Category: Politics

Santosh Koli, an RTI activist turned Aam Aadmi party candidate from Seemapuri in Delhi, breathed her last yesterday. She died after battling injury wounds when a car ran into her while on a motorbike. A typical “hit and run” case where the attackers conveniently managed to escape. It’s widely believed that this was a deliberate attack on her. In fact, this was not new to her. She had been attacked several times in the past. Once the attackers even slit her throat, but she survived and continued her battle as a committed RTI activist.

I had the pleasure of first meeting Santosh several years back when I visited the Parivartan office started by Arvind Kejriwal, national convenor of the Aam Aadmi party. It was a small office in a basement where several people, especially the poor, came in to seek the help of the organization in order to file RTI applications. A diminutive young woman, Santosh was a bundle of energy and enthusiasm. Always bearing a smile, she portrayed an optimism that belied the visible hopelessness that was palpable in the area. She was clearly the go-to-person for the uneducated poor in the area. Through her RTI filings, she helped so many that she was soon well-known in the community. As expected, she had also earned several detractors.

I remember visiting a nearby slum and a government school with her. She also showed me a defunct fountain that was supposedly constructed by the government for several lakhs of rupees. She lamented the fact that the government went ahead with the plan to construct it, even though the people in the area hardly cared about a fountain. Her simplistic, yet sensible view was that the government should at least consult the people before going ahead with such an expense. The concept of empowering people to have a say in decisions that affect their lives (Kejriwal’s concept of Swaraj) seemed to be engrained in her mental make-up.

The nearby government school that she took me to was quite an eye-opener. The kids were doing whatever they pleased. Some classrooms had no teachers. In one classroom, a teacher was busy attending to her makeup while the kids ran around. There were papers and other garbage strewn around the classrooms and the corridors. The building was poorly maintained. We went to the headmaster’s office. He was an elderly gentleman who was sitting at a desk with one of his feet on the chair, trying to fix his own watch. He looked up at us, and quietly returned to fixing his watch. We later engaged him in a conversation thanks to prodding from Santosh. As we left the school, she expressed her deep disappointment about the state of our government schools. Despite her young age by the experiences gained through her work at Parivartan, she seemed to have a deep understanding of the challenges facing the people of the area and a genuine desire to serve. Not surprisingly, she was selected to represent the Aam Aadmi party from the area. As she gained visibility, her detractors perhaps grew more nervous. They decided it was time to attack her all over again.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

IIT Kharagpur is without a regular Director since July 2012! How long does it take it formally appoint the Director of a major institute in the country? Shouldn’t it be a priority of some kind? How can we expect the best from our premier institutions when the government takes such a lackadaisical approach to the appointment of its top leadership?

It turns out that the Ministry of HRD had selected Prof. Partha Pratim Chakrabarti as early as last July, but his final appointment was subject to a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) clearance which is linked to a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)  case of 2007. The CBI had recommended minor penalties to Prof. Chakrabarti despite the fact that he was neither involved technically or financially in the project. The CVC, however, does not appear to be inclined to bring the case to conclusion for unknown reasons. In the mean time, IIT Kharagpur’s Board of Governors (BOG) cleared Prof. Chakrabarti of any wrong doing once in March 2012 and again on March 23, 2013.

Prof. Chakrabarti, being a gold medalist of IIT Kharagpur in the mid-eighties, has impeccable credentials and tremendous support and goodwill among students and faculty, both past and present. His commitment to the institute and his integrity has never been in question to many who have known and interacted with him over the years. Yet, his final appointment remains stalled over a case that many argue has little to do with him personally.

