Some popular myths revisited

This post first featured in Centre Right India.

Manmohan Singh is a paragon of honesty.

That was true in 2004. But boy, does this sound ridiculous now or what! He was a very clever choice for the Congress party high command that could not become the Prime Minister herself. But as the past 7 years have proved, he has worked wonderfully well for his party leaders alone. The incessant scams getting exposed with each passing day under his watch means cheerleaders can no longer chant “Singh is King”.

Congress ka haath aam aadmi ke saath.

This slogan is quite funny. It is also quite brazen. The Congress party’s record on this count is dismal to say the least. It’s fetish for socialism in the early days had driven millions to poverty. And it’s policies are no better now. Millions still continue to suffer. None of it’s “garibi hatao” slogans or programs have actually worked. The only garibi they ever managed to eliminate is that of the partymen. NREGA is the latest name of one such scheme which has wrecked havoc with the rural economy. Thousands have died on account of terror, runaway inflation is robbing food away from the poor and all the party has to show for it’s 7 year rule so far is gargantuan scams. In light of all this and more, the slogan needs to be re-calibrated as Congress ka haath aam aadmi ke gaal par.

Rahul Gandhi is our destiny deliverer.

When Rahul Gandhi first flashed his photogenic dimples for the cameras you had to see the raptures in secular media to believe it. Fawning media coverage and gushing columns continue to this day. And Abhishek Manu Singhvi would have you believe that Rahul Gandhi is indeed divine. But what does the alleged “destiny deliverer” have to show for his 7 years in public life so far? Nothing. Much of this was covered in an earlier post. Not only is Rahul Gandhi not a destiny deliverer but his dangerous cluelessness will cost us dear. And the soundness of his mental faculties too is being questioned as seen through wikileaks.

Sonia Gandhi is the most benevolent leader.

A yet another assiduously crafted image of a person who is anything but that. Please do readearlier post on this topic from the archive and this one by friend S Sudhir Kumar. For an alleged benevolent leader, Sonia Gandhi is surprisingly callous to the sufferings of her aam aadmi voters. She doesn’t even deign to spare a few minutes facing the media and the public.

“Inclusive growth” with a human face.

This is a rather funny coinage. This marketing technique worked very well in 2004. But what has transpired since then is hardly “inclusive growth”. Perhaps the only growth the Congress party has achieved since of that of the UPA coalition itself. Crores of Rupees have made way to the UPA constituents and they still haven’t burped yet. “Inclusive growth” is the mother scam. All other scams are a result of this.

Criticising the Congress party is communalism.

This is one of the funniest ploys the self declared champions of secularism resort to. When you cannot defend your own record, when you find yourself facing inconvenient questions, when you are caught red handed in an inconvenient act, it is always useful to use the “communalism” charge. This allows the Congress party to escape scrutiny of it’s record and deflect all debate to the secular versus communal cacophony. What is missed in this theater is that the Congress party itself is rabidly communal.

Sonia Gandhi and her carefully crafted saintly aura

Sonia Gandhi entered politics with a touching story of how she could not let herself escape the inevitable responsibility of leading the Congress party. After all it was crying to be led by the only family divinely ordained to do so. The way in which her declaration as party high command came about and what happened to the immediate predecessor is but a matter of fine print.

Her being a rank outsider, both in politics and nationality, a woman, widow of the assassinated Rajiv Gandhi meant she was the proverbial underdog in Indian politics. Thirteen years later she has proved she is no underdog. In fact she is in the top 10 of the world's most powerful list. Nine places ahead of the Prime Minister (PM) of the world's largest democracy. And the political opposition could only be wishing if only it did not make the mistake of underestimating her.

One would think that after having been at the top of the Congress party for over a decade and having manufactured a convenient power center for herself under the United Progressive Coalition (UPA) chairmanship for about 6 years now, our media would take some time to evaluate her leadership, her politics. But try as you might an honest, independent review of her years in public life is impossible to come across. Instead what we have is some fawning soft focus features in mainstream media commemorating such momentous occasions as her 10 years in politics.

The only image of her that is allowed is that of a suffering, reluctant person who was forced to bow to public pressure to lead the nation. Election posters of course follow a carefully crafted image. But what has happened under her command, what has transpired in both the UPA governments is completely ignored by opinion makers. That cronyism, nepotism is prevalent in Congress party culture is not news but one of the identifying characters of the party. Sonia's leadership since 1998 has done nothing to change that. Instead she appointed her son, Rahul Gandhi, to important post in the party. The son too has been lending sound bytes of trying to change the rotten system of ours but little has come of it since his entry into public life seven years ago.

Under Sonia Gandhi's leadership we had the bad precedent of the unelected Manmohan Singh being appointed as our PM. Our democracy is being subverted ever since. Playing with gubernatorial appointments in states ruled by opposition parties, intimidating non-Congress rules states through the federal government, using extra constitutional routes for law making have been happening since 2004. Analysis, scrutiny of such acts however is missing. Instead we have the curious coincidence of only benefits accruing to Sonia Gandhi and all criticism being absorbed by other Congressmen. When the erstwhile "honest" Manmohan Singh was chosen for our PM, Sonia Gandhi was hailed for her sacrifice and excellent choice. Now that Manmohan Singh is being severely criticized for raging scams on his watch no questions are being asked of her. When her appointees like ex Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan get caught in scams, again no questions must be asked of her. When UPA coalition partners are accused and being investigated for severe scams Manmohan Singh should shoulder blame. No blemish should ever reach Sonia Gandhi.

