Parents to get top marks for voting in UP
Students at a Lucknow college will earn extra credit if they can get their mom and dad to vote in the Uttar Pradesh state elections this month.
Getting those 10 extra marks is no easy task. A girl student at Christ Church college said she would have to work hard to push her “lazy” mother to go out on polling day but it would be worth it.
School officials insist this is no bribe, only an incentive to ensure students learn the value of their vote. At a parent-teacher conference immediately after the election, the ink-stained fingers of voting parents will show which students have succeeded in the task.
Elections in India typically see just half of the eligible voters on government lists turn up on polling day. But Uttar Pradesh has sprung a surprise this year, with around 60 percent voter turnout in the initial phases of the election, which is staggered over four weeks.
Analysts are saying young voters in the politically crucial state, which is bigger than Brazil by population, are hankering for change and coming to vote in larger numbers.
Though a higher voter turnout in Uttar Pradesh is good news for Indian democracy, it’s still not a nationwide phenomenon. Civic polls in Mumbai last week saw a voter turnout of just 46 percent, which officials said was in line with previous years, and recent local elections in other cities such as New Delhi and Chennai have shown a similar trend.
‘Come and vote’ appeals from Bollywood celebrities and media campaigns haven’t helped. To counter voter apathy, some suggest that voting should be made compulsory, as it is in Australia. Is that a practical option for India? Share your views.
Advani’s “withdrawal” may come back to haunt BJP
As soon as former Bharatiya Janata Party president and political veteran Lal Krishna Advani announced that his role in the party and the Sangh Parivar “is much more than the post of prime minister” — he made it pretty clear that he may not be the preferred BJP candidate for the prime minister’s post in the 2014 general elections.
And soon the media and most political analysts made a pretty safe guess that the party would back current Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its next PM candidate. Yet others named Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley as strong contenders.
But a lot may happen between now and 2014. And as things stand currently, our next PM may be a coalition leader from one of the regional parties. Let us examine why.
Both the Congress and BJP seem leaderless now in a way. Modi is seen as just too controversial and the burden of the 2002 riots will follow him wherever he goes in his political career. Arun Jaitley is just not perceived as a mass leader. And while Sushma Swaraj may be a good “dancer” and is very popular, she just does not have the same political clout as Advani or Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“The party anyway and the RSS were uneasy about Advani’s rath yatra … He has had to deny that he was in the race … If his decision stands, I think it will be a negative for the BJP, as the party doesn’t seem to have anyone else,” said political commentator Amulya Ganguli.
It is the same issue with the Congress party. It is unlikely that Sonia Gandhi will put forward her candidature and Manmohan Singh will be PM for a third time running. Palaniappan Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee are more bureaucrats than mass leaders and Rahul Gandhi seems determined not to win any brownie points among the general public at all.
He is increasingly being seen as reclusive and uncomfortable with the mantle of Congress’ “crown prince”.
Advani is an indicted and charge sheeted accused of the genocide case hanging for the last almost three decade in Indian supreme court for trail.
Indian Government is leaving no stone unturned to get him off the case but so far they could not. It is reported that had the Chairperson of Human Rights commission not been from India the case would have long ago been on the table of ICC for reviewing and questioning as to the reason why such delay to take up the case for trail.
Advani is the prime charge sheeted accused of the case for politically sponsoring the committal of the genocide.
He should have retired from politics long back. He is only holding on to politics to get the favor of the government to get him off the case.
Some aggrieved people wants the case to be transferred to Hague for immediate trail. But at the same time fears severe retaliation by the Indian government.
It’s raining freebies for voters in Tamil Nadu
By Neha Arha
With assembly elections in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu approaching, the trend of expecting something free in return for casting your vote is catching up fast. It is raining freebies in the state and this time it is not just colour television sets or liquor but also laptops for college students.
Beating incumbent chief minister M. Karunanidhi, her arch rival in the state, AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa has promised four grams of gold to poor voters, in addition to cable TV connections at subsidised rates.
