aniruddhwrites

Tag: UP

  • Biradari, Bahubali and Bihar: An Open Letter to Nitish Kumar

    LN

    Hello CM Sahab!

    Coming from advertising background I wanted to start the letter by addressing you with “Dear Nitish” as in our work culture everyone is equal. The designation, position, office held, muscle power and even the age doesn’t make any difference whatsoever. However I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t do that because here in India, we still have this habit of looking up to certain people. Politicians who’re the part of the government definitely top this chart. With the position comes the power and over time these people become habituated of it. They think that they are “Mai-Baap” of the common men. It was this reason that Lalu Prasad Yadav became larger-than-life figure in the state of Bihar. It belittled the common men so much in his eyes that he could barely see them. He could barely relate to them. He could barely empathize. And he barely thought about them. That’s where his downfall (and your peak) started.

    I am afraid CM Sahab, you’ve embarked up on the same path. Bihar, politics, Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar don’t make sense to you as separate words. They have to be together to make sense to you. The position is now the only thing you want. That’s all what you want to be – Nitish Kumar, CM Bihar. That’s all that matters to you today. Beyond that, I believe, you don’t see anything. That’s bad and unfortunate.

    What made you, you?

    It wasn’t the assemble elections of 2005 that made you. It all started exactly 15 years before that. It started when the Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD got the reins of the state. It’s when the golden period of Lalu Prasad Yadav and the darkest possible period of Bihar started. Riding high on the “MY” vote-bank, Lalu got carried away. He thought that the Muslims and Yadavs of Bihar are his people. People, he thought were blind to see the reality. While the MY people gave him what Lalu wanted, the reciprocation didn’t happen. The “Pasmanda” (lower Muslims) people saw that everything done for the Muslims was limited to the Ashraf Muslims, who were already better off. Furthermore, under the Rabri Devi led government, the brothers-in-law of Lalu Prasad Yadav played havoc to the state and its subjects.

    While Yadavs were too spellbound to see a Yadav in-charge of the state, the Pasmanda dreams were shattered. That’s where you came in. You tapped this opportunity beautifully. You wooed the Muslims, brought in the Dalits and Mahadalits. You partnered with the BJP but ensured that Bihar remains out of bounds for Modi. The alliance with the BJP ensured the votes of the upper castes and an easy access to media, bureaucracy and judiciary. It worked! You did it! It was a landslide victory and you became the new face of Bihar. The face of new hope. The face of new possibilities. The face of the new Bihar that, despite the difficulties and adversities, wanted to emerge for good.

    But then, you screwed up!

    It all started before the 2014 General Elections. Cutting the long story short – the BJP roped in Narendra Modi as their PM candidate and you panicked. You panicked because

    1. You had started to dream by then. The dream of becoming the Prime Minister of the country. With Modi as the face of elections, you knew there was not even a minuscule chance for anyone else, if at all.
    2. Becoming an ally of Modi led BJP would turn the Pasmandas off. No matter what you do, for Muslims Modi was synonymous to 2002 riots.

    Calling the successful coalition of good 2 terms was your decision. It was a firm decision and you stood by it. Fine, you didn’t want to let a “Communal Modi” lead the nation and you did what you felt was right for you, your party, and the state of Bihar.

    But then you didn’t stop there.

    • 10 years back, Bihar was a cuss word. “Bihari ho kya?”, “Sala Bihari” were condescending remarks. All thanks to Lalu Prasad Yadav, “Bihari” became a very well accepted way of abusing a person. And you’re with him. You’re with your archrival. You’re with the man who ruined Bihar. Wow!
    • What’s with this Maha-Gathbandhan? You really think this will work?
    • This year only you didn’t share the stage with Lalu Prasad Yadav on 2 different occasions. Now you’re going to share the power with him. How can you even justify this? Isn’t this sheer greed?
    • In last 2 assembly elections Congress won 4 and 10 seats respectively and you’re letting them waste 40 seats this time?
    • RJD won 22 and 54 seats and this time they are going to contest on 100 seats. So in short, you have given away 140 seats just like that. Really?
    • The Nitish Kumar supporters of these 140 constituencies will have to vote for Congress and RJD. In other words, SCs, OBCs, and Mahadalits will have to vote for a Yadav in some constituencies? Wow!
    • You think the Yadavs will vote for you? As per the news, over 10,000 Yadavs have been killed in past 10 years. Are they still there in RJD’s reach?
    • You think with All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen or AIMIM of Asaduddin Owaisi planning to contest 24 seats in the Seemanchal region of Kishanganj, Purnia, Katihar and Araria wouldn’t spoil your game?
    • Where are Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Jagadanand Singh, Prabhunath Singh and Mohammad Taslimuddin? You think these RJD leaders will let you bring down their political career?
    • Not to forget the Jeetan Ram Manjhi debacle. You sure you still have the Mahadalits with you under your fold?

    A lot of readers would wonder that nowhere have I talked about the developmental works your coalition government has done. There is no doubt that a lot of groundwork happened. You rose above sectarian politics and worked for everyone there. A lot was done in Bihar and still a lot needs to be done. Unfortunately your entire focus has been on Narendra Modi and BJP.

