Gunning with 'Slow-gun'

If cricket in India is a religion then politics is not less than a prayer with slogans as a chant of piety.

However, in recent times we have witnessed these chants, which are used to galvanize the cadre have often raked up huge controversies.

The BJP’s recent attempt to plagiarise the Shaivite chant of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ to coin the ‘Har Har Modi’ and then changing it to ‘Har ghar Modi’ saw huge criticism with detractors even tweaking the slogan against the BJP strong man to ‘Darr Darr Modi’ and ‘Thar Thar Modi’.

Some slogans we know have produced results in the past.

The famous slogan of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in early nineties ‘Tilak, taraju aur talwar ; inko maaro joote chaar’ brought it attention and there after ‘Haathi nahi ganesh hai, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hai’ and ‘Sarv jan hitay; sarvjan sukhaya’ helped the party gain a complete majority in 2007 UP assembly elections.

The BJP slogan of ‘Ab Ki Baar, Modi Sarkar’ which is picked from ‘Ab ki bari Atal Bihari’ is seen as an attempt to get back the lucky charm of Vajpayee.

The Congress party is also not far behind in reframing the old lucky slogan ‘Congress ka haat aam admi key saath’ to ‘Har Haat Shakti, Har Haath Tarakki’.

Today slogans no more remain a catchy political jingle for entertainment but a tool to connect to the masses. Slogans have even emerged as a catalyst to understand the popular mood in the country.

It was ‘Sheila Dixit wapas jao’ slogan that set the agenda against once popular three time chief minister of Delhi during the protest of brutal gang rape in Delhi. Sheila Dixit had to go packing her bags after the humiliating defeat in the elections thereafter.

May be this is the reason why the political parties do not relent and answer back in slogan against a slogan these days. The Aam Admi Party (AAP) slogan in Varanasi ‘Abhi to Sheila hari hai ab Modi ki bari hai’ was instantly replied with ‘Jo lad na saka apni khasi se vo kya larega Kashi se’.

Aam Aadmi’s Khaas aspirations may boomerang

Not many years ago, a ‘giant killer’ of its kind in information technology (IT), the infamous B. Ramalinga Raju—the founder of Satyam Computers (now Tech Mahindra)—in his last communiqué to then Board members had said, “It was like riding a tiger not knowing how to get off without being eaten.” It was as a confession of his ambitious virtues that marked the fall of one of the biggest IT giants unearthing one of the gravest corporate frauds in the country.
Raju was riding the IT wave high and became the pioneer of outsourcing but had to step down after admitting to faking financial figures of the company to the tune of Rs7,136 crore of non-existent cash and bank balance.
The recent rise of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at times reminds of a similar stellar rise—he is riding a wave of aspirations of millions of Indians with his way of politics suddenly becoming a ‘route’ to bring change. The urge is monumental. However, how far this would last is another question.
AAP’s big promises during the Delhi elections are being pushed through quickly keeping in mind the due date of the general elections. Populist measures like the water subsidy will impact the exchequer, which will finally hit the taxpayer’s belly. Is this not the same method used by the other political parties in power? Besides, his alliance with the Congress was akin to what other political parties do to the electorate after winning elections.

Kejriwal’s idea of governance is appealing and his style dynamic. His rise as a politician is spectacular. But his over-ambitious moves reminds of Raju’s fatal tiger ride without being aware of being gobbled up—though one thing is for sure that Delhi’s Khaas AAdmi has rewritten the rules of the game.

 

Match-fixing scandal gives respite to scam-hit UPA

The scam-hit UPA gets some space to breathe easy as the cricket scandal takes focus away from the recent corruption charges.
In a nation where questions in Parliament and top government jobs can be fixed it does not come as a surprise that a ball or two in the game of cricket is also on sale.
The recent fixing allegations have led to a lot of hullabaloo giving an opportunity to a few foes (politicians) to unite, while granting the ruling coalition some space to breathe easy (to take focus away from recent corruption charges).
Not surprising is the swiftness the government has shown to fix the fixing case before another scam rolls out from the UPA closet and takes center-stage.
Taking a proactive line it has even indicated that it would table a Bill against fixing in the coming monsoon session of Parliament.
But, surprisingly all this does not seem to matter so much to the game lovers.
What does this mean? Are there no moral or ethical values left among people of this country or is it that in a country infamous for corruption people have come to live with such malpractices?
Politicians suddenly seem over-sincere about restoring credibility in the game of cricket.
Unfortunately, such sincerity was nowhere on display while Railgate or the infamous Coalgate rocked Parliament recently.
It may be true that recent events have hurt the image of the game, but it is truer that what we get to see in the political domain is far worse.
It took the use of water cannon and tear gas shells against Delhi rape protesters for the government to gauge public mood.
Somewhat similar was the case during the Lokpal protests.
While the concern of our politicians for the gentleman's game is understandable, they would do well to focus on something closer home: the total disconnect between the elected government and its electorate and the rampant corruption which has marred every aspect of the state's functioning.

Disgraceful 'act'

Former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee once on a lighter note had said “I am not married, but I am not a bachelor either”. He was referring to his private life, which he felt should be known to his people as he believed there was no private affair in public life.

But times have changed since!

The modern day politicians enjoy a dual life, which has both private affairs as well as public life.

The new salvo of the Indian politics has emerged after the recently found video of Congress big gun Abhishek Manu Singhvi illegally leaked on the social networking site.

As the leader claims the ‘morphed’ video to be his private affair, which has nothing to do with his public life the debate over such conduct in public life has grown.

