Inclusive growth tops UPA's agenda once again

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government is committed to maintaining high economic growth with low inflation particularly in relation to prices of essential agricultural and industrial commodities, President Pratibha Patil told a joint session of parliament on June 4. The Government will ensure that the growth process is not only accelerated but also made socially and regionally more inclusive and equitable, Patil said in her customary address.

The current financial year is expected to see a slowdown of growth on account of the global recession, but a range of measures taken by the Government in the past few months of its last term have begun to show results, Patil said. The immediate priority is to focus on management of the economy that will counter the effect of the global slowdown by a combination of sectoral and macro-level policies, the President said. The Government will focus attention on sectors that are adversely affected, especially Small and Medium Enterprises, Exports, Textiles, Commercial Vehicles, Infrastructure and Housing, according to the President. This will be accompanied by measures to achieve a countercyclical expansion in public investment in infrastructure sectors, including public-private partnerships, she said.

Infrastructure development will be a key focus area for the next five years, the President said, adding that public investment in infrastructure is of paramount importance. The Government will develop a roadmap for listing and people-ownership of public sector undertakings while ensuring that the Centre equity does not fall below 51%. The UPA will also steadfastly observe fiscal responsibility so that the ability of the Centre to invest in essential social and economic infrastructure is continuously enhanced.

The roadmap for moving towards a Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be vigorously pursued. The Government is fully seized of the issue of illegal money of Indian citizens outside the country in secret bank accounts. It will vigorously pursue all necessary steps in coordination with the countries concerned, the President said.

The Government intends to add at least 13,000 MW of new power generating capacity each year through a mix of coal, hydel, nuclear and renewable resources. The pace of oil and gas exploration will be intensified and India’s oil diplomacy will be aggressively pursued, Patil said. Reforms in the coal sector, for which a detailed blueprint has been prepared, will be pursued with urgency, she added. The international civil nuclear agreements will be operationalised with various countries even as domestic sources of uranium are exploited and work continues on the indigenously designed fast breeder and thorium reactors.

Manmohan Singh creates history

Dr. Manmohan Singh created history by becoming only the second Prime Minister of India to be sworn in for a second successive five-year term after completing the first one. In doing so, he emulated none other than Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India's first ever Prime Minister. Nehru led the Congress to victory in the 1951, 1957 and 1962 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress veteran Pranab Mukherjee may be named the new Finance Minister, a post he held in the 1980s. Kapil Sibal has been tipped by some media reports to be External Affairs Minister, while P. Chidambaram will likely retain the Home portfolio. The Congress party, which heads the UPA coalition with 206 Lok Sabha seats, will also retain some of the other key ministerial portfolios. Only 15-20 ministers were sworn-in along with Dr. Singh. All the ministers will hold a cabinet rank, although, their portfolios were not announced.

Dr. Singh took oath of office as the country's prime minister along with 19 cabinet members, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement. Rahul Gandhi was not inducted in the new Union Cabinet. Those who took the oath as cabinet ministers included Mukherjee and Chidambaram. The remaining cabinet members were Sharad Pawar, A.K. Antony, Mamata Banerjee, S.M. Krishna, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sushil Kumar Shinde, M. Veerappa Moily, S. Jaipal Reddy, Kamal Nath, Vayalar Ravi, Meira Kumar, Murli Deora, Kapil Sibal, Ambika Soni, B.K. Handique, Anand Sharma and C.P. Joshi.

"This will be followed in the next few days by an expansion of the council of ministers, including other cabinet ministers, ministers of state with independent charge as well other ministers of state," the PMO said. "This expansion will give due representation to allied parties."

Meanwhile, the distribution of ministerial portfolios snowballed into a controversy, with the DMK refusing to accept the Congress formula and deciding to stay out of the administration. The DMK said it would offer its 18 MPs only as outside support to the coalition. DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi and his son and MP from Madurai, M Azhagiri, left for Chennai, probably in protest against Congress turning down its demands. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was likely to visit Chennai to hold talks with Karunanidhi in a bid to break the deadlock.

