Sunday, March 27, 2011

That's all, Your Honour! : Mar.20-26

Quick blogpost :)

1. For the past two weeks, The Hindu has been releasing cables (through wikileaks) emanating from US offices in India. These cables have established beyond doubt how our Prime Minister has been over reaching to the US on many policy issues. The vote against Iran at IAEA meeting was just one case in point. For months, our diplomats were playing hardball with the US on this issue. US wanted us to vote against Iran. Our diplomats were against it. The US Ambassador to India writes to the US, asking them to urge the Prime Minister when he comes to the US. The Prime Minister meets the President. Shortly after that meeting, instructions go out to the foreign secretary to vote against Iran. An uproar did happen at that time, but then back in 2008, you were not supposed to question the intentions of our Prime Minister, for he was "honest and decent". Murli Deora was bought in as Petroleum minister, and Mani Shankar Aiyar was sacked. Wikileaks reveal that US was very happy with this move. Yet, no outrage because you cannot question this Prime Minister. We buy a Boeing aircraft for VVIP (President, and PM). The US suddenly inserts a clause that says it will inspect them every year. They are high security aircrafts - why should we agree for such inspections? The diplomats were strong enough to resist, but our political leadership again asked our diplomats to compromise. So instead of the word "inspection", we agreed for a "review" and patted ourselves in the back.

The most revealing stuff so far from wikileaks is this subservience to the US, and not the cash for votes revelation. The Prime Minister as usual has denied all allegations. It is futile to go into what he argued, for his arrogance is very telling. More cables are coming out daily, and most of the time we are getting to see how this honest and decent Prime Minister has agreed to anything and everything just to get his favourite Nuclear Deal passed. Surprisingly (or not), the English media is not picking up on our subservience to the US. They are just picking up some political stories here and there. Infact, the first few days when the government was being exposed, the english media has been alert to warn us to wait for BJP leaks also to come out. How does it matter to the media?

Some cables did come out on BJP leaders meeting with US officials. Desperate attempts were made by the english media to look for controversies, but nothing big has come out so far, much to their chargin. So they began to distort! This blog here, gives one such example.

Also, am eagerly waiting for the cables to reveal the names of journalists! All cables are accessible at www.thehindu.com

2. Election heat is picking up in the five states that are going to elections. In Tamil Nadu, DMK has offered more free stuff (laptops, grinders etc!!). Not to be left behind, AIADMK has offered more free stuff ! The TN elections are turning out to be very very similar to how the Andhra Pradesh elections were, in 2009. In West Bengal, Congress wanted 102 seats out of 294, from Mamta Banerjee. Infact, media played it out that Sonia Gandhi was very adamant on getting 102 seats. Guess how many seats Congress was finally offered - 64! And then not a word from the media criticizing Sonia Gandhi! Assam seems to be pretty straight forward - looks like Congress will win again and BJP might make some inroads. Kerala result is also pretty obvious - the Left Front will lose this time. Only TN seems to be the most interesting battle so far.

3. And our Prime Minister is at it again! India and Pakistan will play the semifinal match of World Cup cricket, in Mohali. Not to lose any opportunity to beg Pakistanis, he invites both their President and Prime Minister to watch the match along with him. No ground breaking stuff will be achieved. Pakistan has so far NOT co-operated on ANY terror related investigation and yet our Prime Minister leaves no stone unturned to insult the memories of all those innocent people killed. But then, you don't question the Prime Minister, your honour!

