Anil Ambani Speech during Inauguration of Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2013

Book Review: 'Durbar' by Tavleen Singh

I strongly recommend that one should read about Tavleen Singh before reading her book. In brief, Tavleen Singh is a veteran political columnist and one of the first female journalists to have covered the post-Indira era in detail. She had great access to the inner circles of political powerhouses in Delhi during the Rajiv Gandhi's era. One must also understand that very few female journalists existed during her time who had such privilege and access to Lutyens' evening parties.


The book claims to give a detailed inside account of what happens inside the power circles of Delhi. But sadly most of her claims cannot be verified. Sometimes she just comes across as a jealous old aunt who starts criticizing Sonia only after she gets thrown out of Rajiv's inner circle.  As one reads the book, Tavleen's animosity for Rajiv-Sonia becomes very visible and at times comes across as pretty undignified. For example she says:
By Rajiv's second year in power, stories about Sonia's shopping sprees began to circulate in Delhi's drawing rooms.. Then, from diplomatic sources in distant Moscow, where the prime minister and his wife made their first foreign visit, came the story of Sonia buying an expensive sable coat... According to the story I heard Sonia's tastes in fur coats was so refined that she was not satisfied with Soviet tailoring and had the coat sent to Rome to be redesigned by the Italian fashion house, Fendi... 


She even goes further and ends her book by describing the scene at Teen Murti House where people had gathered to pay their last respects for Rajiv Gandhi:
Sonia's dark brown hair was tied back and covered with her cotton sari and her face was carefully made up. Even the lower eyelashes she painted on to make her eyes look bigger were in place.. 

From tidbits of information I gleaned from these friends...when Sonia refused to become Congress President on the night Rajiv died, it was probably because she knew that if she took the job, she would be quickly exposed..


I expected a lot more from a veteran journalist like Tavleen Singh. She takes personal digs at Rajiv, Sonia, MJ Akbar and pretty much everyone she mentions in the book and also tries to ascertain her superiority over other journalists. Though I dont doubt her credibility, she just fails to provide any verifiable facts and just restricts her book to rumours one hears in Delhi's elite parties. But I must say her narrative about the Bhindranwale days, Sikh-riots and the Janata experiments are quite detailed and make a good read. In short, you should read this book if you are looking for a Bollywood-style narrative of India's contemporary history and India's most powerful political family.

Is There a Modi Wave in the Country?

Post-Ram Janmabhoomi Movement, no parliamentary election has been fought under any strong political wave. This is because of the rise in the number of regional parties under various charismatic leaders. Ironically, ‘national’ parties no longer have a presence throughout the nation and have been forced to make suitable alliances in different states.

The dominance of the Indian National Congress was broken for the first time in the general elections of 1977 and the Janata party came to power. There was a very strong anti-Indira wave in the country due to the excesses of the emergency period. People throughout the country were affected and they were determined to teach Mrs. Gandhi and her party a lesson.

Similarly, in 1984 Rajiv Gandhi won a huge mandate of 414 seats in a 533-seat parliament. Along with the sympathy wave that swept across the nation after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, the nation as a whole was tired of the old Congress and the failed Janata experiment; the nation saw in Rajiv Gandhi a young, sophisticated leader who they thought will bring real prosperity to the nation.


The period between 1989 and 1991 was a very turbulent one in Indian politics. The rise of Hindu nationalistic politics and the Bofors scandal changed India’s political landscape forever. The Congress was completely wiped out from some of the states in Northern India. Congress has never been able to form a government in Delhi with a clear majority since 1984. Two poles were created in the national politics, one headed by the BJP and the other by the Congress.


In 2014 when the next parliamentary elections are due, Congress would have been in power for almost 10 years. The UPA government headed by Congress has failed on various fronts and there is a strong anti-incumbency wave in the country. The UPA under Manmohan Singh has literally taken the country back to the socialist era. Though the Congress faces many challenges today, its most difficult challenge comes from a man heading a state in the western part of India- NARENDRA MODI.

