How Anna Party helps NaMo.

As long as I have followed NaMo, people have accused me of being an unabashed supporter.  Someone who views every development as helping the cause of NaMo as PM.

Well….thank you.  Once again this Anna Party will aid NaMo’s cause.

Caveat:  A key assumption is that the Anna Party will take a serious stab at putting up candidates in a electorially serious pool of LS seats.

Here’s why:

1.        With Anna playing RajT/Chiranjeevi BJP will be in desperate shape.  More importantly, so will regional parties that rely on middle class urban voters.

a.       Such a development will give internal BJP candidates and NDA pretenders second thoughts on their prospects

b.      Alternately, given the toss-up, more pretenders could emerge from the woodwork

2.       Anna’s constituency is the same candle wielding crowd that marched with their lit candles after 26/11 but showed up with an abysmal 43% voting percentage on D-day just 6 months later

a.       It could be argued that BJP lost this crowd back in 2004 and these voters have stayed home at every election cycle since.  With a clean choice, this crowd may just come out and vote for Team Anna.  But are their numbers electorally significant.  You cant win much with even 7-8% votes.

b.      BJP’s percentage (sans NaMo as the declared candidate) is likely to stay at 18% with Anna accruing this floating, home-sitting vote

c.       More importantly this constituency seems to be those babe-in-woods, idealists who haven’t lived through (or have chosen to forget) the betrayals of VP Singh and Pramod Mahajans

d.      Their potential for disappointment is that much greater

3.       If Anna enters the fray, 2014 may truly end up as a semi-final.  UPA3 would an even greater mishmash of parties and the loot will grow exponentially

4.       Team Anna’s failure to secure a JL is further evidence that the political class as a whole is against such a body.  Unless Anna party can secure close to a 2/3^rd majority JL will remain a pipe dream

a.       Each passing day sans a JL, will dent Team Anna’s reputation

b.      Within 6 months of the next LS election, Team Anna’s support base will dry up

c.       The vixen of corruption will penetrate and seduce at least one Team Anna member

d.      That will be the last straw

5.       As these factors are playing out India’s economy and infrastructure will sink to new levels

6.       In comparison Gujarat will attain new heights under NaMo

7.       India will finally reach that elusive tipping point

Approximately 4 years back I had started prognosticating that a time will come when a desperate, disillusioned, despondent India will march on its hands and knees to NaMo’s doorstep begging him to take over.

Team Anna’s political entry will only expedite that march. 

Thank you Team Anna.  

Welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar?

Something doesn’t add up in Maharashtra or does it:  Prime Minister Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar?

The Thackeray twins doing a brotherly tango.  Sharad Pawar being offended by mere seating arrangements!!!  All happening in real time, almost concurrently.

Something doesn’t add up.  So let’s peddle a few theories.

Beginning with Sharad Pawar:

SP never ends up on the losing side. Never.  His only missteps can be attributed to his oversized ambition to capture Delhi.  Once that ambition was snuffed out, his moves have been almost clinical.

Secondly, nothing in Maharastra politics happens without his express consent or machinations.

Even the formation of the first SS-BJP govt. came about thanks to his blessings.  Actually, thanks to CONgress rebels he put up, who in turn supported the SS-BJP combine.  There were 45 independents supporting that govt. and almost every single one was a Pawar supported MLA.

Even formation of MNS was a Pawar power move.  Carefully calibrated to have max. impact just in time for the 2009 and 2010 elections.

Pawar is perhaps India’s most talented political Nostradamus.   

Is Pawar seeing something on the horizon, in the not so distant future that has forced him to expedite a plan he may have kept under his sleeve.

So its well within the realm of possibility that events of the past week are part of a master plan being finally put in motion.

Is Pawar too eyeing Race course road and moving to consolidate his hold over Maharastra so as to use a solid 40 MPS to propel him to national center stage?

Let us look at the rather absurd political actions of various Maharastrian political parties in just the last few weeks.

1.        SS voting against BJP presidential and VP candidates.

2.       Raj, Uddhav burying the hatchet

3.       Pawar suddenly finding his long lost backbone

4.       MNS for no rhyme or reason abstaining from Presidential polls

Is it possible that Sharad Pawar is very deftly engineering a realignment of forces within Maharastra to launch a Maharastra based regional coalition.