Then we have the case of her being personally involved in scams. Bofors is perhaps the longest running scam story. The brazenness with which Bofors cases were closed was open for all to see. Personal allegations against her may have been in the realm of conspiracy theories in the past but that may no longer be the case. Almost every major scam hitting the headline these days has some link tracing to Sonia Gandhi. The Commonwealth Games scam has a Robert Vadra link. The 2G spectrum scam has links going to her. Yet stories in media on such links are no where to be found.

The other image of Sonia Gandhi is that of a caring, sensitive leader who has the aam aadmi's interests close to her heart. Yet victims of the horrific 2008 attacks on our soverignity on 26/11 are yet to see justice being done to them. PM Manmohan Singh promised that to the nation in his televised address immediately following the attack. But now we have him trying to make peace with the nation that blatantly refuses to take responsibility in face of a mountain of evidence. The UPA power center is unmoved. A nation housing vast numbers of poor people suffers continued price rise burden. Inclusive growth promise that apparently has a human face is not questioned here.

Sonia Gandhi herself and her inner circle seems to have carefully crafted a certain image of her. She has the habit of maintaining complete silence when the going gets tough, instead letting some members of her inner circle do the dirty job of discrediting all criticism. But when there is a slight opportunity for media worthy sound byte we have the benevolent, saintly Congress high command get out of her meditation and let a few words of wisdom out. When more questions are raised she conveniently goes back to her meditation.

No opinion maker worth his/her salt has shown the courage to question and hold Sonia Gandhi accountable of all that is wrong in the Congress party and the UPA government. She is allowed to enjoy leadership without the accountability that should go with it in a constitutional democracy. This continued mismanagement is doing incalculable harm to our nation's interests. But when wanting to be seen on the right side of power holder trumps need for honest scrutiny, such abominable cruelty will go unnoticed.

"Inclusive growth" is a scam

Back in 2004, the Congress led UPA came to power criticizing the NDA's ill fated "India shining" campaign. Upon gaining mandate to govern the nation, the UPA sought to differentiate itself as a government that cared for the people who did not benefit from the economic growth yet. It came up with a common minimum program that purported to carryout out development with a "human face". "Inclusive growth" has been the buzzword since then. And to add credibility to their claims, the Congress party installed Manmohan Singh over us.

To carry out their "inclusive growth", the UPA came up with many social benefits schemes. The mother of them all is the NREGA, their flagship showcase. This scheme aims at providing 100 days of guaranteed employment to the poor. It was launched in Feb-2006. The UPA has been touting the program's success ever since. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, especially the latter, have hardly missed an opportunity to sell the story to us. But audits do not agree with such claims -

NREG fails to deliver [Link] (2008)

Punching a hole in the UPA government's campaign of Bharat Nirman and other flagship schemes, its official auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said in a report released on Friday that the government had been overstating the expenditure [Link] (2009)

A conservative estimate of the disappearance into thin air of money meant for the poor NREGA recipients in 2007-08 is about two-thirds of the money spent on the programme. Disappearance means money not accounted for by receipt, by the poor or the rich. It is unlikely that corruption in the NREGA has decreased in the last three years while having increased in all sectors of the economy. Which means that scam money in the NREGA, in just one year, 2010-11, is upwards of Rs 25,000 crore. [Link] (2011)

So a noble sounding social benefit scheme has quickly degenerated into a giant scam, a hallmark of the Congress party. Many things could be said of this but the fact remains that the Congress party is only continuing it's money making ways at the expense of the same poor it purports to help under a new name, "inclusive growth".

This abominable cruelty is not limited to social schemes. Anywhere there is money to be made, there is a scam to be pulled off. Take the current rage for example, the 2G spectrum scam. First seen here. The monumental scam is now know to one and all. Similar is the case with our highways. Since the regime changed hands from NDA to UPA in 2004, highway development activity has slowed down to a halt. Tall claims were made by UPA ministers. But 6 years later they have nothing to show for those claims. In fact this report will give you a glimpse of the rot that has set in the NHAI. Between 2007 and 2008, there were as many as 5 changes to to the NHAI chief post. And you would think with all the scams hitting the roof, the Congress party would have learnt it's lessons, but to the contrary dubious characters continue to be considered for the NHAI office. The agriculture ministry under Sharad Pawar is another case of gross mismanagement. Poor PDS infrastructure, rotting grains, farmer suicides are rampant under a Maratha strongman who comes from the farming belt in Maharshtra. Apparently, multitasking is not Pawar's forte, what with him heading the ICC as well.

We had to live a horrific nightmare under the incompetent beyond imagination Shivraj Patil. For a party with heavy socialist tendencies, they have failed at almost all human development indices. The story is same everywhere. Railways, 26/11, Pakistan, ISRO, Maoist manace, police reforms, defence, border disputes, Kashmir are no exceptions either. Six years have passed since development with "human face" began but all we have is a cargo load of scams. Each bigger than the other. "Inclusive growth" has a very limited scope than claimed by the Congress party. Only their inner members have grown significantly, others continue to be robbed of their destinies. "Inclusive growth" is a scam.

