T-20 Cricket - Pros and Cons - 2 - Bowling

Is it a fact that T-20 Cricket has improved the area of Bowling?

On the positive side, Bowlers are more innovative. Knuckle Balls, Cross Seam Deliveries, Slow Bouncers, Doosras and more use of Yorkers have been added to the arsenal of many bowlers. Some of them transfer these skills to Test Cricket and ODI, and has reaped rich dividends. Jasprit Bumrah is a classic example. T-20 has also given a fresh lease of life to the Wrist Spinners, both Right and Left Arms. Bowlers are careful about bowling no balls, and with harsh wide rules in place, the overall accuracy has improved. Rarely do we see bizarre wides, like the one R P Singh bowled first up on being recalled in England, being bowled in Test Cricket these days.

However, the negatives are far too many. T-20 do not encourage genuine quicks. With batsmen swinging at everything, especially in the first Power Play, and with field restrictions in place, the faster you bowl, the faster the ball will travel to the boundary. This has forced many a genuine quick to sacrifice pace for accuracy, which is a pity. 

The bits and pieces cricketers, who ruined ODI for quite a long time (One of the reasons England never won a ODI World Cup), who bowl at 130's accurately, stump to stump is more preferred that a talented genuine quick or swing bowler.  T-20 is slowly killing the Swing and Seam Bowlers. Most of the pitches are roads, and bowler cannot expect any assistance from the pitch. In addition, the boundaries are so short, when the bowler induces a mis-hit from the batsman, more often than not the ball clears the fence. This has to do with the quality improvements in bats. 

Only the wrist spinner has a role in today's  T-20. Genuine traditional off spinners are not fielded for fear of being cross batted out of the ground. No spinner will dare to toss the ball up, since boundaries are only 60 metres at best. The art of using the flight and drift is history. There are rare exceptions like Kuldeep Yadav, but he is a class apart.

Wicket taking is a secondary objective, with containment the main one. When it comes to Test Cricket, most modern bowlers have forgotten how to plan, work out the batsmen and take his wicket. 

With even good balls being tonked around for sixes, bowlers get disheartened and stops innovating. They are seen more as a fodder for the batsmen.

Finally, with bowlers being allowed only 4 overs per innings, and that too they dont bowl at a stretch, any decent spell is limited to 2 overs at best. The fitness required is to bowl 2 intense overs, and not a 7-8 over spell which requires more stamina. We see more bowlers breaking down at Test level precisely because of this. When you have a 7-8 over spell, you can work on a batsman's weakness, persist with a strategy and get immense satisfaction when you get his wicket. You can have a bad spell in Test Cricket, but have the time to rethink, come back and redeem yourself. This is not possible in T-20.

I would call for more sportive pitches, which gives something to the bowler is a must. I would like to see a 125-135 score with an even contest between bat and ball, than a mindless 200 plus total. The boundary ropes have to be pulled back to at least 80 yards, if not 90. This shall make it difficult for batsmen to get away with mishits. It will also bring back the off spinner into the game, and encourage the spinners to flight more. The absurd leg side wide rule has to go. Batsmen are so innovative today that they are quite capable of handling a ball going down the leg side. We can have the leg side wide defined as one going beyond a further 3 stumps after the leg stump. This should be fair and discourage negative bowling.

Batsmen take too much risk because all the 11 can bat, and it is impossible for the team to be All out in 120 balls (though it does happen occasionally). Just as a bowler is allowed to bowl only 4 overs, the batting team should be allowed to use only 6 batsmen, and Team would deem to have been all out if 5 wickets fall. This should make the batsman think a bit more and not take suicidal risks, as is happening now. The top 6 batsmen should be able to last 20 overs.

T-20 Cricket - Pros and Cons - 1 - Fielding and Fitness

It is 14 years since the first T-20 International was played, and 11 years since IPL started. This format has created lot of spectator/audience interest and brought back crowds to the stadium. The purist, like me, continues to frown on T-20, but it is undeniable that T-20 has revived interest in Cricket, which was facing an existential crisis at the beginning of the century. Let us see the pros and cons.

With the advent of T-20, fielding standards and fitness of players have shown an astounding increase. We marveled once at the frozen frame of Jonty Rhodes air borne to run out a batsmen in ODI and his fielding used to be the benchmark for a long time. But today, there are many who are equal to or even better than Jonty. Some of the catches taken at the boundary ropes are breath taking. Palming the ball up inside the boundary, then stepping out, and coming back to finish the catch is passe. The ground fielding and catching in the deep is excellent. There are very few slouches on the field, and Captains dont have to worry about hiding poor fielders in the ground, as there is no place for poor fielders in a T-20 team. There are a few exceptions like Chris Gayle, but then he is a class act with the bat. Fielding inside the ring is sharper, and pick up & throwing is generally top class. 

The downside to T-20 is the negative impact it has on Close in Catching. Slip fielders are non existent, and we have not seen a Forward Short Leg in a T-20 match for a long time. The quality of Slip catching has taken a nose dive, and this can be seen from the amount of catches being dropped in the Slip cordon in Test matches. 

T-20 has created an awareness among youngsters on the need to be a super fit athlete. Poor Pujara. Despite all his batting skills and exploits, he doesnt find a place in any IPL team. It is not that he is not fit as a batsman, but he is nowhere near the fitness level required for a good fielder. Remember how Kohli benched Sarfraz at RCB for not working hard on his fitness. To his credit, Virat Kohli leads by example, and has created a revolution in the area of team and individual fitness.

For me, this stress on fitness is the greatest contribution of T-20. When I used to attend Coaching Camps in early1980s, our exercise regime included 2 laps around the ground, a few stretching exercises. These days, every aspiring cricketer spends a few hours a day in the gym. He has to, or else he will be left behind. The women cricketers are fantastically athletic too - Veda Krishnamurthy is a classic example. 

T-20 is creating a generation of super fit youngsters, and that is great for the society

Reality stares at Congress

The Lutyens media and the Congress eco system are trying their best to prop up the Party as an alternative to BJP. But the ground realities are different.

Let us look at the last three elections, and seats won by Congress in 3 States, Andhra Pradesh (United), UP and Maharashtra. Together these 3 States (now 4, as AP has been bifurcated to AP and Telengana) send 170 MPs to the Lok Sabha, which is slightly less than 1/3rd of the Seats.

