Curious Case of Govt Formation in Delhi

The state of Delhi is without an elected government since Feb 14. Kejariwal forming govt with support of Congress, the very party he accused of all through his campaign and then resigning on very flimsy grounds (as such his govt would have fallen out of sheer weight of the contradictions is another story) was already very confusing to people of Delhi.

If he was to resign so fast then why did he form a govt? A big unanswered question. May be a sudden success in Delhi, which gave him unexpected results, made him very ambitious to try his luck for Loksabha elections or may be he realised that governance is beyond him (to agitate at the drop of the hat and to govern are very different things).

That is not the subject of this blog post. Subject is curious case of govt formation in Delhi. One good thing out of Political Samudra Manthan (churning) that is happening in India is, days of Aaya Ram - Gaya Ram (Political Turncoats) are over. As in Samudra Manthan, when good comes out, Bad also comes out of any churning. The bad part also is, the days of Aaya Ram - Gaya Ram are over. This is funny?

Let me explain. When Turncoats shamelessly changed parties, at least there was a possibility that in situation like Delhi, a government would have been formed. In fact smart people found a way around anti defection law when it was brought in. How many turncoats BJP needed, just four (with 32 of their own MLAs)? With the turncoats, BJP would have formed the govt and because their number would have been only 4, it was possible to keep them under check.. However, as mentioned earlier, the political churning has resulted in elected representatives being very fearful of quitting a party from which they have been elected least moralistic new voter junks them in the next election.

Also in the new wave of political correctness, even BJP is wary of forming a government with the help of Turncoats. And what is their worry? Same as the worry of elected representative about leaving one party and joining other. If BJP forms a govt by maneuvering, they are sure to been seen a immoral party and the defeat in the next election is feared.

It was evident from the day of election result that none can form a govt. Despite that AAP tried their hand and burnt it. Why is the assembly not being devolved and fresh elections ordered. BJP was just waiting to consolidate and they have done so by way of big wins in Maharashtra and Haryana. They were marginally short of full majority in the last elections in Delhi, this time with the victory in these two states, they are certain of full majority,

The suspense is likely to be over soon and Delhi will have re-election. That would happen for the reasons mentioned above and not because of antics of the Shoot and Scoot man of Delhi or even SC observations.

The correctness or otherwise of this statement is not far to verify.It is just matter of two odd months and I would peg the probability of the statement above being true to 85 %. The signs are here to see.

Maharashtra, An Enigma at this moment!

When results were being announced in Maharashtra Assembly election, for some time it looked that the voters have paid heed to NaMo and given clear majority to BJP. End of the day, however, they have emerged only as the party having largest number of seats and were short of 21 seats for a clear majority.

It looked very logical and simple in initial stages. Two Saffron parties, BJP and SS The point of contention has been resolved by 'votes of  people' as they gave highest number of seat to BJP and second highest to SS. No ambiguity of who will be the CM ( Uddhav's uttering not withstanding). But politics possibly has not much to do with Logic. These two natural allies (so we thought) are presently behaving like husband - wife fighting their divorce case in the court. Accusing each of doing wrong to other.

In comes NCP offering outside support to BJP. Why this change of heart? The public reason is stability in Maharashtra but real reason could be to protect themselves from likely investigations of various scams reported in the past. It could also be that they want to be with the power that be if not in the power themselves.

Another leak came that Congress, a distant third to BJP is planning to support SS to form the government. How can they do it with their just about 100+ numbers, no one could understand.

One more story that appeared (and is appearing off and on) is that BJP will form the govt on its own. And the balance 21 number? May be 10 independents say they support BJP but that still leaves a gap of 11.

All very confusing? I agree

Now my take. BJP seems very sure of what it wants to do. It most likely will form the government on its own. If they do it jointly with SS, SS's lust for power will spoil the party. They (SS) will continue to be unreasonable and will put undue demands like deputy CM from them, etc. We have already seen the effect of CM - Dy CM in last Cong - NCP govt. It is an experiment worth avoiding.

The question still remains, from where will they get 21 (or 11, counting 10 independents supposedly on BJP's side)? To me, it seems that they do have an answer to the question and hence they are behaving like a cool cat. The cards will be opened by them at the time of "Show". Till then for us, it still is, wait and watch (The fun, may be).

Musharraf and His "Foot in Mouth" Disease

Musharraf is a retired General, Ex President of Pakistan and presently an under-trial in that country. Long tenure as a self imposed president of that nation has given wings to his political ambitions (why live retired life when you can have all the fun as politician).

There is also the issue of remaining relevant. There are two ways to stay relevant, either do something spectacular for people or do something that is controversial. Look around in that nation or read Dawn of any day online and one realises that there is so much to do there but it calls for lot of hard work. Hard work does not seem to be the fashion of the day in Pak.

