An ardent observer, analyst and critic of politics and current happenings. Truly believes in human equality, poor and peasants have first right on resources, and rule of law essential in a democracy.
Here are my reflections and collections. Follow me on Twitter @nharshakumar
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:
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."
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'."
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.
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.
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."
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.”
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.
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?"
In Gujarat electoral campaign, while Modi seems to be sweating a lot to avoid any possibility of a humiliating defeat, Rahul Gandhi was at ease in engaging people, delivering speeches and taking decisions indicating his confidence of sure victory.
While there is no mention of much publicized "Gujarat Vikas" in Modi's speeches, Rahul was at ease raising several people's issues like demonetization, GST, unemployment and so on.
In order to leave no stone upturned to win, Modi forgot that he is PM of he nation and began to resort to unconnected issues and bombarding with low level allegations incompatible to his status. He stooped to unimaginable lows that even ardent BJP & Modi fans were amused with contempt at his vitriolic.
Whether Congress win or lose, this tough fight is sure to change BJP's future course of policy decisions in the light of several state elections in 2018 and general election in 2019.
The arrogant and dictatorial attitudes of Modi are likely to soften and and also make him face internal dissent and desertions arising out of distress in economy, agriculture, unemployment, etc.
In any case Gujarat elections and Rahul Gandhi were able to ground Modi and make see him the realities on the ground and to go forward with caution at least here after.
Having lost almost every election since 2014, Rahul Gandhi has very little to lose but resurgent and winning Congress will destroy Modi's evil grip on BJP. This coupled with financial distress will change the direction of financial reforms especially with several state elections in 2018 and general election in 2019. India has lost enough with evil Modi and it is time to dump him out. Time and again non Congress parties have squandered opportunity and proved that Congress is superior to them. Modi has so far proved to be worst of all PM's bettering only VP Singh. Rahul Gandhi with is back ground and good mannerisms proved to be a gentlemen while Modi is best at his street language. Young Rahul Gandhi is better for the nation rather than old & spiteful Modi.
Man telling his curious friends that he is "looking for vikas"
Viral social media campaign on poor infrastructure has the party worried ahead of polls The much vaunted ‘Gujarat model of development’, once the poster-child of economists, has “gone crazy”, according to the top trending hashtag on social media. With State elections barely two months away, the ruling BJP is worried. Over the past two weeks, witty posts, satirical memes, and audio-visual capsules — all with the Gujarati hashtag, ‘vikas gando thayo chhe’ (‘Development has gone crazy’) — have gone viral on Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp. Mostly shared by youngsters, it has turned into a trending social media campaign that has put the ruling BJP on the defensive. The campaign began spontaneously after the monsoon rains that left potholes in roads across the State, including in cities such as Ahmedabad, and the government’s claims about smart cities and world class infrastructure took a beating. Soon, people started sharing photographs or video clips of caved-in roads, decrepit State transport buses, roadside garbage dumps, flooded streets, and figures of swine flu-related deaths, all tagged with the catchy ‘vikas’ punch line. Sensing an opportunity, the Congress party’s social media teams latched on to the campaign. As the phenomenon became a talking point across age groups, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani responded by blaming the Congress. “Those who are saying ‘vikas gando thayo chhe’ have themselves gone crazy,” he said. Recently, party president Amit Shah felt compelled to ask the State’s youth not to “fall prey to anti-BJP social media campaigns.” However, many BJP leaders admit that they are unable to counter the forceful social media posts on fuel price hikes, high GST rates, and job losses. “This campaign is a huge success. Even BJP supporters are forwarding these posts,” said Saral Patel, a Congress social media volunteer. Though the Congress social media team has taken credit, the phrase “Vikas gando thayo chhe” is attributed to 20-year-old Sagar Savalia, a civil engineering student and member of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti which leads the Patidar quota agitation. “On August 23, I received some photographs of a dilapidated State transport bus. I forwarded them with the line, ‘Stay Away! Vikas has gone crazy in Gujarat’, and it went viral,” Mr. Savalia told The Hindu. Modi & co will not learn lessons on their own. They must be dumped into garbage. Otherwise they will destroy the nation beyond recognition with their funny adventures. They don't know how to rule a nation democratically. The present 5.7% GDP growth if corrected with low oil regime benefit and fudging economic data with new parameters, the real GDP growth will be less than 2% and massive job losses indicates economic collapse of nation!
In 2014, 'Vikas' (development) was the plank that helped Narendra Modi transition from Gujarat chief minister to India's prime minister.
Vikas now symbolises the frustration of those who feel let down by the BJP in general and by Modi in particular.
The phrase 'Vikas gando thai gayo chhe (Vikas has gone berserk)' is reverberating at every nook and corner of the state and there is no way the BJP can control this. The phenomenon was felt in a big way during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad in Modi's company.
