Captain Vijayakanth, leader of Tamil Nadu’s DMDK (Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam), will return from the US on February 16, said a statement from his party.&nbsp;

Vijayakanth had left for the US on December 18&nbsp;for treatment and will return in a complete state of wellness the statement added.&nbsp;

His return comes at a time when speculations are rife that the DMDK is in talks with the ruling AIADMK and the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. Tamil Nadu’s opposition party the DMK is expected to form an alliance with the Congress, Left parties, VCK and MDMK.&nbsp;

DMDK’s Deputy Secretary LK Sudhish, who is also Vijayakanth’s brother-in-law said to reporters that they were in talks with 2-3 parties and that an announcement regarding alliance could be expected by the end of February.&nbsp;

Popular actor Vijayakanth had started the DMDK in 2005 and since then the party has had a journey of ups and downs. When the party contested in the 2006 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls and won a single seat that was contested by Vijayakanth.&nbsp;

In the subsequent elections in 2011, his party allied with Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK and won 29 of the 41 seats that they contested. That was the peak of the DMDK’s electoral performance as the party later fell out with the AIADMK and some of their MLAs defected.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls the DMDK allied with the NDA, and failed to win any seat. In the 2016 Assembly Polls, Vijayakanth joined the People’s Welfare Front and yet again failed to win any seat. The questionremains if Vijayakanth, who is also known as 'Captain', can again make an impact and boost their cadre ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and thus help in scripting new innings for his party.&nbsp;

Captain Vijayakanth, leader of Tamil Nadu’s DMDK (Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam), will return from the US on February 16, said a statement from his party. Vijayakanth had left for the US on December 18 for treatment and will return in a complete state of wellness the statement added.

Captain Vijayakanth, leader of Tamil Nadu’s DMDK (Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam), will return from the US on February 16, said a statement from his party. Vijayakanth had left for the US on December 18 for treatment and will return in a complete state of wellness the statement added. His return comes at a time when speculations are rife that the DMDK is in talks with the ruling AIADMK and the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. Tamil Nadu’s opposition party the DMK is expected to form an alliance with the Congress, Left parties, VCK and MDMK. DMDK’s Deputy Secretary LK Sudhish, who is also Vijayakanth’s brother-in-law said to reporters that they were in talks with 2-3 parties and that an announcement regarding alliance could be expected by the end of February. Popular actor Vijayakanth had started the DMDK in 2005 and since then the party has had a journey of ups and downs. When the party contested in the 2006 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls and won a single seat that was contested by Vijayakanth. In the subsequent elections in 2011, his party allied with Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK and won 29 of the 41 seats that they contested. That was the peak of the DMDK’s electoral performance as the party later fell out with the AIADMK and some of their MLAs defected. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls the DMDK allied with the NDA, and failed to win any seat. In the 2016 Assembly Polls, Vijayakanth joined the People’s Welfare Front and yet again failed to win any seat. The questionremains if Vijayakanth, who is also known as 'Captain', can again make an impact and boost their cadre ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and thus help in scripting new innings for his party.

Tamil Nadu: DMDK chief Vijayakanth to return from US, alliance announcement soon 

As the 2019 general election is approaching, the issue of women is likely to assume significance.&nbsp;

It has been observed that during the last few years, the participation of women in electoral voting has increased considerably. In 16 out of 29 states of India, more women voted than men in 2014 elections. &nbsp;

Women turnout during India's 2014 parliamentary general elections was 65.63 per cent, compared to 67.09 per cent turnout for men. Though the rise in female voter registration has been modest, turnout among female electors has surged. This trend has made every political party sensitive to the demands of women.

It is ironical that Indian politics has been represented by strong women personality over the last 60 years such as Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalitha, Mayawati, Mamata &nbsp;Banerjee, Sushma Swaraj, Sheila Dikshit, Rabri Devi, Agatha Sangma etc. However, this has not translated into significant development of women in society.&nbsp;

Contrary to the democratic expectations, violence against women has increased in Indian society. Cases of crime against women have increased by over 40 per cent from 2012 to 2016, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. A woman was raped every 13 minutes, a bride was murdered for dowry every 69 minutes, and six women were gang-raped every day in India in 2016.

Participation of women in opportunity structure is significantly low, particularly in the political structure. Indian women have the lowest representation in Parliament, they make up a mere 11.6 per cent of the 542-member Lok Sabha and 11 per cent of the 245-member Rajya Sabha. In 2014, just 8.1 per cent of candidates for the Lok Sabha were women.&nbsp;

Among its South Asian neighbours, India ranks fifth in women’s political representation in Parliament falling behind Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. It's sad that India which aspires to become a regional and global power has poor records of women underrepresentation in state and national decision-making bodies.

At the same time, the current government is credited to make women for the first time as defence minister of the country. PM Modi's Council of Ministers consists of 9 female ministers, of whom 6 hold the rank of Cabinet minister, the highest number of female Cabinet ministers in any Indian government in history.

Also, the government is known for its numerous women-centred policies like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Ujjawala scheme etc. It's yet to be seen whether women electorate will continue to support PM Modi now as he remains a popular figure among Indian women.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

&nbsp;

As the 2019 general election is approaching, the issue of women is likely to assume significance. It has been observed that during the last few years, the participation of women in electoral voting has increased considerably.

As the 2019 general election is approaching, the issue of women is likely to assume significance. It has been observed that during the last few years, the participation of women in electoral voting has increased considerably. In 16 out of 29 states of India, more women voted than men in 2014 elections. Women turnout during India's 2014 parliamentary general elections was 65.63 per cent, compared to 67.09 per cent turnout for men. Though the rise in female voter registration has been modest, turnout among female electors has surged. This trend has made every political party sensitive to the demands of women. It is ironical that Indian politics has been represented by strong women personality over the last 60 years such as Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalitha, Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, Sushma Swaraj, Sheila Dikshit, Rabri Devi, Agatha Sangma etc. However, this has not translated into significant development of women in society. Contrary to the democratic expectations, violence against women has increased in Indian society. Cases of crime against women have increased by over 40 per cent from 2012 to 2016, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. A woman was raped every 13 minutes, a bride was murdered for dowry every 69 minutes, and six women were gang-raped every day in India in 2016. Participation of women in opportunity structure is significantly low, particularly in the political structure. Indian women have the lowest representation in Parliament, they make up a mere 11.6 per cent of the 542-member Lok Sabha and 11 per cent of the 245-member Rajya Sabha. In 2014, just 8.1 per cent of candidates for the Lok Sabha were women. Among its South Asian neighbours, India ranks fifth in women’s political representation in Parliament falling behind Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. It's sad that India which aspires to become a regional and global power has poor records of women underrepresentation in state and national decision-making bodies. At the same time, the current government is credited to make women for the first time as defence minister of the country. PM Modi's Council of Ministers consists of 9 female ministers, of whom 6 hold the rank of Cabinet minister, the highest number of female Cabinet ministers in any Indian government in history. Also, the government is known for its numerous women-centred policies like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Ujjawala scheme etc. It's yet to be seen whether women electorate will continue to support PM Modi now as he remains a popular figure among Indian women. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Women electorate to play an important role in Lok Sabha elections 2019

The Congress launched Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's political career on Monday <a href="Priyanka's political career was launched with great fanfare on Monday in Lucknow but by no means is UP 2019 going to be a cakewalk for the Congress party. ">with great fanfare in Lucknow</a>. The 15-km roadshow in the Uttar Pradesh capital was organised to create the right buzz around her induction and send the right signals to a disheartened organisation.&nbsp;

All of that happened.&nbsp;

Congress president Rahul Gandhi accompanied his sister Priyanka through the day. Jyotiraditya Scindia and other Congress leaders were also accommodated on the open-top bus which took the Congress team around town.&nbsp;

When the show came to an end, only Rahul Gandhi spoke. Priyanka did not, disappointing the audience. It looked odd, keeping in mind the publicity her induction and roadshow had generated.&nbsp;

People expect politicians to speak. They should not speak only when it suits them.&nbsp;

They should speak when it is required of them since modern politics has become so much more democratic and participative. Priyanka Gandhi will need to speak more, even if it comes at the cost of the evergreen comparison between her and Rahul Gandhi.&nbsp;

By no means is UP 2019 going to be a cakewalk for the Congress party.&nbsp;

Jind is an example. Even if you are a high-profile candidate, that does not mean you will win the election. And in UP, the Congress should be happy if it is able to find even 20 candidates who put up a good fight.&nbsp;

There were other disconcerting indicators on Monday. The turnout for Priyanka's roadshow was not as large as it should have been, and it was poorly organised.&nbsp;

The elephant in the room remains the problem of stray cattle in UP. This problem affects large parts of northern India — a direct result of the fundamentalist cow politics practised by the BJP, and which has killed the cow-related economy.&nbsp;

Ultimately, in the absence of culling, cattle end up grazing on farmlands, creating havoc in rural areas. The cost of fencing continues to remain high and after a hard day's work, farmers have been forced to keep watch over their fields at night.&nbsp;

The gaushala programmes are a failure.&nbsp;

The BJP used the cattle issue to construct a "Hindu" sentiment. Modi, during the 2014 elections, even referred to the issue as a "pink" revolution.&nbsp;

After coming to power, violence by the gau rakshaks has replaced riots as low-level violence against the minority community.&nbsp;

There was no constructive criticism from the Congress.&nbsp;

Instead of standing its ground, it indulged in competitive communalism, the end result being the Congress government recently arresting three people under the dreaded National Security Act in Madhya Pradesh.&nbsp;

So the issue remains alive on the ground but political parties, apart from the BJP, are yet to take a clear stand on it. The issue will have a decisive impact in UP and the Congress has yet to forge its stand on it.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress neither enjoys a caste equation nor fresh faces for the Lok Sabha polls. It does not even have a state-level political slogan. In 2014, the Congress polled seven per cent of the votes in UP in the Lok Sabha elections, which was further pared down to six per cent in the assembly elections which were swept by Uttar Pradesh.&nbsp;

The decision to go with the SP was taken when Priyanka was informally handling Uttar Pradesh for Rahul Gandhi. The mystery remains but the "27 saal, UP behaal" campaign was abruptly dumped for the "UP ke ladke" campaign which bombed.&nbsp;

Priyanka will have to balance the role of Priyanka as campaigner with Priyanka as organizer. Very few politicians are able to combine both traits. As a general secretary of the Congress, she will have to behave like an organiser but as a Gandhi, she will also have to bear the burden of campaigning and trying to dominate the news space against a very aggressive BJP.&nbsp;

She will have to fish for candidates for the Lok Sabha elections and tackle both Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati with wit, aggression and politeness.

&nbsp;The BJP, despite its problem, enjoys substantial support in UP from non-Jatav backwards and non-Yadav OBCs.&nbsp;

Mayawati on the other hand still controls the non-Jatav backwards. Akhilesh Yadav too retains the support of Yadavs and Muslims in the state. Both of them have also accommodated Ajit Singh’s RLD which in a few constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh will damage the BJP.&nbsp;

In this equation, the Congress stands nowhere. No state leader has undertaken a pan-state programme in the last six months. On top of it, <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/robert-vadra-questioned-by-ed-in-money-laundering-probe-wife-priyanka-says-i-support-my-family-195658">Robert Vadra is being </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/robert-vadra-questioned-by-ed-in-money-laundering-probe-wife-priyanka-says-i-support-my-family-195658">grilled</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/robert-vadra-questioned-by-ed-in-money-laundering-probe-wife-priyanka-says-i-support-my-family-195658"> daily</a>. Though she has taken a position and backed her husband, the issue of corruption will dog Priyanka.&nbsp;

Priyanka Gandhi will get the publicity and Twitter traction. She will also be adored by Congress workers but the question is whether she will be able to salvage the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha election? Will she be able to resurrect the Congress as a pan-UP party which can stake claim to the position of CM?&nbsp;

These are the challenges for Priyanka, and I’m sure she must have gone over them a thousand times.&nbsp;

And lastly, in our dynastic politics, her ultimate challenge will remain her formidable grandmother Indira Gandhi. The comparison between them remains eternal. Will she be remembered as her grandmother, or as her granddaughter?&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

The Congress launched Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's political career on Monday with great fanfare in Lucknow. The 15-km roadshow in the Uttar Pradesh capital was organised to create the right buzz around her induction and send the right signals to a disheartened organisation.

The Congress launched Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's political career on Monday with great fanfare in Lucknow. The 15-km roadshow in the Uttar Pradesh capital was organised to create the right buzz around her induction and send the right signals to a disheartened organisation. All of that happened. Congress president Rahul Gandhi accompanied his sister Priyanka through the day. Jyotiraditya Scindia and other Congress leaders were also accommodated on the open-top bus which took the Congress team around town. When the show came to an end, only Rahul Gandhi spoke. Priyanka did not, disappointing the audience. It looked odd, keeping in mind the publicity her induction and roadshow had generated. People expect politicians to speak. They should not speak only when it suits them. They should speak when it is required of them since modern politics has become so much more democratic and participative. Priyanka Gandhi will need to speak more, even if it comes at the cost of the evergreen comparison between her and Rahul Gandhi. By no means is UP 2019 going to be a cakewalk for the Congress party. Jind is an example. Even if you are a high-profile candidate, that does not mean you will win the election. And in UP, the Congress should be happy if it is able to find even 20 candidates who put up a good fight. There were other disconcerting indicators on Monday. The turnout for Priyanka's roadshow was not as large as it should have been, and it was poorly organised. The elephant in the room remains the problem of stray cattle in UP. This problem affects large parts of northern India — a direct result of the fundamentalist cow politics practised by the BJP, and which has killed the cow-related economy. Ultimately, in the absence of culling, cattle end up grazing on farmlands, creating havoc in rural areas. The cost of fencing continues to remain high and after a hard day's work, farmers have been forced to keep watch over their fields at night. The gaushala programmes are a failure. The BJP used the cattle issue to construct a "Hindu" sentiment. Modi, during the 2014 elections, even referred to the issue as a "pink" revolution. After coming to power, violence by the gau rakshaks has replaced riots as low-level violence against the minority community. There was no constructive criticism from the Congress. Instead of standing its ground, it indulged in competitive communalism, the end result being the Congress government recently arresting three people under the dreaded National Security Act in Madhya Pradesh. So the issue remains alive on the ground but political parties, apart from the BJP, are yet to take a clear stand on it. The issue will have a decisive impact in UP and the Congress has yet to forge its stand on it. In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress neither enjoys a caste equation nor fresh faces for the Lok Sabha polls. It does not even have a state-level political slogan. In 2014, the Congress polled seven per cent of the votes in UP in the Lok Sabha elections, which was further pared down to six per cent in the assembly elections which were swept by Uttar Pradesh. The decision to go with the SP was taken when Priyanka was informally handling Uttar Pradesh for Rahul Gandhi. The mystery remains but the "27 saal, UP behaal" campaign was abruptly dumped for the "UP ke ladke" campaign which bombed. Priyanka will have to balance the role of Priyanka as campaigner with Priyanka as organizer. Very few politicians are able to combine both traits. As a general secretary of the Congress, she will have to behave like an organiser but as a Gandhi, she will also have to bear the burden of campaigning and trying to dominate the news space against a very aggressive BJP. She will have to fish for candidates for the Lok Sabha elections and tackle both Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati with wit, aggression and politeness. The BJP, despite its problem, enjoys substantial support in UP from non-Jatav backwards and non-Yadav OBCs. Mayawati on the other hand still controls the non-Jatav backwards. Akhilesh Yadav too retains the support of Yadavs and Muslims in the state. Both of them have also accommodated Ajit Singh’s RLD which in a few constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh will damage the BJP. In this equation, the Congress stands nowhere. No state leader has undertaken a pan-state programme in the last six months. On top of it, Robert Vadra is being grilled daily. Though she has taken a position and backed her husband, the issue of corruption will dog Priyanka. Priyanka Gandhi will get the publicity and Twitter traction. She will also be adored by Congress workers but the question is whether she will be able to salvage the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha election? Will she be able to resurrect the Congress as a pan-UP party which can stake claim to the position of CM? These are the challenges for Priyanka, and I’m sure she must have gone over them a thousand times. And lastly, in our dynastic politics, her ultimate challenge will remain her formidable grandmother Indira Gandhi. The comparison between them remains eternal. Will she be remembered as her grandmother, or as her granddaughter? (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

With Congress in a shambles in UP, a long and hard road ahead for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took Lucknow by storm Monday afternoon.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/opinions/priyanka-gandhi-enters-active-politics-congress-plays-its-last-trump-card-192277">The recently-appointed Congress general secretary of eastern Uttar Pradesh</a>, accompanied by her brother and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, and Congress leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Raj Babbar, held a 20-kilometre roadshow in the Uttar Pradesh capital on Monday.&nbsp;

UP is the country's most important state politically — sending 80 members to the Lok Sabha.&nbsp;

On Monday, Priyanka and the other Congress leaders rode out of the Lucknow airport on an open-top bus.&nbsp;

"It's like Indira Gandhi has come back," Reuters reported Fuzail Ahmed Khan, 45, a Congress supporter as saying. "The state's farmers want Rahul Gandhi to be prime minister, Priyanka to be chief minister."

As Priyanka's cavalcade rolled through the streets of Lucknow, Congress workers showered rose petals and threw marigold garlands at her.&nbsp;

Some posters showed Priyanka Gandhi as Goddess Durga on a lion.

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Visuals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Visuals</a> from Congress' roadshow in Lucknow. General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh West Jyotiraditya Scindia and party President Rahul Gandhi are crossing Transport Nagar <a href="https://t.co/MbKZc4fNnF">pic.twitter.com/MbKZc4fNnF</a>
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/1094882545831985152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a>: Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia sit down to avoid overhanging electrical wires during their roadshow in Lucknow. <a href="https://t.co/1lVmDMOyrV">pic.twitter.com/1lVmDMOyrV</a>
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/1094900337088086017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Visuals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Visuals</a> from the roadshow of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia in Lucknow <a href="https://t.co/J7aZUJc5Dw">pic.twitter.com/J7aZUJc5Dw</a>
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/1094911889564258305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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"Maa Durga ka roop behen Priyankaji (Sister Priyanka is Maa Durga's incarnation)," read a poster. Another highlighted her resemblance with her grandmother Indira Gandhi.&nbsp;

"I hope that we can together start a new kind of politics," Priyanka said in an audio message shared by Congress.

Priyanka has helped manage elections for her brother Rahul and her mother, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, but has never held an official party post up until now.&nbsp;

"We'll play on front foot. Scindia ji, Priyanka ji and I won't rest until a government of Congress' ideology is formed here," Rahul said addressing the crowd.&nbsp;

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Lucknow: Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra &amp; Congress President Rahul Gandhi pay floral tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel <a href="https://t.co/limlEr4kMF">pic.twitter.com/limlEr4kMF</a>
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/1094921158695182337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Visuals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Visuals</a>: Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra interacts with a child during the roadshow in Lucknow. The girl says, "I gave her a garland &amp; she gave me a chocolate. Later, she returned the garland to me &amp; said, 'Stay happy'. <a href="https://t.co/0h9PPYCiCm">pic.twitter.com/0h9PPYCiCm</a>
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/1094934696352309248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The siblings later paid tribute to former Congressman and independent India's first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Priyanka did not speak.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took Lucknow by storm Monday afternoon. The recently-appointed Congress general secretary of eastern Uttar Pradesh, accompanied by her brother and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, and Congress leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Raj Babbar, held a 20-kilometre roadshow in the Uttar Pradesh capital on Monday.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took Lucknow by storm Monday afternoon. The recently-appointed Congress general secretary of eastern Uttar Pradesh, accompanied by her brother and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, and Congress leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Raj Babbar, held a 20-kilometre roadshow in the Uttar Pradesh capital on Monday. UP is the country's most important state politically — sending 80 members to the Lok Sabha. On Monday, Priyanka and the other Congress leaders rode out of the Lucknow airport on an open-top bus. "It's like Indira Gandhi has come back," Reuters reported Fuzail Ahmed Khan, 45, a Congress supporter as saying. "The state's farmers want Rahul Gandhi to be prime minister, Priyanka to be chief minister." As Priyanka's cavalcade rolled through the streets of Lucknow, Congress workers showered rose petals and threw marigold garlands at her. Some posters showed Priyanka Gandhi as Goddess Durga on a lion. #Visuals from Congress' roadshow in Lucknow. General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh West Jyotiraditya Scindia and party President Rahul Gandhi are crossing Transport Nagar pic.twitter.com/MbKZc4fNnF — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 11, 2019 × #WATCH: Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia sit down to avoid overhanging electrical wires during their roadshow in Lucknow. pic.twitter.com/1lVmDMOyrV — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 11, 2019 × #Visuals from the roadshow of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/J7aZUJc5Dw — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 11, 2019 × "Maa Durga ka roop behen Priyankaji (Sister Priyanka is Maa Durga's incarnation)," read a poster. Another highlighted her resemblance with her grandmother Indira Gandhi. "I hope that we can together start a new kind of politics," Priyanka said in an audio message shared by Congress. Priyanka has helped manage elections for her brother Rahul and her mother, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, but has never held an official party post up until now. "We'll play on front foot. Scindia ji, Priyanka ji and I won't rest until a government of Congress' ideology is formed here," Rahul said addressing the crowd. Lucknow: Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra & Congress President Rahul Gandhi pay floral tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel pic.twitter.com/limlEr4kMF — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 11, 2019 × #Visuals: Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra interacts with a child during the roadshow in Lucknow. The girl says, "I gave her a garland & she gave me a chocolate. Later, she returned the garland to me & said, 'Stay happy'. pic.twitter.com/0h9PPYCiCm — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 11, 2019 × The siblings later paid tribute to former Congressman and independent India's first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Priyanka did not speak. (With inputs from agencies)

'I hope we can together start a new kind of politics,' Priyanka Gandhi says on Lucknow roadshow

One wonders why Jyotiraditya Scindia has been made the Congress party’s general secretary in-charge for western Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He doesn’t bring any special understanding of the region to the table, nor is he a charismatic figure there.

Also, although technically on a footing equal with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who too has been appointed general secretary but in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Scindia cannot hope to match her profile or stature within the party even with the new assignment. One can, therefore, only speculate on the reasons.&nbsp;

Here’s speculation number one. The appointment is Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s way of keeping him away from the politics of Madhya Pradesh, where Kamal Nath is ensconced as chief minister. Scindia had been a formidable candidate to take over the reins of the government after the Congress displaced a Bharatiya Janata Party regime in the state recently.&nbsp;

He was both popular and close to Rahul Gandhi. When the Congress high command decided in Kamal Nath’s favour, it reportedly offered Scindia the deputy chief minister’s post, which was declined. Since then, the party felt it is prudent to avoid situations of direct conflict between Scindia and Kamal Nath, and thus, shifted the young leader out.&nbsp;

Speculation number two: The appointment is a way to cut Scindia down to size. His refusal to accept the deputy’s position was seen as a snub to the high command and to the Kamal Nath-Digvijaya Singh lobby. He was, thus, given charge of a region where the Congress stands little chance of doing well and can be made a scapegoat after the Congress fails in the region. Only days prior to his appointment, Scindia&nbsp;had a long meeting with senior BJP leader and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with whom he is said to share a good rapport. That may have rankled the high command too.&nbsp; 
 
And speculation number three is that Scindia will be used a foil in the post-result scenario for comparison with Priyanka’s performance in eastern Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress has a fighting chance to win a fistful of seats — at least two to four. This may be nothing to talk about, but it’s still better than zero, which is what many analysts believe the Congress will get in the western parts of the state.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Admittedly, all this is speculation. What is not speculation but a fact is that the Congress is weak and anaemic in western Uttar Pradesh. It could not do well even in the 2017 Assembly elections when most analysts had predicted trouble for the BJP there for a variety of factors. The Jats, comprising some 17 per cent of the population, are a dominant factor. 
 