The intent is not to blindly absolve Prof. Chakrabarti of any wrong doing, if any. If the professor was, in fact, involved in a case of corruption, let the matter be brought to light. If he is innocent, then let the matter be closed and his appointment confirmed at the earliest. By letting the matter fester in a limbo, the government is adversely affecting a premier institution in the country and perhaps needlessly casting aspersions on a well-respected individual who has dedicated his life to the institute ever since he set foot there as a student.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

The display of public discontent with our political class began with the Anna movement in August of 2011 for the Lokpal. After deeply concerned citizens hit the streets across the country and Jantar Mantar in Delhi, our parliamentarians unanimously signed a resolution to end the impasse. Almost two years have gone by. The resolution is now forgotten. A ghost of the Lokpal bill is doing the rounds of parliamentary committees today. As things stand now, the Lokpal bill is dead for all practical purposes. “Mission Accomplished,” as far as our political class is concerned.

More recently, we have the CIC ruling to bring national political parties under the purview of the Right to Information Act. Once again, a very legitimate issue that strikes at the very heart of our deeply corrupt political system. As in the case of the Lokpal issue, once again, our politicians across party lines are unanimous in their opposition to this ruling. The primary reason, of course, is that all our parties have access to unaccounted and often illegal sources of money. This forms the backbone of everything, beginning with election funding to their day to day operations. In other words, our political parties have an established system that works for them, and they have no reason to reform or change it. As for the donors, they love the system too. They contribute to all major political parties, all their contributions are unaccounted, and they have everything to gain, no matter who comes to power. Besides, this system keeps out the Aam Aadmi and any new entrants to the political system who are likely to upset the applecart.

Not surprisingly, the government is likely to introduce an ordinance to override the Central Information Commissioner’s (CIC) ruling to crush the issue until later. As one can imagine, this ordinance is bound to have universal support among political parties. Meanwhile, savvy politicians on all sides take this opportunity to obfuscate the issue by suggesting that we need a broader discussion (in other words, a discussion that will never have a conclusive end!) which includes electoral reforms. “The CIC ruling by itself makes little sense without a discussion on electoral reforms,” they argue. Clearly, this is the very same strategy that reduced the Lokpal bill to legislative roadkill. Don’t address the issue at hand, but “broaden” the discussion so the fundamental issue is lost in the noise.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

Ironical as it might sound, Advani’s reason for quitting his various party posts was because ”most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas.’’ It is easy to argue that the veteran BJP leader has his own life-long personal agenda of becoming the PM and yet blames everyone else in the party, particularly Mr. Modi of having his own personal agenda. Despite this irony, in reality, Mr. Advani is expressing a very valid concern that many in the BJP seem to concur with in private but do not have the stature or simply the “guts” to bring up in public.

For the first time in its history, the BJP has a leader in Mr. Modi who, through clever, sustained propaganda and self-promotional events, has positioned himself as a de-facto savior of the party. To his credit, he has repeatedly won elections in Gujarat. He also goes around talking of an agenda of development and progress, showcasing his successful administration in Gujarat. Over time, he has slowly developed a cult following of sorts, particularly in his home state. Party and ideology has given way to Modi masks. It’s a Modi show all the way. Today, there is one Modi and many Modi masks. Number twos or number threes in the hierarchy are non-existent as in Gujarat.  Have a lot of dough and want to start a project in Gujarat? No problem. Modi will personally lay out the red carpet, welcome you with open arms, sanction the land, and take care of associated irritants, crush environmentalists, or anyone else who stands in the way; and before you know it, you are in business, and of course, singing his praise. While this approach might seem attractive to young, restless, and ambitious Indians, the fact remains that this approach smacks of dictatorship. No one has a say except Modi. There is no debate, no consensus, little discussion, and virtually no inclusive process in decision-making. The fundamental tenets of democracy are thrown out of the window, in exchange for rapid pace of development in the name of progress.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

It is universally accepted that elections are the very source of corruption. You need several crores to contest and campaign in an election and ultimately win it. According to the Election Commission, each candidate is allowed to spend a maximum of Rs. 15 lakhs in a constituency in the state assembly election. This amount is a real joke in this day and age. Despite this stipulation, no candidate has ever landed in serious trouble for spending more than this amount. As a result, candidates, especially from major political parties, spend several crores of rupees to contest and win elections. Where does this money come from? Clearly, these are from vested interests and undeclared black money that pours in from different quarters. These contributors automatically expect favors once the candidate wins the election. So, compromises are made at the very start of the process.

