Indian politics is witnessing a slow but steady transition. BJP is replacing the Congress as the single largest party. However it is not an easy phase for the Indian polity. The communists, pseudo secularists, media & missionaries will try their best to avert BJP’s quest to power. Recently they have started the bogey called the Third Front.
Since they are quite sure that congress will fail to win even 100 seats on its own they are projecting a rag tag of political parties as a front which the congress party will be forced to support. Just to keep the BJP from coming to power.
The process has already begun in Orissa.
The reason why BJD withdrew from NDA is because it realized that congress, its principal enemy is no longer a force in the state. Congress is decimated in Orissa and the BJD & BJP is growing. So the anti congress compulsion & the need to stay in NDA is not there anymore.
Left front hogs limelight in Orissa even though it has only 1% of the vote back. The BJD has taken a calculated gamble. While the BJP needs only about 40 assembly seats to bring Biju Patnaik back on the negotiating table.
However the results in Karnataka have shown how quickly the table were turned when the alliance partner of BJP ditched them after completing their term. Kumaraswamy & JD(S) got wiped out in the subsequent elections.
The third front may actually hasten the nemesis of Congress and help BJP in the long run.
Moreover there are many fence sitters in this election like Jayalalitha, Sharad Pawar, Mayawati, Chiranjivi, Chandra Babu Naidu & Biju Patnaik who will play their cards only after the results are declared. And the left front would be left with empty sack since their own tally is expected to reduce drastically this time.
It is very easy to observe, even for a layman that the media in general and news channels in particular are becoming more and more pro government. In each and every media report, analysis, story, debate or interview it is found the media is adopting a very partial response against the BJP.
For e.g. if we take up two issues that affected the nation last week:
1. Chief Election Commisioner, N Gopalaswami, recommended the removal of his colleague, Navin Chawla. He has thoroughly documented the “partisan” functioning of Chawla.
But the news channels have started a criticism of Gopalaswami without taking into account the merit of the document. There was no mention of the charges – What are the contents of the letter submitted to the President of India? Did the CEC’s NGO did actually take money from the Congress party MP’s?
2. Recently a group of activists barged into a pub, assaulted women. On the same day Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers went on the rampage disrupting Republic Day celebrations at a school in Nashik. The workers assaulted parents and beat up participants. They didn’t even spare posters of the martyrs of 26/11.
The media completely ignored the later issue .Whereas the former was sensationalized as an assault on women’s independence. They even said it was an attempt to Talibanize India.
For the incident it directly involved the BJP government in Karnatka. But in a similar issue coincidentally happening the same day involving the attack on North Indians by MNS, it did not criticize the Congress government in Maharashtara.
There are numerous instances where the Indian media has taken a partial stance.
What is the agenda?
Why are there double standards?
Why are all news channels behaving the same way?
Is it because of the contract for pro government advertisements like “Bharat Nirman” or “Minority scholarship” that are likely to barge us before the general elections.
Maybe but the credibility of fair journalism in India has certainly taken a backseat.
In 2008 we all suffered from poor governance in India by the UPA government. Now they have gone step further and removed “governance”. The prime minister will be out of action for a minimum of 4 weeks. How can a nation as complex as India be governed without a prime minister? But as Supreme Court said – even god cannot save India.
First there was no home minister, then they shifted finance minister and now there is no Prime Minister. Can’t we even select a prime minister from 1.2 billion people? As it is there are very few elected representatives occupying higher posts in cabinet.
Or does the decision making power lie else where and it doesn’t make a difference whether we have a prime minister or not.
As usual the mainstream media will not cover any lapse of UPA government and be a good prompter for the ruling congress government. Elections are approaching fast and the media will try its best to embarrass the BJP. Instead of focussing on this issue of national importance they are busy covering frivolous stories of some boys beating girls in a bar.
India is burning with rage. Everybody wants some action on Pakistan. But our government is quiet. There is absolutely no political leadership or direction in our country. While we are able to produce highly rated professionals in software development, management, finance etc, why do we have such dumb people in politics?
Meanwhile the media has slyly shifted the anger of average citizen from those in power (UPA) to politicians in general. For once Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was right. The society in general is trivializing the most important issue facing the country today, i.e – SECURITY.
We must understand the enormity of the problem and not deviate from the main issues.
Some of the main questions me must ask are:
- What happens if there is another terrorist attack?
- What is being done to eliminate Dawood Ibrahim’s gang?
- How are people getting houses on rent or sim cards without proper verification?
- Why are we not using our technical skills in software development, space etc on security?
- Why is the Pakistani society living in denial & how to handle them?
Instead of asking the above difficult questions, the media is covering sms messages, candle light vigils, secular rants. While asking for accountability is good there are some who are exhorting citizens not to vote, don’t pay taxes etc. These issues are not only trivial but dangerous, if implemented.
Instead of beating around the bush we all should launch an initiative to recall the ineffective UPA government before it is too late.
The UPA led by Congress party came to power after an impressive election campaign targeting the –aam admi (common man). It was expected that the country would get an efficient government headed by the highly respected economist Dr. Manmohan Singh. Though government was supported by the communist parties, it managed to complete the first three years in office with average performance. But now in its last year in office it seems that the government is in disarray and the top leadership seems rudderless.
As a result of UPA government’s mishandling of several sensitive issues, India is today facing numerous challenges like:
Democracy maligned
After the cash for vote scam, there is little credibility left for our elected leaders. Our main triumph, as being the world’s largest democracy sounds a little hollow today. Now, it is not democracy but plutocracy (wealthy rule over the poor) that has been imposed on India.
Threat to Territorial integrity
Kashmir seems to be in a hopeless situation. For the first time we are watching live on TV, discussions & debates whether we should give up a part of the country. There are live images of Indian flags being burned; leading columnists are asking questions which would have been considered as anti national anywhere else.
Rising Regionalism
Is it a crime to talk in national language? India’s most respected film artist had to apologise on his wife’s behalf for daring to speak in Hindi. And a local unelected regional leader openly challenges the police commissioner to come on street, without wearing uniform. The state government does not even have guts to file a case, while his goons go on a rampage across Maharashtra.
Unabated Inflation
The prices of almost all essential commodities have doubled over the past three years. Economists may argue that it is a global phenomenon, but low wages and poverty is not a global phenomenon. There is no concept of social security in India, unlike other countries where inflation effect is absorbed by government.
Pseudo secularism at its worst
In the name placating minorities the government has crossed all limits. In Andhra, Christians will be subsidized for a visit to Vatican. Delhi has reservation and education subsidies for Sikhs, Parsis & Jains but not for poor Hindus. Although it is common knowledge that they are high above in the per capita level and don’t need subsidies.
Terrorism Threat
Serial bomb blasts seems to have become a monthly feature in Indian calendar. The response by our home minister is always the same, that we must be patient and not take revenge. But there is absolutely no will power to counter terror. Almost all educated people want strict terror laws except our home minister who is mysteriously reluctant. To make matters worse, some cabinet ministers are openly supporting terrorist organizations.
The UPA government has postponed the winter session. The entire focus of the present government seems to be in somehow operatinalizing the Indo – US nuclear deal. There is a view that the government is in a hurry to sign some large contracts related to defence and nuclear supplies and is not bothered about the nitty gritty of running the country.
As humble citizens of India, we would request the election commission to chair an emergency meeting and discuss about the modalities of holding an early general election. Hope they act before it is too late!
Recent Comments