The Jan Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare, and Baba Ramdev II

Altair · Post by **Altair** » 25 Aug 2011 12:21

Have just heard that today is the "last" round of talks between Anna team and Government. So, what will happen after today?

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 25 Aug 2011 12:30

Parliament appeals Anna to end fast, PM promises strong law

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/parli ... aw/836890/

PM gave an emotional speech that he has never done corruption in life (but maintained a sound sleep when corruption happened around)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 727179.cms

High drama prevailed as hundreds of Anna Hazare supporters led by members of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP on Wednesday reached the city police station here to lodge a 'missing person' report in connection with AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Young Turks of Congress missing from action
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/met-w ... e/835039/2

The Congress’s political failure in addressing the concerns that underlie the Hazare movement is multiplied by its inability to communicate: party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury, for example, has been more than a hindrance than a help

Why are all the younger MPs who were celebrated as turning a page in the Congress’s history in 2009 silent today? Why are they not being fielded?

IMHO the concept of not speaking to junta has emanated from Sonia and like a river passed through her son to bottom

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 25 Aug 2011 12:33

IndraD wrote:Parliament appeals Anna to end fast, PM promises strong law

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/parli ... aw/836890/

PM gave an emotional speech that he has never done corruption in life (but maintained a sound sleep when corruption happened around)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 727179.cms

High drama prevailed as hundreds of Anna Hazare supporters led by members of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP on Wednesday reached the city police station here to lodge a 'missing person' report in connection with AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

The PM talks in the parliament, but gives no written assurance to team AH. Parliament appeals AH to end fast against corruption but does not pass anti-corruption laws for 4 decades. This is also high drama onlee.

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 25 Aug 2011 12:36

I fear the worst for Anna now, Chidu as usual in his eloquent and dismissive style is intentionally being sent out to bat for the GOI. I guess the whole decision making system is paralysed because of the absence of the qbee. How many days can one sustain? Sri Potti sriramulu did for 82 days, Sri Jatin Das for 63 days can Anna go on for more days ?

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 25 Aug 2011 13:32

habal wrote: ok. You asked for it. I can get right-wing internet warriors knickers in a twist.

And ? What do you want now? Applause?

Anyways...that explains your presence here. The cheap shots and this.

habal wrote: Ramdev was not my issue. He is what he is.

Err..suffering from amnesia are we? Have you forgotten what you wrote? The visceral hatred? A simple search shows. And now you want to pose as Narad here?

habal wrote: My issue on the other hand is with those internet warriors who cannot tolerate an alternate point of view without spilling their coffee cup all over the place. Apart from boasting of some superficial qualities, they don't have what it takes to take the fight to the opposite camp. Comparisons with Shivaji, Bose are superfluous, they fought in far worse circumstances.

So what if they compare with Shivaji? Isn't that an alternate view?

Guess we know who has calcified thoughts now ainta?

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 25 Aug 2011 13:54

suryag wrote:I fear the worst for Anna now, Chidu as usual in his eloquent and dismissive style is intentionally being sent out to bat for the GOI. I guess the whole decision making system is paralysed because of the absence of the qbee. How many days can one sustain? Sri Potti sriramulu did for 82 days, Sri Jatin Das for 63 days can Anna go on for more days ?

From We are victims of Cong's internal politics: Team Anna

Stating that they were ready to hold talks in a "honest and sincere manner", Team Anna alleged that Home Minister P Chidambaram and Ministry of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal were taking a strong stand forcing the government not to enter into a compromise

"It appears that there are some strong elements in the government who want to nullify the entire dialogue process... We were told that in Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, especially Chidambaram and Sibal, were completely opposed to any kind of agreement or any kind of dialogue," activist Arvind Kejriwal told mediapersons.

"We are becoming victims of Congress' internal politics. On Tuesday, the talks were positive, but in the CCPA meeting, Law Minister Salman Khurshid told us that there was a lot of fighting. Chidambaram and Sibal said there should be no dialogue with us and we should be tackled with a tough hand," he alleged.

