1. FESTIVALS: Buddha
Jayanti
also known as Buddha Purnima is the full
moon day of Baisakh falling on May 6 this year. One of the greatest spiritual
teachers of mankind which Bharat has produced is, undoubtedly, Buddha. Edwin
Arnold has fittingly called him the ‘Light of Asia’. Buddha’s message has
travelled far and wide and captured the hearts and minds of billions of people
outside Bharat also.
According
to the Buddhism, sorrow and desire are the main cause of all the evil and
suffering of this world. Lord Buddha advocated the Eightfold Path consisting of
precepts like right conduct, right motive, right speech, right effort, right
resolve, right livelihood, right attention and right meditation to gain mastery
over suffering. It is only after following this path one can reach the ultimate
aim of Nirvana. Nirvana is the transcendental state of complete liberation. Buddha
passed into eternity after completing his Sahasra
Chandra Darshan i.e. thousand full moon days (80th year) on Vaishakha Punrima—the day of his birth
and also of his Enlightenment. And to this day, Buddha lives on as a
beacon-light to billions the world over, who yearn for the peace and well-being
of all living creation.
2. BHAURAO DEORAS SEWA SAMMAN: Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh Sahsarkaryavah Dr Krishna Gopal said that RSS is doing
excellent work in North-Eastern states to promote nationalism. But the
missionary forces are doing exactly the opposite and are encouraging
separatists. He was speaking at a function organised in Lucknow to present
Bhaurao Deoras Sewa Samman for the year 2011-12. Dr Suresh Kumar Sangal of
Vardan Sewa Sansthan, Ghaziabad and Rinomo Sungoh of Meghalaya Shiksha Samiti
were felicitated with the Sewa Samman. Speaking on the occasion Swami
Abhayanand Sarawati said the service to the deprived people is service of the
God. He advised the people engaged in service activities to refrain from
selfishness and. Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh and many other prominent personalities
were also present on the occasion.
3. AUDIO CD ON RSS FOUNDER DR HEDGEWAR: "Dr
Keshav Baliram Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with a
certain motive and vision. Now the time has come to realise his vision of
organising the good and virtuous people of the society to make Bharatmata the
world leader once again. In this endeavor CDs like ‘Keshav Shatak’ will prove
to be instrumental in arousing the innate strength of good people inspiring
them to tread the path shown by Dr Hedgewar,” observed RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri
Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur on March 29.
He was speaking after the ceremonial release of the
audio CD ‘Keshav Shatak’, a composition by senior RSS Pracharak Lakshmi Narayan
Bhala ‘Animesh’ at the Scientific Society Auditorium. ‘Keshav Shatak’ is a
poetic tribute paid to RSS founder Dr Hedgewar by way of 101 couplets of 28
poems beautifully composed by Shri Bhala who is popularly known as ‘Lakhhida’.
It was first published by Burra Bazaar Kumarsabha Pustakalaya, Kolkatta, in
1989 during the centenary celebrations of Dr Hedgewar.
The CD, Keshav Shatak Swaranjali, has been produced
by Sanskar Bharati, Jaipur under the music direction of Padmakar Mishra.
4. MODI ABSOLVED IN GULBARG
CASE: The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation
Team (SIT) has found no evidence against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi
in the riots following the killing of 58 kar sewaks in the Sabarmati Express
inferno at Godhra on February 27, 2002. Metropolitan court, delivered its
ruling on the application filed by former MP Ahsan Jafri’s widow Zakia Jafri,
seeking a copy of the SIT report. Zakia Jafri had approached the Supreme Court
accusing Narendra Modi and 62 other
leaders, bureaucrats and police officials of the Gulbarg Society massacre in which
her husband, along with 68 others, was killed in 2002.
5. BHARAT ENTERS ELITE CLUB: Defence
Minister AK Antony on April 4 formally inducted the Russian-made
nuclear-powered submarine INS Chakra into the Navy at Eastern Command,
Visakhapatnam. The submarine has been taken on a 10-year lease from Russia at a
cost of more than one billion dollars. The induction of this Akula class
submarine, takes Bharat into the elite league of the countries that have such
submarines. The other countries are US, Russia, UK, Germany and France. Chakra
is 100 metres long and weighs about 12,000 tons.
