While the Congress is busy spinning Rahul Gandhi’s middle-age as youth the BJP seems to have stolen a march over the Congress as far as the GenNext Young Voter goes.
With the release of an ambitious and forward looking Information Technology Vision the BJP has elevated the otherwise moribund public debate with its focus on the calculus of caste and the arithmetic of wannabe Prime Ministers.
The 40 page Vision Document can be found here.
So how must we judge this ambitious vision of the BJP which it believes is a key enabler to its promise of Good Governance, Development and Security ?
Offstumped has applied the below 5 principles to form a view on this Vision Statement.
#1 – Is the Vision high on rhetoric or does it get into specifics ?
#2 – Does the Vision view Government as the answer to all questions or Does it see the Government’s role merely as a catalyst ?
#3 – Will the Vision further the deepen the all pervasive Culture of Entitlement or will it mark a shift away towards a Culture of Responsibility ?
#4 – Will the Vision spur even greater dependency on Government or will it foster the Spirit of Enterprise ?
#5 – Will the Vision create Institutional Solutions that will enhance the capacity of Local Governance and make it responsive and accountable for the Last Mile of Service Delivery ?
Goal #1 – Creating one new Non-Farming job for every rural household.
On the face of it this goal of targetting 1.2 crore new rural jobs through new skills has an echo in BPL Rural Census Data with a plurality of rural households screaming for new skills over other entitlements.
With its emphasis on “Non-Farm” employment this goal could also be a first small step towards a roadmap away from a dead-end future in farming for many a rural youth.
The devil is of course in the detail on how exactly will 20 new IT-enabled jobs be created in every village.
Page 11 of the vision document attempts to answer this question at a very high level.
While it maybe lacking in specifics, the guiding principles should bring some cheer with its emphasis on local Entrepreneurship Opportunities rather than Government created jobs.
Goal #2 – A Multipurpose National Identity Card (MNIC)
The vision document sets itself up for a challenging goal of setting this up in 3 years. integrating Ration Card, PAN Card, EPIC etc..
What stands out is the centrality of the MNIC as the “pivot for enabling I.T. Vision”.
This is a fundamental shift in thinking for it recognizes the primacy of accounting for every individual through a Digital Identity.
It proposes to do so by eliminating redundancy between the Census Bureau and the UIAI to create a National Registry of Citizenship, NRC to be administered by a Citizenship Regulatory Authority of India, CRAI.
The way the BJP has envisioned the role of CRAI underlines National Security considerations and concerns around Illegal Immigation by making Citizenship Identification Numbers mandatory by law.
It would be interesting to see how the BJP will build consensus for such a mandatory national identification.
While the Vision document is silent on that, Offstumped would like to suggest that the BJP must go one step ahead and create incentives for State Governments to buy-into this concept as a pre-emptive step towards building National Consensus.
Goal#3 Digital Highways
Some lofty goals around affordable broadband internet, increased Mobile penetration. The Vision document rightly recognizes that the usability and usefulness of MNIC is depends on ubiquitous access to the Internet.
Goal #4 E-Governance
A notable feature is the extension of RTI to include a DTI or Duty to Inform by which Government agencies are mandated to inform citizens by default without requiring them to seek information. This is key for we have seen the UPA’s lip service to RTI where key agencies like the NHRC have not bothered to publish annual reports or key metrics in over 2 years on their website.
The other notable aspect is the notion of a “Leaky Service Delivery Pipeline”. The Vision document promises to increase transparency and reduce leakages of welfare funds.
Page 17 lists about 10 specific assurances on Good Governance through E-Governance. An interesting nugget is a 24×7 tollfree phone number to contact a Member of Parliament.
Page 18 goes into great detail of Gujarat’s E-Vishwa Gram initiative launched by Narendra Modi.
An area dear to this blogger’s heart finds mention here of technology enabling Retail Operations of Small and Medium Businessmen, especially the Kirana Shopkeeper through IIT Bombay’s e-Galla.
The emphasis on making the Local Panchayat the primary center for last mile service delivery and using technology to minimize or eliminate corruption stands out.
Another IIT incubated initiative around using technology for Weather forecasting and Expert advisory services for Farmers and electronic land records finds mention.
The Vision document is silent on how exactly these initiatives will be championed by the Federal Government and to what degree will last mile implementation be left to the State Governments.
The challenge as always will be in creating the right incentives for the States to follow through on these initiatives with the Federal Government’s support.
The Vision document is also silent on how it will leverage Private agencies to enable these initiatives, this needs to be elucidated further to highlight enterpreneurship opportunities and employment generation in the private sector through all this federal and state level spend.
Page 20 spells out E-Banking and how it can be used to “Directly Transfer Financial Benefits accruing from various Welfare schemes” to the intended beneficiary. Recently there was much debate on a proposal by Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam in Andhra on Direct Cash Transfer as a more efficient and corruption welfare alternative. More public debate on this is very much in order to take corruption out of welfare distribution.
Another goal that stands out in the area of Development is enhacing the skilled worker base from 8% to 20% over a 5 year period.
An entitlement that has slipped its way through into the Vision Document is spelled out on Page 21 of giving a Free Smart Mobile Phone to every BPL Rural Family.
It sounds like a great idea to stimulate the Technology Sector which is reeling from a global recession but this entitlement begs the question of why the Tax Payer must foot the bill of this free mobile smart phone which will most likely be used for private purposes beyond the intended use of better access to NREGS and other welfare schemes.
The I.T. Vision could have been bolder in spelling that it would incentivize innovation in the Smart Mobile Phone sector to come up with smart business models that take the cost of Device ownership out of the equation for the BPL Family by getting a rapidly expanding Consumer Goods and Organized Retail Industry to pay for it through direct consumer marketing and other schemes. Such a bold synergy will have the twin benefits of spurring Consumption by Rural BPL Families to stimulate the overall economy.
More ideas galore around cheaper laptops for students, which once again rather be a subsidy drain on the tax payer could be facilitated by incentives to innovative Technology start-ups and smarter Business Models that can get the market forces to pay for Device Ownership costs by exploiting the Life Time Consumption Value of a Student.
Extensive use of Private Sector in Skill Development finds mention on page 23 along with other ideas around Telemedicine and Localization of I.T. to include more Indian Lanugaues.
A simple, practical idea of Online Payments for Court Fees and Penalties alone should justify technology investments in the area of Justice Delivery.
A centrally funded and managed National Emergency Service, NES, with Public Safety Answering Points, PSAPs signals perhaps the most significant expansion of Federal Government by this I.T. Vision. While such a service is long overdue and an acute need the BJP must reflect on whether this must be centrally managed. A better alternative would be to enlist Local Governments to invest in PSAPs with Central Funds contingent upon Federally mandated Service Level benchmarks.
The most important part of the Vision Document finds mention in page 34 around National Cyber Security with concrete proposals for a Digital Security Bureau with responsibility for Cyber Warfare, Counter-Terrorism and Cyber Security of National Digital Assets.
Rather than propose a standalone Cyber Security initiative the BJP must ensure that this proposal is part of a comprehensive National Security Architecture to eliminate redundancy and Inter Agency barriers to information dissemination, analysis and response to avoid a repeat of pre-26/11 failures.
More ideas around spurring the domestic Hardware and Hosting Industries and greater sovereign control over the Internet find mention.
