Snoop-gate Will Not Benefit Congress In 2014

If gulail.com and cobrapost are going to replace Tarun Tejpal in the Congress ‘ attack dog kennel then they need to do better. The so called snoop gate is not going to yield any political dividends for Congress. Think about it. We are a nation beset with multi-crore rupee scams. Rapes are a daily occurrence. Our borders are breached by the Chinese on a frightening frequency equal to that of Pakistanis breaking the ceasefire across the LOC. UP voters have face more Hindu-Muslim riots since the SP rule than the rest of the country. Maoism, naxalism and other forms of tribal unrest (instigated by missionaries and leftists) are just some of the problems facing the eastern parts of the country. The lesser said about inflation and resulting price the better.

For Congress to divert attention from such problems, they need much bigger guns. They just lost their biggest stick to beat Modi and Amit Shah (BTW: the fact that they could not stop the CBI from giving a clean chit to Amit Shah till the elections tells me that the CBI babus are seeing the writing on the wall and may not be dancing to the Congress’ tune now). Now we all know that the whole snoop-gate charges have been leveled by these two websites on the basis of statements by two absolutely corrupt brothers who are beneficiaries of the Congress’ largesse because of their anti-Modi stance. From what we have heard, the charges are completely bogus.

However, for the arguments sake, let us assume that the snooping charges are real. One thing is clear that this snooping has not resulted in any financial benefits for Modi. Any sexual angle has been ruled out. So the only thing left is the possible invasion of privacy. Now that is a big deal in the western democracies. In England the phone hacking was a big deal however, no one ended up in jail because of that. So let me ask you this – for the fearful voter on the street who is paying exorbitant amount of money for onions, how big a deal is the snooping charges? We all know that there was a lot of circumstantial evidence that the Congress bugged the offices of their own finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee. Now that was a real scandal because it was done for the benefit of someone at the cost of national interest. In 2010, the Congress was accused of tapping the phones of opposition leaders. Now that scandal was akin to the Watergate scandal in the US which brought down Richard Nixon. If Congress wants to raise the snooping bogey they have so many of their own skeletons and need to come clean first. Moreover, if there was no public outrage back then, what makes them think that public is going to be outraged by this frivolous accusation leveled against probably the most popular men in our memory?

This is only a scandal for the pot smoking leftists or the drunken elites in New Delhi. Out there is the street for the hard working Indian who is bending over backwards to make ends meet, this is a non issue. So my advice to desperate leftists at gulail or cobrapost is that this is not going to earn their masters any votes in the next elections. Guys, you need to wait for Tarun Tejpal to come out after he has served his time for rape to learn how to be a guerilla journalist. Until then, relax.

The Hindu report on phone tapping in India can be read at: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/over-5000-phones-being-tapped-daily/article905944.ece
Arun Jaitley phone tapping case is mentioned in: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/arun-jaitley-phone-tapping-case-six-more-held-445968
Phone tapping of opposition leaders in India can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/government-faces-oppn-fury-over-phone-tapping/20100426.htm

Kejriwal The Activist VS Kejriwal The Politician

Activism is about bringing awareness to problems. Activism is about unearthing the wrongs. Activism is about pointing out the guilty. Activism is about a lot of things except providing solutions. And by solutions, I do not mean legislation because legislation against human frailties or desperate needs causes a black market, another way of corruption. Prohibition against alcohol makes the bootleggers rich. Blanket prohibition against abortion causes back alley and unsafe procedures – kills the guilty and the innocent. But does it mean that is should be a free for all?

Far from it. All corruption free countries (or those with minimal corruption) have prosperity, high employment or vast social welfare nets. In other words, there are little reasons for people to go out and steal. Sounds fantastic, right? A closer look tells you that these countries have economies that are not sustainable for the long haul. That is why Europe is in trouble. With drugs and Islamic fundamentalism (and poverty that goes along with it) the European fabric of society is getting tested. Still they have managed to maintain a semblance of their old ways because their population (despite of Muslim immigrants from Middle East and Africa) is still low. On the other hand, we have an extremely large population and that too a young one with little or no future. Without stating the obvious, it is clear that a mere piece of legislation and threat of punishment is not going to cure India’s corrupt practices (has death penalty stopped murders?). What is to say that the enforcers of the new law are not going to get corrupted as well?

