The new time and new order

The old gives way to new. This is the new mantra of this political season. Top two political parties, Congress and BJP have started practicing this impossible act, with great success. Though there is little heartburn here and there. First the BJP; Narendra Modi, the party's star nominee for the top post, has brought the party from the sidelines of obscurity to the national debate. He has made BJP a formidable force, singlehandedly. Though, it's not been easy task. Initially, he had to battle within the party. His position was much like of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who captained a team having lot of star players.  Lal Krishna Advani, the Prime Minister in waiting, has been a constant source of headache for the party. With a mass following like his, and half a century old relationship with the party, handling him was always a tough ask. Modi was attacked left, right and centre by his adversaries from inside and outside the party. And that was expected too. Murli manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh and Sushma swaraj had a different world view about party and affairs of ticket distribution. It seemed that BJP was very not respectful to there elders. But at the same time, the natural corollary was to sideline all voices of dissent, that poses trouble to Modi. If NDA comes to power, Modi wants a situation, where he remains the only source of power. Power command remains with him. Probably, party was thinking about the post election scenario. That's is what is debated over the past few weeks. Now the Congress, where change of wind is all evident. Shift of power has already taken place. Sonia Gandhi, has slowly and surely brought Rahul in the position of command, where he calls the shots. If tickets of distribution is any indication, Rahul Gandhi has come of age. He has deftly sidelined all the old guards. He has made them contest elections, knowing fully well that they will loose. So that they can bring his loyalists on the key position. That's a wise move indeed, given the fact that congress is facing incumbency factor after remaining in power for two consecutive terms. Change is order of the day. If both the principle parties don't change, it will surely loose the ground. Nice that they have woken up.

The original poster boy relents

The eternal charioteer of the BJP, octogenarian L.K. Advani was at it again. The original iron man of BJP shows no sign of caving in. We must try and understand why he behaves like an obstinate political nonconformist, hell bent on taking the power that be in the organization.Narendra Modi once Advani’s protégée are not on good terms, at least now. This was the last chance for Advani to show his mettle, which ultimately melted much before it could yield any surprise. Gandhinagar is one Lok sabha seat, which Advani always nurtured and remained attached to it since 1991, till famously ideological split was surfaced during Modi’s elevation as Prime Ministerial candidate. Advani had almost quit all party posts opposing this move. Party prevailed and stopped him from taking such drastic steps. Everything was going as planned by the party’s spin doctors till Advani started showing discomfiture. He put his feet down and wanted to walk away from Modi’s shadow. Probably he thought Madhya Pradesh was a good bet for him, where in Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s company he would feel at ease. What happened in last two weeks, which changed Advani’s heart? On 28th Februray, when Advani visited Gandhinagar, he had told the media that he would again contest from Gandhinagar. But in this period came 4-5 lists of candidates and Advani found his name missing. Advani thought it right to make his point and told his party that he would like to contest from Bhopal. That unnerved the party and RSS. It was time for them to realize that Advani had caught them unawares.  More than party, Modi was more concerned that Advani’s walking away will send wrong signals. Sangh impressed upon Advani and conveyed that his contesting from Bhopal is of no consequence. Modi is BJP Prime ministerial candidate and hailed by the cadre as last hope for the party. Party’s assertion that there would be no softening of stand once decision is taken; Advani had no option but to cave in. May this step of the party be seen as Advani’s last ditch effort to save his position inside the party apparatus.

Get well soon India...

If price rise is not an issue for you, vote for Congress. If corruption is not an issue, vote for Congress. What is wrong with Congress? As such I don’t find anything wrong with them. They have been ruling the country with comfortable ease. They are running this country as if they own this.But why people want change? As a concerned citizen, we have every right to raise our finger and call this is wrong, stop it. In last 10 years, we have forgotten the count of scams, we don’t talk about them anymore. Scams running into millions and millions of crores don’t excite us. This is sad for a democracy, so sad for a country. Sad that we have become thick skinned, we don’t react at all. When we vote to elect the national government in coming days, ask yourself what is your agenda? What’s in your mind? We assume it’s the well being of the country, prosperity of each and every individual, that’s paramount.  When we talk about development, we don’t become communal, untouchable. When we talk about clean administration, we are expecting bare minimum. Hey, come on, if you wish these, you don’t become communal. You are an okay guy. You are as nationalist as anyone, you are as rationalist as anyone. If women of our families want better law and order, it's our right. If she want immediate control on price rise,she is right.if we want our education system to be affordable,it's need of the hour.If Indians aspire to have better health care,it's understood. Voters do have hope that next government deliver on their poll promises.India can't remain in the state of coma. India need to get well soon, and run.   

Does India need Kejriwal brand of governance?

People of Delhi are a disappointed lot after Arvind Kejriwal resigned as Delhi CM instead of doing serious governance.In just 49 days, AAP government crumbled.AAP leadership failed to govern Delhi. An IIT graduate,RTI crusader,with real genuine motive struck the chord with Delhites but as soon as it came to power, it walked out citing illogical problems.People who voted for him felt like being cheated. Felt lite being given a raw deal. But where do one gets everything favourable if you are a minority government. governance is an art of doing things, delivering promises despite all odds.Nobody gives you readymade meal in a platter. Aap has created a political space for itself after pathetic run of UPA2 but sustaining the tempo is always challenging. Kejriwal is finding himself on the sidelines, out of focus he was never used to. What happened at the BJP HQ today seems to an attempt to show that they are capable of creating ruckus. They are "Anarchist" as Kejriwal had himself rightly claimed.Now what options he has;to prove his point even if his "aam aadmi" had to resort to hooliganism. Modi has forced Kejriwal out from the national discourse.Now what all kejri would like to get is grab Modi's attention.His recognition. His reaction on street side hooliganism has a repulsive effect on common people to be very precise. India can't afford too many Delhi like misgovernance. Certainly not!