http://www.swapan55.com
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"They won all the battles, we had the best songs"*
[* A line from a Communist song from the Spanish Civil War]
Apologies for not writing yesterday. I was busy pontificating on TV and finishing my columns which have appeared in today's Times of India and Pioneer.
What are the specific lessons for the BJP?
  * The party must recognise that this was a political failure and not merely a defeat caused by management shortcomings.
  * The so-called "Hindu" appeal may work in specific areas (Pilibhit, Mangalore, Azamgarh, Kandhamal, et al) but it is perceived as divisive elsewhere.
  * The ugly face of Hindu extremism puts off the middle ground.
  * There is no such thing as a Hindu consciousness that exists today. The nationalist middle ground has shifted to the Congress.
  * The BJP leadership is seen as completely unresponsive to youth aspirations and modernity.
  * There is a tendency of the BJP to preach to the committed and not reach outwards.
  * In caste terms, we are witnessing a definite drift of the upper castes to the Congress.
  * The OBCs are now the bedrock of the BJP but this has not been formally acknowledged.
  * The RSS-isation of the BJP organisation post-2005 has created serious distortions.
  * The integrity quotient of the BJP is now at par with that of the Congress. This is a problem that the moral guardians of the party have wilfully turned a blind eye to.
What should the BJP do immediately?
  * Recognise the magnitude of defeat and not live in denial (as happened in 2004).
  * There has to be some visible demonstration of the fact that the party has responded to the message. Advani was right to step down and the Parliamentary Board was wrong to reject it. There is still a very important role for Advani but his position is that of a mentor.
  * There has to be a revamp of most state parties. Young, dynamic MLAs and MPs must be given organisational responsibilities.
  * The RSS-non-RSS divide in the party must be bridged. Those who never attended shakhas can't be treated as second-class members.
  * The BJP must focus on the policy debates in the coming two years. Interventions in Parliament must be given due importance. The Leaders of Opposition in both Houses must be chosen accordingly.
  * The party needs to project a modern, cosmopolitan face as national president to woo back the middle classes. What is needed is a picture of wholesome sobriety. The sooner this is done the better.
  * A culture of frankness and debate has to return to the party. The miscalculations resulting from telling the leadership what it wanted to hear were colossal.
  * Modi has to add the OBC tag to his appeal. His pronouncements must become more measured. He has to work on his national acceptability.
  * Stringent norms of fund collection should be set. The private war chests have caused havoc to the functioning of the party.
<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> I think these are testing times where patience is virtue.
Still BJP retains the 'Leader of opposition'. In order to strengthen our democracy BJP has to come up with model of opposition in form of shadow Govt and keep the incumbent Govt on toes and exposing it's weakness as it goes.
e.g. MMS promised to mend Economic recession in 1st 100 days; he should be made to do so right from today rather than sitting on laurels of winning an election.
Who should be the leader of opposition after Advani?
You have to match that with Rahul Gandhi. Moreover, remember that PM is not from Lok Sabha; so, a young dynamic leader from BJP can make all the difference inside and outside Parliament with an eye on 2014 also.
Jai Hind!
1. To save bihar
----
Upper castes are drifting to congress and Muslim-upper caste alliance is forming
To neutralise this, remove Bihar Modi, the deputy CM and make a brahmin the deputy CM
Modi is OBC, Nitish is OBC, having OBC in both slots drives the upper castes to congress
2. Again in UP, open up to brahmins, since they are drifting to Cong
3. Varun's CD causing muslim consolidation in favor of congress
is long term good
This has killed off M-Y tactics
4. In the urban areas we need photogenic upper caste to handle Rahul
Varun may be ready with a lot of coaching
BJP must listen to swapan-da, and since that option does not leave any USP (of BJP), they can then merge with Congress. I am sure Rajmata will accommodate them. If you can't beat 'em join 'em. <!--emo&:omg--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/omg.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='omg.gif' /><!--endemo-->
i posted in BRF:
<!--QuoteBegin-"ramana"+-->QUOTE("ramana")<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-"ramana"+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("ramana")<!--QuoteEBegin-->We are in the 19th page now. Is anyone interested in doing a fishbone or rootcause analysis on
1) Why the Left lost?
