Vs.
Vs.
The gift of gab ( oratory ) that he possesses is what sets him apart from other fellow party leaders within BJP as well as the other political parties...
Even though he may not be as accomplished in his achievements as he claims to be, his oratory literally lights a spark of ardent nationalism and euphoria in the audience , a quality which remains to be Found in any other prominent political leader in India ... And this is the chief reason why he is the favourite in next Lok Sabha elections...
I and my wife watched Rahul Gandhi's interview with Arnab Goswami of Times Now, then we watched Mr Arvind Kejriwal's Interview with the same fellow and finally watched Mr Modi's interview in Aap ki Adalat...
These three leaders of Congress, AAP, BJP respectively are the leaders of their parties and most probable PM candidates if their respective party wins the Lok Sabha elections of 2014.
These interviews were pretty telling about each candidate's nature, personality, ability to handle pressure and their ideology ....
Let's discuss each individual and how suitable he is as our next PM...
Rahul Gandhi
To say that his was the most stupid (n that is the mildest word I could come up with ) interview I have ( and indeed the whole nation) has ever witnessed won't be far from truth !
I am sure that once you have seen his Interview u couldn't agree any more.. :-)
Whatever the question that was put to him, Mr Gandhi went on ranting how he cared about empowering women ( without explaining how he was going to make it happen!) from what looked like a script prepared by his staff and which he had mugged up .. I bet a 1000 bucks that you would have never seen anyone on national television so unprepared or rather so devoid of sufficient intellect to give a logical answer! On being asked -" why do you still blame Narendra Modi for riots when he has been given a clean chit by the SIT?" he just continued his rant on women empowerment, from where he had been interrupted by Arnab!
We watched in utter disbelief, refusing to believe that this is what the proposed PM candidate is from a party which has ruled India since last 10 years!!!
No wonder he was avoiding giving any interviews!!
No wonder he was avoiding giving any interviews!!
That's not all, even after more than a decade in politics, he so naively placed his foot in the trap laid by Goswami. When he asked repeatedly and persistently with proofs that congress too like BJP had incited riots against Sikhs in 1984, he said "yes there were some involved in the riots"! His naivety was deafening !!
A person who literally behaves like a dumb child in school who can't answer even a single question asked by the teacher, can never run a difficult and diverse country like India... In fact it would hurl India into absolute chaos and lawlessness if he becomes the next PM ....
Arvind Kejriwal
He seems to have entered politics, leaving a cushy job as an income tax officer, for the sole purpose of improving the machinary of system - and that is the most commendable motive, which people of Delhi too realised and as a result he broke all records in his debut in politics and became Delhi's CM.
In the interview with Arnab Goswami before he became CM, he was a man who had nothing to hide, an aam admi who had taken up arms against the rampart corruption, inefficiency and cronyism within the government.
Not once did he squirm in his seat, while facing the formidable anchor and gave honest and mature answers to the questions asked, which people too noticed and was reflected by his impressive electoral performance...
His meteoric rise to prominence after the Delhi elections was such that he had begun to eclipse Narendra Modi's popularity. At one point, it seemed that he could beat Modi to the PM post.
However, Mr Kejriwal in his hurry to correct the system, seemed to have overlooked the fact that there is a vast difference between protesting against a government and running one!!
He continued to use tactics of Mahatma Gandhi like Civil Disobedience ( "don't pay electricity bill"), people's assembly, protest rallies, etc. against a system of which he now is an integral part of!
The people of India, at least the literate half consisting of professionals and young generation, watched in dismay on national news, how most of the initiatives that he took AFTER he formed the Delhi government failed or ran into troubled waters....
People have realised that , though his intentions are right Mr Kejriwal is still a rookie in political arena.
Though he is passionate about his work, he has yet to realise that his tactics can't improve the present system..
He needs to audit the system, and fix the problems by legal means rather than sit on the road and protest (a skill that Gandhi mastered but brought little change in the government! )
Gandhiji worked well outside the politics- he was more a saint that united India than a person who ran or guided India towards progress... He was unmatched in protesting against injustice and the British, but did not and probably could not ( India being a dependent nation) do much to Guide India towards progress. While we were busy protesting, countries round the world were actually fixing the loop holes in the system and riding towards progress. Gandhiji's formula is good for garnering support for a cause, but to materialise a dream or correct the loop holes, we need to get our hands dirty ... We need to ACT rather than PROTEST!
Mr Kejriwal, by entering into politics, took the first step towards doing something concrete, but once in power, He resorted back to the tactics of an opposition leader / Gandhiji ( while still in power!). Even though he is now the head of the system, probably He still can't identify with his new position. He behaves as if he is in denial of being a CM!