Kejriwal said if the CCPA and government can "ignore" the views of a senior leader such as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the chief government negotiator, then the question is that whom should they talk to?
...
Activist Kiran Bedi asked, "Who should we talk to? Who is in control? We can talk only if there is somebody who is capable of making decisions. Who will take the decisions? Today in this country, who do we speak to?"

Bedi said, "On Wednesday, the sense of urgency to break Anna's fast in government talks was totally missing as compared to the evening earlier."

She claimed that internal politics was coming in the way of talks. "Same persons who designed government Lokpal Bill are reportedly behind it. No one to rein them?"

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 25 Aug 2011 15:13

Dhiman put it well.The "oligarchy",rather the "oil-igarchy" ,who grease and love getting greased,in post-independence India,suddenly feel threatened by the mass movement of AH and are joining hands all over,pulling out all stops and Quislings like one Ms.A Roy,to rubbish the simple single point campaign of AH,"end corruption" through first passing an anti-curruotion bill on parliament that has teeth.Their cosy conspiracy to loot the country and leave the crumbs for the middle-class masses and peasants,has been brutally exposed with the tsunami of scams under MMS.The vermin of the Congress and UPA are joining hands to fight the broom that threatens to sweep them out of office and it is now clear that they want nothing better than AH to end his days ,so that if the nation erupts in anger it would be a pefect excuse to declare another Emergency,which this time will not be removed in a few years time but orchestrated as it was in Lanka for a few decades,on the excuse of internal threats-sedition and the like,terrorism,et al.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 25 Aug 2011 15:49

From the North-East:

Arunachal:

Arunachal traders stand by Anna Hazare - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 733363.cms

ITANAGAR: Joining the anti-graft movement spearheaded by Anna Hazare, the traders of Naharlagun and Itanagar on Wednesday took out a massive rally, espousing his cause.

Shouting pro-Anna slogans, the young and the old alike, holding placards and banners, marched through the main thoroughfare of the city.

Assam: Support for Anna grows, Mahanta joins anti-graft stir - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 733305.cms

Nagaland: Kohima rally to express solidarity with Hazare - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 733289.cms

Meghalaya: Church leader backs agitation led by Anna Hazare - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 733346.cms

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 25 Aug 2011 15:52

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 733766.cms

Four metro stations near the Prime Minister's official residence here were closed today as a precautionary measure following a call by Team Anna Hazare to people to hold a protest there.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 728767.cms

massive police presence on Ram lila ground

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 25 Aug 2011 15:54

"Hazare's movement is "much bigger" than the Jai Prakash movement of the 1970s": Govindacharya - http://www.hindustantimes.com/Govindach ... 37404.aspx

shivajisisodia · Post by **shivajisisodia** » 25 Aug 2011 16:00

"All political parties have joined against the Jana Lok Pal"

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/s ... 110825.htm

Nor surprising at all !

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 25 Aug 2011 16:07

shivajisisodia wrote:"All political parties have joined against the Jana Lok Pal"

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/s ... 110825.htm

Nor surprising at all !

Congress and its cronies trying to hide behind other politicos and claiming we are in this together.

Not true.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 25 Aug 2011 16:07

Some ask why BJP seems wishy washy in 'clarifying' its JLP stand. A wag on twitter gave a good rationale. "When you r enemy is busy self-destructing, don;t interrupt" with obvious reference to Cong.

In any case, the GoI has won the game and set but may just have lost the match on this one. The govt is in no danger of falling and history shows such movements fizzle out faster than TN nooks buried in a desert. 26/11 is a classic recent case. All that popular angst, mombatti rallies etc came to naught come poll time. I won't blame the INC for extrapolating that irresistible poll logic only.

That said, some of the Team Anna;s suggestions are welcome. Including lower babucracy is a must if retail level corruption is to be brought under control. The public govt interface is the lower level babucracy only. Nitish's amazing ideas (whistleblower cash awards for those who spill beans on corruption in govt contracts etc) is the way to go.

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 25 Aug 2011 16:25

Hari Seldon wrote: Including lower babucracy is a must if retail level corruption is to be brought under control. The public govt interface is the lower level babucracy only.

