India Votes - and How!

tahmed
//... I would be surprised, for example, if the communists simply repeat their earlier stance. ...//

I won`t be surprised if they do so. Desi commies learn nothing and forget nothing. They are ossified pieces of relic. Their rhetoric and stupidity is out of the world. India is NOT taking loans from WB/IMF any more - and yet just eyesterday they were harping on how WB/IMF is controlling India. 50 years is a long time - congress coterie and commies didn`t learn a thing.

The point is - at this point of time - India needs to move fast .... the backlogs of tasks needed to be done is already piling up sky high. Last thing we need is brakes at this point of time. With commies in cabinet - that`s exactly what we will get.

The magnitude of the problem is self-evident if you make cursory comparison with China. India is already decades behind china. The world is not going wait for commies to learn their lessons, which they haven`t learnt in 50 years. India is going to loose out .... big time.

sadna #154

Excellent post. Thank you.

dost mittar/sadna: On the question of hindutvaism, please see my post to sri #152 where I explain why I think it is correct to consider hindutvaism as being BJP philosophy.

I will add that this talk about Sonia being a foreigner (despite her being eligible to be head of state) is of itself a reflection of the racism underlying hindutvaism. Nor is this restricted to chowk posters: A prominent BJP politician - Sushma something - has declared that she will resign her newly elected parliamentary seat rather than see a foreigner (as she calls Sonia Gandhi) be prime minister. Other BJP politicians have spoken out. This indicates a lack of respect for the will of the people and for the constitutional process in the BJP that is in fact the antithesis of democracy. (And please dont remind me of the lack of respect for the constitutional process in Pakistan - I am well aware of that, and decry it as much as I decry the lack of respect for the constitutional process among BJP leaders like Sushma).

Sadna: yes indeed I am all praise for the indian democratic process as it took place. India is indeed shining - not because of its economic performance (excellent though it is) but because of the manner in which the democratic process has worked. As I said, this is a great day for Indians certainly, but also for all other countries in the region including Pakistan where the cause of democracy receives a tremendous boost as a result.

nasah
//...may be the Democratic ``Desi Commies`` will do as well or even better ....so wipe your tears off.....:-) ...//

I will be happiest if they do so. But I am not holding my breath.

See - the chinese commies have a self-interest in seeking to pull more and more people out of poverty - because , otherwise, sooner or later they will have another revolution in their hands and the ruling politburo will loose it all.

For Desi commies it is exactly opposite. It is in their `corporate` interest to keep people poor so that they will vote for them - just like they did this time. This has been the time-tested elctoral startegy for commies and congress coterie. If everybody moves out of poverty - who would listen to their BS???

We have seen their track record in west bengal. Need I say more?

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re: credit should be given to congress for starting the reforms...

when you are a passenger in a car and it falls into a ditch because the driver never noticed that the fuel gauge was pointing towards zero, one tyre was punctured and he mishandled the car...he then asks you to sell your gold jewellery to get a tow truck, buy some gas, get the car repaired, etc... the driver then tells you that he would now keep an eye on the gauges better...and people tell you that you should be indebted to the great driver because he took you out of the ditch.

mohar #164 Time will tell how much the communist parties have learnt. You think they havent, I think it would be very surprising if they havent. We shall see.

But even if they have learnt nothing, they certainly will have the INC - and the architect of economic liberalization, Manmohan Singh - in their path.

And why would the INC go back to its pre-1991 policies: why would it, when its post-1991 economic policies as basically carried forward by BJP, have stood the test of time?

Far, far more important I think will be the image of India before foreign investors as a stable democracy that works.

Agriculture in India has stagnated a bit I think: east panjab still remains focussed on foodcrops, and agriculture depends on fertilizer subsidies. A small improvement in agriculture in India could have a large impact on the GDP growth rates. Investments in better roads are I understand badly needed in India.

So: all indications (at least to my understanding) are that under INC India is poised for a strong move forward in the economy. The democratic process has shown things that the BJP, with its ideology driven agenda, had neglected.

