Pratap Bhanu Mehta in the Indian Express:
“The scandal of Indian politics is not simply that the prime minister is politically weak; it is that those who are politically strong are constantly running away from political responsibility. This is diminishing the ability of the government to do anything imaginative.
“[This government] is also founded on the illusion that politics can be detached from policy. Andhra should have taught the Congress the lesson how quickly it can become vulnerable because of casual political judgments. But exempting Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from serious political responsibility is beginning to extract a toll.
“It is letting the Congress get away with the illusion that the hubris, callousness, even charges of corruption that are now sullying the party will somehow not affect its core image. It is as if in case the Commonwealth Games turn out to be a bit of a financial scandal, it has nothing to do with the party as such. Second, it has created a political culture where Congress politicians always seem stuck in a nether zone: many are smart, have independent ideas, but are simply unable to move. And it has sent a message: the purpose of politics is not solving problems; it is the evasion of responsibility.”
R. Jagannathan in DNA:
“It is a tragedy to see a Gandhi scion hiding behind mamma, shying away from the real challenges of life. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru battled sectarianism and put his political prestige on the line to fight Hindu traditionalists in the Congress party and outside.
“Indira Gandhi took on all the party bosses to establish her power and take the country forward. She took the fateful—unfortunately, wrong—decision to storm the Akal Takht and paid with her life. But she did not shrink from taking a decision. Rajiv Gandhi learnt from her mistakes and handled the next Golden Temple crisis intelligently. He also tried to bring peace to Sri Lanka by sending the IPKF to deal with the murderous LTTE. He too paid for it with his life.
“The mark of a good leader is not that he or she always takes the right call, but that they are never afraid to take a decision in the national interest. In contrast, Sonia and Rahul have made no wrong move ever. They are courting power by abandoning the idea of leading. They are opportunists. This country needs leaders, not opportunists.”
A. Surya Prakash in The Pioneer:
“The situation in Kashmir has spiraled out of control. The preparations for the Commonwealth Games are a shambles. The Maoists have carved out their own State and hapless constables of the Central Reserve Police Force are routinely slaughtered by those leading the armed insurrection. Food prices have hit the roof and rail and air accidents are the order of the day. Members of the Union Council of Ministers have given a go-by to the concept of collective responsibility and flung governance and accountability out of the window.
“Suddenly, everything appears to be falling apart. Threats to India’s constitutional well being and territorial integrity unfortunately coincide with non-governance. Amidst all this chaos, the lead actor appears to have deserted the stage. That is why there is just one question on the lips of many citizens these days: Where is the Prime Minister?”
Also read: After Manmohan who? Chidu, Diggy or Rahul?
‘Most opaque politicians in the democratic world’
Jesus, Mozart, Alexander and apun ka Rahul
A functioning anarchy? Or a feudal democracy?
Rahul Gandhi‘s ascension: a foregone conclusion?
Tags: A. Surya Prakash, Alexander, Churumuri, Digvijay Singh, DNA, Indira Gandhi, IPKF, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jesus, LTTE, Manmohan Singh, Mozart, P. Chidambaram, Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sans Serif, Sonia Gandhi, The Indian Express, The Pioneer, UPA
9 August 2010 at 3:23 pm
Likewise, there are others who have an opinion about Sonia and Rahul Gandhis, quite trenchant at that:
http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/column_sonia-and-rahul-gandhi-are-both-leaders-missing-in-action_1420267
9 August 2010 at 3:30 pm
Jagannathan of DNA on the same topic
http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/column_sonia-and-rahul-gandhi-are-both-leaders-missing-in-action_1420267
9 August 2010 at 6:03 pm
I think PBM & Jagannathan are being disingenuous here. Why bark at wrong trees, I thought we had a PM who just got re-elected!!!!
9 August 2010 at 6:43 pm
Most politicians are opportunists
9 August 2010 at 8:59 pm
ah oh!
Seriously – Congress and Gandhi family have a symbiotic relationship. Gandhi’s are the parasites on whom Congress has come to depend on. To such an extent that Congress may not be strong without this parasite.
However, this is not good for the country. While Sonia/Rahul are well behaved, I have always known that they will not do what it takes to change this country. For, changing this country will mean, educating people, and educated, enlightened people will not vote en-mass on the basis of a feudal loyalty. So, an educated India is the end of the Parasitic Gandhi family dominance.
Is it any wonder, they keep feeding fish to poor, rather than teaching them how to fish? Why would they come queue up for the fish, if they knew how to fish?
RTE is so much of humbug, unless we dedicate atleast 5% of govt. expenses to education, and change our education system.
9 August 2010 at 9:05 pm
Our current political system promotes cronyism, money, muscle and liquor power. There have to be significant reforms to have any hopes of things to change. I am not sure why Mamata Banerjee should decide at what time the train should run between Mysore and Nanjanagud (for example). There is a need to have decentralization of power.