Of all AH demands, this is the one point I am not so sure of. Retail corruption requires a gigantic Lokpal bureaucracy to be put in place. Once the bill comes into effect - when the retail public sees no change in corruption for the first 2 - 3 years until this machinery comes on stream - they will blame the bill for promising much and delivering nothing. The initial focus of the Lokpal bill should be on large-scale 'institutional' corruption which can be manage-ably addressed by the team.

Technology (UID etc), system redesign (automating / eliminating touchpoints between public and babudom) & outsourcing to the private sector can play an equally important role in eliminating retail corruption - and investing in a giant bureaucracy to tackle it might not be the best approach.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 25 Aug 2011 16:34

institutional corruption is of the consensual model and therefore harder to stop
the first step has to be be de-link party fund raising from this route

similarly, the judiciary has to be speeded up and really made independent from politicians - and they must enforce the law and do so quickly

the non-consensual rent model of corruption is far bigger, but needs to happen in parallel - at the grass roots - any party that can start delivering this will see immediate returns at the polls

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 25 Aug 2011 16:39

Agnivesh wants AH to end fast

Do you think Anna Hazare should continue the fast?
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/s ... 110825.htm

My suggestion is that he should at least allow them to administer a drip for the simple reason that in Gandhian methods there is no space for fast unto death.

Besides, Hazare himself has given a written undertaking to the Delhi Police that his is not a 'fast unto death' but an indefinite fast.

(PS-Brand Anna is important for people around him)

latest-AH questions silence of opposition parties

Tamang · Post by **Tamang** » 25 Aug 2011 16:47

Rajdeep is blasting AH right now, he is calling him a rabble rouser. Looks like he has got signal from the HQ. He also claims that BJP is angry with Team Anna.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 25 Aug 2011 16:54

Just heard Anna's speech at Ram Lila.

Prem Shankar Jha was on Times Now ... he said that it was the greatest speech in the history of independent India, surpassing even Nehru's "Tryst with Destiny". I quite agree.

Tamang wrote:Rajdeep is blasting AH right now, he is calling him a rabble rouser. Looks like he has got signal from the HQ. He also claims that BJP is angry with Team Anna.

rajanb · Post by **rajanb** » 25 Aug 2011 17:05

Pranav wrote:Just heard Anna's speech at Ram Lila.

Prem Shankar Jha was on Times Now ... he said that it was the greatest speech in the history of independent India, surpassing even Nehru's "Tryst with Destiny". I quite agree.

Tamang wrote:Rajdeep is blasting AH right now, he is calling him a rabble rouser. Looks like he has got signal from the HQ. He also claims that BJP is angry with Team Anna.

I once heard a politician threatening Rajdeep on a show, though Rajdeep's comment was factual. Rajdeep just shut up.

So what's new about him? Since then I don't watch CNN-IBN.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 25 Aug 2011 17:12

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 732721.cms

A crocodile and his tears...

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari, who accused Anna Hazare of being "steeped in corruption from head to toe", on Thursday expressed regret over his utterances and appealed to the activist to end his 10-day fast.

"I know some of my recent utterances have hurt Mr Hazare. I regret the same and I would like to appeal to him as a citizen of this country to end his fast," Tewari said here.

"In the course of political cut and thrust, certain things are inadvertantly said which cause pain," he said.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 25 Aug 2011 17:15

http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?732457

Team Anna Hazare today gave a call to the people to peacefully march towards the national capital from Saturday if the government fails to resolve the Lokpal issue.

Arvind Kejriwal, core member of Hazare's team, also appealed to people here to hold a protest outside the 7, Race Course Road official residence of the Prime Minister demanding tabling of Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.

He asked the Prime Minister why he is not doing anything about the Jan Lokpal Bill.