Year                        AP            Maharashtra            UP             Total        

2004                         29                 13                            9                  51

2009                         33                 17                           21                 71

2014                           2**                2                             2                  6

** The 2 seats in AP in 2014 is from the bifurcated Telengana, with Congress drawing a blank in AP.

Come 2019, Congress's best case scenario is,

Year                        AP            Maharashtra            UP             Total        

2019                          0                    2                              1                3

Congress is virtually wiped out in erstwhile AP (now AP and Telengana), with BJP and Shiv Sena on alliance in Maharashtra Congress will struggle to get even the 2 seats, and in UP the best case scenario is Sonia retaining Rae Bareilly. 

Congress has not made any major inroads in any other State to compensate for this. 

As things stand today, Congress will struggle to touch 60, and that too only if they eat humble pie in Bihar and Delhi. I am not sure they will make much headway in MP, Rajasthan and Karnataka. True, BJP almost had a clean sweep in the first two, and this time they will drop seats. But the Congress State Government's performance is nothing to shout about. 

This is the reality. The noise you hear on Media is only optics, nothing more.

Areas for Modi to focus during his Second Term - 1

Now that he has stabilized the Economy, done excellent work on Infrastructure Development and Foreign Policy, Modi has to turn his attention to certain critical issues dragging the Country down during his Second Term.

First and foremost is to clean up the Judiciary. Our Judiciary is the epitome of inefficiency, cronyism and corruption (both moral and monetary). The appointment to SC is opaque, and about 50 families have dominated the SC Judges panel during the past few decades. This is totally unacceptable. Cases take decades (I have a personal experience of a land dispute filed against us in 1998 still stuck in local Civil Court till date). The Conviction rate in Criminal Case is abysmally low, and in cases pertaining to Economic Crimes, almost zero. The drama surrounding  Sahara has made our judiciary a laughing stock. Government has tried to rectify this with the new laws, but that pertains to recovery of money. The fraudsters still can hope to go scot free or be a VIP undertrial. The entire Judiciary should be asked to fall in line or impeached. Courts should start functioning by 9.30 am and work till 5.30 pm. They should enjoy only standard holidays, and no bullshit about Summer Holidays, Vacations etc. The number of adjournments that can be sought should be limited to one or two per plaintiff and defendant. With technology available, if lawyers cant file responses within a week, they dont deserve to be lawyers. The lawyers fee has to be capped, so that the poorest of the poor have access to legal aid. Or alternatively, as part of CSR, Law Firms should be made to do pro-bono work compulsorily for 25% of the cases.

The Prison system, allowing rich and powerful criminals to misuse the parole and medical reasons, has to be demolished and reconstructed. We need to have more open prisons for not so hardened criminals, that gives them a real chance of reforming themselves. The prisons for hardened criminals should ensure they get no special privilege whatsoever. We have a situation in Kerala, where criminals convicted of Political murders are enjoying their life in Prison, and get Parole at will. Lalu Prasad Yadav is having field day running his party from the Prison. Whether Sasikala is actually confined to prison or is living in a hotel outside no one knows. Once criminals lose the fear of prison, they and others will continue to defy law at will.

The great shake up has to be in the Police Department. Our Police Force is a joke. No one has faith in them. Their ability to solve crimes in a time bound manner is questionable. In most States, the Police Force is highly politicised, unfit and corrupt. They are abusive to boot.  We also need a modern Police Force at the Centre like the FBI in USA, that has the powers to investigate on all cases that has inter-state ramification, without having to being requested by the State Government. The focus should be on prevention of crime rather than detection, post crime. The conviction rate has to increase, targets fixed. The Police has to be made accountable for the law and order in their area.  They should be protected from Political interference. All appointments has to be made by the Policemen themselves, and should not be influenced by Politicians. A classic example is how the Armed Forces handle this issue. It is why they are head and shoulders above everyone else, and trusted/respected by common man

Technology pertaining to Crime, Detection, Punishment has grown by leaps and bounds. Our system is still in medieval ages. We desperately need a state of the art Justice, Police and Prison System that is futuristic in thinking..... to be continued....

Modi vs XYZ - A No Contest

The Opposition has got it all wrong.

Not a single electorate will concur with their slogan that Modi is Corrupt. Even the die hard 'so called intellectual' Malayalis, or Bengalis, or people from Minority Communities who have an axe to grind, may blame Modi for many things, but will never accuse him of Corruption. 

We have just witnessed 5 years of major corruption free Governance. And this has come after the disastrous UPA 1 and 2, which was mired in scandals after scandal. People have not forgotten about the loot of Sonia Gandhi, Robert Vadra, Chidambaram, A Raja et al, and are relieved to have someone like Modi bring in a whiff of fresh air, and restore their faith in Politicians.

All the attempts by Rahul Gandhi to somehow find out corruption in Rafaele deal has fallen flat. The deal is clean as a whistle, and this has been ratified by CAG and Supreme Court.

By raising this issue in every electoral meeting, Rahul Gandhi is only drawing attention to his party's poor track record with respect to corruption and making Modi a taller figure.

The opposition just do not have a narrative. Their only objective is to target Modi personally, which is not working.

We have not seen an alternate vision of Governance or Concrete policies that will be put into place if UPA is voted back to power.

All we hear is X, Y , Z wanting to become the Prime Minister with outside support, for none in the opposition hopes to get a majority on their own.

Only BJP has the capability to get more than 250 seats in todays scenario.

Congress's best case scenario is 60-75, and every other opposition party expects nothing more than 25 seats on their own. How do you cobble up a majority of 272 with that?

Demonetization is long forgotten, and though many lost money during note ban, the silent majority is thankful to Modi for at least making these black money hoarders sweat and squirm for a few days.

GST has been a reasonable success, and people have begun to find out that they have more money at their disposal post GST implementation.

Swatch Bharath, 100% Electrification, Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, Support income for farmers, Road laying has all produced visible benefits to the poor.

The disgruntled middle class, who were unhappy with Modi, is pacified with IT exemption till Rs 5 Lakhs.

And finally, Modi's strong stand against terrorist attack by Pakistan, and the Airforce strike deep inside Pakistan, has made Indians look up at others with Pride. 

Nationalism and Patriotism is such an emotive issue. And the electorate view Modi as the ultimate Nationalist and Patriot, while sniggering about the anti national stand taken by the opposition, who made the cardinal sin of questioning the Air Strikes and its efficacy.