Secular props

It is pretty much well known among independent bloggers and twitter users which side of the political divide do the homegrown secularists lean towards. And it should not be a secret to the others either for they have hardly done it subtly. On every possible occasion the secularists have done all they could to prop up and sell us a secular lemon for our leader.

Their joy knew no bounds when the UPA formation took oath to office in 2004. Sonia Gandhi, the quiet suffering, all sacrificing widow was anointed the undisputed queen of secularism. Manmohan Singh, an allegedly honest man, was foisted on us as our PM. One need not recount the suffering our nation has been going through since then. Both of these secular props have failed every leadership test there is. It didn't bother them that Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi employed questionable means to survive no confidence motion in 2008, a grinning epidemic swept national TV studios and Singh was anointed "King". Omar Abdullah's hate filled speech in the parliament didn't stop them from declaring him "India's Obama". The prince, Rahul Gandhi too threw his weight behind him making him CM for J&K. This "Indian Obama" too has failed miserably and Kashmir is now slipping away from our hands.

The nation has been facing countless grave challenges since the secular props took office, but they continue to dither. Political calculations trump national interest. Many ovaries burst in excitement every time Rahul Gandhi exploits a photo-op, but editorial comments are missing on his absent leadership. Shady characters continue in youth Congress even after Rahul Gandhi promising to change the system. And there's hardly anything to write home about the young Congress leaders. There are countless other examples.

Every single "leader" sold to us by the secularists has been a spectacular failure. Lemons all.

Indoctrination works

When the Wall Street whiz kids, the doctors, the engineers or what are otherwise called the cream of the society tend to think of Rahul Gandhi as the deliverer of India's destiny, we know that the secular indoctrination that begins with our primary schools has worked wonders. When our children set out of schools the only names with the highest recall value are Gandhi and Nehru. That is further reinforced by breathless secular cheerleaders breaking us news and non-news alike 24x7. And the result is, the Mahatma and the other Gandhis are indistinguishable.

The much publicized visits to the poor by Rahul have led to many gush filled praises by those who find much virtue in such tokenism. It bothers none that Rahul's party pretty much has a monopoly on governance. His is the party that has been winning elections on empty slogans. 'Garibi hatao', 'Congress ka haath gareebon ke saath' are the pertinent ones. Yet India continues to have one of the largest population of absolutely poor people. The involvement of some of the most significant freedom fighters with the Congress and the continued rule of the party by the Gandhi family is still yielding dividends. And visits, such as the ones by Rahul, only reinforce that.

In a country - touted as the largest, most vibrant democracy - dynastic stranglehold on politics and governments is given a free pass. Debates, especially during the elections, are a telling example of how secular parties obfuscate issues. At the slightest hint of being evaluated on governance record, the discussion is hijacked into a communalism and secularism debate. Existential questions 'how can you not support secularism?' are posed. And with enough canards raised and reinforced by newsmen secular parties become the automatic choice.

And no effort is spared in retaining control. When popular mood turns contrary, discussing facial features resembling past leaders, invoking nostalgia are not out of bounds. Once that works, it is business as usual for the next term and the same facial features will only be invoked when needed next.

One only has to take an objective look at Indian politics, particularly the secular parties and their governance record, their continued dynastic dominance, the remarkable congruity in the views expressed by the media and it will be clear that secular indoctrination has worked.

Sonia's "development"

Sonia in Chattisgarh -

"We have taken the country on the road to development. The growth rate under the Congress led government has been historic," [Link]

Priyanka in Rae Bareli campaigning for Sonia -

"The entire country looks at Rai Bareli and Amethi. The way you brought about change by continuing to vote for development will show the path to the entire country," [Link]

Ground reality in Rae Bareli -

"aage sadak nahin hai" (there is no road ahead) [...] "farzi udghatan hua hai" (This inauguration is fake).

The road that was supposed to run till another village, Beena Kheda, ends barely 500 metres after the highway.

"We hardly get power for 4.5 hours," says Ajay Awasthi from the village, not before adding, "and we are still better off. Our neighbouring village has no connection at all even 15 years after poles were pitched, despite its inclusion in Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Project now." [There's more, read here]

The aam aadmi has become even more aam. But Sonia maintains -

"When the common man (aam aadmi) becomes prosperous, the country will automatically progress," [Link]

Priyanka says development is an election issue, the nation agrees and hopes she can convince Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi.

G-20 assessment of Indian measures against terrorism

Cheerleaders won't take the "communal" folk's word on Congress' laxity towards terrorism. Well, then here's the G-20's assessment. India fared poorly against these key measurement criteria -

1. Number of terrorists listed under
UNSCR 1333/1390 for which a freeze order has been issued: NIL

2. Number of other terrorists under UNSCR
1373 for which a freeze order has been issued: NIL

3. Amount of assets frozen for all
terrorists: ZERO

4. Specific risk-based measures in place to ensure that
non-profit organizations cannot be abused for the financing of terrorism?: NO

Even an Islamic country like Saudi Arabia fared better than us. For the complete listing click here. Because this report by the G-20 is inconvenient to the "secular" party and gives more fodder to the "communal forces" no mention was made of this by any news media covering the summit.

