The recent desperation shown by UPA to score a point in the paltry list of achievements that the outgoing Government has managed to come up with is amusing.
A day after ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ swept the Oscars, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “We salute the true heroes of achieving India who are at their best in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. It’s a film of India, for India and by India.” He went on to say,"We are proud that in the conducive environment of good governance provided by the UPA government India has become achieving India.” The attempt was good but it may not be good enough. By attaching itself to the Slumdog glory, Congress seems to make an impact on the educated class but do they really think that the voters are so very dumb? Narendra Modi gave a new dimension to this issue. Taking clue from an SMS trail, he carried the issue to the masses when he remarked, "Without Congress there would not be slums and without slums there would not be any Slumdog Millionaire and no Oscars." That hit bull's eye! Congress would be afraid to raise this issue ever again.
In a second and a very recent instance, Ambika Soni claimed that the government utilised Vijay Mallya’s services to procure the Gandhi memorabilia. Interestingly, hours later Mr. Mallya denied any Government involvement giving a severe blow to Congress’ attempts to project itself as a nationalist party. What was the congress thinking really? Firstly, they could not shell out a few millions from their multi-billion election budget and now they are taking to these frenetic measures in a pre-poll frenzy.
A recent estimate by TOI showed that UPA are still the favourites in this election. Then what is the reason for such political gimmicks? Maybe, UPA realised (even though too lately) that they have failed to make any significant progress during their reign, that their own popular vote-winning tactics would backfire and that the Government negligence to the financial turmoil would consume UPA in its own right. Only time can tell what lies in store for the UPA. And, its upto us, the voters, to decide if a party who gives a thumbs down to all development agendas deserves to remain in power.
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In these times, India needs a govt that can take hard decisions. Congress is an all-appeaser, and just like beggars cant be choosers, rulers cant be appeasers. So UPA is ruled out.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I dont think even BJP can do something in power unless it has a decisive majority in the coalition. Which seems unlikely, at present.
So I dont have much hope, sadly. :(
Btw, welcome to blogging.
Poltu hi karega ya kuch aur bhi likhega? :P
I must admit that I am impressed with the way the hypocrisy of the ruling coalition (read the Congress + ) has been brought forward. It is a pity that India is rejoicing at the success of Slumdog when in reality it is just the same dismal portrayal of India that appeals to the Western sense of patronization. (Remember that scene in Agra when a young Jamal Malik , while being beaten tells an American couple : " This is the REAL India. " . To this the appalling reply is : "Beta , now see the real America . "
ReplyDeleteIs that what we and the COngress - UPA celebrating ? )
Coming back to the point of gimmicks - a govt for fear of a backlash has not been able to hang a certain person for almost 5 years now - that very person was the chief strategist of the 13th dec attack in which no politician but sadly 5 brave police jawans were killed. So far as their seriousness is concerned.
This list of appalling behavior on the part of the UPA can go on and on.
Hoping to chip in with some more very soon.
Till then keep watching this space :)
I would have been more excited if you had started a blog called "Let's get Physical" ;)
ReplyDeleteP.S. Can you guess who I am? :P
@Monty We should play within the rules of the game. We don't have any option other than NDA and UPA (unless you and I decide to jump in with our own political party ;) ). Considering, the immediate last performances of NDA and UPA, NDA seems to be a much better option. What do you think? As far as the absolute majority is concerned, we have that in our hands.
ReplyDeleteI am not as prolific a writer as you so this is just an attempt :)
Yaar time hai poltu ka!! So why not??!!
@Abhinav Very rightly said...
ReplyDelete@Anonymous Naah, I can't. Why don't you tell it yourself?
@ Sushant : Wat abt the third front ? Just a poll gimmick or is India really going to see a new government headed by Mayawati and having Chandra Babu Naidu as home minister and who's not who Indian Politics getting a stake in the rape of the country ?
ReplyDeleteThe dreaded third front experiment which had been wishful thinking till not very long ago is now on the verge of reality - what with the BJD breaking the ranks of development to join "left behind " minded people .
Time will tell - or lets put it this way - the people of India will deiced what they want for the future of this country - a developed and a respected nation or a country which even 50 years from now will celebrate 8 oscars of some other Sluumdog .....
yo sushi and trademark sushi-style :)
ReplyDeleteYou are right. We should discuss politics now as it concerns our lives.
Well in my view, in India elections are not about winning. They are all about not losing them.
When Congress plays such gimmicks they want to narrow down there losing chances. They think that by playing such stunts they may not get voted out. Winning is not on their minds and they also don't have any agenda.
BTW good initiative. But will you be voting this year??
@Abhinav There is a widespread dissatisfaction among the ‘aam aadmi’ with the governance that we have had over the years. Lack of employment, abject poverty, rudimentary infrastructure – all these coupled with the political factors - so-called communal outlook of BJP and ‘appease all’ policy of Congress – have left the people of India yearning for a change. Third Front seeks to bridge that gap (even though they have got it completely wrong!).
ReplyDeleteDelving a bit deeper, how relevant is the Third Front? Firstly, all the alliances are non-committal until after the elections. Flipping through the pages of political history, it is evident that forging unlikely alliances before the elections has been of no avail. Secondly, it remains to be seen if the member parties of the Third Front would be able to reach a consensus on the numerous raging issues that are yet to come. The first one – deciding the PM candidate – itself seems to create a rift among the members. Thirdly, would they be able to garner enough votes to form a Government? Considering their 2004 performance, this seems to be a far-fetched possibility.
@Idle-Man That’s a very interesting perspective you have given of defensive politics. But it cannot be generalised to the whole of India as BJP did concentrate on development during their leadership. Also, they did pass laws like POTA which were in the best interests of the security of the nation even when they were unequivocally opposed by the minorities.
ReplyDeleteYes, I will be voting yaar. Thanks to the initiative by Tata Tea - Jaago Re - getting a voter-id card is a breeze nowadays.
Well well well ,
ReplyDelete*** "We salute the true heroes of achieving India who are at their best in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ " , IS this what the Indian Govt. has to say , when a british director who hired indian (read cheap) actors for his film & incidentaly won accords for his display of talent ***.
Now,
if they could spare their time & thoughts :
* To thank the martyrs who lay down their lives everyday & night , fighting at extreme conditions .
* To think about the retired defense personnel who returned their medals , protesting decent pension levels and such SHAMELESS the government was to accept the same publicly.
* Reconsider the reservation in education , that the govt has implemented and the effects it has had on the very idea of education in an individuals mind.
And apart from this , when 40% of the population is below the poverty line (read 'Khana khane ke paise nahi hai') , the govt want corporates to spend huge sum of money go on and bring some slippers and bowls - plates of some stupid beggar (who didnt have enough guts to take away his freedom and rather begged for it) who was shot dead [like any street dog] by an indian citizen some 50 years ago................................
after all this if the same set of uneducated people come to power [personally i beleive they will , coz this country is filled with idiots]..........i'd have to say..........
.I'm ashamed to be an indian.