VOX POPULI: Issue: 149

VOX POPULI

by

 Aam Admi

Issue: 149                                                                               Date: 26.01.2013

Contents:

1.        1. Nitin Gadkari Never Learns

2.       2. Rape: Justice A S Verma Report Welcome But The Journey On This Is Long & Hard

3.       3. Middle Class The 'Chewing' Class

4.       4. Sushma Swaraj - Arun Jaitley Combination For 2014

5.       5. With Rahul In Charge, Akin To The Congress Throwing In The Towel for 2014‏

Nitin Gadkari Never Learns

Nitin Gadkari should have resigned  a long time back. Instead of reading the writing on the wall at the time when the issue of shell Cos. financing his Purti industrial group had come up, he ended up causing embarassment to the BJP in the public mind in the interim, escalated the one-upmanship situation with the RSS and polarised the BJP into camps unnecessarily though it cannot be said that there were no schisms within the BJP earlier. All this for wanting a 2nd term as the party President. One has to also now ask what Gurumurthy's 'clean chit' meant when he was given the task of verifying Gadkari's and the Purti group's funding methods. Even after all this Nitin Gadkari does not seem to have learnt his lesson since he went back to Nagpur and started to threaten the IT authorities who have launched an investigation into the funding of his Purti group. This reflects the problem that we have in this country, in the sense that the politicians expect all the authorities be it the police or IT or whatever to kow-tow to their whims and fancies. 

Rape: Justice A S Verma Report Welcome But The Journey On This Is Long & Hard

The Justice A S Verma report on rape and how to handle it within our criminal code is welcome. But the issue is that it should be implemented and quickly. The normal method of dousing burning issues with committee reports claiming that action was taken but never carried through to its ultimate conclusion has been the pattern in India. The Verma Committee report should not meet the same fate. The problem has been that any measure that we propose is brought about as a reactive measure and then we recount all the normal and routine things that are required to be done. Were these measures not existing or at least the most important ones among them and if so why were these not implemented? That is where the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Altamas Kabir had said in the context of rape cases that the laws prevailing are satisfactory but they need to be followed. The basic issue behind this statement has been echoed by Justice Verma at the time of presenting his report when he said that the response by government departments, agencies and the police to appear before the Committee and send in suggestions was dismal. This applied to the National Commission for Women as well. Thus where the authorities are reluctant there will be no improvement in the ability to prevent rape, improve detection and convict rape offenders. After the Delhi rape case there have been a spate of rape cases that have been coming out in the newspapers which are similar to the Delhi offence. This could be because the media seeing public interest in these stories may have shifted these cases from the back pages to the more prominent places to attract their readers. But the fact remains after the public outpouring of anguish and sentiment after the Delhi rape case in the capital and across India nothing has changed as far as reducing the incidence and/or the bestiality of rape. The problem is very deep-rooted and will require an attitudinal change among our men that all women are fair game to their lust which can only happen over generations. In the meanwhile we need to protect our women by simple and easy methods. Thus additional security by wearing alarm watches or CCTV at work places and elsewhere is akin to the Pondicherry Minister suggesting a burkha equivalent for all girls. This is a common-sense approach and the least costly and the easiest to implement as long as it is acceptable. All these other technology measures are a passing fancy since over time as we have seen in India none of them will work and the money spent on these devices/equipment is all going to be wasted and the only persons who will benefit will be the politically connected suppliers of the equipment who would have made money at the people's cost. The other thing related to the lethargy of our police to respond to rape cases is probably the reason why the rapists are getting bolder and increasing their attacks on women, knowing full well that if at all they get caught they would in any case bribe their way out. The statements by the RSS bigwigs and other religious leaders that rape is more an urban phenomena and because of Western culture is disappointing since the problem in our society is of rape and not where it happens and these leaders should not try to colour this by playing blame-games. Rape happens with similar regularity in both rural and urban settings. While in rural areas many cases go unreported in urban areas because of more proximate police machinery more rape cases come to light. Also like if one analyses the profile of rapists in urban areas you will find that these are 90% of the time people from rural areas who have migrated to the cities. Thus in most rape cases it is the education level of the rapist and his ability to conceive respect for the female gender other than his mother and near relations which leads to such incidents. Rape as a mind-set has to be eliminated which will take time but we have to be at it.

