Rahul Gandhi proves his mettle

Today, after winning successive elections since 2014 except Bihar, Delhi and Punjab [BJP & allies rule expanded to 19 of 29 states; Congress rule restricted to just 5 states] the invincible Prime Minister Modi is scared of only one man by the name Rahul Gandhi, whom he & his trolls once described as 'pappu' and a 'reluctant politician'. During the past six months Rahul Gandhi smashed all these and gave a spirited and stunning fight in Gujarat election making Modi and his BJP machine sweat like never before. Here are some points proving his mettle:

1. Rahul Gandhi said on demonetisation "Initially the government spoke about black-money, then moved to counterfeit currency and then again to a cashless society campaign. The prime minister took this so-called bold decision single-handedly. The bold decision can also be a foolish decision. And this has devastated the country. More than 100 people have died. Farmers, fishermen, daily wage earners have been hit hard." He also said "Dr Jaitley, the economy is in the ICU because of notes ban and GST. Aap kehtey hai aap kissi sey kum nahi/ magar aapki dava mein dum nahi."
2. Rahul Gandhi said on GST roll out "A reform that holds great potential is being rushed through in a half-baked way with a self-promotional spectacle. GST is being executed by an incompetent and insensitive government without planning, foresight and institutional readiness. India deserves a GST roll out that does not put crores of its ordinary citizens, small businesses & traders through tremendous pain & anxiety. Their GST is 'Gabbar Singh Tax'. Small shopkeepers are finished. Lakhs of youths have been unemployed. But they are still not ready to listen. Congress GST is 'Genuine Simple Tax'. Modiji’s GST is 'Gabbar Singh Tax'." 
3. Rahul Gandhi hammers on 'unemployment' issue repeatedly. On his superb trip to USA he said, "I think the central reason why Mr. Modi arose is the question of jobs in India. There’s a large part of our populations that simply do not have jobs and cannot see a future. But, certainly our prime minister is not doing enough in creating jobs. 30,000 new youngsters are joining the job market every single day and yet the government is only creating 500 jobs a day. My main issue with Mr Modiji is that he diverts that issue and points the finger somewhere else instead of listening." Though the ruling government floated a plethora of schemes like ‘Make in India’, ‘Startup India’ and ‘Digital India’, all of these initiatives proved to be duds.
4. Speaking on women rights back in 2014 Rahul Gandhi  said, "We talk a lot about becoming a superpower in the world but till the women of our country do not feel comfortable and secured, our country cannot become a superpower. And to tell you the truth, we don’t want such a superpower status, where women are not empowered. One thing I have learnt is if you empower women, they can do anything. One important battle we have to win is the women’s reservation Bill in Parliament. We’re not going to let go of it." The BJP had promised during their pre-election rallies that the women’s reservation bill would be passed as soon as they got into power. Despite three and a half years of Modi rule, the bill has not come up in the Lok Sabha so far.
5. Rahul Gandhi while speaking on intolerance had previously said, "Truth and Power are not the same thing. Truth is what stands up to power. Today, there is no doubt that the emperor is completely naked but there is no one with any courage to point it out. When the British came to India, people handed over freedom to them. It was never taken away from us. This could very well happen now. Both the RSS and Mr Modi want to create a country where people live in utmost fear surrendering their voice so that they can rule unhindered. Mr Modi, after locking his cabinet colleagues in a room announced demonetization which wiped off lakhs of jobs. Many media houses have been depicting this as a work of genius even while admitting in private that it was an act of insanity. Most of them have lost their voice." At his recently concluded USA trip, he again said, "What happened to the tolerance that prevailed in India? What happened to the harmony? For thousands of years, India has had a reputation of peace and harmony. This is being challenged. Our most powerful asset is that 1.3 billion people lived happily, non-violently, peacefully. This is something that as Congress people, every single one of us has to defend."
6. On agrarian crisis Rahul Gandhi said in a rally in Maharashtra, "Everyone knows that a farmer needs the support of the nation and the State Government. If you ask any farmer, how much money comes from their farm, then every farmer will tell you – if the MSP is not increased, if there are no rains and no compensation or bonus is given, then they won’t be able to work, and this is the truth behind today’s India."  Criticising the ruling NDA Government, Rahul said in Gujarat "the suit boot government doesn’t do anything for the farmers." Speaking earlier this year to the bereft farmers from Tamil Nadu, he said,” The farmers have been sitting here for so long. But neither the government nor the Prime Minister is listening to them. The people and farmers of Tamil Nadu deserve to be heard by the Prime Minister who is disrespecting them by not initiating any dialogue. Over the last three years, debt worth Rs 1.4 lakh crore held by 50 industrialists have been written off. Why the same is not being done in case of the farmers? Why are their debts not being waived? It is the Prime Minister’s responsibility to do so.” 
7. Rahul Gandhi has made the 'failed development model of BJP' as the body and soul of his Gujarat campaign. Modi had come to power based on the stellar work he had apparently done in Gujarat which he promised would be juxtaposed to other states as well. But Rahul Gandhi ripped that narrative to pieces saying, "Gujarat model of development can be called toffee model or ‘gubbara’ (balloon) model, which is nothing but loot of public money to benefit big people like Tata and Adani. Modi had given away 45,000 acres belonging to poor farmers and the size of Bihar’s Purnea district to a single person (Adani) at a rate of rupees one per sq metre which is equivalent to the price of a toffee. He gave away the entire stretch of land at a paltry sum of Rs.300 crores. Modi had also provided Rs.10,000 crore loan to Tata Motors for its Nano car project at 0.1% interest, while the common man get loan from banks at 12% interest. For every Nano car, the Gujarat government is providing Rs.40,000 assistance. The total budget of the Gujarat government on education, health and other welfare is less than Rs.10,000 crore." Speaking later he added, "Vikas has gone crazy? India’s economy has been destroyed. But everyone is quiet because they are afraid to speak against Narendra Modiji. These are not my words. Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha has written this in a newspaper article today. Poverty reduction in Gujarat was highlighted as a huge success but reports have since shown that it has been slower than most of the other states. There has been undoubted progress in electrification and infrastructure development but that has mostly played in the hands of the corporate sector with little to no improvement for the masses! If Gujarat model was dissected, an entire thesis could well be written on it with both pros and cons. We would just stop short of calling it a bigger success than it was.
8. We worked for 10 years to bring peace in Kashmir. Speaking in USA on the violence in the valley, Rahul Gandhi said, "PDP was instrumental in bringing youngsters in politics, but the day Modi made alliance with PDP, he destroyed them (PDP). He (Modi) massively opened up space for the terrorists in Kashmir, and you saw the increase in violence.Violence against anybody is wrong. Hatred, anger and violence can destroy us, the politics of polarisation is dangerous. These incidents are making millions feel that they have no future in their country. I lost my father, my grandmother to violence, if I don’t understand violence then who will?"