Kejriwal the activist was right on all counts. His intentions were good and the methodology (borrowed from Anna Hazare on whose coattails this man piggybacked) was sound. Anna’s movement was popular and a lot of support and he and his followers became heroes. When the restless amongst those so called heroes decided that to clean the dirt, they have to get their hands dirty, they entered politics. Now that Kejriwal has become a politician, he has to realize that the game has now changed. The easy hit and run operation that he ran where he raised issues without bringing any of them to fruition, will not work. Activism is a fight between right and wrong. Politics is a fight between winning and losing. Kejriwal is not a starry eyed teenager and should realize that elections are a dirty business all over the world. The fights are not fair and therefore he should stop complaining about BJP backing Anna Hazare. It may seem underhanded but that is one card he has gifted to the BJP himself. The point is that Kejriwal needs another kind of skill to win elections and govern. If he continues to shy away from governance then his supporters need to question this man’s intentions. The Delhi elections remain unresolved and this man is already planning the next general elections. Was the last election another one of his hit and run operations? Is he the male version of that vulture Arundhati Roy who goes around usurping other people’s agenda and then moves on to the next when it loses media coverage?

Kejriwal the activist had my sympathies. He is a fellow IITian and has my respect that way as well. However, Kejriwal the politician has so far come across as an immature, rancorous and a sore loser who is threatening to hold his breath until he gets his wish. He should realize that such tricks work on people who either love you or sympathize with you. People who vote for you expect you to back your words and work instead of point out faults in everyone. Yes. Kejriwal the politician seems to have failed every test posed to him.

Kejriwal Needs To Prove He's More Than A Mamata Bannerjee

Arvind Kejriwal and his wife together have 1.71 crores worth of assets as he has declared. Mamata Bannerjee has declared assets worth Rs. 15 lakhs. By that barometer (as Kejriwal has often said), Mamata is more honest than him. Of course Kejriwal is an IIT graduate so he is more likely to be richer than an honest politician. Quibbling aside, they both are honest people. Kejriwal has shaken up Delhi and defeated a Congress heroine (of sorts. Dixit was being looked upon as Rahul’s Manmohan Singh) after 15 years of misrule. Mamata defeated communists after three decades of misrule. Both did so by the use of people power. Both of them are street fighters  who can organize and carry out protests well. Whatever Kejriwal has done, Mamata has also done except on a bigger scale. West Bengal is much larger and more complex than Delhi. There are a lot of parallels between these two.

What we see in WB is that Didi is finding out, painfully I might add, that rabble rousing and opposing are far easier than governing. Her rule is a saga of missed opportunities and bad decisions. Saying no and opposing require fortitude but do not require solving complex problems, job creation, economy management etc. while maintaining peace and harmony in a complex society. It is being a CEO with no control over your employees while being answerable to them. Let us go back a few decades. Look at what happened at partition. Gandhi was the original Hazare times a million. Throughout the freedom fight, he was effective as a naysayer and a protester . He also led a large group of Indians who believed him. However, when we really did get freedom and time came for governing and leading the nation rather than protesting, his mettle was tested. The conservative nationalists like me think that he failed in his new role.

Now Kejriwal has promised clean governance. While not ideal, Narendra Modi has run a very clean government ( I am sure that corruption exists at lower levels in Gujarat but not at higher levels otherwise the Modi baiters would have found something by now) so it is doable. But beyond this I have my doubts with Kejriwal. Instead of providing real achievable solutions, he has promised freebies and Jan Lokapal and RTI. He is a smart guy and the voters seem to think so as well. I think that he SHOULD form the next government in Delhi. Let us give him the benefit of the doubt and for the moment accept that he can achieve what he has promised without breaking the bank. The BJP should sit out in the opposition (they really do not gain anything by forming a minority government dependent on the whimsy of non BJP people) and let AAP form the government with the help of Congress.

The voters of Delhi and other parts of the country who have taken a fancy to Kejriwal and the AAP need to see him govern rather than promise. Kejriwal needs to back his claims and show us if he is a capable administrator like Narendra Modi or he is another Mamata Bannerjee. This is an important issue that needs to be resolved. If he can govern well then the other parties and nation can benefit from his wisdom and ways. If he turns out to be another Mamata Bannerjee then the voters should know that vote for this guy is merely a wasted protest vote. West Bengal can afford Mamata Bannerjee’s style of governance but India cannot afford that. Indian voters need to know that.