Contrary to the popular belief, India didn't get it's freedom just by 'protesting' with Gandhiji... As Dominique Lapierre proves in his book, Freedom at Midnight,
it was more because Second World War had made England a bankrupt empire, and it had lost more than fifty percent of its able population to war! In such a scenario, it was proving quite impossible to rule its own land, let alone occupied countries. So, like a bankrupt company, it sold it's assets ( the countries it ruled over)! This is a fact not highlighted in our history textbooks. :-)
Mr Kejriwal must realise that his tactics are unlikely to bring results and he must improvise... Till then he can't be the PM of this country- something that many (including I) have begun to realise and are now turning their attention back to Modi !
As i am editing this article, news are rolling in about Mr Kejriwal's resignation as Delhi's PM after not being allowed to pass Jan Lokpal bill in state assembly ... Again, a move which will certainly not go well with his ardent supporters... A move of a Gandhian rather than a Chanakya! :-(
MODI
To say that he is the biggest showman and politician rolled into one , India has witnessed after independence will be a very apt description of Mr Modi.
Few,if any, leaders come to our mind in post independent India , to hear whom, people come in hoards and don't have to be dragged from their homes. He, by his articulate speeches and witty one-liners, sparks passion in his people who after witnessing decades of rudderless leadership, hang on to each and every word he speaks. Indeed many consider him the 'saviour'. By a carefully crafted marketing campaign (for which he allegedly pays crores of Rs. to a foreign marketing firm!), he is an inspiration not just in his state, Gujarat, but in all the corners of the country!
Few,if any, leaders come to our mind in post independent India , to hear whom, people come in hoards and don't have to be dragged from their homes. He, by his articulate speeches and witty one-liners, sparks passion in his people who after witnessing decades of rudderless leadership, hang on to each and every word he speaks. Indeed many consider him the 'saviour'. By a carefully crafted marketing campaign (for which he allegedly pays crores of Rs. to a foreign marketing firm!), he is an inspiration not just in his state, Gujarat, but in all the corners of the country!
Let's have a look at his speeches. His formula to ignite inspiration and passion is simple- He serves to his audience , what it actually wants to hear! And with witty remarks he deftly answers the difficult questions raised against him. ( watch him in action above on a national interview, Aap ki Adalat, and you will know what i am talking about :) )
When addressing Gujarat during 2002 riots ( which, essentially, was his launchpad to popularity) he passionately sympathized with the Hindu majority.
And today when people are desperate for development, he can't stop boasting about the allegedly unparallel progress in Gujarat under his leadership!
And today when people are desperate for development, he can't stop boasting about the allegedly unparallel progress in Gujarat under his leadership!
One must have often realised that the thoughts and beliefs majority of people are not based on logic or reason, nor do they seek proof or truth. They will believe what they want to, without trying to find out whether it's a logical/ humane/ reasonable / truthful thing!
So when he passionately claims that Gujarat has become the best state in India in terms of Human Development, industry and security, we the 'mango people' feel good about ourselves and equally passionately believe his alleged accomplishments and start relating him with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, without checking out the facts, without keeping an open mind, without listening to those who try to say that most of his claims of progress are just white lies ( to put it simply)!!
Trying to conform is but human nature. We often believe in something which is not true, because the truth simply is agonising, and brings despair.
We desperately hang on to his claim that we have progressed tremendously under his leadership , because the alternative - we have no leader today of Sardar Vallabh Patel or Shubhas Chandra Bose or Shastriji's calibre- is despairing!
But a more reasonable and unbiased mind would try to ascertain whether he is as good as he claims, whether Gujarat has indeed witnessed an unrivaled development for people from all walks of life..., whether his administration is as corrupt-free as is claimed.
And the facts that surfaces is that Gujarat's picture is not as rosy as is painted by Mr Modi!
Let's refer to the latest development indices to check how true his claims are...
National human development data 2011
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/
National human development data 2011
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/
Human Development Index - Gujarat Is languishing way back at 11th position amongst all the states!!!
Life expectancy at birth -12th position lagging behind Kerala by almost 7 yrs!!
Literacy rate -13th position (2013 data)
Sex ratio - 24th position
People with low BMI ( undernutrition)- 18th position behind the national average of 26.1% of population
Institutional delivery - 8th position
In spite of the truckloads of Money spent on Narmada canals, after all these years, the Gujarat government has not yet developed the branch canals and distributaries which actually supply the water to the fields.. And so most of the Narmada water still goes into sea!!!
Here are some excerpts from the report, which was later published in The Hindustan Times. 2012 --
"In fact there are no areas in Kutch and Saurashtra that are getting water for irrigation from the Narmada project. Irrigation water is reaching to even lesser extent, just 2.5 lakh ha, which is about 13% of the command area. Most of this 13% area is in central Gujarat, which is already water-rich. Modi has failed to provide irrigation to areas for which the project was meant,"
"The situation, in fact, is much worse. Some farmers close to the incomplete main branch canals in Saurashtra tried to take water for low-water consuming groundnut crop this monsoon. But police cases were filed against them and many were arrested. At the same time, water from the Narmada main canal was released in the Sabarmati River for the luxury of Ahmedabad. And there was no allocation in the project for such uses. "
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| The endless lush green fields of Sarso and Khanak that adorn the richly irrigated areas of N. Rajathan and Punjab, even during Winter |
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| Sarso fields In Ganganagar district, Rajasthan (Jan, 2014) |
Even in dry months of winter, you will be able to witness acres and acres of green fields of sarso and khanak (wheat) and plantations of juicy kinu! While returning to Gujarat, I saw the dry landscape and fields of Gujarat and that got me thinking. Why Gujarat, in spite of tremendous expenditure on canals, is still one of the driest areas in India , where farmers are driven to suicide out of poverty ( unlike Punjab area where that are the richest )!