Middle Class The 'Chewing' Class

We need to change the terminology of the middle class to 'chewing' class. The reason for this is that though the political class seeks its support at the time of elections both sides of the political spectrum once thay are in the seat of government use the 'chewing' class to bite upon and extract the last drop of blood by squeezing it. The 'chewing' class is considered akin to the filling of the sandwich with the top and the bottom layers of bread representing the rich and poor class. The rich and the poor are the privileged class since the first gets concessions from our financial institutions in terms of borrowing money while the latter is given subsidies and various schemes to alleviate their poverty. This is no case a complaint against the social support schemes given to the poor. But the filling which normally is the most enticing part of the sandwich is what people given the choice would like to finish first. This is exactly the position of the 'chewing' class. Consider the statement of Yashwant Sinha of the BJP and the likely contender for the Finance Minister (FM)'s chair if the BJP alliance make it past the post in the 2014 hustings, who recently said that the tax on the super rich will not work and it is better that the middle class be targeted. During his last innings as FM he had shown similar tendencies for which he had to be replaced by Jaswant Singh. In Sinha's statement the positioning of the super rich was indexed at those with a declared income of Rs. 22 lakh per annum which was also the level positioned by the Finance Ministry in similar statements. This level has to be scaled up since 1 in 5 of our software community has this kind of income. The super rich should be those with an income of Rs. 50 lakh and above per annum and who should be taxed at not less than 40%. The fear of the policy makers for imposing higher rates of tax seems to be avoidance which is baseless since the enforcement machinery should be geared up to ensure compliance since those with income of Rs. 50 lakh and above are also very visible. In contrast the tax authorities want to attack the 'chewing' class considering that this category gives a larger compliance ratio and has the larger numbers. Thus it is like punishing the category which gives you the best behaviour. On the other side of the political spectrum, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, being categorised as political considering he is a staunch supporter of whatever financial measure that the UPA government puts out, has said that the de-regulation of diesel and the proposed increase of its price over the next year or so to compensate for under-recoveries will not fuel inflation since by paying for the higher price of diesel the common man will not have anything left to spend on other items thus negating inflation! One cannot understand really this kind of Sardarji logic, since is Montek proposing that we have stagflation leading the way to a recession. Very irresponsible, if that was his intention, one must say. The simple thing in relation to diesel pricing is that de-regulation as a long-term measure is welcome but diesel which oils the wheels of the economy particularly in transportation will lead to increased prices all around contributing to inflation. It is understood that by stopping under-recoveries the government will save the subsidies being given now to the OMC's and thus be able to reduce the fiscal deficit. But then the problem is the same whether the end consumer pays or the government pays to the OMC's for the under-recoveries on diesel and any responsible and well-meaning government should take the responsibility upon itself rather than distribute it among its citizens. The government should realise that the problem is not going to be any smaller or it will not go away by distributing it over a larger base of people, essentially the 'chewing' class. That is why one is forced to say that only God in his mercy can help the 'chewing' class in this country called India or Bharat, call it what you will. Postscript: It has been reported more by the financial consultants who represent HNI’s that as far as IT compliance is concerned there is more of it among those with annual income above Rs. 20 Lakhs than among the middle class and therefore the ‘super-rich’ need not be further burdened with more tax. The easier alternative as proposed is that the tax-net among middle class should be widened and that compliance here increased. There is no dispute on this as long as the middle-class are not burdened with more tax. This approach seems to be what the Finance Minister is likely to take in the upcoming Budget where he has been talking of increasing the number of tax-saving instruments for tax payers and hiking the amount of tax that can be saved through these measures. At the same time the FM is not unwilling to raise taxes by way of surcharges on the super-rich who can ‘afford to pay more’ tax.  Increasing tax-saving through specific instruments as above is being primarily considered to stop the expanding use of gold as an investment option by most Indians which has led to increased imports of gold figuring at levels of US$38 Billion on just one item alone in the last fiscal. Hence the government had recently announced the increase of import duty on gold to 6%. This is again a knee-jerk measure which has been criticized since this will lead to smuggling of gold giving an impetus to the underworld activity particularly in Mumbai and with the sea route being preferred for smuggling, we will have put the seal of approval indirectly on increasing terror activities within the country. The hike in import duty of gold now is part of the mind-set of this government to get unpleasant things or those likely to create a public backlash out of the way like the passenger rail fares, diesel de-regulation etc. before the Budgets. Then the road will be cleared for populist Budgets common enough before any ensuing General Elections like this year.

Sushma Swaraj - Arun Jaitley Combination For 2014

The BJP as a political party is making one gaffe after another. With Nitin Gadkari not coming clean or cleared on the funding process of the various Cos. in his industrial group, accepting the RSS diktat of giving him a 2nd term as the BJP President is nothing short of committing political suicide by the party. L K Advani for once is correct in disputing the second term for Nitin Gadkari. Somewhat nostalgically the BJP has been talking of the Vajpayee - Advani combination being revived with newer actors. This is absolutely the correct approach and should be given to Sushma Swaraj as the PM candiadate for 2014 and having Arun Jaitley as the party president. This duo can revive the magic of the BJP again as long as they sink their differences and agree to work together. As for the Narendra Modi - Nitin Gadkari being positioned as the lead pair for the vanguard in the BJP's challenge for the 2014 elections, unfortunately both are tainted. Modi for the communal riots post-Godhra and however much you harp on development, India would rather forsake it if genocide is what comes with it. And Gadkari as mentioned above cannot be considered until he is absolved of the accusations against him. Thus the BJP should go it alone and ignore the heavy hand of RSS on its shoulder for once.

With Rahul In Charge, Akin To The Congress Throwing In The Towel for 2014‏

The Congress at the Jaipur chintan shivir have realised that the road to and through the next sweepstakes i.e. general elections is not necessarily strewn with roses. This can be made out from the statements of Jairam Ramesh who said that it will be difficult for the Congress to win a majority on its own. Though this fact is well-known, to come out from senior functionaries is indicative that this premise is cast in concrete and the Congress party is working around this constraint. Not only that but actively seeking partners among the political parties to fight the elections is a very definite agenda item at this ongoing brainstorming session. Added to this is the comment made by Kamal Nath that there exists a clear disconnect between political parties (read Congress) and the urban people and Sonia Gandhi also saying that the Congress cannot afford to have the middle class alienated from it. But the final stamp that the Congress party has put on its defeat in the next general elections is by making Rahul Gandhi, the Vice President and 2nd in command of the party and maybe the Prime Ministerial candidate post-2014 elections. He has been a loser as we have seen in the Bihar and the UP Assembly elections  where with him spearheading the campaign the Congress fared worse than in the previous outings and in UP particularly was almost decimated by the SP wave. Not only that wherever he has also campaigned in elections held around the country there has not been much difference in the electoral fortunes of the Congress party candidates. Additionally just like Rajiv Gandhi he is a diffident starter more akin to bringing the unwilling ass to the water trough to take its fill of water considering the difficult and onerous task ahead, which will not help either him or the Congress to sway the electoral maths.

***********************************

VOX POPULI

by

Aam Admi

Issue: 148

Date: 19.01.2013

Contents:

1. Avoid Pakistani Experts On Our TV Panel Discussions

2. Feedback On Shekhar Gupta's Column of 12th Jan 2013 - India To Pay The Price: Response: Do Not Assume That The Indian Public Is Passive

3. Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) Scheme is Being Sabotaged Even Before Taking Off

4. The India - Pakistan Spat On The LoC

5. Of Politics & Rape

Avoid Pakistani Experts On Our TV Panel Discussions

In the recent spat with Pakistan at the LoC, we have had over the last few days panel discussions on TV channels which include some Pakistanis among whom are their retired armed forces personnel. The discussions have been taking an unseemly turn with accusations of warmongering etc. which are the more respectable of the epithets used between the parties from both sides of the border. This is not a pleasant thing for Indian television and for its viewers. More so these kind of discussions will narrow the space for diplomacy for our government in arriving at a solution to the problem at hand. Therefore it is best that we do not have any of the Pakistani experts to ventilate their views on Indian television. If we at all have to have them then the ground rules should be read out to the participants at these discussions in the manner of a 'riot act' and the anchors chosen of a suitable maturity who can moderate the discussions effectively. Otherwise we are only degrading the quality of our TV broadcasts and not achieving anything substantial by way of satisfying either the topic or meeting viewers requirements. If the TV channel members do not do this self-regulation, it may be advisable that our government impose a 'hands-off' policy on these topics when there is a national crisis in the brewing.

Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) Scheme is Being Sabotaged Even Before Taking Off

The celebrated Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme is being diluted even before it has got off the ground. Initially the DBT was to be linked exclusively for Aadhaar card holders which due to the spat between the Home Ministry implementing the Population Register (PR) scheme and the Planning Commission the Aadhaar scheme, the DBT was expanded to the PR cardholders also in those States where the coverage of PR was better than Aadhaar. Now in some States like Maharasthra the DBT is being linked to those having ration cards for transfer of scholarship money and the subsidies for fertiliser. This when it is well known that the scams in relation to bogus ration card holders are massive and there were news items a couple of months back that in Mumbai city alone there were approx. 4 million bogus ration cards. Even in Karnataka there were reports that almost the same number of bogus ration cards - 4 Million were detected. We know our PDS is as leaky as a sieve and hence ration cards cannot form any basis for transfer of funds related to food or for that matter anything else. Thus it would appear that the DBT has lost relevance even before it has been able to prove itself. Based on this precedence in States where the coverage of Aadhaar card holders is not adequate, the DBT will be asked to be implemented through ration card verification which will be a good ploy for vested interests as existing to siphon away the DBT money. We will be then back to square one on our objective to transfer subsidies to the 'real' beneficiaries.

Feedback On Shekhar Gupta's Column of 12th Jan 2013 - India To Pay The Price: Response: Do Not Assume That The Indian Public Is Passive

This refers to your column in the edition of Saturday, 12th Jan 2013 – India To Pay The Price, wherein you highlighted the need for paying the proper prices for products and services in the country like fuel, electricity, water etc. To tell you frankly the column was disappointing considering that the government has been responsible for these subsidies for generations and finding itself now in a predicament is flailing about and in that process coming out with knee-jerk solutions. The other thing is that the absence of organized protest for any of the hikes in fossil fuel or electricity tariff prices etc. should not be taken to mean that it is acceptable to the common citizen since the real position is that these increases are hurting the people. And you will find that the moment you cross the laxman rekha of tolerance the public will erupt not necessarily on the issue that is pricking them but on anything which is the hot topic like the Delhi gang rape incident recently and the Anna Lok Pal agitation sometime back. Also if you take a broad view on most things where prices have been going up it almost seems as if it is orchestrated. This is across the nation and secondly, across the basket of products and services that the common citizen uses or consumes on a daily basis. Like if electricity tariff prices go up in any one State you will find it like clockwork going up across each State in the country and if prices of any one item goes up then after electricity, water will go up or if fruits go up triggered by vegetable price hikes then it will go across to meat or cereals or sugar or eggs etc. Therefore tensions are simmering with the common man since everything is slowly going beyond his ability to afford and it takes little for things to boil over or for things to get to a position where public protests or violence take place. Experienced journalists like you would surely be able to sense this.

The government particularly the UPA-1 & 2 regimes have been less than fair in being open with the public about the issues affecting the country. This has resulted in massive erosion of the credibility of the incumbent government. Thus you have prices of fossil fuels being hiked when international prices are dropping or because the OMC’s have been patient and cannot afford it no longer. These are no reasons to hike prices. Or price hikes are postponed because of elections in one or the other States with which the incumbent government’s fortunes are linked. If there is a dire and emergent need for the hike in fossil prices why has the government not come out with a structured formula outlining the domestic prices of fuel based on the international prices of oil. This would have given the consumer a road-map on price changes and helped him to plan or control his consumption. Instead of that the subsidies conceived in stupidity and to seek political mileage are managed with the same consistent stupidity which gives no confidence for the common citizen to believe in them.

This applies not only for the prices of fossil fuels but to almost everything where this government resorts to fudging, misquoting or deliberate lying. Take the CPI or the WPI index, when prices of things was going up in the marketplace these indices were going down giving a erroneous figure of inflation on which other financial measures are linked by the RBI. The government without applying its mind fully to the issue started to defend the indices giving support to the aam admi’s belief that the government did not know what it was doing. Then finally it admitted that the indices are not reflecting current market movement of prices since the basket of items chosen is inconsistent with today’s reality. But then for donkey’s years we had persisted to formulate financial policy based on these erroneous figures. It would not be wrong to say that maybe the economic mess that we find ourselves in today is because of the government’s persistent stupidity in believing in these indices. Just about a month ago, with the new indices (CPI & WPI) in place, we had the anachronistic situation that prices for fruit, vegetables, meat, cereals, eggs i.e. most food items used by the common citizen on a daily basis went up but the inflation indice went down by a couple of percentage points! The question do we have still the correct basket of products to constitute these indices to reflect the impact of prices on the aam admi?

Then we had the export figures consistently quoted in error for a few months and the errors were in the range of billions of dollars which the age-old office of statistics and commercial intelligence said was due to a reporting error by one of the member organizations under the Commerce Ministry. This is the grammar that is normally used to defend what is called simple and plain fudging figures to decorate the economic position because the political masters wanted it so. It was not only in the trade deficit figures but also in the IIP were the reporting organization changed figures three times in the last 12 months to defend that the Indian economy was not going into a recession. After all this do you want the people to still believe in the government administered prices?

As for electricity rates our government is supporting these infrastructure utilities to load their inefficiencies on the consumer. Price hike is the easy way out. Why is the government not asking its own utilities and those recently formed from the private sector to control the transmission and distribution losses which are estimated to be in excess of 40% since every 10% saving in the losses can lead to a reduction in electricity tariff rates by 20%. In fact the government is going the other way by abdicating its position in the electricity sector in favour of private sector entities. And this private sector particularly Anil Ambani’s outfits like BSES in Delhi and Mumbai are bleeding the end customers. The same situation applies for potable water which ideally should be given free since it is the fount of life on this planet and any responsible government should take this position. While our officials led by the redoubtable Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Dy Chairman of the Planning Commission is targeting to charge Rs. 12 per liter for potable water in the very near future. The day is not far off when this will happen if we continue to be passive to government’s inefficiency and erroneous formulations on price. There is more on such issues and like they say the list is long, dark and onerous with the grievousness in descending order of magnitude giving lend to the belief that we as a country are rapidly going downhill on all human indices of a good society.

Thus it is suggested that you should not put out columns as referred above which seems to be more a government pitch to support their measures rather a concerted, considered, logical and factual analysis of the issues behind the price hikes. The tone of your column is also in contradiction of the old IE editorial line which some of us have known since the Emergency and anti-Reliance days, where the paper stood for saying fearlessly what it believed in and stood for the common man and what is good for the country. There is nothing wrong with the paper as such but the problem is with the editorial position which is seen to be a vast change from the past. It may be necessary for the paper to introspect on this and change if it is so desired or otherwise some of us may have to continue to speak in nostalgic terms about the old Indian Express. Oh yes, we are already mistaken since it is already the ‘new’ Indian Express now!