2) Why the INC won?
3) Why the Mandalputras lost?
4) Why BJP lost?
I would like all causes listed and proven by evidence- news reports, direct intervies of notables, and voter share %.
Also while doing this there will root causes and causes but its the underlaying circumustances that allow the root cause to persist. We need to find that.
Most of us are engineering professionals and very familiar with root cause analysis (RCA) process.
And would prove professionals aka ex IB & RAW wronHindu does not equate to Hindutva.
No wonder we have intelligence failures.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ok I get the sense that bottoms up approach of seat by seat will taek time and should be done. However meantime lets try a top down approach of listing top ten factors for each of the above questions. Then we can rank them and validate based on vote percentages from eci site. I want this while the iron is still hot and memories are fresh.
My hunch is 80 % of the info is in already in our minds(Blink approach : SwamyG) and the reamining will be gravy on the dish.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
BJP lost in its core areas where it already has presence
- 8 seats in punjab ( 4 lost with small margin, improve turnout )
-6 seats in Haryana, why no groundwork
-7 seats in Delhi, get rid of the punjabi clique and reflect new demographics
-16 seats in Rajasthan - Infighting - make an example
- 8 seats in MP - Infighting, - make an example
- 2 seats in Guj - Namo got arrogant and nominated 2 criminals
- 2 seats in Guj = Govardhan Zadaphia effect - failure to use RSS to neutralise him
-5 seats in Uttarkhand - Infighting - make example
- 2 seats orissa - small margin improve turnout
56 seats needlessly lost
BJP needs something like a primary caucus where the local workers select or at least approve the candidate so that there will be no sabotage
--
Mandal putras lost because muslims switched to congress due to
fear of Varun and fear of Namo becoming PM
Mandal putra followers are now orphans and can be harvested by
BJP OBC leaders like Vinay Katiyar
----
Why the left lost
This sort of reminds me of post emergency anti-cong vote
where people pushed beyond limits by commies decided to brave it out and vote the commies out
Long term it is good for bjp, since with commies gone and inefficient
congress in place, bjp can slowly grow
In Punjab -
Badal's Son (Dy CM) forced SAD candidates in Metro area. Metro area of Punjab is dominated by Hindus. In Jalandhar, all 3 MLA are from BJP but SAD forced its candidate Punjabi folk singer Hans Raj Hans. It was impossible for him to win and BJP/general Hindu population must have made him lose because they don't want Akhali in Metro area.
Badal is CM and his son is Deputy. Akhalis are not ready to share. Total greed of Badal family was main reason.
In Harayana, people still had very bad memory of Chautala days. Crook sons took commission on every single sale, including residential, commercial property, Industrial orders.
Raj - Shekhawat and Raje's stupidity at its best. Somebody should bring them back to earth and see reality, He is not King and she is not Queen Victoria.
<b>Election 2009: BJP got what it deserved
</b> http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublic DisplayArticle. aspx?id=582
Radha Rajan
17 May 2009
<b>When ambition overrode ideology</b>
Karan Thapar accurately summed up the election results in a telling one-liner â while both the Congress and the BJP faced a host of problems until three weeks ago, Congressâ problems dissolved into nothingness while BJP tripped over them. A truer thing was never said. What Karan Thapar did not say was that while all of Congressâ problems were external to the party, BJPâs problems were all from within. Behind Karan Thaparâs one line summary lurked a sordid tale of epic proportions.
