Narendra Modi - Not yet

The Prime Minister should be the tallest leader in the nation. That means the best Chief Minister automatically is a good choice for the PM. This is the theory with which Narendra Modi is beig proposed by all for Prime ministership. He is successful as a CM, so is Nitish kumar, Sheila Dixit, Shivraj Chauhan, Naveen Patnaik and J.Jayalalitha. Some others like Mayawati, Mamata Bannerjee, Chandrababu Naidu beleive if they get enough numbers they can be the automatic choice leader.

Of these Sheila Dixit is from Congress, so no one other than Crown Prince is eligible. But the rest are still in race. Modi is definitely more succesful for over 10 years now and has lead Gujarat to a Development mantra. Lots of other CM candidates are from smaller parties while Modi is from BJP which is seen as an automatic choice against congress. So he seems more eligible than anyone else unless Mayawati or Jayalalitha win 40 seats of their own.

But 2 facts are to be considered. 1. Are we expecting a single party to win 300 seats majority and lead the house. The PM can be a strong leader like Indira Gandhi if there is complete Majority. If not a succesful PM is someone like PV Narasimha Rao more than anyone else. 2. Can a tall leader from a state get rid of the state level ideologies and act with a national and international vision. Would J.Jayalalitha be able to retain her 40 seats if she tries to implement a Cauvery judgement favouring Karnataka or a Mullai Periyar decision slightly favoring kerala. Would the opinions of your primary voters be more important than the entire nation's.

When we consider Narendra Modi's candidature, it is not just that his influence is limited to a state. Would he be able to act in an independent capacity like he does in Gujarat. Would he be able to overide colation forces and make decisions. Would he be ready to negotiate and bargain and compromise to make things happen.

Lastly with respect to Narendra Modi's candidature, he does create a rift between Hindus and Muslims. Most muslims get worried about his politics and worry about their secutiry and future. While it can be argued that it is pseudo-secularism etc it cannot be denied that he is become a divisive personality. Whether we like Sonia Gandhi or not, her candidature to Prime Minister was divisive in 2004 with one set of people thinking someone from italy should not rule India and some others thinking she won the majority, so she has the right to rule. She decided to not take the Prime Ministership at the last minute for whatever reason(no one knows). But that atleast got the nation away from a highly divisive political environment.

Narendra Modi's case would be even worse with terrorism increasing and unjust feeling among the muslim community rising just because of his position. So it seems best he is left in Gujarat where people seem to care more about Development than religious beleifs etc

Unveiling IPL Scam 2008

BCCI has found a scam related to IPL acutions 2008 in its first Edition. They have realised Sachin, Sehwag etc were not auctioned in IPL and that led to considerable losses.

Speaking in Mumbai, BCCI Preseident N.Srinivasan mentioned "The Supreme court judgement on Auctioning Scarce natural resources was not followed in IPL 2008. We beleive Lalit Modi was singularly responsible. We are having an investigation."
Kris Srikkanth also present added "If Sachin and Sehwag are not Scarce natural resources then who".

The CAG has audited the losses and if reports leaked are to be beleived, there might be a loss of 1000 Crores. But there is conflict on calculation method. The official calculation uses Gambhir's auction figures and compares Gambhir's International record with Sachin, Sehwag. Internally another auditor mentions if we take Dravid as benchmark, it might be a profit of 50 crores instead of loss quoted. BCCI has however rejected the profit figure and will accept the official figure of 1000 crores loss, it is beleived.

BCCI has planned to appoint a technical commitee to enquire undr Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. But since Gavaskar asked for Rs.1 Crore as charges, the plan has been shelved.

BJP Patriach L.K.Advani reacted to the fiasco saying "This government under Congress is the most corrupt and the PM is weak. They should take moral responsibility and resign and have elections and announce me as PM immediately".

Subramaniam Swamy has said he has information about P.Chidambaram's secret meeting with Sharad Pawar and Lalit Modi before IPL 2008. He will file a PIL asking to include him under accused.

Anna Hazare remarked in Relagon Siddhi, If Jan Lokpal was present, the accused would have been punished by now. When media reminded that Jan Lokpal doesnt cover BCCI, he said he is in "Maun-Vrath" and asked to check with Arvind Kejriwal. Arvind Kejriwal mentioned "The Congress has power to include BCCI under Jan Lokpal. That is why we are opposing Congress. Sharad Pawar and Mayawati cannot do that can they. But we are not against any party, except against Congress though Congress is a party".

The IPL owners have been silent. Vijay Mallya alone remarked that Lalit Modi had done no wrong. If we should auction all players, Govt should share the price of players to help businesses. Or we should allow FDI in IPL.

Lalit Modi himself tweeted "I had done it with best intentions for IPL. Srinivasan was also involved so he led to the corruption, but I still did it for IPL's success. IPL is failing now".