But, notwithstanding the acrimony over ministerial berths, all DMK MPs attended the swearing-in ceremony. The Congress party claimed the support of 274 lawmakers before the DMK exit, two more than needed for a majority in the Lok Sabha. "We have support of 322 parliamentarians and we are not worried about falling short at all," Janardhan Dwivedi, a senior Congress leader, said.

Offtopic - Disturbing exposé on Christian conversions

A new mood of aggressive evangelism has been emanating from America. Well-funded, superbly networked, backed by the highest of the land, seized of its moral supremacy, it has India as one of its key targets, reveals VK Shashikumar in a disturbing exposé

This could be the plot of a fevered thriller. A jingoistic president, multi-million dollar corporations, high technology, a grand if furtive mission, networks spanning the globe, and biblical invocations.

Read more here

India Election Strategy

India Election Strategy

India Elections

India Elections

India General Election Results

India General Election Results

Election Results Strategy

Election Results Strategy

The Home Truths for BJP

Anyway, to come back to Election 2009, let me present some blunt home truths:

* This was a positive vote for the Congress, including Sonia and Rahul.
* The contribution of Manmohan Singh to the victory was significant. In hindsight, he was the unquestioned winner of the "weak" versus "strong" debate.
* It was Manmohan's perceived decency that mattered to the electorate.
* The under-30 youth vote went overwhelmingly in favour of the Congress. The Congress reinvented itself as a party where youth matters; the BJP was seen as hidebound.
* The media helped project Congress as wholesome; the BJP was seen as ugly. Varun Gandhi may have won Pilibhit but he lost the BJP lakhs of votes nationally.
* The middle class vote deserted the BJP and gave Congress the extra cutting edge--just see the margins of victory in Delhi.
* The loan waiver and NREGA helped blunt possible anti-incumbency.
* People voted by and large on national lines. This was not an aggregate of state elections. There was a national swing in favour of the Congress.
* In UP, we are seeing the restoration of the Congress coalition which was broken in 1991. Both BJP and BSP are likely to be casualties.

What are the specific lessons for the BJP?

* The party must recognise that this was a political failure and not merely a defeat caused by management shortcomings.
* The so-called "Hindu" appeal may work in specific areas (Pilibhit, Mangalore, Azamgarh, Kandhamal, et al) but it is perceived as divisive elsewhere.
* The ugly face of Hindu extremism puts off the middle ground.
* There is no such thing as a Hindu consciousness that exists today. The nationalist middle ground has shifted to the Congress.
* The BJP leadership is seen as completely unresponsive to youth aspirations and modernity.
* There is a tendency of the BJP to preach to the committed and not reach outwards.
* In caste terms, we are witnessing a definite drift of the upper castes to the Congress.
* The OBCs are now the bedrock of the BJP but this has not been formally acknowledged.
* The RSS-isation of the BJP organisation post-2005 has created serious distortions.
* The integrity quotient of the BJP is now at par with that of the Congress. This is a problem that the moral guardians of the party have wilfully turned a blind eye to.

What should the BJP do immediately?

* Recognise the magnitude of defeat and not live in denial (as happened in 2004).
* There has to be some visible demonstration of the fact that the party has responded to the message. Advani was right to step down and the Parliamentary Board was wrong to reject it. There is still a very important role for Advani but his position is that of a mentor.
* There has to be a revamp of most state parties. Young, dynamic MLAs and MPs must be given organisational responsibilities.
* The RSS-non-RSS divide in the party must be bridged. Those who never attended shakhas can't be treated as second-class members.
* The BJP must focus on the policy debates in the coming two years. Interventions in Parliament must be given due importance. The Leaders of Opposition in both Houses must be chosen accordingly.
* The party needs to project a modern, cosmopolitan face as national president to woo back the middle classes. What is needed is a picture of wholesome sobriety. The sooner this is done the better.
* A culture of frankness and debate has to return to the party. The miscalculations resulting from telling the leadership what it wanted to hear were colossal.
* Modi has to add the OBC tag to his appeal. His pronouncements must become more measured. He has to work on his national acceptability.
* Stringent norms of fund collection should be set. The private war chests have caused havoc to the functioning of the party.