It is time the "voice of the people" media shunned its slant and start taking matters concerning our national interest seriously. Reducing the debate on terrorism to a yelling contest only takes the focus away from the grave dangers facing the nation.

So it's 'aam aadmi' again

And of course the tokenish 'terror' issue on which the Congress will seek a mandate during this election. It is rather ironic of the Congress to do so. It was the same 'aam aadmi' back in 2004 that the Congress sought to uplift. But after 5 years of economic mismanagement, minority appeasement and an utterly lax attitude towards terror, the common man continues to be in need of a 'hand' that will 'uplift' him. The 'haath' has evidently failed in it's 'saath'.

Now, with the elections only weeks away, the same stale rhetorics are being recycled. After having taken him for a 5 year ride, the common man features again in the Congress campaign. This very fact is an indication of the UPA's failure. The much ballyhooed Common Minimum Program supposedly contained a 'human face' for development. Yet it has nothing to show for its much touted flagship programs.

Speaking to party chiefs from the smallest rung of Congress
hierarchy to kick off poll campaign, Sonia said the party, which had sought the
mandate in 2004 on the concerns of "aam aadmi", had largely met its commitments,
mentioning flagship schemes like NREGA, RTI, forest rights law, social security
for unorganised sector, loan waiver and the fight against economic downturn.
[Link]

Sonia even got the President to claim so in the Parliament. It is rather self congratulatory of them to have done so. Other than Manmohan Singh and herself hardly anyone else holds such a view. In fact the Government's own auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India is critical of all such claims.

Punching a hole in the UPA government's campaign of Bharat
Nirman and other flagship schemes, its official auditor, the Comptroller and
Auditor General (CAG) said in a report released on Friday that the government
had been overstating the expenditure. [Link]

The NREGA has failed to reach the intended and is marred by corruption. The loan waiver too has failed to help the poorest and the most affected farmers. And the general economic mismanagement by the UPA has affected everyone.

The government started the 'Bharat Nirman' project to improve infrastructure, however results are lacking. The CAG notes, of the Rs. 51,000 crores allocated by the government for development during 2007-08, the actual expenditure cannot be confirmed.

Raising an alarm, the CAG said money often remained unspent
in the accounts of these implementing agencies. Kept outside government
accounts, they were beyond the purview of any checks and balances of the Centre.
``The aggregate amount of the unspent balances in the accounts of the
implementing agencies kept outside government accounts is not readily
ascertainable. The government expenditure as reflected in the accounts to that
extent is, therefore, overstated,'' the CAG report said. [Link]

Funds were also diverted from their original purposes to various NGOs, cultural organisations and trumpet blowing celebrations.

The government had transferred Rs 6,500
crore in 2007 and Rs 6,000 crore in 2008 to the SIDF. An examination of Rs 3,500
crore expenditure under this account by the CAG revealed that at least Rs 1,500
crore in 2006-07 and a similar amount the following year was diverted to
celebrations and giving aid to NGOs and other expenditure rather than creating
infrastructure.

Pointing out how the government had been
diverting funds intended to provide subsidies to the rural “aam aadmi'', the CAG
report said of the Rs 20,000 crore collected under the Universal Service
Obligation Fund between 2003-08 towards subsidising rural telephony, only Rs
6,000 crore was spent; the remaining amount was not there in the fund.
[Link]

The Congress hasn't abandoned it's corrupt ways. Embezzlement has been the hallmark of it's governance.

The NDA regime reformed the telecom sector and abolished licensing. The UPA rolled it back so its partners could make crores. The national road network saw a upgrade being undertaken by the NDA with a success rate of about 81%, the progress has fallen to less than 50 at 49% under the UPA. And in the last two years there have been 5 different NHAI chairmen. Other projects like housing, electricity connections for the poor too have met the same dismal fate. And Sonia Gandhi has the gall to seek votes from the 'aam aadmi'.

The season for stale rhetorics

With about two months left for elections, politicians will be at their rhetorical best. The Congressmen are the unparalleled masters at it. Sonia had this to say at a rally in Silvassa (Dadra & Nagar Haveli) -

"India's identity is that all religions and communities co-exist in harmony. Our
neighbour wants to weaken this strength of ours but they do not know that we can
give a befitting reply to their every design,"

So what is Sonia waiting for? A clearance from the Ulema council of India? When will the befitting reply come? If indeed the Congress was serious about defeating terror and protecting India's interests, why hasn't it done something already? In the five years since it regained power at the centre its primary focus seems to be on weakening our democracy and treating India as Sonia's own personal fiefdom. Terrorism is not a recent problem that India faces, decades of attacks on our soil have seen thousands of lives being lost and displacement of even more from their homes, the Kashmiri Pandits are perhaps the most affected. But it hasn't dawned on Sonia that decisive action is long overdue, not empty rally talk.

Yet it is lip service that is meted out to a hapless nation. Manmohan Singh is another master of this. His entire tenure as PM has been nothing but that. Not too long ago, on 23rd September 2008, Singh talked of a 100 day roadmap to fight terror. And much like every other promise of his, this too turned out a non-starter. There never was any will. The fact that the thought came so late in his tenure should be proof conclusive of it being mere talk. It was an unconvincing exercise in sounding tough on terror.