Read the source article

Rahul Gandhi blames the BJP for spreading abuses about him

Media's servility to Modi

• Three decades ago, state broadcaster Doordarshan was ridiculed and condemned by the press for behaving like ‘Rajiv Darshan.’
  At the time, there was no other TV channel in India, the number of TV sets in the country was very limited. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was ridiculed by the opposition and the press for projecting himself so much.
• Now, nearly 80% of the population has access to TV. There are nearly a thousand TV channels. News channels alone are nearly 300 in all languages.
• On all these channels, there is incessant Modi Darshan. All his speeches are televised live and repeated 24×7. All radio channels are under a sort of obligation to air his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ every month and his speeches in Parliament or elsewhere. 
• The print media too has begun to crawl before this ubiquitous (and narcissistic) self-proclaimed messiah. This nationwide media omnipresence of the Prime Minister has not generated criticism like it did at the time of ‘Rajiv Darshan’ in the late eighties.
• Columnists in the press and commentators on the shouting panels in TV debates, ring-mastered by the equally narcissist anchors, have not questioned this obscene personality cult. 
• The same self-styled educated urban intelligentsia was so vociferously critical of Rajiv and before that of Indira Gandhi for the promotion of such a cult, which they argued, “distorted” and “destabilised” democracy. Their liberal sensibilities expressed deep revulsion and concern for India’s democratic ethos then.
• These people surrendered their sensibilities to the powers and feel absolutely comfortable in this multi-media driven glorification of the personality of the Prime Minister Modi. 
• With the exceptions like Ram Jethmalani, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, and a few others, there are hardly any resistance to this media-led authoritarianism from the political, cultural, or intellectual class. They have failed the people and democracy.
• A kind of passive resistance is building up. More and more people feel these days that there is nothing they learn from news broadcasts. They are getting fed up with the panel discussions, as they neither grasp what the debate is about, nor who is saying what. 
• Many normal viewers stopped watching news channels or debates. They get their news on their mobile phones and varied commentary on social media where they can interact on the net.
• There is also concern expressed in newspapers’ editorial that readership is becoming indifferent and unresponsive from the young and also from the old or middle-aged. There is a sharp decline in news magazine circulation. 
• It is ironic that the media-communication revolution gave rise to information illiteracy among the educated. This is a wake-up call for the traditional press and TV media as their audience has become the whistle-blower.
• If Indian media becomes more and more servile towards Modi, it will lose whatever viewership they are left with.

