Tag Archives: Elections
Posted on 21 December, 2013, No Comments Comments admin
The Indian economy today is passing through a difficult phase. There is a sense of anxiety about the state of the economy if not restlessness. The industry wants the things to move. An year ago, we all worried that a policy paralysis was about to set in. These were expressions being used for the first time. Everyone hoped that in the months to come things are going to improve. There can be no alibi for non-performance on the economic front. Governments which fail to deliver on the economy tend to look for alibis. The Government at the centre gives the alibi that the Parliament is not being allowed to run and that important legislations are held up for want of consensus. But they never look inwards as to what the real problem is. 9 out of 10 measures required for the economy do not need legislations. They are executive decisions which are in the administrative domain. Therefore executive authority is enough to deal with them. I think we have come to a stage where the only silver-lining today is that things can’nt go worse further if at all they have to improve. And we are anxiously looking for a situation where things will improve.
People have been talking about the economic measures and the perception about BJP and NDA as to what they propose to do. There is no doubt as far as the NDA is concerned as to the destination where the Country should be taken. What is of concern is the ability of the Government of the day to take decisions. Governments know the direction which is to be taken. They know the programmes which need to be followed. We are a country with 400 million people below poverty line. Despite inadequate governance, we had 8 to 9 percent growth rates. And if despite poor governance, we did so well, then we can see what would be India’s potential with effective governance. There are Governments at the States. Some of these States like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have achieved remarkable growth in all these years. Gujarat has been a growth story for long but Madhya Pradesh which had the tag of being a prime BIMARU state has turned around and recorded double digit growth rates. Some may say that it started with a low base but that doesn’t take away the fact that it’s a hugely successful turn-around story. Good governance stands at the core of this success.
One has to honestly analyse what went wrong in the India story. The first lesson that one learns from the last few years is that India can not afford a non-politician as a Prime Minister. Prime ministership is not an employment. Prime Ministers are not judged by the number of years they spend in office. They are always going to be judged by the direction which they gave as far as the economy is concerned. And if that is to be judged, the PM’s word must be the last word in the Government. Prime Ministers must be the natural leaders of the country, certainly of their own Party and Government. Prime Ministers can never look helpless. Prime Ministers can not go back with a feeling that I am not being allowed to deliver. If you were ever to come to a situation like this, you will never be able to hold that authority of the Government. Therefore India must now realize that this whole experiment of the political and executive authority residing in separate power centers does not work. A Corporate can run on this type of a model where the Board of Directors sit somewhere, the authority resides there and the hired CEO runs the company and reports to the Board. Corporates can run in this manner but you can not have the largest democracy of the world running in this manner.
The second important lesson is that our objective should be to have higher growth rates so that an enriched Government has enough money to spend on poverty alleviation programmes for the poor. You cannot merely rely on potential populism in order to pursue your politics.
The third important lesson is about the image of India. Image will not merely depend on jingoistic statements. Image also depends on how we govern. If we have an image of a policy paralysis or an image where you do not inspire confidence even in your State Governments and I think a large part of the energy of the present Government in the last few years is really spent on this, then we can not make any good progress. Some States stand up and feel that you cannot really perform if you have an unfair Government at the centre. This is not a Government which is fair. Not being content with a drubbing at the polls, the Government wants to set up a Commission of Enquiry against a State. This is a Government which discriminates against the States and therefore , there is no comfort environment in which the States can function effectively. I have no hesitation in saying that if we are looking for political confrontations all the time, then you can not develop a larger consensus for economic growth. It is a lesson for all Governments in future that India is a federal polity. There would always be Governments in the States belonging to other political formations. You have to accept that verdict of the electorate and you have to allow them to function and allow them space to function. You have to realize that arrogance in politics is always counterproductive. The people who meet you when you are going up, would also be the same to meet you when you are slipping down. Only posterity can see who has the last laugh. I remember how my suggestions on the LokPal Bill were being snubbed on the 29th December 2011 and the House got adjourned and just two days after the election results came out, even my floor suggestions on the Lok Pal Bill without written amendments were being accepted. I said to myself that the mighty have fallen. There is no last day in the political calendar. There is a particular methodology of dealing with the political system. In the past It has been practiced. I remember how cordial relations and bonhomie existed between Shri P V Narasimha Rao and Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The winds of political change is already there. As far as India’s economy is concerned, the biggest challenge is how to revive the investment cycle. And I think If we have to revive the investment cycle, India’s economic decision making must become credible. The present Government has lost its will to rule. They see the writing on the wall. Its no longer a lame duck Government, the closer analogy would be dead duck Government. We are bracing for a political change in this country. Change and Change for the better is inevitable and its now a matter of right for all Indians.
