Bihar are not wafer thin. Kindly see AP article.

[Supratik]

On second thoughts JD(U) it seems got some Muslim vote. May be JD(U) (NK) fear is that it will come second to BJP in the alliance given that the difference is not that much and loose CMship.

[RoyG]

NiKu is playing game of chicken so that he can appear acceptable to muslims within his state. He is also positioning himself as a PM candidate of NDA if BJP falls below the required number to foist Modi. You will see a little infighting here and there but Modi is the PM candidate and everyone knows it. NiKu wont be leaving NDA otherwise Lalu and Co will chew him up.

[anmol]

Advaniji’s visit

Khushwant Singh, Hindustan Times
March 17, 2013

Sets of plain-clothes policemen visited me three times during the day and told me: “Advani Sahib is coming to see you in the evening. Can we inspect your residence?” I replied, ‘Go ahead’. And so they did. The police have to keep an eye on Advaniji as there are many around who would like to hurt him. After he led his Rath Yatra from Somnath temple to Ayodhya and watched the Babri Masjid being pulled down,I have been one of his severest critics. I used harsh words for him on his face at a public meeting he was to address. I continue to hold that what he did widened the Hindi-Muslim divide and jeo-pardised India’s ambition to become a truly secular democracy. I had reason to fear that he wanted to tick me off and tell me to go to hell. There was enough evidence for me to believe that men like him wanted to settle scores with the Muslims for what they had done in the past:

Tit for Tat // Remember that
You killed my dog // I’ll kill your cat.

In other words, if Muslims broke Hindu temples in the past, Hindus were justified in knocking down their mosques today. He did precisely that and widened the gulf between Hindus and Muslims. Secular-minded, peace-loving Indians will never forgive him.

Instead of ticking me off, as I expected, he brought a bouquet of roses for me and my daughter. I had to concede he was better Sikh than I am. He is an Amil Sindhi who subscribe to Sikh tenets. We spent an hour talking about different things but did not refer to his rath yatra and the destruction of Babri Masjid. It was entirely a courtesy call to re-affirm that despite differences we were on amicable talking terms. He is a bigger man that I thought he was.

Bigotry
Being an agnostic, I am very allergic towards religious bigots. I came across a poem by Zehra Nigah which I translated from Urdu to English for my anthology: Celebrating the Best of Urdu Poetry (Penguin Books). It is pertinent to our time:

Kahanee Gul Badshah Kee
Naam mera hai Gul Badshah
Umr meree hai terah baras
Aur kahani meree umr kee tarah sey
Muntashir muntashir mukhtasar mukhtasar
Meree benaam bey chehra maan
Be-davaa mar gayee
Baap ney usko burqey mein dafnaa diya
Usko dar thha ki munkar nakeer uska chehra na dekhen
Vaisey zinda thhee jab bhee madfoon thee
Baap ka naam Zartaaj Gul
Umr battees baras
Vo mujahid shahaadat ka taalib
Raah-e-haq ka mussaafir hua
Aur jaam-e-shahaadat bhee usney pee

Gul Badshanh is my name
I am thirteen years of age
My story like my age, you’ll see
Is in bits and pieces and as short as it can be:
My mother had no face nor name that I could say
Nor money to buy medicines,
One day she simply faded away.
My father buried her in burqa in case
The Angels of Death ogle at her face –
Anyway, even when alive she was like one dead one could say.
My father’s name was Zartaj Gul
He was thirty-two
He had just one ambition to fulfil
He was a holy warrior and wanted to die a martyr
So he took the path of righteousness.

Ode to Antony
What shall I do with his integrity, honesty, parsimony
I shall like to be A.K. Antony,
I will not like to head the lucrative Defence Ministry
And lead a life of near-poverty, much simplicity
In this age when only power and pelf is seen
What shall I do with being merely Mr Clean
The unilateral zeal
With which he seeks to cancel the Chopper Deal
Makes him a cog in the wheel,
For how can you be a politician
Without being a worshipper of goddess corruption
Wake up Mr Antony, our dear defence minister
Take a cue from your namesake the legendry orator
The great Mark Antony of Rome, the greatest liar
Learn to cheat the masses, loot the state
And become a popular leader, wealthy and great.
(Courtesy: Kuldip Salil, Delhi)

Cocktails
Mona: What is it about men that is soft during the day and hard at night?
Sona: I refuse to answer much a vulgar question.
Mona: What is vulgar about it? I was referring to the drinks that men take.
(Contributed by Rajeshwari Singh, Delhi)
© Copyright © 2013 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.

[Sushupti]

BJP is screwed. Looks like NDA+ dream of Lohpurush will come true but at the cost of BJP-

मुलायम के बाद रामगोपाल फिदा हुए आडवाणी पर

http://www.jagran.com/news/national-ram ... 45805.html

[member_23629]

Being an agnostic, I am very allergic towards religious bigots.

He is allergic to religious bigots, but only when they are Hindus, not Muslims. This Khushwant Singh joker is a Muslim who wears a Sikh turban for decorative purposes.

There was enough evidence for me to believe that men like him wanted to settle scores with the Muslims for what they had done in the past:

Can someone tell this idiot that nothing is in the past -- Hindus are still being killed every day in Kashmir, Pakistan and Bangladesh for the crime of being Hindus.