Hail To The QUEEN!. Review on Lok Sabha

So, finally after all the brouhaha about India Shining and Feel Good factor, it all boiled down to the un-shining and the felt-bad sector of the country which cost the BJP the mandate to lead India once more. Its ironic though, we are probably voting away a government which was actually doing good work ? or perhaps, to put it politically correct, was doing great work for a section of society in India.

While its debatable whether Vajpayee did or did not deserve another term at the office, one cannot possibly argue the power of rural vote in India. And here is an example, where the rural vote was yet once again deceived (again, debatable), and another party has come to power to lead India, ironically by a European ? or make that Indian perhaps.

Instead of looking at what Congress did right in these elections, it is more interesting and important to look what BJP did wrong.

• BJP didn?t really do badly, but somehow they got carried away in their own reform ideas and trying vehemently to put India on global map, even before putting their own people under their confidence.

  
  




• I have never supported BJP ultra soft approach to NRI brethrens and resulting political fiascos. While their ?Yatri Divas? program was much indeed novel idea to promote tourism, their ?NRI Divas? was as dumb as a dead cuckoo. If only BJP had devised something like ?Farmer day? or ?Rural Day? in addition to their fancy dress competition of NRI divas, they would have been more balanced in their outlook.

  
  




• BJP certainly needs to get over the foreign origin issue which it has kept harping and harping about incessantly. Agreed, Sonia Gandhi may have been (and may still be) a foreigner, but truth of the matter was, Sonia reached out to people with BJP didn?t during the campaign ? and it showed. BJP was given a chance in these 5 years to bring a bill preventing people from foreign origin to hold an important post, though they didn?t, and well it backfired. As for me, Sonia Gandhi looks dumb to me, and is unfit for the post of PM, and that?s about it; whether she is Indian or not is simply a secondary issue. BJP could have instead questioned her political experience and qualification she had for the post rather than harp and cry about her foreigner issue.

  
  




• Pro-Reforms but where? India Inc definitely has shown promising results in the last five years, and yes a lot of credit does go to the BJP. And yet, BJP/TDP in Andhra Pradesh could not explain farmer?s suicide, the state?s burgeoning deficit bill and overall state of the state?s rural areas. I personally consider Chandra Babu Naidu to be a visionary and fit enough to lead our country, but his over enthusiasm of developing a Silicon Hyderabad cost him dearly. Same applies to S. M. Krishna. He wasn?t bad either ? however one city centric reforms cost him the election. It?s the same at the center as well ? the urban centric approach.

  
  




• BJP?s change of stance change from pro-Hindutva to secular party spoiled a good part of their vote pie for them. While the minorities still preferred to vote otherwise, BJP cut into its own skin by keeping away RSS, VHP and others at bay. I no way support VHP or RSS for their ridiculous activities, but the fact is, even if RSS / VHP and likes could convince 5% of their own people to stop supporting BJP, that still meant that BJP lost a chunk of their own votes. Its to BJP?s fault that the Ram Mandir issue has flameballed into something so communal and ridiculous; what was on their agenda 5 years ago, well, remained there - A costly move that cost the BJP.

  
  




• One of the best things BJP did for the country was to start building Roads, the much necessary building blocks of a nation. Vajpayee?s dream project does deserve that mention, and it was indeed something the nation needs badly. But BJP had to defend itself from issues of Dubey?s murder and such likes. Unfortunately, and very unluckily for Vajpayee, he spent the better part of his PM time settling Amma?s and Mamtas of our country. On that accounts, yes he has been very unlucky. Congress doesn?t have any great shakes. With their rates of scandals hitting the TV with ferocious regularity, neither do they have great allies and friends within whom I am sure Sonia Gandhi or whoever will become PM will have a nicety to.

  
  




• While the top rung of the BJP did have some really good people, they had their own share of fanatics and show stealers too. I have never liked Sushma Swaraj, however intelligent she showcases herself to be. Half the time she spent bringing adult call centers and adult channels and the likes down. I don?t say she didn?t do a good thing, but there is something called freedom of speech and freedom of democracy ? over doing it is not appreciated by all and sundry. But what went really wrong for them was the Murli Manohar Joshi and his IIM fiasco. BJP were targeting the middle and upper class sensibilities ? how could they even miscalculate Joshi?s jingo on the election? Not only in India, but people out here too were amused by the fiasco, which in many ways hurt the image of BJP. The issue could have held till they had been reelected, at least!

  
  




• Godhra Riots was a big face downer for the BJP. Whether it was intentional done, or unintentionally done, the fact of the matter is that BJP had to make do with all the blame game and all the shame of the incident. Objectively thinking, BJP had a lot to lose from the incident; even their excellent political gamble of selecting Kalam as President didn?t work at all.

  
  

But then, the verdict is clear. Congress will probably be able to form the next government, and the dumb lady will become our next Prime Minister. More than anything else, it?s the fact that an absolute unqualified person is going to sit and rule is the worst thing to happen to India. If Congress were sensible, then they did grab the opportunity by both hands, and possibly elect a dignified personality like Manmohan Singh to lead the country. BJP has proactively led many projects, be it reforms, tourism or development ? Congress have the best possible opportunity to build upon the pedestal already laid for them. It remains to be seen, 5 years later where it all leads to.

As a parting quote, I am neither for congress nor for BJP. But, I think in the current political scenario of corrupt and deteriorating Congress, BJP deserved another chance. I think we as public of India were rather rude on the party by not even giving them a much needed second chance to prove their mettle, while we are the very same people who have tolerated a dynasty for nearly 5 decades. Perhaps, nothing makes more sense to me today than these golden words ?

?Bad politicians are elected by good people who don?t vote?..

Next time, I will make my vote count!

For now, a nation waits...