There is also a need to avoid the dependence of electoral results on a few fringe votes. Proportional representation system is one way forward, where each constituency will have multiple representatives whose power depends on the proportion of votes they obtained. This way, somebody who gets 40% votes and yet loses in the current system, will still have significant representation. Fringe votes will no longer be worth the effort, so political parties will start focusing on real issues rather than on money and liquor. In such a system, I guess congress will also give up their “royal family” because they won’t be able to sweep elections with the Gandhis, it is just another means of getting fringe votes.
By the way, BJP is also promoting Varun and Menaka merely because they are from the royal family. So what is the difference?
There is only one party in entire India on which we can rely. It is truly democratic, ethical (until now) and has clear ideas on what needs to be done so that Indian share of the world GDP is 20% (same as what it used be historically) by 2039. It is the Loksatta party, loksatta.org, we need to give more visibility to them online.
9 August 2010 at 9:28 pm
I feel a faint glimmer of hope. At last!!! Somebody got the guts to speak against the feudal politics indulged by the Congress party. The situation is akin to what we had when we were ruled by the Maharajas. The ministers are acting like the courtiers, singing paeans to the Queen and the Prince. The Queen and the Prince take only credit, no responsibility. When the “women’s reservation bill” was passed in the Rajya Sabha, the Queen was giving exclusive interviews to all the National TV channels. When there is a problem in Kashmir, She is tight-lipped.We don’t know what her opinions are regarding naxalite issue, food prices, corruption in CWG, and many other burning issues.
We have political editors like Vir Sanghvi, NDTV anchors etc telling us how Rahul Gandhi is a fresh face etc. Please, somebody tell them that a fresh face doesn’t mean a cute looking guy with a clean-shaven face. They have never questioned him on important issues.
9 August 2010 at 10:00 pm
Here is a long message on an entirely related note:
http://www.loksatta.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=680&Itemid=60
9 August 2010 at 10:09 pm
Gandhis and the Congress Party sustain each other. One has no place without the other – just evaporate to nothing. Not leave any residue even. But the Congressmen have no b**** to say they can run the party without the Gandhis. And there is no question of the Gandhis saying they can do without the Congress.
9 August 2010 at 11:34 pm
“It is a tragedy to see a Gandhi scion hiding behind mamma, shying away from the real challenges of life. ”
I really don’t know why only Rahul Gandhi has to be drawn out of closet to rule. Let him enjoy his days. There are many others capable of doing . Nobody calls them. Press itself is getting congressized.
Congress has opened markets to such an extent that regulation is out of question – shiv sena is a regulatory authority here -
http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20100808/1053/tnl-is-kissing-boys-part-of-airhostess-t_1.html
***
At the end of the day the great globalization of our capitalist mongers has got them their name and fame –
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/ites/Infosys-distressed-at-US-senators-chop-shop-statement/articleshow/6282869.cms
10 August 2010 at 12:11 am
At the end of the day the great globalization of our capitalist mongers has got them their name and fame –
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/ites/Infosys-distressed-at-US-senators-chop-shop-statement/articleshow/6282869.cms
10 August 2010 at 6:55 am
Has there been a change in the editorial board of Churumuri? There seems to be a sudden shift from BJP bashing!
10 August 2010 at 9:34 am
div:
>By the way, BJP is also promoting Varun and Menaka merely because they are from the royal family. So what is the difference?
Nothing. They are also promoting folks like Yeddy’s son etc.
The point is the feudalism began with Nehru, when he promoted his daughter and ever since it has become acceptable. Just look at South Africa. After abolition of Apartheid, ANC has had three different Presidents, all from their own merit rather than by being son/daughter of some big shot..
Is it any wonder they can hold a wonderful worldcup, and we are having hiccup?
10 August 2010 at 10:40 am
Fuck you churumuri. It is you and your ilk who have made the Gandhi family what it is.
10 August 2010 at 11:35 am
“Is it any wonder, they keep feeding fish to poor, rather than teaching them how to fish? ”
This is the prime problem that our economic policies have suffered from, for decades, and unfortunately the last vestiges of such thinking refuse to go away.
And really, it’s high time people started questioning the Madam and Rahul about their views on various issues such as Pakistan, terrorism, Chinese borders, and so on. They take all the credit, and no blame – the authors are right.
Hell, when Telangana formation was announced last year, people in Hyderabad marched with placards saying “Thanks to Sonia Gandhi”. But when Chidambaram made a U-turn, no mention of Sonia Gandhi at all! Why is that?
10 August 2010 at 11:39 am
Does LK Advani speak even once about Bellary illegal mining scam?
Why does LK Advani not speak about Amit Shah, the ex Gujarat home minister now in jail?
Why do we never hear anything about Advani and his party’s flip flops in handling JMM?
Why does LK Advani choose to remain silent about Nitish Kumar’s repeated insults to his party?
Nitish cancelled the dinner for BJP top brass.
Nitish returned the 5 crore amount to Modi.
Nitish said Modi and Varun should be kept out of Bihar.
Yet, we never hear or never know the mind of LK Advani on this matter.