"By Saturday, if there is no solution, we will appeal to the people for 'Dilli chalo'. People should come in large numbers and sit here till the government finds solution to the issue, if it doesn't introduce the 'Jan Lokpal bill' in Parliament they should not leave till it is resolved," he told reporters after a meeting of the team's core committee.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 25 Aug 2011 17:17

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/gadka ... ill-128992

New Delhi: At his evening address today, Anna Hazare targeted Opposition parties for not being assertive enough on the Jan Lokpal Bill, which he has drafted with his associates. "Speak up," dared the 74-year-old anti-corruption campaigner, "Why are you silent? Don't you support our bill?"

We do, declared BJP President Nitin Gadkari. He has written to Anna to say his party disagrees with "the government's hard stand during the talks to end your agitation."

Named for the independent anti-corruption agency it creates, the Lokpal Bill has three versions: One by the government, another by Team Anna, and a third by activists headed by Aruna Roy. Mr Gadkari has told Anna, "The BJP accepts the Jan Lokpal Bill as the basis for a strong Lokpal."

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/gadka ... -128992&cp

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 25 Aug 2011 17:19

Man Mubarak Singh..."I have never done corruption in my life..."

Richard Nixon...."I am not a crook!"

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 25 Aug 2011 17:25

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14660127

"We are urging supporters to gather outside Seven Race Course Road [the prime minister's residence] at 5pm [1200GMT] today [Thursday] to appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to listen to the voice of common man," Arvind Kejriwal, a key aide of Mr Hazare, said.

"If no agreement is reached by Saturday, we will ask the whole country to come to Delhi to join the protest," he added.

Earlier, Mr Kejriwal said the talks had broken down because the government had "gone back on their assurances", and the negotiations were "back to square one".

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 25 Aug 2011 17:55

The government agrees to discuss in Parliament contentious issues raised by Hazare in his letter to PM.

The three issues are: inclusion of lower bureaucracy, citizens' charter and state Lokayuktas in the Lokpal Bill

Also Govt agrees to initiate debate on bill from tomorrow as demanded by AH

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 735011.cms

(end in sight?)

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 25 Aug 2011 18:07

Tamang wrote:Rajdeep is blasting AH right now, he is calling him a rabble rouser. Looks like he has got signal from the HQ. He also claims that BJP is angry with Team Anna.

Only a shiekh chilli of awwal degree will make such claims.

These days people have recognised who is on whose side

they can be clearly seen questioning partisan role of media

there are people commenting in name of bika hua media & sonia ka printer on hindustan times/ToI

Such vitriol age often becomes counter productive

This is why Dogpig & company have been grounded

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 25 Aug 2011 18:29

We need to expose corruption in the media and their direct relationships with ruling parties.

For example, AP has Sakshi TV/Newspaper owned by Jagan, Deccan Chronicle - Congress MP
TN has Sun TV, Jaya TV.

We can rate them by their objectivity.

Any takers to that idea?

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 25 Aug 2011 18:41

The post-independence generations have got a whiff of what MKG's satyagraha entailed. It has jumped out of the history books into real life, and that bodes well for the future.

Manish_Sharma · Post by **Manish_Sharma** » 25 Aug 2011 18:46

Philip wrote:Man Mubarak Singh..."I have never done corruption in my life..."

Richard Nixon...."I am not a crook!"

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... t#p1112403

Fanne wrote:My 2 nia paisa...Heard it at a kavi sammelan

Once a Sardarji boarded a train from Punjab to Delhi. He got down at Delhi Railway station and proceeded to go out of the gate. The TT of course was standing at the gate, checking everybody's ticket. Sardarji saw the TT, the TT saw the Sardarji, suddenly Sardarji started running. He went to platform number 2, then jumped to 4. The TT followed after him. Some other TTs who were nearby or in the canteen also ran to give their colleague a helping hand. Few policeman ran after the TT and and the Sardar ji as well. Sardarji ran from one platform to another, finally he was caught at platform 9. The huffing and puffing TT asked where is the ticket? Sardarji promptly whisked out the ticket from upper pocket and showed him.
The policemen, other TTs, tired over all this running asked, if you had the ticket why did you run?
Sardarji said - Well the other 25 from my village did not buy the ticket (who slipped out from the unmanned gates now).