Modi is a master orator and BJP is quick on its feet. See how the Mein Bhi Chowkidhar was launched which took the sting out of Chowkidhar Chor Hai campaign of the opposition. He will dominate the air waves, and will dictate the Agenda during the next 45 days.  No one in the opposition is a match for him. They can at best whine and take potshots.

As things stand today, I expect Modi to win seats comparable to what he did in 2014.

And that will be a big achievement in the absence of a wave.

P.S: It is amusing to see Opposition leaders helping each other only in the Constituencies they contest. SP-BSP supporting Sonia and Rahul in Rae Bareilli and Amethi, and Congress offering not to contest in the seats where SP-BSP leaders and their family is Contesting. This is the true face of dynastic politics.

This is possible only in Bharath, moulded by Hindu Culture

The McCaulay Putras/Putris who adorn the Luteyns wont understand this. They have a sense of entitlement and look down upon the common man from the "Bharath". 

For them, the achievers have to be English/Convent Educated, and studied abroad/JNU/ St. Stephens, speaking flawless english, and maintaining protocol that is approved by Western Countries.

Simple Indian gestures hold no meaning for them

It is why this is a great sight.

Saalumarada Thimmakka (Alada Marada Timakka) is an Indian environmentalist from Karnataka, noted for her work in planting and tending to 385 banyan trees along a four-kilometre stretch of highway between Hulikal and Kudur. She has also planted nearly 8000 other trees.

Thimmakka's story is that of grit and determination. She reportedly wanted to commit suicide when she was in her 40's as she was unable to bear a child. With the support of her husband, she found solace in planting trees.

She received no formal education and worked as a casual laborer in a nearbyy quarry. She was conferred Padma Shri by Government of India in 2019.

There is one minor point more - She is all of 107 years old.

The above is a wonderful sight.  The poor, weather beaten,  107 yrs old wisened, Padma-Award-Winner giving blessing to President of India in a public function, and President is accepting wholeheartedly and in a humble manner disregarding Protocol.

Her innocence is heart warming. She is not overwhelmed by the occasion or the fact that the person she is blessing is the First Citizen of India. It comes naturally to her to bless him, and the expression on the President's face clearly indicates how much he is moved by this.

This is the real India. This is the Hindu Culture. This is what is getting destroyed.

And it is possible only in India and with a Hindu President (from BJP/RSS background)!

Same Data, Different Interpretation and Contrasting Outcome

Sometime 1990's, the two major Aircraft manufacturers in the world Boeing and Airbus took major strategic decisions on the way forward. Both based their decision on the same traffic data and projections.

The outcome was interesting.

As any seasoned Air Traveler is aware, the Airlines fly on a hub and spoke model. There are flights from hub to hub,  then a changeover to the hub to spoke flights, and vice versa. Some of the major hubs are Dubai, Singapore, Colombo, Addis Ababa, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London to name a few. 

Airbus interpreted the data and concluded that the future lies in long distance hub to hub flights, that can carry more number of people in a single flight, to reduce cost. They came up with Airbus A 380, the biggest Aircraft manufactured ever, that can carry 525 - 800 passengers depending on the configuration, with adequate comfort suitable for long haul flights. The first flight was in 2005, and the Aircraft was inducted commercially in 2007.

Boeing had a totally opposite view point. Their take was that the future of Airlines is in hub to spoke, or spoke to spoke short flights, and decided to go for lesser capacity, fuel efficient Aircraft - Boeing 787 Dream liner, which can carry 230-290 passengers. The test flight was in 2007, and the first commercial flight in 2009.

I remember discussing this as a case study in 2008 while teaching Strategic Management to MBA students. We had a healthy discussion then.

A decade down the line, Airbus has found out that their strategy was horribly wrong and decided to stop the production of A 380 from 2021. They sold just 234 A 380s, and once Emirates, their major customer decided against long haul flights, the goose was cooked.

Contrary to Airbus forecast, the customer preferred direct spoke to spoke flights, even if the flight were to be smaller and less comfortable. No one wanted 3-5 hours transit in another hub, but rather wanted to get to the destination ASAP.

A costly mistake for Airbus, as it takes 20 years to develop an Aircraft, and another 20 to recover the cost. They projected that 270 Aircraft was required for Break Even in 2005, and the market size was 1000 plus. Production delays, technical glitches, inadequacy of Airports capable of handling the giant A 380 all meant the break even figures went up to 420, which they never achieved. A 380 was perhaps the Ford Edsel moment for Airbus.

Boeing, on the other hand, is doing well with 787. They have already sold 789 Aircraft. Their Break even is slightly over 1000, which they are expected to achieve. They too had a host of issues, ranging from technical problems, faulty wiring to fuel leaks to fire. And delay in production. They have appeared to overcome these issues and should at least break even in the long run.

As I mentioned in my lectures way back in 2008, an interesting case study of interpretation of data.

Things that baffle me about Indians

Things that baffle me about Indians.

Why are we so obsessed with Pakistan, which has an economy not even comparable to Maharashtra State. The media, opposition and experts always hyphenate India with Pakistan, just because they split from us in 1947.  Let us treat them as they are - a non entity. Declare Pakistan as a Terrorist State, cut diplomatic ties, shut the borders, and dont allow movement of people or goods between the countries. And STOP discussing about this mosquito for 5 years. If they send terrorists, bomb the hell out of them, and damn the collateral damage.

Why are we pampering the minorities in India? India is a Hindu Majority Country, and we are a democracy. We should make laws as per the wishes of the majority. If minorities want special status, let them win enough seats to gain a majority or else they shut up and accept the law of the land.

What is so big about Brexit? This obsession with Brexit is because people think they will get respect only if they talk about Brexit. How does it matter to the common man whether Britain stays in EU or not? Britain is a decaying economy and has no strategic importance to us. There are other Countries, big and small, whose association will benefit India. Let Britain rot. Who cares?

Why the media circus over Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra? Both have negligible intelligence, are spoiled people, have not done a days honest work, have looted India, and has zero administrative experience or leadership skills. Add to that there are unconfirmed reports that the former is a junkie and the latter is an alcoholic. BJP needs a good opposition, but definitely not these nincompoops. 

Why this excessive crediting of success to Sachin and Dhoni? Is it because both have good PR guys, who plant news about how they contribute to the success of the current team. Sachin was a great batsman, and that is it. Dhoni is tactically strong and gets the best out of young players. But to suggest that it is only because of them that India is winning or that they have a hand in every success, big or small,  is ridiculous. For that matter, two people who has done yeomen service to create a talent pool are Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan. They have been terrific with youngsters and dont beat their drums. Their wards performances speaks for them.