In closing it must be said that the BJP’s I.T. Vision is bold and ambitious in its goals and aggressive in its timelines. It is however silent on how this vision will be achieved and funded. It can definitely do better with a focus on innovative models to spur the creativity of the private sector in realising some of these goals while paying for them with smarter business models.
This I.T. Vision of the BJP raises the bar on the Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi lead Congress. The Congress must explain its lackadaisical 5 year record in all of these areas including the Rs 7000 crore drain on NREGS which has resulted in more Rural Entitlements while doing little to nothing in the area of Rural Skill Development or in creating Opportunities for Rural Enterprise.
Filed under: Chattisgarh Polls 2008, Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, DesiPundit, Dharmayudh-2009, Gujarat Polls 2007, India Elections 2009, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Offstumped, Offstumped on Twitter, Rajasthan Polls 2008, betrayal of aam admi, jeetega-bharat
This is awesome.
These kinds of things set BJP above everyone else.
No other political party has any vision.
Now if only they get elected anyhow, somehow..
Kudos to BJP for a great Vision Document and to YOSS for great overview and analysis with appropriate evaluation criteria.
Knowing that BJP does what it says (remember Pokhran & Golden Quadrilateral?), I believe that BJP will achieve a major portion of the objectives set in this vision document, if given a chance as an NDA Government.
I really hope that the salient points of ALL such vision documents (that BJP puts together in the coming months) be incorporated in the speeches of BJP leaders in the language that Aam Admi can understand AND relate to.
I will not be surprised if the retarded mainstream media chooses to talk about caste equations, 3rd front, Pink Chaddis etc. rather than discuss such vision documents that can have a profound impact on how we will live 5 years from now.
Just curious to see how much of this document will be replicated in a Congress document & even more so, if any other government will achieve even 20% of this vision in the next 5 years.
- Dhananjay
The BJP website has also been updated.
http://bjp.org/
Hope they keep maintaining it with the videos of EVERY speech by LKA, NaMO, Arun Jaitley & Sushama Swaraj.
If Na MO’s Gujarat BJP can do it, then National BJP organization better figure it out.
And, here are the highlights of the IT Vision Document:
http://bjp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2794&Itemid=394
If India has to progress, it has to focus on basic infrastructure which is the backbone for success. It has missed out on the physical infrastructure front (unlike China), it can, however, leapfrog ahead of the world in the IT infrastructure. BJP Vision document, precisely talks about how it will achieve this in the coming 5 years. This is remarkable. Its now time for all the right thinking Indians to reciprocate to make this dream collectively possible.
The vision document is a very good first step on part of the BJP in providing the roadmap for realizing the objectives of ‘Governance, development and security’. Your analysis is also thoughtful and incisive in highlighting the pros and cons of the document.
A point of disagreement is your characterization of providing free mobile phones to BPL families as an unnecessary entitlement. There are several anecdotes to show the benefits provided by mobile phones on the economic lot of small and micro-businesses. (see http://blogs.nmss.com/communications/2007/02/cellphones_deve.html)
Mobile phones will be play a crucial role in the financial empowerment of BPL families in enabling them to operate their bank accounts promised earlier in the document. It is hard to consider an alternate and more practical solution otherwise.
Great thoughts. I am a die hard supporter, but find it difficult to believe that this will all see the light of the day. if they cannot convince me that they will do it, how are they going to convince the fence sitter. This is the crucial aspect that needs communicating.
of course the very fact that they thought of it and proposed it is worth highly applauding. Why dont they start implementing the imlementable portions in all bjp ruled states, to prove that thay walk the talk (outside of gujarat not sure if any state has any proposals). this will lend credence to the sincerity.
Government of India to standardise on open standard and open source software
Open standard is fine, Open source is a bad idea IMO. Open source will retard growth of a domestic software industry.
GVL saab is saying that BJP will be far ahead of Congress. This has made my day!
wwwdotdailypioneerdotcom/162467/Centre-beckons.html
Centre beckons
The Third Front will be a non-starter, BJP the front-runner with the Congress being a far second. GVL Narasimha Rao makes a prediction for Election 2009
As the nation is headed for elections to elect the 15th Lok Sabha, there is an emerging consensus among political pundits that national issues will not matter in the ensuing polls and that the local, regional issues and caste considerations will hold sway in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.
As a result, they seem to believe that a motley combination of unattached regional parties (loosely called the Third Front) will come to power after the polls with or without the participation of either the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Congress. Thanks to this perception of a ramshackle coalition coming to power at the Centre after Lok Sabha polls, there is a sudden buzz of activity in the Third Front camp.
This perception has grown so strong that it has spawned an army of prime ministerial hopefuls ranging from Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal (Secular) and Lalu Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD); not to leave behind Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), who broke away from an 11-year-old partnership unilaterally with the BJP in Orissa recently.
Will the 15th Lok Sabha mandate be so fractured that all and sundry can join the race for prime ministership? After all, that is the sense that one gets looking at the brazen manner in which regional parties have bullied national parties like the BJP and the Congress in seat sharing negotiations over the past few weeks.
National issues galore
In my assessment, it is a huge myth that there are no national issues in this election and that the electorate will vote entirely on local issues and local preferences. The evidence from the ground is completely contrary.
This is one election in many decades in which national issues like economy — specifically price rise, unemployment and recession — and internal security (read terrorism) are high on people’s agenda all across the country. Quite significantly, even the rural and the less educated among the electorate believes that issues like price rise, employment and terrorism are largely within the ambit of the Central Government and are not in the domain of the State governments.
BJP better for handling economy, terrorism
Which party does the electorate think can handle better the twin voter concerns of management of economy and terrorism? Interestingly, in States where the BJP is a strong force, it is the preferred party for governance at the Centre, primarily because the Congress-led UPA Government is perceived to have failed in these areas. Ironically, in States where the BJP has no strong presence and the Congress has, the Congress is the favoured party.
In other words, the electorate seems to be favouring the big national parties at a time when national economy and security are the major concerns. Perhaps, the electorate reckons that a strong government at the Centre led by a major national party can handle this situation better than a weak government captained by regional parties.
BJP sweep in strongholds
Thanks to the electorate’s preference for the BJP in comparison to the ruling Congress at the Centre, in all its strongholds, the BJP is likely to sweep polls. In States where the BJP and the Congress are principal adversaries — as in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and even Rajasthan and Delhi which the BJP lost recently in Assembly polls — and in States where the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is the principal adversary of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) (like Bihar, Maharastra etc), the BJP and the NDA are likely to sweep the polls.
Congress sweep in non-BJP territories
While the Congress is likely to lose heavily to the BJP in all the latter’s strongholds, the Congress is likely to make major gains in States where it is pitted against the Left and regional parties (as in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal etc). The Congress party is expected to do well in all these states by cannibalising the Third Front. As a result, the unattached regional parties are likely to get squeezed in this election rather than expand their base.
Third Front eclipse
The Third Front with parties such as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Telangana Rastra Samiti (TRS), Janata Dal (Secular), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), MDMK etc is a loose grouping of parties which cannot join either the Congress or the BJP for purely tactical reasons.
The Third Front can broadly be described as a rag tag coalition of parties that come together for the sake of gaining some publicity, disproportionate to their actual strength and use it as a parking place when there are no hot political deals happening. At the slightest opportunity, they strike private deals with the Congress and the BJP and not even offer themselves for a wholesale bargain rather than making retail, individual offers.