Narendra Modi is facing the toughest election of his life and all the exit polls say he’ll come out victorious with a huge mandate. That should easily catapult him into national politics. The man himself is in many ways bigger than his own party. He has cleverly combined development with soft Hindutva as an election issue and used it successfully against the Congress. He enjoys tremendous popularity throughout the nation. Many elected legislators from different parties privately say even their wives and children would vote for Modi if he is made the PM candidate in 2014. One can clearly see a huge Modi wave in the country from Delhi to Kanyakumari. The entire nation eagerly waits for him to take the centre stage in Delhi. In many ways 2014 elections will be a make or break one for India. Be sure to be on the right side because there is no middle ground when it comes to debate on Modi.

“Desh ka Pradhan Mantri kaisa ho, Narendra Modi jaisa ho”

Online Media- A Platform for Political Change

Online media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter have been in news all over the world for their ability to bring social change and mobilize people. They played a major role during the protests in the Middle East and North Africa. They have succeeded in providing a platform for ordinary men, women, and even children to stand up and demand for their rights and also air their discontent with the ruling regime. Social media with its mass reach has all the ingredients to become a perfect tool to organize a mass movement.

In India, the role of internet media in bringing political change has been more subtle. Narendra Modi is the only major politician to have used these tools to connect directly with common people, thus diluting the role of traditional media who have made some very uncharitable comments about him in the past. He gave a huge blow to the Delhi-based traditional English language media by interacting with lakhs and lakhs of his admirers on Google+ Hangout on August 31. It was a historic event because Modi was present there in person to interact with the common people and around 15 lakh people from 116 countries waited patiently; the event was delayed by an hour as Google’s servers could not handle the unprecedented traffic.

A Facebook application, called ‘Be Gujarat’s Brand Ambassador’, enables people to share stories and ideas on Gujarat’s development particularly in six areas- tourism, agriculture, tribal development, specialized education, power and women empowerment. The added incentive is four people will be selected to share their perspectives and ideas with Modi in person. Modi is the first Chief Minister to realize the global reach that these social media tools enjoy and thus use them for governance and also showcase Gujarat to a global audience.

Today, the youth of India is increasingly getting disenchanted with the sad state of affairs at the centre and Congress party’s increasing disconnect with the common people. Today's youth don’t blindly follow a political ideology; they are all well-read due to the sheer magnitude of free information available on the World Wide Web and debate on various issues. The left-leaning liberals that dominate the English media in India today brand them as ‘Internet Hindus’. These people have found a new platform in the form of social media to air their views. Youth activism on the internet is a movement; the effect of which will only be felt a couple of years from now. This is precisely the reason why Congress is ready to go the extra mile to impose restrictions on the internet media. Just the demography of the so called Internet Hindus reveals it all. According to an online survey:

• 88.9% identified themselves as ‘Internet Hindus’, indicating they attach no shame to the term.
• Of these, 4% are aged 20 years and below, 55% are aged 30 and below, 31% are 40 and below and only 10% are aged above 40. So, 90% of them are young Indians.
• 43% are graduates from top-notch engineering and medical colleges, 46% are post-graduates (a large number with an MBA degree), 11% have a PhD and 17.3% are studying. They represent the educated India.
• Of the 82.7% who are employed, 3.1% earn up to Rs 2 lakh a year, 18.4% earn up to Rs 6 lakh a year, 34.7% earn up to Rs 12 lakh a year and 26.5% earn more than Rs 24 lakh a year.

The survey data clearly indicates that these Internet Hindus represent well-educated, middle class section of India. These new age Hindus are very different from the Trishul wielding karsevaks of the Ayodhya era. But just like any other mass movement in history, the Internet Hindu movement also has a few abusive elements but most are open to new ideas and debate. When the rest of India slowly starts getting educated, increase their standard of living and start interacting with their peers on social media platforms and become politically aware, they will probably lean towards Modi and his brand of politics. By taking views of these Internet Hindus on-board  the BJP can hope to become a genuine right-wing party with a firm ideology, the kind the country requires the most today.

‘Let the tribe of Internet Hindus grow and let us create a nation of well informed voters’




COURTESY: NITI CENTRAL

Who after Balasaheb Thackeray?

