I do not know why all of a sudden evaluation of Gandhi Ji who had died 74 years ago has become important? And how come all of a sudden so many people have become qualified to evaluate or criticize Gandhi Ji? Whether people are in favor or against Gandhi Ji, we need to understand how complete are their knowledge and how capable is their intellect to evaluate someone of Gandhi Ji’s stature. I can still understand if someone making a study on him in academic interest. However, most opinions about Gandhi Ji are preconceived and are formed on the basis of evaluations made by third persons. Now these third-person evaluations themselves could be biased or incorrect. It could be possible that they have depicted Gandhi the way they have understood, however, it is not necessary that their viewpoints are correct or from a neutral angle.
And this could be true for both kinds of opinions who want to describe Gandhi as a saint and the others who think that Gandhi deserved to be assassinated. There is a section that believes that Gandhi Ji should have gone for armed struggle instead of Ahimsa or nonviolence to fight for freedom. Putting up arms in the hands of people may be easy, but taking back arms from people is not easy. We have seen how the nations have gone into anarchy where people have taken up guns.
Many of us give expert opinion sitting in front of the TV, that Tendulkar has played a wrong shot, he should have played it this way or that way. We all become kind of experts who are capable of finding mistakes in Tendulkar's batting. This included people who have never even played cricket. Most critiques of Gandhi Ji are also like that.
Even though Tendulkar is rated amongst the all-time greatest batsmen in the world, he also has made errors in judgment while choosing his shot or leaving a certain ball, or in making strategy against bowlers. But that is part of the game and his stature doesn’t diminish because of those errors. there are no full-proof measures. Just think if a batsman of Tendulkar’s stature couldn’t negotiate a certain ball, is it possible for an ordinary batsman to do better than him?
In a similar line, it is absolutely possible that Gandhi Ji also might have made certain errors in judgment. However, those errors make him more human. And his stature and contribution don’t diminish because of a few mistakes. the evaluation has to be made in totality. You wouldn’t evaluate Tendulkar only on the basis few of his failures. The problem is that the impact of both the achievement and errors in judgments of people of Gandhi Ji’s stature is quite big. So if we count only his errors in judgment, possibly he could look to be a big villain. But that is not the complete picture. Secondly, the failure on account of error in judgment should be counted as errors only not as intention. Tendulkar doesn't get out at zero or 99 intentionally. His failures were in spite of his best effort, or on someday, he was simply not at his best form.
I have read an article very recently, where the author has questioned why Godse didn’t kill Jinnah instead of Gandhi? My question is that If one of them had to be eliminated why it was Gandhi, why not Jinnah? Did Godse have a special love for Jinnah and hatred for Gandhi for the same mistake? Do we have an explanation for that? Gandhi didn’t ask for a separate nation, it was Jinnah who asked for a separate nation. And Jinnah’s demand for a separate nation was there for quite some time and everybody knew it. Till then Godse and his team decided to eliminate Gandhi only, that too after the partition not before that.
With my limited knowledge, I have not been a great fan of Gandhi Ji. However, I feel I am not competent enough to make a proper evaluation even though I am critical of many of his actions. Every time I take a critical view against his action, I feel an internal urge to go back and check why he took such a call, what were his compulsion, did he have an alternate option available?
Possibly five years back my judgments on Gandhi were more raw, rude, and crude like many of us find our parents wrong in our youth. Unfortunately, nowadays we see a increasing trend to hold Gandhi & Nehru responsible for every wrong happening in India today.
Oh yes, definitely! Why not. Modi Hain to Mumkin Hain - It's possible when Modi is there. The emperor is in a jubilant mood holding the Rajdanda (Sengol). The nation is waiting to see what will come next whether the emperor will hold an election or rule as a monarch. the nation has been given so many things to celebrate - just now the brand new grand new parliament. The Vande Bharat Train has been dedicated tothe nation. He is flagging off each & every train personally. What a beautiful gift to the nation to make you forget all your pain of poverty, hunger, and unemployment. Come 2024 the newly constructed Ram Mandir will be inaugurated. What a profound proud moment that would be. What else does the nation need? Whenever you are hungry look at the majestic new Parliament building, and see the marvel. Hunger, death, and pain - are all temporary. They would all be gone once you are gone. But this majestic parliament would be there tall and standing.
But yes all these costs, so people have to contribute to nation-building by paying more tax, buying fuel and gas at a higher price, and paying GST on hospital bed charges, ICU charges, medicines, and medical implants. Coming days people have to be ready to prostrate in front of the emperor and pay whatever tax is demanded. Great emperors come once in a while, but ordinary mortals keep on coming and going. So hold your breath and enjoy the magnificent grandeur of this architectural marvel. The beauty of it is soaking the canvas of my mind. I am spellbound. It reminds me of the poem -Daffodils by William Wordsworth…
“I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not be but gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed'and gazed'but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.”