Additional points listed as questions which shows that the policies that we have been following in the last two decades has resulted in deepening and widening the divide between the haves and the have-nots in India essentially a urban vs. rural phenomena:

1. Bansal has hiked rail fares based on the principles outlined in your column saying that the middle class can afford it since they change and upgrade their mobiles every year. This conviction are just plain notions and are to convince himself (Bansal) that what he is doing is justified. This is not of course reality. There has been no parallel improvement in facilities in the trains related to safety of travel, personal safety, hygiene and sanitation, quality of food etc. Maybe you have not taken a train recently. Take a train and experience the mess first hand. The Indian rail user has no choice and is stuck with the Indian Railways.

2. We are like they say in the 'silly season' of talking about taxes before the Union Budget. Many columns have appeared saying that there is no point in increasing taxes on the ultra-rich and it is better to tax the middle class. Talking about inverting the pyramid!

3. On our airlines, Mallya gets away with murder by welshing on loans from commercial banks in the region of Rs. 7000 crore. 80% of India's Fortune 100 account for 90% of NPA's with our banks. But nothing is done or action taken against them. But let a small loanee who is lucky to get a loan since the banks have been cleaned out by the above big corporate clients and if he welshes on his loan not only is he crucified but his picture is put in the papers like a small time criminal, particularly for home loans.

4. We claim that we encourage competition but then when Capt Gopinath of Deccan Air fame who was the first to make air travel within reach of the common man, that was once upon a time, no longer true, wants to start a lo-cost airline, he is being dissuaded by the government since it could trigger tariff wars and make the existing airlines sick. On whose side is this government, on the side of the public or the airline Cos. which keeps the bureaucrats happy with goodies. 5. Why should our government airline Air India, once with the famed Maharaja image but reduced now to the Maharaja's 'white elephant', be allowed to function with accumulated and operating losses with which many low cost airlines could have been run.

If we continue this way and do not stand up for what is right for our country, we will only end up taking the bumbling way down to perdition.

The India - Pakistan Spat On The LoC

In the context of the recent fracas relating to LoC violations between India and Pakistan, one cannot but wonder as to who is the bigger entity. India considering her strengths should have given Pakistan a punch on the nose which should have made that country think twice about retaliating. Instead of that it is seen that we are the persons complaining that Pakistan did this and Pakistan did that. And Pakistan knowing full well that barking dogs do not bite is playing tough and showing its thumb to India. The other thing is that when such situations emerge it is the people who are directly responsible who should respond to Pakistan like our Army Chief, the Defence Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister in that order. Other people like the Air Chief speaking out on the matter confuses the issue and enables the opposite party in this case Pakistan to deflect attention. Protocol needs to be followed and strictly if we are at all planning to take serious action in the matter. Surprisingly the Defence minister and the Prime Minister have been silent on this issue despite the atrocities committed by Pakistan in beheading one of our soldiers and carrying away his head. For the Prime Minister remaining silent has become the norm since he is rarely these days able to think for himself and complies with what he thinks is acceptable behaviour from him like in the 'theek hai'' comment post the televised speech on the Delhi rape case. In fact the incident of our soldiers being not treated according to the Geneva Convention is an action item for Gen Vikram Singh our new Chief of Army Staff, this also being his first serious incident to show his ability, of not ensuring that our jawans and army units were properly prepared and to anticipate retaliation by Pakistan which would have protected our strategic position as well as soldiers on the LoC. Overall it is the same story and the moral being implied is that we will be better prepared next time.

Of Politics & Rape

We seem to be staying in a society where the leaders have no understanding of the sentiments of the people. In the context of the Delhi gang-rape incident of 16th Dec 2012 Sheila Dixit was once again on TV ventilating her by now well-known gripe that the Delhi police jurisdiction should be given to her administration and generally blaming their inaction for the incident. At that time she also said that the spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment resulting in thousands coming onto the streets of Delhi for many days as a sign that people were looking for ‘instant justice’. This was not so since the public more youth and girls than any other category were coming to show their support for the girl struggling for her life on a hospital bed, their grief and in the belief that ‘enough is enough’ and to ask for answers as to how such incidents are allowed to happen by our administration and our police. What the crowd wanted was that some leaders speak to them and assure them on a public platform that action would be taken to make our society safer such that incidents like the one that happened would not take place in future. Instead of that the public protests were allowed to build up, crowd control measures like lathi-charging, tear gas and water cannons were used on our youth who already had tears in their eyes because of Nirbhaya’s plight. Though Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi did try to select some leaders and talk to them in closed doors which obviously did not work since a public congregation needs a public statement of assurance and on measures that are proposed by the establishment. This was part of the strategy of buying out the leaders with assurances which is standard ploy as we have seen during the Anna Lok Pal agitation but here the Gandhis misjudged the fact that there were no leaders and each of those people coming out on the streets were showing the courage of their own conviction. This was proved when Arvind Kejriwal of the fledgling Aam Admi party came in only to be rebuffed. Strangely through all this a person called Manmohan Singh remained silent. Subsequently, when the police found that their crowd control measures were not working, they started to slander the crowd by claiming that goondas had taken over the agitation which was enough reason to intensify the above methods, cordon off India Gate, shut down the Metro stations leading to these areas and impose Sec. 144.

If this was not enough evidence of the massive disconnect between the administered and the administrators one has to ask – What else is? Our leaders were simply scared to come out in the open and from the comfort of their homes they would give TV interviews giving opinions which had no relationship with the situation on the ground. Like our Humpty Dumpty Home Minister Shinde said that if he were to go out and talk to the demonstrators then tomorrow he would be asked to talk to the Maoists congregating in a similar manner. This after the crowd had been categorized as containing lumpen elements so that Humpty Dumpty‘s statement sounded plausible. The ability to differentiate situations and read the right signs are difficult to obtain when one tends to seek comfort in isolating oneself and manage through paperwork since papers do not react or bite you back in real time like people do. One must say that Sheila Dixit did try to reach out to the crowd at the time of the impromptu condolence meeting at Raj Ghat after Nirbhaya had passed away but then it was too little, too late.

