No Congress without first family, no 'first family' without Power !!!

"Sonia is no goongi goodiya", wrote Late Vinod Mehta in his memoir. When it comes to her son, Sonia displays another similarity with her late powerful mom-in-law, India Gandhi --- Sonia remains a dotting mother. 

August 12, post-3PM as the Lok Sabha debate on Lalitgate continued with embattled Sushma Swaraj holding forte for herself and party for her party BJP, one person was often seen in somber mood and partly anguished. Honestly, a bitter critic of the dynasty and thus also Rahul Gandhi – 1970 born and almost my age - I could sense a fear in his eyes. 

An angst looking man; he had almost bet everything in Lalitgate and Vyapam scam; and all that he was getting -- a bad name to his dead father. The pathetic below-the-belt hit was Sushma Swaraj’s sermon: “next time you are in holidays and sit in solitude, read the HISTORY OF YOUR (Nehru-Gandhi) family”. The entire script had gone wrong!

“Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi became a butt of social media jokes on Thursday, after a photograph of him entering Parliament with a transcript of his speech went viral,” went a story in The Hindustan Times.com.

It all started after The Telegraph newspaper printed a photo on its front page that showed the Congress leader holding a sheaf of papers.

IRONY IS BOTH PAPERS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR ANTI-MODI AND PRO-FAMILY TILT....
** this is really a case of SICKULARISM ZINDABAD....zindabad!!

“Log PM Modi ko sunna chahte hai, woh unki rai janna chahte hai, Modigate par, Vyapam par,” the first point said. The letters were distinctly visible in the close-up photo. Many tweeter-savvy netas mocked at the crown prince of Congress dynasty, who also had the audacity and lacked the basic decency when he said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi "did not have guts" to face him and his partymen in the House.

This came from a man, who had mere 44 MPs and who had 'by choice' hesitated to be the floor leader in Lok Sabha. Another BJP leader Arun Jaitley had summed up his angry-young man pretension very well, when he said, "when seniority is thrust upon, you must show some maturity....and more he grows, more he shows immaturity".

The script for Rahul Gandhi -- ostensibly prepared by the likes of Digvijaya Singh and partly the NGO-variety people like Jairam Ramesh - had gone wrong earlier too. 

In his usual combative outburst Rahul Gandhi thundered is his address to the massive Congress conclave at Talkotara Stadium on 17 January, 2014, “we will not stop till the battle is won”.  Ironically that day Rahul's uncle Mani (Mani Shankar Aiyar) threw cold water literally on the entire script by his tasteless 'chae wallah' remark on Narendra Modi.

The BJP quickly lapped on the statement. "The strength of Indian democracy will be proved when a former tea vendor defeats a dynasty representative. Let this be the battle of 2014,” said Jaitley while another BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy had said, "the people of this country will answer Mani Shankar Aiyar. The countdown of the Congress party has begun".

In effect, the battle has again come down to Rahul versus BJP, who has lost no time to give a major spin to Vyapam and Lalitgate by turning the entire battle now between India's democracy and growth momentum and the Congress 'enslaving' itself to the dynasty. In other words, firstly Rahul should sack his script writers and his 'momma' should immediately ensure that all his 'adviser uncles' are replaced sooner than later.

Shouting Mom: Should get her own house in order

 Now what happens to the Congress party and the family -- mutually - with or without each other. First thing first, when 'family' runs Congress, it's India is Indira and Indira is India. Take two: under Sonia Gandhi, Rahul should be India; come what may.

There has been no accountability yardstick for Rahul and every time, he failed; Sonia returned the 'non performance' with a promotion. This is how, Rahul is today, the Congress vice president and probably by September-October will also happily replace his mother as party chief. 

The Congress president Sonia Gandhi has undoubtedly a challenging task in reorganising her party machinery. But her bigger challenge still lies in deciding for her son the role, Rahul Gandhi would exactly like to play, and importantly bring in some accountability. In effect Rahul remains an enigma, and that simple fact offers: Advantage Namo!