An NCP-SS-MNS-RPI alliance would not only be formidable but unbeatable. 

CONgress for all intents and purposes is now a North Indian, Mumbai based outfit.

 Sharad Pawar controls the sugar lobby and will negate any influence that the Vilasraos of the world exercise in that region.  Besides, apart from Vilas and Sharad there aren’t many towering Maratha leaders left.

BJP was always a marathwada based outfit.  But as the last election proved, even that stronghold can be breached.

Bottomline:

Sharad Pawar could strike a deal with SS/MNS – give me 40 MPs in the next election and I’ll give you access to Mantralaya. 

Sharad Pawar justifies alliance by saying he wants to keep Narendra Modi out.  Plays the hero “Look I have weakened the BJP.  How much more secular can I get”?

Another factor:  the mere thought of a Marathi competing for the long cherished throne of Delhi may galvanize the Marathi manoos into forgiving Sharad Pawar’s past sins and voting for a Marathi Manoos combine.

Pull these disparate strings together and you have the makings of a blockbuster trade, engineered by Chankya Sharad.

Prime Minister Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar?

p.s. I think this notion about Sharad Pawar wanting to quit thanks to impending corruption charges is a smokescreen.  Don’t buy it one bit.  This is the same Sharad Pawar who was Shahid Balwa’s political mentor.  Has anything on 2g stuck to Pawar?  And you expect us to believe that a few crores on Maharastra Sadan related corruption charges will scare Pawar.  Give me a break.

There's Nothing Wrong with Narendra Modi's Ambition

Ambition was always seen as a bit of a crass pursuit within ranks of old school India, extending to spheres as diverse as Cricket and social work.  But over the past few decades, political ambition in particular has acquired a level of infamy rarely witnessed in other thriving democracies.

Interestingly enough, Indians were more than willing to bow before quasi-monarchies.  If you came from an entrenched political or business family you were less likely to be reprimanded for your ambition. 

A Godrej or Birla could aim for the stars but a Dhirubhai was a ‘chaprasi’.  How could he possibly dream of competing with these business blue bloods.

The same with Nehru’s clan and those that traced their lineage back to the freedom struggle or the JP movement.

The outsiders were supposed to serve their political masters and at best warm the thrones till their Masters’ progeny (qualified or not) had time to mature into the role and lay claim to what was their divine right.

A Narendra Modi on the other hand was an upstart.  With no antecedents to speak of.  No legacy to project, no jagir, no caste fiefdom, not even the blessings of a political giant like a JP or ABV.

Add to this peculiar Indian trait, the inglorious record of the politically ambitious in our glorious land and you can understand people’s apprehension at buying a product presented as throbbing political ambition wrapped in promises of a platinum plated future.

Political ambition in the Indian context has come to be (rightly) equated with political greed.  But ambition and greed are not necessarily synonymous.  Though the two often seem to go hand in hand.

Ambition in and of itself cannot be, should not be derided.  Ambition, infused by the sole desire for public good and driven by patriotic zeal can move mountains.

And India is facing not a mountain but an entire Himalayan range of problems.

Ambition to rid India of these problems should not only be encouraged but celebrated.

There is but one politician in India who can honestly claim to have no ulterior motives in laying claim to the highest office in the land.

And he of course is Narendra Damodardas Modi.

As pointed out in a previous blog –  http://inflextionpoint.blogspot.com/2012/02/lets-assume-narendra-modi-is-monster.html  NaMo has no intentions beyond serving our god forsaken mother land.  A man not enticed by vices of wine, wealth or women, with no family to speak of, no progeny to promote can have but one and only one ambition:  To save his beloved motherland from certain and catastrophic demise.

So my fellow Indians, it’s time to stop being defensive about NaMo’s PM ambitions and celebrate it so that more and more Indians understand the source and intention of his ambition.

Bharat Mata ki Jai

NaMo must run an unconventional Campaign

NaMo is a politician like no other.  The closest leader resembling his abilities is Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore.

As a politician NaMo has had only a few missteps.  And these too were missteps cause the media was lined up against him.