Similarly, Ashwini Kumar, our present Law Minister, read the situation as an expression of the public belief that our justice delivery system in India today is seen to be impotent. These are very serious words indeed but then has the Minister tried to look at how laws are implemented. More often their application is in the breach. Laws are used as tools of caution or something to threaten people with. They are less applicable to the rich, powerful and the politically connected and more applicable to the aam admi. And, pray Minister, who is responsible for this situation, is it not the Congress party which has ruled India for more than fifty years of the 65 that we have been independent. And in this time the majority of our laws have remained outdated, irrelevant and unimplemented. In this context one has to only read the comment made by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who said that if the ban on dark sunfilm imposed some 2 years ago by the Supreme Court would have been followed then it may have been possible to avoid the Delhi incident. And where was the patrolling by the police and/or the celebrated road-blocks that Delhi streets are known for particularly in the night to ward off terror attackers. If these had been in place then the bus could have been intercepted earlier and the rapists stopped. So if you ask our politicians, officials and leaders why all this was not done, they will come up with the oft-given excuse of being overworked, short-staffed and that mistakes ‘do happen’. The point is therefore that those who cannot deliver should be dismissed from service and their retirement benefits suspended for at least 5 – 10 years which will drill some sense and mobility among our administration personnel to perform better.

And then we have our ‘technology’ Minister like Kapil Sibal now come out with a watch which if activated will notify the authorities, one believes the police, of the location of the woman attacked so that law enforcement authorities can reach the spot quickly. It is not as if one wants to sound cynical but these devices will not work since it will trigger false alarms mostly by the user and end up making the responding agency lose their alacrity to come to the aid of any victim. Then there is the bigger issue of whether women would like to wear a device like this since it is by itself a scare situation and psychologically depressing to wear something like this. Thus Kapil Sibal’s position is like we did try to do something but then they (the women) did not want it. It would have salved his ego no end that he came out with a quirky device that no one wanted. This is another exhibition of the ‘We vs. Them’ syndrome that our rulers exhibit.

There is also much debate over imposing the death penalty on rapists since people fear that the rapists may end up killing the victims. The death penalty is a deterrent and will work to reduce the incidence of rape. That some victims may get killed is part of the risk that we have to take since one would believe that it will save more women from being raped than those that get killed after rape. After all we are trying to limit rape and if the rapists kill their victim they will be then in any case additionally charged under Sec 302IPC for murder. Thus the sentence for rapists of minor victims should be death by hanging and for other victims vary in excess of 20 – 30 years rigorous imprisonment depending on how much brutal the rape was. Additionally there should be no bail for the rapists. One hopes therefore that our justice system takes off and tries rape cases as part of the fast track system and beats the existing guideline of completing the trials and sentencing within 2 years as existing. Also that our leaders hone their senses a little bit better and pick up the finer virtues of sympathy, compassion and kindness towards the citizens they represent and not just pay lip-service to these sensibilities. Sheila Dixit is reported to have also said that it was only the persons in politics who got blamed for the incident. This is another lesson that she should learn that the ‘buck stops with her’ as far as Delhi is concerned. And where politicians are quick to take credit for even the smallest thing, why should they be afraid to be named for blame.

**********************************

VOX POPULI

by

Aam Admi

Issue: 147

Date: 12.01.2013

Contents:

1. Felicitating Indira Gandhi's Killers By The SGPC

2. Follow A 'Shutters-Down' Policy Towards Pakistan

3. The Debate On Status of Women & Rape

4. GAAR Back & Forth

Felicitating Indira Gandhi's Killers By The SGPC

Recently there was news of the SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandak Committee) felicitating at Amritsar through their relations, the killers of Indira Gandhi and conveying the status of ‘martyrs’ on them. This is rather irresponsible on the part of the SGPC and conveys an adverse opinion not only on them but on the whole of the Sikh community. The issue is not limited to the fact that it was Indira Gandhi who was assassinated but the fact that the Prime Minister of a country was gunned down. Now the SGPC and the congregation they lead mostly Sikhs are part of this country and the action in felicitating PM Indira Gandhi's killers smacks of separatist sentiments which should have been avoided. This more so when a Sikh, in the form of Manmohan Singh is presiding as the Prime Minister of India. The fact that Manmohan Singh has no ability to influence opinion within his community is clearly brought to the fore through this incident. In fact the action is 'showing the thumb' to Manmohan Singh daring him to respond and also stating that they care two hoots for his opinion on the matter. The recent action by Pakistan in killing our two jawans on the LoC in Kashmir is a similar issue where they know that India is not capable of any retaliatory action under the leadership of Manmohan Singh. This is the problem when you have a timid, self-effacing, unsure and bumbling bureaucrat dumped into the chair of the Prime Minister of India who carries no respect within his own community, then how can you expect other countries particularly like Pakistan to be a bit wary about India under his leadership.

Follow A 'Shutters-Down' Policy Towards Pakistan

Over the last few days there have been at least 2 incidents near the LoC in Kashmir where Indian & Pakistani soldiers have exchanged fire in which a number of soldiers from either side have been killed. It is also learnt that one of the Indian soldiers has been 'mutilated'. These incidents are without provocation from India and shows the true tendencies of Pakistan which are inherently to cause nuisance and mayhem. Even the Ambassador from Afghanistan to India while speaking recently to the media here had said that they would welcome all assistance from India rather from their neighbours who export bombs to his country. We are all very clear as to which neighbour he was talking about and which is none other than Pakistan. Even the US has come out with a statement that even the Clinton administration which goes quite far back did not trust the ISI. This we had also seen with the Obama administration which with Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State carried out the assassination of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad without taking the ISI into confidence for fear that the target would be tipped off and make good his escape. In this context it is not understood why we continue to pamper Pakistan with visits of their dignitaries to Indian religious places and even otherwise like the recent visit of Rehman Malik, their Interior Minister since these visits serve no purpose except for the Pakistani leaders to vent their well-known position vis a vis problems that India has referred to them. Like for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack when the whole world has been accusing Pakistan of culpability, that country continues to protest their innocence and refuses to bring the named criminals, who were responsible for the incident, on their side to book. Then we have the Pakistan army complicity in funneling terrorists across the LoC into India which are behind the firing incidents in the last few days. Thus we have to follow a 'shutters-down' policy towards Pakistan and cut off all relations with that country. Let us try this out and let Pakistan if they want to open dialogue knock on the shutters and then we can listen selectively to what issues they have and depending on their merit progress on these. The 'open-door' policy that we seem to be following with Pakistan at this time is rash and erroneous and is being openly misused by them.