This is not first such leaked video. In the past there were instances of a former governor of Andhra Pradesh seen in a similar explicit video. He had to resign and was shunted back to his home state.

Another CD of a former minister in the Rajasthan cabinet was found. The MLA is facing a trial in the same case.

Is this reflecting the moral depletion of Indian politics or has this surfaced due to the technological advancement. This is really tough to comment in the scenario when a cover up of immoral act is quoted as a private affair.

Showing oneself as a holy cow to garner the support of the common man and then stepping on the pedestal of success with that support and then getting into the ‘act’ and then calling it private affair is this not a sick ‘act’, which would further dent the faith in the politicians among the people?

Certainly the holy cow had no clue when was gulping down the faith and morals in the presence of a hidden intruder tracing their reality. (If you have seen the cow in video)

It has (holy cow) lost more than what it seems. Belief of few and faith of many.

Time has come for the political class to choose between the private ‘act’ or the public life as in the era of awareness if faith falls then an uprising is in making. 

Falling morals of Indian politics

With the battle for Bihar heating up, decibel levels are rising and allegations of kinds are flying thick and fast in the state known for high drama and colour during elections. And this time the stakes are high, especially for chief minister Nitish Kumar, for this is an important state of the National Democratic Alliance. It is similarly also crucial for former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. Despite all attempts, the Congress remains a fringe player. It was Congress general sectary Rahul Gandhi who fired the first salvo and accused the Bihar government of massive irregularities in using the central aid for the benefit of the people of Bihar and since then there is no looking back in throwing filth at one another by the politicians. The Congress and Rahul Gandhi made this allegation even during run up to assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. It was prime minister Manmohan Singh who hit out at Nitish Kumar at a rally in the state's Araria district on Saturday saying central funds were being misused. Nitish hit back by saying that no money had been squandered or misused and has been used for the purpose it was meant to be. He added for good measure that the finance commission decides on how much percentage of this money remains with the centre and how much goes to the states. By doing so no government had done a favour to Bihar and in fact this was the job of central government. This is sad part of the politics that allegations and counter allegations are thrown to garner public support. But if the central government’s fund was misused by the Bihar government then what have they done to stop this. Do they have any relevant figures of amount of funds misused? The Congress party has all these years just complained and made allegations at states, which it does not rule, but has seldom acted on any such irregularity where it is in power. Whether it is corruption in Commonwealth Games or fund allotment to any states, the pro-establishment forces always sneak through and rule the roost. At best, ministers like Shashi Tharoor just tender their resignation – and even such cases are not few and far between – and get a safe cover. Contrast this with Lalit Modi, who is paying the price of going anti-establishment. It remains to be seen how the government handles the Suresh Kalmadi issue now that the Games are over. Or it may well think that since the Games went by so well that the people will forget it. Wait and watch. May be this is the character of politics or the UPA government!

Painful punishment

The verdict of the 26-year-old Bhopal gas tragedy is finally out. And what is the punishment? Two years in jail and that too is bailable, along with an apologetic compensation for the negligence in one of the biggest manmade disasters in a century. And after all that, the high and mighty still move scotfree. This has become almost of every big and small verdict in this country where the victim suffers and the convict flees. Be it Jessica murder case or Ruchika, the law took its course only after a trial by the media. One still remembers a hard hitting headline in a newspaper saying ‘No one killed Jessica’. The media hit hard on the lower court’s verdict and the high court had to take a suo moto cognizance on the matter. The accused, who were acquitted had to face another trial and were thereafter sentenced with much severe punishment. But this was a high profile case in the national capital. But how many like Jessica get justice in ordinary circumstances? Well, the verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy has made it clear that being poor in this country is a curse. People said the era of kings was brutal when they used to watch duels (a game where two people fight and one dies in the end) for their entertainment but I don’t think it can be more brutal than this where 20,000 lives have been killed with Rs 5 lakh compensation and the perpetrators get away with a bailable a two-year jail term.

War for Tamil hearts

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa may have pledged to strive for a settlement acceptable to all Tamils in Lanka, but that does not seem to have silenced his detractors in India and back home in Sri Lanka. This is the first official visit of the Lankan president after cleaning up the three-decade-old LTTE and the killing its chief V Prabhakaran last year. Prabhakaran could not garner much support from India due to his anti-India policy, but his cause still seems to strike a chord here, and is still alive in the hearts of many Indians. At least the big divide in the Indian entertainment industry over organising a cine award function – the International Indian Film Academy awards — in the island makes us believe so. Bollywood stars, including IIFA brand ambassador and superstar Amitabh Bachchan, chose to miss the show. Various Tamil groups urged the senior Bachchan to boycott the Colombo awards ceremony as they marched from his Pratiksha bungalow to his Jalsa residence in Mumbai last month.This is the first time in 11 years that Big B kept himself away from the annual award function. Bachchan wasn’t the only to give the show a miss. The event was insipid as Bollywood biggies like Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and many others kept away from the show after the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce threatened to boycott films of Bollywood stars attending the event. The event has already drawn the ire of the Tamil film fraternity, with popular figures like Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, Vijay, Ajith and Surya refusing to be associated in anyway with the IIFA. This displeasure and divide over the issue also propelled the Lankan president to keep away from the event after Bollywood stars did not make an appearance at a brunch hosted by him at Temple Trees (his official residence). Rajapaksa may have salvaged his nation from decades-old militancy, but is still found stumbling in the ruins of Tamil legacy. May be this is the time to wage another “war” to win Tamil hearts.