They were supposedly angry with the BJP for having made a non-Jat the chief minister of neighbouring Haryana. Besides, they were said to have been a spanner in the works of the BJP’s larger Hindu consolidation drive. The Muslims, another important segment in the region, were upset with the BJP too. Ajit Singh’s party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), was tipped to spoil the BJP’s party and thus help others such as the Congress to gain a foothold in the region. And yet, nothing of these happened. The Congress failed miserably and the BJP romped home.&nbsp;

The situation is perhaps worse for the Congress this coming Lok Sabha polls. Not only is it pitted against the BJP but it has to also counter the combined might of the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party- RLD. If the Jats are indeed so upset with the BJP that they have decided to vote against it, they will in probability go with the new alliance. The Muslims will not waste their votes on the Congress if they sense that the party is on a weak footing. Which voter segment is the Congress banking on?&nbsp;

Western Uttar Pradesh is also communally sensitive. The Muzaffarnagar riots during the Samajwadi party rule had led to a Hindu-Muslim polarisation of sorts, which benefitted the BJP in the last Assembly polls and brought no gains to the Congress which was unsure of its stand. The new grand alliance has the Dalit-Muslim plan up its sleeve this time to neutralise a possible Hindu re-consolidation. 
 
In the 2017 polls, the RLD had tied up with the Congress but gained little out of that alliance. Many believed that the Congress had pulled down Ajit Singh’s party, which is why the RLD has dumped the Congress for the 2019 elections.

Look at it any which way, Scindia’s official foray into western Uttar Pradesh’s politics is fraught with danger.&nbsp; 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.) 
&nbsp;

One wonders why Jyotiraditya Scindia has been made the Congress party’s general secretary in-charge for western Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He doesn’t bring any special understanding of the region to the table, nor is he a charismatic figure there.

One wonders why Jyotiraditya Scindia has been made the Congress party’s general secretary in-charge for western Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He doesn’t bring any special understanding of the region to the table, nor is he a charismatic figure there. Also, although technically on a footing equal with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who too has been appointed general secretary but in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Scindia cannot hope to match her profile or stature within the party even with the new assignment. One can, therefore, only speculate on the reasons. Here’s speculation number one. The appointment is Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s way of keeping him away from the politics of Madhya Pradesh, where Kamal Nath is ensconced as chief minister. Scindia had been a formidable candidate to take over the reins of the government after the Congress displaced a Bharatiya Janata Party regime in the state recently. He was both popular and close to Rahul Gandhi. When the Congress high command decided in Kamal Nath’s favour, it reportedly offered Scindia the deputy chief minister’s post, which was declined. Since then, the party felt it is prudent to avoid situations of direct conflict between Scindia and Kamal Nath, and thus, shifted the young leader out. Speculation number two: The appointment is a way to cut Scindia down to size. His refusal to accept the deputy’s position was seen as a snub to the high command and to the Kamal Nath-Digvijaya Singh lobby. He was, thus, given charge of a region where the Congress stands little chance of doing well and can be made a scapegoat after the Congress fails in the region. Only days prior to his appointment, Scindia had a long meeting with senior BJP leader and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with whom he is said to share a good rapport. That may have rankled the high command too. And speculation number three is that Scindia will be used a foil in the post-result scenario for comparison with Priyanka’s performance in eastern Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress has a fighting chance to win a fistful of seats — at least two to four. This may be nothing to talk about, but it’s still better than zero, which is what many analysts believe the Congress will get in the western parts of the state. Admittedly, all this is speculation. What is not speculation but a fact is that the Congress is weak and anaemic in western Uttar Pradesh. It could not do well even in the 2017 Assembly elections when most analysts had predicted trouble for the BJP there for a variety of factors. The Jats, comprising some 17 per cent of the population, are a dominant factor. They were supposedly angry with the BJP for having made a non-Jat the chief minister of neighbouring Haryana. Besides, they were said to have been a spanner in the works of the BJP’s larger Hindu consolidation drive. The Muslims, another important segment in the region, were upset with the BJP too. Ajit Singh’s party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), was tipped to spoil the BJP’s party and thus help others such as the Congress to gain a foothold in the region. And yet, nothing of these happened. The Congress failed miserably and the BJP romped home. The situation is perhaps worse for the Congress this coming Lok Sabha polls. Not only is it pitted against the BJP but it has to also counter the combined might of the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party- RLD. If the Jats are indeed so upset with the BJP that they have decided to vote against it, they will in probability go with the new alliance. The Muslims will not waste their votes on the Congress if they sense that the party is on a weak footing. Which voter segment is the Congress banking on? Western Uttar Pradesh is also communally sensitive. The Muzaffarnagar riots during the Samajwadi party rule had led to a Hindu-Muslim polarisation of sorts, which benefitted the BJP in the last Assembly polls and brought no gains to the Congress which was unsure of its stand. The new grand alliance has the Dalit-Muslim plan up its sleeve this time to neutralise a possible Hindu re-consolidation. In the 2017 polls, the RLD had tied up with the Congress but gained little out of that alliance. Many believed that the Congress had pulled down Ajit Singh’s party, which is why the RLD has dumped the Congress for the 2019 elections. Look at it any which way, Scindia’s official foray into western Uttar Pradesh’s politics is fraught with danger. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Is Congress trying to keep Jyotiraditya Scindia away from MP?

Credibility Lost

At the heart of CBI’s attempted raid in West Bengal, lies the credibility of the central agency as an institution in India. Indian politicians have failed the institution miserably. CBI continues to derive its power from the Delhi Police Establishment Act of 1946. Today, entire Opposition is crying foul and accusing the present government of misusing CBI.&nbsp;

In 2012, the then minister of the state in charge of DOPT, Narayan Swami, went on to say that CBI has adequate and functional autonomy and there exists no proposal within the government to grant constitutional status to the investigative agency.

Both Congress and BJP, despite being in government for several years, neither initiated reform within the institution nor pushed for legislative debate to reconceive the legal architecture of the agency.&nbsp;

This inertia continues despite the fact that Guwahati high court declared CBI unconstitutional on November 7, 2013. The agency, thereafter, had to rush to the Supreme Court to take a stay order on the decision on November 9.

It proves that both Congress and BJP want the makeshift arrangement to stay alive and kicking because it allows them to use the CBI as a 'political weapon'.

This arrangement received further nourishment after the 1989 elections when the era of coalition dawned on Indian politics. The successive governments ended up using CBI to shore up political support by hectoring regional parties with cases of corruption.&nbsp;

It allowed them to survive with less numbers in Parliament. It is for this reason, even BJP, which enjoys majority in Lok Sabha, did not move an inch to appoint the Lokpal system which UPA 2 had to adopt under duress.

What makes the case of government even weaker is that the Supreme Court itself has passed relevant instructions to the CBI. As per the Supreme Court’s interim order given on July 16, 2018, both state police and CBI were supposed to work in tandem. More so, the court had directed CBI to approach high court in Calcutta in case they faced any obstruction.&nbsp;

Though Centre did give reminders to the state government on multiple occasion but the relief should have been sought from the relevant court as directed by the Apex Court.

In this case, it becomes very clear as to what direction the Apex Court may head to. For many, it may be a case of constitutional crisis and deteriorating relationship between the Centre and state, but CBI’s credibility and its pending reform lies at heart of the matter. 
 
Regional Chauvinism vs Corruption

There is no doubt that Rose valley and Sharda scams represent underbelly of India’s crony capitalism. It represents the way political parties organise funding for its day-to-day running, and election expenses.&nbsp;

BJP wants the matter to appear as a campaign against corrupt politicians, whereas TMC wants it to turn into an issue of regional pride and authoritarian assault by Centre against non-BJP state governments.

There is no denying the fact that most of the accused in the scam were closely associated with TMC. It explains TMC’s nervousness in the case and proves that case cannot be hushed forever.&nbsp;

Regional chauvinism has succeeded on multiple occasions in Indian politics. Be it the case of NT Rama Rao in Andhra Pradesh or Nitish Kumar during 2015 Bihar elections or Naveen Patnaik in Odisha.&nbsp;

BJP wants West Bengal to be the new harvest ground to make up for the losses in other states.

Mamata, on the other hand, is trying to turn the issue into Federal constitutionalism. She has rallied support from many regional parties on this issue. Which issue will succeed in run up to the Lok Sabha elections is a million-dollar question, but one thing is clear that Mamata’s role will not be limited to West Bengal in case electorate throws up a hung house.

Regional Parties

BJP has already mangled its equations with regional parties. It has been primarily a result of expansion of BJP’s footprint in far corners of India.&nbsp;

BJP has taken up issues which have pitted the party against small and regional parties.

It is going to pose a great challenge to the Saffron party in case it falls short of numbers. BJP will have to face a lot of political hectoring from smaller players in case it needs to shore up numbers for a simple majority in Lok Sabha.

The attempted raid not only brings many smaller players on one platform but will also test the issue of corruption in 2019 elections. It worked in 2014. However, same can’t be said today when the focus has turned to economy and jobs where it has failed miserably.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Credibility Lost At the heart of CBI’s attempted raid in West Bengal, lies the credibility of the central agency as an institution in India. Indian politicians have failed the institution miserably.

Credibility Lost At the heart of CBI’s attempted raid in West Bengal, lies the credibility of the central agency as an institution in India. Indian politicians have failed the institution miserably. CBI continues to derive its power from the Delhi Police Establishment Act of 1946. Today, entire Opposition is crying foul and accusing the present government of misusing CBI. In 2012, the then minister of the state in charge of DOPT, Narayan Swami, went on to say that CBI has adequate and functional autonomy and there exists no proposal within the government to grant constitutional status to the investigative agency. Both Congress and BJP, despite being in government for several years, neither initiated reform within the institution nor pushed for legislative debate to reconceive the legal architecture of the agency. This inertia continues despite the fact that Guwahati high court declared CBI unconstitutional on November 7, 2013. The agency, thereafter, had to rush to the Supreme Court to take a stay order on the decision on November 9. It proves that both Congress and BJP want the makeshift arrangement to stay alive and kicking because it allows them to use the CBI as a 'political weapon'. This arrangement received further nourishment after the 1989 elections when the era of coalition dawned on Indian politics. The successive governments ended up using CBI to shore up political support by hectoring regional parties with cases of corruption. It allowed them to survive with less numbers in Parliament. It is for this reason, even BJP, which enjoys majority in Lok Sabha, did not move an inch to appoint the Lokpal system which UPA 2 had to adopt under duress. What makes the case of government even weaker is that the Supreme Court itself has passed relevant instructions to the CBI. As per the Supreme Court’s interim order given on July 16, 2018, both state police and CBI were supposed to work in tandem. More so, the court had directed CBI to approach high court in Calcutta in case they faced any obstruction. Though Centre did give reminders to the state government on multiple occasion but the relief should have been sought from the relevant court as directed by the Apex Court. In this case, it becomes very clear as to what direction the Apex Court may head to. For many, it may be a case of constitutional crisis and deteriorating relationship between the Centre and state, but CBI’s credibility and its pending reform lies at heart of the matter. Regional Chauvinism vs Corruption There is no doubt that Rose valley and Sharda scams represent underbelly of India’s crony capitalism. It represents the way political parties organise funding for its day-to-day running, and election expenses. BJP wants the matter to appear as a campaign against corrupt politicians, whereas TMC wants it to turn into an issue of regional pride and authoritarian assault by Centre against non-BJP state governments. There is no denying the fact that most of the accused in the scam were closely associated with TMC. It explains TMC’s nervousness in the case and proves that case cannot be hushed forever. Regional chauvinism has succeeded on multiple occasions in Indian politics. Be it the case of NT Rama Rao in Andhra Pradesh or Nitish Kumar during 2015 Bihar elections or Naveen Patnaik in Odisha. BJP wants West Bengal to be the new harvest ground to make up for the losses in other states. Mamata, on the other hand, is trying to turn the issue into Federal constitutionalism. She has rallied support from many regional parties on this issue. Which issue will succeed in run up to the Lok Sabha elections is a million-dollar question, but one thing is clear that Mamata’s role will not be limited to West Bengal in case electorate throws up a hung house. Regional Parties BJP has already mangled its equations with regional parties. It has been primarily a result of expansion of BJP’s footprint in far corners of India. BJP has taken up issues which have pitted the party against small and regional parties. It is going to pose a great challenge to the Saffron party in case it falls short of numbers. BJP will have to face a lot of political hectoring from smaller players in case it needs to shore up numbers for a simple majority in Lok Sabha. The attempted raid not only brings many smaller players on one platform but will also test the issue of corruption in 2019 elections. It worked in 2014. However, same can’t be said today when the focus has turned to economy and jobs where it has failed miserably. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

West Bengal fiasco: Credibility of CBI is the issue and not Mamata vs Modi

With just months away for the Lok Sabha elections, the opposition is not leaving any stone unturned to consolidate power into its hands. 
 
Besides the frequent showcase of the "United Front" on several occasions, the parties have been involved in evolving arithmetic to keep the "Modi-Shah might" out of power.

Days before the arch-rivals BSP-SP joined hands and entered into a pre-poll alliance for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. The two parties decided to fight elections on an equal number of seats leaving the two Congress bastion.

Exhibiting another showcase of unity, around 25 leaders from over 20 political parties held out a "united rally" in Kolkata on January 19. 
 
Led by Mamata Banerjee the rally was attended by leaders from across the country. The "United Front" saw the presence of Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah from the National Conference, HD Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy from the JD(S), TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu, DMK's MK Stalin, AIUDF's Badruddin Ajmal, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav and many others including Mallikarjun Kharge from the Congress. Former NDA stalwart Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha, and BJP rebel Shatrughan Sinha also participated in the event along with NCP leader Sharad Pawar, Patidar leader Hardik Patel, Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani.

Joining hands on the dais the opposition hit out at the Modi government over demonetisation, GST, Rafale deal and the alleged "rising intolerance" in the country.

The "United opposition" against the current government shows a repeat of the opposition unity of 1977 which had successfully dethroned the first ever Congress government out of power. Fighting under the slogan "Indira hatao, desh bachao", the opposition had defeated Indira Gandhi and formed the first ever non-Congress government in India in 1977. 
 
Morarji Desai who became the fourth prime minister of the country, however, could not complete his tenure in the office. His government had to end its term midway due to the unsuccessful coalition. 
 
The next government formed under the leadership of Charan Singh also held an unsuccessful term in the office due to the rising conflict in the coalition. Singh could not complete his term after Indira Gandhi led Congress government suspended its support.

The country could never have a successful coalition government until 1998. The first ever non-Congress and coalition government that completed its full term in the country was headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Prior to Vajpayee's government, HD Deve Gowda, the eleventh prime minister of the country, also held an unsuccessful term and was removed from power within a year. Deve Gowda, the kingmaker of the 1996 general elections played a significant role in the formation of the government by extending support to the Congress party which had secured the second highest votes in the elections. BJP which won the highest votes remained out of power and was the main opposition in the parliament.

The current political situation of the country also foresees the rise of yet another Deve Gowda. While the entire opposition is fighting the 2019 elections against the BJP, the country may see the emergence of a new Deve Gowda if the results throw a hung assembly after the Lok Sabha polls.

Mamata Banerjee's slogan in the rally was "Badal do, Badal do, Dilli mei sarkar badal do". The front, however, does not have a prime ministerial face to replace the "Sarkar in Dilli".

While the BSP-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh has clarified that the next prime minister of the country will be from UP, Mamata Banerjee is also seen as a strong contender to lead the Front in the next Lok Sabha.

Playing a masterstroke just days before the elections, the Congress appointed Priyanka Gandhi as the party general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh East. The move is seen as an answer to rival parties' constant questioning of Rahul Gandhi's calibre in representing the party.&nbsp;

Thus while the opposition has united against the common power, keeping aside its ideological differences, the absence of strong leadership in the Front may affect the coalition even after its victory.&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

 
&nbsp;

With just months away for the Lok Sabha elections, the opposition is not leaving any stone unturned to consolidate power into its hands. Besides the frequent showcase of the "United Front" on several occasions, the parties have been involved in evolving arithmetic to keep the "Modi-Shah might" out of power.

With just months away for the Lok Sabha elections, the opposition is not leaving any stone unturned to consolidate power into its hands. Besides the frequent showcase of the "United Front" on several occasions, the parties have been involved in evolving arithmetic to keep the "Modi-Shah might" out of power. Days before the arch-rivals BSP-SP joined hands and entered into a pre-poll alliance for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. The two parties decided to fight elections on an equal number of seats leaving the two Congress bastion. Exhibiting another showcase of unity, around 25 leaders from over 20 political parties held out a "united rally" in Kolkata on January 19. Led by Mamata Banerjee the rally was attended by leaders from across the country. The "United Front" saw the presence of Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah from the National Conference, HD Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy from the JD(S), TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu, DMK's MK Stalin, AIUDF's Badruddin Ajmal, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav and many others including Mallikarjun Kharge from the Congress. Former NDA stalwart Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha, and BJP rebel Shatrughan Sinha also participated in the event along with NCP leader Sharad Pawar, Patidar leader Hardik Patel, Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani. Joining hands on the dais the opposition hit out at the Modi government over demonetisation, GST, Rafale deal and the alleged "rising intolerance" in the country. The "United opposition" against the current government shows a repeat of the opposition unity of 1977 which had successfully dethroned the first ever Congress government out of power. Fighting under the slogan "Indira hatao, desh bachao", the opposition had defeated Indira Gandhi and formed the first ever non-Congress government in India in 1977. Morarji Desai who became the fourth prime minister of the country, however, could not complete his tenure in the office. His government had to end its term midway due to the unsuccessful coalition. The next government formed under the leadership of Charan Singh also held an unsuccessful term in the office due to the rising conflict in the coalition. Singh could not complete his term after Indira Gandhi led Congress government suspended its support. The country could never have a successful coalition government until 1998. The first ever non-Congress and coalition government that completed its full term in the country was headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Prior to Vajpayee's government, HD Deve Gowda, the eleventh prime minister of the country, also held an unsuccessful term and was removed from power within a year. Deve Gowda, the kingmaker of the 1996 general elections played a significant role in the formation of the government by extending support to the Congress party which had secured the second highest votes in the elections. BJP which won the highest votes remained out of power and was the main opposition in the parliament. The current political situation of the country also foresees the rise of yet another Deve Gowda. While the entire opposition is fighting the 2019 elections against the BJP, the country may see the emergence of a new Deve Gowda if the results throw a hung assembly after the Lok Sabha polls. Mamata Banerjee's slogan in the rally was "Badal do, Badal do, Dilli mei sarkar badal do". The front, however, does not have a prime ministerial face to replace the "Sarkar in Dilli". While the BSP-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh has clarified that the next prime minister of the country will be from UP, Mamata Banerjee is also seen as a strong contender to lead the Front in the next Lok Sabha. Playing a masterstroke just days before the elections, the Congress appointed Priyanka Gandhi as the party general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh East. The move is seen as an answer to rival parties' constant questioning of Rahul Gandhi's calibre in representing the party. Thus while the opposition has united against the common power, keeping aside its ideological differences, the absence of strong leadership in the Front may affect the coalition even after its victory. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

How far will the united opposition go without prime ministerial face?

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/dont-lose-hope-by-results-in-3-states-lok-sabha-polls-very-important-amit-shah-tells-bjp-workers-189833">Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah</a> is scheduled to address 30,000 booth level <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/government-run-by-a-dynasty-cannot-serve-the-people-amit-shah-193708">workers </a>here on February 9 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, said Goa BJP Chief Vinay Tendulkar.

Tendulkar told ANI in a telephonic conversation that around 30,000 workers from 1642 booths will attend Shah`s rally, which will be organised in Panaji on February 9.&nbsp;

Shah will also address 18,000 party workers at a rally in Uttarakhand`s Dehradun on Saturday, said state BJP president Ajay Bhatt."Amit Shah will address the Trishul Sammelan.&nbsp;

His visit will make a huge impact ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

He will motivate the party workers to work hard for the elections and make sure that BJP wins all the seats in the state," Bhatt said.

Last week, Shah did a rally in Himachal Pradesh`s &nbsp;Una and Odisha and hit out at the Congress saying that the party`s only OROP is "only Rahul only Priyanka". (ANI)&nbsp;

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah is scheduled to address 30,000 booth level workers here on February 9 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, said Goa BJP Chief Vinay Tendulkar.

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah is scheduled to address 30,000 booth level workers here on February 9 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, said Goa BJP Chief Vinay Tendulkar. Tendulkar told ANI in a telephonic conversation that around 30,000 workers from 1642 booths will attend Shah`s rally, which will be organised in Panaji on February 9. Shah will also address 18,000 party workers at a rally in Uttarakhand`s Dehradun on Saturday, said state BJP president Ajay Bhatt."Amit Shah will address the Trishul Sammelan. His visit will make a huge impact ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He will motivate the party workers to work hard for the elections and make sure that BJP wins all the seats in the state," Bhatt said. Last week, Shah did a rally in Himachal Pradesh`s Una and Odisha and hit out at the Congress saying that the party`s only OROP is "only Rahul only Priyanka". (ANI)

Amit Shah to address 30,000 booth level workers in Goa on February 9

On an oppressively hot June day in Lucknow 23 years ago, events unfolded that could impact the 2019 Lok Sabha election. &nbsp;Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. SP had 109 seats in the 425-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly. It was supported in a tense if outwardly cordial coalition government by Kanshi Ram’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with 67 seats. Mayawati, then 39-year-old and BSP’s general secretary was a rising star of the party.

On the evening of June 2, 1995, fearing that BSP would withdraw support for the SP-led coalition government, several SP MLAs and workers attacked a group of BSP MLAs closeted in a strategy meeting in the Lucknow state guest house.&nbsp;

The SP leaders’ aim was to break the BSP party by intimidating its MLAs. What followed exposed the violent DNA that characterises the SP even today.

As a leading daily reported on June 3, 1995, in an article titled Mulayam’s men attack BSP legislators’ meet: “The Samajwadi Party workers, armed with rifles and weapons, barged into a meeting room of the BSP workers…and assaulted the BSP legislators, ‘kidnapping’ some of them.&nbsp;

Senior BSP leaders, including Mayawati, slipped into a suite reserved for her in the guest house. The Lucknow SSP, OP Singh, as well as his men, were a mute witness as the SP men snapped the telephone and power lines…and started beating (the BSP MLAs) with lathis. About 300 SP miscreants were led by over a dozen party MLAs, mostly with a criminal background.” &nbsp;

The impact on Uttar Pradesh politics was immediate and dramatic. Motilal Vora, the longtime Congress loyalist (and currently in the news as one of those on bail in the National Herald case), was governor of Uttar Pradesh. Acting on Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s advice, Vora promptly sacked Mulayam’s government on June 3.&nbsp;

The chief minister was not given an opportunity to prove his majority on the floor of the assembly. In an era bereft of television, social media and PIL activists, the Congress action went unchallenged.&nbsp;

But the Narasimha Rao government was in for a surprise. Within hours of Mulayam’s sacking, Mayawati tied up with the BJP and Janata Dal to extend outside support. She was sworn in as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh the same evening.&nbsp;

The ensuing decades-long enmity between the BSP and SP ensured that elections in Uttar Pradesh would henceforth be multi-cornered. The decline of the Congress, which had governed Uttar Pradesh for most of the period from 1950 to 1989, but never after 1989, coincided with the rise of Mayawati and the growing electoral importance of the Dalit vote.&nbsp;

Today Mayawati could prove the biggest obstacle for Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his bid to lead the anti-Narendra Modi mahagathbandhan.

