It has been more than one month since i have posted anything on my blog. No, i have not lost interest in blogging neither have i lost my ability to write.
Most of my time i am deviating between my new job and a new house.The remaining moments is spent on setting up a new home.
As I joined SBI and shifted to Bhopal, i had to start things from scratch and i would like to add that still not much has been accomplished. The first thing that i purchased was a gas stove :).
A gas stove purchased from my own salary,well, that is some thing to narrate to my grand children in the near future. Then came basic utensils, a pan for boiling eggs and preparing coffee.
What next? May be a laptop. No, not maybe, a laptop for sure.But till then, Please bear with me.
It was refreshing to go through Vir Sanghvi’s column “Counter point’ in which he very surprisingly deviated from his generous habit of playing ‘Congress is India’ slogan and raised very obvious, valid but seemingly neglected points of the danger posed by the effects of the regional parties when they transcend their region desires and aspire for a part at the national stage.
For the starters Sanghvi pointed fingers at Congress (yeah, actually he did it) for allowing Karunanidhi to play with the religious sentiments of Hindus when he infamously asked for the credentials of a person called Ram ( of Ramayan fame, Ayodhya wale).
Similar he poses uncomfortable questions to the other national party of India, BJP, asking it to come out with a white paper ( well, he didn’t actually used this term, but I would have) regarding its stand, if any, on the whole episode of Marathi manoos Vs North Indians where the Shiv Sena is one of the main protagonist. ( Manoos V Indians, how ironical).
We have always read and heard about this whole Indian world of unity in diversity, a place, a metaphysical state where diversities of various nature, culminate into one, to make up an entity called India. But that changes once we step into the political scenario, for then the role reversal takes place.
A swapping of roles take place as diverse parties, many aspirations, hundreds of inspirations vie to put up a collage of what is called “Alliance”.
Political artists try their best to achieve diversity in Unity. Sometimes that collage, in the crudest form of use, appears satisfactory but generally it is one heck of picture which is best left unviewed.
And when the work is finished, we have Muftis, the Badals, the Yadavs, the Mayawatis, the Mamtas, a whole bouquet of the Leftist, the Ammas, the not so sane Karuna and the insane Thackrey smiling at us. (Already started feeling dizzy, and I have not even worked out the details). The above all are just a broad contours, I still have to work on the colors.
Imagine a government where all the above players come together and assume the role of leading India into the next millennium. (I couldn’t, too much of brain required). If this happens then we can safely assume that Kalyug has truly arrived and the time of Mahapralay is near. A time of apocalypse, when every national aspiration, dreams will be quashed for regional interest, where a CM will come above PM in the list of invitees. The more illogical demand, the more higher a politician will go.
After Amma’s call of marching Indian army into Sri lanka is fulfilled, Karunanidhi’s demands of building an expressway between Srilanka and India overlapping the Ramsetu will be next and then will come the time of heeding to Thackrey’s clan demand of annexing North India and moving the refugees to wherever the government seems fit.
And soon we will have four countries, a grand alliance of sort between the smaller states, teaming up to fight the national aspirations of a country called India that is out their to usurp their regional demands.
And that alliance will broadly be based on geographical indicators, viz, The North India, the South India, the West India and the South India. And soon enough that alliance too will break up and only god knows when will the opportunistic leaders realize that out there is another East India company who is just waiting and watching to rush in just like it did centuries ago.
(What started as a writeup based on facts turned into a work of fiction and imagination just like what started as a fight for dalit cause turned into a struggle for the PMs post )
In Southern India, leaders who aspire to play the role of kingmakers in a para-jumbled scenario that will possibly emerge after 16th May are raising a hue and cry over the alleged atrocities carried out by the Srilankan army against the Tamil refugees in their war against the LTTE terrorists.
Karunanidhi, Jayalalita, Vaiko all these ‘Tamil’ sympathizers or more appropriately ‘Tamil opportunist’ have said that they are against this ‘misadventure’ on the part of the Srilankan government. A misadventure that is aimed towards dismantling one of the most feared terrorist outfits.
Someone needs to remind them that this supposed misadventure has been going for the past 2 years. But none of them voiced their dissent against it till now.
The alleged atrocities against the Tamils as purported by Karunanidhi has more to do with garnering the Tamil votebank rather than his genuine sympathy for them.
Kaurnanidhi and Vaiko have openly come out in support of the LTTE which is a banned terrorist organization, not only in India but worldwide. They have orchestrated protests against Indian establishment in UK and in other foreign countries so as to put pressure of the Indian government to use its clout and ask the Srilankan government to stop the offensive.