Interesting decision by the BCCI. Irrespective of market sentiment, or the pandemic, the Indian cricket board’s wealth is growing. And, now, the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI’s) net worth is a colossal Rs.18,011.84 crore. Though BCCI is still not the richest sports body in the world. The No-1 slot goes to FIFA. But for the richest cricket board paying women cricketers at par with their men counterparts is not at all an issue financially. Now the matter could be looked into from multiple angles. The women cricketers always felt that they were not being looked after properly by the BCCI in terms of monetary rewards/match fees as well as sponsorship earnings. Apart from the match fees they hardly earn anything. Despite giving their best they are very poorly paid. But then their revenue contribution could never match to that of their male counterpart.
Then the question comes why did BCCI decide to announce equal match fees for men and women cricketers? Of course, money is never an issue for BCCI. But does it mean that BCCI has taken this call with a big heart? Could be. However, I feel this decision has a futuristic significance and mission. Women’s cricket is yet to become a money-spinning avenue. But there is huge potential to develop this platform to engage on a truly professional level. Better payment to the players would attract a lot of raw talent, more girls would be encouraged to seriously consider cricket as a career option. Only BCCI has the money muscle to develop and take women’s cricket to the next level where it could also become a money-spinning platform for BCCI apart from offering the players a great rewarding sporting career. I think BCCI has some master plan designed.
In my view defeating Owaisi in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat would be an extremely difficult task for the BJP candidate Ms. Madhavi Latha. The seat has been retained by AIMIM consecutively for 9 terms since 1989. The mathematics and the numbers are not working in BJP’s favor. The Hyderabad parliamentary seat is comprised of 7 assembly constituencies, six are in possession of AIMIM and only in possession of the BJP. So that makes BJP’s battle tougher.
The next important thing is that AIMIM’s vote share has been steadily increasing since 2004. In 2004 the party secured a 37.39% vote share and since then it has been only adding to its vote share reaching a mammoth 63.95% vote share in 2019. The population demography is simply not in favour of the BJP. BJP is trying to make a lot of noise. But this one constituency would be the most difficult to dislodge Owaisi unless some miracle happens. BJP has a sizable vote share there. However far from being adequate to defeat Owaisi.
This was a great piece of news for the nation. A total of 78 Members of Parliament were suspended, comprising 33 from the Lok Sabha and 45 from the Rajya on a single day 18th December 2023. The Modi government has created history. With 14 more Opposition MPs already suspended last week, the total number of Opposition MPs who have been suspended currently stands at 92. They will remain suspended for the remaining days of the Parliament’s winter session which would culminate on December 22.
It looked as if the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar were at the competition who could stike more suspension. Parties facing maximum brunt of the punishments on Monday were the Congress with 25 suspended MPs s followed by the Trinamul Congress with 16 suspended MPs and the DMK with 14 MPs. We have to appreciate that the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar were at their level best lashing out punishments to the opposition MPs.
BJP has recently won the election in three Hindi-speaking states MP, CG, and Rajasthan with a huge majority. It seems the BJP has taken the mandate very seriously consolidating its power in the government as well as in the parliament. This could be a great opportunity to pass whichever bill it wants to pass. not that their presence in any way would have dissuaded BJP from passing any bill. But this display of might was very necessary to show the opposition its true position. I believe the public wanted this only. Which they have conveyed through their mandate in the three states. In a democracy, people are the king. If the public wants that the entire opposition to be thrown out of the parliament other political parties can not do anything. We have to accept the mandate of the people. Modi government just obeyed the mandate. I think this is a very good development for India. Trust me no one can be more happy than me on this day. The day is closer we will be able to remove the filthy mask of democracy. our supreme leader will have all the power in his hands.
It has come to my knowledge that a lot of people are demanding that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar should be conferred with “Bharat Ratna” for their unblemished Modi Bhakti. Honestly speaking I also support the demand wholeheartedly. They have set an example in front of the nation to be followed in the years to come.
Who the heck cares for democracy? We will keep on hacking democracy as many times as we want. Who would stand in our way? The public is again going to vote for Modi in 2024 with an overwhelming majority. Our supreme leader can do anything he wants. The stupid voters listen to him. We will make them fool again and again. These voters have no place to go. They have to vote for us only. We will suspend and disqualify as many MPs as we want and as and when we want. Reason or no reason who cares, doesn’t make any difference. Hell, we have the majority, bloody majority. No one can ask any question to us.
Till the eighties and even a little bit in the early nineties, most games were natural and played by the instinct of the players and as per the advice of coaches. There were no extensive studies or dissections made. The players could play their natural games. Then there came TV and computer-based analyses. A number of cricket, tennis, and badminton players started suffering at the individual level. This's true for other individual as well as team games as well. The bowling action of a bowler or the batting techniques of a batsman started being intensely studied in slow motion and their counteractions were being designed. The games were no longer being played on the field. The major part was started being played on the drawing board.