And the rhetorics themselves lack novelty. Every rally by Sonia is an exercise in regurgitation. Promises that are decades old continue to be mouthed. There has hardly been any introspection on this. Hardly has Sonia or the Congress ever stopped to wonder how is it that they find themselves talking about the same issues election after election when the party has ruled India for over 5 decades since our independence. It is their arrogance that allows them to do so, knowing very well that the talking heads, in a cahoot media, would spin this away.

So this election season too will see much of the same charade continue. Sonia and the Congress will sell their scams (NREGA, loan waivers, job guarantees, free power etc.) as their achievements. While it is the thousands of crores of taxpayer's money that is being doled out, it won't stop the sycophants in Congress claiming it Sonia's gifts to the nation. And while the conniving media will not ask the right questions (the various Padma' titles are at stake), it is left to the bloggers to do the auditing. And they will.

More lip service

Manmohan Singh has apologised to the nation over the Mumbai attacks. However, he owes much more than that. He, along with Sonia, has blood on his hands. Sitting over specific intelligence inputs is akin to complicity in murder.

That it took Manmohan Singh this long to realise his folly is a sorry indication of his clouded intellect. This realisation ought to have dawned on him back in Aug. 2004 (soon after he took over as our PM) when a bomb went off in Assam (ironically represented by him in the Rajya Sabha) killing innocent school children. That should have been the incident to startle Singh from his slumber and jolt him in action. Since then, there have been at least a dozen major terror attacks on our soil and yet it is now, after about 3000 lives have been lost, he realises his mistake. Unconvincing. So much for his concern for the aam aadmi!

There is one critical realisation that has not yet dawned on Singh. It is actions that define a leader, not words. Throughout his tenure, all that Singh has ever delivered is sermons to the nation. What baffles one and all is when Singh knew so much on what the government should be doing, why has there been no action on his part. L K Advani, in the Lok Sabha, rightly asked the question, "Are you here to govern or tender advice?". And Arun Shourie, in the Rajya Sabha, has made a compelling argument indicting the ruling dispensation of criminal apathy are dereliction of duty.

Perhaps no other Prime Minister has hurt our national interest so much as Manmohan Singh. He has been nothing short of a monumental letdown.

The people of the nation are angry precisely because of the UPA's failure to act on any significant matter. The current outpour is only a culmination of over 4 years of frustration. Mere words or assurances will no longer placate the them, action, rather concrete and decisive action in the nation's interest will. The opposition too has vowed its complete support to steps in this regard. It is questionable if the PM will shun partisanship and appeasement to stand up and deliver for the nation.

Charlatanism for diplomacy and incompetence for leadership

Charlatanism has taken over diplomacy. The latest revelations on the Indo-US nuclear deal have made American interests quite clear. It was never about empowering India, as claimed, but hoodwinking India into the non-proliferation regime. The letter released by House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman confirms this. The said letter was written 9 months ago by the state department in response to questions posed by the Congress, yet we were kept in the dark, lest the Americans lost the deal.

It is difficult to understand Dr. Singh's enthusiasm for the deal when it has been blindingly obvious, all along, that there were many questionable aspects of the deal that needed more disscussion, clarifications and re-negotiation. But Dr. Singh's incompetence made him blind to all this. He placed more trust in the Americans than his own countrymen who time and again warned him against the deal.

So what does the letter clarify? (From the IE link)

[...] the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman has released State Department's answers to 45 questions on the deal which indicate clearly differing perceptions on key issues between New Delhi and Washington. (Emphasis added)

Any why was the letter kept under wraps for 9 months -

The answers were considered ‘so sensitive, particularly because the debate over the agreement in India could have toppled the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the State Department requested they remain secret even though they were not classified,’ according to Washington Post which quoted a spokesman for Berman as saying he had made the answers public because the US Congress must have ‘relevant information’. (Emphasis added)

And what does it say about India carrying out any testing -

In its responses, the State Department has said that as outlined in the 123 Agreement, should India detonate a nuclear explosive device, the US has the right to cease all nuclear cooperation with it immediately, including the supply of fuel.

It also stipulates that US can request India to return items transferred from it including fresh fuel. In addition, the US has the right to terminate the agreement on one year's written notice. (Emphasis added)

And here are the bullet points from Dr. Brahma Chellaney's column on rediff -

• The US has given no binding fuel-supply assurance to India.
• No US consent to India's stockpiling of lifetime fuel reserves for safeguarded power reactors.
• US civil nuclear cooperation is explicitly conditioned to India not testing ever again.
• The US has retained the right to suspend or terminate supplies at its own discretion.
• The letter makes clear that the 123 Agreement has granted India no right to take corrective measures in case of any fuel-supply disruption.
• The Bush administration's letter states that the 123 Agreement fully conforms to the Hyde Act provisions.
• The letter assures Congress that the 'US government will not assist India in the design, construction or operation of sensitive nuclear technologies.

Spin doctors and media agents did not tire telling us how good the deal was and how good the PM was for negotiating it. The prime minister, Sonia, Rahul Gandhi, Pranab Mukerjee, Kapil Sibal etc. asked all opponents to listen to our hearts. Apparently it was in our national interest and that the future generations would thank us for the deal. However, Dr. Singh has a lot to answer to the nation, after all this amounts to him lying on the floor of our parliament and to the nation.