‘A man’s worth is known in death’. More than 20 lakh people walked with Balasaheb in Mumbai in his last journey, the same people who stood with him for the last 4 decades. Though he started his party as the last leg of the Maharashtra Samyukta Movement, he fought for many issues in his long innings in politics. He took tough stands throughout his career and fought his way up. With just a wave of his finger he could bring the entire state to a halt.

Balasaheb Thackeray was a tall man in Maharashtra politics. His flair for art was possibly one of the most important factors that shaped his personality and ultimately the character of his party. Many say Balasaheb was communal and arrogant, but the qualities he had makes him look very different from most of his peers.
1.  His charismatic personality that he used to build a larger than life image for himself. Though he was not very successful in electoral politics, he was respected by the Delhi leaders and the leaders of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
2. He was a leader who had the guts to speak his heart. He was one of the last among the lot to take responsibility for what they speak. He even told once in an interview that his party did not have any specific ideology as such; they just take up issues as they unfold. He was that candid.

He was one of the last mass leaders our country was left with. His death marks the end of an era in Maharashtra politics. There is not one person left in Maharashtra politics today who can invoke such huge respect on a massive scale. He was the ‘GODFATHER’ of the entire state.

After all this dust settles down, Shiv Sena will have to answer the question of legacy sooner or later. People were still attracted to the Shiv Sena only because of Balasaheb Thackeray. Most of the senior leaders from Balasaheb’s older days have already drifted away from the party. It is going to be a tough ride for Uddhav after his father’s departure. Though Balasaheb appealed to people to support Uddhav and Aditya during his recent Dussehra address, it still remains to be seen whether people will strengthen Uddhav’s hand with the same devotion they had towards Balasaheb.

Raj Thackeray on the other hand was groomed by Balasaheb himself. As a child, he accompanied Balasaheb on his long tours and listened to his long fiery speeches every day. He is a fantastic organizer and has met success with his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Though he appears to have inherited Balasaheb’s charm, Raj has gone out of his comfort zone to appeal to a variety of new class of voters and created a huge fan following of his own. Even in today’s funeral rally he was just quietly walking behind the truck that carried Balasaheb’s body and did not look like a man who was out to claim Balasaheb’s legacy. Shiv Sena needs someone like that today to attract new age voters especially since Balasaheb is no more. The Shiv Sena, MNS and BJP should come together to have a grand electoral alliance to defeat the ruling alliance. 

Is it time for Raj Thackeray to step up to the occasion to become ‘Rajsaheb Thackeray’?

BJP's Southern Disaster

Divided we stand, divided we fall would explain the BJP’s stand in Karnataka perfectly. When BJP formed its first government in South India in 2008, central BJP leaders thought the Karnataka win will help the party make inroads into other southern states. They even thought of showcasing Karnataka as a model state on the lines of Gujarat. Just 4 years into power, state BJP leaders have proved everyone wrong. If the BJP has to save its national image it should expel Yeddyurappa and face the consequences.

Yeddyurappa has been credited with BJP’s step by step electoral success in Karnataka starting in 2004 by most political pundits. But there were more important factors than Yeddyurappa's popularity in Lingayat constituency which actually helped the BJP rise. Ramakrishna Hegde was an extremely popular leader in Northern Karnataka. His passing away in 2004 created a leadership vacuum in the Lingayat-dominated North Karnataka. Since he shared an electoral alliance with the BJP when he died, most of his followers switched sides to the BJP and helped it gain popularity among the Lingayat voters. This was single most important factor in BJP's rise also contributed by the opposition's lethargy.

Ever since Yeddyurappa stormed into power, first as Deputy-CM and later as CM, he generously cultivated and entertained Lingayat swamis. He eventually started projecting himself as the tallest leader of his caste. But his popularity is yet to be tested electorally.

Yeddyurappa has announced his plans to quit the BJP and float his own regional outfit by December. He has been saying that the developments he undertook as CM will play to his advantage. Really? He led one of the most corrupt governments in the history of the state. Some say his greatest achievement is: he made even the RSS top brass in the state aware of their castes. The BJP can be credited with successfully destroying the political culture in the state.

