2009 -- India Election -

[Guest]

<b>SGPC suspects Sonia’s ’role’ in Tytler’s clean chit</b>

<b>Maneka Gandhi should have brought up son better: Mayawati</b>

[Capt M Kumar]

"Varun is well-versed with issues related to people. Rahul (Gandhi) is an 'innocent kid'," Shourie said.

"Rahul is like an innocent kid and he should not be thrust upon with the responsibility to run the nation with a population of more than 100 crore," he told reporters here.

He said that Rahul was a good person but his study and stance on issues like Indo-US nuclear deal, China and ISI were not known.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Varun-w...how/4359885.cms

[Capt M Kumar]

Mayawati did not stand on false modesty when she told the cheering crowds that they must vote for the BSP because for the first time a person representing the downtrodden had a chance to become the Prime Minister. She was obviously referring to herself. She said the BSP must come to power at the Centre because several of her suggestions like reservation for Dalit Christians and religious minorities had not been implemented because it required Constitutional amendment.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090405/haryana.htm

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Expect fireworks! Jethmalani son, Sunil Dutt daughter to clash</b>
pioneer.com
TN Raghunatha | Mumbai
In a development that will add spark to the Lok Sabha poll scene in the nation’s financial capital, the BJP has nominated high-profile criminal lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani as its candidate against sitting Congress MP Priya Dutt from Mumbai North-Central constituency.

<b>The BJP — which had at a stage offered the Mumbai North-Central seat to slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan’s daughter Poonam Mahajan-Rao and subsequently asked the party functionary-cum-fashion designer Shaina NC to contest this seat — chose Mahesh, son of famous legal luminary and former Union Minister Ram Jethmalani, to take on Priya after Poonam and Shaina showed reluctance</b>.

Poonam, it may be called, had rooted for the Mumbai North-East seat. However, the BJP leadership — despite strong resistance put up by her uncle-cum-senior State BJP leader Gopinath Munde — nominated former MP Kirit Somaiya in her stead.

While an aggrieved Munde made his unhappiness public while talking to the media, Poonam created a stir in the State political circles by meeting Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and, in the process, unleashing speculation about either her or brother Rahul Mahajan contesting the LS poll from Mumbai North-East constituency as a non-BJP candidate.

On his part, 52-year-old Mahesh has been enthusiastic to contest the Lok Sabha poll ever since the BJP offered him the Mumbai North-Central seat more than a week ago.

“I am happy to take on Priya Dutt in the poll. And I am confident of putting up a good fight and winning eventually. I was preparing to make a detailed statement as to why I am contesting. Owing to lack of time, I could not do that. Anyway, I will shortly be addressing a Press conference to spell out my plans and priorities,” Jethmalani Jr said shortly after the BJP announced his candidature.

<b>Earlier, Jethmalani Jr said the inept handling of the November 26, 2009, mayhem in Mumbai was among the reasons for his decision to contest the poll. </b>

<b>Accusing the Congress of communalising terrorism, Mahesh said he felt a BJP Government would firmly deal with the issue of terrorism</b> .<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bodhi]

Husky, 159: thanks a lot for the reasearch. I was only joking about greek thing. such a thought is generic enough in all heathen soceities and I suppose can be had from all of them. BTW, bhartR^ihari is considered 1st c BCE, a contemporary of kAlidAsa. In any case he is much before 7th c. of CE, since a chinese traveller of this age describes reminiscence of bhartR^ihari in India as someone from long past.

And this is the exact line of tulasIdAsa:

kAla daNDa gahi kAhu na mArA,
hara-i dharma-bala-buddhi-bichArA
nikaTa kAla jehi Avata sA-I.M
tehi bhrama ho-i tumhArihi nA-I.M
RCM 6.36.8

"kAla never strikes its victim with a daNDa in order to destroy him
He just deprives victim's mind of the power of thought and dharma
And when kAla is near at hand, My Lord
Victim's mind is tendered utterly confused, like yours is now

I was wrong, it is not from kiShkindhA but actually from laMkA kANDa, and addressed my mandodarI to rAvaNa

[Husky]

<!--QuoteBegin-Bodhi+Apr 5 2009, 11:21 AM-->QUOTE(Bodhi @ Apr 5 2009, 11:21 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Husky, 159: thanks a lot for the reasearch.  I was only joking about greek thing.  such a thought is generic enough in all heathen soceities and I suppose can be had from all of them.  BTW, bhartR^ihari is considered 1st c BCE, a contemporary of kAlidAsa.  In any case he is much before 7th c. of CE, since a chinese traveller of this age describes reminiscence of bhartR^ihari in India as someone from long past.[right][snapback]96114[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->1. It was no research on my part. As I recall, all I did was google "Euripides" or something. It's what's called "cheating".