Now Betal asks Vikram - Was Sardarji wrong, was he corrupt. Vikram (Br wallahs, leave your ideology, as well as your party/state/religious affiliation) and answer this question - Was Sardarji wrong?

Thanks,
fanne

Sushupti · Post by **Sushupti** » 25 Aug 2011 18:49

Cigarette smoking NDTV reporter irks people at Ramlila Maidan

http://ishare.rediff.com/video/news-and ... rs/4600790

sumishi · Post by **sumishi** » 25 Aug 2011 18:50

Pranav wrote:Just heard Anna's speech at Ram Lila.
Prem Shankar Jha was on Times Now ... he said that it was the greatest speech in the history of independent India, surpassing even Nehru's "Tryst with Destiny". I quite agree.

Pranav, if possible, please provide a link to the speech video wherever it gets uploaded. Thanks!

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 25 Aug 2011 18:51

vijayk wrote:We need to expose corruption in the media and their direct relationships with ruling parties.

For example, AP has Sakshi TV/Newspaper owned by Jagan, Deccan Chronicle - Congress MP
TN has Sun TV, Jaya TV.

We can rate them by their objectivity.

Any takers to that idea?

Very much vijay K, we need a separate thread on this.

For which we need mods approval.

I think we already have one thread on media watch with ample material some where.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 25 Aug 2011 19:03

It is utopian to expect one or a few channels to be objective and unbiased. It is vibrant society that creates opportunities for different voices. These TV channels are voices for their political parties, and mushrooming of these should not be curbed. Let them evolve naturally, some will die in due course. Meanwhile, people get the opportunities to see and hear the different POVs. The problem will occur only when a party arm-twists another party from operating a channel.

VinayB · Post by **VinayB** » 25 Aug 2011 19:13

Pranav wrote:"Hazare's movement is "much bigger" than the Jai Prakash movement of the 1970s": Govindacharya - http://www.hindustantimes.com/Govindach ... 37404.aspx

Was he allowed on stage ? did he meet Anna?

"10% of the RSS will be here because they are concious people," he said.

Does AK know that?
When did he visit? before or after news break about Govt accepting demands?

see also - http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a ... 079727.ece

And the “remote control” is with K.Govindacharya, who in the late 1980s and early 1990s was a key BJP functionary

This writer knew what was going to happen before it happened -
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a ... 071348.ece

But, at the same time, there was a determination in the government that if it failed to persuade Baba Ramdev through dialogue, it would have to consider tough action to make him abandon his hunger strike plans

but this writer not seen on the chindu site of late.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 25 Aug 2011 19:14

Theo_Fidel wrote:Arjun the CBI vigilance unit can only loosely be called investigative.

Its more accurate to call it vindictive or extortive branch of INC. Whenever INC is in power the CBI reverts to this role. Other times its investigative.

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 25 Aug 2011 19:16

Slight OT. Got from the web. MMS: Most Misused Sardar. Definitely the position of PM is of Vidhur, who is a person of great intellectuality and honesty, yet forced to serve Kourvas out of loyalty and to an extent preserve his own Dharma.

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 25 Aug 2011 19:17

Hari Seldon wrote:Some ask why BJP seems wishy washy in 'clarifying' its JLP stand. A wag on twitter gave a good rationale. "When you r enemy is busy self-destructing, don;t interrupt" with obvious reference to Cong.

In any case, the GoI has won the game and set but may just have lost the match on this one. The govt is in no danger of falling and history shows such movements fizzle out faster than TN nooks buried in a desert. 26/11 is a classic recent case. All that popular angst, mombatti rallies etc came to naught come poll time. I won't blame the INC for extrapolating that irresistible poll logic only.

That said, some of the Team Anna;s suggestions are welcome. Including lower babucracy is a must if retail level corruption is to be brought under control. The public govt interface is the lower level babucracy only. Nitish's amazing ideas (whistleblower cash awards for those who spill beans on corruption in govt contracts etc) is the way to go.