by Swapan Das Gupta

Post Election Analysis

Post Election Analysis

Lessons for BJP

1. Nation is Center Left on socio economic issues and entitlements Nehru Gandhis credibility on entitlements is BJP’s biggest challenge next 5 yrs in states where it does not have strong regional leaders

2. BJP’s maxing out in its strongholds is second biggest challenge for unless it breaks dramatic new ground, attrition in next cycle in strongholds will further hurt

3. Strategy for BJP next 5 years has to be to go local in Andhra, Kerala, TN, WB to occupy the space of political opposition, UP seems distant given current 4th place status

4. Riots have consequences we can no longer be in denial on VHP’s conduct. There has to be accountability for the rot in Orissa.

5. If Uttar Pradesh can still gift 20 each seats to BSP, SP and Congress it points to how uninspiring the BJP’s UP Leadership is. It is time for state leadership overhaul, and the need of the hour is for an Obama like inspiring leadership with no baggage and lots of credibility to counter Rahul Gandhi who will loom large on Uttar Pradesh.

6. Unless BJP breaks ground at the pan India level the central government could be lost to it for another generation there in lies the biggest risk in not focusing on a Pan India strategy with an emphasis on going local in new states

7. Sooner the BJP adopts inner party democracy of the variety Rahul Gandhi is experimenting with to bring new support base especially in states where it needs to break ground.

8. Friends of BJP is a good start to engage the Cosmopolitan Urban voterthis should have started immideately after 2004 debacle it is many years late.

9. At the national level the BJP needs decisive central leadership that can act on all this with a sense of mission and vision. The BJP must not make the same mistake of choosing a stop gap compromise leader to postpone tough decisions.

10. Last but not the least, it would be in complete denial if it did not ask tough questions of how Acts of Adharma in the name of Hindutva have been condoned and the relevance of Hindutva as an ideology to guide on Socio-Economic issues.


via Offstumped

Congrats to MMS and Cong

Congrats to MMS & Cong on a successful election campaign

Good news for Cong gaining in WB, Kerala, Rajasthan and able to defend their seats in Maharastra, Gujarat and Karnataka

India Votes 2009 - Track Elections and analysis

Track the Election Analysis and results through http://twitter.com/deadpresident

India Strategy - Election Results

India Strategy - Election Results

India Votes 2009 - DP VERDICT

BJP/NDA

642 (60.x%)

Congress/UPA

365 (34.x%)

3rd Front/Khichidi

26 (2.x%)

4th Front/More Khichidi

25 (2.x%)

TOTAL VOTES: 1058

DISCLAIMER: These votes are mostly from Big cities and metros and may not represent the views of the entire country. And also, lot of voters may be from Gujju community who would prefer the NDA. It's also true that the stock community prefers the BJP and its allies for the markets

Let's wait and watch who our next PM would be and respect the verdict. Hopefully, the country has given a clear verdict and not a split verdict.

Here are the exit poll results from various pollsters

Exit Poll Source	BJP+	CONGRESS+	THIRD FRONT	OTHERS
CNN-IBN	165-185	185-205	110-130	70-100
Times Now	183	198	112	50
Headlines Today	180	191	38	134
India TV	194	195	108	46
News X	191	199	104	48
UTVi	189	195	-	14
Star News	196	199	100	36
Mumbai Satta-Bazar	190-200	160-180	-	-
Rajasthan Satta-Bazar	125	145	-	-
Congress (in house)	168	205	-	164
BJP (in house)	220	170	-	153

Our country certainly deserves better than what we get from our politicians.

Thank you all for the amazing participation !

India Election Results

India Election Results

The Secular Class

by Dr. Jagdish Tummala

As I sit in my home in Detroit, Michigan, watching all the drama that is unfolding in the General Elections of 2009, I wonder how far the truth can be stretched. I am quite disillusioned by the definition of secularism being proscribed and prescribed to the Indian public. I was wondering what a lesson in secularism would be like if there was one; so, I thought of this fantasy classroom where secularism is being taught by a Mr. Secular Indian to his Gullible disciples who are pursuing a political career as a secular politician . Now tighten your seat belts and start thinking. Think what your definition of secularism is?