2. Well, as usual western dating doesn't agree - neither with Indians dating nor with itself either apparently. Usually they date him 6th century CE (I checked another encyclopaedia). Although the above wacky page on Euripides had him in the 7th century.

http://www.iep.utm.edu/b/bhartrihari.htm
From a site calling itself the "internet encyc of philosophy"
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bhartrihari <b>(c. 450-510 CE?)</b>
(Isn't that question-mark cute?)

1. Bhartrihari's Life and Works

Bhartrihari's works were so widely known that even the <b>Chinese traveler Yijing (I-Tsing) (635-713 CE)</b> mentions the grammarian-philosopher, mistaking him for a Buddhist.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhartrihari
Wacky's page on Bhartrhari mentions the above Chinese traveller's book by name:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Grammarian
Further information: Sphoá¹­a

Bhartṛhari was an early figure in Indic linguistic theory, mentioned in the 670s by Chinese traveller Yi-Jing, author of the Vākyapadīya ("About Words and Sentences"). The work is divided into three books, the Brahma-kāṇḍa, (or Āgama-samuccaya "aggregation of traditions"), the Vākya-kāṇḍa, and the Pada-kāṇḍa (or Prakīrṇaka "miscellaneous").<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Was the Chinese traveller you mentioned a different person from the above YiJing?

<b>ADDED:</b>
Missed out adding this:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->BTW, bhartR^ihari is considered 1st c BCE, a contemporary of kAlidAsa.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->As we know, christowestern dating is not always completely inconsistent (it's a miracle!). They've dated Bharatrhari to 5th-6th century and Kalidasa too:

http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/kalidas.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Kalidasa: life and works
A collection from various sources
Last update: January 16, 1996

<b>Kalidas
From: Encyclopedia Americana</b>
Written by: Walter Harding Maurer
University of Hawaii at Manoe
[...]
KALIDASA, (kaalidaasa), India's greatest Sanskrit poet and dramatist. In spite of the celebrity of his name, the time when he flourished always has been an unsettled question, <b>although most scholars nowadays favor the middle of the 4th and early 5th centuries A.D., during the reigns of Chandragupta II Vikramaaditya and his successor Kumaaragupta.</b> Undetermined also is the place of Kaalidaasa's principal literary activity, as the frequent and minute geographic allusions in his works suggest that he traveled extensively.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Thank gawd he comes after jeebus and the Gita and the Mahabharatam. Else the <i>Timeframe Superimposed On India</i> just wouldn't fit, now would it. There's only so many centuries since them lovely Oryans invaded, for the Rg and other Vedas and the Upanishads and everything to have been composed and written up, and for one Indian celebrity after another to have come and gone.


<b>ADDED2:</b>
No longer of any consolation, but for informative purposes, note that Monier Monier-Williams who did a translation of Shakuntala (as Sakoontala):
From Introduction, p. vii-viii of Śakoontalá By Kālidāsa, Monier Monier-Williams
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Of all Indian dramatists, and indeed of all Indian poets, the most celebrated is <b>Kalidasa</b>, the writer of the present play. He comes next in date to the author of the 'Toy-cart'; and although little is known of the circumstances of his life, yet there is <b>satisfactory evidence to prove that he lived in the time of King Vikramaditya I.,</b> whose capital was Ujjayini, now Oujein (a sacred and very ancient city situated to the north-east of Gujarat), and <b>who flourished in the middle of the century preceding the commencement of our era.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->(Note the 'satisfactory evidence' used back then to draw conclusions, compare with the 'probably' and 'perhaps' and the question-marks of today.)

So the last line indicates that Kalidasa was dated to 1st century BCE back in Monier-Williams' time (who, if I recall it aright from what I read in Hinduwisdom, was a christian). Yes, see at end.

