Tangential journalism

You would think that when a political party assumes power promising inclusive growth with a human face and fails miserably to do so, the media would hold those failing their promises accountable. You would think the media would ask tough questions and demand explanation of the party’s leadership for its failures. But apparently that is not the right way to think. Instead we are lead to believe the entire political class is a failure. The ruling party could not be held accountable because, again, all politicians are bad. What are we to do in such a situation? Apparently we must watch prime time TV news shows disparaging all politicians. We must light candles at national monuments to show our disgust. We must write lengthy columns expressing similar sentiment. But what we must absolutely not do is politicize any issue in an electoral democracy. We must not encourage people to be more aware politically and urge them to participate in the electoral process. This logic is at play in large, influential sections of our mainstream media.

Every time there is a raging issue confronting the nation we find our newsmen asking exactly the wrong questions. Rather than question the ruling party for their failures, political opponents are pitted against each other and we are expected to watch this believing this is serious debate. These scenes are repeated with unfailing regularity each day. A typical scene involves a newsman posing cagey questions to a member from the ruling party. The ruling party member promptly shifts goalposts to the opposite end without losing any time and the opposition party member is left defending himself.

This script works very well in a wide range of situations. It is a template that fits everything. Take terrorism for example. The perpetrators of terror harbor no illusions on what and why they are doing. They are quite upfront and candid about it. But it would be unsecular and inhumane of investigating authorities to carry out any profiling, to carry out any serious investigation simply because it involves a disproportionately large number from a certain religion. It is only a minor inconvenience that perpetrators of terror happen to be in disproportionately large numbers from a certain religion. But prime time TV newsmen tell us it is abominable to carry out logical investigation and that we must feel guilty for doing so. To drive home this point shows are conducted posing such existential questions as “are we unfairly targeting minorities?” or “has the majority failed the minority?”.

Lets take corruption. That the issue has hit the roof is an understatement. And again here a certain political party has a disproportionately large share in it. Now see the questions being posed by our newsmen. See the pattern?

But it should not surprise anyone who has observed the media and our homegrown opinion makers. Over the years a convenient equation has been bandied about. A certain political party by the virtue of a certain type of characters being at the helm are automatically secular. Something very desirable, something young people should aspire for we are led to believe. And then of course what is left is very undesirable. A certain other political party naturally falls in this category. A very communal party, highly undesirable trait, we are told. Now when you have your very desirable, very secular political characters getting caught in seriously compromising cases it becomes well nigh impossible to criticize them squarely having cheered such characters for decades. Thankfully we have the other undesirable party to direct all the public anger at. So we have this strange situation where the secular party - in face of never-before-seen-in-history mismanagement - claim the moral high ground and question the communal party for its failure to check all ills while it was briefly in power. While all this happens almost none on the media puts things straight.

One cannot help but notice that most of our star journalists seem to consistently miss hitting the mark. Instead our media is a willful facilitator helpfully taking viewers and readers on the tangent lest logical questions be asked leading to obvious, inconvenient answers.

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.

Rahul Gandhi is no leader

This piece was written for Centre Right India. Also posting it below -

It is impossible to miss the name Rahul Gandhi if you are reading, talking, discussing India . His appointment within the Congress party was not by employing any democratic means, but simply because the Congress president, his mother, chose him. This in the world’s largest democracy and in a party that never tires talking of democratic principles. And now, he is being presented as our future Prime Minister sans any debate. With the Congress chief deciding this, the nation’s talking heads have busied themselves endorsing and selling him as our ‘destiny deliverer’. We are destined to have Rahul Gandhi lord over us and we simply must accept this.

Only in our nation could someone be hoisted over us without merit. We were born that way. Our first Prime Minster was appointed ahead of Sardar Patel who enjoyed the most confidence within the Congress party. From then on the trend has continued and sustained to our current Prime Minister. And all indications are it will in the future. Because our national media will not take the time to examine Rahul Gandhi, we are left to ourselves to size him up. Let us begin with his background.