The player who never needed a helmet even when playing against the fiercest pace attacks. He played with the least possible safety gear. But today players need helmets even when playing against spin bowling. We have players in politics who need every support on earth even when playing against Rahul Gandhi.
Earlier if someone had to write an article in economics he or she had to spend days or even weeks visiting libraries and collecting references. Today it is extremely easy. We get things instantly. It was Prannoy Roy and Vinod Dua who were the first election analysts in India. Pronnoy Roy yes the same person who started the NDTV was possibly the first qualified psephologist in India. The subject is being studied by very few. Anyway, these studies and understanding started making things different, complicated as well as easy. Politics no longer remained a field game like most games. A major part started being played on the drawing board. Let me give an example of how things changed.
Congress led by the late Rajiv Gandhi lost the election despite securing a 40% vote share in 1989 whereas Mod won 282 in 2014 with only a 31% vote share. You see it's no longer a matter of who's more popular. In the 1999 election, Congress could win only 114 seats with a 28.30% vote share whereas BJP secured 182 seats with only 23.75% vote share. Can you imagine that Rajiv Gandhi could win only 197 seats with 40% vote share in 1989 and V P Sngh won 143 seats with an 18% vote share? Whereas Modi won 303 seats with only 37% vote share. Congress won 206 seats in 2009 with almost 29% vote share.
With almost 20% vote share Congress could win only 52 seats in 2019 whereas BJP won 182 seats with only 23.75% vote share in 1999. It's evidently clear that Congress doesn’t understand the subject called psephology, nor did it ever know how to take benefit of the system despite being in power when it had. Popularity or heroics alone don’t work in any field anymore. Otherwise, Rajiv Gandhi would have been PM for the second time.
The election commission has always been in control of the ruling party. However, either Congress never tried to exert its control or it never knew how to take benefit or undue advantage of it. Rajiv Gandhi possibly never felt that he needed to use the EC to his advantage. In clear contrast, we can see that BJP’s numbers have been much higher with the corresponding vote share ever since Vajpayee’s time. We do not know whether Vajpayee Ji took advantage of the system or not. But the symmetry with Modi's seat number as well as vote share is there. Things are comparable. For Congress, the vote share and the number of seats are not comparable. So it seems that the BJP is far far superior to Congress in playing politics on the drawing board. And the drawing board politics involves everything from EC ED to Money, Media, IT cell, and whatnot. Congress should look for a specialist analyst if not one taken already.
The beauty of this year’s general election is that nobody is talking about the numbers openly. Nobody knows what the outcome would be. People are not so sure of the victory that should have been a very easy one for the BJP. Even the pro-BJP authors are not sure of giving any numbers. Though one of the very popular senior pro-BJP authors has been writing relentlessly tens of answers daily in support of the BJP and condemning Rahul & Congress. He is not even trying to hide his contempt against Rahul and he doesn’t mind going the extra mile to prove Rahul incompetent and worthless. The level of poison and venom that he is releasing has reached a desperation level. And these are entirely subjective and attack at an individual level.
Anyway, who does what is not my concern. What I wanted to point out is why so much desperation and venom against someone who is hopelessly incompetent according to him? Rahul - good or bad, competent or incompetent has been there in front of the nation for the last twenty years. And if Rahul is incompetent then he is supposedly not capable of doing any damage to Modi’s winning prospects. If so why someone is so concerned about Rahul? Why so much desperation to prove Rahul wrong?
However, this desperation shows to what extent the BJP and its supporters are worried about the increasing impact of Rahul and the possible prospect of Congress. But the problem is that nobody is being able to read to mood of the nation, which side the public sentiment is tilting. Nothing coming out in the open. The public seems totally tight-lipped, not letting us read their mind. As such nobody on Quora is being able to give any number confidently. I am also intentionally avoiding giving any numbers or making any predictions. This is a very potent weapon in modern warfare or electoral battles that don’t let your enemy read your mind. The way Congress candidates are being poached and pressurized to withdraw their nomination is unprecedented. Then the proposers have been pressurised to testify against the candidate. This has happened never before. Seems Modi Ji is desperate to win by any means, by hook or crook. His fears of losing seem no bound.
So the best way is to cut off the information flow and not to show any impulse. BJP is getting restless as it is not getting any indication from the public. We are seeing all kinds of extreme desperations. Congress Bank Accounts Frozen. The IT department has served Rs.3000 crores tax notice to Congress. Two CMs have been put behind bars just before the election. On the other hand, Congress seems beaming with confidence despite all constraints.
Source: Election Commission • Assam and J&K saw the delimitation process where the constituencies were carved out in a way, so they cannot be compared. The figures are tentative for the 2024 elections. Image Source - WIRE
The low voter turnout in the first two phases of the polls has further confused the political experts and analysts. They are not sure what this low turnout signifies. The major states like MP, UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Bengal, etc have shown significant drops in voter turnout. Why is this apathy or lack of excitement among the voters? Is this a pro-BJP indication or against it? Congress has nothing to lose. So I believe at this moment nobody can confidently give any number for BJP or Congress.
