Puerile Politics

Lal Kishenchand Advani - Born in Karachi, primarily a Law Graduate turned a journalist. Made it to the headlines for the first time in 1947 when he was given the position of the General Secretary, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Evolved from member to President of Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1950 to 1970. Stepped into the Parliament for the first time in 1970. Then, there was no looking back! For the last 35 years, he has adorned several titles and occupied many positions ranging from a party President to Deputy PM. Written a couple of books too!

Makes for a genius, doesn't he? Sorrowfully, he is nowhere near it. Not stooping to the levels of revealing the traumas of the truth, let me just state that he has been the apple of the eyes of the frontpage editors for the past week.

When he embarked on his trip to Pakistan, probably he decided to be a paragon and went on a spree of quotes that made Pakistanis love him and the saffron brigade back home loathe him! He first said, "Dec 6, 1992 was the saddest day of my life!" and pat came the reply from one Mr. Togadia, "Shut Up!"(ofcourse the statements are not replecated verbatim). Probably the fear of Pakistani terrorists turning paranoid or the hell breaking loose, he went on to write in the guest book at a museum that "Jinnah is Secular!" (not that I don't agree. What I am trying to stress is that he doesn't really agree that). This unveiled the curtains for the Saffron Sonata!

From dharnas and rasta rokos nation wide to demands from the RSS chief himself asking LKA to resign! Voila, that must have been a pulsating ride!

Pondering upon the thinking and motivation that went into it, I probably think Advani made these statements because he was feeling insecure in Pakistan or probably he took the proverb 'Be a Roman in ROme' pretty damn seriously! He somehow made the statements and stood by them, all while in Pakistan. Politics!

Then, VHP Chief Ashok Singhal comments that Advani-Vajpayee era is over! An old man who can't even stand properly on his own feet comments on two persons who helped the country stand on its feet, properly or improperly, and no one has the guts to shut him up! Are we living in Hindu-chauvinistic state or Hindustan? Who gives these saffron sadhus the right to shout at people so respectable? Is it our chauvinistic love for Hinduism! No. Politics!

A seer is arrested in some town down south on charges of murder and the nation erupts. Did people really feel bad at that? No. It was only political parties that made all the noise. I pity all those people, especially the big shots and politicians, who once went to that seer and bowed to him! Ofcourse there have been considerable efforts from many politicians to put the seer where he was when he was arrested! Politics!

Today, when India and Pak are at least trying to attempt peace, the Advani row that enraged some section of politicians and their accomplices looks all set to eat the half baked cake thats still being made. Musharraf was beginning to lose sheen in Pakistan and Advani stormed up the name of Jinnah. Probably, he wanted to play safe! This could lead to wide spread resentment in Pakistan. After all will Indians keep quiet if someone accuses Gandhi?

Suppose, god forbid not, the Delhi-Lahore bus is attacked by an angry Pakistani mob and people killed, the reason being VHP and RSS criticizing Advani for complementing Jinnah, will the saffron brigade or the grand old man whose era is set to start as he thinks come forward and take the blame? Just to satiate their political hunger and just to feel sanguine of their fortune the next election, some people talk, rather bark and itz a nation that has to suffer!

It's not them but politics that is to be blamed, puerile politics!

My Icon

An election is won by a co-alition. The party that held the highest stake wanted to give the highest seat to it's own prima donna, its President. But, due to some nationwide protests because her being a foreign national, the party chose a laconic in political sense, an austere aging intellectual to the highest title of the Election. Just because he got the seat which a woman threw away and just because he does not indulge in unnecessary political banter, people tend to term him "the weakest prime minister" ever and when I saw this phase being attributed to my icon Mr. Manmohan Singh in a blog of my friend, I felt a sense of pity for all those who consider him that.

As do many Indians of my age, I don't like many politicians around, but two exceptional and outstanding figures whom I like and adore are Mr. Manmohan Singh, Honorable Prime Minister of India and Mr. P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister, Union Cabinet, India. Mr. Manmohan Singh may be silent, may not have command over the Left, yet the work he has been able to extract out of ministry is awesome on comparison with the previous cabinets we have had. Ofcourse, I am not talking of JawaharLal Nehru and times when I say cabinet. I only intend to speak of say around 5 cabinets before this.

The first funny thing about terming Mr. MMS "the weakest PM" is the short memory we Indians have. Otherwise how can that title be snatched away from one Mr. Gowda who slept away to glory while India was rustling in chaos.I don't say Mr. MMS has shown us the elixir of prosperous India, but with intelligent team setting analogous to a formidable team in sports, he has proved that he is a man of less words and more actions. We want more people like him.In his one year at the helm of the Indian nation, he might not have worked wonders, but he has done more good than bad.

Any other PM with Left in his coalition would have told and compelled his FM to go for a Communist budget so as to keep the four legs of his chair intact. But, the PM showing his first act of prudence in selecting the FM, chose Mr. Chidambaram and encouraged him to come up with a moderaltely reformist budget, where the government took enough care to pierce a hole into pockets of people who spend in 5 figures and some big time corporates that enjoy unnecessary benefits among others.

Later, after the budget session came the news of selling portions of PSUs including ONGC and BHEL. The increasinf FDIs in telecom and Insurance were already there and now comes the news of FDIs in Retail too, which means we could soon see some success stories like Walmart in our own countryland.When in an argument people tend to leave aside the economic reforms, because he himself is the father of Indian Economic Reforms, aptly termed so because of his reformist Budget under the P.V.Narsimha Rao regime in the early 90s. But, he has done much more than economics to the country.

From peaceful relations to prosperous planning, he has done it all. And none of them is a shot in the wild because the positions he held speak for him. He held some highly esteemed positions like President, RBI, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commision, Advisor to the PM etc... in his long career.The way he selected his cabinet shows his prudence and eye for detail. His apt selection of Mr. Arjun Singh for HRD ministry is one of the reasons IIMs are at freewill today. The Indian Entertainment Industry has time and again expressed its happiness over Mr. Jaipal Reddy, I&B Minister. Then the young and powerful guns like Mani Shankar Aiyer, Petroleum, Dayanidhi Maran, Miniter of Communications and Information Technology are worth a mention.

Mr. Maran especially has been instrumental in some constructive reforms in Telecom sector and the points of highest priority in his agenda today are Calls all over India at local rates and To sell or not to sell 3G Spectrum. Not to forget this is the cabinet that passed the 'Right to Information' bill which means every Indian is now entitled to know all the information of government working and structure. This is the PM who suggested a report card system to beaureaucrats to hold them answerable to the public.

On the flipside people may comment inclusion of Lalu Prasad Yadav in the cabinet. But thats the price you need to pay for being prudent.

All in all, Mr. Manmohan Singh is a role model and is "one of the strongest Prime Ministers" we have ever had.