Manifesto & Mandate

How many of us read the party manifestos? The full text of two national parties are presented here: Congress & BJP .

Most of us have goals; to reach a goal one should plan and propose the mechanism. The proposal and the way the aspirations would be attained is very important. Quoting Thirukural Verse 631 "A minister is he who can conceive a great enterprise, rightly choose the ways, The means and the time, then successfully accomplish it", I would like to highlight the differences between the manifestos and the way i see it.

Congress has a very broad scope, uses the traditional approach in its documentation style, touches important contemproary issues of the Nation but lacks direction and implementation detail at even a high level. I mean choosing the ways, means are not clear for me. These can be used to read between the lines - To start with the team that prepared the manifesto lacks clarity and vision or the party leaders have not communicated their vision to this team. Both of my probablities are quite frustrating. A party that may run on a few men's(or Women) shoulder, how could it run a billion people? This party needs leaders at different levels as an enterprise does. These people should be the ones contributing to the vision and formulating the election mandate.

I like this statement from the manifesto: "India is a young country with 70% of the population below the age of 35. To reap the “demographic dividend”, the Indian National Congress believes that there is an urgent need to put in place an extensive skill development programme so that the employability of youth is enhanced" What this tells me is the INC never forethought this, hence the urgent need! If you had a educated guess twenty years back, we would not need to act urgently now? What if there was a natural disaster, a war or something else that hijacks the priority? I am not a congress basher, but i hate to say the manifesto is empty - nothing on the vision, no details, no clear programmes to implement - just broader statements! When i planned for writing the blog, i wanted to list top 5 good things from both the manifestos but i can't find any top notch ones in the INC document set. By the way I am not Pro-BJP, but their manifesto looks better because of the details, the Introduction that gives a sense of history, approach to issues, listing out some high level implementation items etc. what it tells me is the party has people who can visualise and formulate for grand scheme of things.I started doing a comparitive chart and even rating it, but i gave up or people would start branding me as a pro-BJP, but that says it... I will let you choose, but please vote and forward this to your friends!

I plead - vote fellow indians - weak govt @ recession times?

My dear fellow indians, I plead to all, lets vote for India and a stronger government. World is facing recession and already 4.5M people jobless in US, 2.5M in UK and more around the world... When rich nations are facing downturn, we will surely be hit as well. Only tall leadership and strong governance can aid us through. We may spend close to 100 billion Rs. Imagine we have a weak government for two years and then falls again to spend another 100 billion? It is costlier than a war, than supporting a natural calamity! The future is uncertain, with terror engulfing around, what if a weak government forms? Left based third front coalition is a rag-tag coalition, no leaders, no vision, a coalition of self-serving parties scares the hell on me. Does it not worry you? Btw the money for elections is from our taxes my friends! its not from somewhere...

I plead again. Think and vote to a party that can provide stability. I have been apolitical all along and having resisted the temptation for long, i decide to battle against the third front for now. That's the scariest option we indians have. last 2 decades, we have made huge progress and a step change can take us forward, but a weak government will take us 6 decades back to pre-independence era. Do we need that? In fact now i am spending 10$ a weekend to advertise my blog. I am doing this for our country, in face book i am advertising the blog to spread the word and thought. can you join my blog, spread the word? I am an ordinary fellow like you, trying to achieve good. I am spending my money for us! can you forward this blog, its not personal promotion that i want, if so my identity would be up in this site. I need stable India for not just us, but for rest of the world. We have to act for change!

Vote for India, Vote for World.

74 days to go!

The 5 phase dates to general elections have been announced! Folks, this is the time for us to get the change delivered. I am a bit busy with my daily job and hence could not give time to pitch the campaign. Let me ask you one question: In the recession times, would you want a rag-tag coalition to lead us into indecisiveness, non-governance and instability that would bring the last 20 years of improvement we have made forward. Or do you want a one party strong governance and stablity with clear policy?

Please look who else agrees with me? - CNN-IBN; yes we need a strong governance!

Vote for India, spread the word, be the change.

Elections - 'No Choice' is an Option, but is it really?

In modern organisations when a few options are listed for solving business problem, the solution providers have the first option as 'Do Nothing' i.e. continue status quo until some time.

In case of electing people to govern, a no choice is shame and sometimes we have to accept it. I spoke to lot of my friends about this particular effort (i.e. to increase voter turnout), lot of them agreed it's a good thinking, but most of them talked about the infamous 'No choice' and article 49A etc.