అదన్నమాట! : మార్చి 20-26

ఈ మధ్య ప్రయాణం ఎక్కువ అయ్యి, రాష్ట్ర రాజకీయాలని అంతగా గమనించలేకపోయాను. ఎంఎల్సీ ఎన్నికలు చాల దుమారం లేపాయి . ముందు ఏమో ఎమఎల్యేల కోటా ఎన్నికలు జరిగాయి. జగన్ వర్గం ఎమ్యెల్యేలు కాంగ్రెస్స్ అభ్యర్ది కి వ్యతిరేకంగా వోటు వేసినా, త్రుటి లో ఓటమి నుంచి తప్పించుకున్నారు. ఇది జగన్ కి పెద్ద దెబ్బ అని , ముఖ్యమంత్రి కి పెద్ద విజయం అని కొన్ని పత్రికలు రాసాయి. తరువాత కడప, చిత్తూర్ జిల్లాల్లో ఎంపీటీసీ జెడ్పీటీసీ కోట లో ఎన్నికలు జరిగాయి. కాంగ్రెస్స్ టిడిపి రెండు కుమ్మక్కు అయ్యి మరి జగన్ ని ఓడించడానికి ప్రయత్నిచారు. కాని అన్యుహ్య రీతి లో జగన్ వర్గం వాళ్ళు మూడు ఎంఎల్సీ సీట్లు గెలుచుకుంది ! దీనితో ఆ కొత్త పార్టి లో ఉత్సాహం పెరిగిపోయింది. ముఖ్యమంత్రి కి పెద్ద దెబ్బ తగిలింది అని మళ్ళి అవే పత్రికలు రాసాయి ! ముఖ్యమంత్రి గారు సోనియా మ్యాడం కి వెళ్లి మొరాయిన్చుకున్నారు కూడా ! మన ముఖ్యమంత్రులకి ఇది అలవాటే కదండీ ... ఏది జరిగిన వెంటనే డిల్లి వెళ్లి మ్యాడం ని ఆర్ధించడం !

Monday, March 21, 2011

Travelling!

Am travelling all this week... will be back to blogging from next week :) Meanwhile, don't forget to follow The Hindu daily. Wikileaks documents are being put up... some very interesting stuff going on there.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Timeline of Cash for votes scam of 2008

This is a very quick update. Essentially I am just documenting here, the timeline of the Cash for Votes scandal of 2008. All these updates have been provided by "centerofright" over at twitter. Makes it easier to follow if all are in one place :)

1. Day before Indo US Nuclear deal was to be voted in LS. Some BJP MPs approached with abstaining or cross voting with money
2. The BJP MPs immediately alerted the party leaders about the same. It was decided to trap the entire episode through sting
3. As BJP did not have the necessary wherewithal to carry out the sting by themselves they approached two channels NDTV & IBN
4. NDTV said as a policy we will not do Stings and IBN said they would do it and wanted exclusive rights on telecast of tapes
5. The entire steps right from the talks till the cash shown in parliament were recorded after taking help from IBN and given
6. When the voting started and cash shown in the house IBN was to telecast the sting tapes. The tapes were not telecast
7. Editor said As Audio quality was bad, Video was not good they are not telecasting the tapes after promise to telecast
8. After the editor ditched the telecast BJP decided officially to Boycott IBN and they boycotted without fail
9. After few hrs/days channel promised again to telecast the tapes and requested BJP to lift the boycott. BJP agreed.
10. The tapes were telecast wr edited & telecast in a way whr the main culprits walked free & BJP shown in bad light

http://bit.ly/gGxmO7 Affidavit filed by Suhail Hindusthani as Witness Statement
http://bit.ly/fsXmx2 #C4V2008 Affidavit filed by Sudheendra Kulkarni in Lok Sabha


NDTV's program that night - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfFWyt7SY-8&feature=youtu.be (Prannoy Roy decides V sign by PM more newsworthy than money shown in Lok Sabha)

http://youtu.be/NrMWmwh_VKE - This is Advani saying UPA victory tainted after the victory

Real thanks to centerofright for sharing this information with us. All these tweets and discussion were mandated because of this wikileak today.

Update: Fellow tweeter, "auldtimer" compiled these facts on twitter. Ponder over.

1. Fact #1 BJP roped in IBN to secretly record *and broadcast* the Cong's attempt to bribe its MP's
2. Fact #2 Both IBN's agreement with BJP and the channel's journalistic duty demanded that the tapes be broadcast *before* trust vote
3. Fact #3: Broadcasting the tapes *before* the vote would have foiled the govt's plans, and an assault on democracy would have been averted
4. Fact #4: CNNIBN did not broadcast the tapes. Suddenly develops huge respect for "due diligence", claims tapes were handed over to Speaker
5. Fact #5. IBN claims it gave the tapes to speaker. BJP says the tapes were actually delivered 24 hours AFTER IBN claims it delivered them
6. Fact #6, further corroborated by Wikileaks: Vote was won with bribes. Big Question: Who all were bribed? Surely not only MPs?

