This is a thread that will explore the various ways Indian governance can improve so as to provide better value to the people.
In this regard, I propose the following
1. More courts, faster justice
2. Higher pay for Police and Administrative services to discourage corruption. The (initial ) reduction in man-power will have to be supported by more people's involvement in such services.
3. Extremely high pay for the elected politicians.
4. Decentralizing governance, a Zilla/district as a fundamental unit of the Indian federation
5. Central government only handles External security, foriegn policy, common law.
Administration is no different from industry, an efficient administrator must be paid as much as a Industry CEO with similiar responsibility gets paid. The police and judges should be elected by the people. The people should be able to recall them easily if they do not deliver.
As representatives of the people, the elected politicians should be paid by the people who elect them. Obviously the richer the district the more competition for getting elected from there. The poorer the district -> there is an incentive to develop the district and make it richer.
States should not be doled out money on the basis of their populations, instead all money should go to a confederation of central banks of India and should be disbursed as a loan to various entities (state govt., private companies etc etc). The idea is that money put into a state must be returned with interest. obviously then only projects that good return on investment shall pass. The Entities that borrow ,money shall be a state govt. who will be responsible. Inshort there should be no Political parties but political companies.
Of course some of these ideas are not feasible and may create problems. But there is convincing evidence that the current political system of India cannot deliver peace and prosperity to its people.
<b>BJP MLAs get techno-savvy </b>
The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) may be a saffron party proclaiming allegiance to temples and sadhus, but its members are just as hi-tech as anyone else you can find on the political firmament.
Nowhere is this more visible than in Rajasthan politics, where the generational change is bringing forth a breath of fresh air into the corridors of power.
From the young Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who ran a hi-tech campaign in the assembly elections with the help of computers, telephones and even SMS messaging, to the new breed of MLAs, everyone seems techno-savvy giving hope that the new generation of BJP politicians would use 'technology mantra' for development rather than the 'mandir card' for consolidating gains in Rajasthan.
They may be representing some of the most arid or backward regions in the country, but are comfortable with mobiles, notepads and laptops. Eager to play a decisive role in the state politics as well as project a people friendly, no-nonsense persona of their own, many have discarded the 'silly dhoti kurta or pajama' for clean cut safari suits and designer jeans.
Most of the 53 first time MLAs of the BJP's team of 120 elected legislative members are in their forties.
<b>Despite their vastly different backgrounds, most of the young path breakers wish to break the stereotype notions about politicians, which Gajendra Singh, first time BJP MLA from Nagaur, sums up as a desire for making a change for the better. Says Gajendra, "I have studied in the best of universities and I just felt that life is just not leisure. Good people have to come out into politics otherwise politics is never going to improve." </b>
<b>In spite of his qualifications, Gajendra opines in chaste Hindi just as another first time BJP Jat MLA from Mundwa, Usha Punia waxes eloquently in English. Bristling with energy as well as facts and figures of her area, Usha feels nothing has been done for the last 50 years and she stepped into the political arena "since I wanted to do something for women and children". </b>
Seeing the young brigade, it would not be wrong to conclude that while the BJP was able to carve a victory with young faces, the Congress lost the assembly elections because it gave tickets to most of its veteran, sitting MLAs.
<b>Noticing the large scale influx of young blood, senior party leader and Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh could not help commenting that "the Prime Minister as well as Advaniji are aware that Rajasthan has a new breed of politicians who are raring with bright ideas for development." </b>
As Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje plans for a power point presentation of her vision document for the state, one hopes the 'young brigade' would expend energy on vital issues of bread and butter rather than wasting their time on trishuls and mandirs.
<b>Bill debarring defector from holding office passed</b>
The Lok Sabha today unanimously passed a Constitution amendment bill seeking to debar a defector from holding any public office as a minister or any other remunerative political post for at least the duration of the remaining term of the existing legislature or until fresh elections.
The Bill, which also seeks to restrict the size of the counicl of Ministers, was passed with 416 members voting in favour and none against.
Replying to discussion on the bill, Law and Justice Minister Arun Jaitley said the measure was brought forward as the <b>experience of the last 18 years showed that smaller parties have split mostly to join the ruling party so as to get ministerial posts.</b>
<b>He said the bill was "intended to curb this mischief".</b>
The Minister said the Dinesh Goswami Committee, which reviewed the Constitution, as also the Law Commission had favoured such a proposal.
He said restricting the number of council of ministers at the centre and the state to 15 per cent of the total Lok Sabha members and Legislative Assembly respectively, showed the maturity of the Indian polity.
This, he said, would help curb the problem of extraordinarily large size of ministries.
Responding to clarifications sought by some members, Jaitley said the provisions of the measure would not not be applied to members who have been expelled from parties.
When Samata Party member Prabhu Nath Singh and JD-U member Devendra Prasad Yadav complained that the legislation would result in dictatorial tendencies among party leaderships and members would be curbed to freely express their views, the Minister said that if a member felt so convinced about his point of view then he was free to resign and raise the issue outside.
On the concern voiced by Congress leader Shivraj Patil on the unfair criticism of the adjudicatory powers of the Speaker, Jaitley said the discretion of the Speaker has become "very limited" in the measure which has done away with the "split provision".
Earlier, participating in the disucssion, Rashid Alvi (BSP) said since the anti-defection law has been deliberately misinterpreted by several presiding officers, the powers in this regard needed to be given to a Committee of the legislature and should not be left to the Speaker alone.
