[All the three authors are consistent Modi backers. Of them, Swapan Dasgupta, a journalist, has the closest association with the BJP> He's a nominated member to the Rajya Sabha. Arguably, this, understandably, formar member of the British SWP, is the brightest one belonging to the BJP firmament proper, which is so very starved of talents. Way more refined than the fellow journailst Chandan Mitra, understandably, a former Maoist. Only comparison is Arun Shourie, another journalist, of yore. Now, a rebel. He too, when he came back to India, came to be associated with the PUCL, as a leading figure, along with V M Tarkunde. Used to talk of his appreciations of Gandhi and Mao. Dasgupta, evidently, remains an unwavering backer, and campaigner, as his comment reporoduced below clearly indicates. The interesting point to note, though, is that even he's talking of a possible (even if still perhaps unlikely) defeat and its likely (unsettling and, thereby, deleterious) consequences. It was just unthinkable even till very recentl days. Rajasthan, coming in the wake of Gujarat, has changed all that.
Desai and Singh are, of course, having no formal connections with the BJP. They're essentially outside backers. Though quite close. So, significantly more forthright (in expressing their apprehensions and frustrations).] I/III. https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/right-and-wrong/if-modi-loses-in-2019-were-back-to-old-unsettled-politics/ If Modi loses in 2019, we’re back to old, unsettled politics February 11, 2018, 1:00 AM IST Swapan Dasgupta in Right & Wrong | India | TOI Three years and nine months is only a small blip in the history of a nation but it is long enough to set the terms of a new normal. Public memory being short and focussed on the immediate, the reality of what preceded the general election verdict seems to have gradually receded from the public imagination. For nearly 25 years, from the time Rajiv Gandhi lost power in 1989 till Modi’s emphatic victory, India lived in the shadow of endemic political instability. True, P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee lasted their full term and Manmohan Singh was in office for two terms. But a nominal parliamentary majority didn’t ensure stability. Rao was haunted by internal dissensions in the Congress, Vajpayee was buffeted by regional pressures and demands from within his parivar, and Manmohan had to operate within the constraints of a parallel power centre, not to mention conflicting ideological pulls and pressures. This is not to suggest that India didn’t progress in those 25 years but the forward march was slow, halting and marked by missed opportunities. That the anxieties and tensions of those years have become history are due in no small measure to three developments. First, the electorate gave an absolute majority to a single party. This has meant that the scope for political blackmail from supporting parties is extremely limited. The unease of the Shiv Sena, for example, stems from its inability to counter the rising clout of the BJP in Maharashtra. And N Chandrababu Naidu’s pressure on the Centre for more funds is nowhere as effective as it was in the Vajpayee years. Secondly, within the BJP the pre-eminence of Modi is uncontested. Modi is not only the most popular mass leader in the party, he has a proven record of being able to deliver votes. The so-called 220 Club that was said to have existed prior to the 2014 outcome has melted away. Moreover, unlike Vajpayee who was never entirely successful in coping with pressures from the wider Sangh parivar, Modi is seen as being ‘our man’ by the entire RSS fraternity. With Amit Shah as the bridge, Modi has successfully evolved a convivial partnership with the RSS that concedes his right to take the final call, at least in matters of politics and governance. Finally, on issues of governance, Modi is not prone to either ambivalence or hesitation. The Prime Minister has a set of definite priorities, determined by a blend of idealism and realpolitik, that he pushes relentlessly. His hands-on approach is quite unlike anything India has experienced at the national level for the past 25 years. He isn’t afraid of taking calculated risks — as he did with demonetisation, GST and the surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir — and even thinking big, as with Aadhaar and Ayushman Bharat health insurance. Nor for that matter is he inclined to panic when confronted with political opposition. He didn’t blink over either the revolt of the intellectuals in 2015 or after the electoral setbacks in Bihar and Delhi. Indeed, Modi has revelled in taking the battle into the enemy’s camp, as marked by his no-holds-barred speech to the Lok Sabha last Wednesday. In the past 44 months Modi has injected a spectacular measure of stability into the system. At the same time, he has enhanced the popular appetite for big change, including disruption. He has attempted to sell India a lofty dream, but a dream that puts his leadership at the centre. Modi has reshaped India’s politics, not least by systematically marginalising the old establishment and making power brokers redundant. Along the way, he has made powerful enemies and created a unity of purpose among his opponents. For them, the political battle against the BJP has also become a personal war against Modi. This may explain why three byelection victories in Rajasthan have had Delhi’s bush telegraph buzzing with the belief that Modi is vulnerable and could lose his majority in next year’s election. How Modi will pitch the 2019 battle is a subject of conjecture. But the possibility of electoral turbulence has excited the imagination of those who feel short-changed by political stability. As of now there is little talk of what any post-Modi dispensation will look like. Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar seem to have different approaches and conflicting ambitions. One thing, however, is clear: if Modi loses, Indian politics will revert to its old and unsettled ways. For the moment, New India and a Modi government seem inseparable. II/III. http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/karni-sena-padmaavat-rajasthan-madhya-pradesh-bjp-bhansali-the-padmavati-debacle-5058934/ Out of my mind: The Padmavati debacle Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh may be lost, but that is a problem for Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Modi has to secure the trust of all citizens to win big. Written by Meghnad Desai | Published: February 11, 2018 1:20 am Padmaavat protests: 8 cases registered so far, SIT formed to probe Gurugaon violence Gurugram where Karni sena protestors torched a state road transport department bus at Sohna Road. Protester throws stone on police during protest. (Express Photo/Manoj Kumar) WHAT a farce! The Karni Sena terrified Sanjay Leela Bhansali, beating him up during the shooting. Then they rampaged all over North India, even attacking a bus carrying schoolchildren. The terrified governments of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra (all BJP) surrendered their sovereignty and prostrated themselves before the Sena. The Censor board was threatened and the film title had to be clipped. The Supreme Court had to intervene and point out that banning the film or not showing the film was not an option. Even so, cowardly state governments hesitated. Lo and behold! It turns out that far from insulting the Karnis and their remote ‘ancestor’ Padmavati, Bhansali insults Muslims and extols the Rajputs. He demeans women but then he does that in every one of his films. Yet women and men flock to his films. That is alright then. Let us hope that now the Karni Sena does not agitate to force people, especially Muslims, to see the film compulsorily. Of course if they had waited for their protest till after they had seen the film, it would have helped everyone. The damage that this will do to the BJP is difficult to calculate. It began even before Padmavati, with the fiasco over Baba Ram Rahim. The Haryana government abandoned its duty of keeping law and order and let the ardent followers of the Baba run rampage, with police politely avoiding any gaze. The regularity with which these state governments have abandoned their duty of protecting their citizens against vandalism will be remembered for a long time. Of course this cowardice on part of these governments is a politically motivated move hoping to capture or at least not alienate vote banks. But these groups — followers of Baba Ram Rahim or the members of the Karni Sena — may threaten violence, but they do not add up to many votes. The majority who are inconvenienced and have to keep silent while they cannot go about their daily activities will take their revenge at the EVM, as the recent Rajasthan by-elections showed. Normally, governments in India hound citizens for real or suspected breach of even the most minor regulation. Tax terrorism extends to more than just income tax. Even the moves which are designed to empower the citizens, like the Aadhaar card, become instruments for harassing them. Babus insist that for anything given by the governments, even if they be entitlements, the Aadhaar card must be produced. Why they cower in front of noisy political lobbies is a mystery. Rajiv Gandhi banned Satanic Verses without reading it, even before it had arrived in India, for the fear of losing the Muslim vote. India is a federal polity and there is not much the Central government can do. But Narendra Modi has to bear in mind that ultimately it is his re-election which is the most important contest in the next 15 months. His usual practice is not to make statements on controversial matters. But during the year when Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh face election, with the general election not far away, this crisis is one that he should not ignore. Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh may be lost, but that is a problem for Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Modi has to secure the trust of all citizens to win big. III. http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/bjp-narendra-modi-rss-congress-the-price-of-hindutva-5058931/ Fifth column: The price of Hindutva? It could be time for the Prime Minister to notice that in the name of saving cows he has alienated Dalit communities across India and not just Muslims Written by Tavleen Singh | Published: February 11, 2018 1:10 am Modi Hindutva and BJP goes hand in hand BJP chief ministers have allowed their obsession with cows and their hatred of Muslims to take precedence over the agenda for change that Modi promised. (Reuters) The Prime Minister tried in Parliament last week to list the achievements of his government in the past four years, but nobody seemed to be listening. Political journalism in today’s India is steered by prime-time chat shows, so there was chatter instead about a Congress lady MP’s mocking cackle during the Prime Minister’s speech. And, there was talk about why Narendra Modi spent so much time in his very long speeches denouncing the Congress party. It was a mistake to do this even if the handful of Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha screeched slogans throughout his speech. It was disgraceful behaviour but strategic disruption. It fits the story that the newest Gandhi to inherit the Congress party is hoping to win the next general election on. This story has a single premise. This premise is that Modi has failed to deliver ‘achhe din’ and has instead made life for the average Indian worse. The Dynasty has many loyal servants in the media and in leftist intellectual circles so this narrative began to unfold in newspaper commentary last week. If the Prime Minister is upset about this, and he seems to be, then he should spend some time mulling over why the grand achievements he spoke of in his speeches in Parliament have gone mostly unnoticed. He could begin by asking himself why he allowed one of his party leaders last week to declare that there was no room for Muslims in India. Vinay Katiyar also said that the Taj Mahal must be demolished because it has been built on the foundations of an ancient Hindu temple. This second plan is easier to implement than ethnically cleansing India of nearly 200 million Muslims. In any case it harms Modi personally every time one of his MPs spouts this kind of rubbish in public. While mulling over why his government’s achievements have gone unnoticed, the Prime Minister should also ask himself if this is not because of hate crimes in the name of Hindutva and craziness in the name of our sacred cows. Has he noticed that his chosen chief minister of Uttar Pradesh announced plans to turn jails into cow shelters? Then, why not the fine bungalows in Lucknow that house elected and unelected officials? Why not Rashtrapati Bhavan and all of Lutyens Delhi? It could be time for the Prime Minister to notice that in the name of saving cows he has alienated Dalit communities across India and not just Muslims. Has he noticed that millions of jobs in dairy farming and in the leather and meat industries have been destroyed because of the cow craziness unleashed in the past four years? Has he noticed that this reverence for the sacred cow is confined to upper caste Hindus and not to Hindus in general? The truth is that if the Hindu vote got consolidated in favour of the BJP in 2014, it was entirely because of slogans that promised not just better days but change and development for all Indians. The average Indian was sick of electing a political party that had been reduced to a private limited company by a Dynasty that did more for itself than for India. If the mood has now changed enough for Rahul Gandhi to be seen as a credible future prime minister by voters in Gujarat and Rajasthan, then it is mostly because too many BJP chief ministers have allowed their obsession with cows and their hatred of Muslims to take precedence over the agenda for change that Modi promised. This has harmed the personal credibility of the Prime Minister. It does not help that the only serious economic reform we have seen in the past four years has been the implementation of GST, and it has so far been implemented badly. Demonetisation was dramatic disruption rather than an economic reform, and so far it appears to have done more harm to the economy than good. If by now we had seen major reforms like the privatisation at least of unprofitable government hotels and airlines and some attempt at reducing government spending on itself, then it would have been easier to overlook the hatred and hysteria that have spread in the name of Hindutva. As things stand, the political future when seen from the vantage point of the Prime Minister must look pretty bleak. But, it is going to look a lot bleaker if he believes that delving into historical wrongs that may or may not have been committed by past Congress governments is going to make voters give him another full majority. Millions of young Indians constitute a large portion of the electorate and they are more interested in the future than in the past. They are more interested in improving their abysmal standards of living in the near future than in the glories of ancient Hindu India. Follow Tavleen Singh on Twitter @ tavleen_singh -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