More discussions on Wikileaks to follow soon ... let's first grasp the totality of the leaks :)

Monday, March 14, 2011

Help Aashayein Foundation win USD 1000 :)






















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Sunday, March 13, 2011

That's all, Your Honour! : Mar.6-12

1. First DMK tells us, Congress is asking for too many seats. We can't give them 63, we can only give 60. Infact DMK tells us that 60 is way more than their field strength. And despite agreeing for 60 seats, why is the Congress now demanding 63 seats? DMK gets angry and decides to pull out its ministers from the Union Government. Then, true to the script, Congress leaders call on DMK to give them some more time. Essentially, the word from the field was that the Congress cannot go alone. It will lose heavily. Also DMK cadre were against any splitting of votes. So the two parties again started to patch up. Resignations were first postponed by some 12 hours, then by a day. And then a deal was reached. Congress got its 63 seats! Two allies of DMK agreed to part with one seat each. One more seat, the DMK agreed to give. Why would the DMK give more seats to a party, when it strongly believes that their field strength does not warrant it? This whole deal making thing has to be viewed in the 2G spectrum background. We don't know what the Congress promised the DMK in return for this 63 seats (maybe we will know soon :) ). And as usual, this deal making thing was shown as the brainchild of Sonia Gandhi. Apparently, she was very "tough" and said that DMK threatening UPA with resignations is not the coalition dharma. Looting the country can be tolerated under coalition dharma, but you see threatening with loss of power cannot be tolerated!

Also, buoyed by this "victory", the Congress apparently got tough with negotiations in West Bengal. Mamta Banerjee is ready to offer upto 60-70 seats but the Congress now wants ~100 seats it seems! The final word on these negotiations is not out yet, so we have to wait and watch how that drama will unfold.

2. The lies in the CVC case just seem to be never ending. After the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of the CVC, the Prime Minister made a statement in Lok Sabha first. He listed the sequence of events, and then said that we accept and respect the court's verdict. Sushma Swaraj then expressed surprise that the Prime Minister, who took responsibility outside the Parliament, is not doing it inside the Parliament. The PM then accepted an "error of judgment" and accepted responsibility. Sushma Swaraj was satisfied with this response. The Left parties were not, so they walked out. He made the same statement in the Rajya Sabha the next day (and included the "error of judgement" part too). However, the opposition parties here were unrelenting. They bombarded him with questions, and the Prime Minister then tells us that he did not know about a pending case against P.J.Thomas, because the Minister incharge (Prithvi Raj Chauhan -now the CM of Maharashtra) for preparing the note did not mention it ! Details of the case was all over the press, and we are to believe the Prime Minister did not know. The Prime Minister of the country is briefed daily of various happenings, and we are to believe this was "not bought to his notice". He then goes on to say, that since PJT served as Chief Secretary of Kerala and as Telecom Secretary, there must have been necessary clearances (he just assumed, didn't deem it fit to verify even AFTER the matter was bought to his notice!). He however did not answer why he did not want to wait for one more day to ascertain facts. When specifically asked who will be held accountable for this lapse, he says I am responsible. The next day, Prithvi Raj Chauhan blames Kerala government. Kerala government leaks a letter in which it recommended that PJT was NOT eligible for an appointment at the Centre. Amidst all this confusion, the matter was allowed to die a natural death. And the Prime Minister got away with another lie on the floor of the Parliament.

3. This blog written earlier this week, documents the vandalism that goons created in Hyderabad. The violent turns the Telangana "agitation" is becoming dangerous by the day. I say dangerous because even those who merely condemn the violence are being tagged as "Anti-Telangana". And for the fear of being branded like this, many political parties are even stopping short of condemnation. What sort of a civilised society are we living in, where we don't even have the freedom to condemn violent acts by reprehensible goons? 64 people were arrested for this vandalism, and the Telangana Joint Action Committee is proposing a protest on Monday to condemn these arrests. You read it right - they are condemning the arrests, not the vandalism and destruction, aptly termed Cultural Tragedy by a leading telugu newspaper. That's all, Your Honour!

సాంస్కృతిక విషాదం: మార్చి 6-12

"సాంస్కృతిక విషాదం" అని ఈనాడు అద్భుతం గా వర్ణించింది. "మిలియన్ మార్చ్" అంటూ తెలంగాణా ఐ కా సా వాళ్ళు ఒక కార్యక్రమం చేపట్టారు . పది లక్షల మంది హైదరాబాద్ వైపు వస్తారు అని ప్రగల్భాలు పలికారు. మార్చి 10 నాడు ఇలా చేస్తాం అని ప్రకటించారు. అయితే, రాష్ట్రం లో ఇప్పుడు ఇంటర్ పరీక్షలు జరుగుతున్నాయి. విద్యార్ధులు, తల్లి తండ్రులు, కాలేజి యాజమాన్యాలు , ప్రభుత్వం - అందరు ఈ "మిలియన్ మార్చ్" ని వాయద వేసుకోమని విగ్యప్తి చేస్తే, అదీ ఏదో పెద్ద ఉపకారం చేసినట్టు, కోందండ రామ్ గారు వచ్చి, మార్చ్ కొనసాగుతుంది, కాని మధ్యానం పూట ఉంటుంది, పొద్దున్న కాదు అంట !