P R Dasmunsi (Cong) sought to assail the BJP-led coalition over the issue of some ministers speaking in different voices. He said the problem of 'defection' has been addressed but not not that of 'deception' in the measure.
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) said there was no definition of a 'party' in the measure which does not address to the root cause of the malady and was only a "painkiller".
<b>Ram Vilas Paswan (Lok Jan Shakti) expressed apprehensions that some provisions of the bill would make the members of a party "bonded labour" of their respective party bosses.</b>
Chandrakant Khaire (Shivsena) wanted the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Councils to be scrapped as they are merely used for "political adjustments".
Subodh Panda (CPI) sought to know whether the provisions of the measure would be applied to those who had defected recently at the Centre and in the states
<b>Over 300 Ministers to lose their jobs, happy new year</b>
For once, stop blaming politicians. They all got together in Parliament to pass a landmark law that makes it next to impossible to switch camps for jobs. They also stand to lose: Cabinet size canât be more than 15% of House strength. So they will bring out the chopping block and...
Raje cracks whip, wants admn to deliver in 100 days <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Raje cracks whip, wants admn to deliver in 100 daysÂ
Lokpal Sethi/ Jaipur
Less than a fortnight, after assuming chief ministership, Ms Vasundhara Raje, has put the state administration in fast forward mode to deliver the goods within next 100 days.
After taking over as the first woman Chief Minister, she handed over the copies of the BJP's election manifesto to the Chief Secretary and secretaries of various departments and told them to prepare a short-term plan, ranging from 30 days to 100, as a first step to give a new thrust to the development program.
They were also asked to chalk out long-term plans for sustainable development. They were given a week's time to prepare short-term plans and also evolve an effective monitoring system.
Â
Taking the message, the, bureaucracy has worked overtime to prepare the schemes on the basis of 150 point vision document, which incorporated major features of party's election manifesto.
About a dozen key departments of the government have to share the major responsibilities to achieve the targets under a time bound program.
Working almost 18 hours a day, Ms. Raje, has started reviewing the action oriented programs of these departments.
The PWD has come out with road construction plans for rural areas. At least seven villages would be connected by road every day during the next 100 days
The energy department has chalked a program to give 35,000 new domestic and 5,000 agriculture connections during the next 100 days. The farmers would get a minimum of eight hours uninterrupted power supply and there would be no power cuts for the industrial sector.
During this period at least 450 villages would be electrified, under the rural electrification program.
She advised the officials in the department not to prepare reports of power supply, sitting in their offices. You should move out to the field and see the ground realities before reviewing the power supply, Ms. Raje told them in no uncertain terms
The Public Health Engineering Departments 100-point agenda include providing drinking water in 397 hamlets. A separate program has been chalked out to arrange the supply of drinking water for the government schools. Under this program more than 2000 government schools would be covered during this period.
The 100 days program of irrigation department reveals that at least 15,000 hectare of land would be brought under irrigation net work. The Chief Minister told the official to take every possible step to get the completed share of Rajasthan from other states. If required she herself would step in to build a pressure on the Centre and the concern states.
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<b>Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Man of the year</b>
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Man of the year
Vir Sanghvi
New Delhi, December 26
Never has it been easier to select HT's Man of the Year. As 2003 draws to a close, it is clear than one individual has dominated India throughout the year: Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Why is Vajpayee our man of the year? Well, if you think we need to list the reasons for this most obvious of all selections, here goes:
The assembly election victories in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Two things were significant about these victories. First of all, they were largely unexpected. The pollsters had given both Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh to the BJP and in Madhya Pradesh, the polls had been wrong at the last election, so nobody was willing to write Digvijay Singh off. Despite all that, the BJP pulled off clear victories.
Secondly, unlike say, Gujarat where the credit for the victory was evenly decided between Narendra Modi, Praveen Togadia and the rioters, these elections were won on the Vajpayee agenda of moderation and good governance.
At a time when hardliners within the Sangh Parivar had come to believe that the Vajpayee agenda was a vote-loser, the PM demonstrated that it was unwise to underestimate the Indian voter.
The Peace Initiative. Last summer, sections of the BJP seemed to have readied a programme for action. They would go on and on about the terrorist threat, would abuse Pakistan (where this threat originated) and would attempt to subliminally associate Indian Muslims (through references to 'Mian Musharraf') with the threat from Pakistan. Experience has shown that Hindu insecurity can be exploited for electoral gain. (Gujarat is only the most recent example. The Shiv Sena did it in Maharashtra after the Bombay riots and, of course, the Congress tried it nationally in 1984-85 after Mrs Gandhi's assassination and the anti-Sikh riots.)
This agenda was overturned when Vajpayee refused to buy into it. The difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks of the next election while a statesman thinks of the next generation.
Vajpayee recognised that an India divided along communal lines could not progress. He recognised also that peace in South Asia â and between India and Pakistan â is an essential prerequisite for all development in the region.
Despite having been betrayed in the past (remember Lahore?) Vajpayee did not allow personal bitterness to get the better of him.
He disregarded the divisive agendas of some of his supporters and put his reputation and his career on the line once again.
Nobody can say with any certainty what the results of his visit to Pakistan next month will be. But equally, the world now knows that despite the gravest provocation, India is willing to talk peace ---- from a position of strength.
Indiaâs place in the world. Foreign policy has been one of the great success stories of the Vajpayee government. In the last year, Vajpayee has had a private lunch with George W. Bush, has driven to V. Putin's dacha for a quiet dinner and has broken the deadlock with a new generation of Chinese leaders.
In Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is a fan. In England, Tony Blair greets Vajpayee at Chequers, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and holding his infant son. In Syria, President Assad insists on making every member of Vajpayee's delegation (including the media) a state guest. And in Delhi, Israel's Ariel Sharon tells a banquet of the high regard he has for India and its leader.
The foreign policy triumphs and the recognition of India's new place in the world emerge out of Vajpayee's lifelong interest in foreign affairs (he was Foreign Minister from 1977 to 1979) and his conviction that a newly resurgent India must stand at the forefront of the new world order. At the HT Leadership Initiative, leader after leader congratulated Vajpayee. Benazir Bhutto praised his courage. Madeleine Albright applauded his vision of India and even Sonia Gandhi said that the Congress was backing Vajpayee's peace initiative.
The Economic Boom. The Sensex is now at a high, the rupee has strengthened against the dollar, our foreign exchange reserves have broken all records and business confidence is booming.
To adapt Harold Macmillan's famous comment, most of our people have never had it so good. Not only are we doing well, but we expect to do even better.
Manmohan Singh launched the liberalisation drive. But there can be no lasting prosperity without stability. And the early reforms would have come to nothing without the political will to see the liberalisation process through.
After a shaky phase in the second half of the 1990s, when unstable, short-lived governments lacked the strength to continue the reforms or to win the confidence of the Indian people, the stability and strength of the Vajpayee government have ensured that the economy enters a prosperous phase. More important, Vajpayee has proved to be a man of economic vision and courage, launching a silent revolution in road-building and pushing through the difficult reforms that many had feared that India's politicians would flunk.
His unquestioned leadership. It is hard to remember sometimes that the BJP does not enjoy a majority in Parliament or that, even within the BJP not everybody agrees with Vajpayee.
Such is Vajpayee's towering leadership that those who support him will do so regardless of the party he represents. During his first term, fractious coalition allies (chiefly, Jayalalitha) and internal party sniping affected the performance of his government. But ever since Vajpayee came back, his own leadership has never seemed stronger.
Though the NDA may be something of a revolving door where allies come and go, though NDA constituents may have their own problems, and though not everybody in the NDA may like the BJP agenda, they are all agreed on one thing: their respect for Vajpayee's leadership.
Within the BJP, the occasional whimpers of revolt have been snuffed out by the merest gesture. When Venkaiah Naidu made his ill-advised remark that the party would treat Vajpayee and L.K. Advani on par, all Vajpayee had to do was declare that he would not lead the party into the next election. A cringing Venkaiah scurried to make hasty amends.
His sheer stature. Not since Indira Gandhi at her peak (1971-72) has India had a Prime Minister who is so universally respected or admired. Other Prime Ministers have been loved (Rajiv Gandhi in 1985) but few have commanded the kind of stature that Vajpayee now enjoys.
In a sound-bite era, he is a man who pauses interminably between words. In a media-dominated age, he is a man who hardly ever gives interviews. In the era of the quick response, he is reticent and unwilling to reveal his mind.
And yet, none of this matters. When it comes to it, Vajpayee can break all the rules and still be, unquestionably, India's Man of the Year.
I wanted to open a thread that will post and discuss the positive things that are being said by our leaders. I want to start off by posting this
Does this guy rock or what ? <!--emo&:thumbsup--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbup.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbup.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:thumbsup--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbup.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbup.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:thumbsup--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbup.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbup.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:thumbsup--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbup.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbup.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Kalam backs India's defence expenditure
Mumbai, Feb. 8. (PTI): Justifying India's defence expenditure, President A P J Abul Kalam today said it was necessary to "defend the country's economic and political freedom" and prevent recurrence of invasion of the nation by foreign powers.
"Our country is surrounded by nations, some of them possess arms and nuclear arsenal," Kalam said, adding that in order to safeguard India's "political and economic freedom" the expenditure on defence was a must.
The President was replying to a poser by a student how a poor country like India could afford to spend so much on its defence, at a programme here.
Recounting the history of India, Kalam said in the past it was invaded many a time. "We should not allow that situation to repeat again", he emphasised
Anyone other than Sonia, Laloo, Mulayam, VPSingh, Amar Singh, Gujral, Mayawati and CPI, naxalites.
I like kalam , for being open and frank about history and not having a seige mentality about muslims that makes them (a) Condone and rationalize all the atrocities committed by a religion just because one subscribes to the same religion
(B) Be an indian first and then a Tamilian or a Muslim or what ever.
<b>No garlands and bouquets for Uma</b>
HT Correspondent
Bhopal, February 17
THE STATE Government has decided to do away with the unnecessary expenses on presenting garlands and bouquets to Chief Minister Uma Bharti during her tours to district.
During such visits, especially in functions of political nature, a large number of garlands and bouquets are presented to her which incurs wasteful expenditure.
The Government has written to divisional commissioners and district collectors to ensure that such things didnât take place. <b>If at all the organisers wanted to welcome the chief minister, they should deposit such money which was to be used for garlands and bouquets in the Chief Minister Relief Fund.</b>
Pres. Kalam is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise bleak landscape when it comes to leadership. He was invited by the BJP to join the cabinet but refused at that time and also he is in his seventies. ABV gets good marks but i wish he was more forthright when it comes to TSP. For instance there is no harm in repeating adnauseum that India will not part with J&K under any circumstances and that the only agenda on the table is the return of POK. I think Jaitley and Arun Shourie are promising material for future PMship but i do not see any outstanding leader in the horizon.