The submarine is powered by
190MW nuclear reactor and can attain a speed of more than 30 knots and dive up
to 500 feet in the sea and remain submerged underwater for long periods of time
thereby making its detection difficult by the enemy. It has a crew of 80
personnel and carries state of art sensors and an impressive array of weapons
including cruise missiles and torpedoes.
6. LEADING THE WAY IN POLIO ERADICATION: The
World Health Organisation has announced that there had been no new cases of
wild polio virus in Bharat for one year. That leaves only three polio endemic
countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. The achievement is a validation
of the work of the United Nations, the public and private partners of the
Global Polio Eradication initiative, the government and the people of Bharat,
all of whom united to solve what seemed like an insurmountable problem. The
victory over polio is evidence that fast-growing nations like Bharat can
embrace economic development and sustainable development at the same time.
7. FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF HINDU HELP LINE: A
24X7 Hindu Help Line service started in April 2011 in Indore for
helping Hindus in difficulties, like problems in travel such as car break down,
accident, natural calamities while in travel away from home/office etc; medical
emergencies such as need for urgent blood, ambulance, medicines, immediate
hospitalization while away from home etc.; Teerth Darshan – facilitating visits
to various temples, cultural, tourist places in Bharat etc; religious
information like correct time for a particular worship, astrology, books &
CDs, products made of panchgavya etc.
Speaking at the first anniversary of the helpline recently,
VHP International Working President Dr Pravin Togadia said, “Hindu helpline
strives to be a reliable friend of Hindus as much as it can. With such a rich
cultural, economic, social & educational heritage, today Hindu as an
individual feels lonely when in emergency. Hindu helpline aims at being his/her
friend in need. The 1st Anniversary program had a Kathak & Folk Dance
fusion by the noted classical dancer Sanjay Mahajan & his troupe. The
‘Hindu Ratna’ Award for the Nandan Samvatsar that is the year 2012 was
conferred on Dr Yashodhar Mathpal, a 70 year old cave paintings & rock art
expert.
8. BRAND BHARAT: The Tata Group is the
largest manufacturing employer in the UK; Ireland's richest person - Pallonji
Mistry - is a Bharatiya; Coal India is the single largest coal producer in the
world; Bharat is the largest whisky manufacturer in the world and the Taj Group
is the largest chain of hotels in Asia.
Brand Bharat today is not just about economics.
According to Bhaskar Chakravorti, senior associate dean of international
business & finance, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, this
"soft" presence is Bharat's greatest asset in making sure it counts
on the world stage. Household brand names such as Citigroup, Pepsi and Motorola
are associated with a Bharatiya CEO.
Bharat is also working its way through innovations.
Nano, the cheapest car in the world from Tata Motors; Aakash, the cheapest
tablet PC in the world, priced at $46; and other cheap tablet PC initiatives by
private companies.
However, "Bharat should surely move forward in
the area of innovation where we can capture the value from our intelligent
cheap resources from being just a provider of cheap labour. As of today, most
companies (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Intel, etc) especially in IT that generate
maximum value from innovation, rely on resources from Bharat and we are clearly
not getting the deserved share of the value created,'' said Thomas Kuruvilla,
MD, Arthur D Little, a consulting firm.
Richard Rekhy, head of advisory practice at KPMG, a
global consulting firm, believes: "Bharat, with 100 companies of over a
billion dollar market cap, has established its position globally which is why
GE set up its first R&D centre outside US in Bengaluru. Bharatiya banks
have only 2% bad loans versus 20% in China."
In the mid-90s, on a representation made by Bharatiya
exporters, the government had removed the mandatory use of the 'Made in Bharat'
tag from goods exported. But, today, no one is shying away from using the tag.
9. ‘DOCTORS FOR SEVA’: A project that provides
health services to deprived sections of society in and around Bengaluru, has
decided to extend operations to Gulbarga district. According to Sinu Joseph of the
Youth for Seva Trust, the trust had decided to first concentrate on Afzalpur
taluk where health parameters were low.
Started in June 2010, Doctors for Seva project
comprises a team of medical professionals who are willing to provide medical
service on a voluntary basis. While the team of paediatricians, dentists,
gynaecologists, surgeons, psychiatrists, pharmacists, diagnostic labs, general
& specialty hospitals, medical and dental colleges and students, a large
number of non-medical volunteers assist in coordinating its various projects
and activities. In Bengaluru, the trust, with the help of a network of doctors
and hospitals, provides voluntary services to economically backward sections of
society. There are 53 doctors and 27 hospitals who provide health services in Bengaluru
schools and slums.
