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POSTED BY Buzz
ON May 17, 2013 AT 23:23 IST
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Edited At: May 17, 2013 23:23 IST
Pratap Bhanu Mehta doesn't pull any punches:
The idea of a third front may not be a coherent political project. But its shadowy presence is a reminder that there is an underlying yearning to break through the limited choices offered by national parties. The Congress has perfected the art of converting the "there is no alternative" argument to a form of hubris and blackmail. It has induced such a profound myopia and arrogance in the party that even Congress supporters chafe at the thought of having no options. It may not always be irrational to succumb to blackmail, but we will be diminished if we don't punish it for its follies. The BJP does not, at present, offer a reassuring alternative. The party has four structures pulling in different directions: an obdurate RSS that still cannot overcome its past, several competent chief ministers whose ability to work together is yet to be tested, a feckless central leadership that has no grassroots appeal or track record of statesmanship, and Narendra Modi, trying to create a presidential style of legitimacy in a federalised parliamentary system. It is in a race with the Congress over the same things: indecisiveness, corruption, decimation of institutions and a sense of entitlement. The competition in the democratic system is like so many things in India, both intense and illusory at the same time.
Read the full article at the Indian Express: The third way out
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POSTED BY Buzz
ON May 17, 2013 AT 23:23 IST, Edited At: May 17, 2013 23:23 IST
POSTED BY Buzz
ON Aug 16, 2012 AT 23:35 IST
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Edited At: Aug 16, 2012 23:35 IST
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| |
Current |
Projected |
Projected Loss |
|
| Congress |
205 |
|
|
| |
|
|
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| TMC |
19 |
|
|
| DMK |
18 |
|
|
| NCP |
9 |
|
|
| RLD |
5 |
|
|
| NC |
3 |
|
|
| AIMM |
1 |
|
|
| VCK |
1 |
|
|
| IUML |
2 |
|
|
| JMM |
2 |
|
|
| KC |
1 |
|
|
| Allies |
61
|
|
|
| UPA |
266 |
130-140 |
120-130 |
| Outside Support: RJD, SP, BSP |
47 |
|
|
|
| BJP |
114 |
|
|
| Allies: JDU, SS, SAD |
35 |
|
|
| NDA |
149 |
115-125 |
25-35 |
|
So will a rout for the UPA result in a cake-walk for the BJP-led NDA in 2014? Not quite, says the results of a survey by the Delhi-based Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA), as reported by Liz Mathew in the Mint:
"Delhi-based Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA), which studied its own by-monthly sample surveys and other recent surveys across the country, said as of July 2012, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) would decline to 130-140 seats if there was an election now to the Lok Sabha, losing 120-130 seats from its present tally of 266 that excludes outside supporters.
"Similarly, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would see an erosion in its strength by about 25-35 seats, reducing the number to anywhere between 115 seats and 125 seats...
"MDRA also agreed with senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, who has recently written in his blog that the next Lok Sabha elections can throw up a non-Congress, non-BJP prime minister.
Read on at the Mint: Survey warns of an electoral rout of UPA, NDA in 2014
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POSTED BY Buzz
ON Aug 16, 2012 AT 23:35 IST, Edited At: Aug 16, 2012 23:35 IST
POSTED BY Buzz
ON Jun 19, 2012 AT 19:52 IST
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Edited At: Jun 19, 2012 19:52 IST
The NDA is unable to come up with the name of an acceptable name for the presidential contest against UPA's Pranab Mukherjee. The Bihar chief minister has set the cat amongst the pigeons by bringing up the question of who should be NDA's candidate for Prime Minister instead. It should be someone secular, he feels, and Bihar's deputy CM, BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi agrees. So never mind the presidency, who do you think should lead the NDA in the next Lok Sabha elections as its PM candidate?
Tell us on our Facebook poll
***
Excerpts from Nitish Kumar's interview to the Economic Times:
You have recently said that the next prime minister should have secular credentials. Was your comment aimed at nudging your coalition partner, BJP, to name NDA's next prime ministerial candidate?
I have explained my preference for the leader. We have projected our prime ministerial candidate in every election since 1996. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the NDA's prime ministerial nominee in 1996 and 1998. The alliance projected Atalji again in 1999 and 2004. And it was Advaniji in 2009. The NDA will have to declare its nominee. The electorate should know who they are voting for and who will lead the country. The NDA should have a leader who can feel for the underdeveloped states like Bihar. It should not be someone who can develop developed states, but who has a feel for underdeveloped states.
Do you think it is already time for NDA to name its candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls?
NDA should declare its candidate in advance. This leader should be acceptable to every constituent of the alliance. To me, the leader of the coalition should have secular credentials. It should be someone who has absolute faith in democratic values. In a multi-religious and multi-lingual country like ours, the leader should not have rough edges in his personality. An alliance can win the confidence of the people only if the leader is seen as accommodating....
You have declared Bihar out of bounds for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi...
BJP has capable leaders in Bihar to lead the alliance's campaign. We have been doing it since 1996. We don't need external assistance. We have bettered our performance in every election since 1996. I have cordial relations with Bihar BJP. But if someone is bent on spoiling this relationship, I cannot help.
