Dear MLA and MP hopefuls: I think, you people are the best person to answer, as you know whether there is really any political will among the modern day politicians (your party bosses) to achieve the "Super Power" status ?
Well, that should be your goal and you can't achieve that unless you stop failing to get even a MLA/MP nomination from your party. Hence this article. If you didn't get a MLA/MP ticket from a major political party this time and terribly upset , still your party bosses will expect you to show your loyalty for another 5 years ;might promise you to appoint as a chairman of some co-operative bank or state owned PSUs. Here is a piece of crystal clear free advice for you : "Don't fall into their traps". Don't be loyal, when they did injustice with you by giving the official party ticket to an inferior candidate. In both scenarios (loyal party worker and chairman of a co-operative bank/PSU) , you can't really do any social service for which you have joined politics. You will be forced to sanction some loans to your political masters and eventually be blamed for shutting down of that bank. Know more about the sitting President of India, how she created such a bank and dumped the same bank. Supporters of BJD and Congress leaders demonstrating against party bosses because their leader didn't get an official party ticket ) Sending your supporters to protest at party headquarters (as shown above) , while being loyal to party and waiting for another chance will not serve any purpose; there is no guarantee that you will get ticket next time, even if the people of your area prefer you as your leader. Joining a weaker party with less grass root workers or contesting as an independent is no solution either. You must be wondering - "How to get a major party ticket and contest and win election ?". If you are not an ex-MLA or ex-MP or leader with support base , no political party will embrace you to give a MLA/MP ticket.;mark my word and look at the following picture. Mr Pujari made a good career move after frustrating with the selection procedure of Congress. He joined BJD and got nomination from Sambalpur. But, you may not be holding an official position with in your party and may not get the similar welcome by a rival party. So please read on.. Orissa Youth Congress President Er Rohit Pujari Joining in BJD Know your strength and weaknesses. What you have ? People of your constituency like you and ready to accept you as a MLA or MP. You may have 100 or more loyal supporters May be 1 Lakh cash to spend and may be able to borrow another 1 lakh You know the real performance of your MLA/MPs - what they did and what else they could have done, which they didn't do. i.e. where they failed ? Pictures and Videos of all poor community and their way of living. Their opinion about the current MLA and MP. What you don't have ? No blessing of local MLA/MP (if ruling party) or the MLA/MP hopeful, who lost the election. No mainstream media coverage of your good work. Money and Muscle power How the party ticket is awarded in "true" democracy like USA ? In USA there are two major political parties. One is Democratic Party (Liberals like our Congress party) and another is called Republican Party aka GOP (Grand Old Party), equivalent to BJP. As an example,let us say some one like Dr. A.D. Amar, professor of management at Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business, is seeking Republican nomination for the U.S. Congress in New Jersey’s District 7 (a constituency name). All he needs to be a registered Republican. He should be aware of the issues and challenges of his district and should be able to live debate with other hopefuls of the same ticket. Last election, Prof. Amar had six opponents ; State Senator Leonard Lance, Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield of Summit, Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks, Kate Whitman (daughter of former Governor Christine Whitman) and two other GOP candidates. American public will watch the televised debate of all the 6 and vote their favorite candidate and the candidate, who gets highest number of votes is awarded the party ticket. This process is called primary (if voted by both Party workers and people) and caucuses (if voted by only party workers only) If some one is Governor's daughter but didn't do well in debate will not be preferred by public. The supporters of the candidates will keep a fund raiser of their candidate to meet his election campaign expenses. This includes inviting a celebrity and high profile person and have lunch and dinner with them. Each dinner table seat costs $100. People love to be photographed with high profile leaders or celebrities and don't mind to spend $100 to support their candidates. Fairness is always maintained throughout the process. During 2008 presidential election, a former first lady Sen. Hillary Clinton lost nomination to a 1st time Senator , virtually unknown Barack Obama. All Sen. Obama did is sufficient ground work in each state before the primary. Is India a "true" democracy ? No India has got abundance of selfish politicians , who lead with