I ask you to think this scenario. You are in a big family, you are the youngest in the family (not so young as a child, but a Man/Woman who can decide) Someone in your family has to run the money management and govern the family, let us say the head of the family wants to retire and ask one of the sons to do so but by a democratic selection. You very well know both the elder brothers or the elder brother/sister are either not good at managing or not qualified enough or may be corrupt or may have a bad reputation and you don't trust them, what do you do?

The most likely option is you may throw in the hat to management or you choose the one you most trust or the one you may feel that might be favourable to you. But you may not enter the contest for good reasons and that's an option. But you never say - NO CHOICE, let the family run with no leaders... Also, lets' say one of your option is your brother who wants to split the family take whatever is left and by course an option that would let you down as well?

You are old enough to decide, but too young to take huge responsibility (if you were responsible enough, you would have actually opted to lead the family), still you make a very careful and well thought out decision to elect someone who may be stupid, but the one who does not set fire what's already in stock.

So you have a choice:

1. Do you want to be the MP for your constituency?
2. Do you want a leader favourable to you?
3. Do you want one whom you trust?
4. Do you want one who favours you but one who would split the family and in due course let you down as well?
   
5. Do you want to choose a transient option but the one that can give a stability until you become a leader or by that time a leader arises (may be me ! )

Remember vasudhaiva kutumbakkam? we are all a family, we may have little choices now, but we have to choose. So let us think and think not only about us, but for all - in turn an option that nurtures us as well. Let us vote for Stability and Governance.

100 days to go!

1947 August 15th - the day we got freedom from colonial powers, but not yet from narrow minded politics. I request my fellow brothers and sisters of India to spend a few minutes in reading this blog and just two - three hours on one day during April-May. I started this blog with a good intention to just speak my mind on India and what we could do. The very first i use it towards our parliamentary elections that will happen between April-May '09. Before i go further, let me clarify, i am apolitical and i am not associated with any political organisation.

Only a strong and stable governance can help us take our country to a better state. One may be from Andhra, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa or wherever in the current Indian borders, but at the very hearts we share similar culture, similar food, similar dress and have many other similarities. It pains when i see the 'unity in diversity' slogan; some shortsighted regional parties are whipping up passion on the name of caste, language etc. At a time, when multi-dimensional problems are looming to take us back to non-governance, especially with the regional parties are fuelling it a lot. History can repeat itself. Remember how the colonisation started? When we were all busy fighting internally, we were taken into chains. Do we have to let that happen again? I repeat when we were busy infighting, we lost our pride, our wealth and everything. India was THE richest nation and had topped the GDP table till 1475AD.

Today we have a few good leaders in both the national parties, leaders with passion to serve the nation. But their hands are tied; Coalition governments are powerless and are curtailed by regional parties that are highly disruptive to our progress. Coalition governance can take us nowhere, everyone wants a share for their personal progress, the common man is suffering. Growth is retarded and challenged. Let us throw away the prejudice from our minds for just a day and serve the nation just for a day, not even a day, just 2-3 hours. I am just asking 2-3 hours.

USA took almost 250 years to become a super-power since its independence(1776); India in its 60 years (just 60 years) has had a good run and is a decade away from reaching a better state.We have a lot more to offer to our own self and the world; we showed we are a responsible nation, we showed our determination in our space trips, missile programmes and in many other fields. But one thing is pulling us back - coalition and the weak governance.

We have a choice, that we did not have during the days of monarchy. The choice - "VOTE"; Yes, We can VOTE! So i ask, i request, i plead, two or three hours from the readers to stand in the queue that day and vote. Alongside, I also place a humble request that, you vote to one of the national parties not to a regional or linguistic or a party with regional aspiration. Remember growth has to be inclusive and not to a region. When you have two eyes to see, why place importance to just one? When you have 28 states and 7 UTs, why place one before the other? Let's be inclusive - Let us vote to a national party and demand - yes, DEMAND good governance to take us forward.

Every drop of water makes a ocean, every vote counts. Your vote can change India. We know one man who has recently spearheaded change - Obama - we as individuals could collectively bring a new direction to India by a very simple step - 'Voting'.
Be the change!

(Also, could you vote in the poll on the left side top of this blog, that if you would vote or not in the parlimentary elections?)

PS: Please forward this to fellow indians and be the cause for change too. One candle lits another, let us make our future bright!