Mayawati takes slights to heart. It took 23 years and an electoral wipeout of the BSP in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, for Mayawati to again collaborate with the SP’s new leadership under Akhilesh Yadav who was 18-year-old when the Lucknow state guest house attack took place.&nbsp;

Mayawati declared at her press conference with Akhilesh after formalising the BSP-SP pact in Uttar Pradesh that BSP would never support the Congress in the state or nationally. Mayawati, not Akhilesh, vetoed inclusion of the Congress in 2019 UP gathbandhan.&nbsp;

Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra’s entry into frontline politics in Uttar Pradesh complicates matters. The battle between Mayawati, guarding her turf in Uttar Pradesh, and Priyanka, seeking to re-establish Congress in the state, could lead to unintended consequences for both.

Sterner tests meanwhile await Mayawati at the national level. Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has thrown her hat into the mahagathbandhan ring. Meanwhile, the YSRCP’s Jaganmohan Reddy, TRS’s K Chandrashekar Rao and BJD’s Naveen Patnaik are manoeuvring to form a non-BJP, non-Congress front.

As Opposition leaders jockey for position, the Congress may be left with the task of being an anti-Modi choreographer, not a principal actor. That task could come down to a contest between Mayawati and Mamata. With each likely to win between 25 and 30 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, they will need to attract the non-BJP, non-Congress Third Front to join them in a coalition government and seek Congress support from within or outside.

Mayawati has a record as a tough administrator, but her government was beset with accusations of corruption, though none have been proved. Mamata too is under a cloud in the Saradha and Rosy Blue probes. Rahul Gandhi could thus end up as queen-maker.&nbsp;

With around 100 seats in 2019, the Congress will be the second largest party after the BJP. Rahul will have to put his prime ministerial ambitions on hold while he decides who between Mayawati and Mamata poses the least potent long-term threat to the Congress.

Watching this drama unfold, Modi and his Svengali Amit Shah will be doing some plotting of their own. As the events of June 3, 1995, demonstrated, the BJP and BSP have done business together. Mayawati is as unpredictable as Modi is imperturbable. Uttar Pradesh lifted him to power in 2014. Five years later, while the 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) may help the BJP arrest the alienation of UP’s upper castes, the Mayawati-Akhilesh gathbandhan could determine his future.&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-mayawati-holds-the-key-to-2019-2714388">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

 
&nbsp;

On an oppressively hot June day in Lucknow 23 years ago, events unfolded that could impact the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

On an oppressively hot June day in Lucknow 23 years ago, events unfolded that could impact the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. SP had 109 seats in the 425-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly. It was supported in a tense if outwardly cordial coalition government by Kanshi Ram’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with 67 seats. Mayawati, then 39-year-old and BSP’s general secretary was a rising star of the party. On the evening of June 2, 1995, fearing that BSP would withdraw support for the SP-led coalition government, several SP MLAs and workers attacked a group of BSP MLAs closeted in a strategy meeting in the Lucknow state guest house. The SP leaders’ aim was to break the BSP party by intimidating its MLAs. What followed exposed the violent DNA that characterises the SP even today. As a leading daily reported on June 3, 1995, in an article titled Mulayam’s men attack BSP legislators’ meet: “The Samajwadi Party workers, armed with rifles and weapons, barged into a meeting room of the BSP workers…and assaulted the BSP legislators, ‘kidnapping’ some of them. Senior BSP leaders, including Mayawati, slipped into a suite reserved for her in the guest house. The Lucknow SSP, OP Singh, as well as his men, were a mute witness as the SP men snapped the telephone and power lines…and started beating (the BSP MLAs) with lathis. About 300 SP miscreants were led by over a dozen party MLAs, mostly with a criminal background.” The impact on Uttar Pradesh politics was immediate and dramatic. Motilal Vora, the longtime Congress loyalist (and currently in the news as one of those on bail in the National Herald case), was governor of Uttar Pradesh. Acting on Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s advice, Vora promptly sacked Mulayam’s government on June 3. The chief minister was not given an opportunity to prove his majority on the floor of the assembly. In an era bereft of television, social media and PIL activists, the Congress action went unchallenged. But the Narasimha Rao government was in for a surprise. Within hours of Mulayam’s sacking, Mayawati tied up with the BJP and Janata Dal to extend outside support. She was sworn in as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh the same evening. The ensuing decades-long enmity between the BSP and SP ensured that elections in Uttar Pradesh would henceforth be multi-cornered. The decline of the Congress, which had governed Uttar Pradesh for most of the period from 1950 to 1989, but never after 1989, coincided with the rise of Mayawati and the growing electoral importance of the Dalit vote. Today Mayawati could prove the biggest obstacle for Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his bid to lead the anti-Narendra Modi mahagathbandhan. Mayawati takes slights to heart. It took 23 years and an electoral wipeout of the BSP in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, for Mayawati to again collaborate with the SP’s new leadership under Akhilesh Yadav who was 18-year-old when the Lucknow state guest house attack took place. Mayawati declared at her press conference with Akhilesh after formalising the BSP-SP pact in Uttar Pradesh that BSP would never support the Congress in the state or nationally. Mayawati, not Akhilesh, vetoed inclusion of the Congress in 2019 UP gathbandhan. Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra’s entry into frontline politics in Uttar Pradesh complicates matters. The battle between Mayawati, guarding her turf in Uttar Pradesh, and Priyanka, seeking to re-establish Congress in the state, could lead to unintended consequences for both. Sterner tests meanwhile await Mayawati at the national level. Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has thrown her hat into the mahagathbandhan ring. Meanwhile, the YSRCP’s Jaganmohan Reddy, TRS’s K Chandrashekar Rao and BJD’s Naveen Patnaik are manoeuvring to form a non-BJP, non-Congress front. As Opposition leaders jockey for position, the Congress may be left with the task of being an anti-Modi choreographer, not a principal actor. That task could come down to a contest between Mayawati and Mamata. With each likely to win between 25 and 30 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, they will need to attract the non-BJP, non-Congress Third Front to join them in a coalition government and seek Congress support from within or outside. Mayawati has a record as a tough administrator, but her government was beset with accusations of corruption, though none have been proved. Mamata too is under a cloud in the Saradha and Rosy Blue probes. Rahul Gandhi could thus end up as queen-maker. With around 100 seats in 2019, the Congress will be the second largest party after the BJP. Rahul will have to put his prime ministerial ambitions on hold while he decides who between Mayawati and Mamata poses the least potent long-term threat to the Congress. Watching this drama unfold, Modi and his Svengali Amit Shah will be doing some plotting of their own. As the events of June 3, 1995, demonstrated, the BJP and BSP have done business together. Mayawati is as unpredictable as Modi is imperturbable. Uttar Pradesh lifted him to power in 2014. Five years later, while the 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) may help the BJP arrest the alienation of UP’s upper castes, the Mayawati-Akhilesh gathbandhan could determine his future. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Mayawati holds the key to 2019

The last trump card of the Congress Party is out in open and has made Lok Sabha elections all the more interesting. It is not that Priyanka Gandhi is a novice in politics but the position of general secretary in charge of Eastern Uttar Pradesh only acknowledges the role she was playing in private in the Congress Party.

It also shows that nothing is cast in stone in politics. In fact, Priyanka Gandhi was already handling Sonia Gandhi’s constituency when Rahul Gandhi was studying abroad in the late 1990s. The code name given to her by the Special Protection Group was Bhaiya ji. It is used even today throughout Raebarelli and Amethi but this time by the party workers. It was only because of Sonia Gandhi’s insistence that baton was passed to Rahul despite the fact that Priyanka was interested in politics.&nbsp;

This decision led to Priyanka Gandhi getting confined to family bastions in Uttar Pradesh. Even then she remained connected with the decision-making process of the party in private.&nbsp;

Throughout she had been in charge of the family burrow and played an important role in 2017 UP Assembly elections which in the end proved to be a disaster as BJP smashed SP-Congress coalition.

So, her entry does not change the caste equations in Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka Gandhi, for now, only changes the mood within the party. Her entry will definitely enthuse workers. She is only in charge of Eastern UP and the Western part will be handled by Jyotiraditya Scindia whose graph continues to rise within the Congress party.

What is important to remember is that Eastern UP is the stronghold of current chief minister Yogi Adityanath who hails from Gorakhpur. Prime Minister Modi’s constituency also falls in this area.

The decision also shows the seriousness with which Congress is going to fight elections in Uttar Pradesh. It should worry the BJP as Priyanka can disrupt upper caste consolidation which, as of now, is standing solidly behind BJP.

There can be criticism too that Congress has become a party of the mother, son and daughter but it will not damage the party as those opposed to them are anyways voting for BJP.

Priyanka, on the other hand, will have to navigate the political space in Congress more carefully. Today, Rahul Gandhi is the party president and decides the policy of Congress. Priyanka Gandhi will have to limit herself to Uttar Pradesh.

She will also have to ensure that a second power centre does not emerge as Congress under Rahul Gandhi has gained stability after Sonia Gandhi reduced her public presence and forced the senior leadership to negotiate decision making with Rahul alone. Priyanka will easily get compared to Indira Gandhi. This will also make her task difficult. It will heighten the expectations within the party despite the fact that ground reality is quite different today.

In 2014, the winning margin of Rahul Gandhi came down by a lakh. In 2017, Congress performed very poorly in the assembly segments. Priyanka Gandhi will add a lot of glamour to the Congress party, but she will have to create a new ground for the party in the state. But the possibility exists. People forget that same Congress got 20+ seats in Lok Sabha after the then PM Manmohan Singh waived off farmers debt.

The enthusiasm generated by debuts is often succeeded by losses. It has been true for both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Sonia twice failed to get Congress into power. She lost both in 1998 and 1996 to BJP. It was worst for Rahul Gandhi. He lost 2014 elections and subsequently a number of states. The states where Congress won, the credit was given to the chief ministerial candidates.&nbsp;

This long spell of bad performance ended in 2019 when Congress swept the three Hindi heartland states. So, an entry can take place with a grand reception but road to success can be long and tiring. Priyanka Gandhi will have to negotiate the same path. 
&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

&nbsp;

The last trump card of the Congress Party is out in open and has made Lok Sabha elections all the more interesting. It is not that Priyanka Gandhi is a novice in politics but the position of general secretary in charge of Eastern Uttar Pradesh only acknowledges the role she was playing in private in the Congress Party.

The last trump card of the Congress Party is out in open and has made Lok Sabha elections all the more interesting. It is not that Priyanka Gandhi is a novice in politics but the position of general secretary in charge of Eastern Uttar Pradesh only acknowledges the role she was playing in private in the Congress Party. It also shows that nothing is cast in stone in politics. In fact, Priyanka Gandhi was already handling Sonia Gandhi’s constituency when Rahul Gandhi was studying abroad in the late 1990s. The code name given to her by the Special Protection Group was Bhaiya ji. It is used even today throughout Raebarelli and Amethi but this time by the party workers. It was only because of Sonia Gandhi’s insistence that baton was passed to Rahul despite the fact that Priyanka was interested in politics. This decision led to Priyanka Gandhi getting confined to family bastions in Uttar Pradesh. Even then she remained connected with the decision-making process of the party in private. Throughout she had been in charge of the family burrow and played an important role in 2017 UP Assembly elections which in the end proved to be a disaster as BJP smashed SP-Congress coalition. So, her entry does not change the caste equations in Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka Gandhi, for now, only changes the mood within the party. Her entry will definitely enthuse workers. She is only in charge of Eastern UP and the Western part will be handled by Jyotiraditya Scindia whose graph continues to rise within the Congress party. What is important to remember is that Eastern UP is the stronghold of current chief minister Yogi Adityanath who hails from Gorakhpur. Prime Minister Modi’s constituency also falls in this area. The decision also shows the seriousness with which Congress is going to fight elections in Uttar Pradesh. It should worry the BJP as Priyanka can disrupt upper caste consolidation which, as of now, is standing solidly behind BJP. There can be criticism too that Congress has become a party of the mother, son and daughter but it will not damage the party as those opposed to them are anyways voting for BJP. Priyanka, on the other hand, will have to navigate the political space in Congress more carefully. Today, Rahul Gandhi is the party president and decides the policy of Congress. Priyanka Gandhi will have to limit herself to Uttar Pradesh. She will also have to ensure that a second power centre does not emerge as Congress under Rahul Gandhi has gained stability after Sonia Gandhi reduced her public presence and forced the senior leadership to negotiate decision making with Rahul alone. Priyanka will easily get compared to Indira Gandhi. This will also make her task difficult. It will heighten the expectations within the party despite the fact that ground reality is quite different today. In 2014, the winning margin of Rahul Gandhi came down by a lakh. In 2017, Congress performed very poorly in the assembly segments. Priyanka Gandhi will add a lot of glamour to the Congress party, but she will have to create a new ground for the party in the state. But the possibility exists. People forget that same Congress got 20+ seats in Lok Sabha after the then PM Manmohan Singh waived off farmers debt. The enthusiasm generated by debuts is often succeeded by losses. It has been true for both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Sonia twice failed to get Congress into power. She lost both in 1998 and 1996 to BJP. It was worst for Rahul Gandhi. He lost 2014 elections and subsequently a number of states. The states where Congress won, the credit was given to the chief ministerial candidates. This long spell of bad performance ended in 2019 when Congress swept the three Hindi heartland states. So, an entry can take place with a grand reception but road to success can be long and tiring. Priyanka Gandhi will have to negotiate the same path. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Priyanka Gandhi enters active politics: Congress plays its last trump card

By now it should be obvious that there is going to be no grand national coalition to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019. Instead, there would be mini-alliances at the state-level to contain the ruling party and dent Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal charisma. Some such partnerships have already been formalised.&nbsp;

In Uttar Pradesh, the BSP and the SP have joined hands; in Maharashtra, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have decided to contest as a team; in Telangana, the TDP and the Congress are together. Besides, the possibility of the Congress and the DMK aligning with each other in Tamil Nadu, and the National Conference, PDP and the Congress striking a deal in J&amp;K, is strong. &nbsp; 
 
The prospect of a pre-poll national alternative to the BJP-led NDA is bleak despite the impressive show of solidarity among opposition leaders that was witnessed on Saturday at a rally organised by Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.&nbsp;

Leader after leader in their speeches called for the ouster of the Modi-led NDA regime, accusing it of various improprieties. It must be recalled a similar show of strength had been seen some months ago in Bangalore when HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in as chief minister of Karnataka. It had led to speculation that at last, the opposition was on the way to uniting. But it did not happen. It’s not just that many regional parties are wary of partnering with the Congress. There are contradictions among the regional outfits themselves.&nbsp;

For instance, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has also launched his drive for a similar alternative, but he skipped the Kolkata event. The NCP will contest Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in alliance with the Congress, but its leader Sharad Pawar was in attendance at Banerjee’s event which was billed to promote a regional front as opposed to a Congress-led one. BSP supremo Mayawati did not attend, though her Uttar Pradesh partner Akhilesh Yadav was there. Even DMK leader MK Stalin, who has endorsed Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s candidature as prime minister, was present in the Kolkata rally which certainly was not held to stamp its approval to Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. &nbsp;

Then there are the likes of powerful regional satraps such as Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal who refuse to play ball with the idea of the so-called federal front or align with the Congress, even as they position themselves in opposition to the BJP. The AIADMK too has consistently kept away from these initiatives, possibility because it wants to keep the doors open for a tie-up with the BJP in the coming months. &nbsp;

Given the confusion, it’s not surprising that regional parties who often attend grand programmes and vow to oust the Modi regime are bereft of both an acceptable face who will lead them to the national electoral battle and policy direction on issues of national importance. In fact, these are not even priorities for them, as they have stated time and again. The priority is to get rid of the Modi government; everything else is supposed to seamlessly follow thereafter. The problem is: Recent political history shows that ‘everything else’ does not follow.&nbsp;

In the run-up to the 1977 Lok Sabha poll, a large number of leaders belonging to various outfits got together and formed the Janata Party with the express and sole purpose to defeat Indira Gandhi and her Congress in the aftermath of Emergency. They had no other agenda — no economic policy, no foreign policy etc. They exploited the mood against her and won. But within months the unravelling began and in two years the government collapsed. The ‘oust one person’ agenda does not work by itself.&nbsp;

It is ironical that the Kolkata rally should have glorified coalition politics when some of the participants are having sleepless nights managing a coalition. Kumaraswamy had, for instance, only hours before the event, lamented that he had to run a coalition government. He said that he would have been able to govern far more efficiently had his party, the Janata Dal (Secular), been given a clear majority by the electorate. And who can forget his teary-eyed statement that coalition politics was a “poison” which he had been compelled to consume! &nbsp;

Besides, Kumaraswamy is currently facing a crisis in his home state, with reports of a few Congress MLAs ready to rebel. Two Independents have already withdrawn their support to his government. While the BJP has been blamed for seeking to destabilise the coalition regime, the fact is that the upheaval is largely due to friction within the Congress, divided into the DK Shivakumar and the Siddaramaiah camps, and the BJP is naturally hoping to cash in on the internecine conflict. &nbsp;

The perils of an unnatural coalition are manifest in the Karnataka example — as they were in the BJP-PDP alliance in Jammu &amp; Kashmir. Raising hands in unity on public platforms is one thing; contesting elections on the ground in an equally united fashion with a leader at the helm, is another.&nbsp; 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

By now it should be obvious that there is going to be no grand national coalition to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019. Instead, there would be mini-alliances at the state-level to contain the ruling party and dent Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal charisma.

By now it should be obvious that there is going to be no grand national coalition to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019. Instead, there would be mini-alliances at the state-level to contain the ruling party and dent Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal charisma. Some such partnerships have already been formalised. In Uttar Pradesh, the BSP and the SP have joined hands; in Maharashtra, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have decided to contest as a team; in Telangana, the TDP and the Congress are together. Besides, the possibility of the Congress and the DMK aligning with each other in Tamil Nadu, and the National Conference, PDP and the Congress striking a deal in J&K, is strong. The prospect of a pre-poll national alternative to the BJP-led NDA is bleak despite the impressive show of solidarity among opposition leaders that was witnessed on Saturday at a rally organised by Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata. Leader after leader in their speeches called for the ouster of the Modi-led NDA regime, accusing it of various improprieties. It must be recalled a similar show of strength had been seen some months ago in Bangalore when HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in as chief minister of Karnataka. It had led to speculation that at last, the opposition was on the way to uniting. But it did not happen. It’s not just that many regional parties are wary of partnering with the Congress. There are contradictions among the regional outfits themselves. For instance, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has also launched his drive for a similar alternative, but he skipped the Kolkata event. The NCP will contest Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in alliance with the Congress, but its leader Sharad Pawar was in attendance at Banerjee’s event which was billed to promote a regional front as opposed to a Congress-led one. BSP supremo Mayawati did not attend, though her Uttar Pradesh partner Akhilesh Yadav was there. Even DMK leader MK Stalin, who has endorsed Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s candidature as prime minister, was present in the Kolkata rally which certainly was not held to stamp its approval to Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. Then there are the likes of powerful regional satraps such as Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal who refuse to play ball with the idea of the so-called federal front or align with the Congress, even as they position themselves in opposition to the BJP. The AIADMK too has consistently kept away from these initiatives, possibility because it wants to keep the doors open for a tie-up with the BJP in the coming months. Given the confusion, it’s not surprising that regional parties who often attend grand programmes and vow to oust the Modi regime are bereft of both an acceptable face who will lead them to the national electoral battle and policy direction on issues of national importance. In fact, these are not even priorities for them, as they have stated time and again. The priority is to get rid of the Modi government; everything else is supposed to seamlessly follow thereafter. The problem is: Recent political history shows that ‘everything else’ does not follow. In the run-up to the 1977 Lok Sabha poll, a large number of leaders belonging to various outfits got together and formed the Janata Party with the express and sole purpose to defeat Indira Gandhi and her Congress in the aftermath of Emergency. They had no other agenda — no economic policy, no foreign policy etc. They exploited the mood against her and won. But within months the unravelling began and in two years the government collapsed. The ‘oust one person’ agenda does not work by itself. It is ironical that the Kolkata rally should have glorified coalition politics when some of the participants are having sleepless nights managing a coalition. Kumaraswamy had, for instance, only hours before the event, lamented that he had to run a coalition government. He said that he would have been able to govern far more efficiently had his party, the Janata Dal (Secular), been given a clear majority by the electorate. And who can forget his teary-eyed statement that coalition politics was a “poison” which he had been compelled to consume! Besides, Kumaraswamy is currently facing a crisis in his home state, with reports of a few Congress MLAs ready to rebel. Two Independents have already withdrawn their support to his government. While the BJP has been blamed for seeking to destabilise the coalition regime, the fact is that the upheaval is largely due to friction within the Congress, divided into the DK Shivakumar and the Siddaramaiah camps, and the BJP is naturally hoping to cash in on the internecine conflict. The perils of an unnatural coalition are manifest in the Karnataka example — as they were in the BJP-PDP alliance in Jammu & Kashmir. Raising hands in unity on public platforms is one thing; contesting elections on the ground in an equally united fashion with a leader at the helm, is another. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

A strong show of unity, but chances of grand alliance still bleak

The last two months have not brought good news for the BJP. The party lost elections in the three Hindi heartland states. The CBI and Justice Sikri episodes have created unnecessary controversy.

It is facing a spirited Congress attack on social media. To top it all, the SP and the BSP have announced a formidable alliance for the forthcoming polls in Uttar Pradesh, which accounted for one-fourth of BJP’s tally in 2014. Suddenly, what looked like an easy sail through for the party in 2019, has turned into a tight, wide open contest.

BJP recognises it has an uphill task at hand and the stupendous verdict 2014 could be termed as an outlier.

The party has affected big organisational changes recently. The most important among them is the appointment of the three ex-chief ministers – Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh as national vice-presidents.

The party strategy is to use the experience and charisma of these leaders, especially in the Hindi heartland and reduce the load of Narendra Modi to some extent, who can then focus on greenfield areas like East and South of India.

This step also helps soothe the taut nerves of upper caste and OBCs who form the core vote bank of the party.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, these sections accounting for 60 per cent of the population, voted overwhelmingly for the BJP and its allies.

After the losses, notes of dissent have come out in the open with party veterans questioning the approach of the Modi-Shah duo.

These appointments may have been done to quell such noises. With Sushma Swaraj announcing that she will not contest 2019 polls, BJP now lacks a pan-India woman leader with mass appeal. Raje fills this gap. With many flagship schemes of the government — Ujjwala, Awas, Swachch Bharat, Saubhagya — to name only a few aimed at women beneficiaries, this strategy may pay rich dividends.

The Modi-Shah duo now wants to win at any cost and the Prime Minister has not been shy of campaigning extensively even in state polls.

Another appointment, which has caught everyone’s attention is of Gordhan Zadafia, once a bitter critic of Modi belonging to the rival Sanjay Joshi camp, who has been made in-charge of the most important state of Uttar Pradesh. The party faced a lot of flak, especially from the upper castes, for nullifying the Supreme Court order on SC-ST Atrocities Act.