Why is he tight lipped about issues which are uncomfortable for the party?
It is NOT TRUE that Advani is no longer the prime force he once used to be. He still takes important decisions.
Somehow LK Advani overrules Gadkari when it comes to taking Jaswant singh back into the party or when it comes to giving Jethmalani a RS ticket. But Advani shies away from distinctly inconvenient issues.
Vajpayee too didn’t lead the coutnry from the front – he choose to look the other way, when Gujarat was burning except giving a cryptic message. Is this the hallmark of a leader?
Vajpayee never spoke his mind even once when Tehelka did that sting operation. Nor did Vajpayee say anything about the numerous problems facing the country during his time – except reciting poetries.
Harkol is as usual dead wrong in his comment that Congress keeps feeding fish to the poor instead of teaching them how to fish.
What heights of ignorance.
NREGA is not about giving charity. People have to work for it. People in villages are employed to build village infrastructure. Implementation may be shoddy – but it is shoddy only in BJP ruled states. That is a different problem. But the key thought – of MAKING PEOPLE WORK and then GIVING them THEIR DUE should not be missed out
What is RTE about Harkol? Is it not teaching people? teaching students? Which ignorant planet are you on?
On the other hand, BJP is intent on giving doles. subsidies to everybody.
Refer my earlier postings in which I have showed several instances where BJP across many states have ruined the economy by :
Low economic growth rate
ANd worse, high subsides from Rice to wheat to airports (yes airports in Karnataka will be given doles) to kerosine to diesel to bicycles to everything under the sun.
10 August 2010 at 11:57 am
Prasad:
>There seems to be a sudden shift from BJP bashing!
When someone is accused of being biased both ways, then you can be fairly sure there is no Bias… Just issue to issue commentary.
Shyadha:
>It is you and your ilk who have made the Gandhi family what it is.
Ignoring your usage of a four letter word, showing your desire for involving in a procreational process – I am wondering how media (assuming that’s what you allude to), could’ve made Gandhi family ‘what it is’?
10 August 2010 at 2:14 pm
Simple:
In the defense of the Congress, you are talking about the BJP. Just for a moment, assume I am not a supporter of either Congress/Left/BJP, and give a defense.
10 August 2010 at 2:33 pm
Simple Sir,
Welcome back, how is Bellary?
>>What heights of ignorance. NREGA is not about giving charity. People have to work for it. People in villages are employed to build village infrastructure. Implementation may be shoddy – but it is shoddy only in BJP ruled states.
You are right, shoddy BJP does not even know how to do a shoddy job. As I said on some other board, it is hight time the man who has done Mphil in Development Economics to take over……
10 August 2010 at 5:20 pm
The press, in their infinite wisdom or rather to keep the eyeballs on their channels, are creating a hullabaloo over issues which are pretty much par for the course in our country.
J&K : As usual, festering for decades
Congress vs BJP: Business as usual, Parliament adjourned.
CWG, Reddy sahodarulu: Corruption as usual.
What gets ignored is price rise. Funny, a week ago the Parliament was adjourned over that issue and now no one remembers it.
Btw, what is the big deal over the oil spill off Mumbai? It is limited because is not an oil well and most importantly, no one was hurt.
Again a chance for the press to show it off as our equivalent of BP in the Gulf of Mexico. Just as they were trying to pass of CWG as our coming out party like China in 2008. Same difference!
10 August 2010 at 6:17 pm
Simple:
Was wondering why you were missing all the action!! ;-)
Had commented that you’d blow your top after reading this post, but Churumuri moderator seems to have removed that!! ;-)
As usual, I see a whole lot of vitriolic against BJP, but nothing that gives your perspective on lack of comments by Sonia/Rahul on the awful messing up of Kashmir. Congress+Abdulla gang have messed it up repeatedly in past 30 years, and seems to have got it wrong again.
>What is RTE about Harkol? Is it not teaching people?
RTE is a rhetorical and meaningless act. Without proper budgetary allocation. You can’t teach people without investing in infrastructure to teach.
NREGA is a bit better, but still is giving the daily loafs, not exactly teaching next gen. We need massive spending in education – >5% of our overall govt. spending like in China/Taiwan etc.
Taiwan transformed their country with education within a generation, we can do so too, if we spend enough.
But, then people will kick out the Feudals once they know better. So, our feudals don’t care about educating people. Hence – License permit raj and low budgetary allocations.
In other words “WE WON’T DO IT, AND WE WON’T LET OTHERS DO IT”.
10 August 2010 at 9:36 pm
Politics is about solving, not evading problems. Correct.
Politics is about solving, not talking.
So neither Sonia nor Rahul like to be in media glare constantly. Admittedly, they are not great speakers. They would rather show their mettle in their actions, rather than speak.
Their actions are seen in NREGA, in RTE, in RTI, in Food security, nuclear bill, women’s reservation bill and in a hundred other things. Rahul’s actions are seen in having transformed the youth congress. From a pitiable handful of members, youth congress has swelled to lakhs all over the country.