The BJP suffers from seven problems â Advani, Jaswant Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh; each oneâs coterie expanding their personal agendas in an oceanic circle, some of them expanding across the Atlantic and the Pacific and then coming back to Indian shores as returning currents with ambitious jetsam and flotsam riding on their crests. Venkaiah Naidu for some reason opted out of the race in 2004. They all think they are Prime Ministerial matter; after Vajpayee, Advani thought he had the automatic right of inheritance while the remaining six think they have automatic right of inheritance after Advani.
The Problem Seven, in the last 10 years have done two things â they have ruthlessly decimated or kept at bay other challengers to the throne in the states and in Delhi, while simultaneously doing everything to make sure that the other six in the group do not take even half a step in the direction of becoming party president which is the penultimate chair before the throne; and that is why, despite losing the elections in 2004 and now in 2009, Advani continues to remain at the top. Advaniâs continuation is the only way to prevent the others from getting there. The top leadership is therefore septuagenarian or octogenarian, the second rung leadership is already aged and the third rung is aging fast and frustrated. This group has held the BJP hostage through their coteries, each coterie more cut-throat than the others.
These cut-throat operators have rivals in the camp even in the states; the results are there for all to see in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where an ascendant Congress is pushing the BJP out. Cut-throat coteries and destructive overarching ambitions have destroyed the BJP beyond salvage in Uttar Pradesh, in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where local cut-throats with personal patrons in Delhi have over-run the party; going by the fact that there are cut-throats waiting on the sidelines in Karnataka and Gujarat, these two states may well go that way, sooner than later. The degeneration of the BJP from the vibrant Hindu movement that it was in the 1990s, as a party with a vision and an agenda, to what it has become today â a vehicle for individual ambitions - can be best gauged by those whom the BJP has chosen as its face and voice, as its power-brokers, as its point-persons, and as its strategists.
Ask any ordinary political minded Hindu on the street what he/she thinks the BJP stands for and we will have the answer to why the BJPâs downward slide is unstoppable. The BJPâs descent was accelerated with Advaniâs public pronouncement that good governance does not need ideology. This was as good as saying that a family is only an involuntary collective of individuals and can function efficiently without family values.
For all that the BJP claims it is different from the Congress, any one who has studied the freedom movement, not as insipid history in school text books, but as a real drama unfolding through its dramatis personae, would realize that the BJP today finds itself in the same position that the INC found itself repeatedly, first in 1908 when the Hindu nationalist leadership - Tilak, Aurobindo and Savarkar - had been decimated and the Congress floundered leaderless and clueless and without an identity until Gandhi began to use it as a vehicle for his agenda; then in the late 1930s decade when Gandhi had failed on all fronts but refused to relinquish control of the INC, and again in 1948 when after Gandhi, Nehru thought he had automatic right of inheritance.
From 1947, the Congress party was not driven by ideology; it was driven only by cult worship of individuals â first Gandhi, then Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi, her sons Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, his wife and widow, Sonia Gandhi and now her son Rahul Gandhi. His sister Priyanka Gandhi, like Narendra Modi, is watchfully biding her time. Closet spouses of unknown nationality and grand-children are already positioned as future heirs to the mantle. The Congress today, manipulated by an Italian and her Italian/Indian children, has come full circle and is once again a creature of colonial intent.
The Gandhi family is willing to throw crumbs from their high table to those who they consider share the same pedigree lineage and who have therefore been allowed to come close to the table and sit at their feet, with smaller crumbs thrown to those waiting outside the gates, and have thus managed to silence murmurs of discontent. Undeserving and unworthy individuals have been placed after careful calculations, at the head of high national institutions, and invitations to periodic high-teas served on the lawns has subordinated the highest pillars of democracy to serve family interests.
The Gandhi family has used the crumbs of totalitarian power as an effective silencer within the Congress. The Congress party has been transformed into a willing mechanism of slave labour to oil the ambitions of one family. The role of the English electronic media and the leading English print media with regard to this usurper family and its steamrolling methods raises serious questions about the mediaâs integrity and nationalism.