Not lagging behind in the race, national parties like the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, while condemning state parties for what they term “bribing voters”, have offered stationery to students, sanitary napkins to women and 100,000 rupees ($2,260) deposit for female children born in a below-poverty-line family as poll promises in a bid to mark its presence in the state.
Such promises appear to contravene the Indian Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct of bribing voters.
The DMK’s poll promise of providing a laptop to the state’s college students may cost over 10 billion rupees ($226 million), the Hindu reported on Thursday.
The Election Commission, The Hindu reported, issued an instruction to the newspaper agents and hawkers to not violate the poll code by distributing money, gift coupons as newspaper inserts. In a state with comparatively high literacy rates, hawkers are a convenient vehicle for propagating and disbursing ‘freebies’ to each and every household.
What good is the philosophy of democracy when our political leaders have to bribe their way in? Also such transfer payments do not lead to generation of any capital good. Instead of doling out laptops and subsidized cable TV connections they should consider investment in schools/hospitals/other infrastructure.
Lauding defeat of US anti-outsourcing bill premature
The Senate might have quashed Democrat plans to force U.S. firms to produce jobs and profits at home, rather than overseas, but India Inc is wrong to think the danger has passed.
Over the past few weeks, India’s newspapers have been littered with stories surrounding U.S. President Barack Obama’s comments on curbing outsourcing, and India Inc’s gross indignation at the White House’s intentions.
No surprise, then, to see bullish headlines following the Senate vote that effectively ended legislation dubbed the Creating American Jobs and End Offshoring Act. ‘India Inc cheers defeat of anti-outsourcing bill in US‘, ran one leading daily, while another led with ‘Anti-outsourcing Bill dies a quiet death in the US‘. Death is wide of the mark.
With the crucial November mid-term elections looming, the biggest issue for U.S. voters is the economy, with many angry that the lauded economic stimulus Bill passed last year has not prevented the unemployment rate rising above 10 percent. The ball is in Obama’s court, and if he can’t rectify the situation, the Democrats will likely suffer at the hands of the electorate in two months’ time.
Thus for the Republicans — who if in power would surely be contemplating similar anti-outsourcing legislation to appease angry voters seeing jobs flourish in Bangalore instead of Baltimore — the goal is to show Obama and the Democrats as an incapable party, unable to govern and unable to fix the problems. And that means blocking legislation.
The Senate voted 53-45 for the bill, far short the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster, with four Democrats crossing the aisle. Democrats portrayed the Republicans as “job-killers” afterwards, but no political analyst would deny that Republicans play the patriot card far more often than their opponents.
This wasn’t all about jobs, it was also about politics. And that’s why India Inc is not out of the woods yet.
Outsourcing hurts all Americans!!
Don’t be fooled, corporations and foreign governments are heavily lobbying congress through outsourcing/H1B advocate organizations. Don’t let corporations and foreign governments be the only voice that congress hears. Call your local representatives and senators today. You can also visit and contribute to the American Engineering Organization to make sure your voice is heard: http://www.aea.org/
Adviser’s attack on Congress shows party tensions
Appearing to signal dissent in the ranks of India’s ruling Congress party, the Prime Minister’s media adviser told reporters last night that the “status-quoist” party was only concerned with winning elections.
“The Congress is by nature a status-quoist, pragmatic party,” Harish Khare, media adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was reported by the Hindustan Times as saying on Tuesday.
“It does not believe in any conviction. (Its) only conviction is to win elections,” the Indian Express added.
The implications of Khare’s remarks are complicated. As the PM’s spokesperson, he’s distanced from the political powerhouse of Sonia Gandhi, the real puller of Congress party strings but privy to the opinions of ruling policymakers.
Indeed, one argument says there’s nothing inherently scandalous in his words. Winning elections is the raison d’etre of political parties and “status-quoist, pragmatic” – perhaps not the exact words party chiefs would use – aligns with the party’s goal of poverty alleviation and social development.