The politicians in that country have a even better option. Talk any thing about Kashmir or India (mostly nonsense) and you are an instant hit. Hating us is the raison d'etre for Pakistan. It is also fashionable there. So you have Bilawal Jardari (who pretends that he is Bhutto to derive mileage) taking in a shrill voice about doing something that his grand pa wanted to do even if they have to eat grass and even if it takes 1000 years (will Pak exists that far is any body's guess, India will in some form or the other as we have been for generations). I could only say God forgive him because he does not know what he is talking.

But the cake has been taken by irrelevant, out of circulation and reinventing politician called Musharraf who has come up with a idea of instigating Kashmiris in India to revolt (and what happens if Kashmiris in POK revolt paying heed to Musharraf). The man should have at least come up with original idea.

Pakistan tried exactly the same stunt in 1965 by launching Operation Gibraltar to do exactly the same thing that Musharraf now proposes, instigate Kashmiris to revolt and failed miserably. About fifty years post 1965, here is a man who has not learned any thing. Seems he has not heard that those who do not learn from history become history sooner than later. May be his 'Foot in Mouth' Disease has aggravated.

For readers benefit, I quote from Wikipedia, "This conflict became known as the Second Kashmir War and was fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, the first having been fought in 1947. The war began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against rule by India.^[16] The five-month war caused thousands of casualties on both sides. It ended in a United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration".

If only Musharraf had told us Indians with a wink that he is doing all this for his domestic audience, our reaction might have been different. But for now we can only say Get well soon.

Swacha Bharat, Nice Idea, But is 'Swacha' in our DNA?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come up with some Game Changer ideas like PM Jan Dhan Yojana, Swacha Bharat and Toilets in all schools, etc. Each one of these ideas can change many lives. Jan Dhan Yojana will induce savings as there would be a bank account to put money This will also help direct transfer of subsidies thereby plugging huge leakages of Govt Funds.

Toilets in all the schools (with separate ones for girls) will bring down the drop out rate drastically for the girl students, having higher classes in smaller places is the other such measure.

But what has the potential for Pan India turn around is Swacha Bharat. The general dirt around us every where in villages, towns and cities, the general poor maintenance of public infra and their run down state and such other things is a major put off. They add gloom to the Psyche of people and either limit their capability to take initiative or just kill it.

A clean village, town, city, public infra included, will change the general doom that has set in among most Indians.  The question is, will it happen?

It should happen but who will do it? Look everywhere. We are a nation of people who sweep their house and throw dirt just outside as if it is going to vanish on its own. They do nothing but to wait for some one to arrive when gutter outside their house has chocked (mostly from the dirt that hey have dumped into it). When they go to offices, neither the pile of dust laden files nor the cob webs competing with each other in size bothers them.

They merrily spit pan where ever they feel like, throw groundnut skin (Chilka), Chips packet and such other things without any second thought, not in a dust bin (even when provided) but straight on road or lawns (where ever the eatable finishes, instant disposal). The cleanliness be damned. It is non of their bother as to who will clean it, may be govt or may be no body, who cares.

We the people of this great Bharat seem to have the habit of dirtying around in our DNA. Cleanliness for us is limited to keeping self, own house and own chair clean and nothing more then that. That our surrounding, office, transport, etc is dirty and may be it was dirtied by us is not of any concern.

Earnest desire and thought of our PM may swing some minds who may change themselves but that would not be enough. It will have to be a majority thought for people then and only then the Bharat will be Swacha.

Will there be change of heart for people and will we have the Bharat Swacha? I might have sounded pessimistic in the text above but by nature I am an optimistic person and thus hope that it shall happen.
   

Border Firing, Why is it being done

The Indo Pak border has suddenly come alive for last few months. Not only LOC but the IB is also active There are blames and counter blames as to who is violating the cease fire,

Many reasons are being given by the experts including firing by Pak is to give cover to infiltration, this is being done to bring Kashmir to International fora, etc. All of them are plausible individually and collectively.

However, to me, it appears to be a collusion between China and Pak to deliberately keep india guessing and confused The incursions by China without any provocation and the cease fire violations by Pak are all part of attempts to keep india unstable.

Why do they want India to be unstable? There is new NDA government at center with a clear focus on economy and governance. It they win in Maharashtra and Haryana (as of now it is difficult to predict) they will become further powerful. Their numbers in Rajya Sabha will also become better.

This will further strengthen the resolve of the government to go full steam ahead with its agenda. It is also determined to improve relations with immediate neighbors (baring incorrigible Pak) and others (Japan, Australia, USA, Vietnam, etc).

Focus on economy and governance will turn around this nation and make it even more strong economically. Better economy also automatically makes more money available for defence even when GDP % share of defence in the budget may remain unchanged. Better relations with other nations will make China worried (almost all these governments are inimical to China).

How can China stop this? by incursions themselves and by its proxy Pak indulging in cease fire violations. The government should show both of them that this government has no compulsion of collation and is capable of taking firm stand. Some people arguse that we should not have responded to antics of Pak, may be. But will Pak get tired and stop firing if we don't respond? Unlikely. Pak will only stop when the cost of this adventure becomes prohibitive for them (as stated by our defence minister).