Education

Rahul Gandhi comes from the most high profile political family yet his personal background is not very well known. He is entitled to his privacy of course, but a potential national leader will attract some scrutiny. His educational background is mired in controversy. So too are his claims on election affidavits. It seems strange that our future leader cannot seem to get his story on education right or is unwilling to set the record straight putting all doubts to rest. Very little is known of his professional life before joining politics.

Political career

Rahul Gandhi was elected to Lok Sabha from Amethi in May 2004. He has not held any political office yet and has mainly concentrated on party building activities, especially the youth wing. His pet project, bringing democracy to Congress, is not yet a success. Internal elections in youth Congress and his youth leader appointees have not exactly been controversy free. He took up party building responsibility in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. While he enjoyed moderate success in UP, he is still far from breaking Bahujan Samaj Party’s hold on the state. His Bihar attempts were a disaster as evidenced in recent elections and his visits to other states, especially Gujarat, have had little impact on his party’s fortunes there.

After having spent over 6 years in domestic politics, travelling overseas, interacting with foreign leaders and having the best political minds within the party to support and mentor him, there is very little Rahul Gandhi espouses or articulates. His sporadic attempts at making political sounds have resulted in more controversies and have done very little to add or give direction to political debates. Rather they come across as manipulative and aimed at exploiting short gains. Leaders he has hand picked have failed to deliver.

For someone who purports to be concerned of the nation’s wellbeing, he is remarkably detached from parliamentary proceedings. He only goes there about half the time and for the limited time he spends there, he almost never participates in debates.

Discovery of India

A couple of years ago, Rahul Gandhi embarked on his very own ‘discovery of India ’ to understand the country better and gain political maturity. When he was touring, not a day went by when a doting national news media did not report his encounters with the unwashed masses, especially during the last general elections. Visiting dalit houses, tea stalls, road side vendors, his jumping the security cordon and shaking hands with the crowds featured fondly in national news space. This discovery phase now seems to have ended. It is only natural for us to expect Rahul Gandhi to list his learnings, summarize them for us, articulate them for the nation. But nothing of the sort has happened yet, which leaves us to wonder if he has learned anything at all. One might cite his speech in the parliament during the Indo-US nuclear deal debate. But that too was a half baked, disappointing attempt. The debt ridden Kalavati he spoke about is still waiting for better days and had to travel to Delhi to remind Rahul Gandhi of his unkept promises.

Photo-ops

In an interview to NDTV, Arun Jaitley was asked for his advice to Rahul Gandhi. In his answer Jaitley said, Rahul Gandhi should make constructive political interventions and participate in debates more. Politics could not be “an endless series of photo opportunities”. That was very well put and summarizes Rahul Gandhi’s political life so far. No astute observer will miss this coincidence. Glance through our national media and you will see nothing but favourable coverage of Rahul Gandhi. Critical reports of him are hard to come by. Prominent television news editors have been at the forefront of this. Rahul Gandhi is found missing every time the nation faces crisis but will emerge to exploit any and every convenient photo opportunity.

In the 40 years of his life so far, Rahul Gandhi has not exhibited any leadership traits. Over 6 years of his political stint have only yielded in often banal and sometimes controversial utterances. He has not added to or defined any political debate and still cannot speak extemporaneously. Despite the stage managed, carefully choreographed tours, when faced with unscripted events he has had to beat a hasty retreat on more than one occasion. He is reluctant to face harsh, inconvenient questions without any safety net. There is very little he espouses or articulates. His ‘youth icon’ or the ‘destiny deliverer’ facade is built on the strength of fuzzy op-eds and fuelled by exploiting photo opportunities.

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.

Joint statements don't matter

International relations are governed by what two nations agree upon and state the same jointly. The same is then formalised in form of treaties. But astonishingly, a man who served as an under-secretary at the UN and with much international exposure came up with this ridiculous defense of Manmohan Singh's betrayal of India in Egypt -

[...] MoS for external affairs Shashi
Tharoor on Thursday downplayed the significance of the controversial
India-Pakistan joint statement and said it was a "diplomatic paper" and not a
legally binding commitment.