The SC-STs overwhelmingly voted against the party recently in the three states where it was in power. BJP won 128 SC-ST reserved seats in these states in 2013, which fell by more than half to 59 in 2018.

A section of upper caste disillusioned with the party pressed NOTA, stayed at home, some even voting for Sapaks, a party championing upper caste rights.

The party had to face reversals in belts where upper caste formed a significant proportion of population like Gwalior-Chambal in Madhya Pradesh.

Even OBCs, staunch supporters of the BJP, switched sides in Chhattisgarh.

With this step, BJP hopes to keep its anchor voting segment in good humour especially when Congress is trying to play the Brahman card and revive its traditional vote bank of upper caste, Dalits and Muslims.

In the national convention held over the weekend, Modi exhorted the BJP cadre not to be complacent and work hard on the ground. They shouldn’t just hope Modi will come, hold rallies and swing votes. They need to take the welfare schemes of the government door to door and highlight the achievements.

As per CSDS National Election Studies (NES) 2014, 27 per cent of BJP supporters would not have voted for party if Modi was not the prime ministerial candidate.

The dip in popularity ratings of Modi and a corresponding increase in Rahul’s has cautioned BJP against over-reliance on the Modi factor.

Though a lot of credit is given to Modi for the 2014 victory, it was also a result of effort and leadership of many state leaders like Chouhan, Raman, Raje, Parrikar, mini Modis in their own might.

The call is also to them and to new leaders like Yogi and Fadnavis to work hard to realize their common dream.

The party is seeking suggestions from the public on various issues like implementation of schemes, impact of proposed grand alliance and three most popular party leaders in their constituencies, among other things.

To negate anti-incumbency, BJP is likely to deny tickets to 30-40 per cent of existing MPs, around 100 in total.

This exercise will provide information on the popularity of MPs and suggest alternatives. Though elections in India are increasingly becoming presidential in style, one-fourth of the voters gave importance to the local candidate while voting in 2014, according to NES.

The unfavourable verdict in the three states brought to the forefront rural and agri distress. It also highlighted growing urban apathy among the middle class, staunch supporters of BJP. The party is likely to come up with schemes to ease the nerves of these crucial segments.

For farmers, the party could roll out a programme on the lines of Ryathu Bandhu Scheme of Telangana, where per hectare amount will be paid out to them. The middle class could see an increase in the income exemption limit from the current Rs 2.5 lakh per annum to Rs 5 lakh per annum.

For the rural population, the possibility of doling out a UBI scheme, where Rs 2-2,500 per month will be given to BPL category, is being mentioned. The party is now pulling out all stops.

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-pumping-up-party-organisation-2709176">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

The last two months have not brought good news for the BJP. The party lost elections in the three Hindi heartland states. The CBI and Justice Sikri episodes have created unnecessary controversy.

The last two months have not brought good news for the BJP. The party lost elections in the three Hindi heartland states. The CBI and Justice Sikri episodes have created unnecessary controversy. It is facing a spirited Congress attack on social media. To top it all, the SP and the BSP have announced a formidable alliance for the forthcoming polls in Uttar Pradesh, which accounted for one-fourth of BJP’s tally in 2014. Suddenly, what looked like an easy sail through for the party in 2019, has turned into a tight, wide open contest. BJP recognises it has an uphill task at hand and the stupendous verdict 2014 could be termed as an outlier. The party has affected big organisational changes recently. The most important among them is the appointment of the three ex-chief ministers – Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh as national vice-presidents. The party strategy is to use the experience and charisma of these leaders, especially in the Hindi heartland and reduce the load of Narendra Modi to some extent, who can then focus on greenfield areas like East and South of India. This step also helps soothe the taut nerves of upper caste and OBCs who form the core vote bank of the party. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, these sections accounting for 60 per cent of the population, voted overwhelmingly for the BJP and its allies. After the losses, notes of dissent have come out in the open with party veterans questioning the approach of the Modi-Shah duo. These appointments may have been done to quell such noises. With Sushma Swaraj announcing that she will not contest 2019 polls, BJP now lacks a pan-India woman leader with mass appeal. Raje fills this gap. With many flagship schemes of the government — Ujjwala, Awas, Swachch Bharat, Saubhagya — to name only a few aimed at women beneficiaries, this strategy may pay rich dividends. The Modi-Shah duo now wants to win at any cost and the Prime Minister has not been shy of campaigning extensively even in state polls. Another appointment, which has caught everyone’s attention is of Gordhan Zadafia, once a bitter critic of Modi belonging to the rival Sanjay Joshi camp, who has been made in-charge of the most important state of Uttar Pradesh. The party faced a lot of flak, especially from the upper castes, for nullifying the Supreme Court order on SC-ST Atrocities Act. The SC-STs overwhelmingly voted against the party recently in the three states where it was in power. BJP won 128 SC-ST reserved seats in these states in 2013, which fell by more than half to 59 in 2018. A section of upper caste disillusioned with the party pressed NOTA, stayed at home, some even voting for Sapaks, a party championing upper caste rights. The party had to face reversals in belts where upper caste formed a significant proportion of population like Gwalior-Chambal in Madhya Pradesh. Even OBCs, staunch supporters of the BJP, switched sides in Chhattisgarh. With this step, BJP hopes to keep its anchor voting segment in good humour especially when Congress is trying to play the Brahman card and revive its traditional vote bank of upper caste, Dalits and Muslims. In the national convention held over the weekend, Modi exhorted the BJP cadre not to be complacent and work hard on the ground. They shouldn’t just hope Modi will come, hold rallies and swing votes. They need to take the welfare schemes of the government door to door and highlight the achievements. As per CSDS National Election Studies (NES) 2014, 27 per cent of BJP supporters would not have voted for party if Modi was not the prime ministerial candidate. The dip in popularity ratings of Modi and a corresponding increase in Rahul’s has cautioned BJP against over-reliance on the Modi factor. Though a lot of credit is given to Modi for the 2014 victory, it was also a result of effort and leadership of many state leaders like Chouhan, Raman, Raje, Parrikar, mini Modis in their own might. The call is also to them and to new leaders like Yogi and Fadnavis to work hard to realize their common dream. The party is seeking suggestions from the public on various issues like implementation of schemes, impact of proposed grand alliance and three most popular party leaders in their constituencies, among other things. To negate anti-incumbency, BJP is likely to deny tickets to 30-40 per cent of existing MPs, around 100 in total. This exercise will provide information on the popularity of MPs and suggest alternatives. Though elections in India are increasingly becoming presidential in style, one-fourth of the voters gave importance to the local candidate while voting in 2014, according to NES. The unfavourable verdict in the three states brought to the forefront rural and agri distress. It also highlighted growing urban apathy among the middle class, staunch supporters of BJP. The party is likely to come up with schemes to ease the nerves of these crucial segments. For farmers, the party could roll out a programme on the lines of Ryathu Bandhu Scheme of Telangana, where per hectare amount will be paid out to them. The middle class could see an increase in the income exemption limit from the current Rs 2.5 lakh per annum to Rs 5 lakh per annum. For the rural population, the possibility of doling out a UBI scheme, where Rs 2-2,500 per month will be given to BPL category, is being mentioned. The party is now pulling out all stops. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Pumping up party organisation: BJP formulates multi-pronged strategy to regain lost ground

The political wheels have come full circle in Uttar Pradesh. About 25 years ago, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party came together to successfully contest the 1993 Assembly elections in the state. The idea was to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at bay following its rise. Now the two parties have aligned yet again to counter the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha polls. Since we are into history, let’s recall a few incidents that happened thereafter.&nbsp;

Then it was Mulayam Singh Yadav from the SP and Kanshi Ram from the BSP who stitched the partnership. Two prominent industrialists had played a significant role in bringing the rivals together, and they were subsequently rewarded with Rajya Sabha seats. The BJP still won the largest number of seats but fell short of a majority, while the combined numerical strength of the SP and the BSP led to the formation of a coalition regime with Mulayam Singh Yadav as the chief minister. Mayawati did not join the government, but she was entrusted with the task of supervising the partnership. &nbsp;

The alliance worked well for the first few months, but friction began to develop thereafter, more so after incidents of violence which had erupted following the removal of an Ambedkar statue in Meerut in 1994. The state police, which had a good number from the Yadav caste, came down hard on the protesters and at least two members of the Scheduled Castes died in the firing. More problems arose when the Yadav community protested against the installation of an Ambedkar statue on a plot of land it claimed belonged to the community. The Yadav-Scheduled Caste confrontation led Mayawati to get aggressive, and soon reports began to circulate that she was interfering in the functioning of the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government. &nbsp;

Then came then infamous guest house incident in mid-1995. By then, political equations had begun to change in Lucknow. The BJP and the BSP had got closer to each other with the latter realising it would have to pull out of the coalition regime to keep its Scheduled caste vote-base intact. Indeed, Mayawati had met the Governor and effectively withdrawn support to the government. All hell broke. Mayawati had summoned a meeting of her legislators at the state guest house in Lucknow to discuss further course of action. Once the meeting was done, the BSP leader was closeted with a few senior leaders for fine-tuning the political strategy. A mob of around 200 SP leaders and supporters attacked the guest house and raised casteist slogans against her and her community. It was followed by more filthy language and threats to kill. Power supply to the guest house was cut off and the mob shouted for Mayawati to be dragged out and taught a lesson. The BSP legislators who came in contact with the mob were brutally assaulted. &nbsp;

Two junior police officers came to Mayawati’s rescue. Later the district magistrate of Lucknow and some BJP leaders played important roles in the rescue of the BSP leader. A traumatic Mayawati and her guru Kanshi Ram vowed to never do business with the SP. She soon became chief minister with the BJP’s support.&nbsp;

Cut to the present: On Saturday, sharing the stage with SP leader Akhilesh Yadav to announce the renewed partnership between the SP and the BSP and the seat-sharing deal, Mayawati remarked that she was willing to forgive and forget the 1995 incident in the larger interests of the nation (read, to get rid of the Modi government from the Centre). &nbsp;

Then, as now, the common factor is the need to counter the BJP. But that’s where the commonality ends. The first difference is that the two leaders who made the alliance possible in 1993 are not in the picture this time around. Kanshi Ram is dead and Mulayam Singh Yadav is a mere bystander in the party which he founded. While both Kanshi Ram and Mulayam Singh Yadav were astute, in the present case Mayawati, now a veteran both in terms of years in politics and mercurial nature, clearly has the edge, whereas Akhilesh Yadav is subdued by his relatively junior status and inexperience. Everybody knows who will call the shots in the post-result scenario if the combine does well, is not a secret.&nbsp;

The second difference is that the 1993 alliance had been for Assembly elections, whereas the present one — at least for now — is for the Lok Sabha polls. Then it was Mulayam-Kanshi Ram versus Kalyan Singh of the BJP, who had been deposed as chief minister following the Ayodhya mosque destruction incident. Today it is Akhilesh-Mayawati versus Narendra Modi — a more formidable challenge.&nbsp;

The third refers to the political status of the BJP. Then, the BJP was not in power either at the Centre or in the state. Today it’s there in both places. In the 2014 general elections, the party had got 40 per cent of the vote-share in Uttar Pradesh. The SP could manage only five seats while the BSP ended with none. The situation was not much different in the 2017 assembly polls where the SP and the BSP had to bite the dust while the BJP romped home with a huge majority. &nbsp;And yet the SP-BSP combine has reason to feel upbeat. It had tasted blood in the Phulpur and Gorakhpur Lok Sabha bypolls, and this had proved to be a trigger to explore a formalise alliance between the two parties.&nbsp; &nbsp;

There, questions remain: First, will the coalition deliver in 2019? Will it last in case of failure? Will it sustain even after the victory or become victim to ego battles, as had happened in 1995?&nbsp;&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

The political wheels have come full circle in Uttar Pradesh. About 25 years ago, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party came together to successfully contest the 1993 Assembly elections in the state.

The political wheels have come full circle in Uttar Pradesh. About 25 years ago, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party came together to successfully contest the 1993 Assembly elections in the state. The idea was to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at bay following its rise. Now the two parties have aligned yet again to counter the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha polls. Since we are into history, let’s recall a few incidents that happened thereafter. Then it was Mulayam Singh Yadav from the SP and Kanshi Ram from the BSP who stitched the partnership. Two prominent industrialists had played a significant role in bringing the rivals together, and they were subsequently rewarded with Rajya Sabha seats. The BJP still won the largest number of seats but fell short of a majority, while the combined numerical strength of the SP and the BSP led to the formation of a coalition regime with Mulayam Singh Yadav as the chief minister. Mayawati did not join the government, but she was entrusted with the task of supervising the partnership. The alliance worked well for the first few months, but friction began to develop thereafter, more so after incidents of violence which had erupted following the removal of an Ambedkar statue in Meerut in 1994. The state police, which had a good number from the Yadav caste, came down hard on the protesters and at least two members of the Scheduled Castes died in the firing. More problems arose when the Yadav community protested against the installation of an Ambedkar statue on a plot of land it claimed belonged to the community. The Yadav-Scheduled Caste confrontation led Mayawati to get aggressive, and soon reports began to circulate that she was interfering in the functioning of the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government. Then came then infamous guest house incident in mid-1995. By then, political equations had begun to change in Lucknow. The BJP and the BSP had got closer to each other with the latter realising it would have to pull out of the coalition regime to keep its Scheduled caste vote-base intact. Indeed, Mayawati had met the Governor and effectively withdrawn support to the government. All hell broke. Mayawati had summoned a meeting of her legislators at the state guest house in Lucknow to discuss further course of action. Once the meeting was done, the BSP leader was closeted with a few senior leaders for fine-tuning the political strategy. A mob of around 200 SP leaders and supporters attacked the guest house and raised casteist slogans against her and her community. It was followed by more filthy language and threats to kill. Power supply to the guest house was cut off and the mob shouted for Mayawati to be dragged out and taught a lesson. The BSP legislators who came in contact with the mob were brutally assaulted. Two junior police officers came to Mayawati’s rescue. Later the district magistrate of Lucknow and some BJP leaders played important roles in the rescue of the BSP leader. A traumatic Mayawati and her guru Kanshi Ram vowed to never do business with the SP. She soon became chief minister with the BJP’s support. Cut to the present: On Saturday, sharing the stage with SP leader Akhilesh Yadav to announce the renewed partnership between the SP and the BSP and the seat-sharing deal, Mayawati remarked that she was willing to forgive and forget the 1995 incident in the larger interests of the nation (read, to get rid of the Modi government from the Centre). Then, as now, the common factor is the need to counter the BJP. But that’s where the commonality ends. The first difference is that the two leaders who made the alliance possible in 1993 are not in the picture this time around. Kanshi Ram is dead and Mulayam Singh Yadav is a mere bystander in the party which he founded. While both Kanshi Ram and Mulayam Singh Yadav were astute, in the present case Mayawati, now a veteran both in terms of years in politics and mercurial nature, clearly has the edge, whereas Akhilesh Yadav is subdued by his relatively junior status and inexperience. Everybody knows who will call the shots in the post-result scenario if the combine does well, is not a secret. The second difference is that the 1993 alliance had been for Assembly elections, whereas the present one — at least for now — is for the Lok Sabha polls. Then it was Mulayam-Kanshi Ram versus Kalyan Singh of the BJP, who had been deposed as chief minister following the Ayodhya mosque destruction incident. Today it is Akhilesh-Mayawati versus Narendra Modi — a more formidable challenge. The third refers to the political status of the BJP. Then, the BJP was not in power either at the Centre or in the state. Today it’s there in both places. In the 2014 general elections, the party had got 40 per cent of the vote-share in Uttar Pradesh. The SP could manage only five seats while the BSP ended with none. The situation was not much different in the 2017 assembly polls where the SP and the BSP had to bite the dust while the BJP romped home with a huge majority. And yet the SP-BSP combine has reason to feel upbeat. It had tasted blood in the Phulpur and Gorakhpur Lok Sabha bypolls, and this had proved to be a trigger to explore a formalise alliance between the two parties. There, questions remain: First, will the coalition deliver in 2019? Will it last in case of failure? Will it sustain even after the victory or become victim to ego battles, as had happened in 1995? (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

BSP-SP alliance returns after 25 years; will the coalition deliver in 2019?

There is little doubt that Narendra Modi’s phenomenal victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha election was fashioned in the main by the youth or more specifically, the first-time voter.&nbsp;

This was no ordinary display of youth power. Disillusioned by years of Congress corruption and cynicism, the BJP leader’s catchy slogans and persuasive appeal to the young and aspirational voters, won the saffron party its most significant spurs in history.

Given that two in three Indians are below 35 years of age and about a million more need employment every month, the then Gujarat chief minister’s promises found many takers.

While old habits like voting for dynastic politicians and netas with criminal backgrounds continued in 2014, there was greater awareness of macroeconomic issues than ever before. Modi’s constant stress on development reiterated that point. &nbsp;&nbsp;

For the young voters, Modi’s record on development as Gujarat chief minister offered hope in a country that had begun to lose faith in the Congress.

In the forthcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections, with an estimated 12.7 crore first-time voters, making India the youngest country in the world, the big challenge for the ruling party is to keep the young and the aspirational voters on its side.&nbsp;

It is instructive to fall back on the past to perhaps understand what could happen in 2019. A media survey in early 2014 said that almost half of the nearly 15 crore Indians, who were going to be first-time voters in the 2014 general election, wanted to see Modi as the Prime Minister. And so they did.

But this vast flotsam is like a tinderbox; their passion can easily turn into a strong dislike, if the going gets tough and with little skills, the going is never going to be easy.

Consider this. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a think tank that tracks business and economic data, as of February 2018, 31 million jobless people were looking for employment opportunities. This number is likely to rise as a fresh batch of graduates joins the market.

Between April and December 2016, a nine-month period, 2.3 lakh jobs were created across eight key sectors. However, given the enormous economic complexities, this is far short of what is needed: the latest figures suggest that 10 lakh Indians enter the job market every month.

The situation is so grim that one recent report indicated that 20 million Indians had applied for 1,00,000 jobs in the Indian Railways. In other words, there were 200 young jobless people applying for one post and competing with each other. And the jobs were no top-of-the-line railway executive openings, but people vying for locomotive drivers, technicians and the railway police — all of them need bare minimum qualifications.

Yet, such is the level of desperation that even highly qualified PhD scholars were among the applicants for the role of technicians.&nbsp;

India’s job crisis is now staring the Narendra Modi government in the face more ominously than when it came to power in 2014. The big problem for the present government, which has been trying and thinking out of the box to get around the problem, is that there is simply no time left to fix it. Elections are now a few months away and economic issues are not something that can be solved overnight.&nbsp;

The bigger problem is that the young generation, that is growing up on 4G and a 24-hour information inflow, has grown a little too aspirational for any government - let along this government’s comfort.&nbsp;

Most surveys, particularly the serious ones, believe that unemployment and lack of jobs are the main reasons for dissatisfaction among the young.&nbsp;

Two months ago, a group of students protested on rail tracks demanding employment. Stories of stampedes during examinations for government jobs, are not new by any chance, but they continue to be reported in India, live examples of how lives may not have changed with the change of government that has promised and even tried hard to achieve numbers that are simply humongous.&nbsp;

But clearly, elections every five years is a constitutionally guaranteed opportunity to keep seeking change until good governance is delivered.&nbsp;

Employment is directly linked to skills and the Modi government programme for skilling, despite best efforts, has run into choppy waters. Of the millions entering the workforce every year, skills are at a premium. &nbsp;

Now consider this. By 2022, India aimed to create a pool of 500 million skilled workers. The overly ambitious target could hardly be flawed, but it obviously did not take volumes into consideration.&nbsp;

According to the latest government statistics, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has been able to train 51 million since 2014. Of them, 21 million managed to get jobs. &nbsp;

A deeper study reveals that India could have taken a leaf out of China’s book. The Asian rival’s success in creating a skilled labour force can be attributed to its technical, vocational education and training system, which helped it to successfully transform into the world’s manufacturing hub after it was able to train millions of unskilled into highly skilled workers.

In the case of India too, the millions of those entering the job market are quite simply unemployable.&nbsp;

According to the Election Commission data for the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the highest percentage of young voters were in Jharkhand at 9.03 per cent. The state witnessed an increase in voter turn out from 55.28 per cent in 2009 to 62.62 per cent in 2014. Some other states registering significant increases included Odisha (2.64 per cent), Haryana (2.23 per cent), Rajasthan (3.29 per cent), Chhattisgarh (4.94 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (3.23 per cent). 
 
(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-the-young-and-aspirational-2705421">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

There is little doubt that Narendra Modi’s phenomenal victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha election was fashioned in the main by the youth or more specifically, the first-time voter.