The state assembly elections in 2013 will be followed with great interest. Even though the BJP has played its caste arithmetic correct so far, some of its leaders from prominent castes inspire no confidence among their own castes. Moreover, the BJP is a divided house today and should be more than happy if it can win 60+ seats. The Congress is not in a good shape either. There’s a leadership vacuum very evident in the state Congress which has been in a bad shape since SM Krishna moved to the national stage. Yeddyurappa’s outfit once he floats it and Bellary-Reddy sponsored BSR Congress will have a very limited role to play in the next assembly elections.

Thanks to Yeddyurappa’s bad governance, Kumarswamy and Deve Gowda look like a credible choice for the people of Karnataka today. JD(S) has grown from strength to strength since the last assembly elections. It hopes to increase its seat tally, win 60+ seats and play kingmaker again. It looks like there’s going to be a lot of political turbulence in the days to come. People can forget governance and just sit back & watch the political developments unfurl.

What is the future of the Congress party?

The Indian National Congress is one of the oldest political parties in the world. It has ruled India for most of the post-independence era. The members of the Nehru-Gandhi family have ruled the country for most of this period either directly or indirectly. The Congress party stands in a very difficult situation today. Though the party has gone through turbulent times in the past, the present situation is different and difficult because today it is falling down on its own weight and sheer arrogance. There are many things wrong in the fundamental structure and attitude of the Congress and it is very difficult to fix without making significant changes both in the government and in the party including the state units. Each time the Congress split in the past, good men have deserted the Congress and today the party is left with only sycophants.


After coming to power with a huge mandate in 2009, the arrogant Congress resorted to a number of blunders. First came the corruption scandals. Then the poor handling of the Anna Hazare and the Ramdev movements. It neglected and insulted its allies and started to make unilateral decisions. As a result of this, today, after close to 8 years into power the UPA government is looking fragile with allies looking at their own futures. Today with Mamata's exit from the government, the countdown to the next parliamentary elections has begun.


Next parliamentary elections, 2014 or earlier is going to be very difficult for the Congress. In 2009, the party went to elections having Manmohan at the front after his nuclear deal success. After the last Lok Sabha elections, the political landscape of the country has undergone a huge change. Today, the PM has no credibility left after a series corruption scandals under his watch and his spineless attitude towards implementing long-delayed reforms. Many of its allies are at the peak of their popularity in their states and are vouching for mid-term polls with the dream of reviving the third front. Each time the government gives into one of its ally's demands it leaves the Congress bruised. The exit polls have predicted a gloomy picture for the Congress. Except probably Karnataka, they are not going to make any progress in any of the large states.


In the past everytime the Congress went through a turbulent phase, the Nehru-Gandhi family has stepped into provide leadership and stability. Today the first family is the source of Congress' problems. The biggest problem that is haunting the Congress is the young prince's reluctance to enter active politics. He has revived the youth Congress for close to 8 years now and the result is there for everyone to see. Chances of projecting Rahul as PM candidate in the next elections is close to zero. With no experience and no political achievement to his credit, at 42, he comes across a man who seems to have slipped deep into mid-life crisis. He no longer connects with India's youth. Priyanka, though charismatic, has a huge weakness in the form of Robert Vadra. Once she enters electoral politics, the public scrutiny wont spare her husband. And Sonia cant be expected to lead the party for long since there is a big question mark over her health. She has undergone many health check-ups in the past couple of months and no one knows the exact status of her health.

The Congress, through the years, has successfully destroyed the creative leadership, once evident in the Congress at both the centre and at the state level. The result is, today one cant find leaders of the stature of Advani, Modi, Jaitley, Yashwant Sinha or Jaswant Singh in the Congress. The BJP has powerful regional leaders at the states and charismatic leaders at the centre. This makes it very difficult for the Congress to weave an effective strategy for the next elections. If Modi enters the national arena, and if Rahul is pitted against him, Modi will crush Rahul into insignificance.


It is time for the Congress to dissolve the assembly, sit in the opposition, re-think its strategy, and prepare for the 2019 general elections.