Why I believe Anna Hazare is wrong in his means (and not the ends)...

At the outset, holding the democratic process to ransom through political blackmail is wrong. Going on fast-unto-death is illegal (equivalent to homicide) and any person indulging in it should be arrested – doesn’t matter if that person has the backing of a billion Indians (and the remaining million are only the “corrupt” law enforcement agencies).

Now coming to the issue of a Lokpal bill…

I would be going against popular sentiment but dare I say – WE DO NOT NEED A LOKPAL BILL – Neither the “Civil Society” version nor the government version. Here are my reasons for the same:

1. Too few cooks make poison not broth: Our constitution – the Raison d'être of all law agencies – is a brilliant piece of applied thought. It creates three bodies – the executive, the judiciary and the legislative – all of which are independent but completely dependent. What one does can be checked and annulled by the other through justified action. The problem arises when these come together – the exact thing that the Jan Lokpal proposes to do! Hand over power to one person/institution and make him absolute… to make law, decide violations and ensure execution - and what you have is a perfect broth - the only problem being that the recipe being perfect is of 'disaster'...


2. The RTI, the CVC, the CAG – all these are bodies designed to curb corruption – but do they work? So now we create another one – and then five years down the line – another one to supervise the Lokpal... When does it end! The problem is not existence of no control or supervision – its too many controls.


3. The reform process – if taken to its logical conclusion – will remove the necessity of any such bill. I wrote earlier about this – the reforms have created a less corrupt society already (imagine getting phone connections, paying electricity bills, paying taxes, getting a stamp paper without paying bribes even ten years earlier) – the corruption has been pushed up the ladder… Yes, I’m worried when my tax is gobbled up (supposedly) by corrupt (again, supposedly) ministers… But thankfully my day-to-day jobs have fewer hassles now. By slowly making more things transparent, the corruption will be pushed up the ladder – and then out! By adding the Lokpal – we just add a wrung to the ladder which the corruption can climb!

I’ll not go into the problems of the Jan Lokpal Bill – there are far too many that even a noob like me can see (for eg: the concentration of power, the selection panel, the age limits etc. etc.) because I know the end is justified – lesser corruption… In its current form the Jan Lokpal Bill is a situation where (as mentioned in a debate on TV) – If there is a theft in my house, I’ll worry about locking up my house later – I’ll first go to fast to force the commissioner to provide me more police force!!!

Now people say, OK you are just writing blogs – at least we are out here protesting against the government and their corrupt practices! Well I say, at least I’m doing my job right… In the last full year, I can vow to have never paid a bribe -no single rupee. How many of you can vouch for that? I agree I never voted. How many of you accept that? If not, did you or did you not vote for the “right” candidate from the local level right to the MP! We all expect our rights to be honoured but forget the duties that the constitution also mentions…!!!

I’m a firm believer in democracy – I’ve been part of School and college politics myself – no matter how much the elections were rigged – the best people, more often than not, get elected if everyone participates. So once the democratic process is set right, everything comes in place... Here are the electoral reforms I propose:

1. You want a strong Jan Lokpal Bill. Bring a strong “Vote Karo” bill. How about sentencing people who do not vote to 5 years rigorous imprisonment... would you be ready for that? How about giving a tax rebate to people who voted in the last general election?


2. Ok, I want to vote but who do I vote for... So ban people who have been convicted (not accused) of any law breaking/tax evasion from elections. Yes today very few will pass/fail, slowly more will... finally one day (probably 100 yrs from now) we’ll have an unblemished candidate list!


3. Use RTI more. You find some problem – please take the trouble of filing an RTI application. Instead of asking for more governance mechanisms, learn to use the ones that exist!


4. Our courts (and nationalised banks) work for less than half the year – how about extending that? Have more fast-track courts to settle small disputes in a speedy manner... You might not agree to it, the courts (including the lawyers and judges) are highly overburdened for now!!!

Of course, I’m no expert – just another “Aam Aadmi” who fails to see reason for using undemocratic coercive solutions for perfectly legitimate causes. And what is most of all, I do not want to put the blame of my lethargy on a weak system...!!!