Yet it will surely add to the ripples of discontent that appear to be spreading through the party. A few weeks ago, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, regarded as a prime-minister-in-waiting, appeared to criticise Singh for his approach to land ownership reforms, and forced him to ensure the party would work toward greater rights for India’s farmers.
Congress, the largest party in India’s parliament and the head of a ruling alliance with some local and state parties, is effectively run by Gandhi. Former finance minister and technocrat Singh was appointed prime minister after she led the party to election success in 2004 and is only involved in government business. The need to appease key coalition partners such as Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Conference has stalled crucial reforms, and crippled the ability of the party to utilise its second consecutive term in power — so far.
Ramdev: A political force for the good?
Amidst the hustle and bustle of a town dotted with temples and brightened up by saffron-clad “sadhus” or holy men, was a pandal with a thousand people waiting for Baba Ramdev’s daily yoga preaching.
At least 30 million were waiting to start their day with his discourse, through live telecast on an Indian spiritual channel.
Holy man Ramdev, known for popularising Yoga and traditional ayurvedic treatment and also for practising the ancient technique of breathing exercises called Pranayam has been beset by controversies for the last few years.
His recent decision to enter politics and “cleanse the system” has also created quite a furore.
Many political leaders have made their disapproval public including Lalu Prasad Yadav, leader of Rashtriya Janata Dal party calling his decision to join politics “berserk”.
Even though Ramdev has made it very clear he does not want to be an office holder or a Member of Parliament, he says he still aims at a 100 percent win in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Contesting elections from 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will be a part of his recent movement called ‘Bharat Swabhiman’ or Indian pride which aims to eradicate corruption and deal with other social issues like poverty and education.
@Narayan
I am not sure what was the point of your article. It was rather well written till I came to the last paragraph where presumably lies the heart of the matter. What I fail to understand is that how would a set of stretching exercises transform primary education even if it has the capacity to spread almost like a virus. Wouldn’t the knowledge of basic critical thinking imparted to the students at that early age by their teachers, be more effective? And to be clear India produces 3 times as much scientists than US per year. So critical thinking is not associated to western ideology. It is the best system we have till now to gain knowledge and understanding about the world around us. It would be good if Indian academicians stop supporting frauds and shaman if they really want to popularize science.
from UK News:
How can rickety cars put India on road to success?
When it comes to climate change, the environment and other weighty issues, what could the leaders of the world's biggest democracy possibly learn from the rural Indians who cobble together rickety cars out of scrap metal and old bits of wood?
One of India's best known businessmen says the improvised vehicles that carry crops and passengers along dusty village roads show how local people are often the best innovators, coming up with cheap and effective answers to tough problems.
Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of the technology company Infosys, thinks politicians would do well to remember the decentralized philosophy behind the "jugaad". Mechanics with little money and poor access to cheap parts use whatever is at hand to build them: water pumps replace normal engines; wooden blocks stand in for brakes and old planks of wood provide the floor.
"This 'car' is a brilliant improvisation, nailed together from whatever parts rural mechanics can get their hands on," Nilekani writes in a new book about the future of the world's second most populous country, "Imagining India". "Effective, innovative policies will depend on harnessing this ability of people at the local level to take charge and innovate.
"Our environment and energy solutions will have to rope in our tribal and village communities to be truly effective. I believe such approaches are uniquely suited to India, with its untapped pool of local, entrepreneurial and innovative talent."
Independents speak softly, carry a big placard
It’s 7.30 am, but the small band of supporters of Meera Sanyal, the ABN-Amro banker contesting the election as an independent in south Mumbai, is bright-eyed and raring to go, holding placards and shouting “Vote for Meera Sanyal”.
At the first stop, a housing colony of about 300 middle-class families, they disperse, some knocking on doors, others distributing handbills and chatting with curious residents getting ready for the day.
Sanyal, dressed in a traditional salwar-kameez and sneakers, folds her hands and introduces herself in Hindi, and seeks the blessings of an older woman: “I am trying to understand your problems better,” she says.
A young man to whom she introduces herself tells her independent candidates can’t make a difference.
