From credible Leadership to invaluable Opposition. The meandering AAP schematics just don’t add up

Off late we been sensing a tectonic shift in the rhetoric emanating from the AAP faithful – till just about a month back all we would receive from Shri Shri Kejriwal and Co is the good that AAP can do for the country if it comes into power (no matter the absolute zilch achieved during their 49 days stint in government). And now, we hear of them wanting to provide a clean opposition, a reliable conscience against the next government in power.

But this blurb isn’t a tirade against AAP and its antics (surprise, surprise), on the country I am advocating that we all do consider voting for them (!!) but not this year, not this time.

The call of the hours is that we have a government which has proved its self, a leader who has shown the way on development, on progress and on improving every single measurable human-development index in his state.

So here’s how I think this nightmarish scenario just might pan out.

If perchance the BJP is not able to win a significant number of seats which doesn't give the NDA a clear majority, it will be heavily reliant on not just its current allies but would also need to seek outside support from the likes of mercurial featherheads including, but not limited to, M/s Amma, Didi & Chichi’s – all of which dot the current Indian political landscape!

And to put this in perspective – spare a thought for our poor current PM; Maun Mohan Singh knows just as well what one can (mostly cannot) achieve when he is hemmed-in by a capricious women… a feeling, I'm sure, most married men will attest to!

So given this rather scary scenario we might have a government which is so reliant on its allies that it is almost held hostage to their whims and fancies. Would such a government be capable of pushing through big ticket economic reforms, of unleashing the bitter medicine that our economy, indeed the country needs to shake of years of socialist lethargy? We have for far too long been driven by policies that aim to please a particular bastille just in the name of garnering votes.

10 years and multiple mega scams later, where is our nation headed? Let us destroy the crooks from this government and their small-time selfish regional satraps who have cultivated their own private vote banks at the cost of this countries growth. At the same time filling their own coffers and banks accounts in Switzerland or Liechtenstein or Dubai.

Every vote that goes against BJP to people like the AAP who have yet to prove their mettle in any forum (adept handling of social media and drama bazi don’t count!) just might bring in one less seat to BJP, make it just a little bit weaker and ever so slightly more reliant on outside support. And is this a happy scenario? Does this in any way make for a strong decisive government?

Every vote for AAP doesn't bring in a stronger opposition; it just brings in a slightly weaker government who might be held beholden to some whimsical ally!

BJP is the best chance we have today, maybe the only chance the nation has! Let us bring in BJP with a strong and clear mandate required to clean up this unholy mess.

And if after 5 years they too turn out to be a bunch of muppets, I will personally wear the AAP topi to work each day thereafter till the 2019 elections!

Love and longing - the Indian political way

Churchill once quoted of Russia as a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.

But perhaps when it comes to understanding India, he just might have needed some additional puzzle solving skill sets.

Even in its most mundane form the Indian political tamasha can be mind numbing in its spectacle and sumptuousness. Most times the common Indian (less said of the poor foreigner, the better) is left scratching his, or her head, in wonderment as this juggernaut rolls on – sometimes with scant heed to propriety.. or even sanity!

The Indian election is an event of gargantuan proportions with the 2014 general expected to be the biggest democratic exercise in history with more than 800 million people casting their electronic ballots. But what adds a little bit (more) colour to these mammoth and impressive numbers are the honourable men and women who seek to get elected in to India’s hallowed corridors of the power – The Lok Sabha.

For most of us bored with the usual suspects – BJP, Congress, the communists, the regionalists, and of course the latest entrant AAP here are some other parties who, sadly, are much lesser known but pack an entertainment quotient no less than Ragul Gandhis IQ or Arvind Kejriwals perennial U-turns.

For all of us wallowing in the cruel, hateful world of today;  we have the Indian Lovers Party.

This lovely congregation led by B Kumar Sri Sri (not to be mistaken for either Sri Sri Ravi Shankar or Shri Shri Arvind Kejriwal) was launched as a regional party of Tamil Nadu on 14^th Feb (of course!) 2008.

This party’s aim is as bold as their symbol is colourful – to stand steady by star-crossed lovers from Indians myriad different castes, sub-casts and sub-sub casts of each religion … not to mention a plethora of religions too, whose draconian elders don't approve of their relationship.

Keeping in line with this party’s gallant ethos and in order to fulfil its noble and affectionate agenda, the party proudly aims to: “heal the wounds inflicted in the hearts of lovers by society.”

For all this talk about love, Mr. Kumar has a clear political roadmap in place. Although he is keen to make it clear that his heart truly belongs to this cause, he also readily admits that he adopted this platform as a foolproof way of garnering immediate attention for his party. He says that he has attracted over 100,000 supporters to his party so far, many of them youngsters.

He has helped organize and fund 15 weddings personally and in other cases has mediated with the parents on both sides to convince them to allow their children to marry. Mr. Kumar takes great care to ensure that he helps only “genuine lovers,” or couples who are both of legal age and want to get married to each other.

So all of you out there worried about what your parents, relations, the society or neighbours stand in the way of your true love – fear not! There is help at hand and like the caped crusader this one’s calling symbol is just as distinctive – the Taj Mahal framed in a heart, surrounded by pink with an arrow running across it