The BJP began with the pious intention of positioning itself as a contrast to the Congress. It chose ideology to define its self-identity because it had no dynasty to define it. When the BJP stepped into the national political arena, it was still carrying memories of its previous nationalist incarnation, the Jana Sangh, and was driven by a Hindu nationalist ideology as embodied in Tilak, Aurobindo, Savarkar, and then in the RSS as conceived of by Dr. Hedgewar. The BJPâs political agenda was determined by Hindu nationalism and there was convergence of intent between the two most prominent of the RSS siblings â the BJP and the VHP.
The first steps in turning the BJP around on a deviant path, away from its defining ideology was taken by Atal Behari Vajpayee when he privileged coalition partners over party ideology. The slide was perceptible then and the writer used the platform offered by Vigil Public Opinion Forum to voice this concern. âCoalition Politics and the Death of Ideologyâ was a landmark public meeting in those times and the writer still remembers the anguish of a senior RSS pracharak over the choice of title. He refused to accept the possibility that the RSS (he, like many even today, did not make a distinction between the BJP and the RSS) could ever compromise or give up on ideology.
The Vajpayee years saw the rise of two or three individuals who influenced and later controlled not only the leadership within the BJP, but also within the RSS. Nothing could be thought, said or done without their approval. No decision could be made and no action executed without being micro-managed by these individuals. Ideology was what these individuals said it was, and it was during these years that the BJP began to package rank opportunism as some kind of brilliant Kautilya strategy, and this lemon was sold to the RSS leaders and the rank and file down the line by these two or three individuals.
One sold the lemon in the North while another sold it in the South. The RSS was convinced into accepting the argument that the BJP must be allowed to place its defining and exceptional agenda for the nation on the back-burner to keep its coalition partners. This was no Kautilya, Rasputin was more like it. The BJPâs slide acquired momentum with the rise of these individuals.
05-18-2009, 10:35 AM (This post was last modified: 05-18-2009, 10:43 AM by Bodhi.)
Advice to BJP??
Are these fellows even asking for it?
Haven't their resident scholars already diagnosed the root cause of defeat -- not any diminishing popularity or ideology taking backseat, but chawla-doctored EVMs and recounting fraud! (So what if even BJP MPs were declared victorious in recounting after having been declared lost!)
And by the way, Joshi Ji the Physicist-cum-Vedic-Astrologer is willing to shoulder the responsibility for party from now on. Our jyotishi is used to giving advices not taking. Same with the legal-luminaries Jaitley ji and Sushma Ji, who are there to give advice not take. Or their RSS mentors.
Plain and simple, Indians want Congress rule. They will get what they deserve or desire.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->but chawla-doctored EVMs and recounting fraud!<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is serious. Slowly we will know what happened in AP, Punjab and TN. In India, there will be no enquiry , even if they do, CBI will do rest of work.
(less info)
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Congress is taking India on the Path of Destruction by its divide and rule policies. We we dont act now it will be too late ****************************** ************** Hindi, Gujarati,Tamil, ...
<!--emo&:ind--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/india.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='india.gif' /><!--endemo--> BJP has to learn a lot from these elections. The party will be
finished in next 10 years (provided other parties do not make a
blunder). They should ask a simple question- why one would buy a
duplicate product if the price and quality is same of the original
product. Why would anyone like to vote for BJP if there is Congress
available with same policies? BJP was a different party 15 years back.
Now it is a poor copy of congress (and congress may now object for this
comparison also). BJP has a serious danger. It may not break, because to
break you need people with strong ideology and strong character.
Unfortunately BJP at this stage do not have such people. The hope/
illusion of coming to power will keep them in the party. 5 years is a
long time and it is especially long because there is no hope. Congress
is developing its young people who have national agenda and for whom
national interests are more important than their own. BJP has no such
people.