As per government records, Aland and Afzalpur taluks
had no specialists in government hospitals.
10. BHARAT STILL THE WORLD'S BPO HUB: Bharat
has successfully fought off competition from new and emerging outsourcing
regions such as the Philippines, South Africa, East Europe and Latin America to
retain its position as the world's BPO hub, shows data released by Nasscom.
While the emerging regions
focus on voice-based work (essentially call centre jobs), Bharat has graduated
to data analytics, accountancy, finance and other domain-specific work. It
continues to have a 36% market share in global off-shoring work.
According to Nasscom, the
number of people employed directly in Bharat‘s BPO sector grew by 17% from
2009-10 and 2011-12 to 8,76,000.
11. MODI CONTINUES TO GRAB EYEBALLS IN WESTERN MEDIA: The
Time magazine featured Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on its cover last
month. And on April 5, The Washington Post put the Modi story on its front
page. The 1,400-word story begins with how widely Modi is being touted as a
possible future Prime Minister of Bharat and how some in Bharat call him the
country’s most competent leader, even a role model.
While sketching Gujarat’s rapid growth under his
stewardship, it says how business leaders fawn over him for the way he has
rooted out corruption and promoted an annual growth of more than 10 per cent
since he took over in late 2001, something that has attracted investments not
only from all over Bharat, but from American majors like Ford and General
Motors.
“Almost every
village in Gujarat is served by a paved road and has a reliable supply of
electricity and drinking water. Agriculture is also growing fast, thanks to
investment in irrigation,” the Post report says, adding: “It is that record,
his reputation for ‘getting things done,’ that has positioned him as one of the
favorites to become Bharat’s next prime minister after elections due in 2014.”
“Countries
other than US are not so troubled by Modi’s record,” it notes, adding: “Modi’s
warm reception on a visit to China last November would not have gone
unnoticed.”
12. MOBILE DISPENSARY FOR NAXAL-HIT VANAVASIS: With
an objective of providing healthcare and creating health awareness among the
vanavasi brethren residing in the remote regions of Aheri, Etapalli, Bhamragarh
and Mulchera regions of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra, Dr Hedgewar
Janmashatabdi Seva Samiti started a mobile dispensary in 1988 to mark the
centenary year of RSS founder Dr Keshav Balirampant Hedgewar.
The samiti adopts one major village situated in the
remote region where government aid cannot reach and provides healthcare to the
people in the surrounding region. Petha village in Etapalli taluka, Kishtapur
in Mulchera, Nagulwahi, Kolpalli, Guddigudam in Aheri taluka, and a number of
villages in Bhamragarh taluka have been benefitted by this project.
The mobile clinic is being run by Dr Suresh Dambole
from Aheri. Required medicines are arranged free of cost by seva samiti
karyakartas. People from the region constructed a building for running this
clinic regularly at Petha through shramdaan.
About 1500 patients are examined and treated per
month through this mobile clinic. Patients affected by chronic ailments need to
be shifted to the hospitals at Nagpur and Chandrapur in case of casualty. A
woman needs complete healthcare during pregnancy. Meena Mattami, Sheetal
Weladi, Munni Atram from the village have been given Arogya Rakshika training.
Pregnant women in the village are regularly examined and are given necessary
healthcare by these Arogya Rakshikas.
( www.newsbharati.com)
13. A NEW DOCUMENTARY ON SRI RAMJANMABHOOMI: Pune
based Creations Entertainment has produced a 45 minutes documentary Ram Mandir:
Adalat aur Aastha, both in Hindi and English.
“The prime objective of producing this
documentary at this moment is to back the aastha (faith) of the common man in
Sri Ram and Sri Ramjanmabhoomi with the archaeological evidences that have been
accepted by the court and also could not be questioned by the Muslims there.”
said Smt Angha Ghaisas, producer of the documentary, while talking to
mediapersons at Press Club in New Delhi on April 9.
Apart from providing historical background of Ayodhya and also the
information about the battles for Sri Ramjamabhoomi, the documentary has
comments from top Hindu religious leaders, experts, advocates and the legal
luminaries. (Hindi version can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_MSXoWBiMs)
14. HSS WORKER SWADESH KATOCH GETS HUMANITARIAN AWARD:
Swadesh Katoch, a prominent face of Bharatiyas in
Georgia and who owner of an IT company has been awarded with a humanitarian
award of $1000 by the Georgia Association of Physicians of Indian Heritage
(GAPI) for his outstanding work for resettlement of Bhutanese Hindu refugees. Swadesh
Katoch announced to use this $ 1,000 for an eye health project for Bhutanese
and helping Hindu widows in Pakistan.