Update: According to David Mulford, The US did share all the points mentioned in the letter with the Indian government -

"This letter contains no new conditions and there is no data in this letter which has not already been shared in an open and transparent way with members of the Congress and with the Government of India," US Ambassador David C Mulford said in a statement.

Dr. Singh stands completely exposed and cannot feign ignorance after this. He is now a confirmed liar.

No Compromise on Strategic Interests?

If the Indo-US nuclear deal does not compromise our strategic interests, like Dr. Singh and Sonia (rather belatedly) have been claiming, why not announce another set of nuclear tests and see what sort of noises uncle Sam makes? That ought to clear all doubts.

A question for Sonia & Manmohan

What did you mean when you said you won't tolerate the charge of being weak on terrorists? Our fellow countrymen have been losing their lives in thousands while you continue to mouth platitudes. Can you refute the charges against you with proof & without rhetoric? And no, you can't use the Kandahar incidence as justification for your failures. We're talking about our nation here.

Honourable (?) Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, is this what you meant by reforms with a 'Human Face'? The Home Minister Shivraj Patil doesn't even acknowledge there's a problem. Just how clueless can one be. There can't be any hope with such leadership.

Sonia & Manmohan your failure to tackle terrorism is costing our country dear.

Want to know what patriotism is?

Read this. Sukhpreet Kaur is the real daughter of the nation. Our leaders can certainly take a cue from her. If this doesn’t make Manmohan & Sonia feel guilty for constantly undermining India’s national interest, then nothing will. Nation is above everything else. Sadly, today’s ‘intellectuals’ in our country would have you believe the opposite is true.

This blog salutes (as have many other blogs) the brave & true patriot Mrs. Sukhpreet Kaur.

Sonia thinks others are bigots!

Look who's talking! Sonia rejects 'bigoted provincialism'. While the Thakareys haven't got it right, Sonia doesn't sound very credible either.

Being the UPA supremo, she's very much at blame for all that UPA has done. She had this to say -

"In recent weeks, there have been violent manifestations of bigoted provincialism, deliberately engineered for narrow political gains,"

Sonia shunning 'narrow political gains' is a pretense. Her chairmanship of UPA is marked by the same thing she shuns. How different is minority (muslim) appeasement, extending pilgrimage subsidies to Christians (in AP), reservations, poor economics, lax attitude on terror & internal security etc. different from 'narrow political gains'?

She adds -

"We live and work in a democracy that is governed by a great Constitution and the rule of law,"

If Sonia believed in democracy & the Indian constitution, she would have respected that & not tried to subvert it every time as the links show has happened in Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Goa & Karnataka.

And she didn't fail to criticize the BJP. She had this to say -

Sonia said that this prejudice translates into violence not just against migrant labour, but also against minorities in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party and some of its National Democratci Alliance allies like the Biju Janata Dal.

She doesn't fail to blame the BJP & the NDA at every chance she gets. Putting the blame on the BJP & the NDA allows her to escape from answering on her own failures. The UPA is power & hence is answerable to the nation. Don't shift blame.

Whose money is it Sonia?

Sonia hailed the loan waiver to farmers as revolutionary. Well, why wouldn’t she, it’s not her money. This largesse, at the cost of our tax money, is aimed at getting enough votes to stay in power. But, like you may have read elsewhere, this is simply not the solution. And curiously enough, Sonia addressed a large gathering of farmers soon after the budget was announced. How did the farmers manage to get there so fast? Wasn’t possible without leaking the budget & getting them gathered outside 10 Janpath. Staged, anyone?

Let’s see where the problem lies. There is a very simple fact, in order to be well off, you have to earn more than you owe. Only then will you see some savings in your bank. Our poor farmer’s plight has something to do with that. They are trapped into a vicious cycle of debt. They borrow money to cultivate their lands, but their yield does not give them enough money, as a result, they do not make enough to pay off their loan. Not to forget, there’s no saving for them in the end. They are left with borrowing more money to survive.

First they seek loans from banks. On failing to pay off their debt there, they are no longer favored for further loans. That leaves them at the mercy of local money lenders, who lend at a much higher interest. Many of these lenders aren’t even registered. This cycle continues until, the hapless farmer learns, the only way to end this is to stop existing anymore. In view of this problem, the loan waiver isn’t going to help the farmers at all. It’ll be a short term relief at the best. The loan waiver is a bad example & will make it difficult for future governments. It will lead the farmers to believe it's ok to default, the government will take care of you.

Now, let’s look at the fine print. The waiver will only benefit farmers with land measuring two hector or less. That leaves most of the farmers in Vidarbha out of this. This was the area that caused the PM to pay a visit & announce a relief package owing to the farmer suicides. Besides, what happens to those who owe to the private money lenders, what plans do we have for them? Of course, the government can’t help those who follow illegal means, but the problem is deep.

There’s no denying that our farmers do need help. What they really need is a plan to make them competitive & provide sustainable growth. They need good price for their produce so they can pay off their loans & make some money for themselves. This crisis in the agriculture sector has been pointed out numerous times, but has failed to catch attention of our leaders. Our FM is happy with the record tax collections & our agriculture minister is busy with his BCCI duties (when he gets paid from our tax money for his duties as a minister).