Quotable Gems from August 12, 2015 Lok Sabha debate on Lalitgate

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan

Ending a fortnight long logjam over the Lalitgate and other issues, the Lok Sabha on August 12 finally could take up the Congress party sponsored adjournment motion to discuss on the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's alleged involvement in the controversy concerning former IPL administrator.

At the end of a marathon 6-hour debate, which was marred by charges and counter charges and slogan shouting and bedlam, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley defended his colleague and said the main opposition party had only made Sushma Swaraj "a pretext" to prevent the Goods and Services Tax Bill and the growth momentum under Modi. 

A few memorable Quotes:

Undoubtedly the QUOTE OF THE SEASON IF NOT FOR 2015 came from 

Arun Jaitley, a master orator by any standards:

# QUOTE OF THE SEASON -- The problem with Rahul Gandhi is, he is an expert                                                       without knowledge. - Arun Jaitley 

# There are still many honest people in this country whose children have to work for a living. The generations of family which has dominated this country’s politics have not worked for a living. They have learnt the art of living comfortably without working; some of us have not. - Arun Jaitley

# I want to tell Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, you are used to go for long holidays, this time when when you go on holidays, sit in solitude and read the history of your family. - Sushma Swaraj

# ......The Rajiv Gandhi Government had allowed Anderson to flee as a quid 

 pro quo arrangement with the United States on giving Presidential pardon to one

Adil Shahryar. …Adil’s father, Muhammad Yunus, former Indian Ambassador to Spain and long time Chairman of the Trade  Fair Authority of India was close to Gandhi family. Adil, who was given a federal sentence of 35 years in prison for various crimes was given a Presidential Pardon  by the United States President Ronald Reagan on June 11, 1985. - Sushma Swaraj

# The fair name of a much loved sport in the country which is known as a ‘gentlemen’s game’ should not have been allowed to get sullied and embroiled in transgression of law, ‘off the field’. - Bhartruhari Mahtab of Biju Janata Dal

Blogger in the 'corridors' of Parliament House

# I believe whatever acrimony may happen, there are people in this House who may jump into the well and come out unscathed, many of us in our party do not have the talent to jump into the Well and come out unscathed.- Bhartruhari Mahtab, BJD 

# There are many scandals which have been covered up. All these will be taken up, investigated in a fair and honest manner by the agencies and taken to their logical conclusion. - FM Arun Jaitley

GST - the 'gist' of a political row - Make Namo bow before DYNASTY

If Narendra Modi did not exit, the ‘sickular’ India and Namo detractors would have created him. That’s the enigma of a 'hated man' ---- whom the intellectuals – self-styled and pseudo being the majority – would deny him the credit of one mark in a school quiz if he says, “Sun rises in the east”.

How does Narendra Modi know that sun rises in the east! Whether Sun had told him and Amit Shah in private; was Arun Jaitley also present? And most importantly (sic), Sonia Gandhi could have screamed, did Modi consult our former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or our young vice president Rahul.

"Yeh arrogance mein maheer hae", she could have easily given a precious sound-byte to the slavish electronic media.

Unfortunately, the debate about the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill – and whether it should be passed by Rajya Sabha during the on-going monsoon session – has come to that morass.

True, Modi's legion of powerful critics is a force to reckon with. But even the worst of Modi-baiters critics had to give Modi the due - that he worked and that the state of Gujarat grew faster than any many other Indian states. “…… 10 years on (since the mayhem of 2002) whilst the controversy is still being debated, it isn't stopping business from flowing in (Gujarat),” summed up BBC in its report on the eve of the completion of 10 years of the country’s worst religious violence in 2012. 

On August 11-12 post-mid-night; many are burning mid-night oil and others are trying to work out the 'requisite' numbers -- which ever side of the divide one could be.

The real debate is will Sonia-Rahul ("Maa-bete ki party", as Modi himself would have said) now force Congress, the "original authors" of the draft legislation which would push economic reforms further, dump it.

A section of BJP supporters and even saffron party ministers would not be surprised.

