Historic Day

Modi, in his first term, shook up everyone by going for the demonetization of high denomination notes. But after that he went with the tide. There were many, including me, who felt he missed out on taking important political decision on Jammu & Kashmir, Ram Madhir, freeing Hindu Temples from Governmental Control or revamping the Education System.

But, in his second term, he has bit the bullet on J&K with a master stroke. This was on the cards the moment Amit Shah became the Home Minister.

It has always been that Modi proposes, Amit Shah disposes. Their friendship goes back a long way. Add to this the brilliant Ajit Duval, and considerable goodwill in the form of a resounding election victory, and we have the blue print for taking tough political decisions.

Bifurcation of J&K and abrogation of Article 370 ( technically not abrogation, but in effect Article 370 is redundant, as is Article 35A) was a master stroke. The signs were there, much before the massive troop movement in J&K. BJP worked overtime to get close to majority by getting first 4 TDP MPs to switch over, then got a few MPs of opposition to resign their position as MP, with a promise to elect them back on BJP Tickets. Congress, the main opposition party, and the stumbling block in the Rajya Sabha to many well meaning Laws from being passed, is currently headless. 

And then BJP struck and how.

J&K politicians were caught napping. They thought Government wont do anything till Amarnath Yathra was over. 

But Duval created a threat scenario, moved troops, cancelled the Yathra, evacuated tourists and yathris from the Valley, implemented Sec 144, put Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti etc on house arrest, and then the legal ingenuity of BJP took over.

Instead of taking the Parliamentary route, which would have meant the need for Constitutional Amendment to be passed with 2/3rd majority, BJP used the provisions of Article 370 itself to have it amended through a Presidential Declaration, which doesnt require a Constitutional Amendment

It was a Masterstroke!

And Modi, allowed Amit Shah to take the limelight, and how. Amit Shah had a field day in the Rajya Sabha today (It is noteworthy that the announcement and voting were made in Rajya Sabha first, where BJP do not yet have a majority, and not Lok Sabha) and got the Bill passed hands down.

While every one was talking about trifurcation of J&K, which would have left Kashmir alone, BJP did some out of the thinking, gave UT status to Ladakh, and created another UT combining Jammu and Kashmir, albeit with an Assembly, but with limited powers. Law and order remains with Centre, and all bills have to get the Central nod before being implemented. With delimitation likely to add another 7 seats to J&K, and most of it coming from Jammu Region, it is likely that the new UT will have a Hindu CM. That will be the icing on the cake.

And the special status that made Kashmiris think they are some special people is gone forever, and the doors are open for any Indian to buy land in Kashmir now, as it should be. This could see industrialist opening new factories there leading to overall development. 

Congress was reduced to a sorry state of being alone with Kashmir Parties, as all the opposition parties stood by BJP. Only JDU objected. Even AAP was forced to support, as otherwise it would have been suicidal for them with Delhi Elections looming large.

And it is the beginning of the end of the two dynasties in J&K, who are corrupt to the boot. Less said about the Hurriyat the better. They are all on the run or behind the bars for money laundering and terrorist funding. And our Brilliant Army has almost neutralized the Pakistan sponsored terrorists. 

Kashmir Parties and Congress always held that Kashmir will burn if Article 370 or 35 A is abrogated. Well 12 hours have passed and nothing has happened. Nothing will. Bullies are Cowards!

History has been made today. And we all lived to see this. 

Nehruvian blunder which cost us billions and thousands of lives, and atrocities on Kashmiri Pundits over the years, loss of our Jawans, has been corrected.

Now let us build that temple in Ayodhya!

What happens when Karma Dharmam is not followed

The suicide of V G Siddhartha, The Cafe Coffee Day founder has been, unfortunately, used as a stick to beat the Central Government, who has been ruthlessly hunting down tax evaders.

The murky dealings that led to VGS's suicide clearly indicates that, though he was an entrepreneur with vision, his Business Model was akin to a Ponzi scheme. Borrow to fund unsustainable growth, borrow more to manage the debt, and borrow yet more at high interest rates to service the previous debts. Throw in shady money from Politicians and Private Investors, the picture is complete.

VGS owned assets worth thousands of crores. His share in MINDTREE, a software company, was sold recently to L&T for Rs 3200 crores, and  his CCD franchisee model of Business can never lose money. In fact Cafe Coffee Day balance sheet indicate it has been making profits.

So how did he pile up the Rs 7,000 crore debt?

