Sonia Gandhi’s Telangana blunder

What politics giveth it taketh away

There is a sense of destiny with which the Law of Unintended Consequences operates.

There were just 7 months back staring at a triumphant Congress with a firm lock on Andhra looking at a stable and secure 5 year term.

And here we are 7 months later with a shaken up Congress with an uncertain lock on Andhra clueless on the political faultlines that will likey shape the rest of its term.

There was no way out for Sonia Gandhi on the long overdue demand for a separate state of Telangana. After having campaigned on the Telanagana plank in alliance with the TRS back in 2004 it was foolish of Sonia Gandhi to have put all her eggs in the immortality basket of YSR’s political persona.

Alas mortality is such a great political leveller for in the wake of its assertions it exposes many faultlines leading to even more political upheavals.

Sonia Gandhi had to do right by Telangana but to have done so in a knee jerk manner after being boxed into a political corner, reminds us once again of the Congress’ achilees heel.

No amount of media spin can help gloss over this monumental blunder.

Sonia Gandhi lack of natural political acumen, Manmohan Singh’s technocracy and Rahul Gandhi’s naivety have badly exposed the Congress.

That her political advisers blundered as well goes to once again highlight that political leadership cannot be an outsourced backroom function. A lesson for the BJP as well.

The many headlines say it all – Telangana in a limbo, Andhra in a mess and political chaos across the nation with latent demands for many states receiving a filip.

In the Telangana chaos lie many a political opportunity for the BJP, if only its moribund leadership could demonstrate vision. 

The political environment is ripe for a movement that advocates reorienting India’s fledgling federalism with a firm focus on administrative efficiency and governance.

The issue of smaller states and autonomy to local governance has the potential to rewrite many an existing political equations and marginalizing many an existing political power centers.

The BJP’s hopes of revival rest on breaking new ground and on stitching new social coalitions. There cannot be a better opportunity than this to take on the Congress over the next few years.

Is the BJP up to the challenge of offering a coherent vision and leading the movement on this issue of smaller states and freedom, autonomy to local government ?

Join us for a debate on the same at the next Offstumped Community Live Event on Sunday night – Telangana & Small States – What is the way forward ?

Filed under: DesiPundit, Live Events, Local Governance, Offstumped Community, Telangana

Lok Satta for GHMC polls – Offstumped Endorsement

With the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, GHMC set to go for polls, it is with great disappointment Offstumped is noting the utterly imaginative agenda the BJP has proposed.

By raking up issues that are not even remotely of any consequence to Urban Local Governance in Hyderabad and regurgitating a laundry list on entitlement programs the BJP in Hyderabad tragically has demonstrated an utter lack of understanding of what an agenda for Urban Local Governance ought to focus on.

Tragic because the same BJP in Bangalore has come up with a promising vision with the ABIDE initiative under the leadership of Anantha Kumar and Rajeev Chandrashekhar.

On this tragic note, Offstumped has decided to endorse the Lok Satta Party for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls.

It is noteworthy that the Lok Satta Party echoes some of the ABIDE thinking on making the Ward the central focus of local governance.

For those wanting to learn more on the agenda proposed by Lok Satta for the GHMC polls more can be found on their website.

More in the media on the same in this story on Ward Level Agenda and this one on spending 10% budget at the discretion of Ward level committees.

Offstumped looks forward to more debate on this proposed agenda for the GHMC polls in the days to come.

Some Twitter accounts tracking Lok Satta

@LokSattaSupporter

@MarutiRaghuveer

 

Filed under: ABIDE Bangalore, DesiPundit, India Elections 2009, Local Governance, Shveta Chhatra

Mahrashtra Elections 2009 – A response to Rahul Gandhi

SEE NEW UPDATES BELOW

Rahul Gandhi campaigning in Raigadh for the Maharashtra Assembly elections on behalf of Congress-NCP combine had this to say:

“Two Indias exist today. One is the ‘Shining India’ and the other is the ‘Backward India’. There is a need to connect the two Indias,”

Below is a response from Offstumped in response to Rahul Gandhi in the form a speech that we dont expect any BJP leader to ever give.

