Sushma's Swaraj: The Joke's on India

Not to be derisive, but after witnessing Wednesday's rambunctious Lok Sabha session, one mustn't point fingers at our political class; they are giving the Indian populace exactly what they want - pure, no-holds-barred entertainment. To watch two of the most experienced parliamentary debaters in Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley convincingly best the Gandhi family made for one epic treat/burn, which would even make a certain Goswami chuckle.


The Congress party could certainly function better as a more constructive Opposition but even despite Rahul Gandhi's buffoonery (See expert without knowledge), I do believe they did ask the right questions and Sushma should've put the Lalitgate matter to bed once and for all instead of being so obscurantist. Her pugnacious yet plain assertion that she'd "done nothing wrong" simply didn't lend credence to her stand.

Ever since her appointment as MEA, she has reached out to and provided humanitarian aid to many an Indian in distress and could have posited the same theory in defence of her assistance to Lalit Modi. But voila, she handed it back to the Gandhis in a language that they best understand: Accuse the accuser; turn defence into attack.

The fact of the matter is, allegations cannot be countered with more allegations. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Their scams vs our scandals, their secularism vs our nationalism, their riots vs ours, their absconders vs ours. Maybe that’s what Sushma means by “Quid pro quo”.

Every party has skeletons in its closet; none more so than the Congress, and that's probably why the Grand Old Party has been relegated to double-digit Opposition benches after ten years of misrule. Let's not forget, it was under the UPA's tenure that Lalit Modi turned 'fugitive'. Wednesday's session should not have been about what Rahul's दादी, मम्मी and पापा have done; Indians don't need any reminding. But reviving the ghosts of Congress' past provided the only egress out of the Lalitgate conundrum for the ruling party.

It's a tried and tested way - of circumventing salvos from both the Opposition and the fourth estate, which has been perfected by the powers that were, and which has been one-upped by their saffron successors.

Surely, it buys time but does little to indemnify our embattled Foreign Minister. It is clear the BJP will not force Sushma to step down, but the Lalitgate albatross shall continue to hang around her neck.

In a few hours from now, her belligerent visage will adorn the front page of every major paper. Social media will like and share snippets of her speech to death; news channels will use the same to maximise their TRPs. In a few days from now, the noise will die down. In a few weeks, all the tomfoolery will be forgotten. For as they say - public memory is notoriously short.

The joke’s on India.

10 reasons why AAP's victory is good for India

The die has been cast.

For the first time in its half-state history, Delhi has elected a government devoid of the two major national parties, that too with more than just an absolute majority (67 seats). Quite unsurprisingly, the Aam Aadmi Party has bested its only real electoral nemesis - the BJP, 'sweeping' nearly all of Delhi with its incorruptible broom.

Despite what some quarters may believe, an AAP victory can only mean good news. Here's why:


1. Delhiites finally get a government they deserve

Much confusion had prevailed over the national capital ever since the AAP's 49-day debacle. Delhi finally gets a stable government that promises to be held accountable (this time around) and will (hopefully) see out the five-year term. We deserved it.


2. A non-Cong/BJP government - good for Delhi, good for democracy 

Well, not all non-Cong/BJP governments have succeeded in delivering good governance to their states (SP in UP, TMC in West Bengal), but Arvind Kejriwal's party looks like a more rejuvenated, formidable version of January 2014 itself, with most of the ingredients needed to govern Delhi. Also, it's great for democracy.


3.Three seats short of a full house

Who likes to play tambola? AAP does for sure.

The newbie party continues to outdo itself, sometimes to the disbelief of its own leaders. The Mufflerman and his trusted aide and psephologist Yogendra Yadav had expected to land anywhere between 46-51 seats, but alas, the Harry Potters of Delhi have more than doubled their tally from the last 2013 election; with 33 out every 35 seats going to the AAP! Easily outdoes Amitbhai's heroics of 2014 when he delivered UP to the BJP.


4. Kejriwal has 5 years to govern and nowhere to run

 The AAP's manifesto was, to say the least, more refreshing than the Congress' and the BJP's vision document. The magnitude of their victory represents the trust reposed in them by the electorate. Now, Kejriwal and his team must work steadfastly to translate the umpteen election promises into reality. He has five years to show for his work and nowhere to run.

You can't run, you can't hide and you can't escape Delhi's love.


5. Modi's first real defeat in 14 years

Modi is the one name you get to hear in almost all elections nowadays, whether he's contesting or not. Every election his party partakes in becomes a referendum on his personality; if he wins, the cult gets solidified. If he loses - well most people thought he was invincible; that's the way it has been for him since 2001 when he became Gujarat Chief Minister. Never one to taste defeat, Modi has been given a bitter pill to swallow by Delhi's CM-in-waiting. No better place to halt the Modi rath than the very capital where he resides.  

Let's hope he behaves statesmanlike and comes through on his promise of cooperation in Delhi's development.


6.The volunteer > karyakarta 

This election also marks a very significant victory. That of the animated volunteer over the indefatigable karyakarta/swamsewak (which also means volunteer). The volunteer, at a disadvantage financially, graciously accepted the headstart of a few months and began to work tirelessly. The karyakarta thought he had the winds and waves with him, but without a firm mast, his ship gave up.