Interesting question. To answer this question I would like to refer to the economics textbook. I don’t exactly remember with which particular chapter of economics I started my learnings of economics. Possibly it was demand and supply. Then I came across Keynes' Theory of Trade Cycles, popularly known as the Keynesian theory of trade cycle. Though it is predominantly connected to the sphere of economics, I believe it is applicable in a much wider perspective.
A trade cycle refers to the high and low in economic activities, especially in employment, output and income, prices, profits, etc. According to Keynes, “A trade cycle is composed of periods of good trade characterised by rising prices and low unemployment percentages altering with periods of bad trade characterised by falling prices and high unemployment percentages”.
Anyway, I believe the Keynesian theory of the trade cycle can be applied or applied to multiple dimensions of life. For example, the populations of deer and tigers in a forest are interconnected. If the deer population goes up, that will create a favourable atmosphere for the growth of the tiger population. In turn, when the tiger population goes up the deer population will go down. With the reduction of the deer population, the tiger population will face a shortage or scarcity of food and finally, it will bring down the tiger population. The Tiger population going down will stimulate the growth of the dear population again. This is the typical way a trade cycle works.
If BJP wins the 2024 general election it will have a favourable condition to eat up the regional parties. There would be none to stop the BJP. Media, Election Commission, ED, IT, and CBI are all under BJP’s control. The judiciary seems compromised to a large extent. There would be none to protect the leftover regional parties. Most are already under BJP control. Which means the deer population would drastically go down. That would not be a very healthy situation for the tiger. There would be food scarcity for the tiger. Moreover, the growing population of tigers would squeeze their respective zone and clashes would occur among themselves.
People might say that India would go the China way of single-party rule. But India is not China. Secondly, Mao took over power in 1949 to establish a single-party rule in China. It is not possible to establish single-party rule in India freshly in the twenty-first century. People know that the Lion and tiger population in India has gone down drastically and the Cheetah has become extinct. So deer population going down has not been any good news for the tiger and lion populations in India. BJP might go-ahead for the kill of the regional parties. With all the ammunition in its hand, it would not be a difficult task. But it will only expedite BJP’s end.
What could say about the BJP's choice of CMs for MP, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh? It's BJP’s internal matter. Ideally, comments should come from the BJP supporters. The Rajasthan CM designated is a first-time MLA Bhajanlal Sharma is simply brilliant. WOW! I wonder how a person could impress a leader like Modi so quickly. People can remind me of Modi in his early days when he straightway became CM as the first-time MLA. But then we were already hearing about Modi’s growing clout and how he dealt with the party’s internal issues. So even before the election, it was sure that he was going to be the CM. However, this was not the case with any of the CMs designated for these three states. Neither BJP had any leadership clash in any of these three states. Nor any of these three CMs did come up as arguably the strongest leader in the respective state.
MP CM face is another surprise. I didn’t even bother to check the CG CM face. Anyway, as I said it's BJP’s internal matter. Ideally, comments should come from the BJP supporters. It will become a matter for the public if they fail in governance. The general public will have the right to say something only if they fail in governance. Whatever happens, the people of these three states have to be ruled by the government they have elected.
BTW the last of the Mohicans has fallen and all together. All the CMs of the Vajpayee era have been shown the door at one go. Modi seems hugely confident that he doesn’t need them to win the 2024 election. That he can win the 2024 election with some novice heading the states.
Great initiative by Modi Ji. It proves how broad-minded he is. India is truly blessed to have such a pragmatic and liberal-minded leader. I hope the rightists wouldn’t mind me calling Modi Ji a liberal. Modi Ji is in the true sense so liberal that he didn’t mind going to Pakistan to wish happy birthday to their PM, he went to a communist country nine times and had one-on-one private summits with Xi Jinping so many times. He even rewarded China with 50% more import orders in a single year. A communist country is our biggest trading partner. In fact, the 2023-24 year’s budget is revolutionary - he has reduced import/custom duty on products that are imported from China. Someone called the 2023–24 budget a China-friendly budget. Mean we are going see a much larger import from China and a much bigger trade deficit. What was ironic is that for the first time, the right-wingers could not criticize the author for calling it a China-friendly budget because he has praised the budget a lot. Possibly in the whole world, you will not get a 2nd rightist leader who is so much communist friendly. He is so liberal. In July 2018 itself Modi government reduced duties on 3,142 imports from China and Asia-Pacific. He was almost about to sign the RCEP with China. in fact, the new budget in a way can be called a mini RCEP for FTA. I believe the budget also has a specific allotment for the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
New Delhi [India], March 21, 2022 (ANI): Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday received the Padma Bhushan award in the field of Public Affairs.