Posted on 20 December, 2013, No Comments Comments admin
The Congress Party has not realized the challenges that it faces. It has no answers to reviving the economy or cleansing itself from the allegations of corruption. It further does not know how to politically deal with Narendra Modi. Rather than its organization being strengthened and the charisma of its leaders being built up, it believes that Modi can be politically countered either by the CBI or by outlandish comments of its leaders. The Home Minister Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde’s statement that the Centre is considering the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry on the alleged snooping charges, only establishes that the Congress Party has failed to learn the lessons from its electoral defeat.
The 2G spectrum allocation was a monumental fraud. The Congress believes it has resolved the issue through a cover-up report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee. Even the notes of dissent submitted by the Opposition MP’s have not been considered. Adarsh scam involved a loot of public property by private persons. The Congress CM of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, had to resign on the issue. Today, the Congress believes that it has resolved the issue by denying the sanction to prosecute Ashok Chavan and by the Cabinet rejecting the report of the Inquiry Committee probing the Adarsh scandal.
The Congress Party had highlighted the issue of alleged snooping on a lady by the Gujarat Police. The lady’s family has already clarified that it was a security measure on their own request. Notwithstanding that clarification, the Gujarat Government has appointed a Commission of Inquiry headed by a retired judge to look into the whole issue. The Commission at present is functioning. Rather than deal with the problems of economy and corruption, the Home Minister’s statement that the Government is considering the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry by the Central government on the same issue comes as a surprise. Notwithstanding the constitutional impermissibility of the Central Government appointing a Commission on the issue, the Congress Party has merely reaffirmed that it is not concerned with the problems facing the country. It believes that petty vindictive politics alone suits its modus operandi.
With a JPC cover-up of the 2G spectrum allocation scam, the country needs a Commission of Inquiry to go into the whole issue. The report of the Committee which examined the Adarsh scam has to be implemented and the guilty prosecuted. State Governments of Rajasthan and Haryana need to probe allegations of land scandals involving a key member of the first family of the Congress Party. Rather than clear itself from the charges of corruption on all these issues, the Congress Party feels that by diverting the principal issue, it can get a political advantage. Such moves will serve no useful purpose.
Posted on 19 December, 2013, No Comments Comments admin
The UPA Government has faced several adversities. The Government’s decision making ability is in doubt. The economy is not picking up. There is no coordination between the ministers. Corruption has dented the image of the government.
The Prime Minister was never perceived to be a mass leader. The projection by the UPA of their next generation leader has not taken off. Even a brief conversation with Congress leaders familiarizes one of the despondency. The UPA has lost the will to govern. Its leaders have lost even the will to fight back. The UPA’s non-performance and falling image was compounded by two other mistakes. The arrogance of power was writ large in the statements of its ministers and leaders. They thought that power is immortal and no other political combination will ever displace them. Excessive propaganda has its dangers. The people do not digest such propaganda. Only the UPA leaders are buying their own propaganda. The recently concluded session of Parliament evidenced this loss of capacity and will to rule. No effort was made to get the session to run. The session had to be abandoned midway. The disturbance was predominantly by the UPA members, their allies and supporters. The Lokpal Bill was delayed by several years because the UPA refused to accept the formulations contained in the now approved enactment. They broke the negotiations with Team Anna. They refused to accept my amendments on 29/12/2011 and adjourned the session at midnight. They refused to accept the Select Committee recommendations. An electoral wrap on the knuckles has led to the complete collapse of their arrogance. Now all these suggestions have been favoured. Their leader decided to join the bandwagon though belatedly. In the process he even forgot his ‘game changer’ speech delivered two years ago in the Lok Sabha where he had argued exactly the opposite.