Did he borrow money (or laundered money) from Indian Politicians (Black Money) and Private Investors to fund his hundreds of Hectares of Farm Land in South America? Did it not generate enough revenues to pay off his debt?

Where the Private Investors or Politicians involved tighten the noose around his neck to do a hostile take over?

The Tax Raids were in 2017 and unearthed massive tax evasion.

If you evade taxes, you have to face the consequences. 

I hear many businessmen crying hoarse that it was Tax Terrorism that led to VGS' suicide and want Government to go easy on the errant Businessmen, giving the laughable reason that Economy needs a revival and hence Tax Evading, Crooked Businessmen should be allowed to operate freely, violating the law, so that they will pump in more Black Money into the Economy. This was the model followed by UPA under Chidambaram, as FM. And we know where it took the Country to.

Long and short of it is that VGS was a visionary entrepreneur, created jobs to thousands, but he had very poor Business Ethics, had shady characters as Business Partners, and borrowed heavily violating basic Debt:Equity laws, got himself neck deep in debt, evaded taxes, indulged in money laundering and took his own life.

Let us not cry crocodile tears over his death, and use it as a stick to beat the Government that is trying to bring the Jungle Raj of Business World to follow the law.

VGS did not follow his  karma dharmam, and paid for it when it bit back. 

England and New Zealand Should have been declared Joint Winners

The 50 over Final of World Cup is Tied

The Super Over is Tied

England declared winner because they scored more Boundaries than New Zealand?

As if Singles, Twos, Threes don't matter in Cricket?

It would have been appropriate and fair if both the Teams were declared as Joint Winners

Good Riddance - Non Performing Ministers

Modi is in full control in his Second Term. 

Doubts were cast on him when he took oath in 2014 as PM. He was a Delhi outsider, and had to make compromises to be nominated as BJPs PM Candidate. People questioned his lack of experience in the area of Foreign Affairs, while grudgingly admitting his administrative abilities as Gujarat CM.

I have always felt Modi was forced to accommodate Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh as three of his Senior most Ministers and allot them the most important portfolios of Finance, External Affairs and Home.

Of the three, Rajnath Singh acquitted himself well as Home Minister, albeit with a lot of help from Ajit Duval. He strengthened the Internal Security Situation  and almost destroyed the Naxal problem, which was spreading like cancer. Demonetization helped Rajnath Singh a lot in cutting off the flow to terrorists and naxals, and that was not his doing. Also, it one has to give a major share of the credit to the National Security Advisor Ajit Duval, who was the brain behind beefing up the Internal Security. But at least Rajnath Singh allowed him to do his job. So let us give the man his due. Where he was a failure was in not initiating long term plans to reform our Police System, which is a disgrace to India.

Arun Jaitley was a disaster as Finance Minister, whatever his cheerleaders say. He soft pedaled the inquiries on many a scandal, and almost lost Modi the elections, because the common refrain was that Modi couldnt get the corrupt punished. At times it looked like the Finance Minister was shielding many crooked Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Robert Vadra, P Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram and a host of other politicians like Raja, Kanimozhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, or even Mamta Bannerjee. Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi absconded during his vigil, and only some deft work by Modi and the lawyers saved the situation. Chidambaram and his cronies had laid many a mine field in the Finance Ministry before they left, and Arun Jaitley, instead of defusing, added his own.  Whatever little progress that happened in these cases was during the period Piyush Goyal was standing in for Arun Jaitley, which forced Arun Jaitley to cut short his recovery period and take over the Ministry to reverse many a good decision Piyush Goyal made. There have been whispers about his closeness to Congress leaders, especially P Chidambaram. Karma is a bitch. It hit him back towards the end of the tenure affecting his health, which made him decide to not be part of the Modi 2 Government. For me it is Good Riddance.

Less said about Sushma Swaraj, the better. She never wanted Modi to be the PM, but was accommodated to pacify L K Advani. Modi superbly sidelined her by placing S Jayasankar as the Foreign Secretary, and he himself taking the lead in developing International Relationships. As Modis stature grew, Sushmas diminished. She was reduced to responding to tweets from NRIs seeking trivial help (which is not her job, in any case), and granting Medical Visas to Pakistanis, which was hated by the Core BJP Voters. She decided not to contest again, and hence would have to be accommodated in the Rajya Sabha, if she were to be made Minister again. Her health is also questionable like Jaitleys. Maybe she will be sent to US or UK as an Ambassador. This was another non performer who doesnt fit with Modis style of functioning.