Look at the composition of the Third Front as it exists today compared to about a year ago. The Samajwadi Party (SP) left the Third Front to support the UPA Government at the Centre leaving the Left parties fuming. Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) jumped onto the NDA bandwagon to fight Lok Sabha polls together with the BJP.
AIADMK keeps entering and quitting the Third Front at the will of its mercurial leader, Dr J Jayalalithaa. As regards Mayawati, one is not even sure whether Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a part of the Third Front or not. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has recently parted ways with the BJP to join the illustrious company of this coveted club, although the party makes protestations of its independent standing.
With the electorate seemingly in favour of the bipolar polity with the BJP and the Congress as the two poles, the new Third Front with a number of regional and bit players is getting squeezed from both sides and may just end up with the same tally of seats as the Left Front in the last Lok Sabha.
BJP is the front-runner
Although the Congress camp is exuding supreme confidence and the BJP leaders seem to be plagued by self-doubt about the party’s electoral prospects, the BJP is clearly the front-runner in the polls and is likely to emerge as the single largest party at the national level.
At the National Executive meeting of the BJP last month in Nagpur, of which I became a member recently, I told the party’s top leaders that it was besieged with over-confidence in the 2004 polls — when the party made tall claims of winning 300 seats on its own — while in 2009, when the party is doing pretty well, it is exhibiting signs of gloom and is bereft of buoyancy associated with a winner.
Two-party majority
Given the damages that the BJP is expected to inflict on the Congress in saffron strongholds, the BJP is likely to emerge as the single largest party, leaving the Congress quite far behind. But, between them, the parties, that is, the BJP and the Congress together will have a parliamentary majority. That will force the regional parties to gravitate towards one of the two alliances, the BJP-led NDA or the Congress-led UPA.
In my assessment, the BJP-led NDA is likely to lead the next Government as regional parties may prefer joining the NDA bandwagon in the post-poll scenario. For many allies, the BJP does not suit them in the pre-poll scenario given their local, electoral considerations. However, in a post- poll scenario, the BJP-led NDA may hold a lot of promise. After all, no one has the stature and credentials of LK Advani, the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate, or his determination to move to 7 Race Course Road.
We as a nation are very good in generating roadmaps, vision documents and paper work. Check out any of our Commission reports/ Judgement copies / Govt policy documents, the amount of documentation we generate is in tonnes even for small and trivial cases, but when it comes to Implementing the proposal/ findings/ project there is just one person who gets benefited from this whole exercise: – the raddiwala.
However BJP has a good track record when it comes to implementation, whether creating smaller more manageable states or the PM sadak yojana.
IT is all about managing things using technology, automating processes etc. It’s a spontaneous progression to optimising usage of resources and providing speedy and accurate information for decision-making.
However in case of India the country is missing one big intermediate step while aiming for IT governance. We don’t even have efficient working manual processes and ample resources in the first place.
We have railway reservation system, but not enough trains in the first place!!
Our IT Companies might be developing cutting edge software for global clients, but their computers and the ACs run on diesel generators, because the Govt cannot generate enough electricity!!
Whether Nano, the common man’s dream or a Mercedes loaded with latest satellite navigation gadgets, they still need roads to run.
We donot have any processes in place to find who are Indian citizens and who are not , we are unable to find how many illegal immigrants are their in our country ….IT or computer will just helping in automating, data-processing and report generation , but it cannot help if a proper census and recording or data collection/capture is absent in the first place . It will just be a Garbage-In Garbage-Out case.
Lets not mimic the West, rather first get the basics right that the West already has in place for ages, which they need IT to optimise .
We need the infrastructure and manual processes in place, first and foremost: – Electricity, Drinking Water, Roads, Affordable Food, Affordable Houses, Affordable and Convenient Public Transport, all keeping environment in mind.
NaMo has already provided Gujarat with infrastructure, and for him and the Gujaratis the natural progression is e-governance and using technology for education and mass communications.
For the rest of us who are still in the dark ages, lets get the basics right first !! May be we need a concrete vision document/roadmap to achieve the basics right first !!
TCS has launched mobile krishi. free mobile may help farmers in this
www DOT hindu DOT com/2009/03/15/stories/2009031555101000 DOT htm
On the face of it, the IT Vision document looks nice. We Indians can prepare good documents. It was an irony that the BJP President (Rajnath) releasing the Vision document would’nt in all probability be able to explain what the acronym “IT” stands for !
On the day of the release, the entire media and the BJP followers themselves present in the function – were focussed on all matters other that the IT Vision of BJP. The entire focus was on Jaitley and Rajnath…
Information Technology, as DRV pointed out, helps in data processing, storage, analysis and report generation. It is effective only if the processes on the ground are implemented first. In the absence of that it will be Garbage-In Garbage-Out using the expensive super computers and software systems.
We need to get the basics right first – like Electricity, Drinking Water, Roads, Affordable Food, Affordable Houses, Affordable and Convenient Public Transport…. We need to put basic purchasing power in the pockets of rural Indians – and then give them the opportunity for greater income based on skill development. In effect we need to turn these parts of the country as viable markets for investors to deploy capital with an ROI. NREG is a great scheme but its implementation is still an issue.
Before implementing a Multipurpose National Identity Card (MNIP), we need to figure out an effective and fool-proof mechanism to capture the profile data of all Indian citizens in the country. This is the difficult part where opposition-ruled States can play the spoiler (like has been the case in NREG) with an idea to discredit the initiative/scheme launched by the Centre !
We in India practice highly distruptive politics – where political parties sole objective is to bring each other down. National issues of importance take secondary place over party politics and personal ambitions !
Things are unlikely to change beyond a point in a great hurry…
This is only the IT Vision and if Gujarat or Vajpayee’s term is any indication, Electricity, Drinking Water and Roads will all get their due share. The IT Vision is promising because it shows what direction the BJP is thinking in order to reduce leakage of resources to corruption or social issues. I like the proposal to transfer government benefits to the woman in the family instead of the man.
And yes, IT can provide data and reporting and the reports are only as good as the data that goes in. But this issue about bad data exists today as well and the IT implementation promises to gradually clean this up. Certainly policy makers will be able to better target investment using all the data they will collect.
The political issues about opposition governments going slow will no doubt be a problem, but India will move ahead even if only NDA ruled states implement this with gusto.
The Multipurpose National Identity Card is a damn good idea. But it should not remain just as another card. There has to be larger objectives to it, for which proper steps and follow up is required.
One such objective is to plug all forms of black money. When the card is fully operational, it must be linked to each and every bank account in the country. This will account for entire reported wealth of every individual.
The next step would be to account for cash (currency) floating around which is outside banking channels. For this, the Govt would have to declare a change in currency from a given date. This would effectively mean that from that date onward, the earlier cash is invalid. Hence, everyone would have to deposit their old cash with some bank in their account and withdraw new cash. For this, a sufficient time frame must be given, say a year.
This will force the entire money (black and white) to be accounted once and for all.
And the National Identity card reference will ensure that all future money flows will be easy to monitor.
This will help not only in better tax management but also plug in terrorist money!