sycophants. The party president and election committee select candidates based on past profile, perception , local non-scientific highlevel perception or hearsay, favoritism or relatives of some MLA/MP. There is no real debate arranged among candidates during the nomination process; so people were not really given a chance to evaluate and endorse the candidates, which hopeful has got better talent to serve them. Like election of our Rajya Sabha MPs, US also used to have indirect election to their "Senate". But, they improved the process by direct elections to Senate; In India, no one is interested to do so. Non-residents like Manmohan Singh can get elected from Assam and Balbir Punj from Orissa against the will of the people; i.e. wish of the parties supersedes wish of the people. This is such a serious matter, the mainstream media never even discusses it. Why Indian educated class is avoiding to join politics ? MLA/MP Tickets are awarded by the wishes of the party President. Educated class don't wish to end up their life as a salary less party worker and Is Loyalty important to become a MLA/MP ? No Note that, your core objective of joining a political party is "to serve people", not to strengthen party organization. Except BJP (Nationalism, Pro-Hindu) and Communists (economy - Anti-US), non of the other parties have any other core ideology. The secularism, they say practice is nothing but Vote bank politics. Succumbing to pressure of Muslims and forcing Taslima out of country , deferring hanging of Afzal Guru are not secularism. You must have seen Communists can support Congress and go to any extent to defeat them. Communists can beat up poor peasants in Nandigram and Singur and forcefully evict people from their tiny patches of land. The 3rd front is nothing but a loosely floating opportunistic union, who wish to join the "Winner" of the election to become minister. Joining hands before the election with one is risky because if the party loses, they can't become minister for 5 more years. Today , even Nitish Kumar said, he may quit NDA , if NDA doesn't get majority. SInce Lalu is out of UPA, he is keeping his option of "Railway Minister" open. Congress may ditch Lalu and embrace Nitish and offer him the Railway Ministry, if UPA > NDA. So there is only one principle left in today's politics. i.e. power. Don't be surprised, if keeping the 3rd front out, BJP and Congress may join hands and rotate the Prime Minister post, just like CMs are being rotated. No political activist can defend the decisions of their party. We asked 20 questions to one BJD leader in Orissa, he never got back because he just can't answer. All they can do is prepare a stump speech and deliver those bunch of lies adding some colors. Many of the gullible people, which were brought in trucks to the meeting place by promising them a piece of meal, are so ill-informed about the sorry state of Governance, they would even buy those lies. 10% good work, 90% bad work is projected as 90% good work and 10% bad work by local media. Ministers and Senior Journalists or News Paper/TV channel owners are often bottle friends; hence the sorry state of democracy in India. Hungry and needy people (see picture below) have hardly any thing to do with communal and secular rhetoric . These are the people, who are left out of development process, not figured in any manifesto and bears a common tag BPL (Below Poverty Line); they are in desperate need a good shelter, good education for their kids and a job to manage their family. They just expect that, in their lifetime, at least their kids would get out of the slums and live a dignified life that of an average citizen with at least 60K p.a. salary; can afford cloths for their kids. Don't get snubbed at school. If you are at age of 40 and all you have got 30 years more to become a MLA or MP. 6 more chances. So, you just can't join a non-ideological party of Naveen, Lalu, Mulayam, Mayawati or Sonia, prove your loyalty and wait indefinitely to get the official MLA/MP ticket; Even limited ideological parties like BJP is no different than Congress, while selecting candidates; they thrust a non-local Balbir Punj as Rajya Sabha MP on people of Orissa . Better not to join communists as they are considered outdated ,anti-Industry, pro-China and anti-US. No party (even BJP, Nitish Kumar's JD-U, Naveen Patnaik's BJD) is honest;Congress, Lalu, Mulayam, Mayawati etc. are known well corrupt; all get funds from Industrialists and extend favors to them by cheating people. They are running away from making "black money" an election issue, as proposed by Shri Advani because most of them must have accounts in UBS (Swiss Bank). So if one is snake , other is cobra - 19-20 difference between them. Some people get upset when some one changes a party but, can they explain , except secular-communal difference, what is the real policy difference among them with respect to poor. All of them make the same tall promises to break the same later e.g. Congress Rice Rs 3/Kg, BJP Rs 2/- Kg ). So for a person seeking a political career, thinking of sticking to the dynamic power-grabbing ideology of their