So it is absolutely possible that he would posthumously award 'Padma Vibhushan' to Mulayam Singh. Such a broad-minded liberal act is possible from Modi Ji only. Last year Ex. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was awarded the Padma Bhushan award in the field of Public Affairs. Can you imagine how much broad-minded one has to be to award the second highest honour of the nation to a Muslim Congress leader from Kashmir? Modi government has already conferred Bharat Ratna to the Late P V Narasimha Rao. And I will not be surprised if Bharat Ratna is conferred even to Dr. Manmohan Singh. Earlier Pranab Mukherjee was conferred the Bharat Ratna award. As such he is very liberal in accepting and accommodating all the rebels and the turncoats from Congress and other parties in BJP. Sometimes I get confused about whether we should call him a liberal leader or a rightist leader or a leftist liberal? I understand Akhilesh will be a little confused - what to do? Whether to thank Modi Ji or to criticize him? Definitely, he can not criticize Modi Ji for conferring 'Padma Vibhushan' to Mulayam Singh.
I am sure that Congress and I.N.D.I.A. have been able to create a positive impact on Indian voters. The question is how big is it. At least it's not possible at this moment to speculate the impending effects of the alliance. We have to wait till 4th June to know the scale of impact. However, what strikes out is that the name has been able to generate interest among the people. It has been able to draw significant attention from people to the entity. I believe this is what works, you have to be noticed. People will look at you. People would like to know more about you. People will observe you and pay attention to what you say. This is the biggest battle - to get people's attention in a positive manner. The next battle is to hold it.
We call this mind share. In industrial psychology and marketing philosophy, mind share possibly is the biggest game. You need to occupy constant mind share in a positive manner and not let people forget you. I have little experience working on mind share. It's a brilliant subject to work on. The majority of the battles in the corporate world are to occupy the mind space and shelve space. Let me give a very small example. When you love or hate a person he or she constantly occupies your mind share. Knowingly or unknowingly he/she becomes your priority and doesn’t let someone else enter your mind space. because space is limited. The same is true for the shelve space also. The idea is to occupy both the space and don’t let someone else enter there. No matter whether the battle is for love, politics, or the corporate world. I believe that Congress and I.N.D.I.A. have been able quite successful in occupying mind share.
Rahul always had the mind share of people courtesy of BJP and its IT cell. They never allowed people to forget Rahul. Though BJP has built up a negative image mind share of Rahul. Rahul just needed to give the turn. It's like using the pace of the fast bowler to steer the ball to the boundary. You don’t need to put in any extra effort. Over the last two years, Rahul has been quite successful in building a strong positive image and BJP got exposed. Rahul at this moment is occupying a sizable mind share. However, Congress doesn’t have a very large shelve space in terms of organizational structure. This is an area where Congress has to work and possibly I.N.D.I.A. will come into play there.
Conceiving an idea and occupying a mind space sometimes works like pregnancy. Quite often it takes lots of effort to conceive. It just needs one brilliant idea to click and it just needs one sperm to impregnate an ovum. But once conceived, the pregnancy just grows and occupies more space unless someone does something abject or terminates the pregnancy. And at a time only one person can impregnate a female. Pregnancy has three trimesters. The first and the last are the two trimesters which are very crucial in terms of the risk of abortion and miscarriage. Congress and the I.N.D.I.A. are exactly in the last stage of pregnancy. It has taken all the precautions and care. The growth of the fetus is checked and progress is measured. As of now, pregnancy has been confirmed and progressing well. Hope it delivers a healthy baby in terms of election results.
The reason is very simple. It's about “Brand Equity”. Brand equity is a marketing concept and it is based on perceived value. It need not be proportional to the goods & service value the organization produces or sells. BJP came to power riding on the wave of promise to bring good days. But nobody in BJP now speaks about “Achhe Din” or “Gujarat Model”. In its place, BJP is completely engrossed with Hindu, Hindutva, and Hindi ideologies. Modi Ji’s BJP is fully synchronized with Hindutva ideology. It is now BJP’s new brand image or brand equity. People now associate the BJP with Hindutva. BJP no longer associates itself with “Achhe Din”, low inflation, lower fuel price, development, employment, economic growth, etc. You will find Modi Ji inaugurating temples, statues, and wearing saffron. You will find BJP leaders talking about Hindutva or Chanting Jai Sri Ram. Nobody talks about employment, the economy, reducing prices, etc.
These are brand-building exercises. It hardly cost anything. BJP is hugely investing in these brand-building exercises. Nobody talks about the economy. All the time you will hear temples, statues, Hijab, Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti procession, violence, Hindi imposition, etc. It seems that India has only one issue no Hindu-Muslim. Home Minister Amit Shah is busy advising us to speak Hindi. He doesn't have time to ensure that Delhi remains safe, and no violence occurs. India has around 80% Hindu population. We are made to believe that Hindus are under threat, which is supposed to be the biggest problem India facing today. So all Hindus should vote for BJP.