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tahmed
//...And why would the INC go back to its pre-1991 policies: ..//

Well - why did INC follow pre-1991 policies in the first palce - for 40 long years? One word - stupidity. Stupidity of Indian ``leaders`` knows no bounds.

Like I said before - INC with Rao and Manmohan is good. But the dynasty and the coterie that sorrounds it , are not going allow free hand to good folks of INC who can indeed perform miracles ..... like the one they did in 1991. Because these folks are on record saying that it was a ``mistake``. These folks are on record to attempt to rollback the good work. It`s a real threat.

Even Rao and Manmohan had to fight very hard against these folks to keep on track.

+++
//..Far, far more important I think will be the image of India before foreign investors as a stable democracy that works. ...//

Yes, but this goes only so far. Unless there is business-friendly environment - investors are going to stay away - no matter how stable the democracy is. With coterie and commies around - a business-friendly environment would be hard to come by.

We have seen and lived the sh!t that these folks have thrown us into for 40 long years. All in name of poor. All in the name of dynasty. Even now - all they can talk about how Indiraji did this - how Rajivji said that ...... as if that matters - as if that would give us pots of gold.

arjunm:
``said Saturday that foreign investment was welcome, provided it met certain conditions of assisting the population.
++

AH...Who decides if it assists the population? Hint: The commies....That`s the antithesis of a capitalistic system where the market decides....``

That statement of Yechuri gives plenty of room to drive a Boeing full of MNCs through it. Do not underestimate the capacity of Marxists to twist Marx to mean almost anything. China is still formally communists; and Budhdev Bhattacharya of West Bengal seems to me to sound more and more like the late Deng of China. I dont mind their ``mala japna`` of Marx and standing before the portrait of Lenin as long as they do the right thing.

tahmed32:
``On the question of hindutvaism, please see my post to sri #152 where I explain why I think it is correct to consider hindutvaism as being BJP philosophy.``

That understanding is quite correct and nobody is denying that. But the Indian chowkies, almost all of them, are lamenting the loss of the NDA govt. not because it represented hindutva but because they liked its economic agenda and are afraid that the govt. will now backtrack on those reforms. As is clear from my posts, I do not agree with this prognosis. But I wont accuse them of supporting hindutva, at least not on this board.

``I will add that this talk about Sonia being a foreigner (despite her being eligible to be head of state) is of itself a reflection of the racism underlying hindutvaism. Nor is this restricted to chowk posters: A prominent BJP politician - Sushma something - has declared that she will resign her newly elected parliamentary seat rather than see a foreigner (as she calls Sonia Gandhi) be prime minister. Other BJP politicians have spoken out. This indicates a lack of respect for the will of the people and for the constitutional process in the BJP that is in fact the antithesis of democracy. (And please dont remind me of the lack of respect for the constitutional process in Pakistan - I am well aware of that, and decry it as much as I decry the lack of respect for the constitutional process among BJP leaders like Sushma).``

I obviously don`t agree with Sushma but how does her stance represent hindutva? If you oppose Jemima Khan for President of Pakistan, would it make you an Islamist. The range of people who object to Sonia`s foreign origin range from the far right to left and include people like `Maulana` Mulayam Yadav.
(and if you want to talk about Pakistan, you can always go to my Diary Board :) )

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Gujjubania,

India is the Pakistanis? You have gone way off the deep end haven`t you? Tell me, if India couldn`t belong to the Pakistanis in all the 57 years that various parties have been in power, how the heck is it going to happen now? Especially when you`re bigger and better, and democratic?

It is time to remove the dunce cap and put the thinking cap on.

re:#130 by tahmed32
tahmed sahib,
I am not pessimistic but i think the communists will be a problem for the Congress. Congress does have some good people like Manmohan Singh, P.Chidambaram (is he still in Congress?), Natwar Singh, Sibal etc. I am not sure how efficiently they can function with the communists breathing down their neck.
I am glad secularism is back. I am sure Modi`s govt will be dismissed and Modi will face the music for his misdeeds. These are some positive aspects. One would surely miss ABV though.
Sridhar