India News
Modi mirage works wonders
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Janta sold on the promise of a better life as packaged and promoted by PM
By Sujit Bhar
Was the media disoriented while reporting about the BJP wave in UP, or while reporting about the Congress appeal in Punjab? Were all other political parties in denial of the truth staring right in the face? There has to be a possible truth hiding somewhere within the folds of the infinite permutations and combinations that have been worked around and talked about. There has to be a simpler understanding of this immense complexity. Or is there?
Hindsight is always 20/20, or so it is said. Even accepting this, one cannot make much sense of the BJP sweep in UP and the Congress dominance in Punjab. One cannot also make much sense in the three other states involved: Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand. A simple BJP victory could have been explained by the split down the middle of the Samajwadi Party’s Yadav family, or of Mayawati’s corrupt practices. An indication was available when Mayawati asked, almost unbelievingly, “How can Muslims vote for the BJP?”
Let us look at it in a very different light. What does the man (or woman) on the street want? What does he or she want to see his or her life tomorrow as? Just the other day, he or she would have talked about regular electricity, jobs, a safe family environment and roti sabzi on the charpoy.
Now consider what they have had access to, in the meantime. Movies that show the glitz and glamour from around the world, the internet that promises a world that could be accessed with a little more effort and some education and with a smartphone that many can buy; the malls that promise a life that is a pretty much hathke from the day to day drudgeries of low to lower middle class lives. They have a high-powered mirage in front of them. They are determined to chase it.
Just the other day these existed only in Bollywood movies, things that were supposed to be taken with a pinch of salt, and they were. Today these are more life-like, actually real, things many never knew existed till they saw them and now cannot live without. Now there is this need to make life better, to be able to see far ahead of what has been shown to them by local leaders.
Remember that expensive coat that Prime Minster Narendra Modi wore during his meeting with US President Barack Obama, one that reportedly cost nearly a crore or more and had ‘Narendra Modi’ embroidered in the seams? It was an attire derided in the media, criticized within erudite circles and Modi quickly got out of it, even auctioned it, with the money “going for the poor.”
Well, ask the man in the chai shop (no analogy intended), or your favourite autowallah from UP. I did. Guess what I got? “A rajah is expected to wear a dress that suits a rajah. And if he is meeting the head of another country, should he not be wearing a dress suitable for the rajah of a great country like India?” Infallible logic, you would say. Because his aspiration level is now tagged to the country’s apparent aspiration level.
Is it practical? No. It is often disastrous in the long run. But that is not what hope is all about. Hope is about dreaming and realising the best in us, or even the best that has been around us. If in trying, we fail, at least we have tried.
Modi has delivered this dream, this impossible dream. And there are people dead sure of believing this. When demonetisation was brought in – an ill-conceived theory, conceived with tunnel-visioned “economic experts” – one expected the ill-effects to seep through the system and harm those at the bottom. It did. Badly. Yet, when I conducted interviews of those chaiwallahs, their eyes glittered. “It is bad for now, but it will yield great results in the future. Modi has made a great system.” Wow, I thought; so what was this system? “That I don’t know, but I hear it is a great system.”
That puts us right back to the basics and the results. The Modi Mirage has worked, it will, for some time now. Then when it fades, it will be called anti-incumbency. All the experts will start the predictions all over again.
Nobody realises the power of hope, in these desperate times. Even when hope leads to a mirage. We surely get the government we deserve.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
India News
Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanti 2023: History, Date and Significance
Shastri was a freedom fighter and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. He played an important role in India’s independence movement.
On 2nd October 2023, India also celebrates the birth anniversary of another great leader, Lal Bahadur Shastri. The day holds special significance as India remembers the legacy and life of the man who served as India’s second Prime Minister. Lal bahadur Shastri was born on October 2, 1904 in Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh. He is a symbol of dedication and selfless service to the nation.
Shastri was a freedom fighter and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. He played an important role in India’s independence movement. He was sent to the prison several times by the British government. After India got its independence in the year 1947 he served in many important ministerial positions in the government of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Lal Bahadur Shastri was born into a lower middle class family. His father’s name was Sharda Prasad Srivastava who was also a teacher. Ram Dulari Devi was a house wife. He was born with the name Lal Bahadur Srivastava. He earned the title Shastri due to his academic excellence. He was commited to education during his entire life. He went on to become not only a leader but also an academic and an activist.