Modi And AAP Shake Up Delhi And Status Quo

The BJP have won Delhi elections (though not absolute majority) and they have Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party to thank for this. As we all know, until two months ago, Vijay Goel who was another Delhi wheeler and dealer, was leading the BJP down the familiar path of self defeat. AAP was on a roll (before the sting got Shazia Ilmi and others). Goel was refusing to budge from the status quo. After Modi and Rajnath Singh took complete control of the BJP they saw the writing on the wall. Forced by the AAP’s march they had to reevaluate. They brought in Dr. Harshvardhan who is somewhat of a visionary when it comes to social medicine. He is credited with providing the country with the Polio eradication program for the entire nation.  Clearly he is also a performer who knows the pulse of Delhi politics. Personally the man is as honest as Narendra Modi. He lives in a house built by his father. In the picture included in this blogpost, you can see that this man’s life is anything but opulent. I would be proud to call him my leader.

My point here is that Arvind Kejriwal’s /AAP victory highlights the need for leaders like Dr. Harshvardhan i.e. men who can work and perform and whose honesty is beyond reproach.  It also highlights the anger in Indian voter against Delhi brand of politics. The BJP would be well advised not to become complacent about these victories and read the tea leaves from Delhi. They need to remember that a typical BJP voter is a middle class Hindu. These voters are also the kind who can see the virtue in AAP’s approach to problems. The BJP really need to project and give Loksabha tickets to leaders who cannot be targeted by AAP or the pro-Congress leftist sting operators. We also need to target leaders who are balanced in their approach so we do not alienate the middle of the road undecided voters. What I am saying is that we need more Harshvardhans and less Varun Gandhis. You see, we do not need firebrands or rabble-rousers because they are poor excuses for motivators. We already have the best political motivational speaker in the country in Bhai Narendra Modi. We know what this man is capable of. We should let him tell the voters his larger vision. What the party needs to assure the voters is that Modi will have the best, most capable support from the party. Manmohan Singh, despite of a clean image was surrounded by the most crooked band of robbers. The voters know that even with the best man on top, there needs to be accountability across the board. It is this thirst for accountability which has propelled the AAP to an unprecedented success.

BJP is an ideology driven party. The purest form of this kind of governance is seen in Gujarat and the results are there for all to see. What we do not want is for the BJP to become Congress lite, corrupted by the Delhi way of politics. Recently deposed leadership of BJP headed by LK Advani epitomized all that was wrong with the BJP. That has since been revamping of the leadership. Modi/Rajnath took care of the anti Goel dissent in Delhi albeit too late (they could not have done it with LK Advani still throwing tantrums) and as a result, they fisnished in the first place. Had they resolved this issue earlier, the four seats that they lost to AAP with less than 500 vote margin could have go in their kitty and the good doctor would have been the fourth BJP CM to take oath.

In many ways, I am glad that Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP forced BJP’s hand. There is no need in the party for people who are not beholden to the values of the party but join it for power. Gadkari and others made a severe mistake by going after Babu Singh Kushwaha in desperate hopes of winning in UP. It did not work in UP. With people now seeing what the AAP can do in urban areas, it will not work nationally either. AAP has shown the mirror to the BJP and the message is loud and clear. The Delhi status quo is out. No more forgive / forget / complacence / “I scratch your back and you scratch mine”/ seniority driven politics of LK Advani. It is time to practice the MODI brand of politics with the old Janasangh ideology as a moral compass. We have outsiders like Narendra Modi and AAP to thank for this.

The picture is from :http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/harsh-vardhan-relaxed-on-eve-of-results/article5434157.ece 

Congress Is Losing To Saffron Social Media

Internet has proven to be the great equalizer for India. First Aakashvaani and then paid English language media dominated by JNU and St. Stephen’s leftist elites, always ensured a Congress control over the way news was disseminated to Indian voters. The chokehold was so bad that even during the BJP rule in the centre, the media forwarded their pro Congress agenda with impunity. The main stream media at least pretended to be fair. Outfits like Tehelka were merely an extension of Congress’ dirty tricks department. All this combined with a weak central BJP leadership squandered away one opportunity after another.