Mr. Secular Indian: I welcome you disciples to your first day in class. I know you people are obsessed with the idea of secularism, but I will help you build on this idea today which will benefit you tremendously in your political careers; so, let us start by taking some questions.
A Gullible disciple: I am confused about the idea of secularism. I feel I am a secular person, but when I see some of our English channels and listen to our politicians, I feel I am not - How do I get over this dilemma ?
Mr. Secular Indian: What makes you feel as though you are not secular ?
A Gullible disciple: I find myself agreeing to some of the views of BJP, especially on terror, international policies and common civil code etc. But the very next moment, when the panelists on these shows call it a farce and communal, I feel I am communal too.
Mr. Secular Indian: First things first. You cannot be called secular, If you agree with the BJP. You have to be a staunch opponent of BJP policies irrespective of whether you feel they are right or wrong. Be careful, you will be tagged as a communal instantaneously if you agree with them. It would not matter what you think about the upliftment of minorities.
A gullible disciple: Some politicians are even called communal if they go to a temple or wear saffron clothes, what do you think of that?
Mr. secular Indian: Well, you cannot wear any identity that could relate you to a majority community. You can go to the temple every now and then but make sure nobody is watching you. This might come to haunt you later in your political career. At the same time make sure you make frequent visits to churches and mosques and also meet some religious leaders, but this time makes sure you do it in front of the full glare of the media.
Meanwhile a Muslim gullible disciple jumps in and asks:
A gullible Muslim disciple: I go to mosques every Friday. Would I have to be careful too ? Also would I have to meet some swami jis in front of the media?
Mr. secular Indian: No, this does not apply to you as you belong to a minority community. In fact, if someone questions you about any aspect of your faith, just call for protection of your rights and your secular friends will take care of the rest. Talking about you meeting swamis, this could severely dent your chances of being a secular politician and your credentials might get questioned, even if you have to do that, do it behind the cameras.
A gullible Muslim disciple: I find myself agreeing with the BJP sometimes, especially about the introduction of a common civil code. I feel a different civil code for the Muslims is only alienating them and I do not agree with some of it’s clauses. How do I express this view?
Mr. Secular Indian: Again, the golden rule is, you cannot agree with the BJP at any cost. Even if the BJP is trying to do some good for the minorities, you will need to portray the evil in it. These are the times when your secular credentials will be tested. Remember, you being a Muslim and finding any of BJP’s comment acceptable, can spell doom to your political career. Common civil code might be necessary for the upliftment of the Muslims, but it is not acceptable to the Muslim masses. You can only take popular decisions in politics irrespective of the consequences.

A gullible disciple: I believe we would need to work hard for the upliftment of the minority masses to be called a secular.

Mr. secular Indian: Not necessarily, as long as you are anti-BJP and are making speeches condoning Hindutva, you need not do anything, just tell the minorities that you will protect them from the Hindutva forces and hope they might vote for you. At the same time, it can be dangerous if you try to bring a lot of development in the minority dominated areas as this would mean land occupations for roads, building, and schools instead of madrases etc.. It might be popular among few, but the masses would not like it. Always stay away from such controversies in the minority dominated areas. Moreover, educating them might harm you in the long run, as you might not be able to use them as vote banks.
A gullible disciple: What are the advantages of being a secular politician?

Mr. secular Indian: Numerous! Firstly, it negates several ills. You can be a gangster, a rapist or a murderer and you can still be called a good politician with an honest ideology if you are secular. You will be acceptable to all the secular parties and will never be treated as an untouchable in politics. Moreover, if you have any criminal cases or CBI cases pending against you, just lend support to a secular party at the centre and be rest assured that all the CBI cases against you will be withdrawn. Another advantage is you can win elections without doing any public service. Look at all the states which are dominated by these secular parties. They do not have to do any public work or develop anything. These states continue to lag behind in all human development indices. They know that as long as they are secular, their chances of remaining in power are high.