Precisely because of Rahul’s hard work – right across the country.
He works siliently, diligently, intelligently – does not feel like opening his mouth like the garrulous, shrieking, screaming BJP leaders.
Impatient, semi-intelligent analysts and journalists want soundbytes from top leaders. Because it helps them sell their newspapers and television channels. They start ranting when they don’t get enough bytes from these leaders.
RTE is meaningless? boy, o boy, you’ve lost it. Give it time, dude. It will eventually turn out fine. a few years down the line. Dark cynical guys like you can only comment on how it won’t succeed.
Harkol, there is a phrase for guys like you: pseudo internet intellectuals.
NREGA has helped lakhs of underprivileged people all over the country. Pseudo internet intellectuals like you are not the benefeciaries of NREGA.
Therefore, you won’t understand.
Meanwhile BJP in Karnataka continues to raise prices of essential commodities and dole out subsidies to airports and you keep silient still under the illusion that this right wing party managed the economy better! Tsk Tsk.
11 August 2010 at 9:40 am
Harkol,
I admire your for your clarity of thoughts. I too independently came to similar conclusions about 5 years ago..
Problem with India can be solved only by education. Only rational people make right choices rather than clinging on to family’s name.
If voting happens on rational basis rather than on the basis of family name, caste etc we will have better outcomes.
tragedy of India is illiterates do not seek education and having a democracy of illiterate people is bound to get results like India.
We have not had a leader who could think strategically for India and not for his own family (including Nehru).
The problem is that Indian constitution somehow lacked the clarity on not allowing perpetual rule by a family and this lack of clarity was exploited by Nehru to install his puppets.
We need to make an amendment to constitution allowing only one or two terms for prime minister and then probably they will make decisions good for country and less desirable for their family only then true leadership will emerge. A leadership that can see why education of India should have been paramount goal rather than CWG like deals to perpetrate corruption among friends and family.
When I say educating India I do not mean teaching India ABCD. After moving to west I discovered that though I was educated in the best school in India I was never taught to think rationally. Indians have never been rational.The way they teach in America is completely different from the way I studied in India. Upon research I found out that our system in India is based on English system which English themselves did not follow!!! English made the system exclusively to kill any rational ability in natives and dished it out as the best thing!!! And we are still stuck with it.
We need rationalists to head the education ministry and not the congress stooges. I am not very current on India rational scene but when I left India people like HN could have been candidates.
At least I see a hope for India with more people realizing importance of education now.
11 August 2010 at 9:55 am
Harkol, BJP is also promoting Maneka and Varun because they are from royal family! What a joke. Surely, you are not serious! It must be more than two years since I have seen the appearance of Maneka either in newspaper or TV. Varun – Hardly anyone knows whether he ia an MP and what is his role in the party, except for his occasional diatribes.
11 August 2010 at 12:41 pm
Latest the Congress party has promised that they will give autonomy to J&K
if other parties agree and this is as good as agreeing to their demand. This is what Chidambaram did to Telangana issue. Congress party seem to be interested only in staying in power, irrespective of what happens to our country India. If they concede autonomy to J&K now, this will not be the end. Other states will also demand like Tamilnadu, which has already hinted, with their influence at the center.
Minority Votes??
11 August 2010 at 1:13 pm
Simple:
>Give it time, dude. It will eventually turn out fine
In time everything will be fine, the question is how much time. Should we waste one more generation?
We have waited for 60yrs already, another 20-30 our generation will pass by…
As they say “In long term… we are all dead”.
>pseudo internet intellectuals
For folks who can’t even tolerate genuine criticism of their ‘diety’, easiest thing is to do is to accuse the intellect being pseudo.
I agree, there are some positives with Gandhi family – As I said above, at this time they have a symbiotic relationship with congress, without which congress won’t live. Same goes for BJP-RSS.
But, that doesn’t mean we can’t wish for a Congress or BJP without the crutches of these feudal or regressive elements.
>NREGA has helped lakhs of underprivileged people all over the country.
Not disputing that. I am not against NREGA, RTE etc.
NREGA provides a livelihood (fish) for today. The moment funding to NREGA is removed the livelihood vanishes.
In other words, it is similar to creating massive employment through public sector undertakings. Over a period it is proven that these degenerate in to cesspool of corruption, inefficiency and waste. Same will be the case with NREGA.
NREGA also wins votes, in a way educating children won’t. Ideally, the govt. should spend more energy and wealth on a better tomorrow.
RTE is an essential right – derived from Righ to life. My problem isn’t with the law itself, it is with Congress only paying only lip service to education (for all of past 60+ years).
Withour funding RTE, govt. will end up denying the “Right to Education” to majority of children.
Our budgetary allocation for education is less than what we are spending for CWG.
In 2004, Congress promised in its Manifesto to increase Education expenditure to 6% of our budget. six years later, We haven’t even reached half that figure:
http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2010-11/bag/bag3.htm
We spend 3 times on subsidies than on education. How insane is that? What can be a bigger subsidy than preparing our future generation to “FISH”.??