[...] "It (the joint statement) is a
diplomatic paper that is released to the press different from legal papers,"
[Link]

If that's the logic, how can Singh claim victory at Pakistan's mere admission of it's involvement in Mumbai attacks. It could very well amount to nothing since it's not legally binding.

And that's exactly how the Indo-US Nuclear deal too is playing out. The deal that was eventually sold to us ordinary folks was far from what the joint statement of 2004 mentioned.

This doesn't reflect well on a whole lot of things. Tharoor himself, the Congress's intentions, the UN and the general functioning of bodies like the UN. If this is the thought, then the UN and similar bodies are completely ineffective (not that they have been for long).

India’s interests betrayed in Egypt

The Prime Minister of the Union of India is oath-bound to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. And also to faithfully discharge his duties towards all manner of people in accordance to the Constitution and the law without fear or favour, affection or ill will.

Now India is no stranger to terrorism. Terrorists have been ripping us apart for decades and thousands of innocent lives have been lost under jihadi attacks. These only increased in intensity and frequency in the last few years. Bomb blasts became a routine and the people, appalled at our leaders' inaction, accepted it as a fact of life. Then 26/11 happened. This attack on Mumbai was no routine bomb blast. But we had professionally trained fidayeen attackers wrecking havoc in India's commercial capital. They held the city hostage for over 60 hours and by the time they were neutralised over 300 innocent lives had been lost. Landmark buildings were in flames, many lives were disrupted. People were enraged at this assault on their lives and the PM addressed the nation. Condemnations and promises were a part of it -

The dastardly terror attacks that took
place in Mumbai last
night and today leading to the loss of many precious lives and injuries to many
others have deeply shocked the nation. I strongly condemn these acts of
senseless violence against innocent people, including guests from foreign
countries. I offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and
sympathies to those injured. The Government will take all necessary measures to
look after the wellbeing of the affected families, including medical
treatment of injured.

[...] We are not prepared to countenance
a situation in which the safety and security of our citizens can be violated
with impunity by terrorists.

[...] We will take the strongest possible
measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts. We are
determined to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and
security of our citizens.

[...] We will take up strongly
with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us
will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are
not taken by them. [Link] (Emphasis added)

In the seven months since then, all we saw was a bunch of files exchanged between us and Pakistan. Leave inflicting costs on our neighbour aside, even diplomatic measures weren't forthcoming. When Singh and Gilani met in Egypt last week, this resulted -

Both Prime Ministers recognized that
dialogue is the only way forward. Action on terrorism should not be linked to
the Composite Dialogue process and these should not be bracketed. Prime Minister
Singh said that India was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including
all outstanding issues. [Link] (Emphasis added)

We had Singh assuring the nation, all the while, no dialogue would take place unless Pakistan acted credibly on ending terrorism. And now we have the same Singh agreeing to de-link terrorism from discussions with Pakistan. It gets even worse -

Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that
Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas. [Link]

Balochistan featured in the joint statement. When it is India that is among the worst affected by terrorism in the world and clearly was the victim in the Mumbai attacks, thanks to Singh, Pakistan manages to paint itself as a victim. It was Singh's responsibility to ensure keeping pressure and onus on Pakistan. But what really happened, in his presence, was that both the nations came out as equally aggrieved parties. It is astonishing that images of destruction and innocent blood did not come to Singh's mind when he met Gilani and issued the joint statement in Egypt. And this is the same person who is known to have lost sleep on at least one other occasion. So much for guarding India's interests. Singh's attempt of passing the buck and seeking refuge under "bad drafting" is juvenile to say the least. It lends all the more credence to the fact that he was not being diligent in Egypt.

Singh, being the PM, ought to realise the responsibilities of his position and the potential implications of his actions on nation. He has demonstrated an inability to do so on multiple occasions. This particular joint statement has grave implications. Singh's judgement is a suspect. Until he proves otherwise, it must be concluded that Singh is incapable of keeping our national interest above all else.