The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, piloting the GST Bill, has sought drive home a message eloquently that if it fails to pass through Rajya Sabha, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are to be blamed.  "The assessment in the government is that there are not many in even Congress pushing this logic that House should not run. Only their top two leaders... have been stubborn on it," he said.

"Let's deny Modi the credit"

But what's worse for the Congress is - a typical double whammy as Mamata Banerjee has discovered her love for the GST and for his part Mulayam Singh Yadav feels 'enough'of backing Congress.

Since then Congress is actually confused and it is not without good reason. The Congress was taken back and almost gave an impression of making a climb down. Rahul sought to change the goal post itself and said Congress will allow Parliament to function only after Sushma Swaraj discloses her family's financial transactions.

"We also agree that Parliament must function," the crown prince was pleased to proclaim. This was on August 10.

The next day, August 11, the Congress thought the 'pressure' must continue and thus hangama was enacted. In fact, in Lok Sabha Congress members deliberately wanted to provoke the Chair and also the members from treasury bench so that some chaos washes out the already 'wasted' monsoon session of Parliament.

The GST bill needs to be passed by a two-third majority in both Houses of Parliament and by the legislatures of half of the states in the country to become a law.

This constitutional binding has made things difficult for the government in terms of managing the numbers in 245-members Rajya Sabha as Congress with 68 members is 

on a commanding position.

All eyes on Mamata and other regional parties

The Left parties comprising CPI(M) - 9 and CPI- 1 is likely to oppose the GST and also vote against it. But to vote against it is easier said than done for Congress.

"The GST should come," thus came a meek remark from Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Both Singhvi and Anand Sharma, who champions the Congress virtue of speaking more than he knows, raised procedural matters on the Business Advisory Committee of Rajya Sabha not clearing GST for the agenda.

Singhvi further said, "the BJP government is now only seeking protection under the veil of GST to hide the gross failure of its economic policy". This read like a surrender.

But yet they would not give up and thus all eyes will be on regional players. Mamata Banerjee with her 12 MPs favours GST, similar indication has some Samajwadi Party with 15 members. Everyone will be also curious on how AIADMK's 11 members and 5 from DMK play it up. 

The taste of GST-pudding is in the puddle of democratic polity. Many years ago, wags called it 'Aya Ram' 'Gaya Ram'. In the modern times and in a world of web revolution, by next 36 hours, we could be asking, "What made Modi click in Parliament" or it'll be more simplistic - look for the 'delete' command for GST at least for 2015.

(ends) 

Bhagalpur – bhag SICKULAR bhag

Lalu Prasad, who ironically turned a die-hard Congress ally and especially a Sonia Gandhi-admirer in later stage, on December 29, 1989, had made a blistering attack on Congress and Rajiv Gandhi for now infamous Bhagalpur riots. “It is the Congress party which (has) engineered most of the riots, particularly in Bihar. We shall expose their role”.

Much later in 2005 a book penned by former Bihar Chief Minister, Satyendra Narain Sinha, titled ‘Meri Yaadein, Meri bhoolein (My Memories, My Mistakes), also blamed on Rajiv Gandhi’s role for making things murkier. 

Sinha, who was later also removed by Rajiv Gandhi as CM, complained how the then Prime Minister had interfered in the state administration and “stayed” the transfer of a controversial police officer, K S Dwivedi.

writing on the wall?: Courtesy-bharatuntold story

“The Prime Minister's action, I think, was not only an encroachment of the Constitutional right of the state government but also a step detrimental to ongoing efforts to ease tensions," Sinha wrote adding, "I thought stopping the SP's transfer will send a wrong message to the Muslims and give fillip to indiscipline in the police force."

"In fact, the alienation of the Muslims began with the staying of my order for Dwivedi's transfer," claimed Sinha.

Following the release of the book in July 2005, Nitish Kumar, again a neo-fan of the Congress brand of politics had said, "no body can claim to have more authoritative information about the riots (in Bhagalpur) than Sinha and his charge proves that Congress is not secular…..When a Congress Prime Minister can succumb to unreasonable pressure and stay the transfer of district police chief hurting the sentiments of the minorities, how can that party claim to be secular”.