Government should leave the job of containing these two actors to security establishment (with laying down clear policies for them to follow) and balance government machinery must focus on its main task, Economical revival and governance.

This two prong strategy may be the only answer to these two countries.

Our National Character - Problem of Finish

Recently concluded Asian Games have brought to fore the most common problem of FINISH of the Indian mindset.

It is true that some of our players did well and won medals but there were cases where fouth position could have become bronze medal or bronze could become silver. The stumbling block was our inability to finish the task.

Some of our players were on the verge of winning till the very end but were overtaken in last few meters. In swimming, one of our swimmer was a leader till 40 m mark and then came third at the end in last 10 m.

Similar things happen in most of the tasks we do. It seems our mindset presumes that once started the task will finish on its own. In reality it does not happen that way. Anyone who has played tennis, golf or basketball knows that while start is important, it is the finish of a stroke or a throw at Basket that determines the result of that action and not just the good beginning. Remember well begin is (only) half done, the balance half definitely comes from well finish, a fact that we mostly miss in our elation of starting a job well.

This tendency is also evident in many things that we Indians do including our government. We always start of with grand ideas but soon run out of steam either mid way or around finish. We cleaning our house and dumping the dirt on the road (and not in the garbage bin) is also part of the same problem.

How will we Indians overcome this shortcoming? Difficult to answer but a cultural change may be the answer.

History Made at 17 Asian Games at Incheon, Hockey and Relay.

In a heart stopping game of Hockey, Indian men's Hockey team defeated Pakistan in Penalty Shoot out by a score of 4-2. Some brilliant hockey and some not so brilliant display of play by Indian team resulted in 1-1 tie after one hour of play, which lead to Penalty shoot out.

While our players taking shots at Pakistan did superb work by out maneuvering Pakistan goalkeeper, the real hero of the shoot out was our goalkeeper Shreejesh who managed to Block most Paki attempts leading to this historic victory in Asian Games.

The Gold medal returned to Indian after a long gap of 18 years. Last we had won it in Asian Games was in 1996.

Even better was the show of our women's 400 m x 4 relay team. This team won the gold medal in his event for India but winning gold medal, though excellent achievement, is not the actual news.

Actual news is, they did it with a new Asian Games record an that is the NEWS, This is what TOI said on this victory,                                  "The quartet of Priyanka Panwar, Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur and M R Poovamma won an easy race in 3:28.68 to improve upon the earlier Games record of 3:29.02 which was also in the name of the gold-winning Indian team in 2010."                                                Bravo to both the teams. May the Success makes it a habit of coming your way in future too.

Sham at Asian Games - Boxing

Laishram Sarita Devi is a Indian boxer, a former world champion in Light weight class. She was born in 1985 and thus would be thirty years in  the month of March next year (as per Wikipedia) though one TV channel says she is already 32 years old. When next  Asian games take place 2018 she would be 33 years and might not be an active boxer by then, She, after all, is married and has family.

The grueling schedule of boxing practise in itself presents her with psychological dilemma of her child not recognizing her when she meets her child after a long gap caused by tough schedule.

Such a hard work of Sarita was 'flushed down the drain' by stupidity of highest order seen during her Semi Final bout during Asian Games 2014. Even a blind person would have sensed that it was Sarita who had better of her opponent in round 2, 3 and 4 and round 1 was nearly matched. What a blind could have sensed, the great judges with good sight failed to detect and declared her opponent the winner with a 3 - 0 decision against Sarita.

Adding insult to injury was unexplained absence (as reported by TV channels) of our sports officials at Incheon who were no where to be seen when our girl needed their backing the most. May be they were busy in doing some better !!!!!! things.

When she boycotted the Bronze medal, she is being blamed for not showing maturity. Let me ask those people, may be she should have shown restraint but is it some tennis match of Devis cup that if not  now we will take revenge next year. She lost out of sheer favoritism (or did judges pressed red button for scoring when they intended to press blue, Sarita's colour during the bought) and god knows will she be taking part in next Asian Games or not. Her anger is fully justified.

Imagine, AIBA the international boxing body is planning disciplinary action against her for refusing to accept the medal. Its supervisor and Technical Delegate David B Francis said, "In this regard, as the Technical Delegate, I had to request OCA to review this incident, so any boxer or athlete in other sports will not follow in her footsteps by (dis)respecting the spirit of fair-play and sportsmanship of the Olympic Movement,"

Look who is taking and about what! The spirit of fairplay and sportsmanship? LOL.

Sarita has taken a calculated risk. Already being beyond 30 or 32 years of age, she is over the top in Boxing. A ban of some years will make no difference to her because her best that was evident has been killed by the officials shamelessly and brutally. Well done Sarita, you took a stand.

The Pseudo spirit of fair play and sportsmanship be damned.  

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sarita-devi-indian-boxer-faces-aiba-probe-for-speaking-her-mind-aiba/1/393760.html

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