Throughout Abe's visit to Gujarat, the people kept on circulating pictures of well-lit landmarks like the Nehru Bridge, Ellis Bridge and Sabarmati Riverfront, which is Modi's dream project, with the caption – 'Diwali of Vikas' father (Modi)'.
Some of these pictures carried the question – 'Kona baap ni Diwali? (Whose father's Diwali is this?)' and the answer below was 'Vikas na Pappa ni (Vikas' father's)'. These pictures had an insert of Modi with the caption Vikas gando thai gayo chhe.
While the Vijay Rupani-led government in Gujarat and the officials of the Modi-led Central government tried to play up the launch of the Bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the agitated people were in no mood to relent and came up with new humorous and sarcastic takes on it.
The first one hit out at the prohibition policy in Gujarat with a message that went – 'Amdavadis can now hop on to the Bullet Train, enjoy the drinks in Happy Hours in Mumbai and return back home by the same train. There is no need to go all the way to Rattanpur (a town on Rajasthan side of the border with Gujarat that has become infamous for Gujaratis going there to binge on alcohol).'
The second one said – 'We do not go in for even new vehicles during Shraddha period and here the foundation is being laid for the Bullet Train. Hope this train will run?'.
People made jibes at a channel running the headline 'Bullet yug ki shuruat (Beginning of Bullet era)' by posting a counter on Modi's tenure that was marked by anti-Muslim pogrom and the subsequent phase of 'fake' encounters that said – 'As if it (the bullet era) started 16 years back in Gujarat'.
There was another message referring to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal saying that the Bullet Train in Japan and he were born on the same date. The question posed was whether India is seeing the advent of yet another 'Iron Man'.
Another quoted the Maharashtra chief minister saying that the Bullet Train would lead to an increase in the country's GDP. This was taken down with the comment – 'Perhaps he has not seen the latest GDP figures'.
Then Rupani was quoted as saying that Modi perplexes everyone with new concepts every day. The qualifying comment was – 'Every Indian is under this impact since 2014'.
With Navratri round the corner, Garba songs have started coming out in the market with lyrics like 'Vikas gando thayo chhe'. The video of this song also has a morphed visual of Rupani saying the words.
There are references in the songs, saying that Vikas has become an integral part of inflation, fuel price hike, poverty, public loot in the name of Goods and Services Tax and demonetisation etc.
Modi had used Navratri as a platform right from 2003 onwards to give a makeover to his image of a hardline Hindu leader. Now it is the Vikas videos that are hitting at him and several of them are expected to come up by the time the Navratri revelry hits its peak. And they will in all probability keep on playing in local autos and shops right till the State Assembly polls.
There is also an audio message from an Ahmedabad resident that has gone viral where the speaker has taken on Modi for the poor management of the Indian railway network. He says: “Earlier people used to send the message that they have reached their destination. Now they say that they have reached ALIVE. Abe agreeing to put in money for this Bullet Train despite Modi's poor track record only shows that Amdavadis are shrewd businessmen who can take anyone for a ride.”
He then goes on to load his message with high-pitch sarcasm adding – “Modi has been trying to run the Bullet Train named Vikas for the last three years but blame it on his inexperience he has put it in the reverse gear. "Bhakts are happy that the train is running but are not aware that it is running in the reverse direction. Hence the GDP is going in the reverse direction, the rupee is on the reverse against the dollar, business and employment are also in reverse and so has been the impact of demonetisation. "The economists have been shrieking at him to apply the brakes. But since he is running this train for the first time, every time he tries to apply the brakes he steps on the accelerator. "The request (to Abe) is that there is no problem if you give a Bullet Train but please explain the functioning of gears and brakes because you will go back with a fruitful business deal and Modi's Vikas will derail at the speed of the Bullet Train.”
Vikas jokes are doing the rounds among every section of the society. The most prominent one is about Zilla Vikas Adhikari (District Development Officers), Naib Vikas Adhikari (Deputy Development Officers) and Taluka Vikas Adhikari (Block Development Officers) asking the government to remove Vikas from their designation because people are tempted to suffix 'Gando thai gayo' (Has gone mad) with it.
There is another message that comes as a question – “Why did nine girls break their engagements in the last one week?” The answer is – “Because the name of the boy was Vikas.”
Be nice to those you meet on the way up because you will meet them on the way down
This reminds me of popular saying paraphrased as what you throw up will come back and fall on your face with double the speed and weight. While anti Congress propaganda so far was the work of BJP's paid backroom boys and its unemployed troll brigade aspiring to be in limelight this one anti Modi propaganda in social media is from disgruntled people who felt severely let down by Modi during the past 3.5 years. Modi often claims that he is relentlessly fighting corruption but if he wants to walk the talk he must disclose source of funds to BJP and its expenses to public. Unless he does that, what ever he talks is shallow and hollow.