Move over, four years later in 2009 yet again, the then Bihar Congress chief Anil Kumar Sharma had charged Lalu Prasad with “conspiring” to protect a Bhagalpur riot accused Kameshwar Prasad Yadav. Media reports say Kameshwar Prasad was convicted by a court of law in 2007 of the charge of killing a Muslim shop owner. 

Cut to 2015: the irony of democratic politics is that: all these major players – Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar and ‘ever virtuous-self certifying’ (sic) Congress are on one side of the chess board. This is what’s called Indian secularism, which I deliberately berate as ‘SICKULARISM’.

If I was being prejudiced against these secular brigade, is this totally unjustified?

We were in the hills of northeast in 1989 when Bhagalpur riots broke and even from distance, I do recall, we could get a sense of what was going on in the ill-fated township – that’s Bhagalpur – which somehow had earned a place in Bengali literature for various reasons.

Notably, Bhagalpur riots did not leave Hindus at the receiving end even as the majority community also had to bear the burnt.

Wikipedia says, at the Logain village, 116 Muslims were killed by a 4000-strong mob led by the police officer Ramchander Singh. The perpetrators buried the bodies in fields and then planted cauliflower over the mass grave to hide the evidence. Fourteen people, including a former police officer, were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the killings, in 2007.

In the words of Lalu Prasad yet again, “It is the Congress that has engineered most of the riots... Rajiv Gandhi failed to protect Harijans and Muslims”.

The carnage had left over 1000 dead with about 900 of them being Muslims. 

Did I get it right? Was this not a prelude to post-Godhra 2002 – that intellectuals and sickularists played up for 12 continuous years?

And what was the focal point of a debate – that Congress is a 'protector' of Muslims. So Bhagalpur Muslims were not Muslims? 

Elbow-jerking Rahul baba need to spare two minutes on this?

The inquiry commission (headed by Justice NN Singh) was set up by Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in 2005 to look into the Bhagalpur riots and fix responsibility. The commission report tabled in he state assembly has squarely blamed the Congress — the State Government it controlled, the police at its disposal, its leaders and their henchmen.

Rajiv Gandhi’s soul should certainly rest in peace.

I am aghast why and how – the media during last 48 hours since the Commission report has been tabled did not quite debate on Bhagalpur carnage, where the killings had started on 24 October 1989, and the violent incidents continued to happen for 2 months. Notably, another similarity with post-Godhra tragedy, where a Chief Minister had failed to uphold ‘Raj Dharma’.

The Raj Dharma debate cannot touch the ‘dynasty’? But more interestingly, Bhagalpur did not produce Teestas nor cops like Sanjiv babus?

Did I read somewhere, the interpretation of history expresses the memory of a nation?

Deaths may come, deaths may go; we keep politicking is an art for politicians. But what about our ‘journalism’ –once held highly as ‘noble of all isms’, at least this is what I read in a piece in 1989-90 in the backyards of Nagaland and had decided to plunge into the career. Incidentally, my father never approved of Journalism for his ‘jesta-putra (eldest son)’. A conservative man and a disciplinarian, his definition of journalism in Bangla was: boner poshu baney pathano (translated as SENDING WILD ANIMALS TO THE WILD). He was prophetic !

A prophetic papa!!

Playing with Fire – A Vintage Congress style

In a season when Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are basking in media glory for having cornered the Modi government in Parliament, the Congress party seemed to have lost its plot and instead chose to play with ‘fire’ in the north east. Sonia Gandhi made her Tarun Gogoi, almost on his last stint faced with a tough elections next year, retract his initial “welcome” statement on the Naga peace move by the Centre.

Sonia Gandhi and her party should remember that Shillong Accord of 1975 was signed during the reign of Indira Gandhi. The much controversial clause of the Shillong Accord read “the representatives of underground organizations conveyed their decision of their own volition to accept, without condition, the Constitution of India”. This pact was later responsible for so many violence and killings in Nagaland and other parts of northeast.  