అసలు ఈ కోదండ రామ్ నుంచి ప్రొఫెస్సర్ హోదా వెనక్కి తీసుకోవాలి అండి. విద్యార్ధుల భవిష్యత్ తో ఏ ప్రొఫెస్సర్ ఆడుకుంటాడు అండి ? కళంకం ఈ మనిషి అసలు.


సరే విషయానికి వద్దాం. ఈ మిల్లియన్ మార్చ్ కి పోలీసులు అనుమతి తీసుకోనందున, పోలీసులు దీనిని అడ్డుకుంటాం అని ప్రకటించారు. చాల ట్రాఫిక్ ఆంక్షలు కూడా విధించారు. కాని అవి సరిపోలేదు. లక్షలలో కాకపోయినా, వేలల్లో జనాలు టాంక్ బండ్ మీదకి వచ్చారు. కేసీఆర్ కూడా వచ్చారు. తెలంగాణా ని శాంతియుతంగా సాధించుకుంటాం అని అక్కడ ఉన్న వల్ల చేత ప్రమాణం కూడా చేయించారు అంట. అదీ జరిగిన కాసేపటికి జనం విర్ర వీగిపోయారు.


టాంక్ బండ్ మీద ఎన్ టీ రామ రావు గారు 33 విగ్రాహాలు ప్రతిష్టించారు. వివిధ రంగాలలో మన తెలుగు జాతి కి విశిష్ట సేవలు అందించిన వారి విగ్రహాలు అవి. అందులో 17 విగ్రహాలని ఈ తెలంగాణా దుండగులు నాశనం చేసేసారు. అసలు వీళ్ళ తెలంగాణా పోరు కి ఈ మహానీయలు కి ఎం సంబంధం ఉంది అండి? ఏది కనిపిస్తే అదీ నాశనం చేసేయడమే న? కూల్చేసిన విగ్రహాల ఫోటోలు కింద ఉన్నాయి, చుడండి. మన చరిత్ర ని, మన కళాకారులని, మన రాజులని, మన ఇంగానీరులని మనం కాకపోతే ఇంకెవరు గౌరవిస్తారు అండి? ఇంతా జరిగాక కూడా ఆ కోదండరాం గాడు వచ్చి, ఈ మార్చ్ విజయవంతమైంది అని ఎలా చెప్తాడు అండి? కనీసం జరిగిన విషాదాన్ని ఖండిచాలి కదా? ఏది జరగనట్టే వ్యవహరిస్తే ఎలా?? తెలంగాణా పేరు చెప్పి ఏది పడితే అదీ చేసేయడమేన? విధ్వంసాన్ని, అరాచకాన్ని కూడా కనీసం ఖండిచాలేనంత దుస్థితిలో ఉన్నామా మనం? ఇంత దౌర్భాగ్యం అసలు మనకి ఎందుకు పట్టింది ? ఈ విషయం మీద క్షుణంగా ఆలోచించాల్సిన సమయం ఇదే. రాజకీయ సమస్య, చెయ్యి దాటి పోయింది. ఈ సమస్య ని తీర్చే నాధుడే లేదు మనకి. అదీ మన దరిద్రం.


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Friday, March 11, 2011

"Cultural Tragedy"

That was a brilliant headline by telugu newspaper Eenadu, today. Aptly captured the mindless violence that happened in what was termed as "Million March". After taking an oath that they will resort to only peaceful measures in their quest to achieve a separate state of Telangana, goons present on the Tank Bund road in Hyderabad went berserk and destroyed/damaged 17 statues on that road.

Late Chief Minister N.T.Rama Rao had these statues built. 33 over all. These statues were of various famous personalites who contributed to art, literature, freedom movement, infrastructure, politics etc. In an era where we get to see statues of only the Gandhi family (and of late, YSR), these statues really offer a glimpse of our history.

17 of them destroyed/damaged yesterday. How exactly this serves the Telangana movement? How exactly are these great people responsible for "injustice" to Telangana? Pasted below are pictures taken by Eenadu of the statues that were damaged. Before and After. (Special thanks to Indumouly for the pictures).