The Debate On Status of Women & Rape

We were aware that there exists a clear disconnect between our politicians and the aam admi. This situation also seems to be true with some of our religious leaders and right wing religious groups like the RSS & the VHP. Considering the comments made by Asaram Bapu in the context of the Delhi gang-rape case, one would hesitate to call him a religious leader since no human being in their right mind would say that the victim was equally responsible in this case and that she should have called the attackers as brothers and pleaded to be spared. The problem has been that particularly in northern India a woman is looked at as an object. An object to give pleasure first and then other things like being homemaker, mother etc. This basic outlook has to be changed. And this can be done only after sustained propaganda and education that women deserve an equal place in our society. Films which form one of the methods of cultivating this impression that women are fair game should eschew what are called 'item numbers', that is song and dance routines, the lewder the better which are inserted in the film completely out of context with the story since it is believed that on such things does hinge the commercial success of the film. It is not that one is asking the film industry to espouse the cause of womanhood but let them stick to the story line as Western cinema does and bring in sex or whatever when it is really required. Our regional cinema is one of the major culprits in trying to outdo within their own industry with more and more torrid 'item numbers' in their films. This apart the general affluence that has spread over the last decade or so in India has resulted with our women becoming more independent and coming out of their homes either to go to their work-place or be seen in places of entertainment at late hours. This has made them more of a fair game to the men who are of a bestial nature; those who feel deprived by economic circumstance and hold a grudge against these 'painted and dented' women and those simply out for the 'fun' of it. Thus it will be difficult to avoid such incidents unless women learn to manage their independence in a better manner and take precautions so that they can make this endure. It is a well-known fact that if you like something, it would be common sense that you encourage the experience and ensure the parameters by which you can continue to enjoy it indefinitely. So also with this women's independence issue. Women generally should dress appropriately depending on the occasion, time of day and the escorts they have so that they do not needlessly become targets of unwanted attention leading up to rape by dirty minded men. Women should remember that they are doing this for the greater good of their own gender and change, whatever kind it may be, is more stable when it comes slowly. As for policing, any improvement is welcome by way of which such incidents can be avoided but talking practically one needs to realise that those who are bent to break the law will find a way to do it including rape. What one needs to understand also is that when a situation becomes unavoidable, it is important for the police to arrive at the scene of the crime quickly to apprehend the perpetrators and/or provide succour to the victims. Catching the accused in the act or quickly is by itself a deterrent for future such crimes. In Paris of the late '70's, the response time for a police car and/or ambulance to reach the place of an accident or crime within the city limits, once reported to them was 5 minutes which in today's 21st century they may have improved upon but for our metropolitan cities like Delhi, this 5 minutes is good enough. This response time cannot be done without a patrolling schedule by police and ambulances which itself would serve again as a deterrent to visible crimes on the streets like rape, snatching etc. As for rape the punishment according to our laws should be exemplary and for victims who are minors, the rapists should be hanged till death while for other cases the punishment should not be less than 20 years varying to higher terms if the severity of the case is more bestial. Chemical castration in India is not an option since by its very nature of having to inoculate the rapists regularly every 3 months or so it will not work and be quickly abused by all concerned including the implementation agency and more often than not we will have the rapist absconding and on the rampage in another place. Thus the death penalty is best for rapists and the administering of quick justice within 3-6 months of the crime so that generally men with the inclination to attack women will be more careful.

GAAR Back & Forth

The wishy-washy manner in which economic policy is being handled gives no confidence for any investors to take any long-term position on their India plans. This applies for both local and foreign investment. This matter has been aptly put by Ratan Tata that any measure announced by the government should have the sanctity of law. This was stated in the context of the GAAR issue with Vodafone where the tax application, roll-back, re-think and then application again now has caused confusion of multiple dimensions in the minds of all investors. The latest revival of the US$2 billion tax claim is ostensibly because the tax revnues are low and hence Vodafone is presumed to be a soft touch. There is no issue in asking anyone to cough up due taxes as long as the process of doing so is clear, transparent and non-negotiable. After Pranab Mukherji while as Finance Minister stated that the tax would have to be paid by Vodafone and then in the interregnum before P Chidambaran took over the same office and while the PM was holding charge, the PM's advisor who happens to be now the present FM's advisor clearly stated that the tax claim would be deferred. In the meanwhile after Vodafone won the case in the Supreme Court, the government went and changed the wording of the law bringing back, in their opinion, the tax claims validity. And then some official in the Finance Minister came up with this unilateral deal that the penalty and interest on the amount that Vodafone was to pay could be waived as long as the base tax was paid. Finally, just a couple of days ago P Chidambaran himself stated that the GAAR issue is being deferred by a couple of years and then we have the claim being pressed now on the plea that India tax recoveries for various reasons are 'low'. In all this pussy-footing Vodafone has remained resolute and kept their cool after winning the case in the Supreme Court and has just filed a dispute notice under the relevant agreement under Indo-Dutch tax laws which clearly indicates that they are interested to contest any claim of the Govt. of India in this regard. This whole case has put major doubts in the minds of both domestic as well as foreign investors whether any approval or agreement is sacrosanct in India. Thus our financial authorities should realise that a firm mind is important when it comes to international transactions since without it, there would be no end of complications impacting further investment in the country which are already seeing a low volume because of international recessionary tendencies.

**************************************

VOX POPULI

by

Aam Admi

Issue: 146

Date: 05.01.2013

Contents:

1. Indian Cricket At Its Nadir

2. Can We Say – In Aadhaar We Trust

3. Rape Helpline 181

4. Nirbhaya Rest In Peace (R.I.P.)!

Indian Cricket At Its Nadir

The Indian cricket team has gone and done it again by meekly surrendering the ODI series against Pakistan. This comes in a long line of losses culminating earlier this winter with the loss of the Test series against England. Apart from a serious revamp that is desirable in the composition of the Indian team in all 3 formats of the game there is a need to introspect also whether the BCCI in its haste and greed to fill its coffers is asking the players to play too much cricket. There was actually no need for the Pakistani team to come at this time since one thinks that our boys deserve as much rest as the English players wanted before the ODI series against England commences in the New Year. This very much needed rest would have got our boys to put on their thinking caps about their own game before getting together and redeem some of the face they lost to England in the Test series. Now our boys tired in body and mind will go through the motions of going through the matches against England and it would not be surprising if they are white-washed in this ODI series also. The players have nothing much to say if the BCCI signs up for a series like against Pakistan this time but BCCI need to recognise that they are doing nothing to promote Indian cricket and to enhance India's fair name in the game and particularly its rankings. The earlier that BCCI comes to the conclusion that money is not the end of all objectives on its charter, it will be better for all the lovers of the game in India. Another issue is that one believes that gate receipts and advertising revenues for the current India - Pakistan matches may not have been too great since serious lovers of the game would have preferred the Australia - Sri Lanka or the South Africa - New Zealand series available on satellite TV where you can at least see good cricket being played and less excuses are given for miserable performances. Those who were also gunning for Dhoni's head as captain in all formats of the game need to back off at least for the shorter formats since in this series it is more of Dhoni vs. Pakistan capped by an imperious century in the ODI at Bangalore. Again in the context of encouraging sporting ties with Pakistan, the ongoing series is a complete no-no since Pakistan has done nothing on the 26/11 investigations on their side then we have had Rehman Malik, their Interior Minister coming here just about ten days ago and creating a diplomatic incident with his various comments to the extent of saying that one of the persons arrested in India for the 26/11 incident and extradited from the Gulf countries was none other than an Indian 'agent'. In fact after Malik's visit the Pakistan team visit should have been cancelled and what took the cake recently was that the Health Services Director in Punjab, Pakistan blamed India for supplying some ingredient in the cough mixtures which had caused some fatalities there when the particular ingredient is what is used around the world by MNC's and others in making cough mixtures. And we have the Pakistani cricket team here and we go through the charade of a game with them!

Can We Say – In Aadhaar We Trust

The Aadhaar based cash transfer scheme for beneficiaries eligible for subsidies and facilities has taken off from 1st Jan 2013 in the pilot districts. The methodology issue is going to be a major hurdle of ensuring that a majority if not all beneficiaries have Aadhaar numbers and additionally bank accounts. Coverage of banking facilities in the rural areas being low the proposal of having 20 monopoly agencies to facilitate opening bank accounts etc. will create a new class of people that the rural and/or illiterate people will have to beg to for obtaining their own funds or entitlements. Hitherto the need to grease palms was at the panchayat office or BDO office or whatever, now a new class will get rich at the cost of the poor. Thus the Congress policy of spreading economic prosperity instead of trickle-down seems to be one group or class of people at a time. The unfortunate aam admi remains at the bottom of the economic food chain crushed as usual and with no recourse. However, the proposal to consider the authorizing of 100,000 kirana shops and equipping them with micro-ATM’s is a welcome gesture and at least they will be involved in facilitating the cash transfer mechanism. Here also the chances of cheating the rural and/or illiterate people exist but then we will never know to what extent unless the scheme is implemented. But the curious thing is that our government does not want to recognise these same kirana shops when it comes to announcing the FDI policy in multi-brand retail calling them ineffective and prone to black-marketing but at the same time for the cash transfer scheme they would like to use these kirana shops for their spread and logistical advantages which is essentially why they exist in the first place and that is to facilitate retail business.

Rape Helpline 181

Pursuant to the massive public protest in Delhi and across the nation after the Nirbhaya gang-rape, the government in one of its measures to show its desire to respond quickly to such cases had announced that it will launch a helpline – 181 that people can call in the event of rape threats and/or such incidents that they happen to observe. However, the government should remember to deal with these calls in a prompt and efficient manner since the experience of common citizens for access of public facilities through telephonic helplines is rather sad. The first problem is that you have to go through so many choices of language and options that the facility lives up to its name of being truly ‘interactive’ and because of this the emergent nature of the issue at hand like in the instance of rape will be lost. The other thing is that particular to government helplines there is a callousness of employees not picking up the call when operator assistance is required and the call is automatically terminated either deliberately or after a fixed time has elapsed. If 181 deals with incoming calls like this then there is not much hope for Nirbhaya type of victims.

Nirbhaya Rest In Peace (R.I.P.)!

Nirbhaya, the braveheart victim of the Delhi gang-rape is dead. All those in the political and administrative establishment in the Delhi and the Central governments would have breathed a sigh of relief considering that every day she was alive would be like a sword hanging over their heads. They now know with her death that the public protests would also die down taking off the pressure from the powers-that-be. Thus death is something that is sometimes desirable. Like for the victim, who if she had lived would have been maimed for life considering the damage done to her intestines or given the brain damage reported she would have been reduced to a vegetable-like existence. Death in this instance is like a saviour for the girl and her family relieving both from the long-term trauma and distress. While for all those in the peripheral area related to the incident like the police etc., they have less to answer for since now that Nirbhaya is dead there are no longer any deadlines to meet for any action. This incident will be yet another in the rape history of India as reported in many such cases around the country which even after many long months and sometimes years are yet to deliver justice to the victims and sentencing to the culprits. Fast-track courts are for name only and the wheels of justice even in these grind slowly governed by cumbersome procedure. Let this not be so in Nirbhaya's case and in fact let this case set the benchmark for speedy justice for rapists hereafter in this country who particularly for minor victims below 10 or 12 years and for heinous instances like the Delhi gang-rape should deservedly be given the death penalty. Amen! Nirbhaya Rest In Peace (R.I.P.)!

*****************************************

VOX POPULI

by

Aam Admi

Issue:145

Date: 29.12.2012

Contents:

1. Focus On Justice, Do Not Divert Attention

2. Welcoming Walmart & IKEA With Open Arms

3. Delhi Protestors Should Have been Dealt With More Humanely

4. Narendra Modi’s Hat-Trick vs. Rahul Gandhi’s Hat-Trick

Focus On Justice, Do Not Divert Attention

The Sheila Dixit vs. Police Commissioner spat over the action taken in the gang-rape case is just designed to divert attention from the fact that Sheila Dixit was MIA (missing in action) when the public protests on the issue hit the zenith. True to being a 'good politician' she is trying to cover up for herself and accuse others of not doing their job. People before slandering others should hold a mirror to themselves to see if they measure up to the standards they set for others. The saving grace in this matter has been that the Congress party higher-ups have ignored the call by Sheila Dixit to have the Police Commissioner fired. Therefore what all should do including the police and the administration is to expedite the investigations against the accused in the case and bring them to justice and be sentenced by the fast-track courts. The ideal time schedule for this would have been before the victim is released from hospital or before any more grievous issue overtakes her. Time to roll up your short-sleeves and get working to deliver justice, Sheila-ji and the Police Commissioner.