RSS can save BJP. If RSS take a bold step of purging all those
who have assets more than what they could have by all fair means, a new
BJP might emerge. Current leadership in BJP might come with an argument
that one need money and muscle power to successful in politics, but RSS
should show door to such people. You need to win people and this
election has shown in Bihar that only good people are liked.
by jaipal@cmfraj.org
Ramana gaaru: I am thinking in lines of "The Tipping Point"; if we can identify the tipping point then it can be attempted at a few assembly elections. TN seems to be a good place to start. BJP has 2 years to capture the hearts and minds. 2104 goal in my mind should be 10 Lokha Sabha seats from TN alone. I don't know how to achieve that though? But have some thoughts:
1) Attract youth.
2) Make Dharma cool, modern and hip.
3) Continue to speak fro Hindus.
4) Should encourage independent Hindu organizations to do lot of charity and grassroot work. For example float a organization XYZ in one region, and float ABC in another region. Have multiple such entities that will eventually be associated with BJP. It is like the big wheel needs small ball bearings.
5) Start a TV channel.
There is a reason for so much of mourning and jumping to EVM fraud type conclusions. The way the election results look like is a perfect orchestration of "removal of all troubles and ills of INC" in one shot from the past. Though INC did win only 206 and not win 543 they blanked out their enemies 543-0.
It seems like that in their calculations, BJP was never in the contention for them and hence no worries there. Here is how it looks like and it is amazing to achieve all in one shot. Even though it is election but it looks like a programmed thing for me to get me out of all troubles. For telugu folks it is like ayurveda medicine "sakala roga nivarini" aushadha working.
1) Salami slice BJP in its area of influence so that it does not rise it head. Guj, MP, Uttarakhand
2) Let us not do anything with Karnataka as we think we will look suspicious. But Dev Gowda - the damn guy should be put in is place and how dare he cheats us.
3) AP - We got to win here but I don't think YSR whould have a large majority. Chiru should not grow. Ok fine- let us give huge LS majority and but 10 seater to YSR. Damn guy let him live there. CBN can sulk in the opposition for a while. Again this damn TRS how dare he crossed my line. Let us finish him.
4) Left - These jokers tried to convert Nuke deal as Muslim Vs. Non-Muslim. These folks needs rape and murder and hence let us order the robots to do exactly the same
5) Laloo, Paswan - Let us flush them like a lavatory-tissues
6) Naveen and Nitish - let us leave them in good humor and may be useful in future.
7) AGP - Let BJP win here but not AGP. AUDF - the two bit party that sole depends on BDs is good thing for future. Ok done deal so let us add them
8 ) ADMK -PMK - MDMK - big nuisance and how dare they talk of Elam etc. Let us see if we can do such a way so that we don't have to work with toooo many *MKs but just with one who is anyway. Jaya is looking like BJP-B anyway. Let us do only salami slicing here so that we don't look suspicious.
9) Delhi and Rajasthan - forget about voting percentages etc. - let us just sweep because we won the assembly recently.
10) JMM is a huge pain and hence lets dump it.
11) By the way for all these parties, let us give one seat each so that we do not look like we did something
12) SP - BSP: Damn black mailers - Let us make them as irrelevant and dependent on us from tommorow but be cautious. We should not go from zero to 80.
13) Over all we don't win 300 seats on our own but we have 300 with about 100 of them has no option but us.
14) pawar- bloody fellow wants PM ship. Show him his place while we win.
Make Singh the King!!! It is infinite number of master strokes and a beautifullest victory that anyone can dream/cherish
<!--QuoteBegin-Swamy G+May 18 2009, 09:34 PM-->QUOTE(Swamy G @ May 18 2009, 09:34 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Ramana gaaru: I am thinking in lines of "The Tipping Point"; if we can identify the tipping point then it can be attempted at a few assembly elections. TN seems to be a good place to start. BJP has 2 years to capture the hearts and minds. 2104 goal in my mind should be 10 Lokha Sabha seats from TN alone. I don't know how to achieve that though? But have some thoughts:
1) Attract youth.