Stand-up comic up to no good

For all his verbal jugglery, funny man, Laloo really has nothing much to show for his performance. We now learn his much praised tenure as the rail minister was nothing but a fraud. Much like all of the UPA's "social justice" policies, Laloo's claim of having earned crores in profits for the railways is a sham. Here's what Mamta said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday -

“Some people have spoken about a profit of Rs 90,000 crore.
But one can just not talk about the income and skip the expenditure part. After
spending Rs 28,200 crore on account of the Sixth Pay Commission award for two
years, we are left with a cash surplus of just Rs 8,361 crore. This balance is
after taking the entire last five years into account,” Mamata Banerjee revealed
while replaying to the debate on Railway Budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on
Thursday. [Link]

Here's a summary -

What Mamata exposed
One cannot just talk about income
and skip expenditure part
After spending Rs 28,200 crore on account of the
Sixth Pay Commission for two years, we are left with a cash surplus of just Rs
8,361 crore against much-hyped Lalu claim of Rs 90,000 cr of profit
This
balance is after taking the last five years into account
We are not here to
build up balances of the Ministry but to create infrastructure
Ministers may
come and go but the institution remains
We want a railway that is for
everyone and not for someone special
Reiterates her commitment to come out
with a white paper [Link]

Strangely, when faced with this damning revelation, he didn't seem to have much to say except put up a funny face.

A shell-shocked Lalu Prasad was left
speechless as Mamata seemed well-prepared and armed with every fact and figure
to supplement her claims. Lalu remained a mute spectator as the Bengal tigress
went on demolishing the myth he had created in all these years. “We are not here
to build up balances of the Ministry but to create infrastructure. Ministers may
come and go, but the institution remains. We want a Railway that is for everyone
and not for someone special,” Mamata said. [Link]

Yeah, and all this right under the nose of an "honest liberal economist".

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.

Election histrionicses

With the growing number if television news channels, in addition to the print media, this election season seems to have got a lot of exposure. The quality, though, is sub par. However the exposure has brought on record things we already knew happened.

Hours before the elections, police on
Wednesday seized more than Rs 15 lakh cash including Rs 2.80 lakh from an MIM
leader who was distributing money to voters in his house at Toli Chowki. A Praja
Rajyam Party candidate was also arrested for violation of the model code of
conduct.

[...] Police arrested Moinuddin and
recovered Rs 2.80 lakh cash from the house.

In another instance, Cyberabad police
recovered Rs 1.80 lakh from a former TDP Councillor who made a vain attempt to
avoid being caught by fleeing in an RTC bus.

[...] Police recovered Rs 1.80 lakh with
him. [more here]

If only these cashlords had dispensed half their duties, they wouldn't need to be doing this. Now, they lost their money and their face. Besides, voters have gotten smarter. They realise most have failed them, so they'd rather take the money when it's raining and vote whoever they deem fit.

[...] Voters often take money from many parties and finally vote
for the one they support. [Link]

Even as the media scrutiny has helped expose malpractices, the debate leaves a lot to be desired. The primary debate during elections ought be on the incumbent government's performance. None of the prominent media houses cared for an audit on the UPA's governance. Instead we had them parroting the same talking points presented by the various UPA members. What we have witnessed on TVs these last few weeks is the same old "secularism" vs "communalism" debate.

Every such debate is futile because it is an diversion from real issues and more importantly, neither "secularism" nor "communalism" is clearly defined. Even before it's proved, it is readily accepted "communalism" is evil and "secularism" is noble. And the media has made it more than clear, BJP is communal and Congress is secular. That tilts the scales heavily in favour of the "secular" parties even before any debate.

The television debates are also ineffectual for another reason. Participants almost never stay on issues being discussed. Instead any question or issue raised is sought to be diverted so opponent bashing can be carried out rather than answer one's own performance. So, for instance, when faced with a question on terrorism, we have the Congress slamming the BJP by questioning attacks during the NDA regime rather than explain it's own failure. The BJP too is incapable of articulating its criticism of the UPA effectively and demolishing canards about its record. Similar is the case for every other issue. No party can see its mistakes. Every debate is reduced to faulting the other than staying on message.