MCC's suggested reforms for Test Cricket is quixotic

The MCC has come with some more idiotic reforms - this time they want to tinker with Test Cricket, after making a mess of ODI and T20.

Pray, what are the reforms?

To ensure 90 overs are bowled within a day, they want to run a clock with time limits for Batsmen to get in or out, for field to change over after each over etc etc. And if the time limits are not met,  the team guilty of offence will get a warning first, followed by a 5 run penalty. 

This is downright stupid. In the first place, no team bowls 90 overs in 6 hours these days, unless spinners bowl 60-70 overs, and one of those spinners is Ravindra Jadeja, who gets through his overs in 90 seconds. True, an extension of 30 minutes is given, which is availed  95% of the time, and which clearly indicates that bowling 90 overs a day is not possible in standard conditions.

What is sacrosanct about 90 overs? Most teams easily bowl 13 overs an hour, even with fast bowlers operating. Why doesn't MCC take a call to reduce the overs per day to a minimum of 80 overs per day? Or Alternatively extend the hours to 7. This is easily possible with most of the grounds having good quality flood lights. The lunch hour can be reduced to 20 minutes. This means we have this 20 minutes, the extra half hour plus another 10 minutes. This is easily achievable.

The other proposed change is to give a free hit if a no ball is bowled. I was always against the free hit concept. The bowler has already been penalized with a run and any wicket taken with the no ball is not counted (except run out). And he had to re bowl the ball. What is the big charm in allowing the already pampered batsmen to have a free hit? In any case, only about 7-8 no balls are bowled per day in Test Cricket. How this rule of introducing the free hit is going to improve Test Cricket is beyond me.

The other reform to opt for only one Ball manufacturer is welcome. I just hope they do not choose the useless kookaburra balls. It should be fine as long as the ball is made by Duke or SG. Better still, why dont MCC decide what the nature of the ball should be, apart from dimensions they can also decide on the seam, shine etc, and give it to all the ball manufacturers. This way there will be healthy competition. 

There are so many other areas that need improvement, and MCC has an ostrich like attitude towards them. I have written about this before in this blog

Congress is sinking fast

Wheels are coming off the Congress Party one by one. And it is due to their arrogance and the sense of entitlement they feel.

With just 44 seats in the last Lok Sabha poll, and not a major player in majority of the States, Congress should have eaten the humble pie and tried to not play the big brother with other Opposition parties.  They got away with a majority share of seats in Kerala (mainly due to Muslim League not insisting on more seats despite having 18 MLAs to Congress's 22, because of their internal politics. Congress will contest in nearly 16 seats out of 20 in Kerala), and got a more than the deserved number of seats in Tamil Nadu (probably Stalin extracted a good financial compensation from Congress here).

They are in shambles in the rest of the country. Look at the scenario below;

• In UP, SP and BSP has shut the door firmly on Congress. Congress is humiliated, but dare not refuse SP-BSP support only in Amethi and Rae Bareili, where Rahul and Sonia contests. If Congress has any sense of self respect, they should dare SP-BSP to contest against Ma-Beta. But they wont, for both will not even retain their deposits if they do that. That is how popular they are in their constituencies.
• BSP has categorically told that they will not have any association with Congress anywhere in India. This is a body blow. The BSP has solid transferable votes, and their refusal do not augur well for Congress. It also shows Mayawati has judged the mood of the nation well, and has kept the door open for a post poll BJP tie up if required. In the least, she wants to be on good terms with BJP, in order for her numerous cases to be soft pedaled. Both BSP and Congress aim at the same vote bank - Dalits. Mayawati doesnt like this. She is very protective of her core vote bank. Hence her decision.
• Mamta hates Rahul Gandhi, and wont touch Congress with a ten foot poll in Bengal. She is also miffed with Rahul for not supporting her in Tripura a year ago. The end result is that Congress has to go for seat sharing in some seats with CPM of the all the people, with whom they are fighting in Kerala. 
• The JDS is driving a hard bargain in Karnataka and the seat sharing is not finalized yet. JDS has not forgotten the humiliation heaped on their CM by the alliance partner Congress. Even if there is an alliance, the Chemistry is so bad, you can get JDS cadre will try their best to ensure Congress is defeated.
• Maharashtra is an interesting case. Congress and NCP are in it together. But once BJP finalized with Shiv Sena, many NCP candidates, and quite a few Congress candidates have developed cold feet. And some of them have switched over to BJP, including the Congress opposition leaders son. Sharad Pawar is a potential PM Candidate if opposition cobbles a majority. But he has decided not to fight. He is a weather cock. He has understood Modi is winning, and wisely decided to stay out. This is a clear indication NCP doesnt have the stomach for a fight, and is not expected to pull their weight in Maharashtra.
• Congress is out of the frame in Orissa. Even if BJD gets a few seats, they are an automatic partner for BJP if required.
• Congress has declined to partner with AAP in Delhi. This is the only principled stand they have taken. But that is more due to their distrust of Kejriwal. Both Congress and AAP fight for the same vote bank. It is likely BJP will win a few seats in Delhi, which would not have happened if Congress and AAP have joined hands, as BJP has a solid 35% votes in Delhi.
• Gujarat - Congress is in a disarray, with MLAs resigning and joining BJP every day. In any case for a Gujarathi, Modi is their pride. They will ensure he is given as much MPs as possible.
• Bihar - All is not well with RJD and Congress. Congress has been seeking the same seats where RJD is strong, and this has not gone down well with Tejaswi Yadav. Still they might go to the polls together. But with Nitish Kumar aligning with BJP, it is not an cake walk for them, in fact, they may not get 40% of the seats
• This leaves Punjab, MP and Rajastan where Congress is in power and dont need allies. Captain Amareendar Singh is respected and will win Punjab. There is discontent against Kamal Nath and Gehlot in MP and Rajastan. Both just scraped through in the Assembly elections. People have started longing for Chouhan again in MP. It is my take that Congress will get a set back in these two States
• That leaves AP and Telengana. Congress has no alliances in both these States, and wont even retain their Deposits in any of the seats.

As things stand, the best case scenario for Congress is 80 seats across the country, but my take is it will be closer to 65.

And it will reduce further if Rahul Gandhi keeps on talking about a non existent scam in Rafaele, and attack the Army, which has not gone down well with patriotic Indians. The more Rahul or Priyanka speaks, the more people will vote for BJP.