Swadesh is a volunteer of
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since his childhood. He is Sewa Pramukh and Sah-karyawah of Hindu
Swayamsevak Sangh's Shri Sakti Sakha of Atlanta He has dedicated this award to
thousands of Sewa and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh karyakartas who are working
relentlessly for the society around them. Sewa International USA provided
financial help, essential materials such as blankets, winter jackets, clothes,
toys etc. To make the refugees financially empowered SEWA provided employment
assistance, job search assistance, and sponsorship of vocational training.
15. SIGNALS
'DISTURBING', BUT NOT 1991-TYPE SITUATION NOW: Reserve Bank
governor D Subbarao has said that rising fiscal deficit and short-term debt
levels are "quite disturbing" but the nation is not facing a repeat
of a 1991 balance of payment crisis. While the 1991 crisis was triggered by
high oil prices almost drying foreign reserves and currency crash, large fiscal
deficit and current account deficit are lead indicators of stress building up
in the system again, he said at a panel discussion on Bharat's economic reforms
and development on March 14.
Stating
that the structure of the economy has changed in fundamental ways, he said
financial markets are more matured, more diverse and much deeper and have
"resilience to absorb shocks".
While
fiscal deficit was not entirely structural in nature, current account deficit
was high because of high oil prices and gold imports, he said adding Bharat's
foreign exchange reserves today are much larger than those in 1991.
16. BHARATIYA
PARLIAMENT SHOULD PROVIDE SOLUTION TO BLACK MONEY: 
"It is time parliament gave
Bharat solutions to three important problems - a solution to the ogre of black
money, a solution to the related demon of corrupt practices, including the use
of intimidation in elections, and a solution to what Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
(former rashtrapati) called widespread inefficiency and gross mismanagement of
resources," said former governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi in
Chennai on April 14 at a function organised by Prime Point Foundation to honour
MPs.
"It is time parliament gave
Bharat solutions to three important problems - a solution to the ogre of black
money, a solution to the related demon of corrupt practices, including the use
of intimidation in elections, and a solution to what Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
(former rashtrapati) called widespread inefficiency and gross mismanagement of
resources," said former governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi in
Chennai on April 14 at a function organised by Prime Point Foundation to honour
MPs.
Citing the laws against dowry, domestic
violence, untouchability and right to information passed by parliament, Gandhi
said the legislatures have responded to public opinion and campaigns.
Shiv
Sena's Anandrao Adsul, BJP's Hansraj Gangaram and Arjun Ram Meghwal and
Congress's S.S. Ramasubbu were awarded the Sansad Ratna Award-2012 for raising
the highest number of questions and participating in parliamentary debates.
17. JAIRAM
CALLS FOR INCREASED FUNDING FOR WOMEN SHGs: Union Rural Development
Minister Jairam Ramesh has called for bringing women’s self-help groups (SHGs)
under the priority sector lending (PSL) norms and increasing the credit flow to
them.
“I
want women’s SHGs to get bank funds at the priority sector lending rates,” Mr.
Ramesh said in Mumbai on April 15.
Calling
for more flexibility in rural lending, Mr. Ramesh said flexibility was needed
in lending to SHGs too.
18. LSR, IIT GRADS SET TO BECOME COLLECTOR AIDES IN
NAXAL-HIT DISTRICTS: Katha Kartiki (B.A. in
English Literature from LSR College, Delhi, and Masters from Institute of
Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK); Rajendra Kondepati (B.Tech in
Chemical Engineering from IIT-Madras and Masters in Public Policy from Lee Kuan
Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore); are among the 156 set to become the
Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellows.
Following the training of
two months, these professionals of 21-30
age group will be assisting collectors in planning, coordination and monitoring
of developmental activities in 78 worst Naxal-affected districts for a period
of two years.
The 156 fellows — two for
each district — were selected through a meticulous process of screening overseen
by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Over 8,500 had applied
following the announcement of the fellowship late last year. .