Friends

It has become fashionable these days for leaders of the Manmohan Singh Sonia Gandhi lead Congress to be in awe of all things American. This affliction has become particularly acute since the ascent of the messiah to the American Presidency. Now the pandemic has infected Rahul Gandhi as well.

Let me explain this with a little story from American politics.

Most of you may not have heard of John Edwards, I dont blame you for it. John Edwards was one of the many challengers to Barack Obama for his party’s nomination for Presidency and he shot to fame with his rhetoric of “Two Americas”.

When one hears Rahul Gandhi plagiarise this formulation to talk of “Two Indias” one cannot but help but wonder if its similar to the “Two Americas” that finally sank John Edward’s political career – one legitimate and the other mired in clandestine affairs and illegitimate progeny.

Be that as it may, Rahul Gandhi’s rhetoric of “Two Indias” needs a coherent and incisive political response.

Let me take this opportunity to remind Rahul Gandhi of what this nation had to suffer the last time we heard such rhetoric of “Two Indias” – one Muslim and the other Hindu. 

No Rahul, this nation shall not countenance this divisive rhetoric that pits Indian against Indian. Your family excelled quite well at this rhetoric to script India’s partition, 6 decades ago, we will not let you do the same a second time.

Make no mistake my countrymen, this rhetoric of “Two Indias” is exactly same the rhetoric of those who thrive outside the ambit of law and go by the name Maoists. By lending credibility to this divisive theme of “Two Indias” Rahul Gandhi is rationalizing their anti-India activities.

Be that as it may, Rahul Gandhi’s political naivety is of little consequence to your everyday life and the core issues of this election. However the flawed policies of his Party’s Government in Maharashtra and in New Delhi have been of grave consequence to your everyday life.

Yes Rahul Gandhi is right there are two distinct political ideologies here. On the one hand there is the ideology of the “aam admi” that thinks very little of you or your abilities.

This ideology thinks so poorly of you that it would like you to remain poor if you are already poor and create incentives for you to declare yourself as poor if you are not already poor.

This ideology thinks so little of you that it sees your abilities as being only “banal’ and “common”, nothing special/

This ideology thinks you are so ignorant and naive that it has the arrogance to conclude that all wisdom lies in Delhi rather than in Raigadh so it can make choices for you sitting in Delhi.

This ideology is so ignorant of how different every one of you is that it is stupid to believe that a one size fit all solution designed in Delhi will work for all of your problems.

One such one-size-fit-all solution is this 5 letter word called NREGA that Rahul Gandhi never loses an opportunity to throw at you. But then Rahul Gandhi forgets to tell you what every one of you told the government during the 2002 BPL Census.

Rahul Gandhi who never forgets to tout NREGA as a panacea to all the rural poor’s problems has no clue that a majority of Rural Poor when asked what kind of assistance they would like from the Government had screamed in one voice that

they would like “Self Employment” over “Government provided wages”

they would like “Skill development” over “Subsidized food via PDS”

It is in that earthy rural wisdom that is inherent in every one of you is the second ideology that is exactly opposed to what Rahul Gandhi is preaching to you.

This ideology was not scripted in New Delhi by armchair intellectuals.

This ideology does not need 5 letter words to be understood and appreciated.

This ideology does not need the benevolence of Sonia Gandhi’s family to deliver benefits to you.

This ideology does not need you to depend on Government and Bureaucrats to make a difference to your everyday life.

This ideology my friends is what comes naturally to every one of you.

It is what makes every one of you unique and special.

It is the wisdom that was passed on to you by your parents and their parents before them.

It is the wisdom to be self reliant and self sufficient.

This ideology my friends is of freedom so you can become masters of your own destiny. This ideology my friends is that innately native spirit of India that saw each village and town, each trade and craft be masters of their own destiny with the autonomy and economic independence they desire. This ideology is the Dharma of how we used to do things when there was no sultanate in Delhi dictating how you should conduct your life.

