Posts Tagged ‘modi’
Modi Degree issue and underlying hypocrisy
Let me make my position clear on the Degree issue of PM Modi before going into the critique of the situation. I don’t think degree holds any weightage for becoming a PM/CM or any elected official. Unless public education becomes free, State can’t put any weightage on formal education at least for election purposes. Informal education which comes from hardships of life does not make anyone less human. First the society makes education out of the reach of poor people and then wants to put bar on people for the lack of it. This can’t work. Although no one is barred in India but I have seen a trend brewing.
For me if Modi has or doesn’t have a degree, it doesn’t make him any less qualified to lead our nation.
Getting that out of the way let me come to the current issue. This is not primarily about PM’s qualification but about the disclosures made in election affidavits. Here comes the hypocrisy part. For me anyone is free to enquire about PM’s degree disclosed in the affidavit and has every right to file an RTI demanding the same. But I see a lot of people taking exception to it. “How dare someone ask for Modi’s degree?” is the sentiment. I feel it is utterly wrong.
When Sonia’s qualifications are questioned, When Smriti’s qualifications are questioned, When Tomar’s qualifications are questioned, When Lalu Yadav’s son’s qualifications are questioned, one should keep some parity. We react as per our liking of the leader in question. Sonia degree issue crops up and BJP slams her to be a liar. Tomar’s degree issue and he spent few nights in jail and had to resign as a Minister. But when Smriti Irani and Modi are questioned, it is sacrilege.
Same I will say about Congress and other opposition parties. When their leaders are questioned its witch hunting but when you question the other side, it’s your right?
I feel enquiring Modi’s degree via RTI is okay. Anyone has the right. No one should cry foul. If you do then you have to address all the past positions taken by you. And if you don’t address them, it will expose your hypocrisy. Fun part is I haven’t seen Modi himself complaining, just the new breed of sycophants shouting their lungs out.
Modi’s Pakistan Policy
Only Modi could have allowed Pakistan JIT to visit India. No other leader/party has political wherewithal to survive such a suicidal decision. BJP would have taken Congress’s anti-nationalism to town by now, had UPA would have done the same post 26/11. But that’s every party would have done owing to demands of ‘electoral democracy’.
I would count this as ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking by Modi, something which is required to deal with a contentious issue. Just imagine how a weak step of 1947 on Kashmir has plagued the nation this long. If Pakistan were non-nuclear, force was the best option, but Nuclear weapons make things tricky. We have tried every other approach with Pakistan over last 70 years to no avail. Now is a time for a new approach and that is what Modi is doing.
There are 99% chances that this will fail, but all other approaches have failed 100%. Pakistan has an ally in China at the UNSC who is ready to go the extra mile. India lacks such an ally. US change its policy with successive elections, just like India. Thus is never a serious ally. To put into perspective, what China is to Pakistan is what US has been to Israel. Blind support!
So we lack an ally at the big table. We have a nuclear armed enemy who is not ashamed of sending terrorists; an enemy whose army can replace Govt. any fine day; an army apparatus which is loathed in anger at India for being thrashed in successive wars over the years. What can Indian Govt. do?
We have a Pak PM Sharif, who is ready to risk as much as PM Modi in going that extra mile. Last time India came close to solving the issue was during Musharraf-Vajpayee era as both were strong leaders. Congress consortium could not have done anything anyways. Now again we have Modi-Sharif who are trying to workout Mano-2-Mano. And that is the only way forward I see; via personalities. Diplomacy at any other level does not hold much credence.
This is one problem where I fall short of suggesting a solution. I can find solace in the fact that even the experts fail too. Since I know Modi has good intentions in what he is doing, I will lend my support to him completely. When all else has failed, maybe he will succeed. Even if he failed, he would have failed trying his best.
Solution to JNU Crises: Give them degree and kick them out
JNU crises have reached a deadlock. There is a need for smartness on the part of authorities. I read that a committee has recommended expelling the hooligans. Not a smart move. No point giving these people audience and propelling their political careers.
Expelling will lead to unnecessary protests. Not worth it. These hooligans and their ilk, who feed on taxpayers’ money, have nothing to lose and everything to gain. So they will do anything and everything. Smartest solution would be to give them the degree. They way they will have to move out the college. Expedite their exams and kick them out.
They can’t cry that they have been expelled. They won’t get the coziness of college for their nefarious activities. No reason for protests. Don’t fail them, pass them. And show them the door. I admit it’s not an ideal solution, but we don’t live in an ideal society, do we?
This leftist hooliganism is a global phenomenon. Lok what happened to Trump rally in Chicago. These people have nothing to lose. No point fighting them. They thrive on media attention. Time to clean our colleges. Rather than expelling, give them a degree and get them off.