Kapil Sibal said "There was zero loss. Even if there was loss it was not the entire govt involved. Even if the Govt was involved it was because we followed previous govt". When media reminded him this was about IPLand not 2G he said "out of portions".

Justice Ganguly mentioned "He welcomes applying the scarce natural resources theory effectively. He also suggested the entire case should be solved and closed within three months as they routinely do in the courts in India".

Manmohan Singh is in foreign tour and he remarked to media in his trip. "I beleived in Lalit Modi. I had done no wrong". When asked if he has met Lalit Modi he replied "No I havent. I just beleived him".

PS: This was just an imagination. Dont take it seriously.

Force India

Hmm, so a few points earned for Foce India in Belgian Grand Prix. But I dont feel a thing, why should I? It is not an Indian driving, nor an Indian car being driven. Only thing is there is an Indian company which has invested some money in it and has called it Force India.

It doesnt feel like an Indian victory, somehow I can accept the anomaly that we would all be happy if Narain Karthikeyan wins for Ferrari/McLaren etc. So that is an Indian winning but not our company, this is a case of an Indian company winning, but there is not much for us to attach to this victory, should we be happy that someone here has enough money to own a team. Money's success cannot be celebrated, only Individual's success can be celebrated.

My Name is Khan hehe

Geez! I couldnt stop myself from writing about SRK Episode. I wanted to avoid this for this types of reations from the entire nationis what they expect. So there was a security check in an Airport, that is all what is the big deal about it. I dont think he makes to shows on times anyways to make an excuse of this and say Because "My Name is Khan!". I remember one of my colleagues was a muslim and he had come to the US on a short trip for work. He had a Green color cover on this Suitcase, so customs in the busy Illinois Airport unpacked everything and checked it out.

It is reality, it happens, they do profiling and do security checks. But It is not restricted by Religion, my Hand buggage has been checked for chemicals twice. And one of my friends gets checked almost on every trip. no we are not named Khan. But is there a better chance to create publicity for his movie. And the explanation has to why he should not be scrutinized is "He is an actor, so popular that he is beyond doubt". now wasnt Sanjay dutt an actor who was caught with AK-47 in 93. Doesnt the Hindi film Industry seems to be associated with the Underworld far too much to our liking. I would say if they knew he was an actor in Bollywood he should be checked more thoroughly than me or my colleagues. If the government starts making exceptions, then they become the perfect route for trafficking stuff and It might only be dangerous for their own self.

But no! Security, Time, Terrorism are all not the issues here. It is about one person's attempts to make his movie popular and get some free advertising at the expense of the nation.

MS Amma

I was listening to kurai ondrum illai song by Smt.M.S.Subbulakshmi yesterday night. That is probably what we call Madhur Sangeeth. There is a statue for her in Tirupati near the status of Sri.Ramanujar. And she is almost like the Meera she played in terms of her devotion and when you climb the steps of Tirumala, you can hear her singing voice through the hills. Her voice has been reaching the Lord everyday and the Lords names have been reaching every home through her and hence her statue in Tirupati.

It is tough in Carnatic music world if you go so far to sing in a cinema and she acted in few cinemas herself but still she was regarded as the Queen of Carnatic Music. Her marriage with Sri.Sadhasivam and their marital life evoked such respect. Though she was second wife to him, she was devoted to him and he was caring for her career from the 1940's.

Though they did not have children of their own, she always looked the motherly person. And her appearance always evoked respect and admiration. The numerous songs she sang, the love, respect she got from people all over India and her exploits through the world was all so great to yonder. There were remarks that she used to take a medicine Thangabaspam to keep her voice so good for so long and such was her voice when she sang till she was 80. She stopped coming out of her house making any public appearances once her husband died, thus leaving the picture of her before then as the only image people have of her.

She was respectful to Sri.Chandrasekhara Saraswati (The previous Kanchi seer) and she stopped wearing silk sarees since he asked her to do so. There is no doubt she is the one person good enough to sing Kurai ondrum illai as with her voice and life she did not seem to have any kuraigal. It is a great feeling to realise that such people lived amongst us and we have had chances of seeing them in person and listen through to the numerous recordings for long after she is gone.

The Whole Business with EVMs

Hmm, so the losers in the Elections chose the easiest of victims the EVM. Subramaniam Swamy wrote articles how it can be changed to suit the results. It is strange that DMK and Congress are capable of doing it but not BJP and ADMK. Does one team look more tech savvy to you than the other. Wasnt ADMK in power in the state in 2004 when it lost 40 MP seats. Did they not know to do this when they knew EVMs can be hacked. And remember then it was BJP-ADMK both in power at the state and Centre.

Technology has its inherent risks. When you have your data in papers you could steal them only by breaking a physical building, but if you have it online, anyone can break in remotely. We are prone to GOI websites being hacked. But there are security mechanisms to be implemented, there are trails to be followed, there are audits to be performed. The voting record the number of voters etc by booth is maintained in the registers manually. You could always check if the total votes on the machines equals the total polled in a booth. That way you could confirm the votes are not entered before the machines are brought in.