Well i would like to point out one politician who stands for his principles and decency come what may irrespective of political gains or back-stabbing !
The MDMK leader Vaiko is he.....I dont think i have seen a politician who continues to stay in a coalition government which is not going to rescue him from the clutches of a act like POTA.Why did he stay ? Because he did not join the coalition for his benefits.Had he withdrawn his support ,does it make a good example? Like : "hey you dont do this i will withdraw support !"
Also i quite admired the way he fought the case for him, never to take any special privileges and not to ask for bail until it was that Karunanidhi persuaded him to.
Had it been anyother politician on whom the POTA was slapped when he was in America , he wouldnt return i think <!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo-->
All said i support slapping POTA on Vaiko,,because today Vaiko would only offer "verbal support" for LLTE , tomorrow Mufti Mohd.Sayeed will offer "verbal support" for Hizbul Scumudeen.Not any different from the "moral" support of <!--emo&  tupid--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pakee.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='pakee.gif' /><!--endemo--> to those terrorists
temp link<b>Interview: India's classiest woman!</b>
I<i> met Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje immediately after interviewing Maharani Gayatri Devi. When I mentioned my impression of the stately princess of yesteryear, Vasundhara, royalty in her own right, remarked: 'I hope I don't live to be 85, but if I do, may it be the way she lives.' There cannot be a more apt comment to describe the energy that the former queen of Jaipur, the stunningly beautiful Gayatri Devi encapsulates. It's not easy breaking her reserve though. As I entered her Lilypool home, adjacent to Jaipur's fabled Rambagh Palace at the appointed hour, she was aghast to see a photographer accompanying me. No way would she allow the interiors of her regal residence to be defiled by the clicks of such an instrument, she firmly declared</i>.
Then she announced she thought I was merely paying a courtesy call and much as she loved reading Darpan on flights, an interview was out of the question. Exasperated, I finally tried the last weapon in my arsenal-Bengali. She glowed. And most of the interview that followed was conducted in her father tongue that's luckily my mother tongue. She relented sufficiently to allow our shaken photographer a few shots at the doorway as she breezed away to attend one of her umpteen daily public engagements. Maharani Gayatri Devi is not just a celebrated beauty; she is a celebration of life itself.... Excerpts from a freewheeling dialogue.
<i>Your mother belonged to the Baroda royal family, your father to Cooch Behar in West Bengal, you married into Jaipur's ruling family. Where do you think you belong? </i>
I have never thought of it this way. But having first come to Jaipur at the age of 14 when my brother was studying at Mayo College and, then, having got married here at 19, the bulk of my life has been spent in and around this city. It was a beautiful city then: Wide boulevards intersecting at rectangles, neatly spaced houses, always freshly painted.
There was hardly much traffic and whatever was there, was rather disciplined. All houses were pink and the Amber Palace was resplendent. HH (His Highness - referring to her late husband Maharaja Jai Singh) was passionate about houses, schools and hospitals. But he insisted on symmetry. Much as I opposed Pandit Nehru's politics, he understood aesthetics. Once, when I was an Opposition MP, they were demolishing a part of the old city's wall. I wrote to Panditji and he got it stopped immediately. Even Indira had some taste. But now see what has happened to Jaipur! It's totally unruly, all building styles have merged, traffic is chaotic, there's so much pollution.
The worst part is nobody listens. They don't even think something wrong is happening. Of course, Jaipur is not the only place that's getting vandalised. Lutyens' Delhi was a beautiful Delhi. Look what they have done to it! You must have been to London. There they have retained the symmetry. Even today you can't build a house that does not conform to the overall architectural style that is laid down. But then what can be expected when Jaipur has been taken over by outsiders-people who don't feel for the city. Even our chief ministers and Governors these days come from outside. Who cares for Jaipur any more? I try, but it's a fruitless battle.
<i>Your family handed over the Rambagh Palace to the Taj group. Similarly, other palaces in Rajasthan have been made into hotels. Is it a good thing</i>?
Well, at least they are being maintained decently by the hotel chains. After we lost our privy purses and privileges, there was no way we could afford the cost of looking after these magnificent buildings. But the hotel people are doing a good job; Rambagh, I think, hasn't changed since we handed it over. Similarly, I can say Umaid Bhavan and Laxmi Vilas in Udaipur are pretty well maintained. But some heritage frescoes are getting ruined. I wish they would do something about preserving them.
<i>When did you last travel to Cooch Behar? How often do you go there? What's the feeling you get on reaching the town you grew up in? </i>
They still call me 'Ma' there. The elderly ones remember me as Rajkumari. Each time I go, they say, 'Come back Rajkumari, come back to us.' Hundreds of people gather outside the palace to wish me. I went there in February last year; I keep going back. Last time, I visited many villages in the interior areas. Crowds of up to 50,000 gathered and I had to address them. There is a Shiv Mandir in Cooch Behar that we patronise. I have to go back from time to time to perform family responsibilities. I still look after a lot of poor people in Cooch Behar. From my earnings I have earmarked money for such charities.
<i>You were an active politician and won three consecutive Lok Sabha elections. What made you give up?</i>
Once the Swatantra Party fell apart following Rajaji's (Chakraverti Rajagopalachari) death, I lost whatever interest I had in politics. Actually, I was never a politician as such, being MP enabled me to serve my people. But political standards have been declining steadily. I can't work with today's politicians.