Even the Congress, whose own leader Rajiv Gandhi was killed by the LTTE has acted submissively to the pressure of its allies and has time and again sent senior officials to Srilanka as a show of its willingness to tow the lines of Karuna and Vaiko and to make sure that they are not displeased least their support is required to form the next government.
The stand taken by Congress is one is driven by short term political gains but in in return they have bartered a peaceful-safe neighbour.
Have not Fingers been pointed at India too for the same level of atrocities that our troops have alleged to commit in Kashmir and in the North east. But national interest has always prevailed. So why should the present Indian leadership or for that matter any leadership pressurize the Lankans in what is their internal matter to stop their assault against a brutal terrorist organization, an organization which has killed numerous high profile leaders and many civilians and even to this day continues to use innocent unarmed combatants and small children for their own safety.
This continuous pressure politics by the Indian government has alienated Srilanka further away from us. Though our old ‘friend’ China has not lost this opportunity to help the tiny island nation by supplying it with arms and materials.
And it is not that the Srilankan government has neglected the refugees. It is doing everything that it can. Independent observers operating in Srilanka have said that the refugees are being taken care of. One needs to understand that even the best of human efforts sometimes appear insignificant in times of human calamities. Give them time, the country has gone through a difficult phase for many years.
All this may seem immaterial now, but years later I hope we don’t use the present Srilankan crisis as an anecdote to illustrate as how not to conduct your foreign policies.
Morality and principles are the two most overly used yet the least applied term in Indian political arena. And it can best be seen by the way Congress has reacted to the rhetoric of a leader who has no personal credentials and a person who prides in calling Rama a drunkard.
It is very sad that it has so easily forgotten the killing of one of its own leader who was killed because he sent the Indian peace keeping force to Srilanka to the very same job that the Lankan army is doing now.
Congress is a “national party”, the grand old party of India. Need we remind this to them again and again?
To be in Bihar and to not be part of any political activity is like living in the holy city of Ujjain and yet failing to take a dip in the Kshipra.
Voluntarily or involuntarily, as the election time approaches you find yourself being attracted to any of the many types of informal, formal political gatherings. Such meetings take place at every conceivable place. Outside home under a mango tree, in the road side teashop, in a temple and sometimes even outside a crematorium. If you have an opinion to share you will find an ear to listen.
Maheshwar Das who retired as deputy SP one months back now finds himself in the illuminated company of politicians who stay in our residential colony.
Dasji, my immediate neighbour is contesting as an MP from the well known Hajipur seat of Bihar. Hajipur is just 15 kms away from Patna and is currently represented by Union minister and Lok Jan Shakti party supremo, Ram Bilas Paswan.
Hajipur has been Paswan's citadel for years and he has created a record of winning that seat by a record margin in the previous election.
It is a reserved seat and my friendly Dasji is pitted against Paswan and Ramsundar Das who is representing (JD)(U).
Dasji a dalit, has started his political move on the right foot as he has managed to secure a BSP ticket. 5 years ago this would not have been significant news, but now with Maywati’s enhanced status it is something big if not spectacular.
Interestingly until he got his nomination, Dasji used to pat my pet German Shepard, Bela, by calling her Mayawati. but ever since he got the ticket everything is back to normal. Though Bela does occasionally misses the tag of being a 'dog' representing the oppressed mass.
Now I leave it upon the readers to apply their own sense of imagination as to what is the significant behind calling my revered Bela as Mayawati.
On the first day of his campaigning I too jumped in the cavalcade of his white Boloeros covered in marching elephants embedded on Blue flags ( representing BSP) as we rode towards Hajipur, the land of world famous small Bananas.
Earlier our former civil servant wanted to wear a black bundy ( jacket) over the traditional white kurta, but he was consented to change his mind by my father and he amended it for a more cooler brown one and we proceeded.
Cries of "Jahan hai Das-wahin hai Aas" filled the air as we crossed the majestic Gandhi Setu connecting Patna and Hajipur. Seating in the back seat I could clearly see the elation on Dasji 's face as he enjoyed every bit of attention that he was getting. Ahhh...the charm of being a leader.
We addressed two political gatherings on the first day and I was not surprised to see a sizable number of people everywhere we went. Probably it was the curiosity to know the unknown or it was the Mayawati effect or most probably the political atmosphere that drew the people out in the basking unforgiving sun.
People with folded hands with glitter and hope in those small eyes gathered around us and their love was reciprocated by folded hands and a bowed head. Dasji at his modest best.
I have heard and read about the concept of giant killers. An unknown-unheard candidates arises from nowhere and trounces a more powerful opponent. Whether I will witness the same in Hajipur will become clear in the third week of May, but if you ask that whether I want to witness another instance of giant killing then my honest reply will be, yes...why not!!!