But like each subsequent entry in various encyclopaedias dated the Mahabharatam and Gita nearer and nearer our own time, Kalidasa has also since then leaped some 4 to 5 centuries closer <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> Christian dating is wonderful. Tomorrow or the day after I will be contemporary with Rama <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->


<b>ADDED3:</b>
http://hinduwisdom.info/FirstIndologists.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Successor to Wilson in  Oxford's Boden Chair  was Sir Monier-Williams(1819-1899) who was a Christian of warm Evangelical convictions. He said:

"For what purpose then has this enormous territory been committed to England? Not to be the 'corpus vile' of political, social, or military experiments; not for benefit of our commerce, or the increase of our wealth - but that every man, woman and child, from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya mountains, may be elevated, enlightened Christianized."

(source: Missionaries in India: Continuities, Changes, Dilemmas - By Arun Shourie ASA Publications ASIN 8190019945 p. 152)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bodhi]

Communist paNDita DD Kosambi had come to fore with his work on bhartR^ihari. He holds B to have been in nearabouts of CE 200s.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->But he must have been a brahmin of a comparatively late period. Certainly, he could not have belonged to that earliest of all stages when the brahmins were yet to develop as an in- integral part.of the social system; when they were still fulgitivcs in the woods, living spiritually on the exaggerated memories of a culture destroyed by fighting invaders ( later to become the kshatriya caste) and subsisting upon roots, wild fruit, cattle. This period, however, left its mark on the language in the form of two bits of wish- thinking: the cow and the vine that fulfil all desire: kamadhenu and kalpalata; these are reflected in the advice our poet gives to the king as to the best means of exploiting the earth (N. 46). Even the later ideal of retiring to a sylvan life after having enjoyed that of a householder is absent in Bhartrihari, whose renunciation hardly rises above complete aesthetic paralysis (V. 97, V'. 8, 29: N. 81). He can only have belonged to the period after the Mauryan "universal monarchy', after the brahmins had saturated all petty royal courts as ministers and advisers, had saturated the lower sociaI strata as priests, had finished their chief contribution to religious and productive organization by outmoding the age of great monasteries, and were at the beginning of their last great phase, a literary expansion of secular type. This can hardly have been much before the fourth century A.D., and might not have taken place simultaneously over the whole country. Any attempt to assign a very early date for Bhartrihari would have to cope with the reference to the ten incarnations of Vishnu (N. 100), and to the hermaphrodite Shiva (V. 18: original in Sanskrit missing).

The authenticity of these two stanzas can be challenged, as also of the Shringara verse, which extols the pale golden complexion of Shaka maidens. But the word samanta, originally 'neighbour', can only mean 'feudal baron' in V. 42. This usage, though current in the 6th century, would be difficult to establish before the Gupta period. Therefore, the late 3rd century A.D. would be the earliest reasonable period for the Bhartrihari who saw this beginning of Indian feudalism, but no empire of any size.

http://www.geocities.com/dialecticalmeth...ihari.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

But certainly many scholars after Kosambi would disagree with him on many of the marxist-derived prrofs cited above. E.g. his saying that in this suggested era brAhmaNa-s had saturated the offices of kings - we do know that in post-mauryan and pre-gupta period many non-brAhmaNa castes were deep entrenched in office too. Look for example in history provided in rAjatara~NgiNI that mentions many non-brAhmaNa AmAtya-s. drama mR^ichcHakaTikA mentions a kAyastha secretary to the corrupt relative of the king. and so on.

[Bodhi]

but i suppse we are obstructing the traffic for others on the Election thread.

so here :

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Varun is Well-Versed with Issues, Rahul is Kid: Arun Shourie</b>

April 4, 2009

Senior BJP leader and former union minister Arun Shourie today said that
Varun Gandhi, currently lodged in Etah jail and facing serious charges
for his alleged hate speech against Muslims, understood "issues" better
than his elder cousin and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

"Varun is well-versed with issues related to people. Rahul (Gandhi) is
an 'innocent kid'," Shourie said.

"Rahul is like " an innocent kid" and he should not be thrust upon with
the responsibility to run the nation with a population of more than 100
crore," he told reporters here.

He said that Rahul was a good person but his study and stance on issues
like Indo-US nuclear deal, China and ISI was not known.