None of the current political parties are ever going to bring about any reforms whatsoever to fix this problem. Over the years, they have established a well-oiled fund raising machinery that ensures the smooth and steady influx of hordes of cash to fight elections. This is often used to dole out goodies at the time of election ranging from liquor, plain hard cash, TV sets, laptops, etc., in order to win votes. The Election Commission has not shown the wherewithal to do anything about this either. So sadly, the practice continues undeterred. The amounts required to fight elections increase so dramatically with each election that it has now become virtually impossible for an honest candidate to contest and dream of winning an election without making compromises. Under these circumstances, what choices do we have? We can continue to remain bystanders while our elected representatives are well and truly sold out to big donors even before they are elected, or we can take steps to reform the process ourselves by crowd-funding candidates and parties we support that are committed to a process of open and transparent fund raising.

The Aam Aadmi party (AAP) has taken a unique step in this direction. They have sought funds directly from the people and routinely list the contributors and the amounts collected on their website. The party announced that it has managed to raise about 2 crores from the public. At the 15 lakhs per constituency stipulated by the Election Commission, AAP is going to need five times as much as it has raised to date before November to contest all 70 seats in Delhi. A tall order indeed. Considering that AAP is up against the endless funds of BJP and the Congress, this amount is clearly a paltry sum. Nevertheless, it’s a start. As a nation, if we care to curtail corruption at the very source, we need to step up and support parties like AAP that say no to contributors who wish to remain anonymous.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

The current clamor for Srinivasan’s resignation is in no way going to solve the IPL spot fixing mess and BCCI’s woes. While I am no fan of Srinivasan, the public must realize that the attempt to phase out Mr. Srinivasan is just a routine internal power struggle within the BCCI. If you think back, there was a time when Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya (East Zone lobby) called the shots. Then, he was slowly phased out by the ever-savvy Pawar lobby. After Pawar captured the BCCI, he went on to greener pastures and became the head of the ICC. Then, it was the turn of the southern lobby. In came Srinivasan, despite opposition from veterans even from the south like Mr. Muthiah.

As in most other highly political organizations, there are always enemies who are trying to tear you down. Srinivasan, over the course of his tenure, made matters worse by getting rules changed, owning an IPL team, antagonizing advertisers and other IPL teams, and overruling selection committee choices. With the IPL spot fixing scandal at its peak, his detractors grabbed the opportunity to try and bring him down. The truth of the matter is that if Srinivasan is forced to resign, it will only signify a shift in power from one lobby to the other. Nothing as far as the BCCI or cricket is concerned is going to change.

There are a number of very fundamental questions that need to be addressed with regard to cricket administration in the country. Why should a private club of the rich and powerful get to control the most popular game in the country? Why should this club have the privilege of selecting the team that represents the country? Why should cricket enjoy the benefits of tax payer subsidies? Why should the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Arun Jaitley, be the head of DDCA? Why should Narendra Modi be the Chairman of the GCA? Why should Jyotiraditya Scindia be the President of the MPCA? In short, why should active politicians, who are supposed to be serving the country, have to dabble in sports? Where there is money and power and no ground rules, the ones with the biggest clout simply annex key positions as a form of spreading their fiefdom. Cricket administration, with its complete lack of accountability, provides a fertile ground for such activities.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

Ever since the Aam Aadmi party was formed, its national convener, Arvind Kejriwal, has spoken repeatedly about changing the politics of this country. While many have pooh-poohed this as the talk of just another newly minted politician, the AAP has shown that it is attempting something new and fundamentally different. The AAP has spoken extensvely about Swaraj and decentralization. They have highlighted the need for better governance. They strived for the Lokpal since their pre-political avatar. They dared to expose the powerful and connected. They have strived for transparency by publicizing all donations made to the party and refusing donations from people who wished to remain anonymous. Now, they have embarked on a civil disobedience movement of the kind not seen since independence.

