Disclaimer – I am a die-hard Modi fan and some folks will go to the extent of calling me a Bhakt, but I am not because am not blind to things that go wrong. I am not a fan of the party Mr. Modi belongs to but I will not support CONgress ever. I have never voted for CONgress and am not about to start unless Mr. Modi becomes their leader.
Now, much to the glee of certain sections of the society CONgress has won in M.P, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan. Congratulations to them and hope they provide good governance to these three states. Its only hope at this stage …
Rajasthan has the habit of rotating between a BJP and CONgress governments so that’s hardly a loss.
I am certainly disappointed that Shivraj Singh Chouhan lost M.P because Krishnan and I have been criss crossing M.P since 2009 and have driven across parts of the state 14 times … The first time that we stopped in Bhopal in 2009, on our way from Bangalore to Delhi, the petrol pump attendant proudly told us that the roads will get better going forward towards Delhi because we were in M.P and Shivraj Ji has been doing a great job. We never asked him about Shivraj Ji but he was so happy with his rule. Then more recently, we were in Indore, which has been named as the cleanest city in the Swachh Bharat audit. It was genuinely SUPER CLEAN and the taxi driver who dropped us back to the airport, kept praising the work done by Shivraj ji and was a huge Modi fan. He was a Muslim gentleman so people of all sections of the society do see the work done by Modiji unlike what the paid media portrays. Shivraj Ji has transformed M.P and moved it out of its “BIMARU” tag. So the loss certainly rankles. Of course the poll pundits have shared how nearly in 20 constituencies the BJP candidate lost by 500 or 1000 or 2000 votes. I have always believed that people get the government they deserve but am not so sure if that’s true in M.P – Mr. Kamal Nath, one of the poster boys of the 1984 sikh riots becoming the CM is a new low and am not so sure if the M.P voter was wishing for this to happen.
That said, the loss in M.P offers other opportunities – Modiji needs many more performers in his team, and who better than Shivraj ji to work on the Agriculture sector because his transformation of M.P in agriculture is remarkable. The farmers agitation that was “created” was just unfortunate and it didn’t get handled very well but the reality is agriculture productivity has been growing at a rapid pace in M.P and that has to be replicated across the country. So Modiji should consider bringing Shivraj ji to the centre.
The loss in Chattisgarh is deeply disturbing because this change of guard gives strength to Naxalism and Conversion. CONgress has never succeeded in stemming Naxalism because in many places they allegedly support it… Chattisgarh is a hotbed of naxalism and its a fervent prayer that it doesn’t flourish again. The other thing in Chattisgarh is the rampant conversion to Christianity. The ramifications of the conversion are long lasting and it changes the fabric of our culture. CONgress has turned a blind eye to it always but its imperative to bring an anti-conversion law and soon. The rumours about foreign NGOs using conversion as a tool in their agenda may very well be true .. so this has to be nipped in the bud. Wonder if BJP will see this as an opportunity to bring in the anti-conversion bill… as it should. Also Mr. Raman Singh has had huge success in ensuring the PDS system reaches the underserved sections of society. Again, this is a much needed reform across the country. So bring him to Delhi too.
All is not lost … some may call it a wake up call some may call it the beginning of the end but its just an election where the results weren’t in tune with the work done by the respective governments. BJP needs to learn its lessons and just get on with their development agenda while RaGa tries to keep people healthy with his “laugh a minute” bloopers and grey haired senior CONgis keep calling him “Rahul Ji”. Ah, a sycophant’s life is tough !!
Thank you Shivraj Ji – a job well done over 13 years. You will be missed. Thank you Mr. Raman Singh – haven’t been to Chattisgarh, but will do that sometime soon. Have heard about the awesome afforestation drive in Naya Raipur and how buildings have been removed to make way for trees ! What an idea….
I always find your posts about politics interesting. We don’t get a great deal of news here about Indian politics so I don’t know as much as I could. It seems very complicated as compared to our three party system – but also suffering from the same challenges.
Sage and I will be going to Raipur next month. I’ll let you know what we think!
Thanks Todd. And yes, do let me know what you think of Raipur.