Great policy statement and thanks for summarizing some of those things, Yoss…I think they need to follow in the footsteps of other modern policy frameworks in political parties around the world. IT is important, but they need a clear-cut policy statement on: National Security, the Economy, Foreign Relations, Infrastructure and other key items. It may not fetch a ton of votes now, but as the number of better-educated, younger and better-earning Indians increases, the BJP will be poised to gradually shatter the regional and casteist mindset.
2009 is all about laying groundwork for the future…it should not be about leading a shaky coalition…it should be about establishing the party’s base in such a way that people like Jayalalithaa and Mayawati gradually become irrelevant and untouchable to the newest Indian voters. Having a strong web site, using online videos, blogging by an 81 year-old PM candidate, and using other modern means of communication, and projecting candidates who represent the modern India are all part of this project of laying groundwork for the BJP to take up this increasing political space in the future.
What do you guys think? Without allies in states like AP, WB, TN and Kerala, take the 10-15% vote nationalist vote bank they have and expand it by reminding voters that they are not the B-team of Jaya, MK, CBN, KCR or Didi!
arjun – He is right…even without me getting into detail again, it is nearly impossible for the BJP to not end up as the largest party…even if it draws a big, fat ZERO across AP, TN, WB, Kerala, even Orissa! Its simply a logic thing…it can’t draw a blank in Jharkhand again…BJP-JD(U) are inevitably going to perform better than they did in 2004…Congress can not hold onto 6/7 seats in Delhi, or 9/10 Haryana, 10/14 in Assam, or even 12/26 in Gujarat, or even its Karnataka tally. The MSM is ignoring it, but just read local news in Karnataka, such as Star of Mysore…the Karnataka Congress is going up in flames as we speak…I think the by-election results have raised a serious alarm…
OT – I don’t know why TOi is creating a fuss about this.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/BJP-activists-attack-Christian-Chaplin-statue/articleshow/4265487.cms
The TOI is pushing a particular view point. There’s a news item in the Indian Express that the father whose church was attacked does not blame the BJP for it, yet you see no coverage of it in TOI.
http_satyameva-jayate_org/2009/03/14/not-on-google/
I would have loved if the IT vision document had something like an open govenrment.
Overall it was a good start
arjun, Janpar
Same with Andhra, don’t expect congress to win too many from here this time. I feel GVLN’s prediction is going to come true. Some time ago I was on a visit to Andhra and found out that there will be lot of cross voting even from congress to BJP. In assembly polls those who are likely to vote for Congress, TDP or PRP they are likely to vote for BJP in Lok sabha. All that is neeeded is good candidates and I am satisfied with candidates put up by BJP in Andhra.
So, if lady luck favours then BJP can even win between 5-10 seats as against 0, 1 or 2 that everybody is giving. On the other hand dissidence has already become a headache for Congress in Andhra. Congress decided to field non-locals in 3-4 constituencies due to lack of popular and clean candidates, and the local congress workers are up in arms already threatening to field rebel candidates. I expect the wind to shift in BJP’s direction in the coming month in Andhra too. Yesterday, TDP’s Naidu said he appreciates the BJP’s IT vision as it will be very helpful for youth so I am wondering he may join back at least post-poll. He must be realizing already as the talk is that the common middle class voter’s heart beat is for BJP this time at the center. The biggest factor will be voter percentage. If voter percentage is high BJP’s winning chances are also very high.
TOI is traitorous psec media, don’t worry too much about it. Why would you have a 60 ft statue of Chaplin in front of a temple, Christian or otherwise? Much as I admire Charlie Chaplin I think this is a brazen attempt by some missionary to intimidate Hindus ( they can’t put up a statue of Jesus, so these indirect means ).
That TOI report is biased and mischievous!
Is there just no way that such things can be confronted? Are we supposed to just grumble about such things on “right of center” blogs and nothing else?
Such things really get my blood boiling……aaaarrrghhhhh!!!
Change through information technology (IT) is the new mantra of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to woo young voters, after its `Shining India’ campaign failed five years ago. If implemented, the party’s IT Vision would mean an estimated investment of Rs 200,000 crore over a period of five years, though there’s no official comment on the project cost.
On Saturday, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate LK Advani, flanked by other leaders including Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Arun Shourie, Jaswant Singh and Arun Jaitley, launched the party’s IT Vision. Some major software companies have backed the BJP’s mega plan.
Swaraj, Prasad, Shourie and Jaitley, who were present on Saturday, have held ministerial portfolios in the ICE (IT, communications, entertainment) sector during NDA rule.
This time around, if BJP gets a shot at power, IT Ministry will be much in demand given a % of Rs.200,000 crore is at stake !
I think Charlie Chaplin is a jew.I don’t know in which direction the BJP is heading.
Janpar and Anup, Usually GVL is right and it will be great if he is right this time around as well. In a way it is good that there is no “hawa” that they will win hands down. That will make them work harder and that is what is needed to win.
This is a grand vision. Even if a third of it comes true, it will change India’s face for the better. The following are especially important:
1. Citizen Identification Number. Long overdue. Serves multiple purposes, especially in the national security arena, as Yoss pointed out. Effective against the Bangladeshi influx menace also. In the absence of a single ID for the citizen, multiple point solutions each addressing a separate application are cropping up adding to the confusion. That will also be put paid to.
2. Interest-free loans for laptops. On the face of it, it looks populist, but the if the government has any business subsidizing anything, it is education for those who cannot afford it. Teach them to fish.
3. Broadband in rural areas at Rs 200 month. Apart from bridging the gap between digital haves and havenots, this will serve BJP’s interest as well. Mainstream media in the West is wilting under assault from the internet. Print is dying — even the once powerful NYT is in trouble. TV is faring better, but not by a great deal. BBC too is apparently in financial trouble. In India too, affordable broadband in India will spell doom for padmsri anchors and padma bhushan editors. Moreover, this is not a pipedream as may appear. Tie up with equipment vendors and they will make it possible for you, for the long-term potential in the game. Recall what the teledensity in India was before NDA came to power in 1998 and what it is today. And we also have among the world’s cheapest tariffs. It can be done.
OT -
Same story about the statue in another paper. TOI seems to have some staff who have it in for the BJP. After reading the HT article, probably the entire TOI report should have been labeled as “Times View”.
http_www_hindustantimes_com/StoryPage/StoryPage_aspx?id=1f739699-8559-41a4-a504-7d0173b40bec
Does anyone in India care about Charlie Chaplin’s statue? Most people would not even know who Charlie Chaplin was.
if nda voted to power they should first identify and throw out illegal immigrants before issuing ID cards. next they should make our border and coastal areas impregnable.
“As the location is near a temple, the local people are against installing a Chaplin statue and instead want one of Vivekananda. We will wait for the deputy commissioner’s opinion and take suitable action based on that,” said Gopal B Hosur, deputy inspector general of police.
I think that is a perfectly valid viewpoint. Why make such a fuss about it and give it a communal colour, making it a Hindu-Christian issue? Very irresponsible stuff.
And the article itself says nowhere that there was an “attack” as the headline screams. Here are some snippets from the article:
They have blocked installation of Chaplin’s statue saying it would hurt Hindu sentiment.
[...]
The statue was being put up by Karnataka film director Hemant Hegde for the shoot of his movie `Housefull’ and was meant for a song sequence. On Friday, local BJP leader Suresh Batwadi stopped the film unit from going ahead with the project, claiming that the land on which the statue was to be erected belonged to the Someshwara temple and the crew lacked the requisite permissions.
