Maharashtra Politics : a bollywood love triangle

Last evening I had a few friends come over to my place. Instead of chatting about fashion, relationships and the usual topics, we often discuss literature, Politics and current affairs. (Yes, we are geeks and we are boring!) Since it was the day of Vidhansabha election results in Maharashtra and Haryana, obviously the same was our topic of discussion (read bakchodi). Almost all results were out and BJP had emerged as the largest party with 123 seats, yet not enough to form government on its own. Shiv Sena with 63 seats emerged as second largest party. The rest fared as follows :

With all the high voltage pre-poll political drama in Maharashtra, that witnessed split in not one but two alliances, the scene was nothing less than a political equivalent of an Ekta Kapur Sas-Bahu melodrama. NCP soon offered its support for a BJP government from outside unconditionally. With this new kahani mein twist, we all could see a perfect Bollywood love-triangle. "What if this Love-triangle was from the movie Devdas?" - with that thought in mind, we continued our Bakaiti session and equating parties with characters from the movie. Here is the outcome.

Right from the tug-of-war between Sena and BJP for seats to their breakup and then all the vituperative epithets used by Sena for Modi, Sena's behavior was more like an insolent girlfriend who had put her foot down on a demand, which lead to a breakup and then she dumps the blame on the other. Not just Paro, but Angry Paro!

A few members were expelled from Congress for opposing Sonia Gandhi's claim over the post of Prime Minister, back in 1999. These members came together and formed NCP. withing next 6 months the same party joined hands with Congress in Maharashtra to form government and then Joined UPA in the center as well. Hence, right from its 'accidental' conception, NCP has always enjoyed chair. Ever ready to partner with other parties for the pleasure of power, today after its split with Congress, its eyeing BJP; any guesses why? If Chair and Beds are furnitures and Politics, a brothel, we've found our Chandramukhi - Beautiful, shrewd and Fatal!

No points for guessing, which role resembles BJP; but since the whole scenario revolved around not the party but Modi, we had to nominate Modi for the role of Devdas, but a different Devdas. You see, as per the story, Devdas gets drunk and screws up his own health. Modi on the other hand is a teetotaller. So, what would he drink? MILK! And instead screwing up the whole situation even more like the original Devdas, Modi rolls up his sleeves and gets down to business. Hence, Modi isnt Devdas, but a Sanghi Devdas!

So, if Modi is Sanghi Devdas, who fits the bill for Chunni Babu? Ofcourse, the one and only Amit Shah! but again this Chunni Babu does not help his friend screw his life even more, but does everything he can to ensure his friend's victory. Thats Amit shah - a Sanghi Chunni Babu!

One party that has been trying to mediate a deal between Shiv Sena and BJP right when the tussle about the seats began has been the Republican Party of India (RPI). Even post polls, RPI chief Ramdas Athavle has remained hopeful of a Sena-BJP reconciliation. Yes, thats our Dharam da!

Born in an affluent family but low on morals, Congress has not only lost its ally, but now also helplessly watches it make advances towards its rival. Congress is a Cocky villain and hence Kali Babu... a Secular Kaali Babu.

An aggressive character with negative shades that has a presence on the scene as good as a cameo, provides a bit of comic relief and as the story advances which is soon rendered irrelevant is Kumud Bhabhi. Enough said!

Just when everyone thought we had discussed all the characters and parties and were busy making jokes on the last character, and predicting about new alliances, Ashraf Ali entered the scene.

Wait, what! isn't that a character from ... errm, from Gadar, ek prem katha?
yes, you guessed it right.
So isn't this kinda an intrusion?
Exactly!

Now chew on this : All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen, AIMIM - a Communal party based in Hyderabad known for its floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi's venomous hate speech against Hindus, won 2 seats in Maharashtra.

Narendra Modi - Sending out the right signals

We have been reading and listening to people saying "Parliament is Temple of Democracy." Finally, someone behaves like it really is! 