Can you imagine these lush green fields in Gujarat? They could have been possible here by now if the government actually had the will to erect a complete distribution network of Narmada water!
But of course Mr Modi won't mention all these parameters and facts which are the true indicators of inclusive development of a state as a whole...
He will mention the feel good parameters like -
Per capita income in Gujarat- 3rd position behind Maharashtra and Delhi
Power production - 2nd highest.
Per capita income is quite misleading criteria , because it doesn't indicate the existing physical quality of life in an area, and it is a generalised number ... simply put, A state with 1% filthy rich and 99% paupers can still have high per capita GDP! (ref.- www.economonitor.com, Not All that Glitters is Gold!) And that, probably, what the situation is in Gujarat ..
Under Modi , the industrialists with political connections, and particularly, in Modi's good books, have prospered like anything. While the aam janta, still fighting against inflation, job scarcity , lack of health services ( Esp. out of major cities), illiteracy--- all of these reflected in poor score of gujarat in several parameters mentioned above like literacy Human development index, literacy , sex ratio, life expectancy.
It is safe to surmise from these parameters that under him
THE POOR HAVE BECOME MORE POOR , and the RICH HAVE BECOME FILTHY RICH .
Indeed the meteoric rise of Adani during modi's rule has raised many eyebrows! ( for the sceptics- it is common knowledge mr Modi frequently uses Mr Adani's private chartered plane, can it be any more suggestive?!) ( Source-
Let's visit the Godhra riots
I won't be wrong in saying that these riots were the launchpad which launched Modi into national arena, indeed, the whole world.
Though Modi has been given a clean chit by SIT in Godhra riots, it is an open fact that under his rule, police didn't act against the rioters ( who, again, have no religion- just mob mentality) and many innocent Muslims lost their lives.
To the skeptics, I ask you but one question- what If this were a Muslim state and the rioters were Muslims massacring innocent Hindus- us?? I agree, those who burnt the Hindu sevaks in Godhra must be hanged - not because they were Muslims- but they again were mobs, which has no religion- just barbaric, animalistic mob mentality. I bet a 1000 bucks , these rioters on both sides, individually were mostly just ordinary citizens incapable of even hitting someone, let alone killing someone!
An able ruler must have only one dharma - and that is RAJ DHARMA!
What remains clear Is that Modi failed horribly during the riots - whether deliberately or out of pure ineptitude , both are equally disturbing possibilities!
These glaring irregularities and shortcomings during Modi's rule in Gujarat must definitely make one think twice before hailing Modi as a transparent and efficient leader.
More disturbing points that go against him are his ego, megalomaniac nature and dictatorial attitude. He is surrounded by only his sycophants who dare not speak against his wishes; the rest either 'die' under mysterious circumstances ( Haren Pandya - Modi's equal if not a better option within BJP who often didn't see eye to eye with Modi) or are removed from prominent posts ...
These are not the qualities which one wishes in a nations pm... ( sadam Hussein , indira Gandhi during emergency, etc are painful examples of the harm such an attitude brings to a nation)
CONCLUSION
Rahul Gandhi - a simple minded ( a euphemistic expression for naive/ dumb) for whom running such a diverse country is just not possible ... If he becomes a PM - CHAOS and lawlessness will be the only headlines for next five years!
Mr Arvind Kejriwal
The leader with best intents, clear ideas and a true people's representative - a true definition of democracy.
It is safe to say that he is the Modern Gandhiji, who decided to enter politics. However, though a shining beacon of hope before coming to power, he was absolutely clueless how to operate when in the power.
After all, his inspiration, Mahatma Gandhi never wrote much on how to behave or work when inside the political system!
After all, his inspiration, Mahatma Gandhi never wrote much on how to behave or work when inside the political system!
Mr Kejriwal needs to stop acting like Gandhiji and must become Chanakya.
If and when he becomes one, he shall be the best PM and leader India ever had!
That leave us with Mr Narendra Modi
Yes, he is the best alternative in the current scenario ... Let's hope he proves his critics wrong and gives the much needed impetus to India's economy and solves it's many security problems - both internal and external with a firm but able hand.
The entire nations hopes are pinned on the chaiwallah, as reflected by the opinion polls that show that BJP is coming to power with an overwhelming and unprecedented majority!
Jai Hind!
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