2) Make Dharma cool, modern and hip.
3) Continue to speak fro Hindus.
4) Should encourage independent Hindu organizations to do lot of charity and grassroot work. For example float a organization XYZ in one region, and float ABC in another region. Have multiple such entities that will eventually be associated with BJP. It is like the big wheel needs small ball bearings.
5) Start a TV channel.
[right][snapback]97446[/snapback][/right]
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20 years ago, a similar list was given to heavy weights of BJP/RSS combine. It is quite astonishing that 20 years later, we are still there. Going at this pace, although a typo, by 2104, BJP will stand a chance. Moi, also suggested having Secularism vs Communalism debates all over the college campuses using ABVP's machinery, it was also suggested to BJP/RSS to hold "Meetings" with prominent leaders from the society, youth representatives etc (all non-RSS of course) to discuss issues affecting Hindus - (locally, nationally and internationally) to create awareness.
I will shift my focus, priorities and energies away from BJP and move them to Swabhiman movement of Baba Ramdev, at least that has a chance to succeed (in so far as speaking for Hindus). In 20 years, BJP has gone back and forth on Hindu issues, it is about time, Hindus dumped BJP altogether and form a voting bloc through out the country.
Doesn't it have the money power or necessary folks to even start one English TV channel, one Hindi TV channel and motivate folks for few regional TV channels?
<!--QuoteBegin-Swamy G+May 18 2009, 11:47 PM-->QUOTE(Swamy G @ May 18 2009, 11:47 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Doesn't it have the money power or necessary folks to even start one English TV channel, one Hindi TV channel and motivate folks for few regional TV channels?
[right][snapback]97460[/snapback][/right]
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05-19-2009, 02:10 AM (This post was last modified: 05-19-2009, 02:12 AM by ramana.)
Is BJP a wooden horse to channel Hindu energies in a fruitless manner? If it was told all that so many years ago and it frittered away most chances to bring about fundamental changes in India during ABV time whats going on?
For me I never did understand not going after the anti-Sikh rioters who were its opponents in Delhi? And bring about fundamental changesin the CDS setup. One doesnt wait for the services to agree for one of them to be the top leader. Its the PM who has to decide and order them. ABV didnt do that.
What made LKA not publish the white paper on organized crime and its links to ISI?
What prevents the BJP from making an example of its onw internal sabotage guys?What did Shekawat get by undermining BJP in Rajasthan which was sure win for them? When cooperation is the winning strategy the BJP bigwigs chose confrontation and intrigue. Why did MP not deliver?
It was first time for ABV, he was pulled lot by his partners, especially Naidu and DMK. They were in power for first time and unable to understand full power. Very soon they had to face sanctions and later Kargil and riots.
Regarding Congress, they don't care about constitution, law or corruption. IAS, IPS, IFS, CBI, RAW corrupt lobby supports them. Why there were no leaks during UPA rule and there were so many leaks during NDA rule. Whole babudom is corrupt and supports Congress rule.
Shekawat and Raje are excellent example of Jat mentality. They have fake superiority complex with stubbornness. Shekawat was dreaming for Prime Ministership, Raje problem is her sons and husband. US educated were trying US way of election campaign, but they missed biggest clue. US democracy is 200 plus year old and political party and ideology is well greased and organized machinery. Indian system and voters had lot of flaws.
Indian voters are unable to see Congress miss use of power whether it was CBI or judiciary or Indian Embassies world wide. No investigation on Sonia's involvement in Oil for food. No investigation, how these politicians are able to make money without any job?
Now EVM machine, but there is no printed record to verify result.
Those who had connection with BJP should suggest them to go for changes in EVM machine before election. They should force for printed option for clarity and trust on result.
I know Congress won't let this happen.
Indian democracy is flawed democracy and needs major haul.
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> I think these are testing times where patience is virtue.