News channels have talked much about Modi-Advani rift, yet today we saw both Modi and Advani share a genuine hug. Advani has seen the party grow from just 2 seats to a massive majority of 282 seats for BJP alone, while the alliance, NDA, bags 336 seats! Even for a seasoned Politician like Advani, to see the sapling he and his fellow BJP leaders planted bloom into such a massive tree, must be overwhelmingly emotional. No doubt he has been spotted teary eyed a few times by reporters. The overwhelming victory seemed to get the best of Modi too, when he too got emotional during his speech, twice. Other BJP leaders too couldn't help joining in. Cynics may pass this as merely a publicity stunt, but those who understand human behavior and BJP-RSS history, their passion, and devotion for the Nation would'nt doubt the feelings. In any case, the Nation today follows every move made by Modi very closely and is full of hopes. What makes Modi so special? 

The answer is, besides his and BJP's hard work and marketing, Modi never fails to make positive and bold statements through his actions. He grabs every opportunity to send the right message. Here is a list of observations - 

Pre-election, Modi not only refrained but also refused to address and divide Indians as Muslims and Hindus, as Minority and Majority. This was the beginning of the end of Vote-bank Politics. 

While filing his nomination at Vadodra, Kiran Mahida (a Tea vendor) and Shubhanginiraje Gaekwad from the royal family of Vadodra were his two proposers. Both were carefully chosen to represent the humble and the great, a male and a female. 

Similarly, in Varanasi, the four proposers - Padmabhushan Pt. Channulal Mishra (Hindstani Classical Singer), Justice Giridhar Malviya (grandson of freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya), Virbhadra Nishad (Boatman) and Ashok Kumar (weaver)... all represent and symbolise different sections of the society. Before Modi, not many knew about even the role of a proposer in the process.

Post Elections, the 1st time he was spotted was while visiting his mother, hitting the right notes with people.

His 1st public address was at Vadodra, 2nd at Ahmedabad and 3rd at Varanasi after visiting Kashi-Vishwanath temple and performing Ganga aarati. The 3 cities symbolise his journey from State to National Politics. His speeches ensured a strong connect with every individual who voted for him, finding the same with the ones who didn't. Offering prayers, he made sure to put an end to 'pseudo-secular' vote bank appeasement politics. 

The most probable name for his successor as Gujrat CM is Anandiben patel - Women empowerment in action.

Pre and post elections  Modi talked about development...development for everyone - for the young and the old, for poor and rich, for men and women. His talks about technology made him popular among the younger generation. He respects India's customs and Traditions. He comes from a humble family. His relatives still live a humble life. All this makes it possible for him to connect emotionally and ideologically with people from different walks of life. How about the other politicians start taking notes?

Inferences drawn from 'Har-Har Modi' issue

As the election campaign for Narendra Modi moved forward with cries of 'Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi', a controversy too followed. Many devout Hindus and 'Secular' Congress leaders took objection on the use of this slogan, but it was Shankaracharya Shri Swaroopanand Saraswati of Jyotirpeeth who strongly condemned the use of 'Har Har Modi' slogan. Modi promptly requested his supporters to do the same. While the slogan has been MODIfied as 'Har dil Modi, Ghar ghar Modi', there are few interesting things to note about this whole incidence.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Congress for once talking about Hindu sentiments. Yes, we are talking about the same Congress that in its arrogance had even put a question mark on existence of Raam! Recently a Congress Leader, P. Shankar Rao, was in news for constructing a temple dedicated to Sonia Gandhi. Even in past, Sonia Gandhi has been portrayed as Goddess Durga in posters. 



The sycophants do not only exist in Congress, but in every party. A good example is the case of BJP's Hemant Bohra from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, who printed a poster depicting Vasundhra Raje as Goddess Annapoorna. 

Why limit ourselves to Politics?

Sport Personalities like 

Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni too were found in similar controversy. 

