Indian Politics (Number ? Has there been a thread on this topic before?)

[naz]

Haha! Are you guys trying to rattle me by informing me that my opinion is in the minority? Please. I own the minority.

[brAnthelAstgreenseer]

People are so overtly pessimistic of him.

He pulled off a major diplomatic coup by getting SAARC nations to attend his oath ceremony.

Secured release of fishermen from pakistan and Srilanka which congress could never ever do.

Rupee emerged as the strongest performer in South Asia market.

Sensex and Nifty hit their highs.

This all before he is swore in.

Good times ahead.

The kind of move if the Congress had tried BJP and its alliances would have most likely protested or boycotted the swearing in ceremony . Not long ago when Manmohan Singh was supposed to meet Nawaz Sharif , Modi had issued statements like here Indian soldiers are dying and our PM is giving biryani to the enemy . Today , when they are in power they will do the right thing because they know , people with nonsense agendas like Shiv-Sena are with them and can be muted easily .

Yes , the markets have indeed gone up and the rupee has strengthened but it is mostly due to FIIs not because of domestic money pumping in .

What happens when he takes the decision of stopping FDI in retail ? Will these foriegn investors like it . They can just as easily take that money away . We have seen this happen after the 2009 election as well . So lets not just say good times ahead without actually seeing what changes this government makes here .

[brAnthelAstgreenseer]

The state elections are coming and all the big parties have decided to go alone and fight out instead of aligning with each other . This is going to be an interesting election with so many different choices after a long time .

[arya_underfoot]

The state elections are coming and all the big parties have decided to go alone and fight out instead of aligning with each other . This is going to be an interesting election with so many different choices after a long time .

Have Modi and the BJP managed to maintain the momentum gained during the election campaign? There's certainly been a lot of chest beating and nationalistic pride (well deserved I might add) that's come out of India in the last few days due to #Mangalyaan, which probably works in their favour as well.

[brAnthelAstgreenseer]

Have Modi and the BJP managed to maintain the momentum gained during the election campaign? There's certainly been a lot of chest beating and nationalistic pride (well deserved I might add) that's come out of India in the last few days due to #Mangalyaan, which probably works in their favour as well.

The bypoll elections that were held after the Lok Sabha have all gone wrong for BJP . In states like Gujarat , Congress won a seat back after 25 years or more i think . I don't think bypolls would be the right thing to judge them by . This Maharashtra state election would have been there litmus test which they would have probably won if they had kept the alliance going and now they have just made it difficult for themselves . If they win this by going alone we can surely say that they have maintaned their grip .

About the Mars mission , you have got to feel great about it when you take into account that the budget that was spent on this one was less than most of the Hollywood blockbusters .

[Stan the Man Baratheon]

Modi what a great orator.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/PM-Narendra-Modi-enthralls-a-rapturous-crowd-at-New-York-Citys-Madison-Square-Garden/articleshow/43748827.cms

Regarding the election, i believe that it is good that they have split up (BJP and Shiv-Sena). Shiv sena was holding BJP back in Maharashtra. More seats to contest for BJP would increase the chances of turning the Maharashtra into another Saffron state.

[brAnthelAstgreenseer]

Why Modi needed to speak at MSG ? I have no idea . Why the hell is he even extending his stay in NY ?After the UNGA he should have headed to Washington and not stay on and go to some event at Central Park throwing around quotes from Star Wars and then this nonsense at MSG . The PR exercise was in full flow and we only saw his supporters at that area . No Indian media showed the Indians who were protesting at the same venue . Not mention of the fact that one of the senior journalist was heckled and pushed around by his supporters . Here is the first hand account of someone who was there : https://www.facebook.com/googlechrist/posts/10154679396450584.

[Stan the Man Baratheon]

Ofcourse man, that guy is Rajdeep Sardesai, the guy who supports the party saying Batla Encounter was fake. No respect for that guy at all who cannot respect India's Martyr's.