Political leaders should be gauged from their understandings of the
issues, the senior BJP leader said.

When asked that the BJP has gone back to the temple issue in the run up
to the Lok Sabha elections, he said that two blunders had been overcome
in last 60 years - firstly, new economic policy has prevailed over
socialism, and the pseudo-secularism has been unmasked.

He said that the credit of replacing the blunder of socialism with new
economic policy goes to former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, while that
of the second one goes to BJP leader who took out a 'Rath Yatra' on the
temple issue.

The leader out rightly denied that the BJP had adopted double standards
over the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhaya.

BJP's stand was clear on the temple issue, it wants that the two
communities should solve it by a dialogue, or by a court order or by a
law passed in Parliament, he said.

On global economic downturn, Shourie said UPA government has failed on
economic front, adding that the NDA has a better strategy to overcome
global economic slow down and inflation.

http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?657432<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Husky]

^ Important relevant-to-thread post by Bodhi



Bodhi,
1. I updated my last post with reference to Monier-Williams' mention of when Kalidasa was dated back in his day.
2. You needn't convince me of anything: christowestern dating is only a source of amusement for me. I do like it for this one reason though: one can't get bored with it since it keeps changing with the weather.

[Guest]

Without working, How this guy is able to make so much money,
Rahul Gandhi's new jackpot.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--># In 2004, he declared total assets of Rs 22 lakh. In five years, the assets of the first-time MP have shot up 10 times to 2.25 crore.

# In 2004, he held bank deposits of Rs 11 lakh, £30,000 and $19,200; shares of Rs 3.9 lakh; LIC and other savings certificates in Rs 3.80 lakh; jewellery worth Rs 1.25 lakh; and a farm house worth Rs 9.8 lakh.

# In 2009, he holds bank deposits of about Rs 20 lakh, LIC and other savings certificates of Rs 10.2 lakh; land worth Rs 40 lakh, jewellery worth Rs 1.5 lakh; and two shops in a mall worth Rs 1.63 crore.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<img src='http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCH/2009/04/05/Photographs/010/05_04_2009_010_006_009.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[Guest]

Strong advantage BJP: 1 (Jaipur)
Steady advantage BJP: 6 (Churu, Jaipur Rural, Bharatpur, Dhaulpur-Karauli, Pali, Rajsamand)
Slight advantage BJP: 5 (Bikaner, Alwar, Bhilwara, Jodhpur, Jhalawar-Karan)
Toss up: 3 (Ajmer, Nagaur, Kota)
Slight advantage Congress: 2 (Ganganagar, Sikar)
Steady advantage Congress: 4 (Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Chittaurgarh)
Strong advantage Congress: 3 (Jhunjhunu, Sawai Madhopur-Tonk, Banswara)
Impossible to predict: 1 (Dausa)

<b>Kerala pre-poll prediction : UDF front runner, BJP might get lucky</b>

[Guest]

Maharashtra Analysis
BJP-Shiv Sena = 38 , NCP-Congress -RPI= 10

[acharya]

Opinion
Spoilt for choice after the elections

By Arun Nehru

Apr 05 : The election arithmetic is getting complicated as polls approach and the alliance structures of the future will only be evident after results are declared on May 16.

This chart shows minor changes but to understand the options for government formation it is necessary to show various groups and the likely direction they may take after the results are declared.

As things stand, either the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can form a government but do not rule out other possibilities.

For instance, the alliance between the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) is sensible and we see groupings between the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Pattali Makkal Katchi and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIDMK/PMK/MDMK), and the Telugu Desam (TD) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). What is there to stop these groups or others from arriving at a political compromise and settling for a common leader? They may well have numbers in excess of either the Congress or the BJP.

I have no intention to confuse the reader but all political parties are aware that numbers will deliver alliances. Anything can happen if either the Congress or the BJP gain or lose 5-10 seats in the polls.

I can give at least 10 different options which the floating groups can adopt. My feeling is that we will have a stable government, but the fact remains that the Congress and the BJP will have to learn a trick or two from the regional parties.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the Congress candidate for the top post, but he has just undergone heart surgery and needs time to recuperate. So we cannot rule out the possibility of Pranab Mukherjee, Sharad Pawar or Sheila Dikshit reaching the top post.