Given the odds, given the ‘degree of difficulty’ he has had to deal with, he can only be compared to the Mahatma in terms of political acumen.

Add to this political acumen and unparalleled administrative genius and you have a leader not seen in India since perhaps Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Despite these strengths there’s one potential trap that can derail his march to the throne of Delhi.

And that is this: If NaMo comes across as just another politician he risks losing everything.

The best example of this trap would be NaMo’s response to 26/11.  When he flew into Mumbai, media went into a frenzy declaring him a power hungry, petty politician, out to exploit a tragedy.

Lost in this anti-NaMo venting was the fact that it was a vote bank hungry CONgress that was responsible for the sorry state of India’s security apparatus.

Speaking to fence sitting Hindus, I got the impression that incidents like these could easily be turned against NaMo.

Though this misstep was a minor incident in the larger context, running as a conventional politician has much greater implications.

A great number of his ardent supporters are making the same mistake.  Asking NaMo to alter his game so as to become more acceptable to ‘Coalition partners’.  The risk such a strategy entails is immeasurable.  Moreover, it is a non-starter.

So what would a ‘conventional’ NaMo do:

1.       He would render a heartfelt apology on Godhra – though it was not his fault to begin with

2.       He would host iftar parties and go on a multi-religious pilgrimage to buttress his ‘secular’ credentials

3.       Meet with coalition partners to address their concerns vis-à-vis his Hindutva antecedents

4.       In short compromise every belief, ideal he has held dear

The conventional political wisdom dictates that THIS (or its subset) is the ONLY way to the throne of Delhi.

Not only will such a strategy bomb, it will backfire.  It will deposit NaMo in no man’s land.  He will end up losing his support base without acquiring any pseudosecular votes.  So what should be the ‘unconventional’ strategy.

Let us first document the broad parameters:

1.       Minorities will never vote for NaMo.  Even if he visits every muhallah, even if Nitish, Naveen and Mullayam endorse his candidacy an anti-NaMo minority consolidation is a given

2.       As the 10^th anniversary of Godhra demonstrated, media frenzy is also a given

a.       Media will never support NaMo

3.       The ‘Politics of Patronage’ will fight back.  This network is entrenched, resourceful, inventive, evil and more powerful than anything NaMo has ever encountered

4.       Regional identities will continue to exert themselves in dictating political outcomes: Odiya voting for Naveen, Maharastrians for NCP, Tamils for DMK/Amma, etc.

5.        As evidenced by multiple state elections, Indians are increasingly leaning towards handing a complete mandate to any party capable of winning it all – CON in LS09, JDU – Bihar10, SP – UP12.

6.       2014 is a mere 2 years away – not enough space for Indians to tire  with their ineffective local leaders but enough time to frame a new narrative around a strong, clean, uncompromising, proven leader.

The Strategy:

1.       Firstly, lower expectations around Gujarat elections

a.       Currently anything below 150 is a defeat.  Bring that mark down to 110 – 115.

b.      ‘Winning’ big in Gujarat i.e. exceeding expectations is the Key.  The Necessary (not sufficient) condition to win Delhi

2.       Go directly to the people – Convert NaMo into a symbol of Indian Asmita.  This can be done.  Indian brand equity has taken a huge hit in the past 3 years.  Indians will be ready for this message.

3.       Highlight NaMo’s humble beginnings, clean image, lack of family ties, that his mother still resides in a lower middle class tenement

a.       He could celebrate ‘Mother’s day’ with his mother or launch his campaign with his mother’s blessings

4.       Neutralize enemies within BJP

a.       As election after election is proving, Indians perceive BJP as CONgress’ B team

b.      Only clean leaders like Parrikar/Khanduri have been able to counter this image

c.       If NaMo forms a ‘League of Extraordinary, incorruptible Men/women’ he can be presented as the man who will rid India of its corruption and set it on the path to Superpower status

5.       Select the right candidates

a.       Election after election is proving that Gujaratis hate bad candidates – Rajkot 2009, Mansa 2012

b.      Each candidate (as far as possible) must be a perfect projection of NaMo’s image

                                                               i.      Incorruptible

                                                             ii.      Hardworking

                                                            iii.      Honest

                                                           iv.      Nationalist

c.       As UP has proven, people will vote for a rival caste candidate if he/she is perceived as deserving individual

6.       Identify the 250-300 seats where word of the ‘Modi Miracle’ has reached

7.       Invest heavily in the army of apostles

8.       Identify the inflection point – the tipping point at which the Indian people finally give up and call for NaMo to take over.  Orchestrate a media event to declare the NaMo candidacy around this point.