<i>But you won even in 1971 when Indira Gandhi swept the election and most Opposition stalwarts lost</i>...
Yes, she tried everything to stop me winning. Would you believe it, they systematically deleted the names of most Rajputs from the voters' list? When I went surveying on polling day, people came to me in tears saying their names had been struck off the rolls. HH was no more by then; I felt so angry and helpless but couldn't do anything. Officers said there were orders from Delhi to do this. But still I won, although with a reduced majority. You may have heard, I hold the Guinness Book record for winning with the biggest majority in a parliamentary poll in 1962, when Panditji was in power.
<i>You even had a stand-off with Jawaharlal Nehru in Parliament, I read in your memoirs. What was it over?</i>
<b>I disagreed with Nehru's politics totally. He knew no economics. He was obsessed with the public sector and discouraged the private sector, except for some favourites like the Birlas. I used to be quite agitated about these policies</b>. Rajaji's thinking influenced me because he was fundamentally opposed to the licence-permit raj that Nehru had created. It was Rajaji who brought me into politics and persuaded me to contest the Lok Sabha election from Jaipur. It was during my first term as MP that the China War happened. We lost badly because Nehru's military and diplomatic policies were as big a failure as his economic policy.
It was during the Parliament debate on our debacle in the China War that this so-called stand-off happened. A few days earlier, the Swatantra Party leader, Prof N G Ranga, had said at a meeting of party MPs that Opposition newcomers never seemed to realise the importance of backing up senior leaders in the House while backbench Congress MPs always did that.
That comment stuck in my mind. So when Prof Ranga was making a speech critical of the Government, Panditji interjected saying: "The Professor professes to know more than he does." Congress backbenchers laughed loudly making this comment seem wittier than it was. Somehow, I got up automatically and said: "If you knew anything about anything we would not be in this mess today." Opposition MPs made me repeat the remark because Panditji claimed he had not heard it and the Speaker had ruled it was irrelevant. When I said it a second time, all he said was he would not bandy words with a lady! I got both bouquets and brickbats for the comment. In retrospect, I am not sorry about what I said but wish I had put it in more parliamentary language.
<i>On the subject of your political experiences, you went to jail during the Emergency. What was it like? </i>
You know, I wasn't arrested immediately unlike the others. But I believed if she (Indira Gandhi) didn't send me to jail, it would be a slur on me. I didn't have to wait too long. I was taken to jail with Bubbles (Bhawani Singh) and spent a good five months at Tihar before I was released for an operation. Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia was with me. Looking back, it was a great experience although while I was there it seemed like eternity. The jail staff was very friendly and almost apologetic about having to keep me in confinement. But we had a wonderful time actually; there was a great deal of bonding between prisoners of the Emergency.
I remember, after dinner every night, we would hear slogans being raised from the male wards. One of them I recall distinctly. It went something like this:<b> 'Desh ki billi/ Chhodo Dilli', 'Jaao Italy/ Hotel chalao!</b>' (Bursts into long giggles). Don't ask me why Italy and why hotel chalao. They would raise the slogan and we in the female ward would join the chorus. Then, I remember, Holi arrived. I invited Rajmata to join some of us to celebrate. We made a cloth doll that was supposed to resemble Indira Gandhi. We set in on fire as Holika the night before Holi.
She (Indira Gandhi) made the mistake of calling elections. But by then, politics had also undergone a dramatic change. The Swatantra Party had collapsed and the Jana Sangh came up in Opposition politics. I was quite at a loss in the changed environment. That's why I refused to contest the election in 1977 although there was so much anger against the Congress that time. I have never had the urge to get back into politics after that.
<i>Do you feel you did a good job as MP for three terms?</i>
No, I don't think I did anything much. I wish they had something like the MPLADS (MP Local Area Development Scheme) those days. I would have really spent the money on good causes to help the people. I remember some time in 1966 or 67, India was reeling under drought and I had travelled to the villages with HH. At one place, he got down from the car to ask a local trader how much he was selling wheat for. The man told him Rs 18 (per maund) and HH asked how much he bought it for. The petrified trader replied, honestly, that he got it for Rs 10. HH ordered he must sell it at Rs 10, but the Government would subsidise so that he made a fair profit too. After that encounter, I opened my own fair price shop at Baran, a place that was reeling under drought and people were hungry. I brought food from outside and saw to it that ordinary people got grain at a reasonable price. I think that was one big contribution I made as MP. I also remember fighting for a large number of issues at the Zila Parishad. But it was impossible to win in most cases. In Parliament itself I don't think I did very much except speak on occasion. While I would not claim to have done a lot, I did contribute in my own way.
<i>Do you still keep in touch with your erstwhile voters? </i>
They don't let me forget it. So, I still have to look into their problems because they come here with their complaints. I can't turn them out, can I? You see, the days when I became MP, they believed in me as part of the raj family. Those days there was no tension between raja and praja. We trusted one another naturally; we looked after one another. They had faith in us and we nurtured them. I was born a princess and came here from outside. But they called me Ma, they elected me MP three times. What more could I want? But things have changed.
<i>I believe your mother was an amazingly independent person. What was she like?</i>
For one, she was adamant we girls should not have private education and must go to school. Those days women from royal families never stepped out of palaces and had English governesses teaching them. But in Cooch Behar, we had to attend school like ordinary people. I remember having to get up early morning, dress in uniform and get driven to school. She was a fascinating lady with a mind of her own. She left a deep impact on me.