    Summing it up

    The saying goes, “you shot yourself in the foot”. However in your case, you have shot yourself in the head. The game is going to get over. Soon.

    Lalu’s misdeeds paved the way for your government. Your electoral misdeeds have already paved the way for Modi and the BJP.

    Today, #ModiInBihar is just a trend on Twitter. Very soon, it can be the reality of Bihar.

    However

    C’mon, this is Bihar! One cannot be sure on what grounds the voters will vote. The wisdom of voters of Bihar (and my home state UP) is worth a research. When they can vote Rabri Devi to power, the ray of hope isn’t dead for you. Get your caste cards right. Go play politics, the Bihar way – after all it’s a game of “Biradari” and “Bahubali”.

    Who am I to write you?

    I am no one. Seriously, I am no one. I don’t reside in Bihar. I am neither a voter nor any influencer for Bihar elections (any election for that matter). I don’t have much understanding of the way things work in Bihar. However coming from the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh, I can say with confidence that politics there in Bihar are pretty same. Caste and religion end up becoming the key factors while development takes a backseat.

    So while you have an easy option of ignoring me and this letter casually, I’d suggest you to think about it.

    Regards,

    PS: Your new found love with Arvind Kejriwal and AAP wouldn’t work. That guy is a novice. Look beyond him.

  • Who are you, Mr.? An Open Letter to Rahul Gandhi

    Who are you, Mr.? An Open Letter to Rahul Gandhi

    Really, who are you?

    Member of Parliament. Vice President of INC. More importantly Rajeev Gandhi’s son and Indira Gandhi’s grandson ie A GANDHI! That’s you, Mr. Gandhi, no!? Unfortunately, that’s the most of you. To me, you start and end at this one thing – being a GANDHI!

    To make myself clearer, let me re-phrase my thoughts – who’s Rahul? What has he done in his life? What have been his achievements? What has been his contribution to the Indian polity and society? How capable is he to lead the INC and, god forbid, the nation?

    Before actually getting into the details of it, let me tell you why I am asking you all these questions. To be brutally true, for you I am nothing. I am no one. Or, I could be anyone. Well, when there are over one and a quarter billion people just like you, the truth is that you’re figuratively nobody. However, I am someone. I am a building block of this nation and that’s what my real identity is. I am an Indian and INDIA at an individual level. I guess, now you can understand the relationship I have with you. You represent me. You talk about me. You (should) care for me. You (should) work for me. You (definitely) affect me.

    Come, let’s try to know you first.

    How did the politician “Rahul Gandhi” come into being?

    Born in the year 1970, Rahul, you completed your education by the year 1995. I tried searching a lot but I couldn’t find any details of what you did from 1995 to 2002-03. All what’s available on public domain says that your start-up “Backops Services Private Ltd.” was trying to get established.

    Out of blue it was announced in March 2004 that you’d be contesting in the General Election due in May 2004. At best, it was hurried move to bring back the Grand Old Indian Party – the Indian Nationa Congress back in the limelight. It was so hurried that when the announcement was done, there was no written piece of information available about you. No CV was created. May be they didn’t get the time in the excitement of getting the torch-bearer from the holy bloodline or may be there wasn’t much to tell about. You won, of course. That too with a margin of over 100,000 votes but did it change much for the INC? No and the world knows it! And despite you being the face of the INC’s campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the party managed to grab ONLY 22 seats of the 403. TWENTY TWO with a total of only 8.53% of votes. Did you know it, the scion of INC? The General Elections of 2009 were slightly better with regards to your and INC’s performance. Not only UPA came back to power but you also won the constituency of Amethi by a margin of over 350,000 votes. In 2012, your 200 rallies strong campaign helped the INC get a total of 28 out of 403 seats and charting 4th overall rank in UP. That’s like 7% of the assembly seats of UP.

    I wish you were smart enough to take a clue from these elections.

    How did you perform in the Lok Sabha and in your constituency?

    There was an article in the Indian Express titled “In attendance, Rahul led party in Lok Sabha — from the bottom”. Do I need to say more? Can I elaborate it any further without making you clinch your fists and making your party members bless me with all sorts of cuss words? Well I don’t care. So, read on –

    • Your attendance
      • As per data from PRS Legislative Research your attendance in 15th Lok Sabha was just 42 per cent.
      • The national average percentage of attendance was 76
      • And the MPs from Uttar Pradesh had an attendance average of 80 per cent.
    • Your involvement
      • You participated in just 2 debates. Just 2 debates during the entire term of 15th Lok Sabha
      • You asked no questions
      • You brought in no private member Bills
      • The average number of questions asked by full-term MPs was 297

    Oops! That’s too bad. Had I been there in your place, I would have hung my head shame. Rather, I would have dug a pit and buried myself there for a couple of years.

    Your misquotes

    How can a political figure stand complete without displaying his command over words? You have moved a lot of people with your words. Some in fact even fell on their faces hearing you. Yes sir, you said a lot of things which are plain stupid and should never ever had come out of mouth of a statesman. Please find below some of the pearls of your wisdom.

