An Indian view on history, current affairs and politics

March 27, 2023

Content Tagged "Narendra Modi"

Congress Party – The Sore Losers

losers

The much awaited results on 16 May 2014 are now out. For the nation the results have brought a lot of hope. For the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) the results have brought fulfillment of a dream beyond their expectations but with loads of responsibilities. The Congress party feels it has been hit with a ton of bricks and their very existence seems to have been reduced to a laughable presence in the parliament where they cannot even claim to be the main opposition. Some regional political parties have been shown the door by the electorate while a few parties have …continue reading

16 May 2014 – Day of Hope or Despair

election-image

16 May 2014 is likely to be a watershed day in the modern History of India. This is the day that will decide the fate and future of not only the major political parties in India but also of a lot of current and potential political leaders of the nation. The long drawn out election period has seen many an intense battles among prominent political leaders as also the emergence of a new political force and its leaders in the form of Aam Admi Party (AAP). The rhetoric has ranged from the sublime to absolutely low down gutter induced expressions …continue reading

The Modi Impact

Narendra Modi

The war of words between the Congress and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) is going from bad to worse. Other regional parties like SP, TMC, BSP, AIDMK and National Conference too have joined the Congress in the BJP, read Modi, bashing act. It is BJP versus all others since not only Congress but nearly every political party in the country has only one aim – how to keep Mr. Modi away from New Delhi. Day in and day out one can see the tired and crest fallen faces of the Congress leaders on various news channels trying to put Mr. Modi …continue reading

Story of a Narendra Modi rally

NamoInGkp

Manbela, Gorakhpur: If you’re afraid of crowded places, you should avoid Modi rallies. I’ve covered Modi’s Delhi and U.P rallies. The crowd has consistently been above 3-4 Lakhs. I’m sure congress will be willing to pay a fortune to get such an audience for Rahul’s rally. The overwhelming public participation in a state where BJP was lagging at the fourth place is a testimony enough of a strong Modi wave. Till six months back Mulayam, Mayawati and a host of other UP leaders were dismissing Modi citing the complexities of UP electorate. Their arrogance has given way to panic as ground reports indicate a …continue reading

I see hope in Narendra Modi

Modi KP

[This article has been submitted by Praveen Koul, a Kashmiri Pandit. Born in Budgam, his family moved to a refugee camp in Jammu, he grew up listening to stories of his home in Budgam and the atrocities that forced his family to flee. He hopes of going back to his ancestral home one day] Today, twenty four years after the day mass exodus of Kashmiri pandits began in valley, a delegation of Pandits met Narendra Modi with memorandum. It said,“Challenge to the idea of Indian Nation state continues in Kashmir in one or the other form. Extirpation of entire Kashmiri …continue reading

The Monk who sold aam aadmi’s ferrari

Kejriwal-Security

There is no doubt upcoming 2014 parliamentary election is going to be a historic one. For the first time positive agendas like development and effective governance are dominating the political discourse. Anti corruption agenda has got a major fillip with entry of AAP. Countless elections were fought with corruption as the main electoral plank. Rise of VP Singh post Bofors scandal is still the best example of electoral reversals driven solely by anti corruption agenda. Despite the cynicism prevalent since then, Arvind Kejriwal has successfully managed to rake this issue up once more. There are stark similarities between both situations. The anti corruption campaign led by VP …continue reading

Kerala: BJP’s southern conquest

NamoInKerala

While the overzealous media is busy propping up AAP in an apparent attempt to pit Kejriwal’s party against BJP in order to contain Modi, BJP is busy not only consolidating it’s strongholds but breaking new grounds. The glee with which congress is willing to endorse Kejriwal betrays the animosity displayed by AAP towards congress and hints towards a tacit understanding between both. If the assumption is that such a plan would succeed against Modi then probably they fail to recognize the genius of Modi. He is not just a master strategist and a skilled orator but a genius in organizational skills. It’s no …continue reading

The last refuge

Nitish-Kumar

In 1774, Samuel Johnson made this famous statement, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” He wasn’t talking about patriotism in general but show of false patriotism. He was a proud British patriot and in those glory days of the mighty British empire, Patriotism was the best rallying point to get people behind one’s cause. It still is in most countries. How about India? Is patriotic fervor the best way to get popular support in India? You’d be sorely mistaken if you thought yes. In this age of single agenda parties mushrooming on regional and national scene, except BJP and its affiliates, it’s …continue reading

Good riddance Dr. Manmohan Singh!

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If one had to sum up 10 years of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister, almost every adjective to define bad governance can be exhausted. He can very easily be credited with prompting the debate about worst PM ever. Announcement about today’s press conference had set media circles buzzing about possible important decisions. What turned out was stage used by PM to display his bitterness towards media and his possible nemesis Narendra Modi. A stone faced PM read a script as usual and went on to give unconvincing answers in his occasionally stuttering tone only to flare up when …continue reading

The failed opposition

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Recent assembly election results threw up an anomaly. An aberration in what was supposed to be a 4-0 clean sweep for BJP. The anomaly was Delhi. The result was surprising in many ways. The BJP which won 2/3rd majority in Rajasthan and M.P stopped just 4 short of majority. Congress was decimated and went down from 43 to 8. AAP the underdog rose from Nil to 28. Result was interpreted in a million different ways. The group generally termed as LIMP (liberal, intellectual, media and politicians) used it to dismiss the Modi wave. AAP on the other hand viewed it …continue reading