While Hindu Saints have been demanding a ban on Cow slaughter, India becomes leader in Beef exports. No heed was payed to their cries when they marched to Delhi to save river Yamuna. Swami Nigamanand died after fasting for 73 days to save holy river Ganga, but no one seemed to care. I have immense respect for Shankaracharya Shri Swaroopanand Saraswati as religious scholar, and eagerly want to know his views on all the above mentioned incidences. I would love to know why he only chose to speak on 'Har Har Modi', and not on any other issue? But I doubt, these questions will ever be answered. 

In any case, whats interesting is that Modi supporters stopped using the slogan after Modi's request, and not because of Shankaracharya's criticism. Usually labelled 'Communal', Hindu masses rejected a Religious Head's views for a leader who talks about development. I try to compare this with Shahi Imam's recent visit to Sonia Gandhi and his endorsement of Mamata Banerjee. Azam Khan addresses a conference of Madrassa managers and Principals to secure his party's Muslim vote bank. This only hints that these religious heads hold a good influence over a huge Muslim population. what inference do I draw from this?  

I'm sure any sane mind will agree with me when I say Religion should not be allowed to control politics of a Nation. While the Majority seems to have learnt this lesson, the Minority yet seems to be in need of time to accept this fact. 

In light of these facts, let us now argue the definition of 'Communalism'. 

Elections 2014 : a lesson from Mahabharat for indecisive minds

As we draw closer to the Lok Sabha Elections 2014, a lot of people still seem to be confused as to who deserves their vote. A new party raises its voice against corruption and enters into politics claiming itself to be honest, but soon loses its credibility. The ruling party tries to appear Honest, secular and pro-development but its track record speaks otherwise. The opposition's PM candidate though has a track record that speaks for itself, the party also has few members that face corruption charges. Other parties that aspire to rule the Nation as 3rd front, have their own closets full of skeletons. In short, no party is spotless. 

Those who plan to vote based on religion and caste, or for some other personal gains, have little confusion. Ignorance is bliss, right? And equally true is the corollary - 'He who increases knowledge, increases sorrows.'  The ones that know the true value of their vote and are aware of every party's blots are left disillusioned. The desire to find an 'ideal' party, with spotless track record and that can solve people's problems immediately, turns this disillusionment into utter confusion. Such 'aware' individuals are thus not able to pick a side. And even when they do, they don't let their choice spare anyone from their criticism. Blindly following any party is dangerous and Criticism is good...BUT timing is crucial. Most of such individuals fail to realise this.

This predicament reminds me of a story from Mahabharat -

The most powerful of all the warriors present at the beginning of the great war was Barbareek (बरबरीक). Barbareek, Grandson of Bheem and Son of Ghatotkach, after completing his education, had Promised his Guru that he would only fight for the weaker side in a battle, and so, in the beginning, he joined the Pandavas. Pandavas rejoiced while Kauravas were alarmed. But it was only Shree Krishna who was able to see what this really could lead to, and hence Barbareek was prevented from joining any side. Why was the most powerful warrior present at that time, who could have finished the war in matter of minutes, not allowed to join the war? because his promise to his Guru would not let him remain on one side. He would join the weaker side and kill warriors of the other side till the stronger side is now reduced to the weaker one. And so, he would again switch sides, till all are killed and only he remains. 

Powerful enough to change the course of the war, but too confused to pick a side and stick with it - Barbareek represents today's aware, disillusioned and confused individuals. Such enlightened minds are excellent when it comes to constructive criticism. But is this the right time for such discussions? 

Pick a side and join the battle.

Let us hang Modi

I am not loyal to any party but to reason, and for that reason my loyalties keep shifting, leaving only one thing for certain - show me injustice and I shall join any and every protest against it. And hence today I try to distance myself from Modi!

But, before we go ahead and discuss more about Modi, here is a small exercise for the readers. Irrespective of our Faith and ideology, we all have atleast one person that we love the most. Right? I want you to think of that person. Done? 

now scroll down



Have you really thought of THE person?




No cheating please...




is it your Father?




or your Mother?




Or one of your Grand Parents?




Or your spouse/Boyfriend/Girlfriend?




or your Kids?




Or simply a special friend?