Sound minds of India expect miracles 

by electing educationally and morally illiterate to power.

While urban middle classes in 1980's were connected to rural India and urban poor and were socially conscious people, today's urban middle classes live in complete disconnection to rural India and urban poor and are fundamentally selfish. Therefore, they rally behind Modi as long as his decisions doesn't pinch them. Today's media's servility is characterized by its selfishness and business interests protection rather than any principles. There are no Ramnath Goenka's in media business now a days.

Yashwant Sinha's exemplary courage and patriotism

By questioning his own party's government and its powerful people for their willful wrong acts leading to nation's economic distress and state of joblessness, Yashwant Sinha not only exhibited exemplary courage but also demonstrated that he is real patriot.

• He has put nation above the party's interests.
• He has rightly said that while many in BJP agree with him but are afraid to speak out.
• Needless to say Modi & co has systematically subverted national media, barring few, only to do 'praising' even for his 'worst acts'.
• In social media, BJP's troll brigade ensures all false stories praising Modi all the times and spreading falsehoods on Congress especially Rahul Gandhi.
• Yashwant Sinha might not be saint of all times, he joined the elite club of very few who dared to question powerful rogues. Kudos.
• At his age 80+, no question of any ambitions or aspersions. Even if any, still his acts valiant are appreciable.
• But for the truthfulness of Yashwant Sinha's remarks, the resistance offered by his son and Modi's minister Jayant Sinha that all is well, faded away. 
• While Jaitley's response was unbecoming of his qualifications and position he his holding i.e. FM and Modi as PM was compelled to give a lengthy 90 minute reply quoting all unconnected things that everything will be fine in future, which any will be.
• Instead of blaming FM Jaitley alone for all the economic ills of today, Yashwant Sinha would have blamed PM Modi as well. In fact Modi's responsibility is much bigger than Jaitley's in this matter or in any other matter given the fact that nothing moves in Delhi without instruction from PMO.
• Some accuse that he is speaking up is settling of grouse against the PM, FM and BJP president. Even if it is true, what Yashwant Sinha has done is in the best interests of the nation.
• Finally it is better to accept that Yashwant Sinha is driven with the passion to save India’s economic misfortune exhibiting exemplary courage to stand up and point out not compromising on ideals and spoke what he believed as truth.
• If Modi has any sense, he should accept truth as truth and appoint an expert panel to suggest ways & means for economic recovery in the shortest possible time frame in the best interest of nation and its Aam Admi and Kisan.
• Finally, the mess created by Modi and Jaitley with demonetization and mangled GST roll out without adequate preparation resulting in GDP growth falling for six consecutive quarters, joblessness etc is likely to stay and normalization is at least 4-5 years away.

You cannot fool all the people all the time ... Abraham Lincoln

I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, 

and part with him when he goes wrong ... Abraham Lincoln

In 2004, BJP's Vajpayee govt lost polls for following Congress model of ruling the nation with arrogance. LK Advani’s advice to attack issues and not people because “speaking on persons and then bypassing the issues is something which is very easily done” was forgotten by all. Today Modi is doing exactly the same. Jaitley missed an opportunity to accept the fact that GDP growth has fallen for six successive quarters and explain reasons and remedies being implemented and solicit suggestions. This would have effectively disarmed and silenced critics. He should have answered all issues raised, point by point. How far he will run away from truth?  Jaitley attacking Yashwant Sinha is height of insanity. Of course Modi often does it on Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh even in parliament ignoring the issues. Very soon Modi's ratings will fall below that of Rahul Gandhi and that surprises no one. If PM and FM tells lies to people of India all the times, they are unfit to stay in their positions any more.

మోడీ దుష్పరిపాలన: భారతదేశము సర్వనాశనము

Yashwant Sinha is a senior leader in BJP

He was Ex- IAS officer and was AB Vajpayee's Finance Minister between 1998-2002

His son Jayant Sinha is Minister of State for Civil Aviation in Modi's cabinet at present

Even though Yashwant Sinha holds grudges against Modi, but whatever he said is largely truth and a truthful person can't be despised. Building economy is painfully slow process but destruction is rapid. Modi's autocratic tendencies and Jaitley's incompetence have landed the nation, which was otherwise going on smoothly despite its known age old ills like corruption, black money etc, into this imbroglio and recovering may take its own sweet time and in the process poor and peasants will pay huge price. Unemployed youth will suffer loss of good career, life in disarray and many could end up in illegal and anti-social activities. Modi & Jaitley duo must exit otherwise BJP would be shunted out in 2019 general elections.