Hatred for one man can make people lose their ability to think coherently

In 2014, Modi was an unknown entity at the National Level. He was known as an efficient Gujarat Chief Minister.

A good portion of his party was against him becoming PM, including doyens like Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha as also aspiring leaders like Sushma Swaraj.

Still he won a majority for BJP on its own. It cannot all be attributed to the Corruption and poor Governance of Congress/UPA. They were always corrupt in peoples eyes.

5 years down the line, Modi has proved himself as a strong leader, revived the economy big time, has done considerable development works, even done things like 100% electrification, 30 crore Bank Accounts, Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, Roads built at frenetic pace, Railways modernized, lot of work done on the Agricultural front, raised the image of India globally, and taught Pakistan a lesson. He is also unchallenged in the party. BJP is also in power in majority of the States, unline 2014 and has a pan India foot print. Modi is personally incorruptible and there has been no scandals - major or minor. The Government and its leader is clean as a whistle.

Still our biased media and self styled experts project that he will get less seats than what he got in 2014!! 

Hatred for one man can make people lose their ability to think coherently

I dont have to stick my neck out to say that NDA is likely to win at least 320 + seats.

Will Election Commission grow up?

Having to suffer a bungling idiotic Judiciary is bad enough, now we will have to bear the stupidity of another Constitutional Agency - The Election Commission.

Both these Organizations have usurped powers far beyond what is mandated, and are trying to intrude into our lives in every possible manner.

The Judiciary has become a laughing stock - mandating on how high the Dahi Handi tower be, or that we can burst crackers only for a couple of hours designated by the Lordships and even those crackers should not make sound or emit smoke, etc etc.

But they have no balls to give their judgement on an issue pending for 75 years - the Ram Janma Bhumi, which is, as per the Court a title dispute!!!

Now the Election Commission will start. They have already done so 'warning' parties not to use Abhinandans photos in any posters.  It is for Abhinandan or the army to take up this issue if they want, as they are the affected party, and I have no idea why EC should take suo motto notice of this.

Despite all the powers assumed by EC, they have spectacularly failed in their attempt to stop Cash/kind for votes anywhere. In Tamil Nadu, all the parties set up booths in residential areas where Cash to the tune of Rs 2,000 to Rs 20,000 is offered in public, based on voter slips. One has to be blind not to see this. And apart from suspending elections for a few months, what has EC done to curb the menace? Zilch. 

Mamta Bannerjee has gone out of the way to ban or obstruct BJP from holding rallies or political events in West Bengal. It will be interesting to see EC acting against her once poll dates are announced. My guess is that EC will chicken out and allow the tyrant lady to pursue her whimsical actions. Free and fair elections can go for a six.

It is public knowledge that P Chidambaram manipulated the recounting in 2009 and won the elections. The case against him has not seen the light of the day, though 10 years have passed. And he ruled with impunity and looted the country. EC has nothing to say about this.

Time and again we see Candidates abusing others openly, and EC just conducting a mock of an enquiry, and letting them off go with a warning not to repeat. And this in a country where Hardik Pandya is being investigated by an Ombudsman (whatever it is) for making an innocuous but inappropriate generic comment about the women he has dated in a TV Program.

Every election we see EC sponsored Videographers going around taking videos of the campaign. What do EC do with these videos? I have no idea, and no one else does.

EC takes cases against the candidate if they use Loudspeakers at 10.01 pm, as there is a diktat that they cannot be used after 10 pm. And what happens to these cases? Nothing.

It is time we dispensed away with the Model Code of Conduct. It is rubbish and unenforceable. All it does is to have the entire Government Machinery and political decision making to come to a stand still for 2-3 months.

Should Modi not allow Armed Forces to retaliate because there is a Model Code of Conduct? Opposition can always claim he will get an unfair advantage if there is another Surgical Strike.

And like SC, EC has become inefficient. With all the technology available, and all the forces available, why cant EC have a single day polling all over India? This would ensure disruptions to public life and governance  are limited to 21 days maximum. One Week for filing nominations, and 15 days for campaigning is more than enough. 

With EVMs, results should be announced the next day. We used to do it with paper ballots. But now, in some constituencies, votes are counted after 30-40 days. Why should people wait in agony, because of EC's inefficiency. Agreed that there would be requirements for repoll in some booths. But the % is so small, it will not affect the final outcome.

And no nanny behaviour please. Indian voters are highly mature. They know what is good for them. EC doesnt have to baby sit them.

Will the EC grow up ever?

Updated 11/3/2019 - Just read that Kerala Election Commissioner has issued a diktat that Sabarimala issue should not be talked about during the Lok Sabha election campaign (apparently it pertains to a Supreme Court Judgement and hence the ban)!!!. This is the most important topic in the elections in Kerala, especially the hooligan behaviour of the Communist Government in going out of the way to hurt Hindu sentiments. How dare the EC say this cannot be talked about? This ridiculous idea that no candidate should talk about religion, caste etc should be done away with. Everything needs to be discussed, and no molly coddling is required.  Election is not a T 20 game to have fielding restrictions and bowling restrictions. It has to be, and is akin to Test Cricket. Grow up EC

Cricket - Of BCCI, Australians and West Indies

The Supreme Court has really made a mess of the only well managed Sports Organization in India - BCCI. True, there were issues of cronyism in BCCI, as is there in every sphere. By appointing COA to oversee implementation of SC dictated reforms (which has no legal standing),  then seeing the 4 member COA being reduced to 2 (why didnt SC not fill the vacancies), with the current two at logger heads on every issue (Vinod Rai and Diana Eduljee), and SC taking an Ostrich like attitude, future doesnt augur well for BCCI. They have already lost much of their clout in ICC, and no one knows who is running BCCI. Before, at least there used to be elections, and the BCCI was run in a democratic manner. If undesirables won the elections, that is another matter. It happens. This is a country where a person who never got elected to Lok Sabha was the Prime Minister for 10 years, with an elected tyrant lady pulling the strings backstage. It is high time SC got out of running BCCI by proxy (frankly, it is not their business to do so) and allow BCCI to sort out their internal issues.

The Hardik Pandya - K L Rahul saga of interview with Karan Johar saga has taken a ridiculous turn. True, Hardik Pandya made some comments about his dalliance with women which could have been avoided. All it required was for the BCCI Chief to call them up and say "Son, you need to stop bragging, and behave responsibly. Off you go and run 20 laps of Wankhade Stadium, bowl 1000 balls extra, hit 500 balls more in the nets, and dont bloody repeat this." Shit happens with young kids. They have really made a spectacle of these boys, suspended them (for what?) and now the latest is that the case has gone to an Ombudsman. I dont know what this creature can do? Sentence them to 50 lashes? Ridiculous.