>Meanwhile BJP in Karnataka continues to raise prices
In your ‘real intellectual’ definition, criticizing congress/Gandhi’s is equal to praising BJP? So, is the reverse also true? Strange!
The only real good law that Sonia Gandhi persisted on was RTI. It isn’t a smoke screen, she had nothing immediate to gain by that, and it is indeed part of a solution to sloth and corruption. They should bring more things under RTI, instead of curtailing it as they attempt it time to time.
***
Somebody:
>BJP is also promoting Maneka and Varun because they are from royal family! What a joke. Surely, you are not serious
Why am I not serious?? I am bloody serious when I denounce any feudalism in our structures. BJP/Congress/DMK/SP doesn’t matter. Our polity needs mature to grow away from these feudal elements
***
Simple:
Oh, here is another insanity.. We spend far more on Govt. Pensions than on Education… Check the numbers yourself in the URL i have posted. Consider the demographic of India, we have more young than old. But, we spend more money on old than young…
You think RTE is meaningful without proper support? Genuine intellect indeed.
11 August 2010 at 4:02 pm
Somebody: varun gandhi does not diatribe. he has asked one of the largest number of questions in parliament. so unlike his blue blooded cussin.
but it does seem some ppl are only interested in proving that bjp is bad also and that media is oh-so-neutral. even a blind man can feel the media’s bias in favor of family.
check out cwg scam. no word of shiela dixit in soup. imagine if this had happened in bengaluru and yeddi not being mentioned??? or in gujarat and modi not being mentioned?? these guys wud have been eaten alive by the likes of impartial media and yet one shekar gupta that doyen of impartial walks has the nerve to impute motives on concerns and say “dont speak against games”…and divert attention from real issues.
rte, nrega etc there are loads of news coming from rural areas where these funds are being diverted to buy liqour etc. estates are losing labor becz nrega is paying double for half day’s work. no monitoring.
simple, if you have statewise performance on nrega etc, pls provide.
11 August 2010 at 8:58 pm
>even a blind man can feel the media’s bias in favor of family.
Main stream media was bludgened by Indira Gandhi to such an extent that it never recovered. And Gandhi family only talks to media that will not ask tough questions to it without gushing…
So, yes. Majority of the TV channels and main newspapers kow-tow to Gandhi family – which is sad. But, then newspapers are owned by business interests and we’d be fools to think they will be totally unbiased.
However, they do publish hard hitting opinion pieces, which question the relevance of Gandhi family. Why, Rahul Gandhi himself was question about feudality in Indian politics and he had agreed it is bad – and continued to be the royal feudal Yuvraj!! ;-)
11 August 2010 at 11:37 pm
@Somebody, Simran:
BJP does treat Maneka and Varun in an exalted way – especially Varun G. This is interesting given their not so long association with the party – both of them joined the party (literally) in 2004.
Check our man’s wikipedia entry :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varun_Gandhi
It says – ‘Gandhi is a member of the BJP National Executive. He is also the youngest appointed National Secretary in the history of the BJP’. Mark the word ‘youngest’
What does it say? I know of a certain Mr. C T Ravi, an MLA from Karnataka who has been with BJP for ages as a youth leader and can match Varun word for word in vitriol. Yet our man has barely made it to national executive and becoming a National secretary is still some time away as he lacks that magical surname – Gandhi. This is just an example and I am sure there are many Ravis in BJP.
While you are looking up Varun’s wikipedia entry, do check out his college degrees.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varun_Gandhi#College_degrees
It makes for an interesting read – almost similar to his cousin Mr. Rahul’s.
Yes, Mr Varun has asked quite a few questions in Parliament – 250 questions or so. But guess what, our lady of cricket ie Supriya Sule has gone one up on him by asking 295 questions! So the question is – Is the number of Qs a measure of one’s maturity, leadership, cleanliness in politics, equanimity, corruption-free focus on development and so on? It may or may not be ie it’s not a conclusive argument.
OPEN magazine has an article on this which you may find interesting. They make a distinction between questions and participation in debates which apparently is the stuff that better men and women are made up of. Here is the link
http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/non-argumentative-indians
Let’s not kid oursleves about M/s Varun’s issue. BJP hoists him either because he has a famous surname or it thinks enemy of my enemy is my friend. I am sure there are several young chaps in BJP who are much more capable than Mr. Varun who haven’t been given a party ticket to contest, haven’t been made a National secretary, haven’t been inducted into National executive. Pure merit, did you say? Yeah..yeah..almost the same as Mr. Rahul’s.
12 August 2010 at 6:58 am
Dear PII Harkol (Pseduo Internet Intellectual)
RTE is a baby. Some people were alleging that Sibal Kapil was actually going too fast and there was no need to be in such a tearing hurry.
And here you are saying exactly the opposite. Give a few years is all I am asking . Not saying that you have to wait for 20 years. Please have patience.