Read Nitish Kumar's full interview at the Economic Times
Participate in our Facebook poll
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POSTED BY Buzz
ON Jun 19, 2012 AT 19:52 IST, Edited At: Jun 19, 2012 19:52 IST
POSTED BY Buzz
ON May 28, 2012 AT 23:27 IST
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Edited At: May 28, 2012 23:27 IST
Aditya Sinha in the DNA:
What Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s pusillanimity — and there’s no end of it in sight, for despite the hints that Congress President Sonia Gandhi drops for him to move on and allow someone else to helm the remaining two years of UPA-2, he pretends deafness and settles deeper into his chair — has done is made a lot of otherwise fence-sitting Indians yearn for a strongman to run the country. This may not be all desirable once it happens: an authoritarian leader is likely to ram through unpopular policy measures; industrialists who are not used to taking orders will call him arrogant (as we saw at the start of this column); and even if the UPA-2 drops its Unique Identification project, an authoritarian leader is likely to implement it and make it more intrusive than imagined.
Yet whatever the pitfalls, both visible and unforeseeable, the fact is that Modi may never get a more conducive atmosphere to becoming prime minister (unless the 2014 election gives us a non-Congress, non-BJP government; chances are that the competing ambitions within such a government will lead to its early fall and make the voter yearn even more for a strongman).
Read on at DNA: Congress Hands It To Modi On A Platter
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POSTED BY Buzz
ON May 28, 2012 AT 23:27 IST, Edited At: May 28, 2012 23:27 IST
POSTED BY Buzz
ON Sep 15, 2011 AT 03:38 IST
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Edited At: Sep 15, 2011 03:38 IST
Pratap Bhanu Mehta in the Indian Express on the challenges before the BJP:
...too strong a projection of Modi complicates issues for the BJP. The BJP’s hardcore supporters tend to be an oddly apolitical bunch. Their own sense of certainty makes them tone deaf to the circumstances of politics. Politics at a national level requires a capacity to be able to negotiate diverse constituencies. Hazariprasad Dwivedi’s sage observation that “Bharat ka lok nayak wohi ho sakta hai jo samanvaye kar sake” remains as true now as ever. Semi-presidential politics can work at the state level. But it does not automatically translate into the capacity to inspire confidence of a wide range of political sensibilities and allies. This is generally a challenge in a large parliamentary system. This is why state leaders are unable to transcend their states. And the BJP should not descend into the self-defeating narcissism of thinking that it does not need a strong NDA. Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave the BJP an unparalleled advantage in part because his persona, for all its failings, could project a credible liberality. Machiavelli warned that we should esteem those who are liberal, not those who decide to become one. This warning still hovers over any assessment of Modi. But he will be more acceptable if he is ensconced in a structure that is more reassuringly liberal than he is....
But the truth is that there was fairly widespread tacit, if not explicit, ideological approval of the riots. The issue is not whether Modi apologises, but whether Gujarat can have a genuinely candid conversation about that horrendous episode.
Read on at the Indian Express: Making Haste Slowly
In the same paper, Tridip Suhrud points out
The assumption is that Narendra Modi is incapable of performing a spiritual act such as upvas. But this is an untenable and somewhat dangerous proposition. Any person, however vile, is capable of an interior life, a life that is known only to that person. To deny the very possibility of this interior life is to deny the humanity of that person. To deny Modi his interiority is to demonise him. It is not possible to open any moral or ethical dialogue with a person who is so demonised.
A more sustainable response would be to accept that Modi is undertaking this upvas for the purpose that he stated, and take that as a starting point to engage with him in a moral and ethical dialogue of what constitutes sadbhavana in a state like Gujarat.
Read on at the Indian Express: Private compact or political act?
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POSTED BY Buzz
ON Sep 15, 2011 AT 03:38 IST, Edited At: Sep 15, 2011 03:38 IST
POSTED BY Buzz
ON Sep 14, 2011 AT 23:06 IST
,
Edited At: Sep 14, 2011 23:06 IST
Samar Halarnkar in the Hindustan Times :
This is why we widely tolerate — even applaud — police brutality; why middle India will rise to back Anna Hazare but ignore Irom Sharmila; why we want Kashmir and Manipur to remain with India but could not care less about the Kashmiris or Manipuris.
India’s new nationalism demands conformity, not rebellion, and it will back only issues of self-interest; it proclaims all Indians are equal, while being blind to or condoning discrimination against minorities.
As the middle-class expands in number and aspirations — both material and political — its nationalism of self-interest will demand political subservience.
Narendra Modi realised very early that the middle class is growing, its soaring aspirations require good governance, and it will accept a strong, even autocratic, leader. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress are yet focused on old, paternalistic politics that promote handouts, loyalty and state munificence over efficiency.
This will change. No amount of Dalit homestays and parachute trips to troublespots will help Gandhi unless he engages with India’s new nationalism.
Elections, particularly national elections are complex issues, and the Indian middle class is certainly not homogenous. Does the above seem like simplistic theorising? Or does it capture a reality?
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POSTED BY Buzz
ON Sep 14, 2011 AT 23:06 IST, Edited At: Sep 14, 2011 23:06 IST
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