Kiran Bedi and the Delhi Assembly Polls, 2015

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Once again the same questions and again loud, incoherent noises passing off as political wisdom. The BJP inducted Dr Kiran Bedi into the party and is projecting her as the Chief Ministerial face of the campaign for the Delhi Assemble polls scheduled for February 2015. The BJP has lost its advantage in terms of the Modi factor and has therefore "parachuted" Kiran Bedi screamed Arvind Khejriwal. Not to be outdone, the Congress leader Ajay Maken, yes the same Ajay Maken from Hans Raj about whom the dynastic fascist leader, Mani Shankar Ayer said some unpleasant things a few years back, declared that there is dearth of local leadership in the Delhi unit of the BJP. Therefore both the AAP and the Congress are reading mixed political signals in this new development. Added to the motives attributed to the induction of Kiran Bedi is the fading halo around Narendar Modi which according the APPtards has alarmed the Party. Let us see the validity of these arguments.

Dr Kiran Bedi is a prize catch as she is a well known crusader against Corruption and has shared the limelight along with Anna Hazare and his acolyte, Arvind Khejriwal. Since APP will again try to rake up the Lokpal Bill and the response of the BJP to the promise to pass a strong Lok Pal Bill, it makes sense to have the mascot of the anti Corruption movement to confront Khejriwal. None of the other leaders from Delhi match up to the record and stature of Kiran Bedi. Dr Harsh Vardhan would have been ideal, but for some strange reason he is in the dog house for the moment. Satish Upadhya cannot take on Arvind Khejriwal one on one and the BJP leadership has rightly understood this. I must add that even without Kiral Bedi, the BJP could still sweep the polls in Delhi, but there is a definite edge to the BJP Campaign now. Second, Delhi has a large Sikh population which will not vote for the Congress given its abysmal record in 1984 and Kiran Bedi being a Sikh will certainly help bring some of the votes now that the alliance with the Akali Dal is getting unstuck. Lastly, the administrative experience of Kiran Bedi cannot match anyone of her rivals. There is a strong undercurrent of support for Kiran Bedi even in the Juggi Jonpuri colonies due to her track record of service through the NGO she heads.

Now the results as I see it. Before the induction of Bedi. BJP would on its own have won around 35 to 38 seats. Now it will cross 40 though it will not reACH 49 SEATS IT ONCE HELD IN THE FIRST ASSEMBLY. Therefore Amit Shah and the BJP central leadership have pulled a coup by bringing in Kiran Bedi.

WHY ANNA HAZARA IS WRONG; CORRUPTION WILL NOT END WITH THE LOK PAL BILL

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Like a sleeping mahavishnu, Anna Hazara appears daily before the nation's reading public. His statrments, earthy and pointedly simplistic, has thw xountry entrhralled. The media hype surrounding this 74 year old wonderkid from the boondocks of Maharashtra, is such that even to question his rhetorical and theatrical stuts is to invite the wrath of the hyper active middle class and its acolytes in the electronic media. The whole nation is watching with bated breath his antics and such is the power of the media that a large number of people beleive that corruptionwill just vanish the moment the Lok Pal Bill as drafted bb Anna and his Team is passed. Nothing is further from the truth.

Anna's middle calss movement with its noisy assemblage of journalists, social wannbes, fashion designers, corporate lobbyists are now masquerading as the conscience of the nation. Yhis very class is responsible along with the crimianl politicians for the total collape of the moral fabric of Indian society and yet this class pretends to be an agent of change. Corruption could not have grown to this monstrous propotion without the active connivance of the very class that has now comwe out in open support of Anna Hazare. In fsct, Anna Hazare is not challening dynastic fascism he is only reinforcing it when he declared this afternoon that he will negotiate only with Rahul Gandhi or with the Prime Minister. Is this not an open endorcement of dynasty and we all know that the Gandhi Dynasty is the bebeficiary of the corruption. While he has no faith in parliament, this saith from Maharashtra reposes full confidence in the dynasty.