The intent of RTE is excellent. Nobody in the right frame of mind will say it is wrong. Implementation is tough, no doubt, but Sibal Kapil is working to make it a succcess. States and Centre will chip in with the monies required. Also, you need a booming conomy if you want to have revenues to make RTE a success. Hence the focus on making us a 9% economy instead of the 5% economy of NDA.
I am no blind Gandhi family fan. You repeatedly accuse me of something I am not. Wild lies. I have criticized the actions of the first family from Emergency to 84 riots to their acts of imposing governor’s rule arbitarily.
Thanks to RTI, you know the scams that politicans are up to. Times of India, Bangalore has been exposing the BBMP scam since yesterday. If not for RTI, people like you would never have known what is happeneing.
CWG scam is shameful. WHy is BJP not making political capital of it? Let them ask for Shiela Dixit’s head. what is stopping them? For the past two weeks we are treated to this onslaught of CWG scam . For all those myopic BJP fans, here is proof that media is not in favour of Congress.
12 August 2010 at 2:43 pm
Anshuman Patel:
>Is the number of Qs a measure of one’s maturity,
I don’t think the question is about maturity or about how good/honest a person is.
The real question is – When you get your position in life, due to accident of birth, there is very little incentive for you to change the system. Even if you are most mature and intelligent – why would you want to change a system that rewards you?
I have nothing but scorn for the kind of divisiveness Modi has brought to our polity, but we got to admit – He has an incentive to change the system like Rahul/Sonia Gandhi can never have. Modi would have to depend on his performance (in some sphere or the other) for his survival – not just a family name.
As you rightly pointed, if performance and talent was the only criteria, then Varun would’nt have risen up the ranks. Why, B Y Raghavendra (yeddy’s son) wouldn’t have been an MP, in just 36years, without having any substantial work (other than inexplicable wealth) to his name.
While it would be wrong to disadvantage a person, just because he happens to be the son of an ex-PM or ex-CM, what is most important is he comes to power because of his struggles, not because he is the son/daughter of someone.
That isn’t the case with most in India.
And in case of Gandhi Family, it is a given that a Gandhi scion will be at the helm of the affairs (whether they have a party post or not)…
I am sort of relieved that Rahul Gandhi for not grabbing the PM post and is putting in some effort to get there (unlike Rajiv). But, i hate the fact that we have to be thankful that a Rahul gandhi ‘chooses’ to work his way up…
I am sure folks like Simran will quit
***
Dear MLTK (More Loyal Than King) Simple:
>RTE is a baby.
It isn’t. RTE was enshrined in our right to life from 1950s. This is an accepted practice worldwide, and is part of UN declaration of Human rights : http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
What has now been enacted is elucidation of what was intrinsically always there.
The difference is that Successive govt’s have denied right to education, by underfunding it
***
Simple:
To elaborate further. The way govt. hopes to implement new RTE is to force private schools to provide 25% seats to poor and also by admitting as many into govt. schools.
This is the easiest thing for politicians to do – Pass on their burden to someone else.
Govt. Collects taxes, and an education cess on top of it. Allocates some inadequate money to education, but then wastes more than half of it on corruption, and rest half is spent in in-efficient govt. schools.
So, no one wants to go to these schools. So, govt. comes around and tells pvt. schools – Do charity!
If this is not humbug, what is? Tomorrow, Govt. may make another RTE- ‘Right to Employment” and make it mandatory for private companies to give jobs to those who don’t have one.
What our govt. needs to do is change the way we do our education, make it a for profit enterprise in higher education, but make sure quality primary education is available to all at affordable price (by providing subsidies for the poor students directly).
12 August 2010 at 6:23 pm
anna simpleuu,
From madam’s mouth piece :
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Bu200908PlougherCut.asp
” Andhra Pradesh is the one Congress-ruled state adjudged to have done well on the NREGA front. Precisely the reason why there is an acute shortage of labour, the farmers’ unions have said. They have warned of a 15 to 20 percent drop in productivity during kharif 2008 if the labour scarcity issue is not addressed. Farmers may be forced to shift to non-labour intensive horticultural crops such as orchards, while some may leave their land fallow.”
Go to to madurai region in TN and ask farmers if they are getting labourers. Your kisaan friendly party is ass-&^*% their very own kisaan.
This horrible scheme contributes 0 to infrastructure development ( by its very own policy). Wait another 2-3 years for the complete “success” of NREGA. Remember once the handouts start it can’t be stopped. So economics 101 tells that this scheme is a bottomless pit on our country which has to be funded eventually by the salaried class.
A crazy thing.. the only way we can be saved from this thing is massive corruption :)
**
Another example of madam’s pet project .. again from one of madam’s buddies
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Naxals-backing-NREGA/articleshow/5799114.cms
**
NREGA like schemes in simple terms is vendor financing. Failure is guaranteed :)
12 August 2010 at 6:50 pm
“A crazy thing.. the only way we can be saved from this thing is massive corruption ”
:-D Haha – LOL! Priceless!