Hindutva is like a registered brand owned by BJP. By default, other parties can not use this brand. Congress and parties like TMC etc have always been known for their Muslim appeasement policies. It's practically not possible for them to wash off their image and become a Hindutva party. Neither they want. And even if they try reliability will be an issue. Congress can not fight elections on the Hindutva platform. It has to fight elections on a secular platform, development, economy, etc.
However, I believe Kejriwal is the smartest. He has made a big encroachment on BJP’s Hindutva ideology by talking about Soft Hindutva, visiting temples, and sponsoring free trips to Hindu religious places. These days he is talking about giving free Yoga classes in Delhi. Kejriwal has been largely successful in retaining Hindu votes with him while he has the support of Muslim votes as well.
I am tired of these manipulated numbers. Why only 7.2, you could show me anything 10, 15% growth, absolutely anything, They do not impress me. It's like many of the onscreen beauties of Bollywood with an extremely heavy dose of makeup, lighting, costume, cinematography, and the skills of a cameraman, etc. Look at them off-screen, you will know the difference. An onscreen look is required to make a movie hit. But how much of their onscreen magic works in their personal life? How many of them are greatly successful in their married life? Both sides' reality is different. Most often you will see broken marriages, everywhere - Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood, and Hollywood. They have to look for unnatural sexual orientation, drugs, etc. in pursuit of happiness.
I have stopped referring to GDP figures provided by the Modi government. These figures do not mean anything to me if I have to pay GST on my hospital bed, ICU charge, Medical implant, medicine, health insurance, essential commodities, and bank chequebook. These figures do not mean anything to me if we have to sell all our national assets if we have to cut employment in defense forces if we have to employ Agniveer, if we have to borrow ever more, if we have to spend 43% of our revenue receipt on interest payment, if our fiscal deficit and public borrowing has grow by three-fold in volume, if our external debt has to grow by over 50%. All these GDP numbers do not mean anything if our Rupee keeps on depreciating if our trade deficit increases more than double in just two years if our unemployment reaches the highest ever, if thousands of industrial units file for bankruptcy every year, if every year we generate fresh NPA worth lakhs of crores if we still have to NPA worth around 6 lakh crores even after writing off 14 lakh crores. What do I do with these GDP numbers if the NPA percentage goes back to 9%?
India is definitely growing. But India is growing in - NPA, Fiscal deficit, Public debt, unemployment, debt to GDP ratio, increase in external debt, increase in fuel & gas price, increase in GST rates and expanding GST to new items, increase in bankruptcy, out of the way increase in Adani & Ambani’s net worth, increase in US Dollar price.
I am actually delighted to see an army of Modi lovers thronging in the comment section to shower me with their boorish comments attacking me and my answer on other platforms. Unfortunately, none of them have come up with any solid defense of GDP growth. For them attacking me in unison was more important. Because it seems all of them have come from a brilliantly ill-informed economics background. It seems they all have studied Modinomics or Modanimics at WhatsApp University. These incredibly brilliant Modi Bhakts do not have any idea where these fantastic GDP growths should reflect in real life. They will show that the GST collection has increased. GST collection will definitely increase if you put GST on medicine, medical implants, medical insurance, hospital beds, and ICU charges. If the economy has grown by leaps & bounds why do we have to put GST on medical expenditure? Why do you have to put GST on curd, bank chequebook, and essential commodities? 18 % Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been made applicable on bank chequebook/loose leaf cheques and 12 % on maps, atlas, and globes.
Then they will show that the Modi government has constructed more length of highways. Of course by changing the measurement matrix. One Km Highway constructed during UPA days will now be 4 Km as the measurement has been changed to lane per Km.
People do not know why the debt of the union government should grow three-fold from 50 lakh crores to 154 lakh crore in nine years, despite so-called huge GDP growth. They will show that FDI has made record growth under the Modi government. However, they would not be able to explain why the external debt has grown by US $ 200 Billion despite FDI growth. They would not be able to explain why the rupee fell so drastically. They will not be able to explain why unemployment highest ever in a growing economy. They would fail to explain why the merchandise trade deficit is more than US $ 200 billion. they would fail to explain why imports from China increased by around 100% in the last two years.
If we see history, other than our first president Dr. Rajendra Parasad no other president got elected for 2nd term, even though many of them were well deserving. It is very sad that Dr. Kalam was not given a well-deserving 2nd term. And the replacement we got possibly was the worst till then.
I believe everyone in the nation inclusive of all the hardcore supporters of Congress would agree with me that Dr. Kalam should have been given a 2nd term. However, unfortunately, it didn’t happen. And I would hold Congress primarily responsible for that. I do not know the reason behind it, but the nation was definitely never happy with this decision of Congress and particularly discontent with the selection of the next incumbent.
However, if Congress deserves criticism for its choice of the presidential nomination, the current dispensation also doesn’t deserve any acclamation in that respect. Possibly both at par.
There could be multiple reasons for not electing Dr. Kalam for 2nd term…
He was the President elected by the BJP government, and UPA didn’t want to re-elect Him because of the typical rival party way of thinking.