Opposing the Naga peace talks, Sonia Gandhi playing with fire?

It is no body’s case that resolving Naga problem will be an easy task. Nor can anyone say, any peace accord would not herald some adverse reactions. The government of India cannot treat Nagas with kid-gloves after fighting for about 50-60 years and vice versa; nor can ask the Meitei Manipuris or the Assamese to give a pound of their flesh to keep burning Naga hills under control.

Blogger with security forces in Northeast

 Therefore, my impatient plea is it is high time to show sagacity. It is time to tell north east and the Nagas that New Delhi and the 'mainstream' India means business.

However, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi's outbursts that Prime Minister Narendra Modi only showed 'arrogance' by not consulting Sonia's handpicked three Chief Ministers - Tarun Gogoi (Assam), Ibobi Singh (Manipur) and Nabam Tuki (Arunachal Pradesh) has led the cat among the pigeons.

The BJP as expected joined issue with her and union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman wondered, how the Congress chief is questioning the accord after three days when the party leaders including Ninong Ering and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had welcomed it soon after the announcement. 

"Whose interest is the Congress serving?', asked Sitharaman adding,

"We probably never saw an Opposition speaking against the interests of the country".

BJP believes a kind of panicky has already caught up in Congress camp. It is this nervousness that has made Sonia take the risk of taking an unwise stand vis-à-vis Naga peace talks. 

Only the other day, BJP Parliamentary Party passed a resolution stating, "The growing popularity of the NDA government and success of several initiatives has come to be an eye sore for the Congress". Sonia's ill-advised outbursts seem to endorse that.

Misguided outbursts

Sonia’s attack that Congress Chief Ministers were not consulted, I agree, is on expected line but uncalled for. Had she not taken a big political risk as the Congress

could be now seen as opposing the hard earned peace process itself ?

At one go, Sonia has conveniently forgotten that immediately after the signing ceremony, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to a galaxy of leaders including Sonia and former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh among others. So, is it not burning the bridge? How would she react when Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not talk to anyone next time on issues of such importance?

Worse, such grand standing by a major political force in the northeast could only spark off some adverse reactions. On the other hand, we need to examine, whether the signing ceremony came in 'hurry' only to help Modi make a fiery speech from the ramparts of Red Fort on the Independence Day.

There a version on why the signing process was actually expedited. The illness of aging Isak Chishi Swu, 85-plus was seen as a catalyst to sign the preliminary accord at the earliest. NSCN (I-M) chairman Swu, who formed NSCN after causing a split in NNC, had reportedly wanted an agreement signed between the two entities in his lifetime. His only condition was both sides should agreed upon “major issues”.

It is ironical but true that Modi has got this destiny-sent opportunity to lap up.

While the pressure on him and his ‘personal ambition’ has been always to “deliver”, the real compulsion to see a peace accord fructify at the earliest was perhaps on the collective leadership of NSCN(IM).   

The general fear is, any agreement without endorsement of Isak Chishi Swu would be simply unacceptable to a large section of Swu followers and also among the Naga civil society.  

(ends)

Naga Peace Pact: Modi wins over Muivah...but has miles to go

August 3, 2015 will go down the memory lane as ‘double whammy’ for the Congress. The Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended 25 MPs for their unruly behavior and just when smaller outfits like NCP and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress backed Congress and announced boycott of Lok Sabha proceedings for next five days, Narendra Modi – the easily available punching bag – struck.

The Prophets of Doom especially in English media in cities like Delhi and Kolkata (great hubs of intellectuals and SICKULARISTS) certainly looked for cover initially and then settled down for a disturbed night !! The Modi detractors got a resounding ANSWER – YES this Prime Minister is working.

I have no illusion to suggest that Modi single handedly mastered the peace-pact with a tough negotiator like Thuingaleng Muivah, the powerful leader of most potent Naga group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM). But that he is a decisive and that HE IS AMBITIOUS, as a Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says has merits!