12 August 2010 at 9:24 pm
Ah. This sentence went out in half – “I am sure folks like Simran will quit”
The full sentence – I am sure folks like Simran will quit being such Modi supporters, and cynical – if they saw Congress too had some grass root leaders, instead of ‘inherited’/Feudal ones.
12 August 2010 at 9:29 pm
Karihaida:
Namma Simple will never accept that there is an economic logic behind inflation. He’d attribute it to growth and global scenarios.
But, NREGA has contributed immensely to inflation in two ways.
1. Increase in hidden deficit of providing for such welfare scheme.
2. Increase in rural purchasing power – In effect, what one congress ‘haath’ gives, another congress ‘hath’ taketh away thru a silent tax called inflation.
And Inflation actually hurts the ‘non asset owning’ class than ‘asset owning’ class. Because, what ever they owned gains in value disproportionate to inflation. Gold, Real Estate what ever.
The true story of NREGA will only be known in about 4-5 years.
:(
12 August 2010 at 10:11 pm
Karihaida.
You wish and pray that NREGA fails. Nopes. Lakhs are thankful to UPA for having given them the opportunity to eke out a diginified living.
Fat cats and psuedo internet intellectuals like you can only make empty comments borne out of blind and irrational hatred for the Gandhi family.
Anything they do seems to be bad for you. Including filling your pockets with more money last year and previous year, when they lowered the income tax slabs.
Guys like you feed off the loaves of fishes thrown your way by Congress and then making scathing attacks agains the very party which made Indian economy boom.
UPA headed by Manmohan Singh did EXCELLENTLY when the world was reeling under recession. India was the second fastest growing economy when the world was in dumps. Thanks to the vision of Congress.
So all you guys without an iota of objective proof, keep on ranting.
the proof of the performance lies in the numbers.
Since the economic growth was phenomenal, the votes came in because people were happy.People were also happy, among other things because of NREGA.
Save your breath.
13 August 2010 at 10:40 pm
harkol,
“To elaborate further. The way govt. hopes to implement new RTE is to force private schools to provide 25% seats to poor and also by admitting as many into govt. schools.”
What’s wrong with this simple but clever solution?
“What our govt. needs to do is change the way we do our education, make it a for profit enterprise in higher education, but make sure quality primary education is available to all at affordable price (by providing subsidies for the poor students directly).”
WTF
13 August 2010 at 10:45 pm
KH,
If NREGA gives an opportunity for virtual slaves, bonded laborers and the like to move one level up, what is the problem?
In a generation or two, it is likely you will see true social change for an entire generation in the villages due to such an opportunity.
And as to what the laborers are doing in return for their ‘handouts’, go and check the NREGA website on the projects.
BTW personal question, you dont have to answer, what do you do in return for the handout they give you in your place of work?
16 August 2010 at 2:34 pm
AG,
I apologize for using the term ‘handout’. I’m not belittling the fact that the folks do actual work under NREGA. But what I’m against is that their work (not fault of their own) is not contributing anything to the economy. Is making kaccha roads contributing to the economy? If the gov’t was serious, they cud have made real infra development under NREGA. Building good roads, water barrages. But due to the typical babu short sightedness they must have thought what work to give the people next year if they build a concrete road that lasts for 10 yrs?
And this direct wage inflation is the easiest way of creating inflation. You can print how much money you want, but until it is translated to wage inflation, you are actually fine. Look at US, for the past 2 yrs they are printing, but since it is not causing wage inflation their economy is still ok. NREGA like schemes is directly causing inflation and then branding that inflation as Mr simple’s 9% growth.
PS: I pretend to do develop products, but ensure that my handout is not causing inflation by not spending much :)
16 August 2010 at 4:04 pm
Anonymous Guy:
>What’s wrong with this simple but clever solution?
There is everything wrong with Govt. interfering in the affairs of a private company to insist on they doing charity, beyond fixing taxes.
For example: Food is also an essential necessity like Education. How sensible it would be for Govt. to tell all hotels, including five-star hotels to reserve 25% of their seats and food to poor, and provide it free of cost??
>WTF
This is exactly the kind of ridicule that every one heaps on commercialization of Education, without understanding education is another commodity – just like food, clothing and housing.
If food, clothing and housing can be commercial – why such ‘holy cow’ status for education??
Govt. provides subsidized rice to the poor, and it can provide a direct subsidy in education for poor as well. But, it shouldn’t insist that Education shouldn’t be commercialized. That’s hypocrisy of the highest order.
17 August 2010 at 6:29 am
harkol,
Question for you. You had mentioned once you were from Mangalore. I am guessing you are from near Mangalore. If so, where did your parents/grandparents go to school (if they went to school)? How did they make that move?
Government has to ensure primary education for all. Compulsory education the duty of the government and a basic right for all Indians. If that means they run the public school system completely (like it is in the US and most European countries and even in India), or they support private educational institutions with tax breaks or any other means – it is the right way to go.