1.       Project and present NaMo as a one-man-army against corruption

2.       India is fast approaching a tipping point where attacks on NaMo will not only lose their potency but would start helping NaMo – If and only if he is presented as an honest man targeted for taking on the system – A political Amitabh Bachachan from Zanjeer.

3.       Media’s non-Gandhi blue-eyed boys like Nitish, Naveen and Akhilesh will soon start losing their sheen.  Non-delivery of essentials despite having unbridled power can only be sustained for so long

a.       All 3 have been given an unprecedented majority.  There are no excuses left

b.      NaMo must exploit this inevitable anti-incumbency once he wins his 3^rd term

c.       Positiion this victory as a victory of the politics of performance and contrast it against the limited performance of Nitish/Naveen/Akhilesh

d.      Identify LS seats within each of these states that can be won by NaMo on his own

4.       NaMo can and should turn every attack on him into a ‘NaMo Vs. Corruption’ war.

a.       But he must not instigate this war on his own.  He must use his apostles to help add the much needed neutrality (and credibility) to this message

5.       A big force multiplier would be Baba Ramdev and perhaps even Anna.  Though Anna is now ensconced in the hands of anti-NaMo forces

a.       These apostles would add the much needed credibility and reach to NaMo’s candidature across North and West India

6.       Once more indicators start trending in NaMo’s favor (Example: Next India today State of the Nation survey) fence sitting coalition partners will begin building bridges with NaMo

7.       Use apostles to present the case for Minorities: NaMo hasn’t allowed any riots since 2002.  Same cannot be said of Ghelot in Rajasthan or the left in West Bengal

Next:  How will they counter NaMo?

NaMo is soft target

Why do Psuedos target NaMo?

The obvious answer:  There’s a calculated and organized campaign to keep the bogie of Godhra alive so as to keep the muslim vote in a state of tactical anti-BJPism, which in turn prevents anti-Congressism from coalescing into an alliance with BJP as its pivot.

But that only explains one half of the equation.  The organized part - The NGOs, the political activists and similar ‘mob-for-hire’ types whose livelihood depends on keeping flames of Godhra alive.

But how about the non-professional part of the equation.  The media personalities who do not gain materially from this anti-NaMo slugfest, the Anglicized liberal arts graduate, the pink chaddis.

The answer is simple:  NaMo is a soft target.

Exhibit A:  http://www.sabrang.com/srikrish/vol1.htm - This link illustrates in gory detail events leading upto the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai.  Which both in scale and ferocity rivaled, if not surpassed, anything seen in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning.

Interestingly, the torching of Radhabai Chawl at the hands of Muslims was an incident eerily similar to what took place with the train of Hindu pilgrims in Godhra.

Leading the rioters from the front and goading them through daily editorials in his newspaper Saamna was Balasaheb Thackeray.  The undisputed king of Mumbai.

As investigations into the riots commenced, Balasaheb not only owned up to the riots but also demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya.  On several occasions he publically applauded the ‘valor’ shown by his Sainiks.

All these are well documented facts.  Anyone who lived through those times can attest to them.  Yet, why do these pink chaddis (and I do mean that in a gender neutral sense – but the pun is intended) types focus solely on NaMo.

1992-93 had a CONgress govt. both at the center and state levels and unlike Gujarat where NaMo asked for the Army to be deployed within hours of the first riot breaking out, Pawar and his cronies stalled for days before the Army was finally called in.  The final straw was that 5000 odd Sainiks had gathered outside Behrampada, ready to storm a densely populated muslim ghetto.  The devastation would have been unimaginable.

Why then do these pink chaddi types give Balasaheb and CONgress a free pass but pile on to NaMo?

The Answer is Simple: There is ZERO chance of NaMo firing back.  No fear of retaliation.

Let these pink chaddis utter a word against Balasaheb and lets see how long they can last even if they find refuge at 10 Janpath.