Corruption will not end in India even if Anna Hazare and his 5 magicians are appointed Lok Pals will sky high powers of investigation and procecution. This is because the electoral system has become the fountainhead of all that is wrong in the Indian variant of democracy. One change that Anna Hazare could have asked for but did not is to insist on the audit of the accounts of the politicaL PARTIES. Since politics runs on black money, the system that generates black money is left virtually untouched by Saint Anna Hazare and his 5 apostles. This condition of subjecting the political parties to the audit peocess wil go a long way in cleaning up the political system. Instead the 4 wise men and 1 wise woman want s Lok Pal who will get into the peicture after the deed is done. There is nothing to prevent the Lok Pal and his fellow members of becoming one more layer in a corrupt pie.

I approve of Anna Hazare total disdain for politicians because India is singularly unfortunate in having full time criminals as part time members of Parliament. Team Anna's draft does not address the issue of wanton criminalisation of the political process. If the bill is passed, as I think it will, then will corruption vanish from India. The naswer is a resounding NO.

Is Indian Independence worth the blood, tears, toil and sweat?

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

The celebration of Independence Day has become a hollow ritual. The tricolour which once inspire a whole generation has become the symbol of a corrupt, facist dynasty which runs the Congress party. The speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort has the contrived quality of a ritual whose day has passed. Does the idea of India inspire any hope?

The rampant corruption of which the 2G Spectrum Scam and the CWG scam are but the most egresious examples will have their impact on the electorate in thr next general elections. The Indian people are not concerned with political corruption if it is within managable limits. What has now happened it that the people have realised that the sole purpose of politics is to gain power and pelf and use both to cultivate a "vote bank" as the Congress party has done over the past 40 years. Is this the Freedom for which so many countless martyrs laid down their lives. Had they known that within a few decades of Independence India will fall prey to dynastic fascism, I am sure many would have wondered if freedom is woth the candle.

The Indian politician, like the post-colonial intellectual was the first to realise the absolute goldmine in the form if "identity politics". Starting first with language which led to the division of India along linguistic lines, then caste identities were politisised by V P Singh and his cohorts which in turn led to caste blocks becoming the vote banks of politicians like Mulayam Singh Yadava and Laloo Prasad Yadava. The absolute criminalisation of the political system can be seen in those parts of India where political parties representing caste blocks rule the roost. I, of course have Karunanidh's restwhile regime in Tamil Nadu and Mayavathi's regime in Uttar Pradesh in mind. Is this the freedom the martyrs faught and died for?

Apart from the criminalisation of Indian politics due to the strangle hold of identity politics there are other disconcerting aspects. The electoral process has lost its neutral character. P Chidambaram's declaration as the victor in the Sivagangai Parliamentary elections in 2009 is itself proof of how the rich and the powerful are able to subvert the system. And this man is now the "Home Minister" of India a position once occupied by Sardar patle, Lal Bahadur Sastri and Hon'ble L K Advani. Is this the freedom the martyrs of India died for?

The Indian state is crumbling from the weight of its own monstrous crimes. The entire tribal belt is under the sway of the naxalites and given the disgust the people of India feel toward the political system, it is only a short step toward an alliance between the disgruntled elements and the violent naxalites. Civil society activists like Anna Hazare will be co opted into this corrupt political system, leaving the field wide open for Baba Ramdev.

We have to see whether the India that we know will survive another 25 years. The 4 southern state together with Gujarat and Maharashtra already account for nearly 45% of India's GDP. Regional disparities will lead to the undermining of the political fabric. Unfortunately the whole political system is obsessed with its dynastic fixation aand has no time to think of the problems of India. Is this the India for which the martyrs died?

China has shown that a country can progress in spite of centuries of social and economic stagnation. The Universities in China like Beijing University have risen to the very top of the list of global universities and India is struggling at the rock bottom. Is this the Freedom the martyrs died for? I think when historians look back on the post Independence period of India's past they will not hesitate to conclude that a glorious dream was betrayed by dynastic fascism and corruption.