Narendra Modi Bypasses Media

Try to imagine CM Narendra Modi in pre-internet days trying to get the word out about his performance, good governance and abilities to the rest of the country. He would have been helpless in the face of a combined attack from Congress Bureau of investigation, the pseudo-secular leftist media and the NGOs with equally nefarious agendas. Yes in pre-internet days, Congress would have easily destroyed Narendra Modi.

In those days, the media vultures would shoot off whatever popped into their petty little heads with no fear of a rebuttal. As long as they went along with whatever Congress was doing they had all the power and absolutely no responsibility. It was only during emergency period when some honest and objective journalists took on Indira Gandhi and her machine that they found themselves at the receiving end. I knew a journalist who suffered in those days. He was a man of character and cast iron spine who was a leftist but the kind you have to admire. The journalists these days are leftist only in name. Otherwise they criminally unscrupulous about money (Sanghvi and Barkha Dutt involved in the 2G scam is just one example). These so called star journalists have the morals of sleazy lawyer.

Coming back to the arrogant attitudes of Indian media mavens, even today they shoot off absurd and low class tweets about Hindu nationalists and conservatives (read anything by that despicable couple Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghose). They used to get away with anything. Not anymore. As we have said repeatedly on this blog, the Internet has been a great equalizer. Any person with a camera phone and a social media account is a journalist. When the Congress tried to host controlled media appearances of Rahul Gandhi, these cell phone journalists exposed the truth about him.

In the internet age of social media, trends, instant opinion poll and instant responses and rebuttals by anyone with internet access has forced the media vultures into some accountability. Sagarika Ghose’s vitriolic tweets are matched with equal if not more vitriol. Congress snobs who would indulge in all kinds of name calling without expecting any rebuttal are beating a hasty retreat. One of the knocks on the saffron supporter was that they were part of a vernacular speaking unsophisticated silent but subservient majority. Not anymore.

This is what Narendra Modi who is clearly a visionary, realized early on. He saw the advantages of the social media and built an enviable network with dedicated supporters. Even though he is less educated in these areas than the likes of Arvind Kejriwal or Sam Pitroda, he has used this platform and the technology to the envy of many experts. The biggest advantage for Modi was that with this platform he would directly connect with the voters, completely bypassing the media pimps and their biases. It is thanks to this approach that Modi was able to deal with ten years of incessant attacks by various pro-Congress groups and agencies and still win three terms with comfortable majority. And if all this was not enough to convince you of his absolute mastery over the new technology he pulls out another trick out of the bag. To appreciate the brilliance of the “Chai pe Charcha”, you have to view it along with the much touted Janata Darbar that the much more qualified IIT educated engineer Arvind Kejriwal held. You remember that the darbar was a colossal flop and Kejriwal had to flee the venue. A much more cost effective, efficient and safe way was demonstrated by the Chai pe Charcha campaign where the use of internet and teleconferencing Modi could not only talk with real voters but also field very relevant and clearly spontaneous questions. This is even better than the elections in the west where candidates go out to public places and meet up with voters or hold those town hall meetings. I am sure this will get emulated in the west very soon.

Modi has found a way to bypass the media and directly connect with the voters. Now connecting the two is the job of the media but because of their biases, they could never do so in a fair manner. Modi has taught them a lesson. He is fielding tough questions by real people instead of made up, agenda driven media interlocutors. Maybe now Sagarika Ghose can shut up about Modi’s reluctance to be interviewed.

Two of our posts on related topics can be read at:
http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/01/indian-media-vs-internet-hindus.html
http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2013/12/congress-media-vultures-vs-saffron.html

Kejriwal Is Lying To Win Battle Of Perception

In authoritarian regimes or cults or religions (the kind that grow by conversions) or personality based political ideologies the importance of the person in charge or the fount of message / ideology is paramount. Since the leaders or the messengers (as much as we would like to believe in their divinity) are human and thus beset with usual follies, perception of their abilities or their strength becomes a substitute. Therefore in establishing their rule or reign as the case maybe, the battle of perception becomes very important.