[...]
The government is backing the protesters. Home minister V S Acharya, who is in Udupi, told TOI that locals had every right to show their concern.
All these discredit the claim in the headline that BJP activists attacked the statue.
First, nobody attacked or vandalized anything. They just opposed it, blocked it, protested against it. If that constitutes an attack or an incident of vandalism for TOI, then TOI should bring out a new English dictionary, and sell it along with every copy of its newspaper.
Second, it was not BJP activists who protested or opposed. As the DIG said, it was the local people. The BJP must have supported this protest, a perfectly legal exercise of their constitutionally guaranteed rights.
Third, nowhere is it said, in the report itself, that the BJP has claimed it is opposing the statue because Charlie is a Christian. It could be as much a cultural issue. Charlie Chaplin does not enjoy the status of, say, a Gandhi or a Ambedkar among the Indian people, especially local ones. The local people were perfectly justified in opposing the installation of a statue of almost a nonentity (as far as the local people are concerned), that too in the premises of a temple (which is a collective property for them.)
This article is an example of blatant slander, and because it makes a communal issue of what could as well be a purely cultural issue, is a perfect example of irresponsible journalism.
Guys….
The Multipurpose Identity card, is far from reality in India.
Why are we forgetting that our own ration card, the most important identity can be purchased for 10 thousand anywhere in India. Passport’s can be obtained without requisite documents.
Congress needs these skulduggery, to bring in FOREIGNERS to elect their candidates.
BJP will have to answer the corruption issue first and then they can come out with a card like.
It is a good idea, however, like the P.A.N card when invented was supposed to be one such multi purpose card, but what happened, all governments failed the idea.
IMO, lets not get over excited, BJP has to answer the corruption issue first and then it can implement grand ideas.
the whole fuss being made by TOI is actually ripped apart by Mangaloean. It has carried photos of where they were gigging for statue. Only the digging for pedestal was taking place and they have protested in initial stage itself which as Atlantean says is within their rights.
But the most important thing is it is in the beach, hardly a foot away from where the waves stop, and will definitely need CRZ permissions. Where in has this director got all permissions. If one sees the commissioner says she just accorded oral permission, but that director must have CRZ, own land etc without which the actual permission cannot be given. It is allegedly clear that the director has flouted the rules by digging up and starting work without any requisite permissions.
the most other important thing, is why should the statue of 65 feet high and most important permanent in nature be put up. and the difference in cost is 32 lakh. If it was a temporary statue at 3.5 lakh cost, why will anyone protest.
Without going into all these facts, the article has gone about the issue in wicked manner, by manipulating the facts and colouring the wrong person as rightful and those right as wrongful.
This is nothing but third rate yellow journalism
I think sickular folk in bangalore are finding it hard to digest that BJP is in power in Karnataka
UR ananthamurthy at it tis time. Claims that dalits and minorities are living in fear in the BJP govt during his lecture in a univ
www DOT starofmysore DOT com/main DOT asp?type=news&item=19958
The proposed site of the statue was some 300 yards (meters) from the local Hindu temple near the coastal town of Udupi in the southern state of Karnataka.
this from international herald tribune. We all have seen hanuman statues of 32 to 36 feet. This statue is 65 feet and being just 300 feet away will overshadow the beauty of temple and possibility of shadows of the statue on temple and they have right to protest.
Going by that irresponsible article many news reports have come up with headline, statue attacked.
So much for the emphasis on accurate reporting. Pure yellow journalism is our MSM
The comparison with SRI Hanuman is only to give an idea of how big the planned statue was going to be. And all this fuss for a dance routine.
Over-dependance on the ally at the cost of neglecting its core support base coupled with failure to lay claim on the achievements has once again almost got the party tottering for a strong foothold in the State.
The reason is not far to seek. The State leadership under the influence of power blissfully forgot their promise of “bread, freedom, and employment” and ignored the inputs from the ground workers.
Here are some facts. The incidence of poverty among the rural Scheduled Tribe continued to be over 63.6 per cent, landlessness jumped by 50 per cent leading to a rise in the population of agri-labourers to over 47 per cent with food insecurity in these households touching an all-time high of 94 per cent. Besides, as high as 11 per cent males and eight per cent females lost their jobs in the agriculture sector in the rural areas in five years. A recent World Bank report cautioned the Government to improve skills of its workforce to counter rising unemployment. But, a tangible step is awaited.
To the contrary, the Karnataka BJP Government that was quick to set up a ‘Skill Commission’ to improve the skills of the youth for facilitating creation of 10 lakh jobs.
Besides, for all the tribal development programmes of the alliance Government like the ‘Mo Jami Mo Diha’, Biju KBK Yojana, etc, the BJD took all the credit while BJP played second fiddle. The fallout has been obvious.
Article in express rips apart orissa bjp leaders while complementing karnataka bjp
www dot expressbuzz dot com/edition/story dot aspx?Title=BJP+neglected+its+core+support+base&artid=Q1hIE8lq5og=&SectionID=e7uPP4|pSiw=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=nUFeEOBkuKw=&SEO=Balangir,+Deogarh,+Keonjhar,+Mayurbhanj,+Sambalpur
The protest against Chaplin statue was purely by local initially and then supported by BJP. What they did in Guj of demonizing the people for voting BJP might well be the case in Karnataka too. What’s infuriating more is the comments from the NRIs in TOI ready to buy the MSM twists and turns.
If this man, grandson of NTR, having his nam and some resemblances in feature, who has started campaigning for TDP cont. his attack, Congress may be in trouble.
He has hit congress where it will pain. Just sample these. The dailies Eenadu and Andhra jyothy have in the last few months come up with scandal after scandal of land grab by congress.
Now this guy gives a new twist by claiming that YSR padayatra in 2004 was not to understand their conditions and work for them but to survey their lands in order to usurp them.
He has also attacked the congress at the point whoch led to their wipe of in 1982 when NTR launched party. The illtreatment meted to telugus. He has attacked that Congress always insults the telugus and by treating a great leader like Narasimha rao shabbily and always licking feet of it delhi bosses has insulted the telugus.
As per reports on TV, he has hit a chord with people, and if it is true, Congress is in trouble. It will be fighting to retain 15 seats.
I see the BJP ITvision socument on television.first time when BJP comes 2 power in 1998 they do the pokhran-2, next in 1999,they made india a powerfull nation ,by extending its highways and IT SECTOR, BUT DURING THE LAST 5 YEARS OF UPA I EVEN DID NOT SEE A MAJOR THING WHICH GOVT IS DOING EXCEPT CASH SCAM SCANDLE AND BUYING THE MP FOR SAVE THE GOVT ,NAD NOW IT IS THE TIME FOR NATION 2 STAND UNITED AND VOTE FOR THE BJP ,SO THE PEOPLE VISION WHICH BJP SEE WILL BE FULL FILED .IF BJP IT VISION IS SUCESSFUL ,THEN INDIAN WILLBECOME A SUPER POWER IN FWE YEARS
I HOPE PEOPLE OF INDIA WANTED 2 SEE THEIR COUNTRY GROW .SO VOT BJP MEANS VOT FOR INDIA
Microsoft, top telcos may be hit if BJP comes to power
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4266133.cms
The IT vision document is very impressive and encouraging. I would like this to be implemented,but will the bureaucrat let this happen?The bioggest road block in our system is the bureaucrat….only the file moves,they don’t.It finally depends on the minister concerned.Had been for Modi,he would know how to get this going.My best wishes to BJP
Golden quadlaeral project was also impressive AND it was implemented very well by BJP.
cONGRESS had termed that project as “Mungeri lal ke haseen sapne”
so be sure of its implementation by bjp
“bureaucrat” is an excuse by congress to hid their incompetance.