Madhya Pradesh which sends 29 MPs to the parliament and is traditionally known for its bipolar politics is experiencing a changed sceanrio as lesser parties like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) have started making their presence felt in the central state.
In the previous 2004 general election, the BJP riding on a popular wave and a strong anti-Congress feeling won 25 of Madhya Pradesh's 29 seats with the rest going to Congress. Prominent winners of Congress included Kamalnath and JyotirAditya Scindia.
This time too, experts feel that BJP will romp home quite comfortably. This so called positive feeling for BJP is not being attributed to any national issues like internal security or job opportunities but local issues on which BJP is on a strong platform.
The state government under Shivraj Singh Chauhan has grown stronger with each passing day. His simple yet effective way of governing and his emphasis on development has made sure that the BJP cadre has enough related ammunitions to deal with any congress tirade.
The different state of affairs which the state saw under Digvijay Singh and the scenario under the present CM is quite stark.
In the previous general election the state was virtually nil when it came to good roads and regular electricity supply. But that has changed. Similarly the CM who himself comes from a rural background has made amply sure that the rural segment is not ignored due to which the state has witnessed an all-round development.
The party faced many a discontent during the previous assembly election but most of them were settled amicably as every party leader knows that in the present time BJP is going through a golden period in the state and it would be suicidal to go against the party wish, especially against the CM.
The BJP is functioning so well in the state that former Union minister Sushma Swaraj - the BJP's Election in charge for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand - is in the fray from this Vidisha constituency. Call it the real ‘feel good’ factor.
Out of the 29 seats there are more than at least half a dozen seat where the contested is expected to be one sided. Most of them in favor of BJP. Congress though can safely bet their money only on Kamalnath and Scindia.
The only million dollar question that one can speculate on is whether the BJP will be bale to improve on its previous tally of 25 seats or not. Politically it is very difficult, maybe next to impossible. In the previous election the mass came out to vote for two reasons; First to remove Congress and secondly to install BJP.
This time the first factor is irrelevant.
Secondly the region that is attached to UP is an area where SP and BSP do exercise some influence. Now it remains to be seen how much of that influence will be transformed into votes.
The lesser parties may not appear as a very big issue , but still they have kept both BJP and Congress busy.
Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi’s decision to walk away from the RJD and LJP in the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar was a historic action of the party.
Though it is a different thing that it was the RJD and the LJP leaders,Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan who provoked the Congress to announce its candidature in all the 40 seats from the state.
The two parties formed their alliance and left only three seats for the Congress-the largest partner in the UPA. The LJP-RJD left Aurangabad(Nikhil Kumar),Sasaram(Ms Meria Kumar) and Madhubani(Shakeel Ahmad),all sitting Congress MPs for the Big brother in the UPA. The decision was unilateral and the Congress was not consulted.
In 2004 elections,Lalu had allotted six seats to the Congress,three were successful.Even in the assembly elections,Congress candidates were selected by Lalu Yadav in Bihar.The party which ruled Bihar since 1937(Sr Krishna Sinha days) was reduced to just ten legilaslators in the House.
Back in 2000 elections, all the 20 Congress MLAs were made ministers in Rabri Government when the Congress decided to extend support to the RJD’s minority ministry.
Though,Yadav and Paswan have extended their alliance by inducting the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav into their 134 seats fold(UP,Bihar and Jharkhand),they have refrained from attacking Ms Sonia Gandhi or the Congress in their election speeches. They are in fact reiterating they are still in the UPA.
The same gesture has been reciprocated by the AICC general secretary, Rahul Gandhi,who addressed several election meetings in the first round in Bihar. Rahul did not attack either Lalu or Paswan,but severely criticized the chief minister, Nitish Kumar, alleging the NDA government in Bihar misused the central funds allotted to Bihar .
Paswan and Lalu are claiming they have got nothing to do with the Third Front. They have also denied any links with Sharad Pawar and did not include the NCP in their electoral adjustments of constituencies in Bihar.
By concentrating in 134 seats during the campaign, the Dalit-MY (Muslim-Yadav) leaders are trying to strengthen their bargaining power in the post-election scene at the Centre. They want to keep Mayawati and the Third Front in check ,they have little option in the post –result scene. They can not align with the NDA led by the BJP nor can go with the Third Front,which has no existence in the three states.
The Left Parties have little impact in Bihar,Jharkhand or Uttar Pradesh. They can ignore the NCP,Third Front or Maywati in Bihar and Jharkhand, but they can not ignore the Congress.