AAP is one of those personality based political cult led by their supreme leader Arvind Kejriwal. For the outsider who has followed this man since the Anna Hazare movement, he is no more than a political Arundhati Roy. What I mean is that just like her, he likes to stay in the limelight, usurping other people’s agenda. She stood next to Medha Patkar usurping her agenda. This man has done the same to Anna Hazare. In that way he is a selfish credit hog. If it weren’t for Hazare, no one would know this guy.

In his course to where he is now, he has lied, made false promises (even a bad student at the IITs knows what is feasible and what is not. Believe me. I was one), made so many u-turns that even he does not know which direction is he facing. He has lied about his job (if he were such a crusader in the IT department, he would be suffering like Ashok Khemka instead of playing a crusader) plagiarized a book ( as accused by Ajay Pal Nagar), used influence (the very VIP culture he pretends to loathe) to stay in New Delhi instead of getting transferred, compromised on so many things (like getting support of Congress and in the process turning a blind eye to the sins of Dixit and Vadra). For people who are not under his spell, his administration has done nothing but dharnas and vigilantism.

Now if we can see this entire spectrum of deception and ineptitude then why can those who are supporting him and joining him see the same? That is the bigger question. Who are all these lemming like followers and why are they supporting a losing cause and hell bent on wasting their votes?

These people are angry citizens who have seen nothing but corruption and ineptitude from the Congress government in the last ten years and they are tired of it. So are we. They want a change. So do we. They want a clean performing government. So do we. However, our approach to the change is where we differ. These people hold the BJP in equal contempt. Well, we BJP supporters were not exactly endorsing the Advani led party either (which would explain his defeat in 2009 and the party’s defeat in several assembly elections). However, we are much more realistic about our political situation. We know that there are only two real options for India – Congress or the BJP. The third front is an alliance of parties even worse than Congress and in that voting for them is a waste of votes. We also know that an Advani led BJP would have been a marginal improvement over Congress. However, with Narendra Modi as PM, the BJP is a different party. Now the AAP supporters are pseudo-secular middle class Hindus (who would have been loath to vote for Modi anyway), ex-Congress supporters like Muslims (would not vote for Modi) or the poorer voters who want immediate relief (and thus fall for false promises). It is this band of people that Kejriwal is trying to attract and he is doing so with the same tools as people mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog.

A man who lives in a house over a crore and whose family takes vacations abroad but wears yellow socks over plastic sandals in middle of winter is conveying something other than austerity. It is more in line with Lalloo Yadav who has cultivated a rustic look with a roadside barbered hair. The whole ensemble of Kejriwal's clothes itself is a statement in hypocrisy rather than simplicity. He and his gang have made it a habit of answering questions with counter question to evade their failures and to get out of tight spots. Their racist attitudes were masked with a self-righteous anger and political opportunism hiding their misogyny (support for the despicable Khaap panchayats). Their support for fundamentalist mullahs is nothing but continuation of Congress brand of politics. He has continued to lower expectations and bars of achievement to show progress. This subterfuge has kept his supporters in line and money pouring in (although if reports are to be believed, the NRI spigot has been turned off). Meanwhile the anti Modi media that have propped up Nitish Kumar in the past are doing the same with Kejriwal. Helping Kejriwal with his lies, they continue to prop him up as a Modi alternative. Why else would they show him as the third PM candidate after Modi and Gandhi? Now they are accusing the BJP of trying to bring down the AAP government by bribing their MLAs. A lie like this creates an unfavorable perception of BJP. Anyone who follows politics can see that AAP is on a self destruct mode and bribing the AAP MLAs does not yield any political dividends on the national level. This is typical of AAP, stooping to conquer.

AAP is a mirage and perception, carefully managed by a smart man whose every statement is an exercise in deception and every move a self propagating sleight of hand and every act a shameless exercise in self aggrandizing. His shameless pursuit of power is being buoyed by the pathologically anti Modi pseudo-secular middle class and the English language media. Arvind Kejriwal is clearly winning the battle of perception. It is up to the Indian voters to stop this menace by casting their votes realistically rather than wasting their vote in a self righteous protest.