“What have parties done for south Mumbai. They have not delivered,” Sanyal tells him.
He remains unconvinced, so Sanyal tells him: “You are welcome to vote for whoever you want. I think I can make more of a difference as an independent.”
Another resident gives Sanyal’s brother, her “back office manager”, a handwritten complaint about a landfill in the back. Sanyal’s brother, a surgeon who has shut his small hospital to help his sister with her campaign, goes off to look at the landfill, while the others, including a live mascot of the cricketer symbol she’s campaigning under, join hands and sing “Hum Honge Kaamyab”, a Hindi version of “We shall overcome”.
Dara
“So what is wrong in what these people are trying to do?”
—for all their sincerity & integrity the prob. is that the system is such that they won’t be able to do a damn even if elected & from another angle what stop’s all these ‘clean characters’ to get together & contest the elections as a united force? their bloated ego’s, so at the end of the day they’re of the autocratic mindset which is detrimental to a democracy.
The no-vote option: Will Indians ever exercise it?
Democracy is all about choice and there have been calls to introduce a “none of the above” option in electronic voting machines so that guardians of the election process in the world’s largest democracy can reject candidates who don’t pass muster.
And if this is likely to get sucked into political wrangling – the fate of most pertinent issues in India – some say the Election Commission (EC), political activists and those urging the “sleeping population to wake up and vote” should advertise the virtues of Rule 49-O of the Conduct of Elections Rules, which allows you to register your disapproval.
A peek into the election rulebook reveals the following about 49-O: “Elector deciding not to vote – If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.”
The issue is the subject of debate on several websites and blogs.
Another website is running a signature campaign urging people to vote in favour of a “no vote” option.
Reports say the EC is in favour of such a provision, but is not empowered to implement it. The authority lies with the Centre which must amend the Representation of the People Act for the change to be incorporated.
The country began voting in the first stage of a staggered general election on Thursday. The outcome of the month-long five-stage poll, which will see hundreds of candidates in the fray for 543 Lok Sabha seats, will be known on May 16.
this is seriously needed 2 b done.n these votes should be counted as valid ones….
Politics and films: An Indian affair
The Congress party has bought the rights to “Jai Ho”, the Oscar-winning song from “Slumdog Millionaire”, to use for its election campaign.
Although popular Bollywood song tunes have always been used after being set to new lyrics for canvassing votes, acquiring the rights to a song for election campaigning is a possible first.
Congress leaders said the song, whose title is Hindi for “Let There be Victory,” will be played during rallies in rural towns, villages and cities. But why did the party go so far as to get the song rights?
Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi cited the Oscar wins as a result of good governance and inclusive democracy under UPA rule.
Popular culture in India has politics, movies, cricket and religion as predominant ingredients and elections are a mix of all these.
The list of movie stars who have contested and won elections is a long one.
Occasionally a politician also forays into acting — like communist party leader Brinda Karat in the film “Amu”.
Hollywood can boast that it is the movie capital of the world but the movie industry in India is so intertwined with people at all levels of society that it is scary to think of this society devoid of its movie industry. Take away food, water, and I dare say air and a lot of people will complain but take away the movies and these movie buffs will become totally dysfunctional. Life for these people will come to a total halt and they would not know what to do and will move around like zombies. From cradle to grave movies provide a certain kind of entertainment to the addicted that it is like religion. Movie stars are worshipped like demigods in India. In terms of comparative clout of stars in India and the USA, Hollywood stars will have to move to the proverbial back of the bus. This is the country where temples are built for movie stars and huge cutouts of the stars bathed in milk and worshipped before the release of a movie starring the blessed ones. Though such activities are self promoting and cheap, the stars condone such celebrations. It is said that sometimes the producers of movies finance such celebrations as a marketing ploy to advertise their movies. Such exhibition of fan loyalty though sick, comes with the territory in Indian movie industry.