NaMo represents a convenient punching bag any pink chaddi can use to buttress their ‘secular’ ‘liberal’ credentials.  Zero cost. Bark, call NaMo a facist, a mass murderer, the poor man will keep working for his Gujarat.  This poor man will keep working his 20 hour work days on improving the lot of his much ignored girl child, on his irrigation-starved farmers on his ordinary amdavadis and suratis and kutchis.

Try the same with Sharad Pawar or Sonia and government TV Ads (representing 20-25% of Ad revenue for most channels) will dry up.  Lucrative licensing and political pimping fees will dry up.

Try the same with Balasaheb and a 110 lbs Sainik will rip you a new one.

But hit NaMo as hard as you want and then walk through the streets claiming valiance. 

But here’s a message for all you Pink Chaddis out there - every assault on NaMo is an assault on Bhartiya Asmita.  This Asmita will never retaliate, she will bear every insult silently, but she will never forget and when the time comes she will inspire every Indian into voting for the one man who can restore her long lost stature.

Let's Assume Narendra Modi is a monster

A recent article in the little known magazine Caravan (http://www.caravanmagazine.in/PrintThisStory.aspx?StoryId=1315)   has caused quite a ruckus.  It is, at best, a rehash of old accusations, which left unanswered may acquire the veneer of the gospel truth.  So let us examine it.

Let’s assume as the article suggests, that NaMo is a monster.  A fascist dictator.  But then what is his motive? If he is indeed evil incarnate, what does he aim to achieve?

1.       Wealth?  Probably the most laughable aspect of the Caravan article is the insinuation that Amit Shah was running a protection/extortion racket and that the taint may go upwards to NaMo himself.  How much can one extort – a few hundred crores at best.  Gujarat is an economy that is attracting investment commitments in the hundreds of lakhs of crores and NaMo would run an extortion racket to nickel-and-dime his way to a few hundred crores!! Pseudos should have their brains checked.  At least check your arguments for basic logic.  If NaMo wanted he could be wealthier than Sonia.  But he chooses to guard the treasury, not loot it like the Chiddus, Pawars and Sonias.

2.       Promote his family?  NaMo’s 80+ year old mother lives with his brother in a lower middle class tenement.  Despite 10 years as CM of India’s most prosperous state, his family has benefitted in no way.  In fact, NaMo goes out of his way to ensure that there’s not even a hint of nepotism in his actions.  Can any other leader make this claim?

3.       Carnal Pleasure?  If Sonia had sensed any susceptibility to honey-traps, Bollywood, tollywood, mollywood and every other wood would have been lined up to suggest the existence of a ladies man. Nothing here either.

4.       Power?  If Power for power sake was his mission in life, why wouldn’t he carve out his fiefdom, make peace with the Delhi sultanate and enjoy the spoils of power.  The Power hungry have a price, just as the Pawars, the Karunanidhis have repeatedly demonstrated.  NaMo wants power to make a difference.  So nothing on this front either.

5.       A Good time?  Power brings with it a host of fringe benefits – regular presence on Page 3, hobnobbing with celebrities, foreign travel, beach front mansions, a celebrity entourage etc.  But NaMo is an acknowledged workaholic.  Perhaps, the only politician in the history of India who clocks 18-20 hour work days and seldom takes even a day’s break.  Contrast that with the vacations of US Presidents and our own Sonia clan. 

6.       Spread Hindutva?  If forcing Hindutva on India was his goal, wouldn’t VHP and Pravin Togadia be his bosom buddies?  Would Gujarat Govt. have demolished more road side temples than all of India’s governments put together?  Yes he’s the very epitome of Sanatani Hindu.  But he makes no excuses on that front and wears his beliefs on his sleeve.  Nothing here either?  What’s left?

That my dear friends, leaves us with just one conclusion. 

A man who eschews wine, women, wealth and song, a leader who scrupulously ensures that neither he nor any member of his family benefits in any way from his proximity to power, can be nothing but a great leader. 

If access to power does not corrupt this man, one can only imagine the staggering strength of character he possesses. 

If intolerance of endemic corruption, if rage against greed for blood money is a dictatorial trait, may god bless all Indian leaders with just such a trait.