Yashwant Sinha Indicts Arun Jaitley's 'Mess'

• I shall be failing in my national duty if I did not speak up even now against the mess the finance minister has made of the economy. I am also convinced that what I am going to say reflects the sentiments of a large number of people in the BJP and elsewhere who are not speaking up out of fear.
• Jaitley was, to begin with, a lucky finance minister, luckier than any in the post-liberalisation era. Depressed global crude oil prices placed at his disposal lakhs of crores of rupees. This unprecedented bonanza was waiting to be used imaginatively. The legacy problems like stalled projects and bank NPAs were no doubt there and should have been managed better like the crude oil bonanza. But the oil bonanza has been wasted and the legacy problems have not only been allowed to persist, they have become worse.
• So, what is the picture of the Indian economy today? Private investment has shrunk as never before in two decades, industrial production has all but collapsed, agriculture is in distress, construction industry, a big employer of the work force, is in the doldrums, the rest of the service sector is also in the slow lane, exports have dwindled, sector after sector of the economy is in distress, demonetisation has proved to be an unmitigated economic disaster, a badly conceived and poorly implemented GST has played havoc with businesses and sunk many of them and countless millions have lost their jobs with hardly any new opportunities coming the way of the new entrants to the labour market. 
• For quarter after quarter, the growth rate of the economy has been declining until it reached the low of 5.7% in the first quarter of the current fiscal, the lowest in three years. The deceleration had started much earlier. Demonetisation only added fuel to fire.  According to the old method of calculation, the growth rate of 5.7%  is actually 3.7% or less.
• SBI chairman stated that the telecom sector is the latest entrant to the long list of stressed sectors.
• The reasons for this decline have been allowed to accumulate over time to cause the present crisis. It was not difficult to take counter measures to deal with them that called for devoting time to the task, serious application of mind, understanding of the issues and then working out a game plan to tackle them. It was perhaps too much to expect from a person (FM) who was carrying the heavy burden (Defence, Divestment & Corporate Affairs) of so many extra responsibilities. The results are there for all of us to see.
• The only new thing is the reconstituted Economic Advisory Council of the prime minister. Like the five Pandavas they are expected to win the new Mahabharat war for us.
• Forty leading companies of the country are already facing bankruptcy proceedings. Many more are likely to follow suit. The SME sector is suffering from an unprecedented existential crisis.
• The input tax credit demand under the GST is a whopping Rs 65,000 crore against a collection of Rs 95,000 crore. The government has asked the income tax department to chase those who have made large claims. 
• We protested against raid raj when we were in opposition. Today it has become the order of the day. Post demonetisation, the income tax department has been charged with the responsibility of investigating lakhs of cases involving the fate of millions of people. The ED and the CBI also have their plates full. Instilling fear in the minds of the people is the name of the new game.
• Economies are destroyed more easily than they are built. It took almost four years of painstaking and hard work in the late nineties and early 2000 to revive a sagging economy we had inherited in 1998. Nobody has a magic wand to revive the economy overnight. Steps taken now will take their own time to produce results. So, a revival by the time of the next Lok Sabha election appears highly unlikely. A hard landing appears inevitable. 
• Bluff and bluster is fine for the hustings, it evaporates in the face of reality. 
• The prime minister claims that he has seen poverty from close quarters. His finance minister is working over-time to make sure that all Indians also see it from equally close quarters.
• P Chidambaram said that Congress is happy that Yashwant Sinha has echoed their criticisms of the government. He also tweeted "Yashwant Sinha speaks Truth to Power. Will Power now admit the Truth that economy is sinking?"

Everyone in the country knows our economy is distressed and in deep trouble due to foolish acts of our PM & FM. Some speaks and many (BJP/Modi bhakts) won't. After inflicting irreparable damages, what is the point in appointing 5 member Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council or working out on a meager Rs.50,000 crores stimulus package or announcing Rs.16,000 crore free electricity for all by end of 2018 benefiting 4 crore poor people. Any change in economic direction will take few to several years and nothing much can be expected before 2019 elections. Destroying the institutions like Planning Commission etc have had its effect for this directionless economy. Unless Modi learns to respect experts and take their advice - discarding the habits of consulting quacks and astrologers, India has no future. Alternately, people of India may find Modi's substitute in 2019 and they will.