Much to the relief of frustrated conservatives all over, the rise of Bhai Narendra Modi and social media awareness coincided. Modi despite of a rustic look and speech, proved to be way more tech savvy than all the snobby Congressmen combined. Use of holographic images, social media outlets on the internet was common place in the last two Gujarat elections. Modi used all those tools to a great advantage. But all that pales into comparison to the ability of the so called internet Hindus (or trolls as the traitorous left calls us) to call out the mainstream media lies. Gone are the days when these pot smoking JNU leftists would put out any damn lie and get away unchallenged. A biased article on Modi or a lie on the BJP on twitter is met with an asymmetrical and an overwhelming opposition. This new found power of the conservatives has left the Congress and their media minions in the dust. While the Congress is trying to get their own people to follow Modi’s example, their media goons have started to prove that this tsunami of Modi support on the internet is a lie. To what end do they want to do so, eludes me but examples of the two approaches are as follows.

Cobrapost has recently conducted another sting operation after the snoopgate. The aim was to tarnish and discredit Modi's social media following. Crobapost claims that social media is dangerous, so it must be curtailed.

As the FP article on the Cobrapost sting rightly points out that "None of this is new and no sting operation was required to unravel these known knowns. Brands have been gaming social media since social media existed, as have individuals and political parties. They’re ‘bought’ fans, they’ve ‘bought’ positive interaction and they’ve bought fans. Bots have inundated timelines with positive and negative opinion depending on which was required."

Some time back India Today Group had published an online/social media statewide/national opinion poll which overwhelmingly preferred BJP. The interesting part was that, it was the largest opinion poll and survey was foolproof. There could not have been any tampering as the half million plus participants were required to enter their mobile number to cast their vote.

Here is what the India Today article said: "A mark of their overwhelming online supremacy can be found in the India Today Group's e-lection poll, a mock online General Election in which users were asked to vote in Lok Sabha constituencies across India. The ballot worked through one-time passwords sent to mobile phones, ensuring only one vote for every cell number to prevent rigging. Of the unprecedented 556,460 votes that were cast over a 40-day period till October 30, 338,401 users chose BJP. Even in Uttar Pradesh, which witnesses a four-cornered contest every election, 87.1 per cent of the voters went with the BJP. The results from this self-selected sample may not reflect the ground reality but they prove one thing beyond a shadow of doubt: The Internet is saffron."

It's this overwhelmingly saffron social media that Congress is after and is desperate to stop. As Arun Jaitely rightly said that fake sting operation are on the rise as Congress finds it impossible to curtail Modi. With Tehelka's self infected demise eminent there are other stake holders like Cobrapost and Gulail working overtime to take the spot. From Tejpal's arrest it's apparent that such sleazy sting operations are mostly conducted by people of questionable morals with leftist agendas and an insatiable greed. These sting exposés are far from the meticulous and objective investigative journalism like that of the Daily Pioneer that exposed the 2G scam. Such discredited agencies are funded and propped up by Congress to spread disgusting lies and tarnish the image of the opponents. What else can explain the sudden prominence accorded to Cobrapost’s expose of the BJP’s strength in social media. Though late, Congress realized the importance of this newfound and cheap but powerful medium. Their ministers like Ashoke Gehlot and Ajay Makhan's followed Modi’s suit but could not achieve his popularity. So in typical Congress way they bought followers in Turkey and Russia to show their own internet prowess prominence which has since been exposed as a fraud.

How can you explain the following events and their order?

1. Congress late realization of massive Modi's social media youth following. - Election of Modi's as the BJP election chief -June 2013

2. Ajay Makhan appointed as Congress media cell chief. - June/July 2013

3. Congress Ministers popularity in Turkey, Russia and Ukraine. - Buying Facebook followers in August 2013

4. India Today Group's e-lection opinion poll, a mock online General Election - Published results on 1st November 2013

5. Kapil Sibal opened a twitter account and ended up following an anti Congress site by mistake. When ridiculed by a Twitter user on the opening day and got that users account suspended. - 28th November 2013

6. Cobrapost Sting operation exposing social media and calling for laws to curb it. - 29th November 2013

There we have it folks. When Congress cannot match Modi’s internet popularity and cannot deal with the power of the Internet Hindu, they pull out all the stops. Dirty tricks, curbing free speech and killing the messenger are some things you are witnessing as we speak. Congress’ media machinery has finally arrived at its Waterloo.

The story on Congress' fake internet followers can be read at: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-08-22/news/41437245_1_facebook-page-iris-knowledge-foundation-facebook-account

The story of Kapil Sibal's disastrous debut on Twitter can be read at: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/11/29/tweeter-cracks-joke-about-kapil-sibal-gets-account-suspended-162853.html

Cobrapost's so called sting on Social media can be read at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/corporate-india-should-watch-out-what-operationbluevirus-tells-us-1257159.html