You could have spywares on the machines to check if some malicious program ran to move the votes from one bucket to another. There are many ways to do things. You dont immediately suggest going back to manual system which is taxing for the many individuals involved. If something was wrong with the manual system we do Repolling, likewise if EVMs are acting wierd we could do repolling on those booths even by paper if need be. But It should not be an excuse, it should not be accused without going into the details. You cannot just raise doubts and evade criticising your self. It is strange that people who spoke so much about leveraging technology, India's great technological manpower could stoop to levels so low to justify their losing an Election, but we cant expect better from our politicians can we?

Capitalism He he

I am a great fan of Fountainhead, not so much of Atlas Shrugged though. But when a capitalist says other people (labors, govt, society) have no right on their work/money I can understand and appreciate it. Unluckily I cannot see a true capitalist in my country. There are no Gail Wynands' or Howard Roarks or Hank Reardens. No we have curious many impersonations of James Taggarts in the name of rich Business Tycoons.

It is strange, they want the Govt to help them run their business. They want the government to provide them free land because they provide employment(as if they are doing some service) and if you look at the pay rules, It is always Advantage Employer. I see all businesses going head over heels demanding their rightful stimulus (Taxpayers' money) but do not want to pay any tax themselves.

The profit is calculated such that the employee gets no returns from it, but the loss is calculated such that the money goes off the employee's hands into the employer's. I do not think a person a true business man if he doesnt want all profits for himself. But then shouldnt they also be brave enough to take the losses. There are no entrepreneurs worth his salt, who really are enterprising. They are quiet literally slave traders with more than fair assistance from the governments.

Elections Results and Thoughts

Hmm, the results are out Cong has won. My predictions have gone wrong. I never expected Congress to win 200 seats on its own. I thought another fragile UPA arrangement or Third Front with outside support from Congress will form government, meaning no electoral victory only post poll adjustments. But Congress has got a mandate this time, much clearer than in 2004.

Seems to be Manmohan's victory above all given they were fighting with him as the PM Candidate. Hope he stays for 5 years and doesnt leave the throne to Prince Royal midway through. But the bigger problem has been the way the losers react and the way the media receives their reaction.

The Left defated in WB says it was because of Third Front not because of Nandigram or its misrule. The BJP secretly blames Varun/Modi. Not its projection of 82 year old Advani or its philosophy of Mazboot Neta. I dont understand this whole idea of these parties. When you win the leader claims the victory and when you fail the blame is shifted. No Leader takes the blame. Vajpayee did not take the defeat in 2004 as his defeat and still people say if Vajpayee was there BJP would have won, they did not when Vajpayee was contesting for PM in 2004. What miracle was he going to bring in 2009. Advani has not taken the defeat as rejection of his candidature and Arun Jaitley says Congress won because of Third Front.

When the Left says the idea of Third Front failed and people voted Congress for stability No one asks why in Orissa Naveen Patnaik won in spite of he being part of Third Front Projection. Why Nitish kumar wins when muslims polarised and voted for Congress. Whenever the Left and BJP(the right wing) comes to the same opinion on any issue it is bound to be wrong or Short sighted like the Nuclear Deal or attributing Third Front to their defeats. BJP did not improve on its tally, it lost 21 seats of its own. It could not better its performance in Gujarat. This all means BJP's Weak PM Projection, Terrorism Politics, Black money issue nothing was identifiable with the people. Left assumed it will get 40 seats and Mayawati will get 40 seats and they just need to hold together to prevent any government formation and they can be king makers.

If you dont have the guts to accept defeat and mistakes, introspect and change there is no way you are going to improve. BJP thought it lost its sacred right to power (after 50 years of being in opposition benches according to Vajpayee) for no mistake of itself in 2004. And still they think the same. They dont understand that today they are neither the face of Hindutva, nor of Liberalism, Nor a vibrant political environment. Unless they understand they have to improve their position and spread in all states and understand that there is an India beyond karnataka and further away from Bihar/Orissa they cannot be a claimant to power. They dont have a authentic leader who will inherit the party by default like the Congress, so to avoid one taking over from the other they want Vajpayee or Advani image to linger. Modi doesnt want Jaitley, Sushma doesnt want MM Joshi etc so they fight like the cats and give the sweet to the monkeys (old monkeys). Unless they ensure that they will allow the second level leaders to raise and not have a symbolic Rajnath Singh and a Historic Advani to lead the party they cannot raise like The Pheonix.

I am happy this time that Dr.MMS is going to run the government hopefully without much pressures from the coalition(in terms of left, Laloo etc), Karunanidhi and Mamata are still a problem but they might end up dependent on Congress at State level. But If the BJP doesnt revitalize itself by the next term and accept defeat as its own and not of the third or fourth fronts, it will be a big problem. I would never want to see the Prince Royal take over the reins hence the concern.