19. NEW NORMS FOR
SCHOOLS AS SC BACKS RIGHT TO EDUCATION: The Supreme Court upholding the Right to
Education Act or RTE Act has directed
all schools, including privately-run schools, irrespective of the board they
are affiliated to, to admit from this academic year (2012-13) at least 25%
students from socially and economically backward families. These students will
be guaranteed free education from class I till they reach the age of 14.
This means the nature of the
classroom will change. Until now, several schools were holding a separate shift
for students from poor families after the main school was over. Under the RTE
Act, they will have to induct these students in the main class - in other
words, 25% of every class will have students from socially and economically
disadvantaged families.
While many educationists
feel the resultant social integration will make education more meaningful, the
reaction of some expensive schools as well as of some parents hasn't been
positive. Also, the need to give free education to 25% students is expected to
increase the expenditure of schools, with likely load of another round of fee hikes.
20. BENGAL SCHOOLS GET READY TO DUMP MARX FOR MANDELA:
At long last Bengal is preparing to bid farewell to
Marx, Engels and the Bolsheviks. On the contrary it is ‘welfare’ time for
Rousseau, Voltaire, Mandela. Ringing
aloud the ideological bell of Paribartan (change), the State has decided to
weed out of school text books Communist icons, seen as the legacy of the
Basu-Buddha era.
Educationist Aveek Majumdar,
the chairman of the designated syllabus committee, says the new programme of
study is aimed not at manipulating young minds but “making available a bouquet
of information” before them.
“It will be wrong to suggest that the syllabus
is loaded with anti-communist thoughts as we have only done away with chapters
that were redundant and retained those which are contextual” he says insisting
Lenin and the People’s Revolution of China had been retained in the syllabus.
Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien
made it clear that the Government was not trying to doctor history. “Marx, I
believe should be studied as a historical phenomenon but not at the expense of
Mahatma or Nelson Mandela,” he said, adding “Bengal is redressing balance, not
doctoring history.”
Interestingly the new
syllabus is likely to have a chapter called “Dharma” or religion which would
include information on Deen-e-Ilahi, Ramayana and Mahabharata, sources said.
21. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN:
Pravas: Shri Saumitra Gokhale, samyojak Vishwa Vibhag will return to US
after touring UK. Shri Ravikumar, sah samyojak will be going to Singapore,
hongKong and South Korea. Visitors: Ma.Ramdevrai Sood – USA, Shravan
Bajoria – Myanmar.
THOUGHT
OF THE DAY: Youth is not the prime of life, but a
state of mind. You are as young as your faith and as old as your doubts; you
are as young as your self confidence and as old as your fear. – Yadav Rao Joshi.
JAI SHRI RAM
STRONG CENTRE, STRONG STATES
S.K.SINHA
The recent Assembly elections
have been an earth-shaking political event.
Mandalisation lost ground in
Uttar Pradesh to development, as it did in Bihar last year. The Bihar election
saw the eclipse of one national party and the Uttar Pradesh election the
virtual annihilation of both national parties.
The regional parties in
Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, are now very strong.
The regional parties have been repeatedly humiliating the government at the
Centre, enfeebled by mega corruptions and trying to stick to power at all
costs.
Whether over petrol price
hike, FDI issue, Teesta waters, Lokpal Bill, the Railway Budget, or now the UN
resolution on Sri Lanka, the Centre has had to eat the humble pie. Coalition
dharma is now blatant survival dharma. The UPA is on life support and can
brazen it out till 2014 or collapse earlier, when life support is withdrawn.
The longer this lame duck
government lasts, the greater the harm to governance and the grand old party
itself. Chances of it returning to power will also become much less. The
Congress needs to reinvent itself as an Opposition to restore its health and
come back to power after five years or even earlier, if the successor
government fails to hold together. Indira Gandhi, after a stunning rout in
1977, came back to power in three years with a resounding victory.
There have been two recent
incidents in the theatre of the absurd. First, former railway minister Dinesh
Trivedi presented the Railway Budget approved by the Cabinet, which the Prime
Minister and the finance minister publicly lauded but which Mamata Banerjee
disapproved. She forced his resignation; a new railway minister was appointed
and partial rollback made.
Second, the finance minister
presented a lacklustre Union Budget while his minister of state from an
alliance partner was not present in Parliament. He was supervising an Assembly
byelection for his party.