While the FM has decided to write off the loans, what this will do the balance sheets of banks is another matter. Writing off debts isn’t going to do them any good. Besides, the consequences could be grave, if the recent sub-prime crisis in the US is any indication.

Rs. 60,000 crore is a large sum to write off. The waiver has set us back by that much. It’ll be interesting to see what will this do to the deficit & how does the FM plan to raise that much money. The answer may be this, raising or levying other taxes & burdening us more. And he has done exactly that. Also, do not forget the sixth pay commission.

By increasing the income tax slab, the FM has provided relief to tax payers. However, other taxes have gone up. Capital gains tax increase is penalizing those who turn in a profit. This may lead to them seeking ways to avoid tax, like most of the small businesses do.

The budget wasn’t short on populism. Allocation for minority welfare was doubled, with plans to increase the number of banks in minority dominated areas. Now here’s another possible loan waiver in the making (just speculating). The most baffling announcement was more folks from the minority will be recruited in the Central Para-Military forces. This doesn’t fall under Chidambaram, does it? Well, with the elections coming up, all this makes sense.

The union budget is borrow & spend that doesn’t bode us good. Will it maintain our growth?

Sonia’s spin doctors fabricate terror threat story

Worried that the recent security threats issued to Narendra Modi & L K Advani may add to the BJP’s advantage, Sonia’s spin doctors have been creating stories of terror threats to her.

CNN-IBN carried a story on how a large stash of explosives & arms was recovered not too far away from Sonia’s scheduled visit in Kashmir. Read this to know how this wasn’t exactly ‘large’. But then, CNN-IBN (Rajdeep Sardesai) has never made any attempt to hide their loyalties. There would be no sense in targeting Sonia, the terrorists seem to realise that. Hence no real threats yet. Perhaps her soft policies on terror & Muslim appeasement have something to do with that.

While the terror threat to Modi & Advani is real indeed, Sonia’s is false propaganda. The fact that, she & her entourage (wonder why the Home Minister insists on accompanying her everywhere when he has his own duties to fulfill) continued on the visits seems to indicate that the threat was unreal & they knew about it. This is an attempt to project her importance when, clearly, she does not seem to be a top priority to the extremists. On the contrary, it's in the terrorists's interest to keep her in power.

Will UPA make India a superpower?

We need a national movement if we are to become a superpower one day. This should become a national objective, like our freedom struggle. The public & the government must join hands if this is to be achieved. It’ll be difficult otherwise.

There are enough examples in world history where nations rose from despair to prosperity. Japan rose from being bombed to become the world’s second largest economy. It leads in the fields of automobiles, science & technology today. Germany rose from its Hitler era, to become a major engineering force & the third largest economy today.

Achieving something similar requires a great deal of leadership foresight & will. The leaders will have to drive this. However, common minimum programs catering to narrow sections of societies will not achieve this. There is a need to unite the nation towards one goal. But, Sonia's & UPA's goals are different, vote bank.

When there is a need to unite the nation as one, we have governments practicing minority appeasement. There is a need to put an end to casteism & religious hatred. But after 60 years of freedom this is still prevalent in India & our leaders have failed to on this account. They have used caste & minorities are a political tool. This is nothing but an extension of the divide & rule policy employed by the British. It's high time we realised that.

Failed schemes, reservations in higher educational institutes, religious subsidies, unconstitutional behavior, lax attitude towards terrorism & internal security are all retrograde steps. Sonia’s UPA governance is a clear manifestation of all this. Sonia & her band of UPA leaders will hardly make India a superpower.

Sonia Gandhi knows her game

Sonia Gandhi chose the perfect candidate for her Prime Minister. Her choice was controversy free, one who did not have history in politics, one who would forever be grateful, one who did not threaten to establish a power center of his won, one who would fall in line. As for some other ministers (viz. Ambika Soni, Arjun Singh, Shivraj Patil, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Jaipal Reddy, Kapil Sibal, Pratibha Patil among others), there’s little doubt on where their loyalty lies.

It is baffling to know that the man who ushered in economic revolution in India could be so ineffective. The general feeling about him not being the strongest of PMs is owing to his tentative nature of leadership. There’s hardly anything our PM is passionate about, not even the Indo-US nuclear deal or Project Tiger, to which he promised personal involvement. A lot was expected of him when he came to power. But, he continues to be indecisive.

The much discussed economic revolution was brought about by the very same man who is India’s PM today. There’s little doubt about that. And there’s no denying his contribution in that respect. But this wasn’t because of Dr. Singh’s foresight. The economic crisis that faced the nation in the early 90’s had a big role to play in the economic reforms. In 1990, the then PM, Chandra Shekhar Pledged India’s gold when we couldn’t pay our loans. The subsequent P V Narsimha Rao govt. had to re-think our economic policies & concluded that liberalization was the key. Thus entered Dr. Singh who took India’s GDP from a mere 1 or 2% in the early 90’s to a booming 8 – 9% by the mid 90’s. Whatever the circumstances, the progress made, was highly credit worthy. This coupled with his honesty & integrity added to his aura.

But how credible is Dr. as a PM? When he was the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, he threatened to resign, he repeated that during the securities scam of the early 90’s & then again, recently, during the Left opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal. All of them proved hollow, he never resigned. Perhaps he wanted to survive being in power.