I would be guilty of high sounding rhetoric and no substance at all my friends if I fail to explain to you how this ideology will make a difference to every one of you to meet your unique needs, understanding your special capabilities.

But before I do that I would urge every one of you to reject this divisive rhetoric that treats you as common and banal and to spread this infection called optimism that the answer to your problems lies in your hands through self reliance and enterprise.

If elected my party will ………………………………

Postscript: NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain rips apart Rahul Gandhi’s claims on Congress-NCP governance in Maharashtra

Perhaps the most emblematic example of squandered greatness is Maharashtra’s employment guarantee scheme, conceived in the famine years of the early seventies and subsequently the template for the UPA’s national flagship. The EGS was, quite apart from its intent, a remarkable attempt to bridge wealthy, highly urbanised Maharashtra and its impoverished rural interior : the funds for the scheme were raised through professional tax.

About 3 decades on, Maharashtra’s EGS has come to represent much of the failed promise of one of India’s most progressive states: corruption, unspent funds, unpaid labour, incomplete works. Almost every CAG report is a familiar indictment: a  2006 report finds that ‘registration of labour is incomplete’, ’scheme has not met targets’, ‘of the 10,000 crores collected for the scheme, only 4677 crores have been spent’ and so on. In 2005 , a whistle-blowing collector in Solapur who unearthed massive rigging in the local EGS rolls faced an escalating level of official aggression that culminated in the chief minister’s office.

Filed under: Assembly Polls 2009, DesiPundit, Local Governance, Maharashtra Polls 2009, Offstumped, Offstumped Community, Offstumped Community Posts, Shveta Chhatra, UPA-II Critical Appraisal

ABIDe Bengaluru – Reforming Local Governance

OFFSTUMPED is taking a break from its self imposed hiatus from the blogosphere to highlight a significant initiative for the Center Right movement to differentiate itself from the psuedo-progressive Left of Center agenda of the Congress.

The ABIDe initiative in Bangalore under the leadership of long time South Bangalore MP and former Minister Anantha Kumar and entrepreneur and fellow twitterer Rajeev Chandrashekhar must be supported, highlighted and enhanced by all those sympathetic to the Center Right cause.

The psuedo-progressive approach of the Congress Party to force down from Delhi one-size-fit all solutions from education to development offers the BJP its best opportunity to differentiate itself as a Center Right party.

The joint initiative by Anantha Kumar and Rajeev Chandrashekhar is daunting as this report from the first public consultation reveals, but it cannot be allowed to fail.

It is surprising that for a City that is home to perhaps the highest concentration of Technology savy residents, there has been barely any discussion on ABIDe’s agenda on its website.

Offstumped urges its readers, community members and twitter followers many of who are from Bangalore ,  to take this debate further on with greater engagement.

• ABIDE Task Force Agenda
• Plan Bengaluru 2020
• Secure Bengalauru
• Govern Bengaluru
• Urban Poor
• Roads, Traffic Management, Transportation
• Namma Bengaluru Action Plan
• ABIDE Heritage Plan

The new Big Tent will not be a reality till the vision of Shveta Chhatra in heralding Freedom to Local Communities in governance is pursued with a missionary zeal.

By differentiating itself on Urban Local Governance the BJP could script its come back with the cosmopolitan Urban  voter who has been disenchanted with it over the last two elections.  Bangalore rightly reposed its faith in the BJP  and the BJP would do well to follow through with this initiative till it transforms everyday urban life in Bangalore to become a showcase for Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities, towns.

Offstumped wishes Mr. Anantha Kumar and Mr. Rajeev Chandrashekhar all the very best on what will likely be a herculean task.

NOTE: Twitter compilations and guest posts from Offstumped Community will continue to appear as Offstumped continues with its break from active blogging.

More from Offstumped archives on Local Governance.

Nithari

Burra Bazaar

The Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project

Delhi BRT mess

Vadodara CDP

Mumbai BMC

Filed under: ABIDE Bangalore, DesiPundit, Local Governance, Offstumped, Shveta Chhatra, Uncategorized