There is little doubt that Narendra Modi’s phenomenal victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha election was fashioned in the main by the youth or more specifically, the first-time voter. This was no ordinary display of youth power. Disillusioned by years of Congress corruption and cynicism, the BJP leader’s catchy slogans and persuasive appeal to the young and aspirational voters, won the saffron party its most significant spurs in history. Given that two in three Indians are below 35 years of age and about a million more need employment every month, the then Gujarat chief minister’s promises found many takers. While old habits like voting for dynastic politicians and netas with criminal backgrounds continued in 2014, there was greater awareness of macroeconomic issues than ever before. Modi’s constant stress on development reiterated that point. For the young voters, Modi’s record on development as Gujarat chief minister offered hope in a country that had begun to lose faith in the Congress. In the forthcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections, with an estimated 12.7 crore first-time voters, making India the youngest country in the world, the big challenge for the ruling party is to keep the young and the aspirational voters on its side. It is instructive to fall back on the past to perhaps understand what could happen in 2019. A media survey in early 2014 said that almost half of the nearly 15 crore Indians, who were going to be first-time voters in the 2014 general election, wanted to see Modi as the Prime Minister. And so they did. But this vast flotsam is like a tinderbox; their passion can easily turn into a strong dislike, if the going gets tough and with little skills, the going is never going to be easy. Consider this. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a think tank that tracks business and economic data, as of February 2018, 31 million jobless people were looking for employment opportunities. This number is likely to rise as a fresh batch of graduates joins the market. Between April and December 2016, a nine-month period, 2.3 lakh jobs were created across eight key sectors. However, given the enormous economic complexities, this is far short of what is needed: the latest figures suggest that 10 lakh Indians enter the job market every month. The situation is so grim that one recent report indicated that 20 million Indians had applied for 1,00,000 jobs in the Indian Railways. In other words, there were 200 young jobless people applying for one post and competing with each other. And the jobs were no top-of-the-line railway executive openings, but people vying for locomotive drivers, technicians and the railway police — all of them need bare minimum qualifications. Yet, such is the level of desperation that even highly qualified PhD scholars were among the applicants for the role of technicians. India’s job crisis is now staring the Narendra Modi government in the face more ominously than when it came to power in 2014. The big problem for the present government, which has been trying and thinking out of the box to get around the problem, is that there is simply no time left to fix it. Elections are now a few months away and economic issues are not something that can be solved overnight. The bigger problem is that the young generation, that is growing up on 4G and a 24-hour information inflow, has grown a little too aspirational for any government - let along this government’s comfort. Most surveys, particularly the serious ones, believe that unemployment and lack of jobs are the main reasons for dissatisfaction among the young. Two months ago, a group of students protested on rail tracks demanding employment. Stories of stampedes during examinations for government jobs, are not new by any chance, but they continue to be reported in India, live examples of how lives may not have changed with the change of government that has promised and even tried hard to achieve numbers that are simply humongous. But clearly, elections every five years is a constitutionally guaranteed opportunity to keep seeking change until good governance is delivered. Employment is directly linked to skills and the Modi government programme for skilling, despite best efforts, has run into choppy waters. Of the millions entering the workforce every year, skills are at a premium. Now consider this. By 2022, India aimed to create a pool of 500 million skilled workers. The overly ambitious target could hardly be flawed, but it obviously did not take volumes into consideration. According to the latest government statistics, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has been able to train 51 million since 2014. Of them, 21 million managed to get jobs. A deeper study reveals that India could have taken a leaf out of China’s book. The Asian rival’s success in creating a skilled labour force can be attributed to its technical, vocational education and training system, which helped it to successfully transform into the world’s manufacturing hub after it was able to train millions of unskilled into highly skilled workers. In the case of India too, the millions of those entering the job market are quite simply unemployable. According to the Election Commission data for the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the highest percentage of young voters were in Jharkhand at 9.03 per cent. The state witnessed an increase in voter turn out from 55.28 per cent in 2009 to 62.62 per cent in 2014. Some other states registering significant increases included Odisha (2.64 per cent), Haryana (2.23 per cent), Rajasthan (3.29 per cent), Chhattisgarh (4.94 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (3.23 per cent). (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

2019 Lok Sabha elections: The challenge of job creation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a recent interview that the 'grand alliance' being talked of against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would result in a contest between the people and the coalition. It remains to be seen whether this new narrative will gain traction among the voters in the months to come, but there is an alliance that can create serious problems for the ruling party - the one between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh.&nbsp; 
 
Neither PM Modi nor his party can ignore the elephant in the room, or to be precise, the elephant plus the cycle. This is for several reasons. The first is that the SP-BSP combine is a very real possibility, unlike various other opposition combinations that exist only in the air. The two parties are already collaborating. When the BSP withdrew its minister from the HD Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka, the SP was quick to support the move. When the BSP demanded the withdrawal of certain cases against members of the Scheduled Castes in Kamal Nath-ruled Madhya Pradesh, the SP was again fully supportive.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The two parties have given serious indications of contesting the Lok Sabha polls together, at least for the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. They are both on the same page with regard to treating the Congress as a very junior partner in case the latter decides to join their group. But both prefer not having any truck with the Congress.&nbsp;

The other reason for the BJP to take the possible combine seriously is the state itself. Uttar Pradesh, from all available accounts, holds the key to government formation at the Centre. The BJP rode to a majority — the first time a single party achieved it since 1984-85 — on the strength of its performance in the state, winning 73 seats along with its allies. If it suffers a setback there, it will have considerable difficulty in being in the pole position nationally. &nbsp;

The Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party combine is lethal on caste grounds too. The Yadav community and the Scheduled Castes together form a formidable voter force; together they comprise case to 30 per cent of the population. Add to it the Muslim voters, and the situation gets only more grim for the BJP. It can be argued that not all Scheduled Caste voters will back the combine — they had supported the BJP in large numbers in 2014. But then, 2019 is not 2014, and there was no alliance between the SP and the BSP.&nbsp;

The situation is more challenging for the BJP in the state this time around also because of trouble with allies. The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and the Apna Dal (Sonelal) are upset for various reasons. Leaders of both parties have been keeping away from BJP events. Most recently, they were absent from a rally the Prime Minister addressed in Ghazipur. Statements of discontent have been made from both party leaders on various occasions. The BJP will have to mollify them quickly or face the prospect of loss of precious votes in pockets where the two parties are influential. The ruling party cannot afford to lose partners like it did in neighbouring Bihar. Two regional parties which had contested the2014 polls as partners of the BJP have broken away and joined the RJD-led front. But at least in Bihar, the BJP has a tie-up with a dominant Janata Dal (United) to compensate for the loss; in Uttar Pradesh, there is no such solace.&nbsp;

Given the situation, the BJP is readying itself for the grand challenge in the state. It could try any one or a combination of the following factors: Use the Ayodhya card to rally the majority faith voters to its side; play upon the threat of minority appeasement as well as the dominance of the Yadav community to lure voters; recall the development agenda of both the Modi regime and the Yogi Adityanath government in the state.

The potency of the first factor depends greatly on the path the Supreme Court takes in the weeks to come. The second hinges largely on the level of fear that the BJP can arouse song the people. It must be recalled that the BJP had swept the Assembly election in 2017 also because the people had been disenchanted by the minority appeasement policies of the then Samajwadi Party regime led by Akhilesh Yadav. The consolation of Hindu votes had happened as a result. Further supported by the success of schemes such as Ujjwala, the BJP had cut across caste votes to register a fine win. &nbsp;

Is an encore possible?&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a recent interview that the 'grand alliance' being talked of against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would result in a contest between the people and the coalition.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a recent interview that the 'grand alliance' being talked of against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would result in a contest between the people and the coalition. It remains to be seen whether this new narrative will gain traction among the voters in the months to come, but there is an alliance that can create serious problems for the ruling party - the one between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh. Neither PM Modi nor his party can ignore the elephant in the room, or to be precise, the elephant plus the cycle. This is for several reasons. The first is that the SP-BSP combine is a very real possibility, unlike various other opposition combinations that exist only in the air. The two parties are already collaborating. When the BSP withdrew its minister from the HD Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka, the SP was quick to support the move. When the BSP demanded the withdrawal of certain cases against members of the Scheduled Castes in Kamal Nath-ruled Madhya Pradesh, the SP was again fully supportive. The two parties have given serious indications of contesting the Lok Sabha polls together, at least for the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. They are both on the same page with regard to treating the Congress as a very junior partner in case the latter decides to join their group. But both prefer not having any truck with the Congress. The other reason for the BJP to take the possible combine seriously is the state itself. Uttar Pradesh, from all available accounts, holds the key to government formation at the Centre. The BJP rode to a majority — the first time a single party achieved it since 1984-85 — on the strength of its performance in the state, winning 73 seats along with its allies. If it suffers a setback there, it will have considerable difficulty in being in the pole position nationally. The Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party combine is lethal on caste grounds too. The Yadav community and the Scheduled Castes together form a formidable voter force; together they comprise case to 30 per cent of the population. Add to it the Muslim voters, and the situation gets only more grim for the BJP. It can be argued that not all Scheduled Caste voters will back the combine — they had supported the BJP in large numbers in 2014. But then, 2019 is not 2014, and there was no alliance between the SP and the BSP. The situation is more challenging for the BJP in the state this time around also because of trouble with allies. The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and the Apna Dal (Sonelal) are upset for various reasons. Leaders of both parties have been keeping away from BJP events. Most recently, they were absent from a rally the Prime Minister addressed in Ghazipur. Statements of discontent have been made from both party leaders on various occasions. The BJP will have to mollify them quickly or face the prospect of loss of precious votes in pockets where the two parties are influential. The ruling party cannot afford to lose partners like it did in neighbouring Bihar. Two regional parties which had contested the2014 polls as partners of the BJP have broken away and joined the RJD-led front. But at least in Bihar, the BJP has a tie-up with a dominant Janata Dal (United) to compensate for the loss; in Uttar Pradesh, there is no such solace. Given the situation, the BJP is readying itself for the grand challenge in the state. It could try any one or a combination of the following factors: Use the Ayodhya card to rally the majority faith voters to its side; play upon the threat of minority appeasement as well as the dominance of the Yadav community to lure voters; recall the development agenda of both the Modi regime and the Yogi Adityanath government in the state. The potency of the first factor depends greatly on the path the Supreme Court takes in the weeks to come. The second hinges largely on the level of fear that the BJP can arouse song the people. It must be recalled that the BJP had swept the Assembly election in 2017 also because the people had been disenchanted by the minority appeasement policies of the then Samajwadi Party regime led by Akhilesh Yadav. The consolation of Hindu votes had happened as a result. Further supported by the success of schemes such as Ujjwala, the BJP had cut across caste votes to register a fine win. Is an encore possible? (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

BSP-SP alliance may prove to be a stumbling block for BJP

Launching the first phase of the poll campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, <a href="http://www.wionews.com/opinions/opinion-modi-back-in-a-humble-avatar-187769">Prime Minister Modi</a>&nbsp;addressed a rally at Assam's Cachar district on Friday.

In the first, Vijay Sankalp Samavesh Rally, PM Modi assured the people of Assam that no genuine citizen will be left out of the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/nrc-will-be-limited-to-assam-for-now-hansraj-ahir-185187">NRC&nbsp;(National Register of Citizens)</a> and hoped that the citizenship bill will soon get Parliament's nod.

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PM Modi addressing a rally in Silchar, Assam: Aapko fir se bharosa deta hoon, koi bhi bharatiya nagrik National Register of Citizens of India (NRC) mein se nahi chootega. <a href="https://t.co/fq9IT0vei5">pic.twitter.com/fq9IT0vei5</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1081130764773732352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
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"Aapko fir se bharosa deta hoon, koi bhi bharatiya nagrik National Register of Citizens of India (NRC) mein se nahi chootega".

"I am aware of the problems and difficulties faced by many during the NRC process but I assure you that no injustice will be done to any genuine Indian citizens," he added.

Calling the Citizenship Amendment Bill, a penance against the injustice done in the past, he also assured that his government was working to get the Citizen Amendment Bill passed in Parliament.

"Citizenship bill not for anyone's benefit, but a penance against injustice done in past; hope it will be passed soon in Parliament, " PM Modi said.

"Our government is moving ahead with Citizenship (Amendment) Bill; it is linked with emotions and related to peoples' lives," he added.

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PM Modi addressing a rally in Silchar, Assam: Our govt is also working to get the Citizen Amendment Bill passed in the Parliament. <a href="https://t.co/GF2WdSBlBD">pic.twitter.com/GF2WdSBlBD</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1081134449427771392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
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PM Modi further said that the government had decided to implement Clause 6 of Assam Accord to safeguard social, cultural and linguistic identity of the state.

"I am indebted to the people of Assam for voting for the BJP in the recent panchayat elections and I am committed to repay this debt by ensuring the development of the state," he said.

Recalling his inauguration of the country's longest rail-cum-road bridge at Bogibeel in upper Assam on December 25, Modi said "I am fortunate to be with the people of Assam for the second time in 10 days. The Barak and Brahmaputra valleys are a source of inspiration not only for the state but also for the country", Modi said.

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Manipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates several development projects and dedicates 400kV double circuit Silchar-Imphal line, in Imphal. Chief Minister N Biren Singh also present. <a href="https://t.co/aDWqjNeqTf">pic.twitter.com/aDWqjNeqTf</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1081100736786821122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The BJP and its allies is setting the target to win 21 out of the 25 parliamentary seats in eight states in the region and in Assam the party hopes to win at least 11 of the 14 seats.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had made massive in roads in Assam winning seven of its 14 parliamentary seats and in the 2016 assembly polls the party emerged as the single largest party with 61 seats while its alliance partners AGP and BPF had won 14 and 12 seats respectively.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

Launching the first phase of the poll campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Modi addressed a rally at Assam's Cachar district on Friday. In the first, Vijay Sankalp Samavesh Rally, PM Modi assured the people of Assam that no genuine citizen will be left out of the NRC (National Register of Citizens) and hoped that the citizenship bill will soon get Parliament's nod.

Launching the first phase of the poll campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Modi addressed a rally at Assam's Cachar district on Friday. In the first, Vijay Sankalp Samavesh Rally, PM Modi assured the people of Assam that no genuine citizen will be left out of the NRC (National Register of Citizens) and hoped that the citizenship bill will soon get Parliament's nod. PM Modi addressing a rally in Silchar, Assam: Aapko fir se bharosa deta hoon, koi bhi bharatiya nagrik National Register of Citizens of India (NRC) mein se nahi chootega. pic.twitter.com/fq9IT0vei5 — ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2019 × "Aapko fir se bharosa deta hoon, koi bhi bharatiya nagrik National Register of Citizens of India (NRC) mein se nahi chootega". "I am aware of the problems and difficulties faced by many during the NRC process but I assure you that no injustice will be done to any genuine Indian citizens," he added. Calling the Citizenship Amendment Bill, a penance against the injustice done in the past, he also assured that his government was working to get the Citizen Amendment Bill passed in Parliament. "Citizenship bill not for anyone's benefit, but a penance against injustice done in past; hope it will be passed soon in Parliament, " PM Modi said. "Our government is moving ahead with Citizenship (Amendment) Bill; it is linked with emotions and related to peoples' lives," he added. PM Modi addressing a rally in Silchar, Assam: Our govt is also working to get the Citizen Amendment Bill passed in the Parliament. pic.twitter.com/GF2WdSBlBD — ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2019 × PM Modi further said that the government had decided to implement Clause 6 of Assam Accord to safeguard social, cultural and linguistic identity of the state. "I am indebted to the people of Assam for voting for the BJP in the recent panchayat elections and I am committed to repay this debt by ensuring the development of the state," he said. Recalling his inauguration of the country's longest rail-cum-road bridge at Bogibeel in upper Assam on December 25, Modi said "I am fortunate to be with the people of Assam for the second time in 10 days. The Barak and Brahmaputra valleys are a source of inspiration not only for the state but also for the country", Modi said. Manipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates several development projects and dedicates 400kV double circuit Silchar-Imphal line, in Imphal. Chief Minister N Biren Singh also present. pic.twitter.com/aDWqjNeqTf — ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2019 × The BJP and its allies is setting the target to win 21 out of the 25 parliamentary seats in eight states in the region and in Assam the party hopes to win at least 11 of the 14 seats. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had made massive in roads in Assam winning seven of its 14 parliamentary seats and in the 2016 assembly polls the party emerged as the single largest party with 61 seats while its alliance partners AGP and BPF had won 14 and 12 seats respectively. (With inputs from agencies)

No genuine citizen will be left out of NRC: PM Modi at rally in Assam

There are moments of epiphany when a bright flash of light appears in the mind's eye to give us an enlightening idea of some hard truth or knowledge. I had such a moment on the eve of the new year when I read about a political party from Uttar Pradesh called Nishad Party. It is in the news after its members pelted stones and killed a policeman on duty at Ghazipur in the eastern part of the state a couple of hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in the area.&nbsp;

The Nishad community has been demanding reservations in government jobs. Is there anything new there? The Gujjars in Rajasthan, the Marathas in Maharashtra, the Patidars (Patels) in Gujarat, the Kapus in Andhra Pradesh and the Jats in Haryana are among those demanding job quotas in what I call post-Mandal politics. After a broad alliance of backward castes (technically known as Other Backward Classes in administrative language) managed to get quotas through the implementation of the Mandal Commission report in 1990, dissensions and rivalries within this category and those left out of the game but feeling backward in political terms, have been exercising their electoral muscle across India.

I confess I had not heard of the Nishad Party enough to have applied my mind, although it contested as many as 100 assembly seats in the last UP elections. Officially, the Nishad party describes itself as the derivative of an acronym: Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal. In effect, it represents boatmen and fishermen groups such as the Nishad, Bind and Kewat communities. There are also other parties in UP such as the Apna Dal (S) representing the Kurmis -- who are not high enough in the state but have a chief minister in Nitish Kumar in neighbouring Bihar.&nbsp;

In Andhra Pradesh, actor Pawan Kalyan is leading the Jana Sena party. He does not associate himself with any caste, but he is identified with the Kapus on account of his birth. The Jana Sena is giving headaches to chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, which kind of explains why the CM is trying to assume a national role as a key mover-shaker in opposition efforts to dislodge Modi's BJP from power. Voters look kindly at regional leaders assuming national prominence, partly in pride and partly in the hope that a national win will result in more local gains.

For all practical purposes, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti in Gujarat led by Hardik Patel is as good as a regional caste-based party, though it calls itself non-political. It played a major role in Congress improving its show in the last state assembly elections.

A study in the respected Economic and Political Weekly on recent caste-based quota stirs concluded that the Jats, the Marathas and the Patels were "already closer to the upper castes than to the more disadvantaged groups in their respective states. Their anxieties seem to be based more on perception than on empirical evidence. "

We can't probably say that about the backward Nishads in UP, but relatively speaking the Kapus in AP and the Gujjars in Rajasthan are in the same league as the Jats and the Marathas, with their ambitions speaking the language of affirmative action based on backwardness.

The fact is that rural wages have shot up across India over the past two decades and hundreds of millions of people from formerly poor communities are looking beyond basic needs as they go to vote. Steady, influential government jobs are among their key demands. Rising literacy and the growth of media-based knowledge and smartphones are making them feel more empowered. The Vanniyars in Tamil Nadu were among the earliest OBC groups to discover their "backward" power when the Pattali Makkal Katchi was formed by Dr. S Ramadoss in 1989. The Lingayats in Karnataka, though relatively forward, are a de-facto political party who played a major role in the Congress retaining a measure of power in the state in assembly elections last year.&nbsp;

Whatever the detail, the writing is on the wall in the new year. While TV studio debates may centre around the Congress and the BJP, in the deeper game of electoral chess on the ground, you have to watch out for community leaders who will play a major role in shaping alliances and coalitions. They will also be spoilers in close contests in the first-past-the-post electoral system, with enough capacity to thwart someone's chance of victory even when they can't get a seat themselves. Mainstream parties try to co-opt, fool or break up smaller parties using their machinations through the media, money and manoeuvres. Some of it has already happened. More will happen in the coming days.

I expect backroom deals with backward groups taking the centre stage somewhere down the line in the new year. Watch out for some leaders who may look like jokers but can turn out to be heroes or villains as the world's largest democracy goes to the polls.

(This article was originally published on Zeenews. Read the <a href="http://zeenews.india.com/blogs/2019-lok-sabha-elections-more-than-just-bjp-vs-congress-smaller-parties-hold-the-key-2167664.html">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) 
&nbsp;

There are moments of epiphany when a bright flash of light appears in the mind's eye to give us an enlightening idea of some hard truth or knowledge. I had such a moment on the eve of the new year when I read about a political party from Uttar Pradesh called Nishad Party.

There are moments of epiphany when a bright flash of light appears in the mind's eye to give us an enlightening idea of some hard truth or knowledge. I had such a moment on the eve of the new year when I read about a political party from Uttar Pradesh called Nishad Party. It is in the news after its members pelted stones and killed a policeman on duty at Ghazipur in the eastern part of the state a couple of hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in the area. The Nishad community has been demanding reservations in government jobs. Is there anything new there? The Gujjars in Rajasthan, the Marathas in Maharashtra, the Patidars (Patels) in Gujarat, the Kapus in Andhra Pradesh and the Jats in Haryana are among those demanding job quotas in what I call post-Mandal politics. After a broad alliance of backward castes (technically known as Other Backward Classes in administrative language) managed to get quotas through the implementation of the Mandal Commission report in 1990, dissensions and rivalries within this category and those left out of the game but feeling backward in political terms, have been exercising their electoral muscle across India. I confess I had not heard of the Nishad Party enough to have applied my mind, although it contested as many as 100 assembly seats in the last UP elections. Officially, the Nishad party describes itself as the derivative of an acronym: Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal. In effect, it represents boatmen and fishermen groups such as the Nishad, Bind and Kewat communities. There are also other parties in UP such as the Apna Dal (S) representing the Kurmis -- who are not high enough in the state but have a chief minister in Nitish Kumar in neighbouring Bihar. In Andhra Pradesh, actor Pawan Kalyan is leading the Jana Sena party. He does not associate himself with any caste, but he is identified with the Kapus on account of his birth. The Jana Sena is giving headaches to chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, which kind of explains why the CM is trying to assume a national role as a key mover-shaker in opposition efforts to dislodge Modi's BJP from power. Voters look kindly at regional leaders assuming national prominence, partly in pride and partly in the hope that a national win will result in more local gains. For all practical purposes, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti in Gujarat led by Hardik Patel is as good as a regional caste-based party, though it calls itself non-political. It played a major role in Congress improving its show in the last state assembly elections. A study in the respected Economic and Political Weekly on recent caste-based quota stirs concluded that the Jats, the Marathas and the Patels were "already closer to the upper castes than to the more disadvantaged groups in their respective states. Their anxieties seem to be based more on perception than on empirical evidence. " We can't probably say that about the backward Nishads in UP, but relatively speaking the Kapus in AP and the Gujjars in Rajasthan are in the same league as the Jats and the Marathas, with their ambitions speaking the language of affirmative action based on backwardness. The fact is that rural wages have shot up across India over the past two decades and hundreds of millions of people from formerly poor communities are looking beyond basic needs as they go to vote. Steady, influential government jobs are among their key demands. Rising literacy and the growth of media-based knowledge and smartphones are making them feel more empowered. The Vanniyars in Tamil Nadu were among the earliest OBC groups to discover their "backward" power when the Pattali Makkal Katchi was formed by Dr. S Ramadoss in 1989. The Lingayats in Karnataka, though relatively forward, are a de-facto political party who played a major role in the Congress retaining a measure of power in the state in assembly elections last year. Whatever the detail, the writing is on the wall in the new year. While TV studio debates may centre around the Congress and the BJP, in the deeper game of electoral chess on the ground, you have to watch out for community leaders who will play a major role in shaping alliances and coalitions. They will also be spoilers in close contests in the first-past-the-post electoral system, with enough capacity to thwart someone's chance of victory even when they can't get a seat themselves. Mainstream parties try to co-opt, fool or break up smaller parties using their machinations through the media, money and manoeuvres. Some of it has already happened. More will happen in the coming days. I expect backroom deals with backward groups taking the centre stage somewhere down the line in the new year. Watch out for some leaders who may look like jokers but can turn out to be heroes or villains as the world's largest democracy goes to the polls. (This article was originally published on Zeenews. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

2019 Lok Sabha elections more than just BJP vs Congress, smaller parties hold the key

A new controversy has erupted as the singing of 'Vande Mataram', started by the previous Shivaraj Singh Chouhan led Madhya Pradesh government on the first working day of every month at the State Secretariat in Bhopal, has been put on hold by the new Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath.

The first two verses of 'Vande Mataram', written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in praise of the “Mother” (Goddess), symbolising the motherland and composed into a song by Rabindranath Tagore, were adopted as the National Song of India during British rule by the Congress party.

Due to the Kamal Nath government’s stand on the singing of Vande Mataram at the State Secretariat, those in the BJP have put the Congress in the dock. BJP leaders claim that the Kamal Nath government is trying to appease a particular community. According to them, stopping the 13-year-old practice of singing 'Vande Mataram' at the State Secretariat is an insult of those who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of the nation.

BJP President Amit Shah used the social media to assert that the banning of the song 'Vande Mataram' by the Congress government of Madhya Pradesh is like treason and an insult to the nation. 'Vande Mataram' is not just a song, it is the symbol of India's freedom movement and the inspiration for every Indian, Shah emphasised. &nbsp;

Dragging Congress president Rahul Gandhi into this controversy, the BJP president has asked whether it was on his instructions that the singing of 'Vande Mataram' was stopped by the state Congress government?&nbsp;

Trying to put a lid on this matter, Kamal Nath has said that 'Vande Mataram' is deeply rooted in every citizen’s heart and his government is going to take initiative to start it again in a different format. But the BJP is in an unrelenting mood. Meanwhile, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that this coming Monday, January 7, all the BJP MLAs will assemble and sing Vande Mataram at the Secretariat.