Why BJP MP’s are failing PM Modi
Time and again Modi has asked his MP’s to spend time in their constituency when Parliament is not in session. He has asked them to spread the message of the good work Govt. is doing. PM has again asked his MP’s to spread the details of the poor people’s budget. But…there is a BIG but.
MP’s are failing PM Modi. They fail to spread the message. It’s not difficult to understand given that most MP’s didn’t get elected due to own merit. They won on the back of Modi wave. Same people would have lost terribly had they run on Congress ticket in 2014.
If you do a dissection of 282 of them, you will find not many commands that much public following. In fact, I would doubt if many people would voluntarily attend a public gathering called by their MP. I admit I haven’t studied them all. But in the sample I took, the rot was evident.
More so in UP, where people elected Modi with historical majority. Mind you, people here don’t differentiate much between general and state election. For them they have elected Modi, exasperated by SP rule. And they didn’t see the Acche Din.
I don’t want to be too hard on the MP’s here. They fear being asked about Acche Din (at micro level) if they go to the people. Most MP’s are just enjoying the perks while it lasts. I think Modi understands too some extent that his MP’s are not the foot soldiers he can reply on. He knows he needs to go to the public on his own. Mann ki Baat is a good way to do that. There is a need for more such out of the box thinking.
Budget 2016: Course correction from Modi Govt
I have been critical regarding the fiscal policies of Modi Govt. But this budget is a course correction and aims to fulfill poll promises. Personally for me this budget brings nothing to the table, but I am not the electorate that any party worries about anyways.
Small taxpayers have been benefitted. There is no change in Tax Slabs but small taxpayers have been benefitted via other means. That means higher taxpayers are excluded of any benefit, a popular move in sync with poll promises.
A great step for farmers and rural India, who voted en masse for Modi. Irrigation fund, Organic farming, soil health cards. Govt. has aimed to double farmer’s income in 5 years and have set aside money for that. Gram Sadak Yojana, Fasal Bima Yojana another one for the silent majority of our country.
Middle class will not be too much enthused by this budget and BJP might feel the wrath of their agony in coming elections. Maybe not that much as I think middle class vote is more than secured for BJP due to lack of alternatives.
There is a big push on construction which helps everyone from low wage labor to home buyers. I have liked the budget as far as I have seen. Will try and do a detailed study when I get time. But it’s a thumbs up from me to Modi and Jaitley. They have done a course correction after couple of embarrassing drubbing in Delhi and Bihar.
Good to have the right Enemies
I recently read an article as to how Donald Trump’s rise has been aided by “the right set of enemies” he has. Sounds a bid weird right? Enemies are meant to take a person down, how come they aid in taking him up. Let’s explore.
I would also make a reference to Indian PM Narendra Modi who I feel too attribute his rise to “the right set of enemies” he had. Both are considered strongman right wing personalities. Because of these traits, they have been labeled by their enemies as dictators, anti-minority and what not.
They both have been known to be against radical islamic terrorism, something that people including media don’t want to talk about. They both bad mouthed media at every given opportunity. They promised jobs and development to the nation. They both talked about things which are not part of main stream discourse anymore.
Their enemies were busy berating them on what they say, how they say, their speeches, tone of their sound etc. When a person talks about helping common man and an increasing set of well off people say bad things about him, common man tends to sympathize. This is what has happened with Trump and Modi.
When enemies themselves don’t have public credibility, their words backfire. There is a lot of class resentment with an increasing income inequality. The enemies are part of top tier of wealthy people. Whatever they say people despise. It is like, “This well off person is against someone who is promising us job and security. Sure, he will have some vested interests”. And as always media, which itself is part of top 1%, was called out on hypocrisy.
It’s always good to have right enemies than no having enemies at all.
Khichdi Govt in 2019?
How the cycle of mistakes repeats can be a research topic in itself. If we remember during the Anna movement or Ramdev agitation, Congress committed one self goal after another. They obviously thought ignoring and rejecting them as motivated struggles, would make them go away. But it was not to happen. The movement got further impetus by each suppression.
Similar mistake is being committed by current dispensation. I am not questioning their intent at this point. But the way student suicide case is being handled, is bound to backfire. Blaming the opposition, calling student protest as motivated, questioning student’s caste, doesn’t all this seem familiar? It’s what UPA used to do. And it failed. So why is NDA repeating these mistakes?
I can only see arrogance and nothing else. As I have said before, the smartness of Vajpayee is missing. India is but a democracy. You have to win elections to keep doing good work. How hard would it have been to take some action or to apologize? I didn’t see any apologies coming in from Government, leave aside some action.
You won’t be able to win elections by calling everyone else motivated. I think, Modi need to guide his ministers, how to win over junta. What they are doing is antagonizing people. This will chip into good work of Modi and will be sad to see a ‘khichdi’ Govt. in 2019.
Modi and Trump: Why they don’t care about Media?