What is the UPA game plan to deal with the AAP ? It may not be fully correct to say that AAP is the B-Team of the Congress. It is the Congress which has now agreed to become the B-Team of the AAP – again an evidence of the lack of will to fight back. On Telengana, the party is allowing the drift to continue. Obviously there must be a separate State carved out. But the government seems to have lost the ability to even bring representatives of both regions in Andhra Pradesh on a negotiating table to ensure that none goes back with a sense of injustice. No measures have been initiated to revive the economy or to improve upon the government’s image of indecisiveness or its track record of being a corrupt government. The UPA has not learnt from its mistakes. It merely tried to ensure that a phony JPC report on the 2G scam is pushed through without a discussion. It is mistakes of this kind which has cost the UPA its image. On the last day of Parliament session, the Home Minister tried his best to push through the Communal Violence Bill for introduction in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill is divisive. It seeks to polarize the society. It infringes the federal structure of the Constitution. Although these motivations were inappropriate, the incompetence of the Home Ministry prevented the introduction. It could not get the printed version of the Bill ready in time for being listed in the agenda.
It is now an under-statement to call the UPA a lame duck government.
It is in fact a dead duck.
Posted on 17 December, 2013, No Comments Comments admin
The arrest and the treatment meted out to the Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade deserves to be condemned. The United States unilateralism in narrowing down the scope of diplomatic immunity should not be accepted by India. Article 31 of the Vienna Convention clearly provides that a diplomatic agent shall enjoy immunity from criminal action of the receiving State. The only exceptions mentioned in the Vienna Convention are that if there is a real action regarding the private immovable property located in the receiving State, the action relating to succession in which the diplomatic agent is involved or an action relating to any professional or commercial activity exercised by the diplomatic agent. These exceptions are only in relation to civil and administrative jurisdictions. With regard to criminal action again there is no exception which the Vienna Convention has carved out. Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations also provides that Consular officers shall not be liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a grave crime and pursuant to a decision by the competent judicial authority. The Convention clearly states that Consular officers shall not be committed to prison or be liable to any other form of restriction on their personal freedom unless there is a judicial verdict. It goes further to state that if criminal proceedings are instituted against a consular officer, he must appear before the competent authorities but nevertheless, the proceedings shall be conducted with the respect due to him by reason of his official position. Even though the Covenants of the Vienna Conventions are clear with regard to the extent of immunity available to a foreign diplomats and consular officials, the US State Department has displayed scant regard for the established conventions. If the arrest of the diplomat raises serious questions with regard to the infringement of Vienna Conventions, the subsequent treatment meted out to her — the search, keeping the lady diplomat in custody with hardened criminals displays the cavalier manner in which the Americans are treating this issue.
Diplomacy operates on the principle of reciprocity. In the past when an elected representative from India has been denied US visa, the Government of India have taken it lying down because of its own sense of insecurity vis-a vis the concerned elected representative. This has given to the Americans a signal that they can act unilaterally without attracting an adverse reaction from India. The case of Devyani Khobragade is a pointer to the fact that Government of India must now and in future act on the principle of reciprocity. If there is any infringement of any local law, be it even a municipal or State laws, by an American diplomat/ consular official, we must waive off the immunity under the Vienna Conventions. Similarly, if we find the conduct of any US elected representative unacceptable in our subjective opinion, we must reserve the right to reject his or her visa application.