The present controversy is the perfect recipe for a battle of wits between the BJP and the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls this year. Right now, it is advantage BJP, which has already scored an early point by going on the offensive from the word go. The BJP President has been quick in putting the Congress in the dock, roping in Rahul Gandhi and accusing the state Congress government of turning Madhya Pradesh –the heart of India – into a centre of appeasement (to please a particular community). Congress steps to counter the BJP onslaught in the coming days will be viewed only as a face-saving strategy and the BJP will leave no stone unturned to take political mileage from this.

Besides Ayodhya, Rafale, triple talaq, farmers’ distress, more and more contentious issues that polarise the voters on narrow lines have started sprouting up ahead of the elections. In the process, the vital agenda of development that should be at the centre of general public discourse remains on the back burner.&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

A new controversy has erupted as the singing of 'Vande Mataram', started by the previous Shivaraj Singh Chouhan led Madhya Pradesh government on the first working day of every month at the State Secretariat in Bhopal, has been put on hold by the new Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath.

A new controversy has erupted as the singing of 'Vande Mataram', started by the previous Shivaraj Singh Chouhan led Madhya Pradesh government on the first working day of every month at the State Secretariat in Bhopal, has been put on hold by the new Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath. The first two verses of 'Vande Mataram', written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in praise of the “Mother” (Goddess), symbolising the motherland and composed into a song by Rabindranath Tagore, were adopted as the National Song of India during British rule by the Congress party. Due to the Kamal Nath government’s stand on the singing of Vande Mataram at the State Secretariat, those in the BJP have put the Congress in the dock. BJP leaders claim that the Kamal Nath government is trying to appease a particular community. According to them, stopping the 13-year-old practice of singing 'Vande Mataram' at the State Secretariat is an insult of those who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of the nation. BJP President Amit Shah used the social media to assert that the banning of the song 'Vande Mataram' by the Congress government of Madhya Pradesh is like treason and an insult to the nation. 'Vande Mataram' is not just a song, it is the symbol of India's freedom movement and the inspiration for every Indian, Shah emphasised. Dragging Congress president Rahul Gandhi into this controversy, the BJP president has asked whether it was on his instructions that the singing of 'Vande Mataram' was stopped by the state Congress government? Trying to put a lid on this matter, Kamal Nath has said that 'Vande Mataram' is deeply rooted in every citizen’s heart and his government is going to take initiative to start it again in a different format. But the BJP is in an unrelenting mood. Meanwhile, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that this coming Monday, January 7, all the BJP MLAs will assemble and sing Vande Mataram at the Secretariat. The present controversy is the perfect recipe for a battle of wits between the BJP and the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls this year. Right now, it is advantage BJP, which has already scored an early point by going on the offensive from the word go. The BJP President has been quick in putting the Congress in the dock, roping in Rahul Gandhi and accusing the state Congress government of turning Madhya Pradesh –the heart of India – into a centre of appeasement (to please a particular community). Congress steps to counter the BJP onslaught in the coming days will be viewed only as a face-saving strategy and the BJP will leave no stone unturned to take political mileage from this. Besides Ayodhya, Rafale, triple talaq, farmers’ distress, more and more contentious issues that polarise the voters on narrow lines have started sprouting up ahead of the elections. In the process, the vital agenda of development that should be at the centre of general public discourse remains on the back burner. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

In Madhya Pradesh, BJP and Congress battle it out over 'Vande Mataram'

On the first day of 2019, and a few months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, here are four simple resolutions that could change our politics for the better. The level of discourse pertaining to politics has plummeted to unprecedented levels. A general perception prevails that our politics is become too bitter and is based on hate and revulsion towards political opponents. If politicians are concerned about this growing apathy and disgust for them they better follow some urgent steps.&nbsp;

Refrain from personal attacks&nbsp;

Over the last few years, Indian politics has reached its nadir. Slander, abuse and name-calling have become de rigueur and from top-ranking leaders to a party cadre, we have a stare at a bleak scenario when it comes to civility and basic courtesies. Whether it is inside Parliament, TV studios or public rallies, our politicians have crossed all red lines, so much so that political opponents appear to be mortal enemies! This needs to change as we head into an election year because without mutual respect and certain inviolable norms of public behaviour, Indian democracy will only be further weakened. &nbsp;

PPP- Practise Positive Politics &nbsp;

The mutual abuse that parties are currently heaping on each other, stems from a pool of negativity that is detrimental to democracy. While political and ideological opponents must fight it out in the electoral arena, stooping down to exacting personal vendettas cannot be condoned. Similarly, creating false narratives based on half-truths and innuendos are destroying public&nbsp;trust in politicians. If left unchecked it will erode away the peoples’ belief in the political system as well and could even pave way for more anarchic forces. &nbsp;

Focus on real issues&nbsp;

For a majority of Indians, issue emanating from growing inequality, lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare and education, safe spaces for children and girls, and opportunities of employment are in fact the real issues they would like to see resolved. However, issues like Mandir-Masjid&nbsp;may resonate with a small section of people but have come to occupy a disproportionately large share of politics today.&nbsp;

India’s health expenditure remains less than 3 per cent of its GDP, there is a severe dearth of quality and accessible school education for over 80 per cent Indian children. There is a severe crisis of undernutrition in a huge swathe of the country and process of migration for economic opportunities is overburdening India’s unprepared cities. In the new year, it is on such issues that political parties really need to focus on and just include them as a formality in their respective manifestos.&nbsp;

Don’t mislead people&nbsp;

With technology enabling real and digital manipulation of the voters’ minds, it is important that politicians strictly follow a personal code of conduct which shuns promoting the use of technology to come up with fake news, memes, audio recordings, and other such materials. Such unethical practices may help them reap short-term and narrow political gains but in the long term, it will be the death-knell of people’s trust in the political class. And once people’s trust disappears it won’t be long before our entire democratic political system starts crumbling. Therefore, politicians must resolve to neither overtly or covertly to either promote or sanction the creation of any material or narrative that seeks to mislead people on any issue pertaining to religion, caste, community, gender or any other matter.&nbsp;

Political parties and leaders from across the political spectrum need to resolve to shun this negativist politics and resolve to only work on positive ideas. To be sure, it is not meant that Indian politics should become inert and boring, but only that our politics should not be centred only on criticism, vendetta and spiteful jingoism.&nbsp; 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

On the first day of 2019, and a few months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, here are four simple resolutions that could change our politics for the better. The level of discourse pertaining to politics has plummeted to unprecedented levels.

On the first day of 2019, and a few months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, here are four simple resolutions that could change our politics for the better. The level of discourse pertaining to politics has plummeted to unprecedented levels. A general perception prevails that our politics is become too bitter and is based on hate and revulsion towards political opponents. If politicians are concerned about this growing apathy and disgust for them they better follow some urgent steps. Refrain from personal attacks Over the last few years, Indian politics has reached its nadir. Slander, abuse and name-calling have become de rigueur and from top-ranking leaders to a party cadre, we have a stare at a bleak scenario when it comes to civility and basic courtesies. Whether it is inside Parliament, TV studios or public rallies, our politicians have crossed all red lines, so much so that political opponents appear to be mortal enemies! This needs to change as we head into an election year because without mutual respect and certain inviolable norms of public behaviour, Indian democracy will only be further weakened. PPP- Practise Positive Politics The mutual abuse that parties are currently heaping on each other, stems from a pool of negativity that is detrimental to democracy. While political and ideological opponents must fight it out in the electoral arena, stooping down to exacting personal vendettas cannot be condoned. Similarly, creating false narratives based on half-truths and innuendos are destroying public trust in politicians. If left unchecked it will erode away the peoples’ belief in the political system as well and could even pave way for more anarchic forces. Focus on real issues For a majority of Indians, issue emanating from growing inequality, lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare and education, safe spaces for children and girls, and opportunities of employment are in fact the real issues they would like to see resolved. However, issues like Mandir-Masjid may resonate with a small section of people but have come to occupy a disproportionately large share of politics today. India’s health expenditure remains less than 3 per cent of its GDP, there is a severe dearth of quality and accessible school education for over 80 per cent Indian children. There is a severe crisis of undernutrition in a huge swathe of the country and process of migration for economic opportunities is overburdening India’s unprepared cities. In the new year, it is on such issues that political parties really need to focus on and just include them as a formality in their respective manifestos. Don’t mislead people With technology enabling real and digital manipulation of the voters’ minds, it is important that politicians strictly follow a personal code of conduct which shuns promoting the use of technology to come up with fake news, memes, audio recordings, and other such materials. Such unethical practices may help them reap short-term and narrow political gains but in the long term, it will be the death-knell of people’s trust in the political class. And once people’s trust disappears it won’t be long before our entire democratic political system starts crumbling. Therefore, politicians must resolve to neither overtly or covertly to either promote or sanction the creation of any material or narrative that seeks to mislead people on any issue pertaining to religion, caste, community, gender or any other matter. Political parties and leaders from across the political spectrum need to resolve to shun this negativist politics and resolve to only work on positive ideas. To be sure, it is not meant that Indian politics should become inert and boring, but only that our politics should not be centred only on criticism, vendetta and spiteful jingoism. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Resolutions that political parties must make in 2019

Average growth will no longer represent the economy. One number will not rule all, whether it’s the GDP growth number or inflation rate.&nbsp;

Even the vote share per cent will no longer determine the winning seats. The narrative of derived numbers will not represent what is happening in the Indian economy, politics or even society.&nbsp;

The reason for that is rather obvious - in-spite of continuous change in these digits, they do not represent the situation on the ground. 
 
To present them or depend on them is not the way forward. The farm distress, for instance, is not captured by GDP growth numbers or even the inflation number. In other words, when the largest constituent in an economy is not representative enough, what good is that number?

Moreover, macroeconomics as a discipline is also losing its importance. The inequity of growth is rising and most of these numbers do not represent it.

Hopefully, this will make policymakers go granular and stop persisting with their one-policy-fits-all approach for India. BJP’s district growth plan is the reality going forward.

In an election year, populist measures will surely occupy centre stage. When such a large section of the population is denied benefits of growth and development, they are bound to be vociferous.&nbsp;

We have already seen newly-elected state governments throw caution to the winds and announce populist measures, including loan waivers.&nbsp;

Such populist moves along with universal basic income will become the norm in 2019. The rising possibility of coalition governments means each regional party will outdo the other to dish out more populist moves.

This means fiscal discipline will be thrown out of the window and state finances will deteriorate. It may have an impact on the future ability of these state governments to raise funds and invest in infrastructure.&nbsp;

All this will affect the urban middle class in cities, as investment on waste, water and transportation will slow down.&nbsp;

The middle class as a vote bank is losing its attractiveness, as it is difficult to be harnessed by any political party. A clear division is visible and the middle class will blame the rural classes more often than not for its woes.&nbsp;

The conflict of class and caste will determine and define the elections of 2019. Populism versus nationalism and the shrillness of ‘isms‘ will dominate the narrative.&nbsp;

Hopefully, it will be a quick cycle and will fade out fast, without damaging the faith in the democracy.

Amidst all this noise, there are invisible structural changes underway in the global economy, which will impact India. The structure of jobs and even work is changing and the correlation between investment and jobs will break in 2019.&nbsp;

Large investments do not result in a large number of jobs, as investment goes in land and automation or in shareholders’ pockets.&nbsp;

Tenure of jobs is reducing and only the millennials are adaptable across industries. Adapting old skills for new industries is the mantra for those of the older generations. Technology is destroying industries and processing power is eating up jobs.

The ability of processing power giants like Amazon, Google, Facebook is rising exponentially at warp speed.&nbsp;

Google’s Deep Mind defeated Ke Jie in the Chinese game of Go in May, 2017. Defeating a human in a complicated strategic game like Go is like landing a person on the moon for artificial intelligence (AI). &nbsp;

Over the last one year, China has pushed more money into AI than even the Silicon Valley.&nbsp;

Zhongguancun in China is the AI capital of world. While China will drive innovation, development and technical expertise in this area, India will bear the brunt of this drive. &nbsp;

While manufacturing jobs shrink due to automation and investment, the service sector job engine will feel the icy cold winds sweeping across from AI.

The impact of AI on outsourced services jobs is massive. Voice-based call centres have either closed down or become dens of crime and fraud. Soon transaction matching and recording jobs, a critical component of finance and accounting, will disappear.&nbsp;

This change is rarely reported, but it has a huge impact on cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Noida, Gurgaon and Mumbai. The outsourcing job engine also has an impact on the education system, new graduates and aspirational class in tier-2 towns.&nbsp;

Rising protectionism will affect trade and relations and most populist leaders in developed countries are against globalisation.&nbsp;

China is emerging as the lone flag bearer of globalization as US, Britain, and a substantial part of Europe are firmly in the grip of populist protectionism.

While US markets outperformed emerging markets in 2018 as Trump dropped corporate taxes, an economic slowdown is always round the corner.

The global economy growth is turning soft. Trump’s trade war is affecting Chinese companies and economy. If global growth remains soft and OPEC behaves, than oil prices will remain low.&nbsp;

This will help India’s oil bill and current account deficit and may improve the central government’s balance sheet.&nbsp;

It remains to be seen how much of this benefit will be passed on to the consumer. Lower oil prices are not always good as consumers need to move away from oil to renewables.&nbsp;

The promise of everyday low prices hollowed out the US economy in the last 20 years. E-commerce giants and global supply chains have already disrupted several MSME and job-intensive industries in India.

They may have been halted briefly by the e-commerce regulations, but they will be back jumping in through other loopholes. As they say, once you have tasted how to break the rules, following the rules does not make much sense.

Several things will get broken and made during 2019; hopefully, the nation and its citizen will maintain its position as the world’s most optimistic people. 
 
(This article was originally published on DNA. Read the original article)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Average growth will no longer represent the economy. One number will not rule all, whether it’s the GDP growth number or inflation rate. Even the vote share per cent will no longer determine the winning seats.

Average growth will no longer represent the economy. One number will not rule all, whether it’s the GDP growth number or inflation rate. Even the vote share per cent will no longer determine the winning seats. The narrative of derived numbers will not represent what is happening in the Indian economy, politics or even society. The reason for that is rather obvious - in-spite of continuous change in these digits, they do not represent the situation on the ground. To present them or depend on them is not the way forward. The farm distress, for instance, is not captured by GDP growth numbers or even the inflation number. In other words, when the largest constituent in an economy is not representative enough, what good is that number? Moreover, macroeconomics as a discipline is also losing its importance. The inequity of growth is rising and most of these numbers do not represent it. Hopefully, this will make policymakers go granular and stop persisting with their one-policy-fits-all approach for India. BJP’s district growth plan is the reality going forward. In an election year, populist measures will surely occupy centre stage. When such a large section of the population is denied benefits of growth and development, they are bound to be vociferous. We have already seen newly-elected state governments throw caution to the winds and announce populist measures, including loan waivers. Such populist moves along with universal basic income will become the norm in 2019. The rising possibility of coalition governments means each regional party will outdo the other to dish out more populist moves. This means fiscal discipline will be thrown out of the window and state finances will deteriorate. It may have an impact on the future ability of these state governments to raise funds and invest in infrastructure. All this will affect the urban middle class in cities, as investment on waste, water and transportation will slow down. The middle class as a vote bank is losing its attractiveness, as it is difficult to be harnessed by any political party. A clear division is visible and the middle class will blame the rural classes more often than not for its woes. The conflict of class and caste will determine and define the elections of 2019. Populism versus nationalism and the shrillness of ‘isms‘ will dominate the narrative. Hopefully, it will be a quick cycle and will fade out fast, without damaging the faith in the democracy. Amidst all this noise, there are invisible structural changes underway in the global economy, which will impact India. The structure of jobs and even work is changing and the correlation between investment and jobs will break in 2019. Large investments do not result in a large number of jobs, as investment goes in land and automation or in shareholders’ pockets. Tenure of jobs is reducing and only the millennials are adaptable across industries. Adapting old skills for new industries is the mantra for those of the older generations. Technology is destroying industries and processing power is eating up jobs. The ability of processing power giants like Amazon, Google, Facebook is rising exponentially at warp speed. Google’s Deep Mind defeated Ke Jie in the Chinese game of Go in May, 2017. Defeating a human in a complicated strategic game like Go is like landing a person on the moon for artificial intelligence (AI). Over the last one year, China has pushed more money into AI than even the Silicon Valley. Zhongguancun in China is the AI capital of world. While China will drive innovation, development and technical expertise in this area, India will bear the brunt of this drive. While manufacturing jobs shrink due to automation and investment, the service sector job engine will feel the icy cold winds sweeping across from AI. The impact of AI on outsourced services jobs is massive. Voice-based call centres have either closed down or become dens of crime and fraud. Soon transaction matching and recording jobs, a critical component of finance and accounting, will disappear. This change is rarely reported, but it has a huge impact on cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Noida, Gurgaon and Mumbai. The outsourcing job engine also has an impact on the education system, new graduates and aspirational class in tier-2 towns. Rising protectionism will affect trade and relations and most populist leaders in developed countries are against globalisation. China is emerging as the lone flag bearer of globalization as US, Britain, and a substantial part of Europe are firmly in the grip of populist protectionism. While US markets outperformed emerging markets in 2018 as Trump dropped corporate taxes, an economic slowdown is always round the corner. The global economy growth is turning soft. Trump’s trade war is affecting Chinese companies and economy. If global growth remains soft and OPEC behaves, than oil prices will remain low. This will help India’s oil bill and current account deficit and may improve the central government’s balance sheet. It remains to be seen how much of this benefit will be passed on to the consumer. Lower oil prices are not always good as consumers need to move away from oil to renewables. The promise of everyday low prices hollowed out the US economy in the last 20 years. E-commerce giants and global supply chains have already disrupted several MSME and job-intensive industries in India. They may have been halted briefly by the e-commerce regulations, but they will be back jumping in through other loopholes. As they say, once you have tasted how to break the rules, following the rules does not make much sense. Several things will get broken and made during 2019; hopefully, the nation and its citizen will maintain its position as the world’s most optimistic people. (This article was originally published on DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

2019: The crucial year ahead

Like the year 2017, &nbsp;2018 also ends with a round of important state elections. But unlike 2017 which the Bharatiya Janata Party rounded off with a hard-fought victory in Gujarat, 2018 has seen curtains down for the party in the key states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. That alone makes 2019 crucial, but what adds to the importance is the fact that that year will also witness a contest to determine which party or combination of parties rules the country.&nbsp;

It is, therefore, natural that electoral issues will be thrown up in the coming months. Although different topics will seek to occupy the primary narrative, every party will swear by the development agenda. While the BJP will present the development it has done in the past five years, others will dig up credit-worry material from the past when they were in power. The question is: Will the politics of development alone be the decisive factor? This is important because, if the answer is in the affirmative, then various other issues, many of them polarising and contentious, ought to be consigned to the dustbin. But the country’s recent political history does not point in that direction.&nbsp;

The Congress-led regime of PV Narasimha Rao presided over the most dramatic economic reforms the country has seen since Independence. It discarded decades of a socialist structure that had impeded growth and openness in the Indian economy. Its impact has been so profound that it is not just being felt today but will continue to be felt for many more years to come. Those bold measures were remarkable for another important reason: They were helmed by a leader who had himself spent a lifetime soaked in the Congress’s socialist credentials as far as economic policies were concerned. And they saved the country from certain bankruptcy. And yet, the Rao government lost power in 1996. The development agenda failed to click.&nbsp;

The fate of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee dispensation was no different. Prime Minister Vajpayee initiated arguably the biggest reform in decades in the infrastructure sector — national highways, rural roads, electricity, telecommunications. The India Shining campaign highlighted those undisputed achievements, but the BJP was ousted from power by the Congress which had only less than a decade ago played a role in the destabilisation of two non-Congress governments. Besides, it had also virtually trashed Rao’s development politics by relegating him to a non-entity in the Congress’s galaxy of tall leaders. People had not forgotten the shabby treatment it had given to Rao even after his death. But nothing mattered, and the Congress-led alliance formed the government in 2004. &nbsp;

Both Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh and Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh, in their long stints at the helm, had to a large extent succeeded in improving a lot of the people of their respective States through developmental politics. Madhya Pradesh is an especially interesting case because it had been considered part of the BIMARU (sick) conglomeration of states when Chouhan took charge. In more than a decade in office, his regime had managed to extricate it out of this pejorative terminology— which then comprised Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. But the people of the state voted his regime out recently.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Political parties understand this reality, which is why, although they talk of the politics of development, they are careful to cultivate other factors as well, sometimes at the cost of development. The constant use of identities — of religion, caste, regional pride — is one such weapon that these parties deploy. To be fair to them, they do so because they know that the voters also —despite being vocal on public platforms — about issues of development — are often swayed by parochial considerations.&nbsp;

This explains the budding romance between the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh. If the alliance between the two regional heavyweights happens, it can signal big trouble for the BJP in the state which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha and which can well decide on who will form the next government at the Centre. It cannot be the politics of development which has brought the two entities this close, because both have a miserable track record on that front. What we can witness is the return of unabashed caste politics in Uttar Pradesh.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Similar is the story with other parties. The BJP has enough to talk about developmental politics — from empowering the common man to have bank accounts to enhancing road, rail and air connectivity to providing cooking gas connections to millions of needy families to implementing various new insurance schemes for the farming and the health sectors, and the Make in India, Digital India, Startup India projects etc. But even it realises that these may not be enough.