Modi and Trump have a lot in common. Both portray themselves as outsiders. Both vows to fight against the accepted norms.
One thing that both fight against is the Media. And they have been highly successful at that. Voters have supported them whenever they have lasted out against News giants. From Modi’s news-traders barb to Trump’s open fight against Fox News, they have gained public support. This begs the question how/why?
Well a lot can be owed to the rise in competition in News Sphere and to the downfall of journalism in the traditional sense. News gave way to News-Entertainment to earn more advertisement revenues. Nowadays, if you ask any common man about the biggest problem that ails our society, most common reply is “Sensationalist Media”. Zillions of channels in search of breaking news destroying the very pillar that stood for.
Moreover everyone knows how fat pay packages are earned by media professional these days. People no longer see them as poor guys fighting against big corporations and politicians. The ‘behind the scenes funding’ of media houses have become public thanks to social media. This has further damaged credibility of the news that we read/listen. Media itself has become THE INSIDER. Since Modi and Trump portray themselves as outsiders, they out-win the media.
Thus Trump breaks no sweat when withdrawing from Fox News debate, which would seem like a political suicide for any other politician. Similarly Modi has no problems in not taking media along on foreign tours as part of his entourage. They both fight against the insiders.
This is the hope they instill in public. To do what no one else dares to do.
Modiji, please shed the coterie
I see a lot of fighting these days in social media. Pro-Modi, Pro-AAP people berating the leaders. Personal offensive remarks of Bhakt, AAptard and what not. Seriously fed up with this, I have started unfollowing certain mischief accounts. I know triggers are created by paid profiles, but why to blindly forward them and spam your friend’s timeline. So much negativity!
Back to the point. Personally I am okay with Modi’s performance, in his personal capacity. He has made world take notice of India, lifted the country from a sense of gloom, made Swachh Bharat the cool thing among a lot others.
We all know how he went overboard during elections and promised the people of this country, the stars. We all know it’s not possible to deliver in a short span of time. People have a right to criticize as they were not told, “You will get stars after 5-10 years”. They were promised instant relief which can’t happen in reality. No point bashing the electorate. If they are fools now in criticizing Modi, how were they not fools when they voted for him?
Modi, I feel, is falling short of few selfless men like him in his Government. The biggest crook of them all is our FM. He is edging away a lot of Modi’s charisma. Piyush Goyal is working superbly at grass root. Smriti Irani is competent.
Railway ministry is working only for facebook and twitter crowd but nothing for poor who travel via General Class (90%). We need a revolution in railways. Loyal vote bank of BJP, the middle class has been neglected and left to fend for itself, which is not nice. More importantly the attitude of his Ministers and spokespersons is not right. They seem just like Congress. Equally arrogant.
Given the history of Modi and BJP, it is there responsibility to win over 69% who didn’t vote for them. But our great FM calls it manufactured dissent. Why name calling. When you in power, it does not look nice if you start berating people. Modi knows that but he is being misguided by coterie around. FM was the one who aggravated the situation by badmouthing people returning awards. Political mastery of Vajpayee was missing. All it needed was to call them all for a talk. Soothe their ego if need be. They would have gone silent.
Same goes with communal politics of BJP. It’s great when in opposition but boomerangs when in power. I hoped BJP would have learned this by now.
I have my hopes and faith in Modi. But not so much in his coterie. I am sure Modi will find a way!
Salman Khurshid: Shaming India for Personal Fame
So Mr. Salman Khrshid, torch bearer of Congress party is following the footsteps of another Congress leader Mani Shanker Aiyer. Mr. Khurshid is of the opinion that India has not responded well to Pakistan’s friendship hand. “India ignoring Pakistan’s overtures for peace”, he said while on a personal visit to Pakistan. Moreover he praised Pakistan’s fight against terrorism. Applauded Pakistan while deriding India.
Well it is not surprising from former external affairs minister of the country. These remarks lets us know why India had a soft foreign policy under him. A Cabinet Minister who shared cabinet with one of most corrupt Ministers in India ever. A cabinet minister who bowed in front of Gandhi dynasty (aka Katappa from Bahubali), for becoming a minister, this statement is not surprising.
To settle their petty politics and coming back to power at any cost, such people are destroying India’s credibility abroad. A former external affairs minister when makes such pro-Pakistan statements that too in Pakistan, implications are global. His statements will be played up against India by Pakistan media. But a man from political dynasty himself couldn’t care less.
From sting of fund embezzlement for the invalids to appearing for banned organization SIMI in court, he seems to have no shame when it comes to making money and clinging to power. Such people are the real face of most Corrupt party in India ever aka Congress.
Anyways one who bows to dynastic heir Rahul Gandhi, we should not have any expectations. I just can say this to you Sir, since you destroy my Country’s name globally, it’s all our fault Sir, that we elected you. It’s what we deserved.
ArpitGarg's Weblog 