1. Sir. C.R.Reddy. "Sir C.R. Reddy was an educationist and political thinker, essayist and economist, and poet and literary critic. He wrote his works in Telugu and English, which reveal his deep love and learning of classics as well as modernity of his outlook.

Reddy was the foremost educationalist who played a major role in shaping the educational policy in India. He was also the recipient of Knighthood by the British crown in honour of his service to the country." From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattamanchi_Ramalinga_Reddy

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2. Gurajada Apparao. He wrote the first Telugu play, Kanyasulkam, which is often considered the greatest play in the Telugu language. Gurazada Apparao was an influential social reformer of his age and was lauded as Mahakavi, meaning "the great poet".

He frequently dabbled in poetry, and is credited with creating a new style of poetry in the Telugu Language. He also holds the titles Kavishekara and Abyudaya kavitha pithamahudu.

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurajada_Apparao


3. Bellary Ragahava. An accomplished actor of extraordinary calibre he is known for supreme mastery of expression.He was equally at home in plays in English, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellary_Raghava


4. Sir Arthur Cotton. Cotton devoted his life to the construction of irrigation and navigation canals throughout the British Empire in India, however, his dream was only partially realized, but he is still honored in parts of rural Andhra Pradesh for his efforts.

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Cotton


5. Tripurareni Ramaswamy Chowdary. a lawyer, playwright and reformer active among the Telugu-speaking people. He was part of a growing movement in India to reassess the culture of India.


From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripuraneni_Ramaswamy


6. Kandukuri Veeresalingam Panthulu.

He is widely considered as the man who first brought about a renaissance in Telugu people and Telugu literature. e got involved in the cause of social reforms. In 1876 he started a Telugu journal and wrote the first prose for women. He encouraged education for women, and started a school inDowlaiswaram in 1874.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandukuri_Veeresalingam


7. Gurram Joshua. Very popular telugu poet. Reformist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurram_Joshua


8. Mutnuri Krishna Rao. Mutnuri Krishna Rao and Kasinadhuni Nageswararao were the successful pioneers in Telugu journalism, when they founded Krishna patrika (1902) & Andhra Patrika in (1912).

http://www.portal.ap.gov.in/Pages/TeluguLiterature.aspx



9. Sri Sri.

Sri Sri was the first true modern Telugu poet to write about contemporary issues that affected day-to-day life of a common man in a style and metre which were not used in classical Telugu poetry.

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srirangam_Srinivasarao



10. Raghupati Venkatratnam Naidu. an Indian social reformer who hailed from aTelaga Naidu family from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh in India.[1] He was a disciple of Veeresalingam,[2] and has been described as "the most powerful orator of his day"

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raghupathi_Venkataratnam_Naidu


11. Srikrishna Devarayulu. he famed Emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire who reigned from 1509 - 1529 CE.Krishna Deva Raya was one of the greatest statesmen which medieval South India had produced.

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srikrishnadevaraya


12. Kshetrayya. a prolific Telugu poet and composer of Carnatic music.

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kshetrayya


13. Brahmanaidu. he tried to usher in a new era in which caste distinctions would be abolished.

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palanati_Brahmanaidu


14. Siddhendra Yogi.

Siddhendra Yogi was an exceptional scholar and artist of the 14th century AD. During the Bhakti Movement between 11th and the 13th century, the dance form of Kuchipudi saw a revolution.

From - http://www.mapsofindia.com/who-is-who/art-culture/siddhendra-yogi.html



15. Annamayya. the official songmaster of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple,[1] and a Telugu composer who composed thousands of keertana songs,[2] many of which were in praise of Lord Sri Venkateswara Swami. Themusical form of the keertana songs that he composed have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions.

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annamacharya


16. Yerrapragada. The Sanskrit Mahabharatamu was translated into Telugu over a period of several centuries (11th to 14th centuries AD). Errana was one of the kavitrayam (the trinity of poets) who translated Mahabharatamu .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerrapragada


17. Nanaayya. Nannaya Bhattaraka (Telugu: నన్నయ, sometimes spelled Nannayya) (ca. 11th century AD) is the earliest known Telugu author, and the author of the first third of theAndhra Mahabharatamu, a Telugu retelling of the Mahabharata. Nannaya is held in high regard as the person who revived the Telugu language.

From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nannayya



The history 17 icons was vandalised yesterday. And we were all just mute spectators.