<b>Later, I realised that the British were only interested in providing convent education and there was hardly any opportunity for Indian girls to get modern education in a different environment</b>. That is why I took the initiative to set up MGD (Maharani Gayatri Devi) School. I think that is a lasting contribution I have made.
<i>You are remarkably fit for your age and very active as well. What keeps you occupied these days?</i>
Oh, lots of things. I have my schools. I attend prize distribution and other such functions. I also coordinate school administration activities. People come to me for admission; I attend to them. The royalties I get from my book I channelise into help for poor people in Cooch Behar and Jaipur. I have my horses that race and I have to tend to them here in Jaipur. As I told you, an MP's responsibilities don't get over after ceasing to be MP. So I visit my past voters from time to time. Then I travel regularly to Mumbai and Kolkata. Recently, I was invited for the centenary of the Calcutta Club. I had to go; after all, my grandfather was its first president! Now with this Arisia diamond range, more work has piled up.
What do you like doing in your spare time? Listen to music, watch movies?
Oh I have done all that and I don't do anything like that now.
You don't like watching TV or movies?
No, no. Once in a while, if the kids get something home, may be.
Okay, honestly tell me what's the last movie you watched...
What was that? This new one, I think it was called something like 'Kal Ho Na Ho...'
(She breaks off to board her Accent and drives away to a public function. Maharani Gayatri Devi, born 1919, was listed among the 10 most beautiful women in the world and would easily qualify as the classiest living woman today, irrespective of age).
History of a relationship
Balbir K Punj
By now Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu has perhaps realised that compliments for Ms Sonia Gandhi, the Congress president, are not complementary. Mr Basu's unsolicited bouquets for Ms Gandhi as the Prime Minister was responded to by brickbats by the Congress president herself within days. Taking the sentiments of an entire State for granted, Mr Basu had declared that Ms Gandhi's foreign origin might be an issue in northern India but not in West Bengal.
It is another matter that Mr Basu never entertained the opinions of Mr Sharad Pawar, Mr Narendra Modi, Ms Jayalalithaa, Mr PA Sangma or Mr Chandrababu Naidu, who come from anywhere but northern India. Ms Gandhi, in her Kalchini speech, on the other hand, decried the Leftist rule in West Bengal as a repressive monarchy where democracy has been reduced to a mockery. Incidentally, this is known to be her first scathing assault on Communist rule, whose prime constituent, the CPI(M), is divided over whether to support an incumbent Congress from outside or to join it were it to come to power.
This is how the CPI(M)'s election manifesto indicts the Congress: The Congress party ruled the country for over four decades. Its policies and record of government contributed to the present plight of the people and the country. Its failure to strengthen the foundations of democracy, secularism, federalism and its anti-people policies laid the basis for the rise of the BJP and the NDA Government. It still has not learnt lessons from the past. The Congress advocates economic policies which are not different from the BJP. Congress-run State governments such as the UDF in Kerala are pursuing policies which promote privatisation and liberalisation.
In the states of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, where the Left is strong, it has shown that alternative policies which are distinct from those of the BJP and the Congress can also be put in place. That is why it is necessary to ensure the defeat of the BJP and the Congress in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura and to project the platform of policies of the Left independently all over the country. Mr Harikishan Singh Surjeet, mama Shakuni of Indian politics, has bypassed the need for reviving his pet concept of "third front" and feels it is only a matter of formality to decide whether to join the Congress-led Secular Front or not. He recently told journalists at Chennai's Meenabakkam Airport that he knew which way the wind was blowing. Sadly, the Don Quixote of Indian Communism can't read the direction of the wind within his own party.
CPI(M)'s chief whip in the dissolved 13th Lok Sabha, Mr Somnath Chatterjee, was quick to clarify the confusion generated by Mr Basu and Mr Surjeet. He reiterated that the CPI(M) would not join any government but extend issue-based support. It will be pertinent to recollect that Mr Chatterjee has been throwing lavish dinner parties at his residence in New Delhi in honour of Ms Gandhi for the last few years. The objective of such ingratiation was always vague and ambiguous. There were bickerings inside the party and the Left Front; and every time any connection with the Congress was denied, Mr Basu accorded a gala dinner for Ms Gandhi at Mr Chatterjee's residence. In August 2002, one such dinner was boycotted by Left Front constituents: The Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Forward Bloc.
Most recently, a move towards rapprochement was proposed: Grand secular alliance between the Congress and other like-minded "secular" parties. It was mulled over last December in anticipation of snap polls, but was abandoned soon after for the obvious reasons. Mr Surjeet admitted that there was no raison d'etre in such an alliance because it would mean sleeping with the enemy. The Marxists have a government in office or in waiting in three states: West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala. Elsewhere, they are almost non-entities and immaterial to the Congress. In those three states, the Congress is their principle, if not the only, adversary. Hence, the question: On what principle will that alliance be forged, and against whom? But why is Mr Basu keen to see a lady with a mysterious past and dubious statesmanship in South Block? Why is a veteran like Mr Surjeet so beholden to Ms Gandhi and has abandoned his passions for a third front? A careful study of Left history in conjunction with the reading of today's world provides the answer.