BJP: Gear up for 2019

The verdict is out – it is a mandate for the Congress led UPA government. PM Dr. Singh becomes the second PM after Pandit Nehru to return to office with a clear mandate. With the Left not shackling it and now DMK out too, the Congress cannot blame anyone but itself if it fails to deliver what the alliance promises to – progress. Mind you, I’m no Congressman, but when it comes to a stable dynastic government versus an unstable democratic government, I’d rather prefer a dynastic government. I do agree Advaniji would be a strong PM but with allies like Mayawati and Jayalalitha to keep the alliance under a continuous threat of collapse over trivial issues like the Left did to the UPA, I'd rather have Sonia-Rahul dictate terms to a "weak" Manmohan Singh.

And in what may seem quite contrary to my views earlier, I kinda liked the “non-congress’ised Rahul Gandhi. While Sonia may have become the AICC and the UPA chief due to the dynasty, Rahul wants to establish himself through the route an “aam aadmi” would take – the route of toil and hard work. That, even the staunchest of opponents will observe, he does. His "Discover of India" tour was well publicised though did not really yield instant results for the Congress. When Rahul Gandhi came to the scene initially, he was being looked upon as the bearer of bad luck. Whichever state he went to, the Congress lost it. And not all was because of the opposition’s good performance. Few statements made by Rahul Gandhi were rebuked by the BJP and few of them simply showed Congress in bad light. But at least he was true to himself and the country - he was a "naive" politician!!! One thing that he did well for the congress was to recruit the youth to the congress. Byre Gowda contested against the might of Ananth Kumar in Bangalore. That in itself shows the strength the youth Congress has accumulated. And clearly, a lot of credit should go to Rahul. But now that he has been "Congress"ised, will he remain that focussed on actually achieving improvement and development – both for the Congress and the country – is a question that time will answer. For now, looks like, I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

In a situation where the DMK even quit the government because the low performing ministers were not acceptable to the PM, Rahul declined to take up any portfolio – not that he would surely do a good job – that does speak volumes about the PM-in-Waiting. As the infighting in the BJP ranks erupts, even threatening to burn up the party’s loyal base of the RSS and the VHP ranks, here’s just a suggestion for them – look for an heir who will lead you in 2019. 2014 will surely be the congress sweep in the Parliament – Rahul surely will not lose his first election as the PM-to-be and I sure believe he'll be ready for the top job by then (Though few experts do feel Rahul wouldn't do good by being so and I agree that very well can be the case)

PP

The Autowala Wisdom

Do you think the intelligent people come out of the best B-Schools in the country? Well, intelligent they may be but they all they can be attributed to are the recessions and the crashes – what comes out of the hawker and the autowala is wisdom that works!!!

I was travelling from Andheri to Bandra in a rickshaw. I saw a congress board thanking the loyal Bombay junta for their votes. The autowala remarked uninstigated– "पहले election पे इतना पैसा waste किया – अब thank you बोलने पे करेगा यह politician लोग." That was the conversation I was looking for – and it started. From how the politicians “work” to how it affects the “Aam Aadmi”. We talked on similar things and I din’t know I had reached Linking Road.

Wait for it...

Yes, it was then that the autowala delivered a timeless piece of wisdom – “साहिब जानते हैं, काम तो सभी एक ही करते हैं. Congress हो या शिव सेना, बारिश के मौसम में flood रुकने वाला नहीं है. But कोई भी government हो बड़ी margin से जीतनी चाहिए. हमको तो बस stable लंबा government मांगता है.”

I was like, “Wow, how would a stable government affect this petty driver?”

He continued, “अब यह देखो, मैं चार भाई लोग है. दो Congress के साथ है. एक भाई और उसकी बीवी शिव सेना के साथ है. election जो भी जीते पैसा तो मिलता ही है अपने को. जितना बड़ा margin, उतना बड़ा पैसा. और जब government रहेगा तो भी पैसा आता रहेगा. अब जो भी जीते, पैसा तो अपने फॅमिली को मिलता है।”

Now that is a very intelligent Driver!!!

Why Doesn't India Vote?

(TIME Cover: March the 2nd, 1992)

Consider this:
The voter of West Bengal voted for the Congress thinking they were sick of the Left and could, in no way, stand a Left Rule at the centre. But after the elections, the Left is back in power. Similar situation exists in Kerala too.

The voter of Bihar votes for the good governance of Nitish and against Laloo. Elections gone and Laloo is back in power. After all, the Fourth Front gives the UPA the all important 30 seats at the centre.

The voter of AP din’t like the rule of the BJP+ and votes his ally out of power – the ally fights without the BJP – the voter is happy – the ally goes back to BJP – and if it was not bad enough, both are back in power. Wow!!!