A related article can be read at: http://www.niticentral.com/2014/01/16/8-lies-that-nailed-kejriwal-179886.html
The article on plagiarism can be read at: http://news.oneindia.in/new-delhi/noida-based-writer-registers-plagiarism-case-against-arvind-kejriwal-1386445.html

The Real Challenge for BJP

We are witnessing Congress at crossroads. They are a party which is in dire need of reinvention. Current leadership has got to go. From the looks of it, 2014 elections are going to mirror Congress’ performance of the state elections of November 2013. They are not a challenge to BJP. We are also witnessing an implosion of the AAP. Kejriwal and his cronies stand exposed as garden variety Communists who are stuck in the student union mode. They have bitten the hand that feeds them (Indian media), suckered by Congress, disillusioned their middle class supporters by their vigilantism (word that should be used is “Gunda-gardi”). Now it seems that the NRIs have turned the money spigot off. They are also not going to be a threat to the BJP.

The third front which is also a media creation like AAP and Nitish Kumar seems like a non-starter. Jayalalitha who was a supporter of Non-conversions laws has since joined up with Islamist parties and now CPI (M). This is a person who attended Modi’s inauguration has made a radical turnaround. Bereft of any kind of coherent ideology, she is nursing dreams of the PM chair. She and other regional party leaders are going to meet under the auspices of CPI (M) to form the third front. Apparently these people learn nothing from history and are going to repeat it. 2004 Lok Sabha was the best chance for the third front when the left front had 64 seats and Mulayam’s SP had 36 seats. Despite Harkishan Singh Surjit’s best attempts at reconciliation, they could not agree on who should become the CM. Now they have multiple leaders in their late sixties who look upon this election as their last chance for PM’ship. NO way are these guys going to agree on who should lead the third front.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Narendra Modi is a rare politician; the like world rarely gets to see. Yes, the WORLD. In an election which is being held in a disparate country like ours with over 700 million voters, to have such a sway over the voters speaks for his political genius. His is an inspiring speaker with the organizational capabilities and decision making ability of a successful army commander. His success as a three term CM who has captured the imagination of the Indian voter has already cemented his legacy whether he wins or not. Now the real question here – Why would he not win despite of all these advantages? My theory is as follows.

Complacency, arrogance and low voter turnout are going to defeat the BJP and stop Modi. We have so many polls coming out indicating the BJP as the front runner with 220 or so seats. With that many seats and opportunist politicians of other parties Modi will be able to form the government. Advani and his group ignored key states in the past. They assumed the support of BJD, AIDMK et.al. and let BJP become non-factors in those states. They assumed that with 150 to 180 seats and support of these vultures they will be able to form the government. This sort of complacency will lead to an inherently unstable government, susceptible to blackmail by unscrupulous partners. Modi will never be able to implement his pro-growth agenda.

I do not trust any of these polls. It is not possible to get a statistically viable sample of the voter base in India. Moreover, with the kind of literacy and attitudes that we have in our country it is very hard to get nuanced answer (Do you strongly agree or somewhat agree kind of questions). And that is just one of the problems. The best we can get is an idea about the way the voter is leaning. It is also hard to trust any of the pollsters given the Congress’ and the leftist influence. Therefore one needs to be very suspicious of the projected number of seats because that can make the foot soldiers arrogant and stop them from doing their best. I am not worried about Modi because he seems to be going from strength to strength with every speech. He is fighting for every seat which is what every one of us should be doing.

Of all the campaigning or rallies with huge turnouts will not amount to much if the voters decide that it is too hot (or some other equally inane reason) to go out to vote. Also the disillusioned section of the middle class needs to refrain from casting a protest vote for a party which has no hope to win. Protest votes maybe cool in a student union election and not with the future of the nation at stake. BJP voter base should not only expand but step out in the hot sun to cast their votes.

Of course we also pray for a long life for Bhai Narendra Modi so that he can serve his country to the best of his abilities and that all of are part of this journey which our nation rightfully deserves.