A gullible disciple: How do I tackle riots which are so rampant in our society?

Mr. secular Indian: Wait until the riots have subsided, you need not mobilise any forces to tackle these riots. But make sure you put the entire blame on the hindutva forces for the riots. Also portray the BJP as an accomplice and be very vocal about it in the media. This will exonerate you from being complacent during the riots. Look at the Mumbai riots and Babri demolition for example. A secular government was at the centre on both these occasions. They even agreed to these events tacitly, if not directly involved and let nature take its own course. But they make sure even to this day that they blame the BJP for anything and everything that happened. I am sure they could have done something about it, but they opted not to. Instead, they used it to their advantage and portrayed the BJP as the only evil. This is a great example of how you can maintain your secular credentials by just blaming the BJP, even though you were involved yourself.

A gullible disciple: Can you tackle Jihadi terrorism and maintain your secular credentials?
Mr. secular Indian: You have to be very careful when talking about tackling Jihadi terrorism. This is a condition you should be able to mend to your advantage. You should oppose every law that asks for a strong action against Jihadis. This will win you a lot of secular votes. In fact, if anybody tries to condemn Jihadis, reply to them by talking about Hindutva terrorism and always portray Hindutva terrorism to be a greater threat than the Jihadis. Also, try to magnify every violent incident associated with the Hindutva forces and make them look bigger and more threatening than the Jihadis. You will be surprised to know how many hearts you will win.

A gullible disciple: Muslims are equally affected by Jihadi terrorism. What if they do not agree to our idea of being soft on terror?

Mr. secular Indian: You have to create a fear psychosis among the Muslims and tell them that the fight against Jihadis is actually a fight against Islam. Tell them all the stories about how young Muslims are being tortured in the name of this fight against the Jihadis and that this fight would only create more terrorists.

A gullible disciple: What if the majority community gets angry with us for being soft on terrorism?

Mr. secular Indian: You have to make sure that the majority community is not majority anymore by dividing them into multiple factions in the name of caste or regions or languages and so on. Then select some large but disenchanted groups among them and promise them greater opportunity in every field. Now you will be left with a select few smaller groups which will question you. This is where you have to work like a salesman and try to sell your idea of secularism. If they still question you, threaten them with thoughts that they might be tagged communal if they support the same ideas as those being supported by the BJP. This works wonderfully and helps people soften their stance on terrorism.

A gullible disciple: How can we deal with the symbols of worship and religion and still be secular?

Mr secular Indian: You do not have to worry about the symbols of a majority religion like Ram Sethu etc., but make sure you divide the majority community so much that they start believing that the artificial lines created by you are more important than their religious identity. If they still persist on retaining their identity, then tell them that they could be identified with the communal forces. This helps even hardliners change their stance. Then you can even talk about destroying those symbols to appease the secular forces. At the same time make sure you never do anything to dilute the sentiments of a minority community. Remember, this sentiment is your bread and butter. Your entire survival depends on the minorities retaining their religious identity.

A gullible disciple: How can we tackle the media?

Mr. secular Indian: The media will give you a red carpet welcome. Remember, Indian media is the mouth piece of secular forces. They have been either created by the secular forces or been made to buy our idea of secularism. They cannot exist in this country if they differ from our viewpoint. The fear psychosis we have created helps us to make the media dance to our tunes. When in any TV debates, you can score a lot of points by making anti BJP rhetoric’s. If you find yourself in any trouble, just raise the issue of Gujarat riots and portray Narendra Modi as a devil. You are sure to come out of any troubled situation.

A gullible disciple: If you are tagged as a communal, is there anything we can do to get back to the secular brigade?