Posted on 15 December, 2013, No Comments Comments admin
Democracy is a great leveller. It votes politicians into power; it votes them out of power. Those who move up will also move down. History judges them by the number of supporters that are left when they are down. Yesterday, on 14th December, 2013, we witnessed a Press Conference by the Vice President of the Congress Party flanked by ministers and another leader. The virtues of the Select Committee report and the Lokpal Bill were informed to the whole country. The body language of the four gentlemen who met the Press was a changed one. This was in sharp contrast to the stand of these leaders in the past three years. Earlier they had prevented Shri Anna Hazare even from sitting on a fast in support of the Lokpal Bill. They had involved Team Anna in endless negotiations only to reject all proposals. They introduced an unacceptable Bill in the Lok Sabha which was described as a ‘game changer’. It was unilaterally passed in the Lok Sabha in the face of resistance by the combined Opposition. When the Rajya Sabha sought to amend the Bill, the House was adjourned at midnight. When the Select Committee made recommendations, the same were placed before the parliament after almost a year. They insisted that the CBI would be under the government and not under the Lokpal.
But Yesterday, both the language, approach and the body language was different. After electoral wrap on the knuckles, the mighty had fallen. The ‘game changer’ had been abandoned. They were now looking for a conciliatory approach.
A fundamental change in democratic functioning is that power no longer vests in one institution. There is a spread of political power. Government, Opposition, Judiciary, Media, Bureaucracy, Civil Society, Public opinion are all repositories of power. Any one institution assuming all powers to itself is bound to be misled. Arrogance can never be strength. It is a mask for lack of confidence. Arrogant people are not learners. Arrogance should never be confused with confidence. Arrogance leads to over-belief in yourself. Yesterday’s Press Conference only reaffirms this.
This should also be a lesson for the new emerging AAP. The party has done remarkably well in the recent elections to Delhi Assembly. Its celebratory mood has converted itself into one of arrogance. The BJP has an absolute majority in three State assemblies. Two of them have been won with overwhelming majority. The BJP is the largest single party in the fourth assembly. The joy and celebrations ended on day one. The party got into the work mode on the next day itself. Maintaining dignity, grace and humility after victory is essential. Arrogance can be the first sign of downfall. What goes up in politics also comes down. It is this feeling amongst others which must inculcate humility in politics. The AAP party must learn from this. Today they challenge political opponents. They are disrespectful to leaders of other parties. Their letters to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Rajnath Singh are worded impolitely. Today, even their mentor Anna is not being spared.
For the political class it should be a learning experience. After three years of arrogant attitude towards Lokpal, the Congress has decided to climb down. One hopes that the AAP party learns from this.
Posted on 10 December, 2013, No Comments Comments admin
The Parliament had appointed a JPC to examine the matter of allocation and pricing of telecom and spectrum. The report of the JPC, approved by a slender majority, was laid on the table of Rajya Sabha today. The conduct of the Congress party and the UPA government makes it clear that they have failed to learn the lessons from the results of the recently held assembly elections. The strategy is to first indulge in acts of corruption and then subvert constitutional institutions in order to cover them up.
The principal issues that the JPC had to examine were with regard to –
( 1.) Whether Spectrum allocated in 2008 could be given at 2001 prices?
( 2.) Whether the goalposts could be shifted in relation to the procedure by which the Spectrum had to be allocated?
( 3.) Whether the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister were in the know of and privy to the decisions taken by the then Telecom Minister?
The Majority Report bypasses most of these issues. On the contrary it has devoted large sections of the Report to blame the NDA government. Obviously, the report will carry no credibility. The JPC, which went into the BOFORS Case invented a theory that commissions paid to the middlemen were not kickbacks but winding-up charges. The CBI charge sheet negated this theory. The Parliamentary Committee, which went into the Cash-for-Vote scam blamed the Opposition MP’s. The trial court has now held that they were whistle blowers and had committed no offense. If we want that the dignity of the Parliamentary institutions be maintained, we must ensure that the truth surfaces and not be covered up.