    “People call us an elephant.. We are not an elephant.. we are a beehive.. it’s funny but think about it. Which is more powerful? an elephant or a beehive?”

    I don’t understand anything here – neither the literal meaning of it nor the metaphorical. Blame my banality or my mediocrity for it. However, I am damn sure even Gulzar, the king of out-of-the-world metaphors won’t get it either.

    “If India is a computer, Congress is its default programme.”

    M_Id_463704_Rahul_Gandhi

    Of course it is. It’s the malware that has infected the computer. It’s the virus that doesn’t die.

    “India is going to be the 21st century’s Saudi Arabia in terms of human resources”

    God save India if such a thing has to happen to her.

    “Politics is everywhere.. it is in your shirt.. in your pants.. everywhere.”

    Well this one’s my favourite and it’s an excellent one. The politics is indeed everywhere and the one which is there in pants is my personal favourite. I savor it, I long for it and sometimes I think my political pants make me do some amazing stuff.

    “It (Congress) is a funny party. It is the largest political organization in the world but perhaps does not have a single rule or regulation. We create new rules every two minutes and then dump them. Nobody knows the rules in the party”

    Well, it’s not funny, actually. However, it reflects a lot about the work culture you have in your party and it also goes to show how much you think before opening your mouth.

    I am sure, a lot of people reading it (assuming a lot of people do read it) will continue to daydream about you, your capabilities and your potential.

    (Please open Google, go to Image Search and then type Rahul Gandhi Funny. You’ll see to see what India thinks of you)

    How did you become so powerful? Who gave you my control?

    Having found all this information about you on public domains and after absorbing a lot of it, I couldn’t help myself. I have these aforementioned questions banging my head like anything. Trust me it’s 2 AM but I am too curious to ask you these questions.

    What made you rise and (try to) shine even after such fiascos? I mean even after knowing how much you contributed to the party’s success in General and State Assembly Elections, how could you rise to the post of “General Secretary” of the “All India Congress Committee” and the Vice President of the party later on? How? And why? What did you contribute? What was your value addition? How were you better than, let’s say, Sachin Pilot?

    So, what do I want to say?

    You’re not a part of the Government of India anymore. You, your party and the UPA are not in power. Worst, your party represents only 44 of the 543 parliamentary constituencies. That’s about 8% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha. However, you and the bunch of Congress MPs have grabbed the attention of entire nation. unfortunately, there is hardly any good thing to say about it.

    Do you realize that you and your party members just wasted an entire session of the parliament? Do you even know how many man-hours have you wasted? And how much did it cost us? You don’t have the slightest idea of it.

    During the entire monsoon session you asked very fervently the resignation of Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan. What for? For the involvement of the ladies with Lalit Modi and Chouhan’s in possibly one of the biggest and recent scam – the Vyapam scam. You had this single point agenda right from Day 1 of the session and the entire session got wasted for that.

    How could you let that happen? Weren’t there other alternative action plans that you could have pursued? Did you think of dragging Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje to the court? Don’t you think a PIL kinda thing would have helped you out? INC has a pool of very learned and experienced advocates like Kapil Sibal. You could have used them?

    No. You didn’t. The congress didn’t think either. You all put your shallowness on display every single day of the session. Placards were displayed, Sonia Gandhi went down to the well, Youth Congress members shaved their head. What the hell was all that? Theater? Or an over-zealous move to keep the nasty dynasty working?

    It was probably the worst of INC so far. But I am not surprised. In fact I believe there are much more worsts lined up as the Grand Old Party of India gears up for its extinction. I would request you to spare me the horror. Spare the one and quarter billion dreams the horror of you and your party getting callous and getting out of the context.

    Last but not the least

    You are the precious one for your party not for me. Not for the rest of India. You get all the news space you get because you are the Rahul Gandi and not because of your oratory skills. You don’t know what real India is, what real Indians are. What you have seen all your life are the people who suck up to you. But remember Digvijays and Sanjays don’t are not equal to India and Indians.

    I know you’re trying too hard to survive. You are trying to keep the party in centre-stage. In an ideal world we should have lauded and applauded you but the reality sucks. The reality is that you suck at politics. You don’t have knowledge to be the VP of India’s oldest party. You don’t have skill to lead a nation. You don’t have sincerity to represent people. You don’t have clarity of thoughts to give proper answers in interviews. You carry cheat sheets to parliament. You copy obituaries from your phone. You’re wasting nation’s time and money. You’re wasting my time. And I won’t allow you to do it.

    We don’t want your hyperactivity. We don’t want any activity from you. Please take another holiday, get to know a local girl, fall in love with her and never come back. We can manage without you. We have had a lot of good Gandhis. We definitely can manage without you.

    Thank you.

    PS: This letter is about you. I intentionally didn’t bring up the scams done in UPA 1 and 2. I didn’t write to get into mudslinging. I didn’t want to accuse anyone because what’s done is done. It’s over. I just wanted you to give a perspective of how wasteful your existence is. For me. For India!