Mr. secular Indian: This is very simple. It is like conversion from one religion to the other. The easier we make it, the more it boosts our strength. Even if you are in the communal alliance for sometime for your own political advantage, you can dump these communal forces whenever you feel they are redundant and join the secular brigade. Remember Naveen Patnaik. He was tagged communal and his party was called a principal architect of the Kandhmal violence by the Indian media and the secular forces alike. Though as soon as he dumped the BJP on the question of ‘winnability’, he became the poster boy for secularism and everything that happened in Kandhmal was portrayed as a BJP conspiracy. We made everyone believe that Naveen Patnaik was just having a difficult time dealing with them. Also remember Kalyan Singh, the principle architect of Babri demolition is now trying to jump into the secular bandwagon and the secular forces are trying every bit to find him a place in their bandwagon. You can perpetrate the most heinous communal crime, but you can be secular any time you renegade the BJP. Remember, BJP hatred is the core quality required to become secular and other factors do not matter as much.

I will stop here and hope all of you had a very good understanding of secularism. Now work hard on these principles and you will climb to great heights in your political career. We will discuss some other issues in the next class.

via FriendsofBJP

Don't Believe the India Hype

Indians are going to the polls to elect a new government. The Congress party is standing on the record of the government it has led since 2004. But elections are taking place when the Indian economy has taken a sharp turn for the worse, in a climate of global economic crisis. This exposes the pathetic, do-nothing, zero-reform record of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his government. More generally, it lays bare India's huge reform gaps and its brittle, decaying institutions. Finally, it deflates the "India Hype" peddled by smooth-talking, upper-caste politicians, ambassadors, businessmen, management consultants and indeed some academics.

More here

India Votes 2009 - Summary of BJP’s IT Vision Document –Benefitting Rural India

1. Will generate 1.20 Crore new IT-enabled jobs in rural areas. This will be achieved by way of at least 20 jobs in each of the aprox 600000 villages in the country. A series of initiatives have been devised to make this a realty.

2. Raise farm productivity, bring cost of cultivation down and increase Kisans’ income using IT for water conservation, soil enrichment, procurement, marketing, credit needs of Kisans, waste elimination and taking R&D from ‘lab to land’.

3. Internet in every town and village – with unlimited upload and download data transfer limits

4. Every BPL (Below Poverty Line) family to be given free smart mobile phone – Free of cost.

5. 100% financial inclusion through Bank accounts, with eBanking facilities for all Indian Citizens. Direct transfer of welfare funds.

6. Providing highest standard Medical Services under eHealthcare initiative – using video conferencing facilities, without the need to travel to Big cities for medical treatment. This is known as Telemedicine. The BJP led government will use IT to provide best medical services to Rural India.

7. Land and property records to be computerized to reduce the number of disputes / litigation due to non-clarity of land records in rural areas.

8. Panchayats will be able to communicate between themselves, free of cost!

9. Purchase of Railway and Bus tickets from the Internet in their own villages!

10. All courts to be computerized for faster decision on cases and clearing of back log..

11. All Citizen to have free call facility to call their areas M.P.. This will be a 24 Hours facility. This will be helpful in their discussing the problems with their elected representative.

12. Under eGovernance for Good Governance – Making available government services online and in local languages in every village & town.

13. Implementing ‘E Gram Vishwa Gram’ : Gujrat’s pioneering project that BJP ledges to implement nationwide – This project aims at providing broadband connectivity to all gram panchayats. Video conferencing facilities at all the villages. Gram Panchayat to issue citizen related documents and certificates, application forms including 7 / 12 certificates to farmers from Panchayats.

14. The use of IT will help in better communication from Rural areas to City Government, State Government and even the centre government. This will reduce corruption ,since all transactions between government and citizens will be computerized.

15. Under eDevelopment for all – To provide Information required by Farmers (About markets, inputs, farm operations, government schemes etc) to be provided through digital platforms – at Panchayat level only.

16. National skill development mission to increase the number of skilled workers from 8% currently to 20% in five years of BJP led NDA rule. Climate change also to be addressed with green technologies.

17. A great initiative planned by BJP led NDA government – eBhasha – National Mission for promotion of IT in Indian Languages – All softwares sold in India would have to be compatible with all 22 official languages. This will go a long way in e-enabling our rural India and ensure deeper penetration of IT / Internet which will help in much faster development of the Rural India

Election Watch

Election Watch

India Votes 2009 - Vote now!

If you already haven't - vote for the combination which you support/think will come to power in the General Elections 2009

Vote on the right side of this page