7. The beginning of the end of vote bank politics

Don't cast your vote. Vote your caste.
Sorry, not this time.

I believe this election was a harbinger of change in the way electioneering was carried out. For the first time, a party successfully reached out to and canvassed support from all major sections, classes of society across caste and religious lines. This was only possible through a neutral and positive agenda that catered to all discriminated against none.


8. Thumbs down for communal politics 

Communal politics simply doesn't resonate with young India anymore. While Modi swept the general election on his promise of 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas', the idea hasn't been received as expected by his ideological cohorts. The Delhi election season played out against the backdrop of religious tensions, imprudent statements by loony members of the ruling party, and an intractable air of vitriol, all of which allowed the AAP to extract maximum political dividends.


9. The election that brought some sense into the voting class

Delhi is impatient as it is pragmatic. Nowhere else is it cool to be a Modi supporter at the national level, while voting Kejriwal to power in Delhi with a near full house.

Delhi separates the 'bhakts' from the brains. Delhi forgives but doesn't forget.

As far as voting patterns are concerned, BJP has lost trust in all the 57 assembly constituencies that it won just nine months ago, some of which (like Harsh Vardhan/Bedi's Krishna Nagar) were considered impregnable. BJP's monumental debacle has come at the hands of an informed voting class that deserves credit for its intelligence.


10. Allows Congress to rebuild and BJP to return their development agenda

The only success Modi has had in this election is his dream of a Congress-mukt Bharat inching closer to realization. To deracinate the Grand Old Party from the capital is no mean feat; a complete wipeout is insuperable. Whether they can rebuild in time to save what is left of their sinking ship is a question only the Gandhis can answer.

The BJP must've been dealt a hard blow with this defeat; but they had it coming. Their electoral successes in other states turned into complacency which literally got to their head. The cadre-centric formula works everywhere else but not in Delhi. Delhi deserves better.

BJP may form India's next Government, but with Congress' support

 

There comes a time in the history of every great nation, when its citizens see a ray of hope out of despair; an opportunity to rewrite history, and to take the country to where it deserves to be.

For better or for worse, it is in Modi that a majority of Indians see the egress out of the era of political gloom and despondency institutionalized by a rarefied Congress-led UPA regime. His continual surge has brought him a fair share of critics and bounty hunters, who hold him culpable for orchestrating the unfortunate riots in Gujarat - a charge still unproven even after 10 years of inquests, accusations and political coercion. He has successfully warded off even his most formidable baiters, winning election after election, going from strength to strength.

From selling tea on the streets of Vadnagar to heading one of the fastest growing states in India, Modi's meteoric rise is viewed as a harbinger for positive change in India.

The 'Modi wave' is reverberating across the country. Much to the dismay of his opponents, it is very much present.

But it seems the BJP clearly isn't using this to its advantage. It is banking on the support of the Congress to win next month's Lok Sabha election.

Instead of riding the wave of anti-incumbency and propelling its home-grown candidates to win the election, the BJP has instead hired celebrities; and imported candidates from parties symbolic of graft, to secure its Mission 272+. Such electoral temerity does the saffron juggernaut no favours. In fact, it reeks of shambolism.

The very leaders that had denounced Modi as 'communal' are now singing paeans in his name. When leaders of 'secular' formations like the Congress, RJD and the JDU chose to defect to the BJP, it has little to do with ideology and everything to do with cashing in on an opportunity. Who's to say they won't do the same when the BJP is in dire straits? Candidates that shift base months prior to the election cannot be trusted to stick with the party. The late Vidya Charan Shukla was a prime example of such a flip-flopper.

The grassroot workers; who toil all year round and play an elemental role in a party's electoral performance, do not possess the same zest and motivation in ensuring the victory of rookie film star politicians and tainted ex-opponents, whom they perceive as encroachers of their political territory, foisted upon them by the party.

To the Indian voters, who have vowed to deracinate any remnants of the UPA regime, it is highly disheartening to see ex-Congressmen stand for elections wearing saffron. It is almost like voting for the wolf in sheep's clothing.

While the BJP may like to view its newfound allure as a wider acceptance of Modi's leadership, the influx of outsiders has also exposed the latent cracks within its leadership.

In a painful kerfuffle over the Barmer seat, ex-Finance and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, who was one of the pillars of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Government, has been snubbed by the BJP for former Congress leader Colonel Sonaram Chaudhary. Singh, with his pride intact, will now contest as an Independent candidate, which may well cost the party the Barmer seat.

Not all has gone wrong. Wisdom prevailed over the BJP leadership when they decided to oust religious extremist Pramod Muthalik, within five hours of his joining the party.

This is why the BJP must ride the Modi wave, and hand out tickets to candidates who would have otherwise had little chance to win an election. It has attacked the Congress for presiding over a dark decade of corruption and misgovernance. If the defections and chicanery continue, the BJP may soon have a mini-Congress clique within its ranks.

In over a month and a half, the Indian electorate will have spoken. And we may well have a BJP-led Government with the support of the Congress.