Shortly after its formation, the AAP embarked on a series of exposes. The media took immediate notice because the exposes dared to take on the high and mighty across party lines. Interestingly, sections of the media privately praised the AAP party for its efforts, admitting that they had all this information all along but simply did not have the “guts” to lay it bare before the public — a classic example of the failure of our fourth estate. Unfortunately, despite the documentary evidence garnered from the public domain and from RTI filings, the government ignored the exposes. The media, meanwhile, was summarily threatened by large industrial houses from covering these exposes. The most recent of these exposes involved the Sheila Dikshit government of Delhi, and its hand in the inflated electricity and water bills of the residents of Delhi.

Sections of the media and several talking heads on TV have derided the AAP as a product of “OB Van” politics. They predicted boldly that they would vanish into insignificance once the OB Vans stopped covering them. The ongoing fast by Arvind Kejriwal has completely debunked this theory. This fast is labeled as an attempt to inspire people to overcome their fears and join the civil disobedience movement, one that involves refusing to pay the inflated electricity bills. Instead of creating a media spectacle, Arvind Kejriwal chose to fast in a nondescript slum in Sundar Nagari, far from the media’s sought-after areas. The AAP insisted that crowds not gather at the venue of the fast. Instead, volunteers and well-wishers were encouraged to participate in a well thought out “ground game” of signing up supporters for the civil disobedience movement. The result was that over eight lakh people signed up in a matter of a few days, and this list is growing by the day.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

When I was sick recently and lying in bed checking my email on my cell phone, it dawned on me that a large number of emails that I was receiving everyday included daily newsletters, updates, discussion group updates, etc., many of which I don’t even recall ever signing up for! Besides, I realized that I hardly read most of them. So I decided that this was a good time to clean up the clutter in my Inbox. While many emails give you a simple unsubscribe link at the bottom, there were many with an “update your preferences” link and when you click on it, the link takes you to a login/password screen! In other words, I have to login and then unsubscribe. I don’t even recall ever having registered at many of these sites, let alone remember the password. Every time you register at any website, you are unknowingly signed up to receive one or more email updates, newsletters, and the like. It’s easy to register at these sites and be bombarded for life, but it’s hard to stop the flood when you want to. In any case, lying sick in bed has the advantage of time, so I went on a rampage, and unsubscribed from all and sundry. I logged into LinkedIn and turned off “all” notifications. Now I am no longer notified if X endorsed Y for a skill, or if A changed jobs, or XYZ posted an article, or ABC liked another article.

These changes to my digital life happened shortly after I moved to a Google Nexus phone. While I am not a great fan of the user interface on Android phones, the Google Nexus is the best when it comes to limited number of apps. Unlike other phones, it does not come pre-installed with hordes of apps. You have a minimal number of apps that are sufficient to get you going. It was such a refreshing change. My previous phone, an HTC Android, would not let me uninstall the Facebook app! Talking of Facebook, another drastic step I took in the process of this partial digital detox is that I decided not to access Facebook for as long as possible. I don’t have the app installed on my phone either, so it was a complete break from Facebook. It’s close to three weeks now and I am managing to survive just fine.

I can’t describe what a wonderful difference I have observed in a matter of few days. I have started to receive only relevant emails. The task of cleaning up my Inbox has become so much more simpler and less time consuming. I feel like I have more time on my hands to be productive. My head seems that much less cluttered. I have even started to remember friends’ birthdays. I seem so much more efficient with my to-do list among other things.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

The public kerfuffle between Mr. Arun Jaitley and Justice Katju has been in the news of late. Justice Katju, in an opinion piece in a leading daily, criticized Mr. Modi and his track record in a blatant attempt to counter his growing popularity. Mr. Jaitley, in turn, accused Justice Katju of being overtly political and called for his dismissal from chief of the press council. Justice Katju responded by asking Mr. Jaitley to quit politics and take up “sanyas!”