Now Imagine that, 
you see that person off at train station one day and the next day you see on news that the train that person was on was burnt. You frantically try to connect with that person but you fail. You try every means possible only to find that that person was one of the victims of the arson and that He/She too was burnt alive, locked inside the train coach. 

I'm sure you'd want to  harm me for making you to go through this mental torture. My apologies, but if just the thought of this whole incidence fills one with anguish and rage, what must the grief be of those who lost their loved ones in Sabarmati express? 

Let us, to this pain add the memory of the exodus and genocide of Kashmiri Pundits and the fact that it was totally ignored as if it never happened and the fear that it may again happen to any other state of India, to a place where you and your family resides. 

Post Godhra riots, the impression is that only Muslims lost their loved ones and that the number was in thousands. Here is the truth - 790 muslims and 254 Hindus died in the riots. Now lets do the Maths - 
790 + (254+58) = 1102 (58 victims of Sabarmati Express)
therefore, 
28.31 % Hindu and 71.69% Muslim victims. 

My heart breaks to even imagine how it would have felt to go through such perilous times, for every Muslim, for every Hindu...for every Human being!
But, no matter how gross it was to do the math of dead bodies, it helps us see how easily the 28% were totally ignored and forgotten. It shows us the bitter truth about the Secularism of our Media and elite liberals that choose to ignore the tears of the Majority. 

Post 2002 there has not been a single case of riots in Gujrat. Had there been one, the media would have hounded Modi. Some would say that this peace only exists due to fear. To every reader, regardless of Her/His faith/religion/background, I ask, will you prefer to lose you loved ones and your property destroyed or peace, even if it exists due to fear? I would, without hesitation, chose peace. 

Still, lets hang Modi. 
but for what reason? For riots or for not being able to stop the riots?
Clearly, the trigger for the riots was Sabarmati Express. Hence lets hang him for not being able to stop the riots. Right?
Let us ignore Supreme Court's verdict. Who cares what the apex court of our Nation says. We shall stick to what media, Politicians and elite leftists and liberals wants us to believe.

But, in this clip, in front of his bitter rivals, Digvijay Singh and Fahrooq Abdulah, he reveals when the riots broke out, the Gujrat govt. sent fax to the neighboring states Chattisgarh, Maharshatra and Madhya Pradesh to send help for riot control. The request was denied. Wouldnt his arguments be thrashed by these two if they could? Even with the limited Police force, the riots were brought under control in 3 days. Assam riots continued for 3 months and the '84 riots in 3 days claimed over 8000 lives. Do I need to give statistics for genocide of Kashimiri Pundits? Shouldn't we demand the same for the culprits in these cases too? or is it that Hindus and Sikhs are better off dead?


I have heard some conspiracy theorists saying that the Sabarmati Express incident was pre-planned by BJP-RSS. Now, thats a new angle. Here is another one - what if it really was pre-planned and those that planned it made it look like it was pre-planned by the 'Saffron terrorists'? If we were to stick to a conspiracy theory, which one should we stick to? Obviously, the one that has been repeated over and over again. After all, whatever is repeated several times, ultimately becomes the truth. No? 

Let us overlook the praises for Modi by Maulana Ghulam Vastanvi, at the cost of his post of Deoband's rector and Maulana Mahmood Madani, general secretary of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. These Maulanas obviously know shit about Godhra as compared to Arundhati Roy. Right?

Let us forsake all reasons and believe what we are made to believe, let us cease to think and let our religious beliefs take over our logic. Let us hang Modi! For if we dont, chances are, there wont be any riots anymore in the country and hence no other political party will get any chance to fan religious and communal sentiments of the downtrodden 'Aam Juntaa' for their petty gains. 

Defending Salman Khurshid on Impotence

Often I've heard people talking about fashion and its trends, saying things like 'Red is the new black'. For a Neandersexual man like myself, such jargons have been difficult to understand, until today. Today when I heard Salman Khurshid saying that Narendra Modi is 'impotent', the one phrase that came to my mind was, "Salman Khurshid is the new Digvijay Singh". Digvijay Singh is known for his prowess in voicing his mental diarrhea, but since long
seems to have taken sabbatical. Meanwhile, other Congress leaders appear to be trying tirelessly to fill the void, with Khurshid on the forefront. The thought that scares me the most is that what if Digvijay Singh is not on a sabbatical, but actually training other congress leaders in the art? Nooooo!

