The Winged Democracy.

I would like to call the new age India as a winged democracy. If you are a regular on social media and if you observed the events that led to the famous 2014 general elections in India, you would know what I mean.

In one of the most one sided contest the BJP and its allies came to power with a landslide victory with BJP having an absolute majority on its own.

Apart from the astonishing numbers, what baffled me was the way the nation was divided on issues and ideology , and in this classification we could see the rise of two wings - the left of centre wing and the right wing.

Various synonyms were attached to each side and on twitter one could easily distinguish the division. The supporters of BJP and its ally's or as they were called the right wing took it upon themselves to be nationalists and patriots who wanted a Congress mukt Bharath (India free of congress rule).

The other wing - the left of centre liberals although not necessarily supporters of Congress had a unique trait amongst themselves. They were all skeptical of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi primarily due to his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots and his highly hyped portrayal Gujarat model, wherein the reality therep spoke otherwise.

The right wing group also had some support from diverse sections of society be it the business leaders , cine artists or sports personalities. Who all pledged their allegiance to seeing Modi as a leader to take India forward. The other common trait amongst these groups were the disdain and utter dissatisfaction caused by the mis rule of the previous Congress government that also had way too many scams to their credit.

Name calling was another phenomenon that would take place during the flame wars online. Adarsh liberals , sickulars, anti nationals would be pit against adarsh sanghi, bhakts of the right wing.

This continued even after the elections, even a slight criticism of the Govt and you would be subject to an array of abuse by the so called bhakts. Chetan Bhagat recently gave an articulate description of this brigade with an article on TOI.

Whether you are an armchair pundit, a keyboard warrior. It's fun to be involved, because only then can we evolve 😀

Manmohan's New cabinate! Mix of Young and experienced.

Well, Dr. Manmohan Singh has expanded his cabinet. Here's the list of council of ministers . As you can see the key ministries have been retained by Congress, which apparently got the larger mandate to rule the nation. However, from the post expansion interviews it did appear, the trio of Sonia, Dr. Singh, and Rahul, had worked out a decent solution to keep the allies happy as well as ensure good governance.

The only sore point (may be) is the Railway going to Mamta Bannerjee of Trinamul Congress. There is no denying that her party had a major role in keeping the Left out of national politics and also helping UPA securing good number of seats. My apprehension of her being part of the govt, is only the fear related to her anti-economic policies. Remember her stand in the Nano fiasco?? No doubt the way the land was grabbed by the state govt. of WB was not right. The only pain point was her hijacking this issue by going anti-Nano and progress, instead of finding a peaceful solution. Hoping the famous Trio, keeps her's and nation's interest at best.

Anyways, it was good to see Sashi Taroor, given an Mos of External Affairs. Though, many could argue, how can a First time MP be part of a ministry.? We should see the silver lining here, because he is well versed with world politics, especially of those in US, and also his influence and lobby there. His inclusion can only help us in these times where India has plans to make larger impact in global affairs. Good luck to Tarur.

Another good thing about this cabinet is S.M Krishna (from Bangalore. Hurray!!!) given an all important External Affairs ministry. Wishing he does as good as his tenure in Bangalore. (Read Not Karnataka! Pun intended :) )

The distribution of the ministries irrespective of party lines, also suggests Dr. Singh's larger need for deliverence. He's got a deep regard to respect the verdict of the nation. His insistence of closely watching key portfolios is an indication of that.

May the days of vote bank based and caste or religion based politics be gone, and an onus of performance and merit based work be back!

Good luck to UPA2 MMS team.

Cheers and Jai Hind!

India Votes '09

Yes the results are stunning. Anti-Incumbency is so consistent and regular in Indian polity, that even the most optimistic political analyst would not have predicted this result. Anyways, Its clear the mandate is for a stable government. Now whether its for a secular govt or not, the point is highly debatable.

From a development perspective, the team Dr. Manmohan Singh heads is highly credible. In their previous tenure for more than half their run, the Left's anti-development policies, kept them from going ahead and presenting many bills. This again brings joy to me, knowing they are far from poking their nose in the present govt.

Before the elections, I had the following predictions/expectations.

1. Left had to be taught a lesson
2. BJP, realising Karnataka is no Gujarat.
3. NDA forming a fringe alliance govt, with Advani a PM atlast!!

Was glad to see the way my predictions number 1 and 3 went, but the way urban Bangalore chose to ignore the misdoings the present govt were doing since they were in power, disheartened me a bit. But anyways hoping the 3 MPs do good justice to city that sent them to the parliament.

Congress is infamous for the license and babu raj they brought to the bureaucracy system. Now since they have been voted back to power, they have a huge responsibility in serving the nation better. Quite few assembly election dates are nearing in the coming years . Only if Rahul Gandhi delivers on his words, will the electorate feel that they made the right choice.

I would definitely like to see the young brigade of Scindiya Sachin Pilot and Milind Deora and ofcourse Rahul Gandhi to enter into governance too. Rahul has proved his grassroot strength by shifting the tide in congress's favour in UP. By entering the system, he can sure bring in about some reforms as well.