The Mighty Queen - All power, no responsibility

Over the past two years (just realised, exactly two years since I started blogging here :) ) I have made some attempts to chronicle the media’s defeaning silence on questioning Sonia Gandhi. With each passing issue/scam/parliament session, her silence on multiple issues is only causing heartburn. Inspired by fellow tweeter “Dosabandit” ‘s call for the need to keep the momemtum going, I am documenting below, the various serious issues over the last 6-7 years, in which Sonia Gandhi was not even remotely questioned. Some of them have been picked from old blogposts (language changed a bit), some written today. Going forward, I plan to add to this growing list.

I am sure “liberals” might find this blog “negative”. Frankly, in no other country is the real power center let off so freely by the media and the opposition (a recent article by Sagarika Ghose is the only exception). This blog is like a culmination of my frustration at these open transgressions by the uncrowned queen of India. What follows is a 2,500 word explanation, with multiple examples (in no particular order). Apologise for the length J.


Honouring the culprits of Terror attacks


Many people in the media constantly write that Shivraj Patil resigned because of the widespread criticism after 26/11. The bad thing it did was to erase all the previous multiple terror attacks in various parts of the country. Suddenly, Shivraj Patil's inefficiency that caused terror attacks in Hyderabad, Delhi (after these attacks, Shivraj Patil famously said he has the “blessings of his leader”), Mumbai (train blasts), Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur - all these were forgotten. 26/11 was just a culmination of these attacks. The lives lost in these cities are no less precious than the ones lost in 26/11. The audacity of 26/11 might have shocked us, but that should not be the reason for us to forget that Shivraj Patil has been at the helm to oversee a systematic decimation of our intelligence apparatus. His clear lack of common sense, utter disregard for work, and extreme dedication to this clothes made him totally unfit for the job everyone considered number 2 in the government.

The man should have been prosecuted. Yet, Sonia Gandhi decided, after the dust over 26/11 has settled down, that it was time to gift Shivraj Patil a nice retirement gift. What better than making him a Governor. Shivraj Patil's appointment as governor of Punjab is a clear insult to the memory of the victims of multiple terror attacks in the country. There were three people who were made to resign their posts after 26/11. Vilas Rao Deshmukh resigned as CM of Maharashtra. He was made the Union Cabinet Minister for Industries (now is the Rural Development Minister) in May 2009. Shivraj Patil resigned as the Home Minister of India, only to be made the Governor of a state 1 1/2 year later.

The two guys who have been made to resign are back in business. Loyalty to the first family ensured that loss of power was only temporary. Our media, which loses no opportunity to remind us of Kandahar, has devoutly let Sonia Gandhi and Shivraj Patil off the hook (it’s as if the Shivraj Patil reign never happened!).

Telangana


Since 2004, all that we have been hearing from Congress leaders AP is that "Madam has a full grip of the Telangana issue. She will take the final decision and that decision will be a favourable one". That's all we have been hearing. “Madam will decide.” “Madam will decide.”

Our esteemed Chief Minister (the present one, the previous one, the one before that too) loses no opportunity to heap praises on Madam. Never lost a chance to invoke the name of Madam. We were told that the 11:45pm announcement on Dec.9th, 2009 was Madam's birthday gift to the people of Telangana. Congress ministers send resignations to Madam, not to the CM. MLAs send resignations to Madam, not Speaker. At a recent dharna outside Parliament, a Congress member held a poster that read “Sonia Gandhi Zindabad, We want Telangana.”

All these incidents led me to believe that Madam is the all permeating, super caring, ever vigilant saviour of my state. She is the only person in this entire country who is capable and eligible to solve all problems we all face. She is the ONE, the ONLY.

Today my state, Andhra Pradesh, that twice sent about 30 MP's so that Madam can be in power, is in distress. For the last one and half year (and atleast for the next one and half year), her favourite aam aadmi has been suffering the most, hooligans have decided to hold my state to ransom, making demands at gunpoint. No word from Madam. These hooligans are forcing shops to close, burning buses and damaging public property. Not a single word from Madam. Colleges are being closed, businesses are leaving AP, summits are being shifted. Still, not a single word from Madam.


Infact, we are now being told by our national media folks that it was PC who bungled this. Implying Madam had nothing to do with it. But then, that was not what we were told no ... We were told Madam is awesome and she will take the final decision.Congress people keep on saying that because TDP said yes to a resolution, Congress okayed the Dec.9th announcement. Wait a minute - weren't we told that the caring Madam will take the ultimate decision?