Mr. Jaitley is the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. He is not directly elected by the people since he is a Rajya Sabha member from the state of Gujarat (though he has been Delhi-based for decades). As a senior member of the BJP, it makes sense for Mr. Jaitley to stand up for Mr. Modi and respond to such attacks. At the same time, it is quite understandable that at some level, he “owes’ Mr. Modi for his Rajya Sabha seat. Besides, Mr. Modi is being projected by many (including himself!) as the PM in waiting. Getting further into Mr. Modi’s good books can only help rather than hurt Mr. Jaitley’s future prospects. All in all, Mr. Jaitley has plenty of possible reasons for his open attack on Justice Katju.

Justice Katju, for his part, has been a very vocal figure since taking over as the chief of the press council. In a matter of months, he has gone from a virtual unknown to hitting the headlines every few weeks by attacking all and sundry. He has not even spared the people of the country at large, referring to Indians as “idiots, communal, etc.”. Despite the controversies that seem to follow Justice Katju’s statements, I think we need more visible, outspoken people. If anything, I would fault Justice Katju for not being even more outspoken. Even if one might agree with Justice Katju’s views on Mr. Modi, it is questionable as to why he chooses not to ever mention the attack on the Sikhs after the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi. Besides, an outspoken man of his stature has had little to say so far about the unrestrained corruption under the current government.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

With the 2014 elections not very far away, recent political developments of the two major parties in the country are worth looking into and pondering about. The Congress party gave its “yuvraj” a promotion. After accepting the promotion, Mr. Gandhi has gone back to where he is most comfortable – under the radar, away from the people, beyond the eyes of the media. There is little indication that this is likely to change anytime soon, and it appears that Mr. Gandhi wants to succeed his mother as the power behind the throne.

With the UPA government fighting a losing credibility battle, the Anna movement having fizzled out, and the Aam Aadmi Party’s future tied to its maiden polls in Delhi, the field is wide open for other entrants to grab the center stage. Narendra Modi seems to have expanded to fill this vacuum, armed with his 24×7 PR machinery, the strong backing of the industrial houses, and the blatant, appalling support of large sections of the media.

According to media reports and political and social commentators, Mr. Modi has more than a streak of authoritarianism in him. Even his ardent supporters admit that he rules Gujarat with an “iron hand.” Want to open a factory, no problem. The CM will quickly and single-handedly steamroll the environmentalists and displaced villagers into submission and lay out the red carpet, practically overnight. In his government, there are no number twos or threes. Everything is centralized and controlled by one man. This approach has clearly made the power rungs within the BJP nervous. Slowly but surely, many are starting to fall in line, lest they fall by the way side. They realize that it’s better not to stand in the way of the Modi juggernaut. If you can’t beat him, join him, seems to be the fast emerging rationale in the BJP ranks.

The fact is that with each passing day, an India beyond the Congress and the BJP is emerging, as is evident in the virtual absence of these parties in many states and the rise of regional parties. Under these circumstances, the odds of a leader with a pan-Indian appeal emerging is less likely. In light of this, the Rahul vs. Modi battle that is being played up by the media seems so out of tune with where the country is headed. Clearly, media, which can play an objective and constructive role in shaping the debate and educating the masses, is failing miserably. A perfect example is the recent needless euphoria in sections of the media over a speech by Narendra Modi at SRCC in Delhi. Thankfully, one major newspaper from down south didn’t bother to report on it. The editor, to his credit, tweeted, “We refuse to be part of the herd. Every story on our p1 was far more newsworthy than a speech by a CM to a Delhi college.”

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times