The note of dissent given by the Opposition MP’s to the Chairman of the Telecom JPC has been edited. Today, I raised an issue in the Rajya Sabha, whether the Chairman of the Committee can only edit superfluous or Un-Parliamentary references made in a note of dissent, or can he change the substance of the dissent note that was submitted? By doing so, the Chairman has committed a breach of privilege. I invited a ruling from the Chair on this issue? Regrettably no ruling came.
The only consolation I have is that the Government stands exposed. The Emperor is without clothes. Even a Parliamentary cover-up through a JPC will not save it of the embarrassment.
Posted on 09 December, 2013, No Comments Comments admin
The BJP-Akali Dal Alliance has won 32 constituencies of Delhi. This is about six to eight seats short of our expectations. We have narrowly lost in some assembly segments. Even though we have managed to retain a large part of our traditional votes, there was some shift even in middle class localities to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The Congress was no longer a serious option in Delhi. Residents of Delhi were considering which of the two alternatives to vote for – the BJP or the AAP.
The AAP may have got lesser votes and seats than the BJP. However, that is not a ground for satisfaction for the BJP. The BJP’s march to comfortable majority has not been interrupted by the Congress. It has been interrupted by AAP. The lesson of the 32 constituencies that the BJP has won clearly reveals that most candidates who were well grounded in the constituencies and appeared to be electorally acceptable have won. The lesson for the BJP of these results is that the credibility-quotient counts in an election. The image of the leadership, as also of the candidate, must inspire confidence amongst the voters. The announcement of Dr. Harsh Vardhan’s name as the BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate helped the BJP. Those who have a track record of serving their constituency well, have a better chance of being elected. Just getting a party nomination even in a stronghold is not enough. The days of conventional politics are now over.
Is the AAP merely a freak phenomenon? Or is it going to be a lasting experiment? The last word on this cannot be said at this moment. This party is unconventional. It has attempted to exploit the general mood of cynicism. It has made unrealistic promises and does not want to sit in a position of responsibility where it has to walk its talk. The very suggestion of being in government to implement its policy and promises appears to be scary for this party. In a democracy, the voters vote in order to elect the government. When there are no clear majorities, the government formation is an art of the possible. The Congress Party can give the AAP outside support in order to form a government. In Power, such a party would be like a fish out of water. It is possible to make exaggerated promises, and capture the imagination of a few by making unimplementable promises. The strategy of the party is to avoid power rather than be in a position to implement the unimplementable.
Posted on 08 December, 2013, No Comments Comments admin
The results of the assembly elections for four states have been announced today. We in the BJP are satisfied with the results. Madhya Pradesh has been a model of good governance for the BJP. It is a State represented by Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan who turned it around from its original ‘bimaru’ status and put it on development path . Its road network has also increased substantially and the social schemes have been extremely successful. The Party has retained the State in three successive elections eliminating the possibility of anti-incumbency.
Chhattisgarh was carved out of that portion of Madhya Pradesh where the BJP was never traditionally strong. The Party has retained its strength and is in a position to form the Government for a third time in succession. If these two State Governments continue till 2018, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh would have seen the last Congress victory only in 1998 i.e. 20 years ago.
Rajasthan is the most important victory for the BJP. Vasundhara Raje’s leadership has a huge acceptability. After campaigning in the State, I had mentioned that I saw the BJP campaign ‘electrifying’. This is the largest majority BJP has ever received in a big State. We have won 82% of the seats.
In Delhi, even though we are the largest party and close to the majority figure, the result is below our expectations. We had expected at least 5-6 seats more than we have won. My congratulations to the Aam Aadmi Party for performing well in its first ever electoral endeavour. AAP campaign was noticed by the people and its mode of communication was effective. It is, however, yet to be tested whether in the long run, the campaign based on cynicism can be indefinitely sustained. My congratulation are also due to our Party President Shri Rajnath Singh for the victory of the party organization in these elections. Shri Narendra Modi who extensively campaigned in all the States deserves to be complimented.