The voter of Rampur is essentially wasting time – whoever wins, the government remains the same. The situation in the whole of UP is the same – the voter doesn’t know who and why did he vote for.

Do the political parties have a few ideological allies and foes - they don't even have an ideology. What do we vote for? They ask the voter to be informed - the manifestos of the BJP and the Congress are mere mutations of the same thought. Who do you vote for? The manifestos exist but the practice and implementation, that doesn't even exist on paper. Then they crib over people not voting and worse still, talk of making voting mandatory.

I wish to vote but haven't been able to because of many reasons - and I'm not the only one at fault - you can't blame me for not having a Voter ID if it takes more time for a voter ID to get prepared than my stay at the place.. {It took the administration more than a year to register me for a vote - by then it was time for me to move to a new location} Actually now that I think of it, even if I could, would I? Till the time that accountability and stability is made an important part of the Indian Democratic system, I don't really know if my vote actually makes a difference. For all I know, it might lead to the worsening of the nation due to a post-poll alliance that I hadn't thought of.

To quote advani:"Manmohan Singh holds office but has no authority, while the person who wields the authority has no accountability." I ask Advaniji, if he is unable to get the black money from the Swiss Banks within the promised 100 days, will he resign and ask Rahul Gandhi to implement his 100-day plan? If he states on record and follows this, I promise never to vote for anyone but the BJP. Till then, whenever I get my vote registered and, I shall vote. कर्मन्येवाधिकार्स्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।

India Voted for....

Now that the elections are over and the whole nation waits for the results, lets work out scenarios and see what will become of India post-elections...

If Congress comes to power:

• Bofors scam pushed under carpet for yet another five years, Quattrochi made honorary member of Rajya Sabha through a special ordinance and then honorary defense advisor
  
• Few more Indira XXXX Yojana and Jawaharlal Nehru YYYY Programme
• Setting up of n new IITs and n/2 new IIMs where N = number of states where congress is in power ==> If he is an IITian, so am I... so am I... and so am I...

If BJP comes to power:

• No more “Sonia Ji” speeches from Modi
• Khakhi shorts declared the uniform of all national government machineries
• Nationalisation of education and educational institutes
  • New Masters Courses in Palmistry, Tarot Reading, Parrot training
    

If Left comes to power:

• IPO of CITU – sure to be oversubscribed 70 times on Sensex (reliance power was 69 times)
  
• Reinvestment in all sick private units functioning at below 40% utilization to create more jobs and more unions – after all private companies are way under-populated

If Mayawati becomes PM:

• 2% Reservation for all “upper castes”
• Fake caste certificates legalised. Rates nationalised at 10% declared annual income
  

PP

On the Back of a taxi -

Dear Fellow Citizens!
The Country Looks up to you again...
Perform your duty... Think and Vote!

Free Democracy...

Dear Blog,

It’s the election time once again. It’s the time for allegations and counter allegations to fly. Its time when the media – the essence of a free democracy – should play its most important role, that of bringing in news that matters, that of informing the voter about his candidate, that of helping him make an informed decision, that of making everyone realise how important it is to exercise his right to control the future of India.

I was just reading the news and reviews of Varun Gandhi’s “Hate Speech” and something just struck me. Why do we find that the congress can seldom find anything faulty in the opposition but being communal? I’m no supporter of BJP but given their past record, I’m forced to believe they do fight on issues – issues which affect the country. Talking of a Hindu-Raashtra is no doubt communal and condemnable but at least better than policy of minority appeasement. We as usual, do not learn from the history. The policy of appeasement has, in the very recent past, led to a world-war and another internal one is surely on the cards.

It is now that the Indian population is realising that the policy of appeasement remains at that – a policy. An earnest implementation will lead to erosion in the complete vote-bank of the appeasers. The inherent problem of the policy of appeasement is that the face of the appeased are benefitted and thus like the whole community to believe that they are benefitted by the policies which is far from truth. The inherent selfish nature of these privileged few ensures that the truth behind the sham of the policy is never brought to the fore.

Can we have an election where no sops are announced for any category of individuals? Can we have an election which just talks of improvements in the system through inclusive development and not through exclusive opportunities for a few? Can we have an election where the election commission need not intervene in matters of money-distribution and mutilation of a free and neutral democracy?

PP