It seems the efforts of people like Mr. Praveen Dalal are finally appreciated and have been endorsed by one of the biggest national political party. The BJP has endorsed many of his suggestions including those pertaining to establishment of an independent body, Digital Security Agency (DSA), to be set up for cyber warfare, cyber counter-terrorism, and cyber security of national digital assets. It may also be a coincidence that we have also suggested for a national ICT policy for effective e-governance in India yesterday only. We expect similar endorsement by other national parties like Congress so that India may have a safe and secure cyberspace.
Does anybody remember about a big idol of Lord Hanuman (as far as I remember) near the sea front of Kanyakumari and the Christians etc., objected to it ? If I remember correctly, the authorities did not allow the installation of the idol due to the objection of local christians. The MSM at that time also went against the hindus and the installation of the idol (i deliberately use the word idol and not statue). But here when some one else is erecting a statue of Charlie Chaplin near a temple and the hindus take objection, here too the MSM and others go against hindus ? I don’t understand why all are against hindus ? Are hindus equal citizens of this country enjoying equal rights ?
Forget only security, unique national identitification numbers (NIN) will boost economy. This aspect should be mentioned.
Also it will transfer 2 crore jobs from 2 crore Bangladeshis to 2 crore poor Indian citizens.
KSV I had wanted to quote it but did not. Lets take a statue itself.
Thunchathu Ezhuthachan is the father of malayalam. He gave the 51 character alphabet system He also gave the malayalam version of Ramayan that is read in most households of Kerala.
He was also the person who gave the great mathematician Melpathur, the starting words for his Sriman Narayaneeyam, that now is Keralas greatest contribution
Parents flock to do their children Akasharambam to his house( its one of the two places in kerala where people flock to).
Leave religious aspect, as a cultural icon, people wanted his statue in his birthplace Tirur.
But unfortunately it falls now under the purposefully creted Muslim majority district of Mallapuram. Muslim league controls the municipal council.
So when people wanted to install a statue, these islamists raised a hue and cry that idol worship is against tenets of islam and govt decided not to.
Where were these yellow journalist then and why not made a campaign then to get it installed. This is just for after all a film shoot
Even SC and Madras high court did not enforce its rule in Sivaji statue case in Marina as he was the cultural pride of the tamil.
On the hanuman idol issue, last september i am posting what TOI did
Caught in a communal row, a massive 24-foot Hanuman statue installed at Sunset Point in Kanyakumari has triggered tension between Hindu
groups and fishermen in the town, a predominantly Christian pocket.
On Sunday, an attempt by district authorities to remove the statue invited stiff opposition as members of Hindu groups, including local BJP, Hindu Munani and Shiv Sena, formed a human cordon around it. Several policemen have been posted in the area to prevent violence.
Kanyakumari district collector Jyothi Nirmala told TOI, “The trust which installed the statue had only obtained the permission of the panchayat and this was insufficient. The trust should have actually obtained the permission of the government through the district administration.”
timesofindia dot indiatimes dot com/Hanuman_statue_triggers_row_in_Kanyakumari/rssarticleshow/3538213.cms
1 dot bp dot blogspot dot com /_6Qi_czKLaFY/SOCNm6WTohI/AAAAAAAAAl8/1iqk7c0CNXw/s320/Hanuman dot jpg.
This is pic of the idol.
see this latest news in IE – i think if this is the way Shiv Sena blackmails then they should part ways
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/clarify-stand-on-marathi-pm-sena-to-bjp/434760/
The Hindu is saying that Arun Jaitley is going to resign soon and he has had enough of Rajnath singh and his tactics. Karan Thapar asked on his programme today to Ravi Shankar prasad who declined to reply. Can anyone find out if the news is true or not?
KSV ,
Isn’t the reason pretty clear. The secular christians are opposing the communal Hanuman.
timesofindia (dot) indiatimes (dot) com/Hanuman_statue_triggers_row_in_Kanyakumari/rssarticleshow/3538213 (dot) cms
Same times of India publishing the article but this time without TIMES VIEW. How convenient?
And importantly the very next day it was removed and toi gave it a miss.
Yoss, as you rightly pointed out, the free mobile scheme is seen as a red-herring by many. See, nowadays the media houses would only point out the blots and they care a damn for many-many good things that this IT vision document has. Free mobile scheme is construed as a way to attract voters and they are least interested in the bigger picture.
NR@46: As far as I know the authorities did not allow the idol to be installed due to the stiff opposition from Christian community. No MSM nor the so called secularists made any hue and cry, for it was against hindus and hinduism/hindu symbols.
But here in Karnataka when hindus objected all the oracles of secularism went to a tizzy like men possessed (of secularism?). Secularism is different for different set of people belonging to different religions.
Yoss, Is there a way, we can ask the BJP manifesto committee to reconsider this free mobiles scheme?
Why are we forgetting that our own ration card, the most important identity can be purchased for 10 thousand anywhere in India. Passport’s can be obtained without requisite documents.
The difference is that not all citizens have a ration card or passport which leaves the system susceptible to corruption. This card if it is implemented as in the US will be issued to new citizens at birth and for existing citizens in a one time operation.
After the initial issuance, there can be a high bar for issuing the card to anyone except newborns.
KSV, Here is the pic of the installed hanuman idol
1 dot bp dot blogspot dot com/_6Qi_czKLaFY/SOCNm6WTohI/AAAAAAAAAl8/1iqk7c0CNXw/s320/Hanuman dot jpg
On sep 21 the idol was installed in Hanuman park. Then the Kovalam panchayath, under which it came created a new story that(wife-president, husband-vice president) the trust had approached him with plan for park and he had not objected it. they had then directly went to his wife and got her signature by cheating her for park and statue and she signed without reading the plan. He said the panchayath was withdrawing the permission. the collector ordered enquiry and on sep28 th they came to remove it. Stiff opposition was there. They were threatened with cases for communal disharmony, cheating panchayath and on 29th removed it without any opposition and sent it back to mahabalipuram.
No need to say about religion of those two from panchayath.
While this is the story after installation, I do not know if there were protests before installation.
KSV, thats why I had also cited example of Sri Ezhuthachan.
(For those who dont know, in malayalam- Ezhuthachan means father of writing.)
This is with regards to statue.
lets see train route to hindu pilgrim cities.
I am quoting news paper reports.
First one Guruvayur-Tanur line. This project has been on and on
Exemption of Malappuram district from the alignment of the Guruvayur Thanur-line were Kerala’s demand that Lalu Prashad chose not to include in his interim budget.
Then lets take Sabari line from Angamally to Azhutha which is now proposed to be Angamaly-erumeli-punalur to ensure that Erumeli-Azhutha forest zone avoided and by extension to existing Tirunelveli-Kollam line at Punalur gives alternate line to Kollam and Tamil Nadu and ensure year round traffic.