Lal Bahadur Shastri showed unwavering dedication to the Indian National Congress political party. He served as the second Prime Minister of India from 1964 until his death in 1966. His tenure as Prime Minister marked a significant progress and change in India.
He held many important positions which included Minister of External Affairs and Railways. His tenure had many notable achievements which included signing of the Tashkent Agreement. The Tashkent aimed to ease tensions between India and Pakistan.
This diplomatic respect earned him respect on the global arena. Lal Bahadur Shastri gave the slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan which means hail the soldier and hail the Farmer. The slogan means emphasizes on the vital contributions of farmers and soldiers to the country’s prosperity.
India News
Rahul Gandhi visits Amritsar, offers sewa at Golden Temple
Rahul Gandhi went to Amritsar for personal and spiritual visit, as per Punjab Congress leader.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited to the Punjab’s Golden Temple today. Rahul Gandhi participated in kar sewa after making prayers at the Golden Temple. He was observed washing dishes alongside other party members and volunteers from the Gurudwara.
He will stay the night in the city, according to a representative of Congress.
Let’s respect his privacy because this is a personal and spiritual visit from him. Request that none of the party’s employees show up in person for this visit. Amarinder Singh Raja Waring, the head of the Punjab Congress, wrote earlier in the day on X, formerly known as Twitter. He also added, you all can express your support in spirit and see him the next time.
The arrest of MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira has caused a rift between the Congress and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is why Rahul Gandhi is in Amritsar.
Sukhpal Singh Khaira, a Congress leader, was detained by the Punjab police last week on suspicion of taking part in money laundering and narcotics trafficking.
The Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the AAP have both been called thirsty for blood by the Congress leader. He said, he won’t be shocked if he gets me physically eliminated as well.
According to the AAP government, Khaira was arrested as a result of fresh evidence in a 2015 case.
The national leadership of the AAP and the Congress may support the INDIA alliance, but Khaira’s arrest has exposed regional rivalries that may make it challenging for the two to cooperate.
The release of the video coincides with Rahul Gandhi expanding his network of supporters in advance of the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress leader was recently spotted performing the part of a farmer and engaging in crop transplantation. Later, he tried the coolie and even tried his hand at carrying passengers baggage on his head. Most recently, he even gave carpentry a try as well.
India News
Bihar government releases caste survey report, 27% backward classes, 36% extremely backward classes
Union Minister Giriraj Singh mentioned that the caste census will do nothing more than spreading confusion among the poor and public of the state.
Nitish Kumar led Bihar government released a caste-based survey report on Monday. The report indicated that 36 per cent of the state’s population are from Extremely Backward Classes, 27.1 percent are from Backward Classes, 19.7 per cent are from Scheduled Castes and 1.7 per cent are from Scheduled Tribes. The general population accounts for 15.5 per cent.
Among the OBCs, Yadavs comprise 14.26% of the surveyed population, Kushwaha 4.27% and Kurmi 2.87%. The release of the caste based survey data comes at a time when the Supreme Court continues to hear petitions challenging a Patna High Court’s judgement that paved the way for this controversial caste-based headcount.
Speaking about the caste survey report, Union Minister Giriraj Singh mentioned that the caste census will do nothing more than spreading confusion among the poor and public of the state. He added that the Bihar government should have given a report card that Nitish Kumar ruled the state fr 18 years and Lalu Yadav ruled the state for 15 years but they did not develop the state.
Earlier today Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he plans to call all nine parties that are part of the ruling coalition, including Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, to discuss next steps, which could include dealing with decisions to increase OBC quotas at 27 per cent.
Reports said that around 2.64 lakh enumerators fanned out across the state, documenting the details of 29 million registered households on 17 socio-economic criteria, ranging from employment, education, marital status, land holding and property ownership and caste. Enumerators will have to choose between 214 pre-registered castes that have been allotted to individual codes.