If caring for the least fortunate citizens under his administration is a move to garner public approval, may all politicians exhibit just such a greed for approval.

Ladies and gentleman, Narendra Damodardas Modi, is a rare breed.  One we haven’t seen since the days of Sardar Patel and Shashtriji.  Instead of demonizing this true son of Mother India, let us join our forces in doing all we can to support his candidature for the highest office of the land.

Let us strive for the day we can all proudly say:  Hamare Pradhan Matri Shri Narendra Modiji

Politics of Patronage Vs. Politics of Performance: Why Sonia really fears NaMo

Politics of Patronage Vs. Politics of Performance:  Why Sonia really fears NaMo

There’s a media perpetuated myth that CONgress’ economic policies have been curtailed by pressures of coalition politics or scams or global economic conditions.

The myth in a nutshell:

CONgress is a pro-reform political outfit with India’s best interests at heart.  Proof:  A CONgress PM and Finance minister ushered in India’s economic revolution.  And that Finance Minister has now been made the PM (By Rajmata Sonia) with the objective of taking these reforms to the next level.

Nothing can be further from the truth.

Let us examine the reasons why.

CONgress has emerged into a conglomerate of varied financial interests.  Much like the Mafia in Italy (no pun intended), CONgress has turned into a criminal enterprise which will use any means (almost always foul) to remain in power to quench its insatiable greed for India’s resources.

But the rot runs deeper.  CONgress is now a highly hierarchical enterprise with each level manned by clones of Sonia and her brood.

Sadly, apart from a few exceptions this virus of unbridled greed has infected every political party.

Much like the Mafia where earners are rewarded, CONgress now has regional and sub-regional satraps who must earn their place in the party.

Exhibit A: Kripa Shankar Singh.  Here’s a vegetable vendor, who within a short span of 2 decades has earned his keep in the CONgress party.  The fight for Mumbai can be traced back to this economy of political corruption which seeks the riches of Mumbai and is willing to make any compromises to corner them.

Any attempt at course correction is bound to be met with a massive backlash.  Rajiv Gandhi fell victim to just such a backlash.

The biggest victim of this corrupt enterprise is progress.  Funds meant for welfare of aam Indians is siphoned off to feed the ever growing greed of Capos, Captains and soldiers of this corrupt political mafia.  Sonia cannot ask a Kripa Shankar to stop stealing when her own son-in-law is filling her coffers.

Granted all political outfits across the world have an element of patronage peddling.  But CONgress has singlehandedly invented the Politics of Patronage.

Patronage which allows loyal soldiers to dip their beaks in the ever widening river of blood money.  And make no mistake it is blood money.

CONgress has achieved this staggering level of success by co-opting any and all opposition.  Opposition leaders of every hue, media houses, judiciary, you name the institution and CONgress has found a way to buy them out. 

And where co-option doesn’t work, intimidation and outright covert/overt warfare is deployed through multiple layered weapon systems.  Lies are floated, accusations are repeated through media channels till they acquire a requisite veneer of truth and opposing individuals and institutions are subdued into silence.  General Malik being only the latest victim.

Only one man stands between CONgress and the total decimation of Mother India.

Narendra Damodardas Modi

If NaMo was any ordinary leader, he would have been neutralized by now.  But he’s no ordinary leader.

Apart from his stellar individual qualities of personal integrity and absolute devotion to Mother India, one other factor protects him and puts the fear of God in the hearts of the Maino Mafia.

NaMo has birthed, nurtured and successfully demonstrated a new political paradigm: 

The Politics of Performance.

Performance in governance, in efficient transfer of resources from govt. to people, in development of weather-proof political and economic institutions.

The virulent opposition NaMo faces at every step stems from this tectonic shift he has engineered.  Sonia’s only defense is to contain this new paradigm within the boundaries of Gandhinagar.  Given even a small window of opportunity NaMo can demonstrate the efficacy of his new vision.

Given half a chance NaMo can prove the universality of the Politics of Performance.  It is this shift that Sonia and her clansmen fear the most.  For it has the potential to completely and irrevocably decimate her evil empire.

And it is for this reason that every Indian must rise up and stand behind NaMo.  For he’s the last hope.  There may never be another.

Jai Hind.