The 40 seats from Bihar are witnessing multi-cornered contest every where with the presence of the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party candidates in the fray.
The Congress which has fielded all the three sitting MPs,nominated children and relatives of the senior Congress leaders and also allowed Lalu Yadav’s brother-in-law Sadhy Yadav,to contest from Bettiah against LJP’s Prakash Jha,a film producer.
The party kept the caste considerations while selecting the nominees and admitted Lovely Anand,wife of Ananad Mohan Singh, currently in jail following his conviction in Gopalganj District Magistrate murder case. Lovely too was convicted by the Fast Track Court but acquitted by Patna High Court. She has been nominated from a Rajput dominated constituency of Sheohar which was once represented by her husband.
The current trends of electioneering indicate, the Janata Dal(U)_ BJP combine may get more than what they got in 2004 elections. Together,they are expected to capture between 25 and 30 seats and the RJD-LJP may get 10-12 seats. The Congress may be confined to one to three seats only. In 2004,RJD had 24 seats, LJP four and the NDA 12 MPs from Bihar.
We generally believe that our existing lot of aged politicians should make way for the younger breed that we assume is waiting in the wings to take India to its grand success.For the young guys will bring with them energy and a vision that is best suited to take our country into the future.
Lets sample some facts. Never a harm in looking at ‘figures’, especially if they are well drawn out.
The average age of elected members in the current 14th parliament is 52.6 years. But the surprise comes when we look at our new found partner USA, where the average age is 55.9 years. Japan too has a not so young average age of 52.3.
Is 52 too old an age to be sitting in the parliament?
Various assumptions can be drawn if we compare, say, the US average and Indian average. But if we simply go by the figures, the theory that old legs make the whole system go slow will not hold much weight here. For if that was true, than both US and to some extent Japan would be on par with , if not lagging behind, with where our political structure stands.
My point is that, age, is not the sole criterion which decides how a political structure of the country functions. Agreed that young leaders will be more in sync with today’s demands, outlook, perspective and need but they will also be lacking in experience, teachings that only comes with time, one which is not taught in universities or schools.
So my take is age, rather over- age, is not the ill that ails the Indian parliament. Then what is it ? Maybe Education?
In the just concluded 14th Lok Sabha, 22 MPs had a Doctoral degree, 166 were post graduates and 250 were graduates. This implies that more than 77 % of the total MPs that we elected had a graduate or a higher degree. Is not that a healthy average? Add to it 104 members who are matriculates or diploma holder. And you say ‘Wow’.
Were not we yesterday night grumbling that we are paying the price ofan illiterate political class?
Is being educated the only criteria for being a good leader? No, it is not. If it was, then we would have one of the best behaved, visionary political class. And I would bet my every paisa that all of you will agree that they are anything but ‘well behaved and visionary’.
Some may be there, but collectively they appear what they are known as, i.e, ‘politicians”.
It is among there educated MPs, who cry for ‘Z’ security when even a local thug would not even look at them forget about assassination threat and its among them who were caught taking bribe and it is among them who try to fight it out physically and verbally rather than politically.
But they might have a reason. They always do. Yes they have. Their only alibi; they are also humans, prone to ‘occasional’ fits of greed, anger, and similar other vices. Maybe they are more human less political or is it the other way round?
Things were changing too quickly for them to react. A moment ago it was he who was seeking answers and the very next moment it was she who was asking questions.
Questions and answers; answers that were hard to come were by and even harder to absorb. And in between all this reasoning and explanation, love, that used to be the soul that connected both of them, was laid into oblivion.
The trust that still was in its blossoming stage trembled as every step taken by both of them to resurrect appeared to be like lighting a candle in a windy night. The hope that the candle would not extinguish once it was lighted, and the belief that it would give enough light and love to extinguish the stark recent days and nights of darkness was pushing them to try more and more. But the darkness prevailed. Darkness that was because of the other forms of love; Jealousy and insecurity.
No longer words inspired trust and no longer was expressing of love the response to all bitterness. The tomorrow that was built of love, of dreams, of moments that were inspired by looking into each other’s eyes, and of innocent touch, was slowly crumbling. Also ignored were the many love-filled ‘yesterdays’.
One was not willing to forget the past and the other was not ready to accept that past as a part of the present. The past that had come back brought with itself the unknown, the invisible yet a powerful poison due to which a love that was still adolescent and vulnerable started withering away.
What he asked of her was to forget the past. But for her this was too difficult 'choice' to make.
Suddenly the so promising future appeared a distinct reality as everything was forgotten in some hours of clash of emotions.