This page summarises who was the victim. (Hint: Not Rajdeep Sardesai) http://www.change.org/p/ceo-remove-rajdeep-sardesai-from-headlines-today-channel#share

MSG event was fantastic and the number of protestors were far far below NYPD's expectation of 4000, there were numbered around 200-300. And you compared that to MSG's 20000 and more on the times square. He has clearly won the PR battle in America and hopefully he continuous this momentum.

This bullshit of him being culpable in the riots is slowly fading away for good. Respect the Supreme Court's decision.

[arya_underfoot]

The PR exercise was in full flow

The whole US visit was/is a PR exercise. Modi is trying to get the attention of big American businesses that may want to invest in India. Hence the social event to attract thousands of supporters as well kick off a media frenzy.

This bullshit of him being culpable in the riots is slowly fading away for good. Respect the Supreme Court's decision.

The SC only concluded that there was insufficient evidence available to pursue criminal charges against Modi. Despite his obvious qualities, there's unfortunately some unanswered questions and his detractors will never be satisfied.

[Malik Ambar]

Guys, the situation is a bit more complicated than what can be discussed on an online forum

Firstly, Gujrat. It's no Singapore, but its the only state in the country where you can conduct business properly, attempts to bribe a police officer will invite you trouble ( in most cases ) and school teachers in rural areas are not stamped as child molesters as a lame excuse to avoid sending girls to school

The riots were a massive bubble burst that involve building tentions from 1984 and involving a number of incidents, including the black friday bombings etc etc.

Similarly Kashmir is also a very complicated issue. There are various stakeholders in the issue who all have their hands dirty but are also making valid points :

The majority Kashmiri muslims who want azadi though are totally clueless about what they'll do thereafter, The army who are geniuenly doing their duty but have blood on their hands , the displaced Kashmiri pandits etc etc.

Finally modi. What can i say, the man gets jobs done. That's what matters most to this country right now, and fortunately for us citizens ( and unfortunately for him if he doesnt live up to his expections ) we have means at our disposal to ensure that governments dont take us fo granted ( which the last one did) which we didnt have before. This certainly isnt the same scenario where the whole communalism shit works anymore. Also the prime minister simply cant be fascist here even if he wants to. It doesnt work like that.

[Malik Ambar]

First of all, just because masses of people voted for someone, doesn't mean there's no reason to be pessimistic. The masses voted for Congress the last time around. The masses put people like Mayawati and Yadav in power in UP. I'm pessimistic because I saw a similar thing happen in the US about 30 years ago, when a decent man - who was unfortunately a bad politician - overwhelmingly lost the national election to an extremely popular conservative retired actor, who rode into office on a wave of hopefulness and positivity and whose trickle-down economic strategies provided a general, immediate boost to a slow economy but whose attitudes towards financial and corporate regulations set into motion practices that would hurt the economic cycle in the long run and are hurting us even today.

India is basically repeating the mistakes of the west, only now it's on the scale of 1.3 billion people.

Look, I'm not one of those people who wants to see the country go downhill just so I can say, "I told you so." As an urban, professional Indian, I'm probably one of those that will prosper under Modi. I'll probably make more money, have more job stability, enjoy cleaner roads, more green technology, and have more opportunity to buy the things I want/need. And if Modi and the BJP can create growth - sustainable and equitable growth for all Indians - then I'll be the first one to praise him. In fact, I already praise him. He's done great things in Gujarat. But, I worry how those things will translate to the national scale. Gujarat has succeeded largely because of foreign investment, which Modi has been wise to encourage. And I think it's right to do so on the national level, but it has to be done much more carefully, because of the scale involved. And it has to be done without marginalising the minority, whether it's a socio-economic minority or a religious one. And the means to do so carefully have to involve the local politicians, most of whom are now BJP members and most of whom, unfortunately, I don't trust nearly as much as I trust Modi.

If so much of Modi's power didn't sit in the hands of the wealthy business conglomerates and local politicians who are less noble and less incorruptible than him, then I would be more optimistic. As it is, it looks murky.

I like Pankaj Mishra's take on things, from a recent Guardian article.

At least he has acknowledged that India has a sanitation problem unlike the rest who simply wish to ignore it and is sincerely doing something about it.

[The King in Black]

Is Arundhati Roy still writing editorials ?