This place Malayatoor is way off alignment. And is some where away from Angamaly on trichur ernakulam route.
“It looks as if only one section of society is benefited by the project. One cannot ignore the importance of Malayatoor,” complained Varghese Njaliath, the vicar of the Church. “What is distressing is that the majority of people dislocated by this project are Christians,” said Dr Paul Thelekkat, official spokesman of the Church in Kerala
This above from DC report
And wait to see the thamasha when the plan of extending the line to Punalur as demanded by govt and all public is on as it will have to go through Pala which is dominated by, I need not tell.
sorry for digressing a bit.
NR and others: You must have read the Times View. Why they are applying different set of rules for Christians and Hindus ? There is a limit to partisanship. But this is the height of it. Are we hindus some kind of third class citizens ?
KSV:
You are asking a question that is known to all of us for some years. We are third class citizens in their view.
But when majority of us dont understand what they are upto and want to reach conclusions even before analyzing the report, what to do.
That one of the INI bloggers fell trap to that article is a testimony to that.
Many in India view that news agency as ultimate which is the reason for them daring to propagate their agenda from such a height.
Regarding the Chaplin statue, the local Hindus must get involved. Votes are the only thing the secularwallahs care about. Make them lose votes, they will retreat.
[...] Mint has described the BJP’s I.T. Vision as “outlandish”, saying it was full of glamorous I.T. [...]
Looks like the kumbakarn in Ram puniyani wakes up only when anything Hindu is concerned.
Hindu extremists wreck plans for statue of “Christian” Charlie Chaplin
www dot timesonline dot co dot uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5912873 dot ece
Some one must start an agitation against times of india and show the dakshin kannada and udipi district people how they have been made into an extremist internationally for only voicing their opinion which constitution grants them
Great vision document. Should have been headline in all newspapers- but what else to expect from compulsive BJP-haters. They are now busy pitting Rajnath Vs Jaitley.
However smart, suave Jaitleyji is, he should NOT have skipped the meeting. Time has come to be extra careful as media has no other work but to spin their own set of lies.
I have a question for fundoos here: IE writes: “Jaitley, on the other hand, was the first to appreciate the power of television, and was thus a pioneer in using the visual medium to connect with the party’s constituency of the middle class. His columnist-friend, meanwhile, provided the party the cutting edge in his newspaper articles. ”
Who is this media columnist? Swapan Dasgupta, or GVL Narshima Rao? Just curious.
It is clear that Rajnath is a low level kind of operative who needs to be removed from the post before he does more damage to the BJP.
Clearly, it is not like he has a lot to offer. And he is busy undercutting people like Modi and Jaitley.
On top of that he is dreaming of a second term. For that he has to put his people in the right places.
RSS should show this guy his place and clip his powers.
Modiji’s brilliant answer to Pawar as PM.
Cong has shut doors on Marati manoos as PM: Modi
PUNE: Gujarat chief minister and BJP’s star campaigner Narendra Modi said here on Sunday that NCP chief Sharad Pawar has failed to anticipate the
Congress gameplan of shutting the doors on a Maharashtrian forever for the post of Prime Minister by ensuring a Maharashtrian as the President of India.
Modi was addressing a mammoth Yuwa Sankalp’ rally organised by BJP’s youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuwa Morcha (BJYM), to mark the launch of the party’s campaign in western Maharashtra for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The state BJP’s entire top brass besides key national leaders were present during the event.
Modi said, “Pawar has walked into the Congress trap by becoming a party to the move of having a Maharashtrian as the President. In doing so, Pawar has destroyed the dream of all Maharashtrians of having a Marathi person as PM.”
According to Modi, had Pawar been so keen on having a Marathi person as PM, the Maratha strongman would have played his cards well during the President’s poll. “However, Pawar failed to realise the Congress gameplan,” he said.
“All these days when I would look at Maharashtra politics as an outsider, I was under the impression that Pawar has the political sagacity to anticipate such checkmate moves, but he couldn’t realise the game,” Modi said. “Pawar would do well even if he manages to appoint a captain of the BCCI’s cricket team,” he added with a touch of sarcasm.
The Gujarat CM’s reference to the issue comes in the backdrop of Pawar’s prime ministerial ambitions and the latter’s oft-repeated remark that a Maharashtrian should become the PM and also in context with Pawar’s move to cosy up with the Hindutva outfits like the Shiv Sena, which is supportive of the idea.
Modi’s 45-minute speech was high on emotions and rhetoric as he slammed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre as well as the Democratic Government in the state for “miserably failing” to meet the people’s aspirations.
Modi singled out development and security as the key issues of his campaign talk. “The country needs security as well as development,” he said, adding, “the politics of vote bank, played out by the Congress and its allies, was leading the country nowhere.” There was no alternative to the politics of development to ensure security and development, he added.
Modi criticised the UPA government for failing to effectively tackle terrorism as well as Naxalism and went on to describe the government as spineless. He also focused on other issues like price rise, economic policies, corruption and scams (Satyam fraud), mismanagement of funds and failure to tackle Bangladeshi infiltration issue to justify his criticism.
“The Congress will have to be accountable for all its blunders in the last five years and people want a change,” he said and exhorted the party youth to become the vehicle of this change by resolving to bring the BJP-led government at the centre and alter the country’s fate. He said, “Terrorism has to be dealt with the same language that the terrorists believe and use. For that, a strong-willed government is imperative,” he said.
Earlier, state BJP president Nitin Gadkari and national general secretary Gopinath Munde also came down heavily upon the UPA for failing to tackle issues concerning the common man, especially the youth, women and the working class. “The law and order is in a bad shape and the government is indulging in politics of appeasement of terrorists like Afzal Guru,” Gadkari said.
National president of BJYM Amit Thakkar, state president Dhananjay Munde, general secretary Poonam Mahajan, MP Prakash Jawadekar, BJP state general secretary Vinod Tawade and former state unit chief Bhausaheb Phundkar were present.
Thx NR for your post on Hanuman in Kanyakumari. We read it, but could not remember immediately.
Biased media, puedos are no news. Guess, now they are even more into this. There are few fundamentalists in these media houses who are pushing their agenda by these sort of fabicrated news items. Alas, they little realize it does great harm to tolerance at the ground level for a long term.
Thx Arjun for giving Modiji’s remark- as usual, its its smart comment.
I HAVE A REQUEST TO ALL HERE : Please stop name calling of BJP leaders. Mr. X is bad, Mr. Y is good. All need to work unitedly for an effective campaign.
@arjun…
I saw it on a Marathi channel. However, I think this was a much watered down version of the usual NaMo speeches.
The attack on Sharad Pawar is superb, no body I repeat no body has ever attacked Sharad Pawar as NaMo has done now twice in a row.
Apart from it, is the normal thing. Also, his speeches are now for 45 mins, which is much lesser then original 90 mins. Maybe to many commitments.
However, with SS playing truant again, I think we are in for some last minute adjustments in MAH. Again the pressure will be on NaMo, Gadkari and Vinod Tawade to deliver.
Lets see how this pans out.
Jiggs,
Are you saying that SS will pull out of the alliance or just keep making noise about Marathi PM.