Then there is Rahul Gandhi who, as general secretary of the Congress, will get full exposure during the elections.

Of course, the BJP has projected L.K. Advani as its prime ministerial candidate and he is fully in control. But the party has a string of capable leaders and the most important one is the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi who is waiting in the wings. Also, since the party has excellent chief ministers in Shivraj Singh Chauhan (Madhya Pradesh), B.C. Khandhuri (Utarakhand), and Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), it would not have to fear anti-incumbency vote in these states during the current elections.

We do not know the likely composition of the Third Front but political reality cannot be ignored. All regional leaders have experience, ability and charisma. I would not write off Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar, Mayawati, J. Jayalalithaa or Mulayam Singh Yadav as contenders for the top job in the future.

My personal feeling is that a regional group formation today will result in larger cooperation with power-sharing agreements if the parties can find a compromise candidate with a good image for the Prime Minister’s post. This can become the favoured option even if the Congress or the BJP maintain the figures given below.

The Left is still relevant even if their numbers drop from 65 seats to 33 seats, but they will get totally isolated if they obstruct regional forces from negotiating with either the Congress or the BJP. In this context, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh may well be a major player as he understands politics better than others. The joining together of the SP, RJD and LJP should give a suitable signal to both the Congress and the BJP that their options are limited in the future.

There is more than a possibility that regional forces will form a viable structure by May 16 and without them no government is possible at the Centre. We can expect two-three weeks of intense political activity after the results are announced.

The charts show the fluid situation. Next week, as trends in certain states become clearer, I will indicate the possible options which are available to all parties.

In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK, PMK, Left, MDMK group is the frontrunner but, as in the past, a total sweep in either direction may not take place. A similar situation exists in Andhra Pradesh where all three areas of the state show a different trend and we can expect a mixed verdict. The situation in West Bengal can polarise further in favour of the Trinamul Congress and in Orissa, Navin Patnaik and the BJD, Left may not lose too many seats to the Congress.

Though the situation in Uttar Pradesh is fluid, I do not see either the BJP or the Congress gaining in any substantive manner. The political "accident" in Pilibhit may well go in favour of the BSP which averted a communal situation and acted firmly on the issue of law and order.

Arun Nehru is a former Union minister

[acharya]

DNA Poll Shows Congress Surging Ahead

This Week
<img src='http://blogs.outlookindia.com/admin/Uploads/DNA_20090406.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Last Week

<img src='http://blogs.outlookindia.com/admin/Uploads/DNA_20090330.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[Capt M Kumar]

<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> The Opposition BJP-led NDA is expected to have a minor edge over Congress-led UPA in the Lok Sabha elections, a pre-poll survey has claimed.

According to the survey, NDA is predicted to get 187 seats, while the UPA is expected to bag 178 seats. The BJP with 144 seats may win more seats than Congress which is predicted to win in 133 constituencies.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nda-may-...-survey/443356/

[Guest]

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002...051051.htm

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Varun managed to get 22.57 hours of prime time coverage in six prominent channels, including state-run Doordarshan, while the IPL got 13.30 hours coverage during March 16 and March 30.

...

Interestingly, the study claimed that Congress leader Imran Kidwai's statements on Muslims voting for BJP was under-reported. The issue got a coverage of 12.36 minutes during the fortnight in the channels.

....

According to the study, Varun got the maximum coverage in NDTV which gave him 7.17 hours, including 3.18 hours of special programmes followed by CNN-IBN which alloted 4.30 hours for the BJP candidate.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Capt M Kumar]

http://www.politicsparty.com/seat_count_2009.php
NDA=230
3rd front=170
UPA=100 <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Others=43

[Guest]

<b>I would have crushed Varun under a roller: Lalu</b>
This is hate speech but not for Congress or election commision.

[Guest]

<b>CM's son-in-law surrenders, released on bail</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son-in-law and religious preacher Anil Kumar was on Monday arrested after he surrendered before Khammam district police in connection with violation of the model code of conduct.

"A case was registered against Anil Kumar and three other pastors for violation of election code of conduct and defying police orders after they used the religious congregation at Karunagiri in Khammam for political canvassing on March 26," Khammam District Superintendent of Police Mahesh Bhagwat told PTI over phone
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->