boss and waiting for a ticket is not an option. He must get a ticket , contest to win an election so that he can serve his community. Even communists in India don't practice communism. A Congress PM says minorities have first claim to resources. A CM emphasizes that, his 206 bones are secular after honeymooning for 11 years with the so called communal party ! So political parties are nothing but a fleet of buses and ticket aspirants should have a backup plan to change the bus, if their current party is not able to accommodate their wishes. But even changing a party doesn't guarantee a ticket. So to win - read the following carefully. Want to become a MLA/MP ? Here is the winning formula because nothing is worse than "doing nothing". First and foremost thing is "Believe in yourself and you are the best candidate for MLA/MP". Think and act like a winner; remember " Winners don't do different things - they do things differently". Be a dedicated social activist and make no secrets of your ambitions to become an MLA/MP. It is not a sin; be proud of your ambitions. Always express your mind and ignore people who criticize you such as - " Doing social service for becoming a MLA or MP". Why ? Because MLA/MPs have got power to do things in 5 years, what a social activist can do in 100 years. Tell your people - "Here are my priorities and I am writing to you in a stamped paper". Elect me and see the difference. Organize small community level meetings/ functions to understand the people's issues. Status of education, roads, water, electricity, health care and sanitation. Parent's opinion about the schools. Talk to your school headmaster and organize parent-teacher meetings. Talk to reputed doctors and organize health care camps, dental camps, eye care camps and blood donation camps. Take lead to start a community news paper. No mainstream journalist, usually reports the deficiency of Government so the end result is - "a corrupt and inefficient Government is projected as honest and efficient"; a perception is deliberately created using media and subsequenty used in stump speeches . Even the Indian Express editor walks a talk with a CM and asks him lollipop questions. The local people need to know the facts. Your critic news paper need to tell people that, whatever they are watching in mainstream media, are bunch of lies. Open a small public office in your constituency and tell public to bother you about their issues and concerns. e.g. Self fish and Greedy Members. ]. You can deal better with corrupt Police, Revenue, Sales tax, Excise inspectors ,BDOs, Tahasildars and all the corrupt people. Tell people that any one asks bribe, just inform you. Go there with media and your supporters and expose the corruption. Use your community print media to reach locally (your constituency) and web media to reach globally. Leave your impression as true friend of people; you will be automatically invited to social functions like marriages etc. Spread the word that you will be contesting the next election. You will be invited to public functions. Most important, talk to the angry ticket losers/rebel leaders of other parties in other constituency to form an alliance (like the 3rd front); take the lead and form an Alliance. UPA is not a political party and yet it rules. So was NDA. The only difference is yours is going to be a floating rebel alliance, where you also need a national party brand. There is a great plan for that. It will be disclosed to MLA/MP hopefuls, when approached at [email protected] . Encourage your supporters to participate in sarpanch , zilla parishad and local bodies elections. Explore local bloggers, who can passionately involve in promoting your good work and exposing the current MLA/MPs. Note that, today in election commission's website, there are about 1000 parties registered. You will not be like any one of them them because yours will be an alliance of frustrated rebel leaders and their grass root workers united under a banner/political party . e.g. if ticket losers of 547 constituencies of India are united to form an alliance and a (non-personified) political party is created as opposed to an alliance (like UPA,NDA) or personified political party like SP,BSP,BJD,JD-U etc. it will be as good as a National Party like Congress and BJP. This party will bring fairness to the nomination process by following the above mentioned primary and caucuses methods , as practiced in USA and even if you lose a nomination, you will feel that, you lost to a more deserving candidate. All you need a co-ordination commitee to supervise the nomination process. To simplify, a Lalu, Mayawati, Mulayam, Paswan started a party and with their divisive caste politics, they became leader. Your immediate goal is to serve the local people by becoming a MLA/MP. Since this is going to be your first MLA/MP job, you will not look beyond your area and hence will not invite any jealousy with in party, may seek mutual cooperation from leaders of other constituencies as the following picture; opportunistic ? doesn't matter. Even if it is, still it is much lesser opportunistic than the following people.