Since I am a man, and one that likes to observe, I like to think that I know a thing or two about human nature, especially about males. If a man himself is not able to perform well, to make himself look better, he may try to prove other males totally inadequate, sexually or otherwise. 'Overcompensation' is the term used for this kind of behavior. Also, males and females, at times, are known to try and defame the other person when their romantic/sexual advances are not met with welcome and are denied the pleasure. Their ego is hurt when they receive a blow of rejection. I leave it on the sensible readers to take a pick in Mr. Khurshid's case. There may be another case which we may consider. It is quite possible that Salman Khurshid may have confused Elections with Errections. No?

I would like to add, in any situation, remarks like these are highly sexist. Do we really want such sexist Politicians? If he has such respect for a fellow male, I highly doubt his ideas on 'Women Empowerment', a cause so close to Rahul Baba's heart. While the paid media is busy portraying Rahul Jee as an entertaining fool, He once again 'rose to occasion' and criticised Mr. Khurshid's use of the term. Why drag Rahul Baba in Khurshi-Modi feud? 

Khurshid, after the noise made by BJP and other parties on the use of the Hindi word 'Napunsak', which means impotent, clarified that he meant it in a figurative way and not literally. Offcourse he meant it figuratively. what did you buffoons think? He, afterall, is an Oxford alumni. He may have displaced sense of values, but Language? No, Sir. He has an excellent command over it. And hence, we may also conclude that, in his sense of the word, every Chief Minister of every state that ever saw a riot, be it Delhi, Kashmir, Assam, Muzaffarnagar etc. too are Napunsak/impotent. Now, I personally cant agree more. What about you?

Rioting over Riots

Modi responsible for 2002 Gujrat riots.
- Rahul Gandhi, Congress.

I urge SIT probe for 1984 riots.
- Arvind Kejriwal, AAP.
(And retweets a tweet labeling Narendra Modi a 'Murderer', even after clean chit from SIT)

Kejriwal betrayed Muslims, backtracked on his promise of SIT on Batla House encounter.
- Asif Muhammad, MLA, Congress.

Muzaffarnagar riots were political.
- Ajit Singh, Chief, Rashtriya Lok Dal.

It all started with Rahul Gandhi's interview, where he blamed Modi for Gujrat riots of 2002; and one after the other they started to riot over past riots in the country and pointing fingers at each other.  The above mentioned personalities weren't the only ones to participate in the chicanery, spewing venom against the other parties and trying to establish themselves as the protector of the minorities. Those who understand politics, would know that more of such drama can be expected in coming days, as we move closer to the Loksabha Elections 2014. 

Meanwhile, srrounded with all the cacophony of the Crows (politicians) and Vultures (Media), it was interesting to note that no one bothered to make even a small mention of the Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pundits from their homeland, Kashmir, in 1990, nor the recent Assam (Kokrajhar) riots. It was like they never happened; and I so wish that they never had! But since they did, why the silence? Is it because, these were the incidences that affected the people belonging to the Majority of the Nation? Do lives of Hindus don't matter or is it that since they exist in majority, a loss of few lives can be considered negligible? These are uncomfortable questions, but someone has to ask them. They must be answered.

Its sad and unfortunate to even compare human suffering, and that is exactly my point. If the sufferings of the minorities find cries for justice, why are the majority's tears ignored? That is when Mancur Olson's The logic of Collective action answers the question - 

"In Democracy, a well organised minority is Majority."

While setting aside the differences between the different sects and casts and subcasts, the Minorities fight together for their issues, the majority continues to be divided not only into different casts and subcasts but also through language and region. The people comprising the majority in India have clearly not learnt the most obvious lesson from their History; and unless they do, they are doomed to go through it all again.