We are sometimes also told that Madam's present strategy is also brilliant - this violence will stop over time and people will live happily ever after. If time heals, then what is the need for Madam?? And guess what – the media has not dared to question Sonia Gandhi.

P.V.Narasimha Rao

With loyal troopers in tow, she has made every attempt to erase the memory of Congress rule of 1991-1996. Infact, she even went ahead and credited Rajiv Gandhi with the economic reforms. For those who don't know, Economic reforms were initiated in 1991-1992, after Rajiv Gandhi's demise and PV becoming the Prime Minister. Common sense suggests Rajiv can no way be involved! Yet, in the 125th year celebration of the Congress party, the President of the Congress, Sonia Gandhi, made every possible attempt to scuttle the memory of the man under whose helm the country did see some radical changes, just because he didn't belong to the family. Infact Madam has named all Congress PM's except for P.V.Narasimha Rao. In any Congress party plenary/function, the party does not even have a picture of P.V.Narasimha Rao. The media, which enjoys the fruits of liberalisation intitiated by P.V. shows more loyalty towards Sonia than P.V.!


Womens Reservation Bill


The bill was introduced on Monday, March 8th, 2010 and was touted as Sonia Gandhi's gift to the nation on International Women's Day. The MP's opposing the bill tried to snatch papers directly from the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. The government miserably failed in its floor management strategy. Stung by the all round criticism, Madam Sonia Gandhi was now insistent that the bill has to be passed - happen what may (not my words – the media went gaga over this.). The government moved for the suspension of those MP's who tried to snatch papers from Chairman. With that, I have no issues at all. Those MP's deserved to be punished. Now, here's where the problem arises. It is mandatory that atleast a 4 hour debate precede any voting on a bill that seeks to amend the constitution. The government, in its now familiar urge to satisfy the whims of Sonia Gandhi put to vote because there was slogan shouting in the house!!!

It took the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha to walk over to the Prime Minister and convince him that this is not the way, a debate has to be held. It was then the government relented, and there was a dissussion. Instead of calling this blatant bluff by Congress to subvert all democratic traditions to cater to the wish of Madam, NDTV went bonkers on the "strength of Sonia". Barkha Dutt wouldn’t just stop praising Sonia Gandhi for this “victory” (and not even a cursory mention of efforts of people who actually pioneered the bill). IBN was sensible enough to call this as a very dangerous precedent. Minor Detail: One year hence, the bill is still just a bill. Not an act. Common Sense suggests that follow up questions need to be directed towards Sonia Gandhi. That will never happen.

Vitroil on Amitabh Bachchan


When you read a headline, “Congress attacks Amitabh Bachchan, Modi”, you would normally expect that since Congress is led by Sonia Gandhi, the “attack” has her approval. The background is this- Amitabh Bachchan decides to be brand Ambassador for Gujarat. Congress spokesperson, the esteemed Manish Tewari spew vitroil on Amitabh (unfortunately I haven’t saved those links. Blogged about it, but no saved links. Google search is throwing up only his decent language. If you followed this story then, am sure you know what I am speaking about J). Congress Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh says he would not have attended a program if he knew Amitabh was there. One more Congress CM, Shiela Dixit removes a video message of Abhishek Bachchan from a government function. Manish Tewari uses the most unparliamentary language from the Congress party office for a full three days. And then it happened - Prannoy Roy told us that his sources say "Sonia doesn't know about this". hahaha, true Didn't we all see it coming. The next day, we are told that Sonia Gandhi has asked spokespersons not to speak about Amitabh anymore. The media lapped it up. Not once in these three days did the media dare question Sonia Gandhi.


NAC


The most dangerous of all. One of the most critical decisions the Congress party had to take, after Sonia Gandhi "renounced" her claim to the post of Prime Minister, was this - how to credit her for flagship schemes of UPA? And from that critical thinking was born the National Advisory Council. The NAC apparently has been set up as an "interface for civil society". If you are wondering why the government, elected by the people ("civil society"), needs another institution for interfacing with the very same people that elected it - please stop thinking logically ! This council has "advised" the government on NREGA, RTI and the Forest Rights Act; so now you see how this works - it was Sonia Gandhi who is responsible for all the flagship schemes (ofcourse if implementation is screwed up, the government is always ready to take the blame!). And after UPA's victory in 2009, she was re-appointed (by herself) as the chairperson of NAC - this time to take credit for the "National Food Security Bill".