Another quite intriguing aspect of the media is the slant and bias in its reporting. If you were to scan the election coverage news, you'll notice the favourable, indeed fan like, coverage given to the Gandhi dynasty. It seems the dynasty is beyond scrutiny and the Nehru-Gandhi progeny can never do any wrong and the divine powers have ordained them to rule our nation. The favour is also extended to the Congress party. Contrast that with the unfavourable coverage given to the "communal" parties and anyone who's opposed to the "secular forces".

The "voice of the people" media has failed miserably in holding the UPA accountable. While the UPA goes about faulting the NDA's record, it never cares to explain it's own failure in correcting them. After all it has been in power for the past 5 years, enough opportunity to correct the alleged mistakes.

Optical illusion

While Manmohan Singh is the declared PM candidate for Congress, look who's being projected prominently -

The stand alone campaign of the Congress is
centred on Rahul Gandhi who, the hoardings say, will bring about the
seamless transition from a glorious present to a spectacular future.

This is what makes the Congress campaign an
optical illusion. The proclaimed candidate for PM is, as Punjabis say,
a good man di lalten but the person being projected is Rahul.

The question naturally arises: is Singh the
mukhauta who will quietly step aside for the real prime ministerial
candidate after the election is won? Or is he just a night-watchman? [Link]
(emphasis added)

That was Swapan Dasgupta in TOI. We are really being sold some snake oil here. Congress quackery is legendary. Hope the gullible masses are wiser than commonly perceived by the pundits.

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'.

Heir apparent adept at lip service

So, the next big thing in the Congress visited Gujarat, criticized the Modi administration alleging that it worked "only for the rich" and assured jobless diamond workers of help from the centre -

Gandhi addressed nearly 900 jobless workers at Sardar Smruti Bhavan in the
diamond hub of Varachha where he invited jobless diamond workers to
speak about their problems and promised to take up their issues with the
Centre. Emphasizing on 'aam aadmi' focus of his party, Gandhi asserted:
"For us the common man comes first." [Link]
(Emphasis added)

So what happened to the promise?

Jobless for four months now, diamond
polisher Paresh Morakhiya is now worried about his family's survival. The
interim budget was his last hope, but there was nothing in
store for him and thousands like him. [Link]
(Emphasis added)

The Interim Budget has left disappointed
several thousand diamond workers, who either have been laid off or on the verge
of losing their jobs in Surat's diamond industry. [Link]

Nothing came of it. Rahul was merely continuing the same grand Congress tradition of all talk and no action. It also speaks volumes of his influence in his own party. But that did not stop him from promising anything. It is also an indication of the vindictive approach towards the BJP in general and Modi in particular by the Congress. Modi has been seeking help from the centre to help out the diamond industry in the state, yet the interim budget had nothing for it. And Rahul is being sold by the media as the panacea to all our problems, the only one who can take us forward!

In his token criticism of the Tata Nano project, Rahul failed to realise that it will help generate thousands of jobs, directly and indirectly for the people. So, it is the same 'aam aadmi' that will benefit who Rahul fears will be left out.

So while his party at the centre couldn't care less for the diamond workers, some of them are beating adversity by going back to farming -

Hit by recession, thousands of displaced
diamond workers in Gujarat are returning home to rediscover their farming roots.
And the cash crops they are growing in a matter of months is bringing some
sparkle back to their lives.

"When the diamond industry flourished
I earned about Rs.60,000 per year. Now I expect to earn Rs.1.6 million after
harvesting nearly 800 mounds of cumin seed," said Rajesh Dabhi of Sangasar in
Ahmedabad district. [Link]

Availability of electricity, irrigation projects and check dams seem to have done the trick. The Congress certainly did nothing for agriculture. Does Rahul have any ideas for turning adversities into opportunities?

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.

We won't learn, we are Congressmen

That is the message from the Congress leaders. Mumbai was a war zone for about three days. Hundreds of innocent Indians died, some of our bravest men lost their lives protecting us and yet the Congressmen fail it get it.