This result leads us to the next campaign for the Lok Sabha . 72 parliamentary seats went to the polls in these assembly segments. The Congress has won very few of them. If arithmetical calculation is made, BJP would have succeeded probably in about 65 out of these constituencies. The next Lok Sabha election is going to be fought mainly between the BJP and the Congress. These results give an indication for the future. Cumulatively our strike rate in these assembly elections has been close to 70% . That is not a mean achievement.
Posted on 07 December, 2013, No Comments Comments admin
The Economic Times today carries a report on page 4 titled “Do Kings of Sting Operations Face a Credit Deficit ?”
The essence of the story is that a significant number of websites have come up in recent years. Most of them specialize in sting operations. They do not have a financial model either for existence or for survival. They have now started registering themselves as societies and non – profit organizations in order to avoid transparency which accompanies a company registered under the Companies Act. A company has to maintain regular accounts, and submit the Statement of Accounts and Balance Sheet to the Registrar of Companies every year. The same can be obtained by any person. The position of finances of the company therefore becomes transparent. This facility will not be available if the operator is not a company.
I have earlier commented that a large number of these websites have been used to target important Non-Congress leaders. Narendera Modi unquestionably has been their prime target. Recently, an investigation by one such was even targeted against the Aam Aadmi Party. In the absence of any financial model these websites depend on donations for their survival.
Invisible and non-transparent funding can render any organization a suspect. Such organizations can even be donor driven. The fact that the government and the Congress Party have ordinarily not been targeted by these websites raises an important issue of credibility deficit. Those who masquerade as crusaders must themselves be seem to be clean. They want transparency and openness with regard to others to the extent that they sting them to bring out certain facts in the public domain. However, their own survival depends on unknown sources. It is time that these websites made a full disclosure in public about the sources of their finances, their motivations and their selective targeting of only a few.
Otherwise a suspicion would continue that these are “sting cameras for hire”.
Posted on 05 December, 2013, No Comments Comments admin
The voting has been concluded for the election to the five state assemblies, which went to the polls. The results are anxiously awaited. The Exit Polls indicated that the Congress is likely to receive a drubbing almost everywhere. The Exit Polls only indicate the likely results. They are subject to the normal margin of error. Notwithstanding this limitation of the Exit Polls they indicate a trend. The Congress appears to be completely demoralized. In the last phase of the elections, the Congress leaders almost abandoned the election campaign for Delhi Assembly. Mrs. Sheila Dixit virtually fought all alone. Yesterday, the Congress spokespersons were conspicuous by their absence in the discussions on the Exit Polls. If this is the demoralization that the Exit Polls give to the Congress Party, I wonder what would happen when the actual results come in.
There is never a last day in the calendar of politics. It is an ongoing calendar. You never lose unless you stop trying. The Congress has stopped trying. This is precisely true for Delhi elections that were abandoned by its central leadership. The mess on the economic front that the Central government created, serious allegations of corruption, a policy paralysis and a non-inspirational leadership has demoralized the Congress cadres. Unless the Congress party responds to this reality, it will never find the correct answers. The relevance of charisma of a dynasty is never a long term answer in politics. When the political parties become a crowd around a family, the strength of the party becomes synonymous with the capacity of that family. The party itself has become a dynastic party. If the dynasty cannot deliver, the party itself fails.
I am only waiting to see, how the Congress Party reacts to the results of the Polls on December 8, 2013. Observing this Party closely, I have no doubt that they will not ask the right questions. Unless they ask the right questions, they will not get the right answers. I will not be surprised, considering the traditional thinking of the Congress, if their solution to the problem is “if one member of the family fails, let us try another”.