Tuesday, August 25, 2009

BJP - Bharatiya Jagada Party

There was a time when the BJP proudly boasted that it was a party with a difference. It proclaimed that it was a highly disciplined political party. Even the people of India believed that the BJP deserved a chance and gave them a mandate to rule. They did a commendable job for the 6 years they were in power. That was when it was led by arguably the best politician this country has ever seen - Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, our former PM. He was a leader par excellence. Mr. Vajpayee was the liberal face of the BJP. He had a great vision to take this country forward.

It was probably the best decade for the BJP. Then, it lost power. That was the beginning of the decline. It simply lost the charisma it enjoyed during the Vajpayee era. It has now lost back to back general elections and with it, the stomach to digest and learn from defeats.

As a result, the BJP today has become a party of diffidence. The only other leader who has national appeal - Mr. LK Advani, is being undermined by his own party colleagues. The 2nd rung leaders like Modi, Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh etc are capable but except a couple, lack a mass base. They are always trying outdo each other and harming the party as a result. The BJP national president Mr. Rajnath Singh, a typical UP satrap, and is pitting one leader against another in a bid to stay on the top.

The principal opposition party in the country today, is totally confused and directionless. Every other day, the party is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Immediately after the 2004 election debacle, Advani realised that Vajpayee's liberal way was the only way to power. So, when he went to Pakistan and called Jinnah secular, he had a bigger picture and 2009 elections in mind. Unfortunately, his colleagues were not so shrewd and made a big hue and cry. Advani had to resign from the party President's post. It's a different matter that Advani was then again acknowledged as the BJP's best bet and he was projected as the BJP's PM in waiting.

However, Advani's dream remained just that - dream. BJP's leaders and strategists committed so many crucial blunders in the run-up to the elections - Arun Jaitely getting miffed at a crucial time; Narendra Modi being projected as bigger than Advani; losing crucial allies like BJD; and to top it, Varun Gandhi's communal comments - All these were nails in the coffin for Advani's hopes of his entry to 7, Race Course Road.

Unfortunately for BJP, the trouble simply doesn't seem to end. The party is going downhill at a furious pace. After the elections, when some top leaders like Jaswant Singh, Arun Shourie etc tried to pin the reasons for the defeat, they were silenced. The party President started acting like an autocrat just to save his skin and due to this, other top leaders started expressing their feelings in the public. This lead to chaos and widespread criticism.

The latest in this BJP saga is the unceremonious sacking of Jaswant Singh. It is quite ridiculous that one of the founding members of the party -- one who held such crucial responsibilities both in the NDA government and in the party -- was dumped in such disrespectful manner just for writing a book.

Clearly, the BJP is doldrums. Party workers and rank and file are disillusioned and have started deserting it. However, it is very important that BJP remains a potent political force in our country to avoid a one party show. It should get itself out of the rut and perform the role of a responsible opposition. Else, it won't even be the main opposition party in the next election and will go into oblivion.

There are a few steps which the BJP must immediately take to avoid sliding further. They are -

1. Sack Rajnath Singh and his cronies immediately and declare Advani as the interim President.

2. Stop infighting.

3. Take back Jaswant Singh.

4. Disown Varun Gandhi.

5. Draw a line between the roles played by RSS and BJP.

6. Groom young leaders who have the capability to take the party forward.

7. Listen to leaders' views in party fora and act on them so that they don't vent it out publicly.

I pray that the political party which I once respected and even considered joining, regains its glory and does justice to Mr. Vajpayee and his vision.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Rain Rain come today...

When we were kids we learnt a rhyme which went like -- Rain, rain go away, come back another day... Essentially, it was a hope that our day wasn't wasted indoors.

Today the situation has drastically changed, at least in India. The finance minister has just announced that around 161 districts of our country are facing drought.

It is amazing how one phenomenon can affect a billion people.

Almost 60% of our population, which depends on agriculture, is drastically affected due to this drought. Irrigated land comprises of just around 35% of the entire agrarian land in India (558,080 sq km of the total 15,34,166 sq km). So, most of our farmers are still dependent on rain for their crops. Those who have sowed are devastated since their crop is failing. Others who havent sowed are worried since they cant pay back the loans they have taken in anticipation of the sowing season.

The common man, is the next worst affected. Though inflation is negative and still going down, food prices are sky rocketting. My mother tells me that her grocery budget has more than doubled (thank god, i dont need to manage that one!). Due to the sky high prices, people have started changing their eating habbits and moving over to less costly food items and vegetables.

The rural India, which was fast becoming a major spender, will no more be so since their income is adversely impacted. The urban people will have less disposable income since their cost of living has gone up considerably. So, the industry will suffer due to less demand and sales growth.

The political class is by and large immune to any problems in our country. However that's not the case this time around -- Every politician worth his salt will be worried since his vote bank is directly affected. Its interesting to see how people in places where elections are due next will react.

Given all of these facts, it is not so surprising that we hear one or the other minister speak about the steps being taken by the government to improve the situation. It remains to be seen whether these steps will be effective in easing the pain endured by the common man.

The panacea however, are rains and its time we all start praying.

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Lai - Story of a cancer fighter

Anyone feeling low in life, read this blog about a man who is down but surely not out. He is my best buddy Kiran's friend. He is suffering from nose cancer (I was not even aware that such a thing exists!!). We are doing our bit in spreading the word about this brave man. He is doing a wonderful job motivating other people who have suffered in life. Here hoping that he continues to blog for a long - very long time.

Back!!

This is my first post in almost an year. I used to love blogosphere once upon a time. Then, I just lost the motivation to write, though I am unable to comprehend why.

However, what I am sure about, is that this sudden loss of creativity affected me in more ways than one. My life turned very routine. I had become more like a machine doing the same stuff day in and day out. Though I knew what was happening, I didn't have the will to come out of it.

And then, I read this book -- "the five people you meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom. Its about a man who does the same routine job for decades and dies at the age of 83 while saving a little girl. He then goes to heaven and understands the meaning of his life.

Well, more about that book later. But what it did is to spur me back into life. So, I am here after an year -- Hopefully for a long time.