The Tight rope walk: A challenge

It all started in 1997 when I K Gujral was Prime Minister with a ceasefire and even prior to that when H D Deve Gowda first met Muivah and Isak Chishi Swu at Zurich in 1997 and even prior to that when P V Narasimha Rao acknowledged as Prime Minister of India that the Naga issue was “political in nature” and required political solution.

Now, a formal peace accord has been signed. But what are the contents remain to be seen. The details are being worked out, say sources both in the government and outside. Most peace parleys vis-à-vis insurgency can be complex. 

But the Naga insurgency has been really the mother of all complexities in recent times as Nagas inhabit spread over the states of Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and also Myanmar. In this context, comments from two important leaders Thuingaleng Muivah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are more than crucial.

Blogger

The NSCN (IM) general secretary and who was also designated as 'Prime Minister' of the self-styled GPRN-regime of militants, Muivah in his brief remarks at the signing ceremony: ‘the Nagas can be trust worthy”.

Responding with equal enthusiasm, Prime Minister Modi said, “unfortunately the Naga problem has taken so long …..because it is a legacy of British rule” and that the colonial masters spread “negative ideas” about the Nagas as part of their time-tested Divide and Rule policy. 

Both these statements – from Muivah and Modi – are based on historical reasons and thus frank and candid approach shown by the two leaders can go a long way in resolving country’s oldest insurgency problem.

Skeptics would be working overtime to compare the August 3, 2015 peace-pact with the Shillong Accord of 1975 when the original Naga rebellion group NNC split.

The ‘negotiations’ with the ultras commonly called the ‘Peace processes’ are generally highly complex with divergent interests coming into play. In the case of north east India, it’s fairly complex as no strait-jacket formula can be chosen as an ideal roadmap to resolve the insurgency problems.

In my book ‘The Talking Guns: North East India’, I had referred to ‘greater Nagaland debate’ as a ‘hanging fire’. Perhaps it still remains. 

Peace as a state of mind is not only tough but it also carries a price.

The Manmohan Singh government unfortunately has its share of blame as during the last 10 years, it could not make any significant progress. And whenever it tried something, the move had boomeranged largely due to inherent contradictions within the Congress party. People of northeast were stunned that the Congress chief minister of Manipur Ibobi Singh was not on the same page with a Congress-led regime in the centre. This was unprecedented and showed lack of cohesion in the UPA regime.

Ibobi Singh played partisan and parochial Meitei card when he opposed NSCN (IM) leader Thuingaleng Muivah’s visit to his native village something agreed in principle by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Ibobi cleverly interpreted Muivah’s proposed visit to ‘greater Nagaland’ issue, undoubtedly a hanging fire, and thus Manipur state was in turmoil for weeks resulting in untold miseries for the people of Manipur. This was in 2010.

Cut to 2015: The incumbent Prime Minister Modi reportedly spoke to a galaxy of opposition leaders after the pact was signed. While that included his bitter political rivals like Congress president Sonia Gandhi and even leaders like M Karunanidhi, who will hardly make any difference to Naga peace process, the list made available to media do not include Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh. So, that area will remain in ‘grey’ for sometime as would be perhaps the case about other northeastern Chief Ministers.

Legendary deadly duo: Muivah and Isak Chishi Swu

So what does the latest Naga peace pact mean?

It's basically a paper signed expressing willingness "in principle" by both the parties.

For his part, the Prime Minister Modi himself did try to provide a simplistic answer to that, “Today, we mark not merely the end of a problem, but the beginning of a new future”.

But this is easier said than done. The English media and some other quarters would be working overtime to find fault with the 'pact' even as the government is walking so cautiously. From Manipur, a slight skepticism would be coming. But it is time to play calm and leave ‘crusader’ role in journalism for a while. 

Some Naga groups are yet to react even as a cautious optimism prevails even from Naga civil society. Naga Hoho president P Chuba Ozukum himself summed up the dilemma when he said "We are happy and welcome the accord but we need to see its contents before making further comments." 

Rajnath and Naga CM Zeliang: Silent scorers