Education is a holy cow in all developed countries – I dont see how some private shops can provide any sort of primary education in all the towns and villages in India.
17 August 2010 at 10:29 am
AG:
>If so, where did your parents/grandparents go to school (if they went to school)?
You are right. I am from a place that’s about 20km from Mangalore. My father used to walk 8km one way to his school. My grand father only studied till 5th (and was elligible for a govt. job), he didn’t walk much, but he had to stay in a distant place close to school!
I walked 3km to my school.
>Education is a holy cow in all developed countries
Education is not a holy cow. It is considered as an essential commodity for the upliftment of the nation. All developed societies do not restrict private education institutions (no license/permit needed). They do ‘invest’ massively in Public primary education, which is what I am asking the govt. to do by either increasing their budgets by orders of magnitude or by providing subsidies to children in already established good schools.
But, show me one country where a govt. can come to a privately funded institute and demand 25% seats???
>they support private educational institutions with tax breaks
Elaborate? Not taxing education sector as a whole is not a tax break. If they allowed open licensing in education sector, but started charging IT/Service Tax on these schools and permitted tax exemptions for schools that allowed certain percentage of children on a charity basis, all this would be above board. But, that’s not the case.
Govt. certainly needs to encourage education of all types, commercial, charity and govt. run. For that it should throw the education sector open, just like all other vital segments of our economy.
17 August 2010 at 5:25 pm
AG:
To further elaborate –
1. Why do we need a govt. to decide how many schools and colleges should be there in the country? Why can’t the market forces decide that?
2. How is it possible in our society for folks with 80+% marks not to get the education in a discipline of their choice? Certainly there are supply constraints? So, obviously govt. isn’t getting its numbers right.
3. Why is it that after 60 years, we still need reservations, when we can easily ensure everyone gets to study what they want? Surely the amount of money we waste can easily educate all our children.
17 August 2010 at 9:34 pm
Anshuman Patel, pls can you provide 5 names across the country, in the BJP, that has a political family that faces zero opposition not just from within the party but from within the impartial media, and can be guranteed of not measely seats but real power, cabinet births and PM’s gaddi?
forget about 5 names across the country from the party…but 2 names from the BJP’s leadership itself?
u speak of varun gandhi and maneka gandhi and compare them with rahul and sonia. well, maneka doesnt hide her brain but uses it. she writes and she speaks. she’s not afraid to ride controversy for her views. she’s everything sonia isn’t. now, what was her position in the BJP?
varun and rahul are both MPs. where does varun get his sustenance from? the gandhi name? how? the real gandhi is right there in the central hall isnt he?
so, pls don’t let your prejudice against the BJP get in the way of clarity. the BJP may be a lot of things, a haven for professional familial parasites, it is not.
“I am sure folks like Simran will quit being such Modi supporters, and cynical – if they saw Congress too had some grass root leaders, instead of ‘inherited’/Feudal ones.”
dear harkol, i fear i cannot be as balanced as you. u are so balanced that even where there is absolutely no balance, u will create one. i wonder why you are in such mortal fear of taking a stand openly?
see this for example:
“So, yes. Majority of the TV channels and main newspapers kow-tow to Gandhi family – which is sad. But, then newspapers are owned by business interests and we’d be fools to think they will be totally unbiased.
However, they do publish hard hitting opinion pieces, which question the relevance of Gandhi family. Why, Rahul Gandhi himself was question about feudality in Indian politics and he had agreed it is bad – and continued to be the royal feudal Yuvraj!! ;-)”
i mean! c’mon yaar>>where do you stand? media is unfair or uncouth? you seem like happy with crumbs they offer with “opinion pieces”>>that they quickly balance with another opinion piece that counters it and the edit sorts that matter out, doesn’t it? bah!
what’s with you and modi? he’s divisive? why? because he does the right things and says what needs to be said? and your the balanced guy? i see your balance dude.
18 August 2010 at 9:33 am
Simran:
>i wonder why you are in such mortal fear of taking a stand openly
As PVN used to popularly say “Deciding not to take a decision, is also a decision”.
There is also another saying in english “Consistency is the virtue of an ass”. If we are hardset on our opinions and ‘stands’, then we will be closing our mind to the alternative.
But, that doesn’t mean I don’t voice my opinions openly. But, if they aren’t as hardline as yours is, doesn’t make it any less valid.
***
Simran:
>a haven for professional familial parasites, it is not
Beg to disagree. I agree that till date the top most post within BJP hasn’t fallen to someone with a family pedigree. But, the seeds of ‘nepotism’ has already grown into a small tree in various states.
In Karnataka, it is an open secret that you deal with Yeddy’s sons for the matters of transfers or lucrative positions within govt. His son also got an out-of-turn ticket to contest for Loksabha. Far more experienced and hard core party workers were available instead of a 34 year old.
As I said elsewhere, BJP seems to be making itelf a poor copy of Congress. Perhaps is trying hard to achieve perfection with Varun Gandhi!! ;-)