Possibly there was a need to appease the Maharastra voters for the political equation. Most of our Presidential elect has been on political consideration rather than purely on merit. I think this could have been the actual reason for not electing Dr. Kalam for 2nd term.
Last but not the least Congress didn’t want a strong president to be in charge, particularly when it had a politically not-so-strong PM in power. There could have been a risk of MMS being influenced by the strong personality of Dr. Kalam. MMS being through gentlemen wouldn’t have been able to say no to Dr. Kalam or influence him the other way if need be. It would have been difficult, also for Sonia to manage Dr. Kalam. Dr. Kalam wouldn’t have compromised on ethics. This is exactly the reason a strong PM like Modi also didn’t take the risk of having a strong presidential nomination. He has also gone for someone who wouldn’t summon the resolve to send back any bill/ordinance for reconsideration.
Ultimately political interest is of paramount importance. I am very much sure Modi Ji also would have done the same thing with Dr. Kalam, it is evident from his selection of presidential nomination. It was only Vajpayee Ji who could rise beyond narrow politics.
Vajpayee Ji had a towering personality, stature, and goodwill to command respect from friends and foes alike. He was a befitting PM for a befitting President or vice versa. The mutual respect was the key element in the entire equation. Too often you don’t see two such towering personalities holding each other in such high esteem.
Otherwise also the nomination of Dr. Kalam was a masterstroke in the interest of the whole nation. After the Godhra incident and the resulting Gujarat riot, India was under the spotlight of international attention. India couldn’t have afforded to flare up communal tension. There was a strong need to set the tone right and send a strong message nationally as well as internationally. Vajpayee Ji had the golden opportunity in his hand and there couldn’t have been anyone better than Dr. Kalam to be appointed as President from every aspect.
I am not sure how many people have read the news - Subramanian Swamy Approaches SC on Govt's Petition To Modify 2G Scam Judgement To Avoid Auction of Satellite Spectrum. This is a very important piece of news. Just go back 12 -13 years, the wheel has returned to where it started. The 2G spectrum sale controversy was the rising point of the BJP. So it is very important to look back at what the BJP said then and what the Modi government contemplating to do now. It is possible that the memory lane may have faded for some of us. There is a beautiful word in Hindi/Sanskrit/Assamese/Bengali - अतंद्र प्रहरी Atandra Prahari. There is actually no equivalent word in English that would perfectly mean the same thing. However, a rough translation would be Alert Sleepless Sentinel. Subramanian Swamy is acting as that alert sentinel. His memory lane has not faded
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dr Subramanian Swamy has approached the Supreme Court (SC) opposing the Union government's petition to modify the 2012 judgement on the telecom scam known as the 2G spectrum scam to avoid auction in the satellite spectrum. Nearly 12 years after the judgement, the government filed a plea before the apex court seeking to reverse the spectrum allocation process to allow resources to be allocated by the executive's administrative process instead of the auction as directed by the SC. The SC ruling came in response to a PIL (public interest litigation) filed by Dr Swamy, the then president of Janata Party and senior counsel Prashant Bhushan.
In short, the Modi government is seeking to reverse the spectrum allocation process to allow resources to be allocated by the executive's administrative process instead of the auction as directed by the SC. The Modi government is now asking the court to allow it to apply the process followed by the UPA government for the allotment of 2G spectrum in 2008. About which BJP made a massive hue and cry that it was a scam of 176 lakhs crores. If that process of spectrum allotment was a scam, how come the clean Modi government wants to get back to the same process? Let the Modi Government give a declaration in the court as well as to the public that the process followed by the then-UPA government was crystal clear and was better than the Supreme Court-guided process.
Did you know that after doing an auction of so many spectrums 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G Spectrum together on 1st August 2022 Modi government could manage only Rs 1.5 lakh crores? However, this is the total bid amount for 20 years not the annual earnings of the government. Payments for spectrum can be made in 20 equal annual installments, to be paid in advance at the beginning of each year. The bidders would be given the option to surrender the spectrum after 10 years, with no future liabilities for balance installments. The expected total first annual installment that the government will garner from the bidders has been pegged at Rs 13,365 crore. Whereas the government was expecting Rs 4.3 lakh crore at reserve prices from the auction of 72 GHz of airwaves for 20 years across 10 5G bands.
Actually, I feel that a much bigger scam has happened this time in the spectrum auction. First of all, for this sale, the rate was cut by 40% on the reserved price since all the bands had gone unsold in the last two auctions due to what carriers said was its high price. This could be because of a cartel between the 3–4 players. Ideally, all the bids should be rejected if it is below the reserved price. Who justified this 40% cut? Secondly, the Modi government has changed the payment terms. Earlier the entire bid amount had to be paid in one shot. Why this concession and in whose interest? Thirdly and most importantly why the bid period is for 20 years when the bidders have not made outright payment of the bid amount? This is like a price freeze offer for 20 years without any benefit to the nation. Just think Ambani will get the spectrum at the same price in 2042 that they have bid today. What will be the value of the annual payment of Rs 13,365 crore in 2042? They will practically get the spectrum free of cost.