In 1969, when Indira Gandhi's Government was reduced to a minority by a split in the Congress, it survived the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha with the support of CPI. The party extended this support as per a thesis penned by late R Mohan Kumarmangalam that goes by his name. Kumaramangalam wanted to support Indira Gandhi as Lenin sought to support the Kernensky's provisional government in Russia-as a rope supports a hanged man. Even in those hey-days of communism, when every capital from Prague to Pyongyang portended to go red; Kumaramanglam knew Communists were too small to control India except through the "bulk" of the Congress. Kumaramangalam, Nurul Hassan and Raghunath Reddy were given ministerial portfolios. The basic idea was to infiltrate the ranks of power and take control of academia and intelligentsia.
Kumaramanglam perished in a plane crash in 1973, but Communists supported Indira Gandhi's imposition of Emergency (a provision of Indian Constitution borrowed from Third Reich; I mark this since Communists harangue so much against Nazism). As a result, none of their leaders were arrested during Emergency. The period under Nurul Hassan as Education Minister witnessed the Left extending its vice-like grip over education and research institutions. Hindu-baiting and India-bashing intellectuals were given privileged positions in academia. The Left could not, perhaps, have inflicted as much damage on the country as through the controlling of minds!
Long before Kumaramanglam, the Communists had perfected the fine art of infiltrating the Congress. Its history could be traced back to the days of the Congress Socialist Party, a radical Left wing party in the pre-Independence days. Many of them made it to important posts when the Congress formed governments alone or in alliance in nine out of 11 States after the provincial elections of 1937. They gained control of State units in what later became Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh. They were disrupting party activities and were intent on coopting party organisations. It was detected and many of them were expelled from the Congress Socialist Party in March 1940. Despite their belligerent posturing against eachother the Congress and the Communists are the two faces of the same coin.
Mr Basu is trying to redo a Kumaramanglam, sensing an opportunity in the fact that the Congress would need Left support to be in the saddle. And that the Left could never be within half the smelling distance of power without the body of the Congress. Besides, let us not forget that Mr Basu has the experience of cohabiting with the Congress in West Bengal. Marxists were a part of the United Front governments under the chief ministership of Ajay Mukherjee, a-dyed-in-the-wool Gandhian leading a splinter party named Bengal Congress, twice. First in 1967 and then in 1969-1970. The Communists in power used unprecedented State violence to implement their own agenda of land reforms. The politicisation of administration and police they initiated helped them consolidate their authority in 1977.
However, today for the first time in our history, a government at the Centre is on its way to building India as an economic powerhouse. India's image abroad has been bolstered as never before. All this has shifted the ground from beneath the feet of Congress and Communists who have thrived on shortages, poverty, and mediocrity. Mr Basu is not feasible and neither is the Congress or Communism.
Very eye opening article. I was under impression Nurul was congressi.
Wish for NDA majority.
PVNR interview
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.ph...=46723&spf=true
As usual Shekhar Gupta tries to be a wise ass and tries to put wild spins on everything but PVNR is just great.. <!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Added later : PVNR's language is also gr8. People talk about clinton-isms and rumsfeld-isms and greenspan-ism you gotta look at PVNR-isms..
BJP stand
But the party stuck to its stand that a person of foreign origin could not occupy this post.
On Gandhi turning down the offer of Prime Ministership, party spokesperson Arun Jaitley said "BJP shares the sense of relief with a large section of people. Had the reason given in the end been understood in 1999 when she staked claim to form government, there would have been no need of what had taken place now."
BJP stand
Jaitley added that, "<b>We greet Manmohan Singh and hope that he would strengthen the nation.</b> We also hope that he would carry forward the work done by the previous NDA Government".
He said BJP has maintained that, "<b>a person of foreign origin should not occupy the Prime Minister's post and we have full right to say so." </b>
BJP also gave Rahul Gandhi a firm rebuttal, a day after he had remarked that he pitied the BJP for the remarks they had made against his parents.
<b>Arun Jaitley said that that Rahul has a long political career and "needs to be careful and should speak with a deeper understanding of history". </b>
<b>Sangma for amendment on foreign origin issue</b>
PTI[ THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2004 05:33:52 PM ]
NEW DELHI: Nationalist Trinamool Congress leader P A Sangma, who
parted with Congress and NCP on the issue of Sonia Gandhi's foreign
origin, on Thursday said he stood vindicated by her decision to opt
out of prime ministership and demanded amendment to the Constitution
to prevent a person of foreign origin from occupying the top post.
While describing Manmohan Singh as an "excellent choice" for the high
office, Sangma told reporters that <b>the manner in which he was made
the Prime Minister was "not in good taste". </b>
The former Lok Sabha Speaker blamed "BJP's overconfidence" for NDA's
debacle in the general elections.
timesofindia.indiatimes.c...687767.cms
www.newstodaynet.com/guest/0305gu1.htm
<b>The criminality of the Communist party</b>
M V KAMATH
Two points raised in recent times by the Congress party and the Communist Party of India (M) concerning the BJP need to be answered because the lies that these two parties have been spreading have not been adequately met. One is that the Congress is a secular party; the other is that during the Quit India Movement Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then still in histeens had been an informer who had ratted in the Congress and the nationalist movement. A new generation does not know that for years the Muslim League, under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah did not cease from referring to the Congress as a Hindu Party. When, prior to the passing of the Quit India resolution at the historic AICC meeting in August 1942 Mahatma Gandhi noted that there was no room for negotiation between the Congress and the British government and it was going to be an open rebellion, Jinnah's reaction was predictable.
