Sunday, February 16, 2014

रहिमन जिव्हा बावरी...

For last few months, observing various reports in mainstream media and some of the comments on social media reminded me of a couplet that was taught to us in the school days.
  
           रहिमन जिव्हा बावरी कहिगे सरग पताल | 
           आपु तो भीतर रहय जूती खाये कपाल ||

This couplet was written by poet Rahim who was born in the 16th Century AD. Even though this couplet is over 400 years old, it is still relevant in today's world. For readers that do not understand Awadhi (a dialect of Hindi spoken in some parts of Uttar Pradesh), the meaning of this couplet is explained below:

"Tongue speaks bitter words, but, it remains protected inside the mouth. It is the head that has to suffer the beating."

Morale of this couplet is that one should keep his/her tongue under control as uncalled for and profane utterances may land one in trouble. But, many people who are looked at as idols by others do not give much thought to this.

An ardent fan of Aam Aadmi Party had made a comment on twitter that referred to Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi as moron and murderer respectively. This comment was retweeted by the then Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, inviting criticism from different quarters of the society.
 

This same guy, while singing at a concert organized by the Aam Aadmi Party sang a song with some objectionable words and this was very proudly reported by Rahul Mehra, a senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, on twitter.


One of the ministers of Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, Somnath Bharti, accused media of taking money from Narendra Modi to defame him. The minister had earlier performed a midnight raid against some African women in south Delhi, where according to his belief, a drug and prostitution racket was taking place. When media asked him whether he would resign on moral grounds over the midnight raid issue, he asked media, “How much money has Modiji paid you?”  This was severely criticized by different sections of the society and the minister had to apologise for his comments.
 
While protesting against the Delhi Police for defying law minister Somnath Bharti during the midnight raid, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called himself an anarchist. He even invited the general public to join a 10 day protest. It is still unclear what he was trying to gain from the protest other than protecting his minister who seemed to be caught on the wrong side of law during the midnight raid.
 
Another incident of reckless comments from Aam Aadmi Party took everyone by surprise. One very senior leader of the party and a Supreme Court lawyer, Prashant Bhushan, landed himself in trouble when he made a comment demanding a plebiscite on presence of Army in Kashmir. He went on to suggest that Kashmir should be allowed to separate itself from India if the result of plebiscite is in favor of separation. His views were in stark contrast to the nation's view on this issue. After his statement, a group of youths stormed into his chamber in the Supreme Court and roughed him up.
 
But, it's not just the political class that is accused of making slanderous statements. Few very senior members of mainstream media also find it titillating to make such statements. Rajdeep Sardesai is the editor in chief of a big media house and is often questioned on the social media for his comments that many feel are biased towards a particular political group. Last week one of his tweets took the twitter by storm.
 

With this tweet, twitter was inundated with comments and angry reactions directed towards Rajdeep Sardesai from people who felt offended by him comparing a mass leader and Chief Minister of a state with his pet. He later tendered an apology through another tweet but at the same time tried to play victim claiming that he was threatened on social media and phone for his earlier tweet.
 
Few of these comments (quoted above) show a feeling of hatred towards the opponents. The young minds easily get influenced by such comments and may get involved in activities that court troubles for them. Some comments further hamper the credibility of mainstream media that is already running low on credibility.
 
The comments made by Prashant Bhushan, however, are far more serious. With his comments, Pakistan has got a chance to raise this issue again. In fact, Pakistan has urged India to look into the demands made by the Aam Aadmi Party and to carry out a plebiscite in Kashmir on whether Kashmir wants to stay with India or not. But above all, his comments have hurt many Indians.
 



Are all these statements made for personal gains and popularity or just to divert the attention of country from other more important issues? Can the editor in chief of a media house claim to be a neutral observer and reporter after making insulting comments about a mass leader? Is it personal hate or something else that made him make these comments? Is the media house turning a blind eye to this incident good for the credibility of mainstream media? How can the senior leader of a political party that dreams to rule the country be so morbidly insensitive about an issue that runs through the veins of this country? 
 
Only Vishal Dadlani, Somnath Bharti, Arvind Kejriwal, Rajdeep Sardesai and Prashant Bhushan can answer these questions. But, I am sure answering these questions raised by a commoner like me does not make sense to them.
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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

LS Elections 2014- The MNS Effect in Maharashtra

With the impending Lok Sabha elections in first half of 2014, the political parties are busy getting their act right. I have closely watched the politics in Maharashtra since my childhood. Maharashtra is one of the few Indian states where local sentiments influence the politics as much as the national sentiments do. First time, Sharad Pawar formed the government led by a regional party as early as in 1978.
 
BJP and Shiv Sena have one of the oldest alliance in history of Indian politics. The alliance dates back as long as 1984 and is termed as one of the most smooth and successful alliance in Indian politics. The alliance has benefited both parties in Parliament as well as Assembly elections.

Things were going pretty well for the two parties until in 2006 Shiv Sena split and a new party named Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by none other than (erstwhile) Shiv Sena Supremo Balasaheb Thakre's nephew, was formed.

The two parties (Shiv Sena and MNS) had the same DNA and were competing for "Sons of the Soil" issues. Till 2008, MNS was just another political party vying for people's attention. But, as the Parliament and Assembly elections of 2009 approached, MNS took a more aggressive stand on various local issues. This included issues related to the migration of people from other parts of the country to Mumbai, more respect for Marathi language and so on. This led to a divide in the vote share of Shiv Sena and helped the Congress alliance grab more seats in Parliament elections and also to retain Power in the Maharashtra Assembly elections of 2009. There were as little as 9 Lok Sabha seats where a divide in votes helped the Congress alliance win.

 

2009 LS Seats Influenced by MNS:




MNS did not win any seat but, it certainly denied NDA 9 seats less than what it could have won. Even though Twitterati have their own opinion about him, none could deny that it was a result of the MNS chief Raj Thakrey's charisma. The figures clearly show that majority of voters in these constituencies voted against the Congress alliance, but, they still ended up with a United Progressive Alliance (UPA) MP.

For 2014 LS elections, NDA led by BJP has nominated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate. There is a distinct enthusiasm amongst different sections of society about his candidature. Narendra Modi is busy touring the distant parts of the country to garner support for the BJP and NDA. At this very time, the MNS that was dormant for last so many months has again raked up the issue of toll collection on roads and is back in the headlines of news papers and media channels alike. On 9th February, MNS organized a huge rally in Pune that was addressed by Raj Thakrey.


According to the media reports, attempts made by various political figures to bring Shiv Sena and MNS together have failed. MNS has an improved organization on the ground as compared to what it had in 2009 and the popularity of MNS chief can cause sizeable damage to NDA.

This parliament election is very different than the ones that took place in the past. Today multiple challenges staring the country in its face. To handle these challenges, the country needs a strong government that can take decisions on its own and is not dependent on unnatural allies. The electorate should keep issues of national importance in mind while voting for the general elections. The term of Maharashtra Assembly is ending in December 2014 and so the Assembly elections will be held sometimes in the second half of 2014. These elections will provide the electorate an opportunity to vote on the local issues. What is needed is for the people to vote on the basis of national issues in the general elections and on the basis of local issues in the Assembly elections.

Million dollar question is:


Will the electorate understand this and resort to tactical voting?

 
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