That said, it must be acknowledged that voters do have issues other than development which bothers them, and when such issues are ignored or belittled, the people let their annoyance known through the EVMs.&nbsp; 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Like the year 2017, 2018 also ends with a round of important state elections. But unlike 2017 which the Bharatiya Janata Party rounded off with a hard-fought victory in Gujarat, 2018 has seen curtains down for the party in the key states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Like the year 2017, 2018 also ends with a round of important state elections. But unlike 2017 which the Bharatiya Janata Party rounded off with a hard-fought victory in Gujarat, 2018 has seen curtains down for the party in the key states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. That alone makes 2019 crucial, but what adds to the importance is the fact that that year will also witness a contest to determine which party or combination of parties rules the country. It is, therefore, natural that electoral issues will be thrown up in the coming months. Although different topics will seek to occupy the primary narrative, every party will swear by the development agenda. While the BJP will present the development it has done in the past five years, others will dig up credit-worry material from the past when they were in power. The question is: Will the politics of development alone be the decisive factor? This is important because, if the answer is in the affirmative, then various other issues, many of them polarising and contentious, ought to be consigned to the dustbin. But the country’s recent political history does not point in that direction. The Congress-led regime of PV Narasimha Rao presided over the most dramatic economic reforms the country has seen since Independence. It discarded decades of a socialist structure that had impeded growth and openness in the Indian economy. Its impact has been so profound that it is not just being felt today but will continue to be felt for many more years to come. Those bold measures were remarkable for another important reason: They were helmed by a leader who had himself spent a lifetime soaked in the Congress’s socialist credentials as far as economic policies were concerned. And they saved the country from certain bankruptcy. And yet, the Rao government lost power in 1996. The development agenda failed to click. The fate of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee dispensation was no different. Prime Minister Vajpayee initiated arguably the biggest reform in decades in the infrastructure sector — national highways, rural roads, electricity, telecommunications. The India Shining campaign highlighted those undisputed achievements, but the BJP was ousted from power by the Congress which had only less than a decade ago played a role in the destabilisation of two non-Congress governments. Besides, it had also virtually trashed Rao’s development politics by relegating him to a non-entity in the Congress’s galaxy of tall leaders. People had not forgotten the shabby treatment it had given to Rao even after his death. But nothing mattered, and the Congress-led alliance formed the government in 2004. Both Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh and Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh, in their long stints at the helm, had to a large extent succeeded in improving a lot of the people of their respective States through developmental politics. Madhya Pradesh is an especially interesting case because it had been considered part of the BIMARU (sick) conglomeration of states when Chouhan took charge. In more than a decade in office, his regime had managed to extricate it out of this pejorative terminology— which then comprised Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. But the people of the state voted his regime out recently. Political parties understand this reality, which is why, although they talk of the politics of development, they are careful to cultivate other factors as well, sometimes at the cost of development. The constant use of identities — of religion, caste, regional pride — is one such weapon that these parties deploy. To be fair to them, they do so because they know that the voters also —despite being vocal on public platforms — about issues of development — are often swayed by parochial considerations. This explains the budding romance between the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh. If the alliance between the two regional heavyweights happens, it can signal big trouble for the BJP in the state which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha and which can well decide on who will form the next government at the Centre. It cannot be the politics of development which has brought the two entities this close, because both have a miserable track record on that front. What we can witness is the return of unabashed caste politics in Uttar Pradesh. Similar is the story with other parties. The BJP has enough to talk about developmental politics — from empowering the common man to have bank accounts to enhancing road, rail and air connectivity to providing cooking gas connections to millions of needy families to implementing various new insurance schemes for the farming and the health sectors, and the Make in India, Digital India, Startup India projects etc. But even it realises that these may not be enough. That said, it must be acknowledged that voters do have issues other than development which bothers them, and when such issues are ignored or belittled, the people let their annoyance known through the EVMs. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

It will take more than just 'politics of development' as parties prepare for 2019 Lok Sabha elections

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/nobody-has-power-to-abolish-reservation-nitish-kumar-174763">Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar </a>attended a meeting of his JD(U) here on Saturday, in which the top leaders of the party discussed the ways and means to improve its prospects in the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/shivpal-yadav-willing-to-join-hands-with-congress-to-defeat-bjp-in-lok-sabha-polls-186646">2019 Lok Sabha polls.</a>

The meeting was held at the residence of Janata Dal (United) state president and Rajya Sabha member Vashishtha Narayan Singh. A host of senior leaders, including the party's national general secretary Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, spokesperson Sanjay Singh, minister Jai Kumar Singh and MLA Lesi Singh, were among those present.

JD(U) sources said the meeting that lasted for nearly three hours focussed on making the party more popular among the upper castes, who have traditionally supported the BJP or, earlier, the Congress.

The JD(U) enjoys tremendous popularity among the Extremely Backward Classes and the Mahadalits — numerically large but politically submissive social groups — thanks to the schemes of Kumar's government that have aimed at the betterment of these segments.

The support base of the JD(U) remained intact in the worst of times, but the votes failed to translate into seats whenever the party decided to go it alone like the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when it managed to win only two of the 40 seats in<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/bihar-government-collected-38-more-tax-than-last-year-sushil-modi-187104"> Bihar.</a>

The JD(U) is looking forward to putting up a sterling performance in next year's general election, which it will be contesting in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).

Last week, BJP president Amit Shah had announced the seat-sharing formula of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, wherein his party and the JD(U) will contest 17 seats each while the LJP will fight the remaining six.

Kumar had said at Shah's press conference that in 2019, the NDA would better its previous record of 32 seats in Bihar, which was achieved in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Being at the helm of affairs in Bihar for long, Kumar has the responsibility to ensure that the NDA romps home successfully in the 2019 polls.

However, opposition parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) have mocked the claim, saying Paswan's decision not to contest the Lok Sabha polls but enter Parliament through the Rajya Sabha was "out of fear that the NDA may not be able to open its account in Bihar".

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar attended a meeting of his JD(U) here on Saturday, in which the top leaders of the party discussed the ways and means to improve its prospects in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar attended a meeting of his JD(U) here on Saturday, in which the top leaders of the party discussed the ways and means to improve its prospects in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The meeting was held at the residence of Janata Dal (United) state president and Rajya Sabha member Vashishtha Narayan Singh. A host of senior leaders, including the party's national general secretary Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, spokesperson Sanjay Singh, minister Jai Kumar Singh and MLA Lesi Singh, were among those present. JD(U) sources said the meeting that lasted for nearly three hours focussed on making the party more popular among the upper castes, who have traditionally supported the BJP or, earlier, the Congress. The JD(U) enjoys tremendous popularity among the Extremely Backward Classes and the Mahadalits — numerically large but politically submissive social groups — thanks to the schemes of Kumar's government that have aimed at the betterment of these segments. The support base of the JD(U) remained intact in the worst of times, but the votes failed to translate into seats whenever the party decided to go it alone like the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when it managed to win only two of the 40 seats in Bihar. The JD(U) is looking forward to putting up a sterling performance in next year's general election, which it will be contesting in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). Last week, BJP president Amit Shah had announced the seat-sharing formula of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, wherein his party and the JD(U) will contest 17 seats each while the LJP will fight the remaining six. Kumar had said at Shah's press conference that in 2019, the NDA would better its previous record of 32 seats in Bihar, which was achieved in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Being at the helm of affairs in Bihar for long, Kumar has the responsibility to ensure that the NDA romps home successfully in the 2019 polls. However, opposition parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) have mocked the claim, saying Paswan's decision not to contest the Lok Sabha polls but enter Parliament through the Rajya Sabha was "out of fear that the NDA may not be able to open its account in Bihar".

Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Nitish holds JD(U) meeting in Patna

Rebel SP leader Shivpal Yadav, who recently floated the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), has said he was willing to join hands with the Congress to defeat the BJP in the coming <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/2019-lok-sabha-elections-instagram-a-new-game-changer-to-woo-young-voters-186133">Lok Sabha elections</a>. 
 
To a question on the possibility of coalitions for the next year’s Lok Sabha polls, he said, “We have our party’s organisation in 75 districts of the state…the party has decided to contest all the seats against the BJP…to defeat the BJP, we can also enter into an alliance with the Congress”. 
 
Yadav was in Bareilly Tuesday night to take part in a programme. 
 
The estranged uncle of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav stressed that all those talking about forming a morcha to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should also talk to his party which was ready to deliberate on the issue. 
 
On the controversy over Lord Hanuman, the rebel leader said, “He is a God and those who are out to confine him to a particular caste have a very narrow mindset”. 
 
Yadav also opined that Ram temple should not come upon the land which was under dispute. 
 
“Lot of lands is lying around River Saryu…if the temple is built there, I am also ready to contribute to it,” he said while asserting that the Supreme Court’s verdict in the matter should not be defied. 
 
The Supreme Court is scheduled to take up a batch of petitions for hearing in the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/supreme-court-to-hear-ram-janmabhoomi-babri-masjid-title-dispute-case-on-january-4-186228">Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case</a> on January 4.

Rebel SP leader Shivpal Yadav, who recently floated the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), has said he was willing to join hands with the Congress to defeat the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Rebel SP leader Shivpal Yadav, who recently floated the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), has said he was willing to join hands with the Congress to defeat the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections. To a question on the possibility of coalitions for the next year’s Lok Sabha polls, he said, “We have our party’s organisation in 75 districts of the state…the party has decided to contest all the seats against the BJP…to defeat the BJP, we can also enter into an alliance with the Congress”. Yadav was in Bareilly Tuesday night to take part in a programme. The estranged uncle of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav stressed that all those talking about forming a morcha to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should also talk to his party which was ready to deliberate on the issue. On the controversy over Lord Hanuman, the rebel leader said, “He is a God and those who are out to confine him to a particular caste have a very narrow mindset”. Yadav also opined that Ram temple should not come upon the land which was under dispute. “Lot of lands is lying around River Saryu…if the temple is built there, I am also ready to contribute to it,” he said while asserting that the Supreme Court’s verdict in the matter should not be defied. The Supreme Court is scheduled to take up a batch of petitions for hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case on January 4.

Shivpal Yadav willing to join hands with Congress to defeat BJP in Lok Sabha polls

BJP's ‘save democracy’ Rath Yatra (chariot journey), that was scheduled to commence from three different points this Saturday and conclude with party President Amit Shah's public rally after crossing through all the Lok Sabha constituencies of West Bengal, has been grounded even before it could take-off as the Supreme Court this Monday refused to accord a priority hearing on BJP's application challenging a Calcutta High Court order preventing the Yatra in West Bengal.

The Mamata Banerjee government has stiffly opposed BJP's yatra. It used what it calls “intelligence feedback” to drive home the communal angle and raise the law and order issue through a petition filed in the Calcutta high court to stall the Yatra.

At the outset, a single judge bench of the Calcutta high court allowed the Yatra. But a Division Bench of the high court struck down this order after the Mamata government had challenged it.

Since winter holidays were starting, the BJP approached the Supreme Court to seek an urgent hearing in this matter but as the request has been denied by the apex court, the matter will now come up for hearing in the normal course when the court reopens in January 2019. Till then the Yatra would remain on the back-burner and in the interim people will be witnessing a battle of wits and a war of words between the BJP and All India Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in West Bengal.

After the BJP took up the Ayodhya temple issue, senior party leader L K Advani had embarked on his famous padyatra in September 1990. Advani’s Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra is now history. In 2011, Advani took out another yatra - Jan Chetna Yatra to take on UPA government on the corruption issue.

Except for the nomenclature, there is no ground to compare Advani’s Yatra with BJP’s now postponed “Save Democracy Rath Yatra” in Bengal which is directed against the Mamata Banerjee government and more particularly aimed at building public opinion against illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. BJP views it as a serious issue and the main reason leading to distress among the state's youth. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has already launched a campaign in support of a National Register of Citizens on the same lines as Assam to weed out the illegal Bangladeshis from Bengal.&nbsp;

The social media has been loaded with comments both for and against BJP’s save democracy Rath Yatra. A Twitter post in defence of the BJP said: If this (stopping the BJP from taking out its Rat Yatra) is not akin to Emergency what else is? &nbsp;Can law and order be an alibi to prevent freedom of Expression?

The present impasse and its outcome will have a far-reaching impact on BJP’s campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha election not only in Bengal but also in other parts of the country. The stakes are too high for the BJP which has already suffered defeat in the just concluded Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh - the Hindi heartland states.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

BJP's ‘save democracy’ Rath Yatra (chariot journey), that was scheduled to commence from three different points this Saturday and conclude with party President Amit Shah's public rally after crossing through all the Lok Sabha constituencies of West Bengal, has been grounded even before it could take-off as the Supreme Court this Monday refused to accord a priority hearing on BJP's application challenging a Calcutta High Court order preventing the Yatra in West Bengal.

BJP's ‘save democracy’ Rath Yatra (chariot journey), that was scheduled to commence from three different points this Saturday and conclude with party President Amit Shah's public rally after crossing through all the Lok Sabha constituencies of West Bengal, has been grounded even before it could take-off as the Supreme Court this Monday refused to accord a priority hearing on BJP's application challenging a Calcutta High Court order preventing the Yatra in West Bengal. The Mamata Banerjee government has stiffly opposed BJP's yatra. It used what it calls “intelligence feedback” to drive home the communal angle and raise the law and order issue through a petition filed in the Calcutta high court to stall the Yatra. At the outset, a single judge bench of the Calcutta high court allowed the Yatra. But a Division Bench of the high court struck down this order after the Mamata government had challenged it. Since winter holidays were starting, the BJP approached the Supreme Court to seek an urgent hearing in this matter but as the request has been denied by the apex court, the matter will now come up for hearing in the normal course when the court reopens in January 2019. Till then the Yatra would remain on the back-burner and in the interim people will be witnessing a battle of wits and a war of words between the BJP and All India Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in West Bengal. After the BJP took up the Ayodhya temple issue, senior party leader L K Advani had embarked on his famous padyatra in September 1990. Advani’s Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra is now history. In 2011, Advani took out another yatra - Jan Chetna Yatra to take on UPA government on the corruption issue. Except for the nomenclature, there is no ground to compare Advani’s Yatra with BJP’s now postponed “Save Democracy Rath Yatra” in Bengal which is directed against the Mamata Banerjee government and more particularly aimed at building public opinion against illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. BJP views it as a serious issue and the main reason leading to distress among the state's youth. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has already launched a campaign in support of a National Register of Citizens on the same lines as Assam to weed out the illegal Bangladeshis from Bengal. The social media has been loaded with comments both for and against BJP’s save democracy Rath Yatra. A Twitter post in defence of the BJP said: If this (stopping the BJP from taking out its Rat Yatra) is not akin to Emergency what else is? Can law and order be an alibi to prevent freedom of Expression? The present impasse and its outcome will have a far-reaching impact on BJP’s campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha election not only in Bengal but also in other parts of the country. The stakes are too high for the BJP which has already suffered defeat in the just concluded Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh - the Hindi heartland states. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

The Rath Yatra controversy and BJP’s stakes in West Bengal

Virtually setting the tone of poll campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Uttar Pradesh <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/whenever-ram-temple-is-built-in-ayodhya-it-will-be-by-us-yogi-adityanath-186043">Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath</a> Tuesday said there is no substitute to development, an issue that the ruling BJP has adopted as its "battle cry".

"There is no substitute to development as people of every caste, community, region and religion need development to raise their living standards. Those who do negative politics and try to divide the country on the lines of caste, religion and geographical boundaries actually deceive the democracy," he said.

The chief minister made these remarks while addressing a gathering in adjoining Siddharth Nagar district after laying the foundation stone of a medical college.

Stating that Siddharthnagar seat is very important for the BJP, Adityanath named the medical college after late BJP leader Madhav Prasad Tripathi.

"We never said that patients will be discriminated in the medical college on the lines of caste and religion. The people of Siddharthnagar district, as also those of neighbouring districts and Nepal will be benefited by it. I have seen children dying of encephalitis and various water-borne diseases as they were poor and it was difficult for them to reach BRD medical college in Gorakhpur.

"The people will now get treatment near their home and young students of poor families who dream of becoming a doctor could make their dreams come true," he said.

The chief minister said, "We are trying to live up to the concept of Ramrajya by making the benefits of welfare scheme reach the deprived sections. The poor are getting houses, LPG connections, electricity connections, benefits of Ayushman Bharat scheme and toilets."

"The previous governments never took concrete steps to combat encephalitis. Since the disease is mostly water borne, a toilet in the house will be very helpful to contain it," the chief minister added.

Taking a dig at opposition parties, he said, "People raised a lot of slogans and made announcements but if the development could have taken place only by raising slogans, India might have gone very far."

"People were deprived of houses, electricity, LPG connections, toilets and various schemes. For the first time in 70 years after Independence, PM Narendra Modi thought and worked for it," he added.

On strengthening the ties with neighbouring Nepal, he said, "Nepal is our friendly nation and I have directed PWD to repair and beautify all the roads to Nepal."

Adityanath said Siddharthnagar was associated with Gautam Buddha and it carries a lot of historical significance.&nbsp;

Virtually setting the tone of poll campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Tuesday said there is no substitute to development, an issue that the ruling BJP has adopted as its "battle cry".

Virtually setting the tone of poll campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Tuesday said there is no substitute to development, an issue that the ruling BJP has adopted as its "battle cry". "There is no substitute to development as people of every caste, community, region and religion need development to raise their living standards. Those who do negative politics and try to divide the country on the lines of caste, religion and geographical boundaries actually deceive the democracy," he said. The chief minister made these remarks while addressing a gathering in adjoining Siddharth Nagar district after laying the foundation stone of a medical college. Stating that Siddharthnagar seat is very important for the BJP, Adityanath named the medical college after late BJP leader Madhav Prasad Tripathi. "We never said that patients will be discriminated in the medical college on the lines of caste and religion. The people of Siddharthnagar district, as also those of neighbouring districts and Nepal will be benefited by it. I have seen children dying of encephalitis and various water-borne diseases as they were poor and it was difficult for them to reach BRD medical college in Gorakhpur. "The people will now get treatment near their home and young students of poor families who dream of becoming a doctor could make their dreams come true," he said. The chief minister said, "We are trying to live up to the concept of Ramrajya by making the benefits of welfare scheme reach the deprived sections. The poor are getting houses, LPG connections, electricity connections, benefits of Ayushman Bharat scheme and toilets." "The previous governments never took concrete steps to combat encephalitis. Since the disease is mostly water borne, a toilet in the house will be very helpful to contain it," the chief minister added. Taking a dig at opposition parties, he said, "People raised a lot of slogans and made announcements but if the development could have taken place only by raising slogans, India might have gone very far." "People were deprived of houses, electricity, LPG connections, toilets and various schemes. For the first time in 70 years after Independence, PM Narendra Modi thought and worked for it," he added. On strengthening the ties with neighbouring Nepal, he said, "Nepal is our friendly nation and I have directed PWD to repair and beautify all the roads to Nepal." Adityanath said Siddharthnagar was associated with Gautam Buddha and it carries a lot of historical significance.

There is no substitute to development: Yogi Adityanath

After sweeping the Assembly elections in Telangana, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has revived his efforts for a non-Congress and non-BJP Federal Front.

Rao, who was instrumental in the formation of the Telangana state, has asserted that his party will play a crucial role in national politics. KCR &nbsp;has said that he intends to give a new definition to the national scenario - just like Telangana which stands a non-Congress and non-BJP state.

KCR's victory in the state Assembly polls was no less than a historic one, bagging 88 seats in the 119-member House.&nbsp;

On Monday, KCR met Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. However, both Patnaik and Mamata have not committed their participation in the Federal Front yet. Hiding his visible disappointment, Rao said their dialogue will continue for an alternative front to the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliances.

Carrying on with his mission of creating a non-Congress Federal Front, KCR will now meet Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
On the other hand, KCR's arch-rival and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu is also running pillar to post to unite all the like-minded Opposition parties to take on the BJP in 2019 elections.&nbsp;

In a significant move, Naidu dropped his 'non-Congress Third Front' plank and approached party president Rahul Gandhi to garner his support for the Grand Alliance. Putting aside over three decades of rivalry, both the leaders even addressed public meetings together as part of their campaign for just-concluded Telangana Assembly polls.

Mamata Banerjee, a key interlocutor among Opposition parties, too has been trying to bring anti-BJP parties under one umbrella. Naidu and Mamata have been in sync with each other to achieve their common goal - demolishing BJP. Therefore, it's unlikely that Mamata will support KCR's Federal Front (Regional Federation) over the national-level Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan).

Furthermore, seasoned leaders like Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah have authorised Chandrababu Naidu to speak to Opposition leaders to devise the future strategy for United Opposition. DMK chief Stalin has already proposed the Congress president's name as United Opposition's PM candidate. Naidu also has the support of Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Here is another reason which might hold back political parties from supporting KCR - the Telangana chief minister is accused of acting as team B of BJP-led NDA and trying to weaken the proposed Mahagathbandhan.

Moreover, after Congress's triumph in the recently held Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi has emerged as a confident and formidable leader. It is nearly impossible for Opposition leaders to ignore the Gandhi scion.&nbsp;

KCR has indeed proved his mettle by leading the struggle for Telangana and forming government in the state for the second time, however, only seasoned politicians coming together on one platform - Mahagathbandhan, can put up a strong candidature against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has done some unparalleled work in the last four and a half years. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

After sweeping the Assembly elections in Telangana, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has revived his efforts for a non-Congress and non-BJP Federal Front.

After sweeping the Assembly elections in Telangana, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has revived his efforts for a non-Congress and non-BJP Federal Front. Rao, who was instrumental in the formation of the Telangana state, has asserted that his party will play a crucial role in national politics. KCR has said that he intends to give a new definition to the national scenario - just like Telangana which stands a non-Congress and non-BJP state. KCR's victory in the state Assembly polls was no less than a historic one, bagging 88 seats in the 119-member House. On Monday, KCR met Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. However, both Patnaik and Mamata have not committed their participation in the Federal Front yet. Hiding his visible disappointment, Rao said their dialogue will continue for an alternative front to the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliances. Carrying on with his mission of creating a non-Congress Federal Front, KCR will now meet Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati. On the other hand, KCR's arch-rival and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu is also running pillar to post to unite all the like-minded Opposition parties to take on the BJP in 2019 elections. In a significant move, Naidu dropped his 'non-Congress Third Front' plank and approached party president Rahul Gandhi to garner his support for the Grand Alliance. Putting aside over three decades of rivalry, both the leaders even addressed public meetings together as part of their campaign for just-concluded Telangana Assembly polls. Mamata Banerjee, a key interlocutor among Opposition parties, too has been trying to bring anti-BJP parties under one umbrella. Naidu and Mamata have been in sync with each other to achieve their common goal - demolishing BJP. Therefore, it's unlikely that Mamata will support KCR's Federal Front (Regional Federation) over the national-level Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan). Furthermore, seasoned leaders like Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah have authorised Chandrababu Naidu to speak to Opposition leaders to devise the future strategy for United Opposition. DMK chief Stalin has already proposed the Congress president's name as United Opposition's PM candidate. Naidu also has the support of Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Here is another reason which might hold back political parties from supporting KCR - the Telangana chief minister is accused of acting as team B of BJP-led NDA and trying to weaken the proposed Mahagathbandhan. Moreover, after Congress's triumph in the recently held Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi has emerged as a confident and formidable leader. It is nearly impossible for Opposition leaders to ignore the Gandhi scion. KCR has indeed proved his mettle by leading the struggle for Telangana and forming government in the state for the second time, however, only seasoned politicians coming together on one platform - Mahagathbandhan, can put up a strong candidature against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has done some unparalleled work in the last four and a half years. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

KCR is trying hard, but is a non-Congress Federal Front possible?

Makkal Needhi Maiam chief <a href="http://www.wionews.com/entertainment/kajal-aggarwal-confirms-next-film-with-kamal-haasan-181353">Kamal Haasan</a> Saturday said his party has authorised him to a take a decision on forging an alliance with like-minded parties for next year's Lok Sabha polls.

After discussions, the party executive and administrative panels "authorised me to take a decision on forging an alliance with like-minded parties and a good alliance will fructify," Haasan told reporters here.

The move is seen as a clear signal that Haasan's fledgeling party -founded in February this year does not want to test the waters all alone and would rather prefer to join forces with established parties.

Haasan had said recently that he was not averse to forging poll ties with the Congress if it eased itself out of the DMK-led alliance, which the national party has rejected.

Asked to name the parties with which MNM would strike an electoral alliance, the actor-turned-politician said there was no need to spell out details now.

"We will let you know after taking a decision. Now there is no urgency to disclose it," he said.

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Kamal Haasan: I will definitely contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. <a href="https://t.co/jU9RyA1oTw">pic.twitter.com/jU9RyA1oTw</a>
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The ideology of the party with which they may forge ties may be different, but the thought process should be in favour of Tamil Nadu, he said.

His party's propaganda for the Lok Sabha election would be based on the growth of Tamil Nadu, he said.

"The time has come to correct the injustices meted out to the state and aspects like these will be the focal points of our poll propaganda," he said.

Asked if his party would forge an alliance with Congress or the BJP, he said his party "would not strike a poll deal with a party that tries to change the DNA of Tamil Nadu," which is perceived as against the BJP.

Haasan said a panel has been set up to pick party nominees for the 40 Parliamentary constituencies; 39 in Tamil Nadu and one in neighbouring Puducherry.

A party functionary told PTI that while nominees will be ready for all the Lok Sabha&nbsp;seats, it may be 'tailored' as per the coalition needs.