Our Constitution has both
unitary and federal features. Given our history of the past millennium, we need
both a strong Centre and strong states. A strong Centre and weak states can
degenerate into dictatorship, a taste of which we had during the Emergency. A
weak Centre and strong states can lead to national disintegration. The Uttar
Pradesh election has shown our two national parties in total disarray. While
struggling for the third place, 60 per cent of the candidates of these parties
lost their security deposit. And while one party is facing revolt in
Uttarakhand and by-poll defeat in Andhra Pradesh, the other is trying to cope
with blackmail in Karnataka and a by-poll defeat in its Gujarat citadel.
The Oracle of Delphi was
asked as to what could destroy Sparta. It replied, luxury. If today the Oracle
is asked what can destroy India’s two national parties, the reply will be
sycophancy for the Congress and squabbles for the BJP. Our national interest
demands that both these parties become strong. It is still not too late for
them to reinvent themselves.
Sycophants have destroyed
empires and emperors. The slogan of the Congress Party has changed from “Indira
is India and India is Indira” to “dynasty is democracy and democracy is
dynasty”.
A mortal blow was delivered
to the dynasty in its family citadels of Amethi and Rae Bareily, with the loss
of 10 out of 12 Assembly seats. Initially, Rahul Gandhi did well in refusing to
be parachuted to the top, like his father in the special circumstances of 1984.
The sycophants and the fawning media started projecting him as a youth icon and
a messiah of the Indian nation. He rightly preferred to build the party before
succeeding to his inheritance in government. He was misled by the army of
sycophants.
He played the role of a
benevolent prince showing concern for the poor and repeatedly harking back to
his great ancestry. He was surrounded by smart, well-educated youth who are
sons of old loyalists, but out of sync with the masses. He failed to develop
ground-level party organisation, relying on abject appeasement policy. No doubt
he worked extremely hard, but that was of no avail.
After the poll debacle the
sycophants owned up responsibility to shield the heir apparent. The Congress
observer in Manipur stated that the Congress had won a sweeping victory there
due to the leadership of Rahulji, even though he never once visited that state
during the election.
Rahul did well to discard
the shield being provided by his sycophants and owned up full responsibility
for the debacle. He needs to build his party from the ground level, discarding
his sycophants and developing a mass base. A spell in Opposition will be good
for his party’s and his own political health.
From a party with a
difference, the BJP is now a party beset by differences. There are several
capable leaders in the party who are prime ministerial material. However, quite
a few BJP leaders are pulling in different directions. The BJP has two mass
leaders with a national support base in the country. They are L.K. Advani and
Narendra Modi.
The former was the architect
of the BJP’s astounding progress from a mere two seats in Parliament to the
single-largest party in the Lok Sabha in 1998, with close to 200 seats. Today,
his long experience of public life, impeccable integrity, no filial nepotism in
politics and physical ability at his advanced age are unmatched in the country.
His detractors for their vested interests make heavy weather of his age. They
ignore that at his age, Morarji Desai was Prime Minister and Prakash Singh
Badal is chief minister of Punjab.
M. Kaurnanidhi is over three
years older than him. An NRI millionaire in his 30s, who is an upstart and
interloper in politics, had arranged to go to Rajya Sabha with the BJP’s
support. He had the arrogance and audacity to suggest that older BJP leaders,
particularly Mr Advani, should retire from the party.
Mr Modi has proved himself
to be a brilliant administrator who has brought about miraculous development in
Gujarat, appreciated not only within the country but also internationally.
He has been persistently
demonised by the media, the so-called secularists and, of course, the minority.
This hampers support for him from many. This can only be overcome after the law
courts give him a clear chit in the ongoing cases against him. Unless the BJP
chooses to put faith in one leader and all rally behind him, it has a bleak
future.
A Third Front without a common
positive ideology will not hold together. National interest may get overlooked
by regional considerations, as happened over Teesta waters and over the Sri
Lankan resolution. Regional parties may be very strong in their states but have
hardly any presence outside.
The foray of Janata Dal
(United) and Trinamul Congress outside their respective states in recent
elections drew a blank.
The need of the hour is both
a strong Centre and strong states. The former requires a strong ruling party
and a strong Opposition, and the latter no encroachment on state autonomy, as
formulated in the Constitution. India is a nation of all Indians and not a
nation of states.
The
writer, a retired lieutenant-general,and has served as governor of Assam and
Jammu and Kashmir.—The Asian Age, March 30,2012.