The same logic can be applied to the Ball Tampering case against Steve Smith, David Warner and Brancroft. Ball tampering has been in vogue for a long time. There is a proscribed punishment if caught in ICC rules. And that should have been applied and matter ended there. But CA made a spectacle of them.

Actually, this meltdown has been long coming. Australia's lack of ethics and bullying has been a cause of worry for a long time. And they got away with worse things. They were brash, abusive and showed total lack of respect for opponents. The umpires and match referees tolerated a lot of nonsense under the label of 'this is the Australian way of playing', instead of telling them that 'there is an International way of playing, and you are expected to abide by it". 

The rot really reached the bottom when Darren Lehman became the Coach. It is amusing to note that he got away scot free in this incident. It is he, who should have been banned for life from Coaching or being anywhere near Players, for he is a bad influence.

Remember the case where Australia were plainly cheating by seeking help from the Dressing Room with respect to DRS? Smith was caught red handed, and India were sure this had happened before. Austrialia's success rate with DRS, post being caught with pants down, has shown a marked decline, and this is not due to chance by any stretch of imagination. This whole charade was conceived and directed by Lehman. There is no doubt he is the father of the  ball tampering saga. And the pace bowlers all got off scot- free. No way they would not have known about this. They were the beneficiaries. The fact that Australians have not been able to get any reverse swing after this incident is clear proof of this.

Australian cricketers behaviour needed a shake up. No doubt about that. But that should have been done in a different way. All it required was for CA to read the riot act to the players, and appoint as Coach and Captain, people who have sound value system, and easing out the bad influences.

Moving to another topic- DRS. While the new rules, where teams in Test Cricket has only two reviews per innings, with a return of Umpires Call leading to no loss of review is much better than the old rules, it is still a matter of concern as to how the possibility of the same situation returning with different outcomes depending on how umpire has called it in the first place. If umpire has given a batsman out LBW, and DRS returns an Umpires Call decision, then the batsman stays out. But for the same situation, if the umpires original decision was not out, and DRS returns an Umpires call decision, the batsman is not out. This is unacceptable. There should only be one decision. Admittedly, this is because the ball tracking is at best an assumption and hence there is a possibility of error. But it is better to give the batsmen out if the ball were to hit the stumps. 

I am quite pleased at the improved showing of West Indies against England at home. For long, West Indies cricket has been languishing. It is always a joy to watch them play. They behave well, their joy at simple success is a treat for the eye, they dont abuse opponents, and they enjoy their cricket. I was pleased to see young Hetmyer, in his 80s in a ODI, roaring in disgust not being able to put a full toss away for a boundary- not once but thrice. That is the commitment and drive one would like to see in youngsters. They are not as spoilt as Indian cricketers, for they earn a fraction of what Indian cricketers earn. The content on the face of Kemar Roach on outfoxing another batsmen, the Salute of Cottrell on taking a Wicket ( it is unique ), the sight of a dignified Holder leading the team majestically and giving his all whether batting, bowling or fielding in a calm manner, the ebullience of Shai Hope or Darren Bravo and the calm assurance of Dowrich behind and in front of the wickets plus a few man mountain fast bowlers cranking up 145 mph plus - all these show signs of a West Indian revival. You dont need ego filled Super stars in a team, what you need is a team full of committed, talented people with good attitude. It will be interesting to watch how they carry on from here

Modi has blown the Panchajanyam

By asking for Pakistani Terrorist/ISI body counts in the Air Attack by IAF, the mentally retarded Opposition Parties are playing right into Modi's hands.

They do not understand that they sound churlish, and talking against the national sentiment, which is fully supportive and proud of our Army and Modi.

The Air attack was a resounding success. Period. Full stop. It is immaterial 350 died or 35 died. 

You dont question success.  That is bad strategy.

Even the Supreme Court is discredited these days. But the Common man has implicit faith in our Armed Forces, who have behaved with impeccable professionalism all these years. And the Opposition parties are questioning their integrity and professionalism. 

It is just not done.

The hapless Opposition has just seen their carefully built up Election Campaign strategy dismantled brick by brick - the IT limit hike, Farmers support income, rationalization of GST, turning the screws on Chidambaram, his son and Robert Vadra have all taken its toll. Only thing they could shout was Rafaele deal, which was a non starter, but something to talk about.

Modi has turned the discussion from Purchase of Rafaele to Delay in Purchase of Rafaele, where Congress Government of Manmohan Singh is on a very weak wicket. Even the idiot Rahul Gandhi was forced to question why Rafaele was delayed in one of his election meeting, not knowing he was scoring a self goal.

With Election dates to be announced this week, the Opposition, despite the larger number of parties in it is gasping for breath.

Even during the Kurukshetra war, the Kauravas had 11 Akshouhini Padas, compared to Pandavas 7.

And we know who was victorious in the end.

Panchajanyam has been blown by Modi

All it requires is one push from India

By adopting Defensive Offense, India has created a paradigm shift in its war against terror, sponsored by Pakistan.

It is no secret that Pakistan has been training, funding and providing logistic support to terrorist to infiltrate and create havoc in India since 1990s. Bleeding India by 1000 cuts has been the strategy. This is a low intensity war tactic, with hardly any cost, as Pakistan was sure India will not retaliate, for fear of escalating the situation to a war, and that too with a country with a nuclear capability.

The nuclear arsenal was considered to be a huge deterrent and flaunted by Pakistan, as a deterrent against conventional warfare, if adopted by India.

India was caught in the limbo. Isolated terror attacks did not warrant a military response across the border. The International Community would have not taken to it. They would have viewed it as use of excessive force, and Pakistan could easily have played victim.

Over the years, Pakistan has developed an eco-system of politicians, journalists and sympathizers inside India, who were paid for, and did their bidding in discrediting and weakening India.

And add to this, a wimp like Manmohan Singh, and a double wimp like A K Antony as Prime Minister and Defense Minister, who were just puppets in the hand of Sonia Gandhi, who has no love lost for India, as a nation. Between them, they demoralized the armed forces completely. The public looked hapless. The International Community, which never had a high opinion of India, mocked at us. We, as a nation, suffered.

