Whatever...

  The photo has no real significance to the subject being discussed :-) Off late, I have seen a lot of my friends venting their anguish against politicians. Many of them expected the politicians to behave more responsibly, discipline the public on dos & don'ts of COVID precautions, get national priorities right and basically change the society to which they belong and are elected representatives. I think this bunch has wrong expectations from the wrong group of people. Here is why - A politician's entire existence is centred around election victory. Winning an election is their Key Performance Indicator (KPI). A consistently losing politician who is not making any effort to come to power, is not even a politician. Acceptance from society, popularity and majoritarian view are the fundamental characteristics of a politician. They have to operate within the limits of these fundamentals to maintain their existence. Isn't that why we always refer to successful politicians a...

Two years ago when the BJP Government came to power, they reduced the VAT on Petrol to 0.1%. This was one of the most popular decision by this government. It also received a wide national publicity. All the countrymen applauded the Goa government's decision and judged Goa to be a progressive state just based on the fuel prices. There is no doubt Goa is a progressive state, but this is a wrong measure! The Goa government's intention was probably to insulate the common man from increase in petroleum prices. But, in my opinion, there are better ways of doing this. How about overhauling the public transport? Since the implementation of this VAT reduction, Goa has lost about Rs.300 crore worth of potential revenue. Had this money been used for a up-gradation of state owned public transport, it would have had a far wider impact than reduction in Petrol VAT. Not to forget, it would have generated revenue, jobs and made the roads in Goa far more free. The Goa government already d...

We hate profiling or typecasting. We all do. We cry our lungs out when a Muslim is singled out for 'questioning' at an air-port or denied a rental flat in a building. We despise stereotyping women or South-Indians or anything that involves the Aam Aadmi. Then why are we so eager to pick up brooms to hit any politician? When you are in public life (and for long), stones will be thrown at you - by people, opponents and media alike. Sometimes these allegations may not be true and may not even stand a chance in the courts. But if someone's name is thrown up enough number of times for the wrong reasons, his 'public image' is bound to take a beating. I am sure there are hoards of politicians who are as clean as you and me, but have fallen prey to the game called politics. Whether it is allegations of corruption, criminal conduct or anything else, common man does not have the means and patience to verify them. Hence, the 'image' plays a vital role in how we per...

If this is unbiased media, it is worth the read and raises many questions - here goes

Penpricks are alert. See what they got for us... If ministers and government office bearers are going to use up tax payers money for family picnics, I am not sure how far we will go with development. Go... read on

On my way back home, during my bus ride, as usual, India's Nehruvian rate of growth struck me and I was trying to find a solution to many problems. Democracy gives importance to numbers. Mere numbers. Crooked politicians manipulate these numbers to gain absolute power. They use tax payer's money like their own and use it to gain popularity with the numbers. Bestow them with free education (not loans) and barter votes for favour or cash. The taxes we pay go into a pool and are (mis)used by the politicians. How do I as a tax payer ensure that the money I pay as taxes goes where I want it to. Here comes the solution: The government of India should float an India Fund. The sectors of investment should be education, health, defense, infrastructure etc. Every tax payer should be allowed to pay his taxes by directly putting his money in either/all of these sector funds. This way rather than the vote, every tax paying citizen will have a direct control over how his government allocates...

I came across this full draft of a speech by Shri Adavani (leader of the opposition, Lok Sabha) which he delivered at FICCI. As one of the comment says, the victory in Gujarat has lead to a change in the BJP. They now know for sure that development CAN be a valid issue for fighting an election and more importantly, winning it. All BJP needs now is fresh blood that can see the party do wonders for the country.

What the British and the Indian National Congress did for centuries together, the new age political parties are still doing the same...Divide and Rule. Only positive part is that they seem to be taking a clue from history. Maharshtra Navanirman Sena - formed by a young politician Mr. Raj Thackrey, whose political aspirations made him come out of the shadow of his mentor and Uncle Mr. Bal Thackrey, is all out to break every skull that is not Marathi. Why? Because it has no real issues to raise. The Big T (of the Thackrey) did the same thing a few decades ago and became a major hit with the Mumbaikars. Once popular and in power, he skillfully shifted the line of divide from Marathi v/s Non- Marathi to Hindu v/s Muslim. Reason? arithmetic. Only Marathi votes can’t get ShivSena to win seats. So be more inclusive and garner hindu votes a superset of Mrathi votes. So what’s Raj upto? Poor soul had broken away and was losing mind-space in the voters. Out of sight is out of mind. He had to do ...