Former CAG - Vinod Rai, the man in total black. The white shirt doesn’t suit him.
In the alleged 2G Spectrum scam in 2010 CAG Vinod Rai estimated a loss of 1.76 lakh crores. The mobile phone penetration and the population were much-much smaller then. Plus there was no smartphone in 2010. Now you tell me - is it possible by any means to do a scam of 1.76 lakh crore in those days? When the Modi government would be earning only Rs 13,365 crore from the auction of 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G Spectrum together, what kind of money would you have expected the Manmohan Singh government to earn back in 2010 to do a scam of 1.76 lakh crores by selling only 2G spectrum?
The special court appointed by the SC in its verdict categorically rejected that any scam took place. The court ruled that this case was baseless. As per the judgment, "Some people created a scam by artfully arranging a few selected facts and exaggerating things beyond recognition to astronomical levels."
The above table gives the comparative outcome of the various auctions. The viewers are free to make their own assessment of whether they find any scope of doing a scam of 1.76 lakh crores. The data has been collected from the auction value analysis done by the Department of Telecom. I am amazed where that genius Vinod Rai found the scam. People would have some idea of what kind of mobile penetration India had in 2010. In 2010 the smartphone penetration rate in India was only 2.75% and in 2022 it is 66.21%. Mobile phone internet user penetration in India in 2010 was only 0.05% and in 2022 it is 66.16%. See the huge jump in mobile phone penetration, have you seen a compatible increase in revenue in the Modi government tenure commensurate with the growth of smartphone penetration?
Image source - Staatista 2022
I would like to point out that in two rounds of action in 2010, the total bid amount was around 76 K Crores with about one twenty-fifth of the subscriber base in comparison to that of 2022. And this is without considering the revenue from BSNL & MTNL. So I think we can safely say the revenue collection was not at all low if we consider the subsequent years’ auction amount.
Secondly, somebody pointed out that even though the subscriber base was small, the mobile bill amount was higher to the tune of Rs.1200–1800 per month. Let’s say that the mobile bill amount is 8-10 times higher than today. But we have a 25 times higher subscriber base today. Let me give you the mathematics. Say in 2010, 100 subscribers paid a total bill; in the amount of Rs.180000/-.( Rs.1800 X 100) Now in 2022 with a 25 times higher subscriber base 100 X 25 =2500 X Rs.200/- =Rs.500000/-. That means that even though the bill amount has gone down drastically, the revenue collection is more than double, almost two and a half times. And this is considering the average mobile bill value at Rs.1800. However I am sure in 2010 the average bill value wouldn’t be more than Rs.1000/- Considering that the auction value should be five times higher in 2022, which is not the case.
Somebody pointed out that the entire 5G spectrum for all the cities was not sold in the current auction. Possible. But then the total bid amount has to be five times of 2010 auction amount considering the above calculation. Secondly this year so many spectrums 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G were put up for sale, not 5G alone.
Also, I would like to point out that in 2010, the major part earnings of the telecom operators were consumed by infrastructure and network expansion costs. With a small subscriber base, the per-customer infrastructure cost was much higher. With the increase in subscriber base, the infrastructure & network expansion cost doesn’t go up proportionately. For example, in a city, you have a 1 lakh subscriber base, if tomorrow it increases to 5 lakh subscribers. the infrastructure cost remains almost the same because the infrastructure is created in one go considering the future scale-up provision.
BJP then complained that the bidding process was not correct or transparent. (But Now the Modi Government finds it transparent and wants to go back to the same process.) Over the last twenty years, government procedures and processes have gone through massive changes. Even today most government work happens through physical file movement. In 2010 the entire process inclusive of tendering was through a manual route on paper. Today you can say it was wrong, but then it was the correct process. You can say that the spectrum auction process followed in 2010 was wrong or was with malafide intention only if the revenue generation has increased substantially after changing the process. But that is not the case. The new auction mechanism has been followed since 2012 as per the Supreme Court-provided guidelines. As regards corruption it was possible in 2010 and it is possible even today. Rather I would say the scope of corruption is much higher today. With a lesser number of players, the scope and chances of a cartel are much higher.
One thing is getting increasingly clear, the then UPA government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh had a robust process which now the Modi Government wants to follow though possibly for the wrong reason. The Modi government had to adopt most of the Congress/UPA government policies - be it Aadhar, MNREGA, MSP, GST, PDS, NAM, Niti Aayog ( Planning Commission name changed), fall back on Russian support, fall back to the two-state policy on Israel, acknowledging Palestines right, friendship with Afghanistan, Rupee trade initiated by Nehru in 1953. I can give a hundred other examples where the Modi government had to fall back or take a U-turn to follow Congress/UPA government policies. The days are not far that people will accept Nehru and Indira was right on most occasions contrary to what Modi wanted to prove.