As one of them tried to walk the thorn strew path to the others heart, the painful journey was compounded by words that made the pain even more unbearable. A solace, a silent succor was all that was required to reach home. It never came.
In times of love they would talk about who loved other the most. Sometimes she won and many times he lost. This time no one won.
As Chunmun, the only living being that was mutually attached to both of them, tried hard to fight off an imminent death, the mutual love between the two, too was fading away .
Jaanu and Doggy will never be just a pair of words for them. They never were.
As one of them developed love in dogs, the other one found an added interest in the latest songs.
As is said, good things come in small packages. Four months fifteen days was small indeed. And it was sweet and a little bit of sour.
Memories that will come back will be hard to describe or to let go. Metro, Airport, Delhi haat, morning alarm, sleep calls, Raj Thackrey, CCD, Bhopal,Wadala,Nizamuddin,Bandhavgarh, Patel chowk, Republic day, Bournvita and the not so warm Maggi will sometimes bring fond,warm memories that will make them steal a concealed smile or a twinkle in the eyes.
Memories of time that was felt only by them and no-one else. Of standing in cold nights and watching the sun rise and of witnessing the many a toothless smiles. Moments of winking and waiting, of laughing and crying. Of sweet apologies and a world of happiness. Sometimes eyes may give away the extent of ‘happiness’. They always do.
Who loved whom the more is something that no one will be able to ever answer. Perhaps the saddest part of this tale was they even they themselves were not able to make each other understand how much they loved each other.
Maybe both of them loved each other equally, but some things should be left upon god to decide, for he sees what we may never even imagine.
It was the month of October or perhaps even before when it all started …
Until now the Congress party in Bihar had failed to make any ‘visible’ impact on the streets of Bihar. As you roamed the city you will find smiling, bearded, tired, jovial, all kinds of faces of different leaders of all parties except Congress.
But now that has changed as Rahul Gandhi has finally found a place in the political space of Patna. Hoardings depicting him as the future leader of the country have come up at various points in the city.
Though Rahul Gandhi has still not taken up any ‘Bihar specific’ discovery of India tour yet his ‘supposed’ charismatic affect is being used by the party organization to motivate the party cadre and to galvanize supporters.
I find it very strange that India’s biggest political party, Congress, has a very negligible stake, share and presence in a politically active state like Bihar, which historically has been the birth place and play ground of national leaders. I can assure you that this is one place were politics comes before cricket.
Knock on the doors of any house and you are sure to find a political connection that goes either directly to the CM house or in most cases to the political corridors of Delhi. Poke anyone, be it a retired professor, a bank employee, an executive engineer or a street fruit vendor, and they will come out with political stories and development that are hard to imagine. Maybe once can doubt their truthfulness, but then they will say “it may be false now but who knows by the time you finish your dinner it will turn true”. Agreed.
A Delhi based Congress party functionary who was recently in Patna said that the ‘AC culture’ has made the senior leaders of Patna sensitive to sun and insensitive to political requirements. Now they find it hard to come out on street, stage protest, voice demands of the mass which ultimately has led to the downfall of the party presence in the eastern state.
Political vultures have not failed to take notice of this poor state of Congress in the state. Till recently leaders from other regional parties like RJD and LJP decided on which seat should be Congress granted concession so that its nominee may contest.
Also, the Congress been not able to find any local leader who can act as the face of the party. Every state has a leader who represents the party in his region. In Madhya Pradesh there are Digvijay singh, Kamal Nath, in Delhi it is Sheila Dixit, in Chhattisgarh it is Ajit Jogi and so on. Most of them were popular even before they became CM or MPs. But unfortunately the party has no such luxury in Bihar.
Party old timers understandably find this painful and blame the national leaders who in order to run their horses in Delhi mortgaged the party interest in the state. This demotivated the party workers, forcing them to switch loyalties. As a result Bihar Congress has been reduced to a political widow.
Some months back when the MNS goons were beating Bihari and UP migrant workers and making news all over the Country none of the Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi thought it was required to come out and say some words denouncing the act. I have never been able to comprehend the reason behind this insensitivity.
So much for a comprehensive Indian political dream.
The party cannot sink further anymore in Bihar. With nothing to lose but everything to gain, state leaders should begin its revival through small slow steps. First sit, then stand and then fight.
What the Congress needs in Bihar is to focus on long term gains, ignoring the short term losses. Giving itself 5 years and in the meantime strengthening the party cadre and increasing its reach among the mass and will turn true the seemingly impossible possibility of forming the government by its own.
Rahul Gandhi may be short of time but as he embarks on mission to make Congress a pan India party he should not forget that Bihar too figures on his political map.