The demand for Maharashtrian PM has been fully punctured by Narendra Modi when he said: Cong trapped Pawar by sending a Maharashtrian as the President.
Narendra bhai “garaj” raha hai
Vatican ka “singhasan” dol raha hai
arjun…
If this clamor for a Marathi PM candidate continues, then yes, SS will be compelled by BJP to clarify on this issue.
BJP has learnt from its mistakes in the past and is no mood this time around.
In any case BJP or the SS can act only till the nominations are filed with EC.
Lets wait till then.
Prashant/ Tathaghata….
Good you are online.
How many seats will BJP get in Bengal?
Is 3 seats a fair number?
by openly declaring himself as “marathi pm”……pawar has closed his chances…..
with 48 mharashtra seat how can he or SS can make Marathi PM????
JIGG,
very unpredictable at this stage….
but one thing is sure this time Bengal will be a close contest with Mamata really making inroad in left rural bastion.
we may curse mamata for singur BUT rural folks are supporting Mamata.
fortunately in my constituency DUMDUM we have strong BJP candidate and my target is to get this seat to bjp.
Prashant…
I was told that South Kolkatta, Dum Dum and one more in the city are where BJP would win????
Anyways, you are the local guy, you know better.
Thanks anyways.
Three in WB would be dream come true. TOI is saying that BJP could sweep Jharkhand, 10-12 seats out of 14.
@arjun
u r right
i will not be surprised if jharkhand will be clean sweep for bjp.
@Arjun,
can you provide the TOI link on jharkhand prospects?
Umesh, following is the link and the story.
timesofindiadotindiatimesdotcom/India/BJP-on-comeback-trail/articleshow/4269446.cms
BJP on comeback trail
The BJP looks set to regain its lost glory in Jharkhand by winning around 10 to 12 of the 14 parliamentary seats in the state. It could even better
its 1999 performance when it won 12 Lok Sabha seats. In the 13th Lok Sabha (in undivided Bihar), it was a saffron sweep with the BJP bagging all the 14 seats of the region (now Jharkhand).
But its fortunes changed in the last Lok Sabha election, with the United Progressive Alliance — Congress, JMM, RJD with the CPI — winning 13 seats. The NDA managed just the lone seat. This time, the UPA (minus the CPI) has announced a seat-sharing formula but infighting among the allies threatens to mar its chances.
There is also the UPA’s poor record of governance under Madhu Koda and Shibu Soren and the corruption taint against almost all state ministers, including Koda.
“We will emerge winners even if the UPA is able to maintain its unity till the polls,” declared a confident Arjun Munda, former chief minister and BJP candidate from Jamshedpur.
His party is looking to correct the reverses it faced in urban seats like Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Dhanbad by fielding strong candidates this time. Having fielded Munda from Jamshedpur, two times MLA from Dhanbad, and four-time MP Ramtahal Choudhary from Ranchi, it hopes to regain its lost stature in the state.
The other urban seat where BJP is likely to gain due to UPA’s differences with the CPI is Hazaribagh. Here, the party has fielded former union minister Yashwant Sinha. A senior CPI leader admitted that if the UPA fields a candidate from Hazaribagh, the chances of sitting MP Bhuneshwar Mehta retaining his seat will be negligible.
The UPA is also likely to face reverses in Lohardaga, Gumla and Ranchi as the tribal and Christian vote is divided. At least, three local tribal parties — the Adivasi Chhatra Sangh, Jharkhand Janadhikar Party and Jharkhand Party — can cut into the votebank of UPA.
Not that the BJP doesn’t have to set its own house in order. Infighting among its cadres and simmering resentment among local leaders and workers over distribution of party tickets has the top leadership worried. During his recent visit to the state, party chief L K Advani warned all MPs and MLAs of serious consequences if they continued with internal bickering.
The Koderma seat — where former chief minister Babulal Marandi is contesting — is likely to emerge as a major problem for the BJP which is yet to announce its candidate from here. Marandi won the seat on the BJP ticket in 2004 and later resigned to contest the seat as an independent. He then formed his own party, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha.
For UPA allies, infighting has delayed announcement of candidates, with party workers in favour of replacing some sitting MPs. In the JMM, more than six senior party leaders, including former state minister Dulal Bhuiyan, are trying hard to get the ticket for Jamshedpur, replacing sitting MP Suman Mahato. The RJD is on slippery ground too because of resentment among the cadre in Palamu where workers are opposed to sitting MP Ghuran Ram.
Apprehensions of Maoists influencing poll outcome cannot be ruled out as they have already started a campaign among the electorate. However, police feel that instead of a boycott, the Maoists will start supporting candidates of their choice as had happened in the five by-elections held in the recent past.
Good to hear the Jharkhand news. Any idea, how it is going in Delhi, Himachal and UTK. Can we sweep some or all of them. I am not seeing any news regarding these states. They are small in number though if BJP clean sweeps then it will be 7+5+4 which can compensate for any losses in Punjab and Rajasthan.
Anup,
Based on GVLNR, Delhi is proving tough but BJP will do well in Rajasthan. BJP should pick up 3 each from HP and UTK.
@8 (Amit): Both open standards and open source are the right way to go.
Viruses and insecurities inserted by vendors such as Microsoft can be avoided only through open source. PMO’s office was hit by virus for three months until open source squirrel mail came to rescue: read this in http://www.dailypioneer.com/162630/PMOs-e-mail-system-infected-by-virus-for-three-months.html
Open source is audited by developers worldwide. “Many eyes makes bugs shallow”. If the source is closed, it may contain a trojan horse or other vulnerability and you will never know until after things have happened. Open source can be audited by reading the code (which requires software expertise, of course, but it will help to develop the local industry as well).
Don’t write this off as just my silly views. Let there be a conscious debate. Having a written IT policy makes such discussion possible, and BJP must be lauded for it.
Also see, in the US: Software vendors have urged Obama to go open source.
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/20/0359203
and
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/02/software-vendors-encourage-obama-to-adopt-open-source.ars
Viruses and insecurities inserted by vendors such as Microsoft can be avoided only through open source.
Open source is audited by developers worldwide. “Many eyes makes bugs shallow”. If the source is closed, it may contain a trojan horse or other vulnerability and you will never know until after things have happened.
Uh huh. That’s a false sense of security.
http://weblog.infoworld.com/daily/archives/2008/01/outing_open_sou.html?source=rss
PMO’s office was hit by virus for three months until open source squirrel mail came to rescue
We know that the UPA has been rather careless about security don’t we? This breach is analogous to how the Pakistanis reached Mumbai inspite of prior intelligence of their intentions. If the PMO’s staff is incompetent to use the right tools like our own Indian made Quick Heal anti-virus to secure their systems, we just have to wait a little while to hear how their new installation has been compromised.
In any case, the IT Vision’s case for Open Source does not rest on security but rather on the desire to not pay royalties to foreign manufacturers. That is better done by supporting the growth of the local software companies who can one day compete with the foreign manufacturers.
Does not add up !
http://www.deeshaa.org/2009/03/16/bjps-it-for-all/
views in rediff reg the IT vision – questioning who is ging to fund this?
http://election.rediff.com/election/2009/mar/17spec-not-much-may-change-in-india-post-election.htm
Read my article exposing liberal media:
http://www.bloggingbuda.com/2009/03/13/royal-treatment-for-the-adversary/