When these stars capitalize on their popularity and try to enter politics, a totally new and alien field for which they are not trained or equipped, the situation becomes pathetic. The common man and woman try to put them with great expectations at the top in a totally different field based on their performance in the movies. If such cross field success is the norm then I have the following recommendations. For the next Robot kind of movie, Mr. Narayanamurthy instead of superstar Rajni because the former has been very successful in putting India on the global map of technology. I think the character of the Robot itself should be played by none other than Mr. Azim Premji, another giant in the IT field. And who else can I recommend for Ms. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s role other than Ms. Indra K. Nooyi, the CEO of Pepsi International? Or how about giving the scalpel to a person who has been an eminent lawyer and ask him to perform delicate neurosurgery on your one and only child? I hope the absurdity comes through clearly.
Whenever the stars are felicitated at a function and you ask them about reasons for the success of a movie, they will shed their ego and in the spirit of the moment enumerate the producer, the director, the art director and a host of others including the lowly light boy as the reason for the success. Without their knowledge and under the intoxication of the festivities for a fleeting second they are being totally honest. Yes, the truth is that the movie was successful because of the team, not just the star. This being the case, these stars claim that they can do a wonderful job as a politician that the so called “stalwarts” haven’t been able to do. When an actor is asked if he would like to say anything about the prospects of his entering politics, the stock answer is “no comment at this time.”
I wish they would for once say, “No, I have no intention of entering politics, God has blessed me in my chosen field, I have made enough money, it is time I put my efforts in some small and simple grass root level social projects to help a village at a time.” He would have a built a temple for himself in everyone’s heart.
Mr. Amitabh Bachchan is a great actor and many want to emulate him. He was in politics but swears now that he will not touch politics with a ten foot pole. How about emulating Mr. Bachchan on this?
We should be remembered for our work. Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi, a Bharat Ratna brought fame to the art she was blessed with leaving behind music for ages to come but with no other monument or an edifice to mark her tenure on earth. Humility, thy name is MS.
Presently, politics in Tamil Nadu is controlled by two dynasties. They both started with lofty goals like – loosely translated in English – Duty, Honor, and Restraint. These have been thrown by the wayside. The dynasty in power usually gets caught up in corruption and incompetency until the public forgets the corruption and incompetencies exhibited during the other dynasty’s tenure and realize that the previous dynasty’s shenanigans pale in comparison to those of the dynasty in power and elect the previous dynasty to power. This cycle repeats.
The government at the center is no gem either. The Nehru years from 1947 to 1964 were highlighted by inaction. After that the country has mostly been governed by the Nehru family to various degrees of “prosperity” along with scams and corruption galore. A single party majority government has become a thing of the past and coalition governments have been of great disservice to India.
There is a dearth of political stalwarts like Winston Churchill throughout the world. Ronald Reagan, a movie star turned politician is remembered better as the Governor of California than the President of the United States. George W. Bush is remembered better as the Governor of Texas than the President of the United States.
To put man’s insignificance on earth, let’s compress the 14-billion-year history of the Universe into one day, or 86400 seconds. Thus, the Big Bang occurred at t=0 and now is at 24 hours. Our Galaxy formed just a few hours after the Big Bang. Our Solar System formed at about 16 hours; in other words, two-thirds of the day passed before the Solar System formed. Homo sapiens appeared about 1 second ago, and a long lifetime of 100 years is 0.0006 seconds – less than 1/1000 of a second. Our lives are a blink of an eye in the history of the Universe.
If we had only intellectuals in our societies the choosing of our leaders will be less erroneous. In India, the movie stars instead of aspiring for elected offices can do the following with help from intellectuals and thinkers who put country in front of self.
1. Demand manifestos from the different parties and analyze them
2. Choose the best party and its candidates
3. Educate the public to vote for the best party and give it a majority mandate to avoid coalition governments which ends up in horse trading
4. Monitor the performance of the elected party and make sure the things in the manifesto are fulfilled
5. At the end of the tenure repeat the process.
I know it is easier said than done. Heck, we have tried everything else. Why not give this a shot?
Yes the attempt tried by this government is good for the democracy