Then Modi happened. He and Ajit Duval worked hard to first bring the International Community to our fold. All the miles clocked by Modi had to pay dividends at some time. Remember 'Godfather'. How Michael Corleone systematically rebuild his fathers organization,  cemented the relationship with powerful politicians and judiciary ( 'getting all the connections wired up') before taking on the opposition, and destroying them in one night of action.

Perhaps Modi and Duval took a leaf out of Mario Puzo. My gut feeling is that Modi would have preferred to wait till the Second Term to teach Pakistan a military lesson. But his hand was forced by the attack on CRPF Jawans.

His hand was forced, just as Michael Corleones was when Don Corelone died a natural death. It couldnt be pushed back again. Modi had to attack here and now, and how he did. 

Our Air Force crossed over to Pakistan, and bombed the hell out of Terrorist Training Camps, and returned safely.

Pakistan Army, which virtually rules the Country,  controls the population through well managed anti-India rhetoric, while highlighting the capability (including nuclear) of Pakistan Army. People feared the Army and are in awe of it.

But India Air Force bombing Pakistan, and Pakistan Army unable to either stop it or retaliate (the feeble attempt with F-16 was a bigger disaster, only camouflaged by the capture of our pilot, fact remains that an obsolete MIG 21 downed a modern F-16), has totally discredited Pakistan Army. Despite the spin, having to return Indian Pilot within 3 days of capture, was a further loss of face. Pakistan suddenly found they had no friends at all, even OIC told them that they are dispensable.

I guess this is the beginning of the end of Pakistan. Once people lose their awe, and starts making fun of Pakistan Army, the control they had all these years is gone. 

With a failing economy, no oil reserves (Pakistan was forced to close down all Airports to save Aviation Fuel, so that they could be used by Military, if required), rising inflation, trouble prone areas like Baluchistan, POK, the future looks bleak.

All it requires is a push from India, which will happen post elections.

Prithvi, Mayank and Shreyas should form the backbone of Indian WC Middle Order

I am not quite convinced about the Indian Middle order. We lack one quality batsman.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan up the order, followed by Virat Kohli looks the best bet, though both Rohit and Shikhar have issues with the moving ball, and could be exposed in England during the World Cup.

 The real issue lies with # 4 and # 5. Despite his immense contribution to Indian Cricket, with due respects, M S Dhoni is no #4 nor # 5. Nor is Ambati Rayudu. Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant are at best reasonable Wicket Keeper Batsmen who should not bat above #7. Since M S Dhoni brings more value as a Wicket Keeper - Batsman (and leader), he is the ideal owner of #7.

#6 is sealed by Kedar Jadhav. I love his composure and range of strokes. He is so still and calm at the Crease, and brings a sense of sanity down the order. And he has a terrific temperament to boot. Kedar, with his low arm, round arm off spin gives the extra option of the 5th/6th bowler to the Captain. He is your all rounder in the team.

# 8, 9, 10, 11 will be pure bowlers, most likely Bhuvaneswar Kumar, Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and either Chahal or Kuldeep Yadav. 3 Seamers in England with a wrist spinner and Kedar Jadhav should do the trick. Kohli and Rohit can turn their arms a bit too, if required, for a couple of overs.

Rohit, Shikhar, Kohli, #4, #5, Kedar Jadhav, M S Dhoni, Bhuvi, Kuldeep/ Chahal, Bumrah, Shami is ideal.

Which brings us to the question of #4 and #5.

I am not a great fan of bits and pieces cricketers, who can bat and bowl a bit. By that yardstick, I would not like to have Hardik Pandya (if fit) or Vijay Shankar or Ravindra Jadeja. That eliminates Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant.

Hardik is a bit over hyped. He goes for a lot while bowling, and his batting is not reliable for # 4 or 5. Same applies to Vijay Shankar. He lacks pace to hurry the batsmen. Jadeja can be the 3rd spinner and the 12th man. Either Karthick or Pant should be considered only as a reserve Wicket Keeper batsman.

I would prefer to see two pure batsmen at #4 and # 5. Batsmen who can rebuild an innings if we lose 2-3 early wickets, and who can hit the ball around if a strong foundation is laid by top 3. In English conditions, you can always expect to lose 2-3 early wickets.

I would like to go for two out of the following three - Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer. Young Prithvi is a genius, with a wide range of strokes, and can fit in at #4. I liked what I saw of Mayank in Australia. Shreyas has done enough to earn the #5 spot. He has the strokes, the temperament and just enough experience. All three are good fielders.  Sheyas can give a couple of overs too, if needed. And all three are pure, classical batsmen who stand a better chance of succeeding against the moving ball. K L Rahul misses out, but he can either be a back up for one of the openers or Shreyas Iyer. Unfortunately, Shubhman Gill was not able to make much of the opportunities given to him in New Zealand. His turn will come, as he is very young.

My XI would be, 

Rohit, Shikhar, Kohli, Prithvi Shaw/Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Kedar Jadhav, M S Dhoni, Bhuvi, Kuldeep/ Chahal, Bumrah, Shami 

I am aware we lack a good 5th bowler in the team above. Either we have to sacrifice one of #4 or #5 for a bowler, or we live with this team, and expect Kedar, Kohli, Rohit, Sheyas to bowl 10 overs between them. We might give away 15-20 extra runs, which can be easily covered by the extra batsmen. In any case there is no guarantee that Hardik or Vijay Shankar wont be tonked around, considering their economy rates so far. Jadeja is an option, but his batting is iffy.

The iron is hot. Hit and flatten it now.

Now that our Pilot is back in Indian soil, let us finish this nuisance called Pakistan once and for all. The whole country and International Community is behind Modi, and he would earn its gratitude if we press home our advantage. Let us;

1. Declare Pakistan a Terrorist State
2. This would automatically mean cutting off diplomatic relations. Boot out the Pakistani High Commissioner and recall our High Commissioner
3. Tell Sushma Swaraj to stop issuing stupid medical visas to Pakistanis. Let them get treated in their precious country
4. Close all borders and trade with Pakistan. 
5. Stop the charade of Beating the Retreat in Attari-Wagah border.
6. Clean up Kashmir. Abolish Article 370 and 35 A. The latter can be done immediately, and 370 after election.
7. Take stringent action against all Pakistan sympathizers in Media, Bollywood and in Social Media ruthlessly. Arrest Mehbooba Mufti, Farook and Oman Abdullahs and anyone who talks for Separatist, dump them in a dungeon and throw away the key. We have hand enough of pampering them.
8. Replace the Satyapal Malik as Governor with someone who talks less, but is tough, and in consonance with Government of India policy in Kashmir.
9. Give free hand to Armed forces inside Kashmir with a clear mandate to clean up the terrorists and their supporters without mercy. Send the message across that anti national activities will not be tolerated, either inside Kashmir or outside of it in India. Let the pseudo liberals and peaceniks cry. Who cares?
10. Army to be given a free hand in conducting operations to strike at Pakistan to eliminate terrorists. It is time to bust the myth of the power of Pakistan Army. Once this is done, Politicians in Pakistan will have control of the Country, who can be managed.
11. Let Ajit Doval loose. Break Pakistan into 4. Recognize Baluchisthan as a Nation, reclaim POK.
12. Divide Jammu and Kashmir into 3 - Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh. 2 States and one UT.