To a question on facing the local body polls expected in 2019, he said: "We are preparing for it and there is no need to determine now if we will go it alone or will have the poll deal with other parties."

Haasan said his party would field candidates "if by-elections are held to 20 Assembly constituencies."

Eighteen AIADMK MLAs were disqualified and constituencies represented by them fell vacant. Two more seats became vacant following the deaths of incumbents.

However, Haasan said only after the declaration of by-election to the 20 constituencies would he be able to disclose if the party would face it alone or in alliance with other parties.

On the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expected next month to Tamil Nadu to address a party event, he said it was preparatory to the Lok Sabha election.

Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan Saturday said his party has authorised him to a take a decision on forging an alliance with like-minded parties for next year's Lok Sabha polls.

Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan Saturday said his party has authorised him to a take a decision on forging an alliance with like-minded parties for next year's Lok Sabha polls. After discussions, the party executive and administrative panels "authorised me to take a decision on forging an alliance with like-minded parties and a good alliance will fructify," Haasan told reporters here. The move is seen as a clear signal that Haasan's fledgeling party -founded in February this year does not want to test the waters all alone and would rather prefer to join forces with established parties. Haasan had said recently that he was not averse to forging poll ties with the Congress if it eased itself out of the DMK-led alliance, which the national party has rejected. Asked to name the parties with which MNM would strike an electoral alliance, the actor-turned-politician said there was no need to spell out details now. "We will let you know after taking a decision. Now there is no urgency to disclose it," he said. Kamal Haasan: I will definitely contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. pic.twitter.com/jU9RyA1oTw — ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2018 × The ideology of the party with which they may forge ties may be different, but the thought process should be in favour of Tamil Nadu, he said. His party's propaganda for the Lok Sabha election would be based on the growth of Tamil Nadu, he said. "The time has come to correct the injustices meted out to the state and aspects like these will be the focal points of our poll propaganda," he said. Asked if his party would forge an alliance with Congress or the BJP, he said his party "would not strike a poll deal with a party that tries to change the DNA of Tamil Nadu," which is perceived as against the BJP. Haasan said a panel has been set up to pick party nominees for the 40 Parliamentary constituencies; 39 in Tamil Nadu and one in neighbouring Puducherry. A party functionary told PTI that while nominees will be ready for all the Lok Sabha seats, it may be 'tailored' as per the coalition needs. To a question on facing the local body polls expected in 2019, he said: "We are preparing for it and there is no need to determine now if we will go it alone or will have the poll deal with other parties." Haasan said his party would field candidates "if by-elections are held to 20 Assembly constituencies." Eighteen AIADMK MLAs were disqualified and constituencies represented by them fell vacant. Two more seats became vacant following the deaths of incumbents. However, Haasan said only after the declaration of by-election to the 20 constituencies would he be able to disclose if the party would face it alone or in alliance with other parties. On the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expected next month to Tamil Nadu to address a party event, he said it was preparatory to the Lok Sabha election.

Kamal Haasan's party to scout for allies to face Lok Sabha polls

To win the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to overcome three demographic roadblocks: farmers, Dalits and NDA allies. Of the three, farmers hold the key.&nbsp;

Over 50 per cent of Indians earn their livelihood from farming activity. Agriculture, &nbsp;though, contributes only 15 per cent to India’s GDP. In those dissonant numbers lie the farm distress that has been building for years. It has come to a head just before the 2019 general election.&nbsp;

Natural disasters like successive droughts have pushed many marginal farmers to the brink. The political solution of granting loan waivers to alleviate farmer distress is akin to administering a painkiller. The pain will return. Last week former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and 12 other leading economists released a document titled “An economic strategy for India.” The document focuses on macro-economic stability, jobs, health, education and – most emphatically – agriculture. Arguing specifically against farm loan waivers, Rajan declared: “I have said forever that farm loan waivers should be taken off the table.”

Most Indian farmers have small holdings of between one and four acres. The increase in minimum support price (MSP) to cost-plus-50 per cent is not a panacea. 
 
The formula to compute input costs itself is inaccurate as Ashok Gulati and Tirtha Chatterjee, writing in a daily, have pointed out: “Farmers are basically demanding three things: One, a debate in Parliament to discuss farm distress; two; a one-time loan waiver; and three, raising minimum support prices (MSPs) to 50 per cent above comprehensive cost (C2) of production, and making MSPs legally binding on private traders – that is, if any trader buys below MSP, he should be put in prison for, say, three years. The third demand, of setting higher MSPs and making them legally binding, is the most strange. 
 
Although the Modi government is already drum-beating that they have fulfilled the Swaminathan formula by giving a 50 per cent margin over A2+FL, people in this business know that they have changed the reference cost from C2 to A2+FL, which is about 38 per cent lower. In any case, an MSP formula based on just cost, be it A2+FL or C2, ignoring its demand side, is patently inefficient. It will cost the nation heavily in due course.”&nbsp;

The real solution to farm distress lies elsewhere: technology and open markets. Between farm and fork are middlemen. They suck away a significant portion of the difference between the price at which the farmer sells his produce and the price the consumer pays. Ideally, this shouldn’t exceed 15-20 per cent, giving mandi operators, wholesalers and retailers sufficient profit margins. In reality, the margins can exceed 50 per cent. The farmer is shortchanged and the consumer too pays more than she should.&nbsp;

This defective mechanism lies at the heart of why agriculture is an unremunerative occupation. Surveys show that over 75 per cent of the children of farmers don’t want to be farmers. The monopolistic Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) decides the price farmers receive. Farmers who recently marched through Mumbai and Delhi want to sell their produce in open markets. An MSP-plus 50 per cent formula helps neither marginal farmers nor the government which has to balance food inflation (currently negative) with giving farmers remunerative prices.&nbsp;

The Telangana model is to bypass MSP+50 per cent and hand out Rs 4,000 per acre for every cropping season. But handing out cash to big farmers with tens of acres of land would be a waste. Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha instead suggests a more pragmatic way forward: “All small and marginal farmer households, including tenant and sub-tenant farmers, should receive a basic income of Rs 6,000 per acre per crop season. This will work out to Rs 12,000 per household per annum. Farmers holding land in excess of 5 acres of irrigated land, who produce the disposable surplus and take advantage of the minimum support price may not be included in the scheme. For unirrigated holdings, the limit could be 10 acres. The total financial burden of this scheme, likely to be Rs 1.84 lakh crore, could be distributed in the ratio of 70:30 between the Centre and the states. The financial burden on the Centre will thus be Rs 1.29 lakh crore, less than 1 per cent of the country’s GDP. The total expenditure budget of the Government of India in 2018-19 is Rs 24.42 lakh crore. It is, therefore, not difficult to find this money within the resources available to it with better expenditure management.”

The second step that can bring about a new green revolution and increase yield-per-acre of crops as China, the European Union (EU) and the United States have done is fast-tracking genetically modified crops. This has been strongly opposed but the science is increasingly clear: properly monitored, genetically modified crops can significantly increase yield per acre. By using the benefit of agricultural technology and allowing farmers to sell in open, transparent mandis, the vicious cycle of drought and farmer indebtedness can be converted into a virtuous cycle of high-yield crops and a market-discovered price for farmers’ produce. It could win back for Modi the confidence of a farming community that has long suffered economic distress.

(This article was originally published on DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-farmers-pm-s-2019-challenge-2698138">original article)</a>

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

To win the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to overcome three demographic roadblocks: farmers, Dalits and NDA allies. Of the three, farmers hold the key.

To win the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to overcome three demographic roadblocks: farmers, Dalits and NDA allies. Of the three, farmers hold the key. Over 50 per cent of Indians earn their livelihood from farming activity. Agriculture, though, contributes only 15 per cent to India’s GDP. In those dissonant numbers lie the farm distress that has been building for years. It has come to a head just before the 2019 general election. Natural disasters like successive droughts have pushed many marginal farmers to the brink. The political solution of granting loan waivers to alleviate farmer distress is akin to administering a painkiller. The pain will return. Last week former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and 12 other leading economists released a document titled “An economic strategy for India.” The document focuses on macro-economic stability, jobs, health, education and – most emphatically – agriculture. Arguing specifically against farm loan waivers, Rajan declared: “I have said forever that farm loan waivers should be taken off the table.” Most Indian farmers have small holdings of between one and four acres. The increase in minimum support price (MSP) to cost-plus-50 per cent is not a panacea. The formula to compute input costs itself is inaccurate as Ashok Gulati and Tirtha Chatterjee, writing in a daily, have pointed out: “Farmers are basically demanding three things: One, a debate in Parliament to discuss farm distress; two; a one-time loan waiver; and three, raising minimum support prices (MSPs) to 50 per cent above comprehensive cost (C2) of production, and making MSPs legally binding on private traders – that is, if any trader buys below MSP, he should be put in prison for, say, three years. The third demand, of setting higher MSPs and making them legally binding, is the most strange. Although the Modi government is already drum-beating that they have fulfilled the Swaminathan formula by giving a 50 per cent margin over A2+FL, people in this business know that they have changed the reference cost from C2 to A2+FL, which is about 38 per cent lower. In any case, an MSP formula based on just cost, be it A2+FL or C2, ignoring its demand side, is patently inefficient. It will cost the nation heavily in due course.” The real solution to farm distress lies elsewhere: technology and open markets. Between farm and fork are middlemen. They suck away a significant portion of the difference between the price at which the farmer sells his produce and the price the consumer pays. Ideally, this shouldn’t exceed 15-20 per cent, giving mandi operators, wholesalers and retailers sufficient profit margins. In reality, the margins can exceed 50 per cent. The farmer is shortchanged and the consumer too pays more than she should. This defective mechanism lies at the heart of why agriculture is an unremunerative occupation. Surveys show that over 75 per cent of the children of farmers don’t want to be farmers. The monopolistic Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) decides the price farmers receive. Farmers who recently marched through Mumbai and Delhi want to sell their produce in open markets. An MSP-plus 50 per cent formula helps neither marginal farmers nor the government which has to balance food inflation (currently negative) with giving farmers remunerative prices. The Telangana model is to bypass MSP+50 per cent and hand out Rs 4,000 per acre for every cropping season. But handing out cash to big farmers with tens of acres of land would be a waste. Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha instead suggests a more pragmatic way forward: “All small and marginal farmer households, including tenant and sub-tenant farmers, should receive a basic income of Rs 6,000 per acre per crop season. This will work out to Rs 12,000 per household per annum. Farmers holding land in excess of 5 acres of irrigated land, who produce the disposable surplus and take advantage of the minimum support price may not be included in the scheme. For unirrigated holdings, the limit could be 10 acres. The total financial burden of this scheme, likely to be Rs 1.84 lakh crore, could be distributed in the ratio of 70:30 between the Centre and the states. The financial burden on the Centre will thus be Rs 1.29 lakh crore, less than 1 per cent of the country’s GDP. The total expenditure budget of the Government of India in 2018-19 is Rs 24.42 lakh crore. It is, therefore, not difficult to find this money within the resources available to it with better expenditure management.” The second step that can bring about a new green revolution and increase yield-per-acre of crops as China, the European Union (EU) and the United States have done is fast-tracking genetically modified crops. This has been strongly opposed but the science is increasingly clear: properly monitored, genetically modified crops can significantly increase yield per acre. By using the benefit of agricultural technology and allowing farmers to sell in open, transparent mandis, the vicious cycle of drought and farmer indebtedness can be converted into a virtuous cycle of high-yield crops and a market-discovered price for farmers’ produce. It could win back for Modi the confidence of a farming community that has long suffered economic distress. (This article was originally published on DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Farmers: PM Narendra Modi's 2019 challenge

Though the Congress leadership has come under a dark cloud over its role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the life sentence given to its former MP Sajjan Kumar, the party hopes that the controversy over Kamal Nath, whose name is also involved in the riots, will soon die down. &nbsp;

1984 riots in the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination will remain a blot on the Congress till it squarely and openly admits the role of its leaders and shuns them from the party. But that controversy aside in the last few days Congress president Rahul Gandhi has scored a few crucial political points over its main rival the BJP. Despite some ugly wrangling over chief ministership in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the Gandhi scion has ensured a relatively smooth process of appointment of chief ministers in three central Indian states. &nbsp;

It is not just a coincidence that since the results of these crucial Assembly elections have come out the BJP President Amit Shah has not really spoken on it. He just said, “Congress might have won but the BJP hasn’t lost either”. In a way Shah is correct as barring Chhattisgarh, Congress has been able to reach the majority figure only with the help of allies like the BSP and SP, as well as some independents. Moreover, with the crushing defeat in Mizoram, the Congress lost its last bastion in the northeast there making it 'Congress Mukt'. &nbsp;

Despite that, on the whole, far from being 'Congress Mukt' the country seems to be warming up again to the grand old party and its young leader, Rahul Gandhi. 
 
Adding more allure to Rahul’s appeal are the farm loan-waivers being undertaken by MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan government. “Victory has many fathers and failure has none”, goes the saying. Today, this holds true for Rahul Gandhi as on one hand his acceptability both in the Congress old guard and the opposition ranks is now a debate that is settled.&nbsp;

DMK’s M K Stalin may have prematurely pushed for Rahul as the Opposition’s PM candidate, but even if it precipitated disapproving murmurs from parties like the TMC, Rahul’s case for becoming the face of 'Grand Alliance' has only been strengthened by the Assembly victories. &nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

&nbsp;

Though the Congress leadership has come under a dark cloud over its role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the life sentence given to its former MP Sajjan Kumar, the party hopes that the controversy over Kamal Nath, whose name is also involved in the riots, will soon die down.

Though the Congress leadership has come under a dark cloud over its role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the life sentence given to its former MP Sajjan Kumar, the party hopes that the controversy over Kamal Nath, whose name is also involved in the riots, will soon die down. 1984 riots in the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination will remain a blot on the Congress till it squarely and openly admits the role of its leaders and shuns them from the party. But that controversy aside in the last few days Congress president Rahul Gandhi has scored a few crucial political points over its main rival the BJP. Despite some ugly wrangling over chief ministership in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the Gandhi scion has ensured a relatively smooth process of appointment of chief ministers in three central Indian states. It is not just a coincidence that since the results of these crucial Assembly elections have come out the BJP President Amit Shah has not really spoken on it. He just said, “Congress might have won but the BJP hasn’t lost either”. In a way Shah is correct as barring Chhattisgarh, Congress has been able to reach the majority figure only with the help of allies like the BSP and SP, as well as some independents. Moreover, with the crushing defeat in Mizoram, the Congress lost its last bastion in the northeast there making it 'Congress Mukt'. Despite that, on the whole, far from being 'Congress Mukt' the country seems to be warming up again to the grand old party and its young leader, Rahul Gandhi. Adding more allure to Rahul’s appeal are the farm loan-waivers being undertaken by MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan government. “Victory has many fathers and failure has none”, goes the saying. Today, this holds true for Rahul Gandhi as on one hand his acceptability both in the Congress old guard and the opposition ranks is now a debate that is settled. DMK’s M K Stalin may have prematurely pushed for Rahul as the Opposition’s PM candidate, but even if it precipitated disapproving murmurs from parties like the TMC, Rahul’s case for becoming the face of 'Grand Alliance' has only been strengthened by the Assembly victories. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Is it going to be Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi in 2019?

Terming any grand alliance between various opposition parties as a 'sham,'<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/we-will-conduct-rath-yatra-nobody-can-stop-us-amit-shah-182194"> BJP chief Amit Shah </a>Saturday said in the next parliamentary elections people will have to decide whether they want 'strong' or the 'helpless' government.

Shah said the proposed grand alliance may not have any impact in various states barring Uttar Pradesh where it could pose some challenge for the party, but he is hopeful for further improving its performance and is aiming for more than 51 per cent vote in the state.

Most of the regional parties are unlikely to have any impact on the electoral outcomes outside their respective states, Shah said while asserting that politics is also about chemistry.&nbsp;

"Politics is not physics where two plus two becomes four, it is chemistry. The grand alliance is nothing but a sham''.

Perhaps only in Uttar Pradesh, the grand alliance between SP and BSP could pose some challenge for the party. The BJP had got more than 40 per cent vote share in the state and will fight for more than 51 per cent vote share in the next general elections," he said.

Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a strong and decisive leader, Shah said the next elections will be about either strong government led by Modi or helpless government of grand alliance.

"Now people have to decide in 2019, that whether they want mazboot sarkar aur mazboor sarkar (strong government or helpless government)," he said.

Confident of party's better performance in Lok Sabha elections next year, Shah said BJP got more than 17 crore votes in 2014 general elections and in the last four years of its government, it has provided benefits to more than 22 crore people through its various welfare schemes.

Replying a question on the issue of<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/will-topple-govt-if-ram-temple-construction-is-opposed-subramanian-swamy-182345"> Ram temple</a>, Shah said the party has always maintained that the grand Lord Ram temple should be built at the earliest in Ayodhya.

Terming any grand alliance between various opposition parties as a 'sham,' BJP chief Amit Shah Saturday said in the next parliamentary elections people will have to decide whether they want 'strong' or the 'helpless' government.

Terming any grand alliance between various opposition parties as a 'sham,' BJP chief Amit Shah Saturday said in the next parliamentary elections people will have to decide whether they want 'strong' or the 'helpless' government. Shah said the proposed grand alliance may not have any impact in various states barring Uttar Pradesh where it could pose some challenge for the party, but he is hopeful for further improving its performance and is aiming for more than 51 per cent vote in the state. Most of the regional parties are unlikely to have any impact on the electoral outcomes outside their respective states, Shah said while asserting that politics is also about chemistry. "Politics is not physics where two plus two becomes four, it is chemistry. The grand alliance is nothing but a sham''. Perhaps only in Uttar Pradesh, the grand alliance between SP and BSP could pose some challenge for the party. The BJP had got more than 40 per cent vote share in the state and will fight for more than 51 per cent vote share in the next general elections," he said. Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a strong and decisive leader, Shah said the next elections will be about either strong government led by Modi or helpless government of grand alliance. "Now people have to decide in 2019, that whether they want mazboot sarkar aur mazboor sarkar (strong government or helpless government)," he said. Confident of party's better performance in Lok Sabha elections next year, Shah said BJP got more than 17 crore votes in 2014 general elections and in the last four years of its government, it has provided benefits to more than 22 crore people through its various welfare schemes. Replying a question on the issue of Ram temple, Shah said the party has always maintained that the grand Lord Ram temple should be built at the earliest in Ayodhya.

2019 elections will be about 'strong' or 'helpless' government: Amit Shah

The killing of police officer Subodh Kumar by a mob protesting alleged cow slaughter is deeply disturbing and points to growing religious polarisation in western UP months ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Along with Inspector Singh, who was shot from close range, a local village youth was also caught in the ruckus and died of bullet wounds.

The conflagration began when some people from Mahaw village created a roadblock on the Bulandshahr-Syana road after the carcass of a cow and its progeny was found in a jungle near the village.

The mob later resorted to heavy stone pelting against policemen who were trying to convince them to clear the road. They turned extremely violent burning down a local police post and vehicles parked there. The fact that Inspector Singh had bullet a wound also raises questions around the manner in which the anti-cow slaughter protest was organized. The slaughter of cows is banned in Uttar Pradesh and instances of alleged cow-killing have led to several incidents of mob lynching in the state. In fact, since Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister of UP in March 2017, UP police has been overzealous in enforcing the anti-cow slaughter law and shutting down slaughterhouses under the orders of the UP government. &nbsp;

The slain inspector, Subodh Kumar himself had been the investigating officer in the case of mob-lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in September 2015 in Dadri, near Delhi. Akhlaq had been accused of stealing and killing a calf. The Dadri lynching had evoked national and international outrage against communalism and ‘intolerance’, and led to several prominent Indians returning their national awards and honours in protest. &nbsp;

The latest case of mob rampage in Bulandshahr comes in the backdrop of a three-day 'Tablighi Ijtema' or a religious gathering that began in the town on December 1. This incident occurred on the last day of Ijtema. It’s important to note here that the three-day Ijtema had passed off peacefully with even stories of Hindus opening their temples for Muslims to pray. This incident of violence over alleged cow slaughter has disturbed Hindu-Muslim harmony once again.

Also worth remembering is the fact that earlier this year, under chief minister Yogi Adityanath's watch BJP lost three crucial Lok Sabha bypolls in Uttar Pradesh. Yogi’s own constituency of Gorakhpur was lost to a debut contender from the Samajwadi Party- BSP combine. Similarly, BJP lost the prestigious Phulpur seat to another candidate from the SP-BSP alliance. And perhaps more relevant against the backdrop of the Bulandshahr violence, the BJP also lost the nearby Kairana Lok Sabha seat to a Muslim woman, Tabassum Hasan who fought on a Rashtriya Lok Dal ticket and was backed by the SP-BSP combine.

This time around, given the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and increasing resentment among Dalits and Muslims against the government, the BJP has an uphill task ahead of the 2019 elections.&nbsp; 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) 
&nbsp;

The killing of police officer Subodh Kumar by a mob protesting alleged cow slaughter is deeply disturbing and points to growing religious polarisation in western UP months ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The killing of police officer Subodh Kumar by a mob protesting alleged cow slaughter is deeply disturbing and points to growing religious polarisation in western UP months ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Along with Inspector Singh, who was shot from close range, a local village youth was also caught in the ruckus and died of bullet wounds. The conflagration began when some people from Mahaw village created a roadblock on the Bulandshahr-Syana road after the carcass of a cow and its progeny was found in a jungle near the village. The mob later resorted to heavy stone pelting against policemen who were trying to convince them to clear the road. They turned extremely violent burning down a local police post and vehicles parked there. The fact that Inspector Singh had bullet a wound also raises questions around the manner in which the anti-cow slaughter protest was organized. The slaughter of cows is banned in Uttar Pradesh and instances of alleged cow-killing have led to several incidents of mob lynching in the state. In fact, since Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister of UP in March 2017, UP police has been overzealous in enforcing the anti-cow slaughter law and shutting down slaughterhouses under the orders of the UP government. The slain inspector, Subodh Kumar himself had been the investigating officer in the case of mob-lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in September 2015 in Dadri, near Delhi. Akhlaq had been accused of stealing and killing a calf. The Dadri lynching had evoked national and international outrage against communalism and ‘intolerance’, and led to several prominent Indians returning their national awards and honours in protest. The latest case of mob rampage in Bulandshahr comes in the backdrop of a three-day 'Tablighi Ijtema' or a religious gathering that began in the town on December 1. This incident occurred on the last day of Ijtema. It’s important to note here that the three-day Ijtema had passed off peacefully with even stories of Hindus opening their temples for Muslims to pray. This incident of violence over alleged cow slaughter has disturbed Hindu-Muslim harmony once again. Also worth remembering is the fact that earlier this year, under chief minister Yogi Adityanath's watch BJP lost three crucial Lok Sabha bypolls in Uttar Pradesh. Yogi’s own constituency of Gorakhpur was lost to a debut contender from the Samajwadi Party- BSP combine. Similarly, BJP lost the prestigious Phulpur seat to another candidate from the SP-BSP alliance. And perhaps more relevant against the backdrop of the Bulandshahr violence, the BJP also lost the nearby Kairana Lok Sabha seat to a Muslim woman, Tabassum Hasan who fought on a Rashtriya Lok Dal ticket and was backed by the SP-BSP combine. This time around, given the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and increasing resentment among Dalits and Muslims against the government, the BJP has an uphill task ahead of the 2019 elections. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Bulandshahr violence and UP politics ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2019