Now, one such distinguished member of NAC, Jean Dreze has written a detailed article in The Hindu, complaining about the lack of co-operation from the government (more on this issue here, and here). And then if you think the suggestion ends here - you are mistaken. Look at this report. NAC has proposed a redress mechanism. It proposes a parallel authority to the District Collector, and "anyone" can approach this authority at district and block level. Isn't the District Collector supposed to be approachable to "anyone"? Why is the NAC hell bent on creating parallel structures just like itself? Who gave them the mandate to think of such ridiculous proposals and then go to town when they are rejected? Sonia Gandhi led NAC is totally dis-satisfied with the government's response to their proposals. So much that a member writes an article in national newspapers. Did that article have Madam's approval? If so, is this her veiled attack at the Prime Minister? Apparently, they "have the full mandate" to draft bills as they wish to. They also apparently have "convinced" the government on changes that need to be made to RTI and the Forest Right Act. NAC has power, no responsibility. Government has no power, only responsibility!


The scams and Coalition Compulsions


Till recently, both the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi were beyond criticism (according to the media). Recent events that exposed multiple scams saw the media finally come out of the cocoon and question the Prime Minister. Not surprisingly enough, Sonia Gandhi is still beyond questioning. Simple questions. Are we to seriously believe that Sonia Gandhi had absolutely NO role in the formation of the government? Are we to seriously believe that A. Raja came back into the Cabinet without Sonia Gandhi’s support? When there was so much furore over multiple scams in the country, are we to seriously believe that Sonia Gandhi had absolutely NO role in the gross inaction of the UPA? Are we to seriously believe that Sonia Gandhi had NO role in the CVC fiasco? The media has been more than forthcoming in trying to ensure that the Congress party and the government are seen as separate entities. That Sonia Gandhi and Congress party are seen as separate entities (only in failures. For any success, we all know who is credited!).


Performance in Parliament


Since 2004, have you ever heard her speak in Parliament? Do you happen to know any of her views on any subject, important and trivial? Do you happen to know her views on the bills her own NAC drafts? Do you know if she understands the nitty gritty of all those policies that her NAC so shamelessly goes about recommending? Have you ever heard her ask any questions in the Lok Sabha? Is it too much to demand that the chairperson of the ruling coaltion speak to the people of the country regularly? Media has created a certain aura around Sonia Gandhi. And more than the Congress party, it looks like the media does not want to demolish that false sense of aura. Anytime soon.


Damaging insitutions


Let me start with an example. In India, the Governor of a state has the power to recommend to dismiss the elected government of that state. That recommendation is sent to the Union Cabinet and it is upto the Cabinet to decide whether to accept or reject this recommendation. With this background – let’s see what happened in 2005. Bihar Governor, Buta Singh (a Congress appointee) recommends President’s Rule in Bihar (officially cites “horse trading” as the reason). Sends it immediately to the Union Government. Cabinet okays the recommendation. Sends a midnight missive to the President of India (who was in Russia) and gets it approved. Soon after, the Supreme Court declares the recommendation and its subsequent approval as unconstitutional. Guess who the fall guy is – the Governor! For merely following the orders of the High Command, he was made the scapegoat. No responsibility fixed on the Cabinet (which had the option of rejecting the recommendation too). The whole drama/fiasco had politics scripted all over it. And we were safely made to believe that the President of the Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, had NO role to play in this.


Sonia Gandhi has presided over the unprecedented demolition of constitutional institutions. Raj Bhavans, which house Governors, have become a place for rehabilitation of loyal family troopers. Right from Buta Singh, Shivraj Patil to H.R.Bharadwaj, we have seen how she has systematically ensured that this institution stands demolished. Her NAC is the next example of how she is damaging the institution of the Cabinet. All main bills get framed by NAC and not the concerned ministries. Ministers merely exist to implement orders. Former Election Commissioner, Navin Chawla, was widely accused of being a Congress fanboy. One such accusation came directly from the then Chief Election Commissioner (who wrote a 900 page report to the President). Navin Chawla went on to become the Chief Election Commissioner. The concept of impartial Election Commissioner was thrown to the winds. We all know on whose whims and fancies the CBI functions. The CVC issue is too recent to be recounted in detail. And before you think, I am the only one ranting on this – an excerpt from an editorial in The Hindu – “The irony is that it is the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government that is weakening the institutional foundations of good governance in the country”.


And who leads the Congress?