I posted about a month ago a lensonnews survey about the vote bases. It was the first of such a survey ever conducted. Inspite of all the negative stuff, Congress party's traditional base of Dalits+minorities+tribals is verymuch intact. This base is invisible and you rarely see on media. The text-fillers on the internet think some great things have already happened and because of AH or some other the UPA is losing and they think BJP is not helping in this so called UPA wipe-out.

Congress lost two times badly - One when Sanjay Gandhi used forced strerilization and next when Rajiv Gandhi opened the Ayodya locks. It took a while for Sonia to recover the INC losses after PVNR jhappad. In all those situations, it was their base not voting to them.

Congress has cash in bank (Dalits+minorities+adivasis) and hence it has the luxury to apply for more credit and in the process they play all sort of games to divide the opposition. Classic examples are TRS, Chiru, Gujjar-Meena kinds of stuff.

Rudradev's analysis are keepers in this aspect as Congress is trying to use the AH movement to do the same at national level. Whether congress failed or not - time will tell.

BJP always lives on credit as there is no permanent base because it tries to get stupid internet warrior types as its voters except in couple of states.

I reiterate again - We do not need anti corruption or any other goddamn laws. We just need a simple electoral reform where the system should ensure 50% of the votes polled to the winner. The system will automatically solve all the problems afterwards as we will get good leaders into parliament.

The funny part is when it comes to electoral reforms all these worthies concentrate more or "right to recall", "curbing or money usage", "I don't like any candidate" yada yada. Why? Because these worthies themselves will go to dustbin as these leftsts cannot do blackmail. Everyone in these agitations are taking some 1% of the population and blackmailing the system.

The biggest failure is the adoptation of the west minister style without any customization to India.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 25 Aug 2011 19:18

Murugan wrote: - they all returned with vengeance

All except Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama went to Hollywood.

. Sorry could not resist.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 25 Aug 2011 19:34

It the trust we are losing.. to win that, it is very difficult. but, we allow in the name of gaining trust, all those corruptions to happen.. this is perplexing of our dhimmy society.

we don't chose the lesser evil. we expect a pure form, that never exists any where., except within you. Now, get that out your mind, and start propagating for the soul who is gonna die for your future.

the job does not end by participation alone. carrying forward is important.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 25 Aug 2011 19:48

Muppalla wrote:I posted about a month ago a lensonnews survey about the vote bases. It was the first of such a survey ever conducted. Inspite of all the negative stuff, Congress party's traditional base of Dalits+minorities+tribals is verymuch intact. This base is invisible and you rarely see on media. The text-fillers on the internet think some great things have already happened and because of AH or some other the UPA is losing and they think BJP is not helping in this so called UPA wipe-out.

Congress lost two times badly - One when Sanjay Gandhi used forced strerilization and next when Rajiv Gandhi opened the Ayodya locks. It took a while for Sonia to recover the INC losses after PVNR jhappad. In all those situations, it was their base not voting to them.

Congress has cash in bank (Dalits+minorities+adivasis) and hence it has the luxury to apply for more credit and in the process they play all sort of games to divide the opposition. Classic examples are TRS, Chiru, Gujjar-Meena kinds of stuff.

Rudradev's analysis are keepers in this aspect as Congress is trying to use the AH movement to do the same at national level. Whether congress failed or not - time will tell.

BJP always lives on credit as there is no permanent base because it tries to get stupid internet warrior types as its voters except in couple of states.

Muppalla garu,

Not that I disagree or anything but the core votebank of the INC was kinda permanently lost in UP and Bihar post Mandal and is yet to return to the old rump of the INC org in these states. IN fact, Maya, Nitish & the Yadavs have managed to out-appeal even the gandhis' dimpled cheeks to the electorate here. If the BJP were really upto thinking outside the box, they'd want to help the BSP in states like Rajasthan and MP (where BJP has a straight fight with the INC) eat into the INC's core dalit vote bank. Perhaps. Who knows. Meanwhile, as long as AP, Bengal & Kerala remain out of bounds for the BJP, the INC will continue to remain way ahead in the seat tallies, I fear.... oops, poll analysis is likely OT here but from an anti-corruption POV, the BJP seems to have a done a better job at providing cleaner governance (relatively, of course) than the INC. So there...