Welcoming Walmart & IKEA With Open Arms

A lid is being attempted to be put over the infarctions that Walmart seems to have committed in India against the anti-bribery laws of the US. The essence of the obfuscation seems to be that lobbying is legal in the US, and not so in India, and that is where the majority of the US$25 million was spent. One now has to put this claim in context since why should Walmart spend money in the US when it wants to enter the Indian market. By all logic the money should be spent in the target market since we clearly know that there are no restrictions in the US about restricting trade with specific countries and particularly with India for which lobbying would be required and consequently money for that spent. A related fact is that Walmart upon being pulled up in the US for bribery in multiple countries including India, almost immediately sacked the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) & other officers in their financial department from the India Walmart joint venture operations. The timing of this event is too close to the hauling up of Walmart in the US for anti-bribery and is too much of a coincidence to believe that the sacking was part of a routine management exercise. In any case the ED & DRI wings of the Indian government are looking into the situation that when FDI investment was banned in retail in India how did Walmart in cohorts with the Bharti group bring in some Rs. 300 crores into the country in the last few years. There is more information that Walmart Mexico has admitted to bribing in that country for land use change and to obtain construction permissions to open its stores. In India these kind of situations are something that we are very familiar with and hence Walmart practices being homogeneous world-wide may have involved doing the same thing in India also. The less than above board and some downright shady practices as above that Walmart implements in their world-wide operations, they will surely bring to India, for which we surely need to thank them. At least we will learn more than what we already know of pulling a legal veil on illegal practices by professional management methods. Therefore, it is not understood why we need to bring into the country those who are not very straight in their business practices and methods is beyond anyone’s comprehension. The same way with IKEA who it is understood are not very willing to accommodate in the approvals that the Indian government are giving them for their India operations which involves restricting them in certain areas like opening cafes in their stores, sourcing from medium and small-scale industries etc. They have told the Indian government that their application needs to be cleared in its entirety. This could be a negotiating ploy but then if it is not and the Indian government buckles to IKEA we will again have seen another time where this present government very familiar with ‘roll-backs’ and desperately in favour of foreign Cos. bending backwards to facilitate the entry of IKEA into India. Postscript: On the issue of IKEA, our government has done it again accepting the Co.’s proposal in toto with no changes or strictures and in the process withdrawing the conditions set earlier and as mentioned above. Commerce Minister Anand Sharma’s comment on this was that when we have allowed 100% FDI in single brand retail then we should not have put any conditions. Were we not aware of this before putting in the conditions? There is no debate on government policy on what it should do or not do beyond a point but then should not the government show that it has at least a clear and firm mind on formulation of policy. Additionally if it wants to protect and/or promote local interests and/or industry it should exhibit a will to do so. Operating in the manner as in the IKEA case indicates that India has become a ‘banana republic’ willing to accommodate foreign Cos./multinationals at any cost.

Delhi Protestors Should Have been Dealt With More Humanely

The public protests in Delhi over the last few days consequent upon the gang-rape of the 23 year old paramedic last Sunday (16th) night is representative of the callous and indifferent attitude of our politicians and civil administration. What our establishment is unable to understand is that people are coming out in anguish and in support of the rape victim and if they are given a patient and sympathetic hearing, then the protests would die down. When confronted with situations which are not the norm our authorities are perplexed and fail to grasp on how to deal with these situations. That is when they try to fit everything into boxes of format they know and categorising the existing protest as just another public protest or jatha, they use the existing methods in their armoury like lathi charges, water cannon Sec. 144 and tear-gas as we have seen. Use of these methods complicates these situations and as we have seen aggravates it. What should have been done is that Sheila Dixit, considering that Delhi is her domain, and ultimately she is responsible for the law and order and incidents of rape like what happened, should have come out and met the people, mostly youth and predominantly girls and young women, and first heard them out and then addressed their concerns. Instead of that as reported on TV, she scooted off to Himachal Pradesh to be present at the CLP leader's election after the Congress recently wrested the seat of power there from the BJP. With Delhi on the boil, for the CM to leave town is completely irresponsible. Underestimating the problem is no excuse since it shows how ineffectual the State police & Central intelligence is. Now that she has come back she is blaming the police for the excessive action taken which is nothing but trying to divert the flak from her own self. Even if Sheila Dixit was not there, was it not the civil administration's duty to address the problem as above. Could the Chief Secretary of Delhi not come in support of the police and given them relevant instructions to deal with the protestors in a more humane manner. Beyond that what was the Centre's Home Ministry doing, should they not have stepped in? The situation in Delhi seemed to be as if she was nobody's baby and the buck was passed here and there when 'Mama' Sheila Dixit was away. To reduce the capital of this country to an orphaned waif is a shame by itself. As someone asked on TV what was the PM, Manmohan Singh doing? Hiding behind the skirts of Sonia Gandhi and Sheila Dixit as some other person, a lady author, said in a TV panel discussion. This incident has brought out once again the incapacity of the Congress to rule this country. More often than not the Congress tend to mouth inanities and platitudes and no concrete action is seen on the ground to address a problem. One cannot but emphasise here that timely intervention tends to defuse incendiary situations and make them more manageable. While in this instance after typefying the protests as being ‘politicalised’, ‘lumpen elements’ getting involved etc. which is nothing but to highlight, the we vs. they syndrome and that the police and the establishment are always right. This may not be true all the time.

Narendra Modi’s Hat-Trick vs. Rahul Gandhi’s Hat-Trick

The hat-trick that Narendra Modi pulled off in the Gujarat Assembly elections is a reminder to the Congress and this nation that there are alternatives which could deliver a better form of governance than what we have had in the last 8/9 years. If Modi is able to shed himself from the stigma of being complicit in the communal riots of 2002 when the whole State went up in flames, there could be a case for him to be considered as a Prime Ministerial candidate, if and when the BJP wins in any of the next general elections. But that is going to be a difficult job since no amount of white-washing can remove the stain of blood on his political persona. On the Gujarat Assembly elections it was amusing to see the Congress 'young pup', Rahul Gandhi staying away from the State since it would have been a hat-trick of sorts with him presiding over the losses consecutively in the States of Bihar, UP & then Gujarat. That is why he made a token presence on the last day of polling in the second schedule so that none could say that he was not seen during these Gujarat elections. It was necessary for Rahul to show his face in the Gujarat Assembly elections considering that he has been anointed to lead the Congress charge in the 2014 general elections. Maybe the hat-trick of losses in elections has been kept for the general elections in 2014. Like they say, save the best for last.

*****************************************