Held guilty until proven innocent

garjana

For more than a decade congress and its allies used Narendra Modi scare to build up a vote bank. The scare tactic worked better than Hitler’s propaganda and effectively demonized Modi. The thought behind this propaganda was congress’s policy of divide and rule. The congress seemed to have built on its legacy of dividing India into groups and communities along ethnic, sectarian, religious,linguistic and caste lines each group scared of other. If one looks at India’s electoral politics you’d notice a gradual decline in political discourse and participation. Barring late 70′s congress enjoyed uninterrupted power and the country continued its …continue reading

Why India’s aggressive posturing on Devyani isn’t impressing US

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Amid the raging controversy around Devyani issue, India today cleared a defence purchase agreement with US worth 4000 crores. This despite, the unwarranted humiliation of the diplomat and snub from US state department to demands of apology and dropping of charges. They went a step further and denied claims of Indian foreign minister Salman Khusheed of a proposed meeting with John Kerry to sort the issue. The question i’m forced to ask is, is this how a self respecting country registers its protest? That India has been prone to external manipulation is a known fact but starting 90′s, they actually …continue reading

It’s time to hang your boots Advaniji !

advani

That, most of us don’t know when to stop, is a known fact. We work hard, struggle, survive, succeed and then relax hoping to reap the well deserved benefits of our struggle. Time flies and we remain cocooned refusing to sense the changing winds. The resulting conflict leads to a lot of emotional turbulence and gives birth to a sobbing and sore old man living in his past. Pictures of a weeping Advani at recent book launch function is an example of this conflict. Frankly, Advani has wept too often in public for it to be a news anymore. For …continue reading

AAP The road ahead

kejriwin

This article was submitted by Rakam Singh Bhati, an AAP volunteer from Trilokpuri Delhi. Published after minor semantic changes approved by the author. The underdog has performed. David Kejriwal has slayed the mighty Goliath Sheila. The work that started under Anna three years back, blossomed into a political movement last year. The blood and sweat of thousands of volunteers over last one year has paid off. Based on the reactions we got from public, we knew AAP has a chance but to see it trump the congress and stop the BJP is a real achievement. For the first time people have a …continue reading

Burning with Jealousy, the sad case of Nitish Kumar

Nitish-Kumar-Narendra-Modi

“Ye sirf blower ki hawa hai (blower’s wind), koi leher nahi hai (not a [Modi] wave)” screamed the headlines of national dailies, quoting Bihar’s Chief Minister and JDU Chief Nitish Kumar taking a jibe at Mr. Modi after results of Delhi elections were out. These days his only claim to media space is a comment on Modi. He conveniently missed out the fact that despite his massive rallies, only one of his 27 candidates won in Delhi. The one who won had joined JDU just before elections and had earlier won on JD, JDS and LJP tickets. It is a …continue reading

The obsession with dismissing the Modi wave

narendramodi

By Sunday evening, the results of elections in the states of Rajasthan, MP, Chattisgarh and Delhi were out. The results were nothing short of spectacular for BJP. Yet, predictably the Indian media was churning out stories by dozens as to how the so called Modi effect failed. Political pundits, journalists, even congress spokespersons were at pains trying to prove how a Modi wave did not exist. Newspapers the next day were littered with same stories. Media space was mostly shared between singing paeans on AAP and Kejriwal and disproving a Modi effect. While this partiality is baffling, it is not …continue reading

Narendra Modi magic works wonders for BJP in elections 2013

modivic

While the results of the provincial elections in 4 states of Delhi, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are still coming in, the trend that is clearly evident is that congress is getting routed everywhere. Narendra Modi’s message of “congress mukt” Bharat is getting realized. BJP has got more than 2/3rd majority in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Way beyond anyone’s predictions. There were voices both within and outside BJP that Modi’s elevation as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate will hurt party’s prospects in assembly elections. Political pundits, media and political parties were unanimous is stating how this would tun into a referendum …continue reading

Narendra Modi undercurrent in the Uttar Pradesh

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A silent wave is sweeping the Hindi heartland. Despite the brave face, an uneasiness is brewing in dominant regional parties SP and BSP in UP. No one could have predicted that Narendra Modi, the man almost entire political class of the country dismissed as a small regional leader would throw such a challenge in their own backyard. In my extensive travel across the Hind heartland over past few months and in speaking to people there, the Modi factor is evident. What is surprising is that in the state where traditionally people have voted based on caste equations, they’ve have started …continue reading

Narendra Modi and a billion aspirations

Narendra Modi

What is it about Narendra Modi that makes him invincible against seemingly impossible odds? Never before in the history of independent India has a man, let alone a politician, been attacked, slandered, maligned, abused and insulted the way he has been. An extremely hostile central government with all its might, so called secular parties, a largely biased mainstream media, civil society members and NGOs with vested interests and ulterior motives colluded to unleash decade long Gobblesian propaganda full of hatred, misinformation and disinformation to discredit the beleaguered man. The hate campaign wasn’t just limited to India but had international reach. …continue reading

Sting for hire !

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Last week an interesting sting titled #operationbluevirus was presented before Indian media by an investigative portal named cobrapost in an elaborate press conference covered live by few channels. The sting through a series of secretly filmed discussions tried to build up a case that social media in India was being controlled and manipulated by select IT firms and it wasn’t really as independent as it seemed. From fake followers, fake likes to running online propaganda in favor of or against political parties or their candidates, IT firms seem to do all that for a fixed sum as per the sting. …continue reading