The iron is hot. Hit and flatten it now. We have let by many opportunities in the past, but let us not repeat the mistake this time.  Let us crush and trample the pests. 

Let us not be politically correct for once.

The Emotional Issue that swings Elections

Early January, when opposition was making noise about Mahaghatbandhan, and opinion polls were giving Modi and BJP 220 seats at best, my friends asked my opinion.

I remarked that there was no doubt Modi will come back to power, but the question is whether BJP will come back with less seats, making Modi a lameduck Prime Minister. The logic was that UP, which BJP virtually swept in 2014 is tough to replicate, and there will be losses in Rajasthan, MP and Chattisgarh. The gains from other parts of India may not be sufficient to overcome this.

True, Modi has done tremendously well on the Development front as promised - 100% electricity, 100% toilets, new roads built at frenetic pace (not just expressways, but more importantly the rural roads), work done on the farm front, direct benefit transfer scheme ( the money reaches the account of the beneficiary within hours with no middle men siphoning off a share ), Health Insurance for poor, Modernization of Railways................... the list is endless. And for 5 years this Government was absolutely not corrupt, and despite all the muck thrown by the Opposition, Modi's personal integrity is beyond question. He is a rarity in our Politics. No baggage in his case. His brothers and sisters still remain poor and humble,  his wife leads a dignified lower middle class life, and even his aged mother lives in Gujarat in a small house. 

But, I told my friends, no one has been re-elected on a Developmental Platform in India. Indian voters are smart, but they vote not just with their heads, but with their hearts too.

They need an emotional reason to vote. It could be caste, religion.

Modi and Shah know this, and I anticipated a revival of Ram Janma Bhoomi issue to swing the voters. I was skeptical. RJB has limited appeal on the election front these days, and its impact is limited to North India. Admittedly, Hindus want the temple to be built, but Modi has not taken a concrete step during the past 5 years, allowing the Supreme Court to drag the issue. To issue an ordinance at this late stage would have actually back fired on BJP. But I still didnt see anything else that could be used to create an emotional appeal in the voters. 

And then the rogue Pakistanis sent terrorists and killed 40 plus CRPF Jawans. Our opposition and anti-Modi gang were cock-a-hoop with joy. They were under the impression that India will make a token protest, conduct couple of shootings at LOC, over react in Kashmir and then sit back, as has been the case in the past. Or putting it in another way, India will whine and whine, and make a fool of itself.

They badly misjudged Modi. He and Shah are two of the shrewdest politicians in India. Also very patriotic. This was a gift wrapped in golden paper to them. 

Modi judged the mood of the nation correctly. The whole nation was baying for some strong action from Modi. He told them he has given the Armed Forces a free hand, whereby taking himself out of the equation, and not giving a chance for opposition to accuse he took political advantage (they did anyway, but people wont buy their arguments). 

It took 11 days. Just enough time for the anger to build up among patriotic Indians. As impatience grew, Modi and the Armed Forces prepared silently. What Indians didnt know was that our ISRO satellites cover 87% of Pakistani Territory, and can pick the mole on the face of a Pakistani in the area covered. The Armed Forces had clear and actionable intelligence. They were itching to give it back to Pakistan, but they needed Modi to show the political will to take this through and through.

Once the Army got actionable intelligence about JeM training camp, Modi showed his political power and leadership to ask Air Force to go across the border and bomb it to rubble killing 400 plus terrorists. 

Pakistan had bluffed all these years about the might of their army, their nuclear capability and an equivalence with Indian Armed Forces. And they badly miscalculated that India will not dare cross the border ever. They are also masters at false propaganda war.

In one strike, India called their bluff, showed them for the wimp they are, exposed to the world and their own people that Pakistani Army might is only on paper and neutralized their International Support (note how China, Saudi, UAE, USA, France put up a stony face when Pakistanis ran to them crying when India attacked). With Social Media very active these days, Pakistanis propaganda war was a non starter. They were laughed at in no time, whenever they made ridiculous statements. 

They had to do something to save their face and sent a few F-16 to attack our army bases. Our Air Force repelled them and shot one F-16 down. In the duel, we lost one MIG-21 and our pilot ejected on the Pakistani side of the LOC. Pakistan made a last ditch effort to use him as a bargaining chip, ably supported by their paid stooges in Indian opposition and media who drummed up support for talks, but Modi had balls. He refused to negotiate and demanded that the Pilot be returned as per Geneva Convention. Pakistan had never cared for Geneva Convention in the past. But times have changed, and all Modi's long flights to various countries paid off. The International Community read the riot act to Pakistan, and they agreed to return the Pilot in less than 72 hours. This took the wind out of the Opposition, paid media and so called anti-national peace-niks.

The paradigm has shifted permanently. Rogue Pakistan now know that there will be a heavy price to pay if they infiltrate again. Our Armed Forces, in their Press Conference, made this clear.

Indians can look up the world in the eyes and say we are proud to be Indians at last, and that we have balls. We have gained lot of respect. And our Self-Respect has just grown by leaps and bounds.

And now we have a pan-Indian emotional issue just at the time elections are going to be announced. In the villages of North India, the Jawans of their villages are very highly respected. The villagers dont take money from the Jawans for anything. They are also opinion leaders and heard with respect. Our Jawans were always let down by the Congress led Governments. After 70 years, they have found a Prime Minister who understands them, cares for them, gives them the best of equipment and stands by them in times of crisis. They will ensure that he is re-elected, for their, armed forces and nation's sake. 

And no wonder there are very deep worry lines on opposition leaders faces and the smug look sported by anti-Modi national TV anchors.