Vilasrao Deshmukh and R R Patil stepped down, not willingly and accepting failure, but rather reluctantly and under pressure from the 'high command'. No concern for integrity and morality. Narayan Rane is even worse, having failed to score the CM chair, the man has now revolted against his party. Our country burns and the Congressmen squabble for power. That is Congress's definition of national interest for you.

Shocking beyond words

What kind of a government ignores threats to its own citizens and sovereignty? The callous apathy of sitting on specific intelligence inputs without doing anything about them is unpardonable. This pioneer news report makes the governments negligence clear.

Some excerpts -

Two days before the terrorists struck at Mumbai, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) had intercepted this chilling message: Char halal ho gaye jenab (four have been killed).” Already in possession of information about a possible attack on Mumbai by sea route, the RAW passed on this message to the Coast Guard to increase vigilance along the coast. The matter ended there. No one cared to react. Two days later, the terror boat made a safe landing at the Cuffe Parade port in Mumbai coast.

And here is specific intelligence input [Emphasis added] -

This is just one piece of input that went abegging. The terrorists were in constant touch with their ‘masters’ across the border and several of their messages were intercepted by the Indian intelligence, who passed them on to both the Centre and the Maharashtra Government. There were similar other specific inputs which intelligence officials processed and warned of an imminent attack on Mumbai. Some warnings specifically mentioned Taj and Oberoi hotels as possible targets. For once, it would be unfair to lay the blame at the door of RAW, Intelligence Bureau or National Security Adviser.

But where is accountability? Resignations are nothing but escape routes for politicians. The UPA and the Maharashtra government ought to be tried in court for negligence and dereliction of duty. And sadly, none of the mainstream "secular" news media and the self proclaimed conscience keepers of the nation hold the politicians accountable. All we ever hear from them is pontification.

The exemplary Arun Shourie too has completely exposed the UPA's callous apathy and failures to carry out its duties. Please read it in its entirety. With leaders like the UPA constituents who needs enemies.

Sold out souls

The recent terror attacks in Mumbai have left this blogger shocked, enraged and dismayed. My nation has been under attack for years now. This is only an escalation. But this has eluded our political leaders. The media slant, even in such times, is disturbing. CNN-IBN has not even bothered to wait for the situation to get under control to start putting a spin on it. Read this for a conclusive proof of them having sold out their souls. This line is particularly galling -

What baffles the security agencies is the sacred thread tied on his wrist which many say could be a plot to show that the attack was undertaken by probably an extreme Hindu group.

While all other reports prove that this is an Islamic terror attack. Read here, here, here and here.

And here, CNN-IBN is already trying to protect the gutless wonder Shivraj Patil. Completely soulless and sickening.

You know where this is headed, don't you?

Establish terror links to the Hindus anywhich way, then equate the RSS with SIMI, then ban the RSS, next BJP and finally all Hindus. That Congress's social justice for you.

Laying claim on national resources

Manmohan Singh said Muslims had the first right on the nation's resources. It did not take the Muslims too long before they started making demands. The Haj committee now seeks five-star facilities for it's members in Saudi. And sure enough, Singh will grant their wishes, after all his heart bleeds for the "oppressed minorities". In case you did not know this yet, we pay tax only to take care of the Muslims.

Mohammad Owais of the Haj committee is not requesting, but indeed demanding five-star treatment, like the tax payer money was a Muslim birth right to enjoy. Check the tone -

According to the letter to the Indian consulate, signed by
chief executive officer Mohammad Owais, the Haj committee has demanded that
"arrangements for their stay should be separate and befitting the status of the
officials and their family members during Haj period. Separate facilities of
kitchen and toilets should be made available."

More demands -

The letter further states, "The officials and their families
will require transportation arrangements during Haj period from Makkah to Mina,
Arafat, Muzdalifah, Mina and back to Makkah. To facilitate their journey, it is
suggested that two or three buses, depending upon the number of pilgrims, should
be provided."

Wait, they are not done yet. Hey, so long as it's the tax payer's money, why not?

For its trip to Madina, the demand has been made for "accommodation in the
Markaziah area" which is where Hajis who can pay only first class rates are
usually booked, as it is only 5-10 km away from the central district housing the
main mosque.

Secularism Congress style!