He accused the Congress of aiming at establishing a Hindu raj 'thereby placing the Muslims and other minorities at the mercy of the Congress raj'. (Statesman, 3 July 1942). According to Jinnah's biographer Ayesya Jalai, 'all Jinnah could do was to make much of the Congress threat to Muslim interests, portraying it as a perfidious party no Muslim could ever trust'. Jinnah never conceded the Congress claim that it represented Muslims. As far as Muslims in the country were concerned, Jinnah wanted to be their 'sole spokesman'. Indeed, he wanted parity between the Congress and the Muslim League. No matter how loudly the Congress leaders proclaimed that their's was a national party representing all people, irrespective of their caste, creed, community or religion, Jinnah refused to be convinced and, as independence began to draw near, popular Muslim support to him became stronger. Independence came and suddenly millions of Muslims who had so strongly supported Jinnah and his league realised that they had no place in new-born Pakistan and that if they wanted to survive in India under Congress rule, they had better support the ruling party in toto . It was a volte face that was as self-serving as it was unprincipled. But the large Muslim population realised that it had no alternative. Congress, the party they once hated and reviled, now became the Muslims' saviour. The Congress, of course, was more than happy. Now it could claim that it was truly secular; didn't it have the support of the Muslims as never before? The myth has since continued. Nobody wanted to tell the truth or face it for what it was: phony. After the communal riots in January 1948, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, who had been Congress president, wrote: 'Gandhiji said that he saw Muslims of Delhi being killed before his own eyes. This was being done while his own Vallabhbhai was the Home Minister... Patel had not only failed to give protection to Muslims but he dismissed light-heartedly any complaint made on this account'. The Congress may think that it was secular, but in Muslim and Muslim League eyes, it has always been suspect. Present-day Muslim support of the Congress has an element of hypocrisy about it that needs to be exposed.
What is even more important to expose is the CPM's accusation against Vajpayee that he once served as a 'police informer' following the Quit India agitation. The real traitors are the Communists themselves. This has been proved in great detail by K K Chaudhri in his seminal work entitled Quit India Revolution. In a chapter entitled 'The Betrayal of Freedom Movement' Chaudhuri makes the point that 'on many occasions the Communists were indeed more royalist than even the King of England'. P C Joshi, who was then the Secretary of the party was first to approach the then Home Minister Reginald Maxwell offering him his party's services to betray Congress volunteers. Joshi gave a promise to Maxwell that he will form pro-government (meaning pro-British) guerilla camps in Punjab' to fight the Congress. Indeed, he even went to the extent of submitting to the British government a 120-page report, typed in single space, on the splendid work that his party was doing to disrupt the 1942 movement in province after province, and now it was braving nationalist opposition. Writes Chaudhuri:
'The 120-page report of Joshi on the good work by the CPI to finish off Quit India movement could not have been improved by any other collaborator of the British or by any quisling. Joshi was so anxious to prove the CPI's bona fides and its utility to the British that he claimed that it was doing a better job of stemming the Quit India Movement of denouncing Subhas Bose and leaders of the underground like Jai Prakash, Ram Manohar Lohia, Achyllrao Patwardhan than the government themselves. Joshi argued that communists were more vigilant in tracking down 'saboteurs' that the police and C.I.D. Communists emphatically claimed that they had successfully divided the nationalists and Joshi grandiloquently described Communists as martyrs who were assaulted and vilified by the Congress.... The tone and contents of Joshi's performance reports reveal crystal-clear what CPI had done to sabotage the 1942 movement. 'Furthermore, adds Chaudhrui:
'It should be emphasised that the British did not entice the Communists into betraying the Quit India Movement. In fact the Communists went about systematically and persistently brandishing their usefulness to the government'. Thanks to the Communists Party of India several hundred Congress volunteers, were betrayed to the police; the volunteers were subsequently arrested, jailed, torturing resulting in some deaths. P.C. Joshi considered it his bounden duty and right to attack the policy and activities of Subhas Chandra Bose and Socialists as being treacherous and unpatriotic; even worse, the Communists openly supported the Partition of India. The Communists proclaimed that India was not one nation but 'a collection of several separate nationalities' and that 'the demand for Pakistan is a just and democratic one because Hindus would oppress them in future'. In the face of all this, if the Congress of today wants to accept the support of the CPM, it is its business, but the country must know the real face of Communists.
From the very start they were anti-national and are best described as traitors to the cause of an undivided India. In his overture to Maxwell, Joshi called all opponent of the CPI, including the Congress as 'fascist elements and fifth columnists'. To quote Chaudhuri again: 'He (Joshi) was optimistic and felt impelled to support the (Muslim) league in its demand for the vivisection of India. One of the objects of the propaganda was to stimulate a lively interests in the demand for Pakistan so as to recruit Muslim in their ranks'. Vajpayee can defend himself but the Communists of whatever brand, cannot defend themselves. The sad part of it all is that the BJP does not seem to have any clue as to the role of the Communists and their false claim to secularism. By openly supporting the demand for Pakistan, the Communists have long forfeited the respect of the country. For any party to support the CPM today is an insult to the concept of secularism. The CPM should be isolated.
(The author is a veteran journalist and chief of the Prasar Bharati.
He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan this year.)
<b>Mansingh may be BJD-BJP choice for Rajya Sabha</b>
Speculation is rife that Indian ambassador to United States, <b>Lalit Mansingh, may become ruling Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine's consensus candidate for the fourth Rajya Sabha seat</b>, which neither of the two parties is in a position to win on its own. Mansingh met Chief Minister Navin Patnaik and BJP legislature party leader and Industries Minister Biswabhushan Harichandan during his recent visit to Bhubaneswar.
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