[Stan the Man Baratheon]

Finally modi. What can i say, the man gets jobs done.

This is it.

[brAnthelAstgreenseer]

Cast my vote . Anybody here from Maharashtra or Haryana please go out and vote .

[brAnthelAstgreenseer]

Fractured verdict in Maharashtra ,a clear cut victory in Harayana for the BJP . The prospects for national level look good now with adding more members in Rajya Sabha . More power to the central government .

[brAnthelAstgreenseer]

Meanwhile this is what the ruling party's alliance is doing . As if we need incentives to increase our population .

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/sena-offers-cash-to-hindu-families-with-10-or-more-children/

[Nymeria10k]

I like the clean India initiative Modi has put out at the moment. I agree, he gets stuff done, stuff that is important and needs dealing with. Health and hygiene would be much improved in a cleaner India

It's well publicised on the indian channels here (especially dramas) and since famous people are doing it too, people will hopefully follow in their footsteps. Like for example Salman Khan was doing it on Bigg Boss last night and my mum was saying 'oh if it's Salman Khan doing it then everyone will do it' lol

[brAnthelAstgreenseer]

AAP wins the Delhi state elections with a historic lead . BJP with 3 and Congress failing to open their account . BJP needs to do good on their promises and not expect easy wins just on the basis of last year . Up coming elections Bihar an WB are going to be tougher .

[fionwe1987]

Just went through the whole thread. I'm one of those people who is severely displeased not just that Modi won, but that the BJP won with such a high margin. Naz has the right of it with respect to issues for the poor in India. Frankly, the only positive I can see is that the Congress Party deservedly got a trouncing. I hope this spurs them, in the long term, to realize that their weakness is in relying on the Nehru-Gandhi family, which has tended to produce total turds for politicians in the past two decades. There needs to be a progressive party that puts those principles first, not allegiance to some dynasty.

As for the optimism surrounding Modi... I'm tickled that no one remembers that the exact same thing happened when Manmohan Singh came to power. Incorruptible technocrat, who would "get the job done". We'll see how Modi fares around the next election, and how he does if he gets a second term.

[Malik Ambar]

Man , this country needs Bunny Colvins , and all it keeps getting is Tommy Carcettis.

Modi, Kejriwal, they're all the same. They only have a partially correct idea of what's wrong and what needs to be corrected. And worse still, when they get to see the bigger picture , they'll still try to distort it even if it's right in front of their eyes. These people are dancing to the whims of the upper middle class and playing Piped Piper to the politically uneducated poor while not giving a damn about them. Even AAP is guilty of that ; exactly from where the hell are they going to produce free electricity and water from ? This is just populist bullshit made to trick the poor, while they (they meaning all political parties; everybody's guilty of this) start serving the upper middle class, who are politically conscious but ultimately selfish. Look no further than their policies to crack down on rapes ; all tailor made for this voting block, while data clearly shows who are really suffering from this problem the most and the approach for this should be more community based policing in these areas, sensitising beat officers about handling such situations and deploying them in the chawl areas and encouraging victims to report the crimes and providing them protection once they do so. Same goes for urban development , instead of focusing on suburban areas surronding cities and developing them to direct migration of blue collar workers and semi-skilled labours there, creating secondary occupations here to boost said areas growth, they are all idiotically planning on legalising slums and then stuffing these people into concrete jungles on the fringes of cities as cosmetic measures so the poor or slum aren't visible. Problem solved ! I guess not.

The Delhi verdict is a clear mirror image of the LS elections ; disillusioned poor tricked into voting for the favourites of the neo-voting banks ( upper middle class, bussinesses, unions, etc ) Modi, since coming to power, may have directed the bureaucracy to abandon the stats-chasing approach and start actually working, but the confrontational attitude he has toward parliamentary institutions is only re-enforcing the fears people have about him. Kejriwal is yet to even start talking about how he plans to implement his idealistic policies in reality.

So no , it doesn't matter whether BJP or AAP or anybody else wins. Their approach is the same and it's wrong. We need radical changes, and no political party has the capability of offering them. Call me pessimist, but I dont see any reason to be optimistic about.