Am happy to see Maneka Gandhi kicked out. If ever there was an undeserving talentless Minister, it is Maneka. And she is burdened with an arrogant sulking son, who thinks he is to be anointed as UP Chief Minister because of the Gandhi surname.

A few of the apple polishing non performers like Radha Mohan Singh, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has been eased out. The message is clear, Ship up or Shape Out.

I am really sorry to see the biggest failure in Modi 1 Government Pakash Javedkar continuing in Modi 2. This guy was an absolute disaster as HRD Minister. Likewise Ravishankar Prasad. A late inductee in Modi 1, Alphonse Kannamthanam is shown the door for not being able to deliver Christian Votes in Kerala, and justly so. The guy created controversies whenever he opened his mouth, which was far too often.

This post is about those who were deservedly show the door. About the new Cabinet, we will discuss in another post, once the Portfolios are announced

A Big Thank You to the Wise Indian Voters

Thank You, the Wise Voters of India for 

Re Electing Karma Yogi Narendra Modi and BJP 

with a Bigger Margin. 

India's future is safe with him and you!

Country is Safe with Modi

This blog is written a day before Election Results are announced. I am not going by exit polls. I have called this election for BJP/NDA by end of Phase 4 itself to my friends.

What most analysts dont talk about is that Congress is no longer a Political Party. All it has is a motley collection of people (I wont call them leaders), most of whom sons or daughters of erstwhile Congress bigwigs, whose only aim is to somehow get a share of power, so that they can become rich easily.

And there is a sense of entitlement that only they are born to rule.

It doesnt have an ideology, nor does it have a political vision. There are no long term action plans. Booth level workers are non existent (except in a handful of constituencies) and in case the party doesnt give a damn about them.

Congress survived on the doles given to the poor, which went through middlemen, who took a substantial portion for their own benefit. The poor voted for Congress, as they thought this was the only way for them to get these benefit. "At least I am getting something" syndrome.

Modi changed the dynamic completely. True, 100% electrification, toilets and LPG changed the life of millions of rural poor, but it is the opening of Jan Dhan Bank Accounts to cover the whole population, and Direct Transfer of Benefits to the poor, that has been the game changer. For the first time in their life, the poor could live with dignity, without having to be subservient to the middlemen to get what is due to them. The Rs 2000 per 4 months relief given to farmers, reached their Bank Account within days of the Scheme being announced by the PM. Seeing is believing. People in MP, Rajasthan and Karnataka saw how quickly Congress can take them to the bad old days of hoarding, middlemen and what not. Urea disappeared immediately on Kamal Nath taking over MP, the goal posts were shifted with respect to farm loan waiver in Karnataka, MP and Rajasthan. In short, Congress showed its true face. Word was out in the streets - Goonda Raj is back. 

Indian electorate is not stupid to cut the branch of the tree they were sitting on.

And above all, the image of Modi as a honest administrator and his ability to keep his flock clean. There has not been a single corruption scandal during the past 5 years. Rahul Gandhi can shout for all he wants about corruption in Rafaele deal, where none existed. The more he accused, the more disenchanted people were with him. They laughed him off. When he offered the NYAY scheme doles, people turned their faces away, knowing that this is a bluff of the first order. Rahul and Opposition just lacked the credibility to match Modi. 

In the peoples eyes, Modi would have not lived up to all their expectations. But at least he is honest, works hard and is sincerely trying. Also, he has brought dignity back into the lives of the poor and the nation. Contrary to what the Opposition thinks, the average Indian cares a lot about India's standing in the World.

All he wants is to live with dignity, see his country prosper and be assured that the future is safe/good for his children.

And he knows these wants are safe with Modi.

Will SC speed up the Justice System?

The Supreme Court Internal Committee has acted very quickly, conducted an In-house enquiry and acquitted CJI Ranjan Gogoi of the Sexual allegation charge raised by an ex SC lady employee.

This is fine by me. It was clear as daylight that this was a trumped up allegation by the anti national forces, who used the woman in question, as a tool to put pressure on the CJI, who is to give some important judgments against the Congress and the dynasty.

I am happy the CJI got justice.

But the question remains whether the SC would have moved at such speed if it were anyone else, including the President or PM of the Country.

History suggests that the case would have dragged on for years, denying the accused a reprieve or punishment.

Will this open the eyes of the SC and they do structural reforms to speed up the justice system?