Dr. Singh has never failed to assert that his loyalties lie with the First Family of Congress, the Gandhi family. There’s a big correction to be made here, the PM’s loyalty lies only towards the nation & no one else. The high command does not govern the nation. This shows just how clipped a PM is he. The fact that he has the Gandhi family in his mind, ahead of the nation, is hardly comforting. Sonia choosing Dr. Singh as the PM was indeed well though. He isn’t a clever politician, his first election victory was in 2004. He hasn’t developed a coterie that rivals Sonia’s authority. He has proven Sonia right in his conduct as the PM. He has never asserted his will on any matter, has never opposed any policy or scheme, has never driven any agenda that wasn’t convenient to Sonia’s. Is loyal to her & her family (Rahul & Priyanka). Has never pulled his weight behind anything. Follows the UPA diktat of going slow on terrorism, appeasing Congress’s vote bank to the hilt. All of these are quite evident from the reservation policies, special treatment accorded to the minorities and such measures that are counter productive.

Sonia’s choices for the various ministries are also indicative of how she has made sure power lies with her. With having placed her loyalists in the ministry, the reigns lay with her. And being the UPA chairperson allows her to drive all matters on her agenda & yet not be accountable to the nation on account of her not being in the ministry. She has a lion's share in the UPA's disappointing tenure.

When India is faced with such grave issues like terrorism, minority appeasement should take a backseat & the terrorists must be dealt with strongly. When India faces poverty, schemes like the NREGS are counter productive, they may provide some employment to the poor, but does little to help them gain sustainable employment, helping them gain some skills will empower them. When India faces numerous border disputes, we need strong diplomacy to tackle such issues. When India faces lack of quality workforce (along with poverty), providing reservations for minorities & lowering their merit requirements is counter productive, focusing on quality education for all will help. Practicing partisan politics like caste based reservations, Muslim & Christian appeasement only leads to deepening the chasm between religions.

Sonia’s UPA agenda is clearly not well thought, neither was it developed in the national interest. Surely, Dr. Singh is mature enough to realize this, yet he continues to follow the Sonia plan. If the spin doctors stay away, it’ll be interesting to see how Dr. Singh goes down in history as a PM & Sonia as the Congress leader.

This is not how you serve your nation

The UPA government is fast setting a record for being one of the most counter productive regimes. The only governing factor it seems to follow is short-term-gain-which-costs-India-dear or blame-NDA-for-everything.

The Congress leadership at the center & at the state level is further proof of that. There are a multitude of important issues facing the nation, yet the current leadership has failed to resolve them. The UPA gained majority in 2004 & has little to show for it's governance since then.

Let's talk of the most important issue facing us today- terrorism. While the NDA government's record on this front is debatable, the UPA's goes even beyond that. Read this analysis by offstumped to know the facts. The argument that the NDA failed is not enough, worse yet, it doesn't make any sense when it concerns our national security. If the previous government failed, the current one had a chance to correct that. Yet the UPA has clearly failed to do that. It has not learnt from the past failures. Instead, it decides to go ahead & pay money to the dependents of militants killed in encounters with security forces in J&K. (Read this at the dailypoineer.com, story appears on Jan 24th 2008 under the heading 'Now, dole for jihadis' kin'). It is just so unfair to our men in uniform who laid down their lives protecting us. Where does the money come from? Right, from our taxes. The blame-everyone-else-for-your-failure attitude is evident from this. The question being raised was of great importance, yet the issue was diverted by giving it another dimension. Hardly a good sign.

The Congress often alleges that the BJP is communal. Well, by that logic what does minority (read Muslim & Christian) appeasement make the Congress. If it were truly secular, it would talk of the entire Indian populace. Rewarding more reservations to a certain minority, extending financial help, now to the Christians, for their pilgrimage when the majority are not accorded the same is exactly the same as communalism. And all this from our tax money.

When the PM himself has been the most disappointing on various fronts, little should be expected from his team. When Dr. Singh took the Prime Minister's oath, there was hope that this honest man would do India proud. Unfortunately, that was not to be. He is fast losing his credibility with irresponsible remarks like these, or his ill fated schemes that only burden the treasury & hence the tax payers, or with failing to save tigers after personally taking up the cause & rampant minority appeasement.

Read this & this to know how Dr. Singh continues to disappoint us. All of India wanted him to do good, yet he failed to lead from the front, inspire his band of leaders & allowed all the noise around him influence his tenure. Sonia Gandhi, being the chairperson of UPA, needs to take the primary responsibility since she drives all the policy matters & sets the agenda for UPA governance. This fact needs to be brought to fore. The UPA's failures are conveniently blamed on all sundry reasons, when in fact Sonia Gandhi is in charge. After all she heads the UPA.

It also doesn't help that Dr. Singh is surrounded by people with no credentials to claim, begining with Sonia Gandhi. None of them have made any significant contribution to the nation.

Any argument that defends the current leaders by pointing out failures of the older leaders is weak, because it does not talk of the failures of the current ones. If the previous governments failed, the current one has not done any better either. In fact, the record is much worse. How does talking of NDA's failures make the UPA better? Besides, such arguments tacitly agree to the current government's failures. India deserves better leaders.