The Great Indian Political Drama - 1 (Oct 2017 - Mar 2018)

[KL Dubey]

A great result indeed! My latest analysis:

Nagaland: It appears the two "others" (the independent and the JDU guy) have both submitted letters supporting the NDPP-BJP alliance. So with 31 seats the NDA is yet again forming the goremint. Meanwhile the NPF has already passed a resolution to remain in the NEDA alliance, so this election seems like what I predicted earlier: a "friendly match" between various NDA constituents.

This was also discussed on Republic....P0rnob and his panel of 'baters seemed to think this whole idea of "AnyWay EnDeeAay" (the phrase is my original) was extremely funny. But on a serious note, I think this is the natural outcome of the fact that BJP has been working strenuously with all the local parties in Nagaland to end the political instability and separatism and pursue "vikas". Hence it is not surprising it has no real enemy in the state.

Meghalaya: With the BJP-NPP alliance and the Congis both at 21 seats, it is the "others" holding 17 seats that hold the key. The "others" are 6 UDP/4 PDF/3 independent/2 HSPDP/1 KHNM/1 NCP. Here is my prediction of the situation:

- UDP and HSPDP are already part of the NEDA, so I assume they will go with BJP-NPP (8 seats)
- PDF and NCP are UPA constituents respectively, so assuming they will go with the Congis (5 seats)
- KHNM was already supported by BJP and NPP in the election, so perhaps go with NDA (1 seat)

So that makes it 30/26 in favor of the NDA. Since the assembly strength currently is 59 and not 60, that is probably already a majority. Adding one or two of the independents would not hurt.

Basically one hopes that Himanta Viswasarma, Ram Madhav, and Conrad Sangma have the ducks already lined up and that Ganga Prasad in the governor's seat does the right thing for which he was recently appointed.

Tripura: A real death blow to the Reds in the east and northeast. Now two more are needed: one in KL and the other a paramilitary operation in central India to finally crush the Maoists and Naxals once and for all.

[crams]

I agree it was unnecessary.

on a lighter note.. now we know what only thing in this world can pause his loooong bhashan

Indeed, it was not necessary. It was one of those very very rare occasions where to me at least ModiJi appeared fake. I mean give me a break, a prayer was going on somewhere outside, and there would have been nothing disrespectful had he just continued his speech wherever he was.

[KL Dubey]

^^Hardly the first time he has done it. Same thing in Kharagpur during the WB election in 2016 and somewhere in Gujarat during the 2017 campaign.

[abhijit]

Tripura: A real death blow to the Reds in the east and northeast. Now two more are needed: one in KL and the other a paramilitary operation in central India to finally crush the Maoists and Naxals once and for all.

and JNU. It is like a state and all red, naxal, jehadis are camped there permanently. The most important is to get those terrorist mentors out of JNU.

[KL Dubey]

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... y3hyN.html

I guess India's "poorest chief minister" will now feel the bite of poverty since he has become "Sarkar without sarkar" (no free accommodation, 10 crore helicopter bill, etc).

Bad luck, comrade Manik....Tripura people got fed up of sharing their CM's poverty and want to be prosperous.

[chetak]

The basic premise of the proverbial new broom sweeping clean has been violated by the NDA, probably by a misplaced sense of the Hindu civilization's fatal flaw of showing unwarranted "mercy" to the vanquished enemy, no matter haw badly the said enemy has behaved in the past,or how much harm the said enemy has caused personally to the tallest leaders of the NDA dispensation.

This is a classic case of unnecessarily and very foolishly carrying a heavy burden to slow down your own progress.

Its like someone willfully deploying a drogue chute on the same aircraft that you are trying to engage the after burners on, making you rapidly burn your fuel (political goodwill !!!) with almost nothing to show for all your hard work and sacrifices.

And when such slowdown badly affects the progress of the country, It almost can be seen in an anti national light.

Its not a even a judgement call but simply sheer stupidity. One would have expected much better from a normally savvy leadership.




Chidambaram’s Lutyens clique stunned by Karti detention

Chidambaram’s Lutyens clique stunned by Karti detention

By MADHAV NALAPAT | NEW DELHI | 4 March, 2018

Only P.C.’s whispered linkages within the network of senior Central officials will be sketched out here.
UPA-era Finance and Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and, by extension, his son Karti have long been considered to be among those “protectees” within the Lutyens Zone who are immune to legal accountability for their actions. Hence, it was with incredulity that the senior Congress party leader’s former and present associates across the world heard of Karti Chidambaram’s surprise arrest by CBI sleuths at Chennai airport. Talk spread rapidly throughout the zone that this was a “pre-arranged jumla”, and that Karti would be “out of the clutches of the CBI within a day”. The initial granting of just a day’s custody of Karti to the CBI added fuel to such rumours, which were, however, weakened by the subsequent court order granting a somewhat longer period in custody to the investigating authorities. That the senior Chidambaram has immense goodwill and access across the different branches of governance, especially Parliament, the Judiciary and the Central Secretariat, is undoubted. Although there has been much discussion about the Congress stalwart’s contacts within Parliament as well as the Judiciary, only his whispered linkages within the network of senior Central officials will be sketched out here. Of course, while claims have been made about the existence of a “Chidambaram Clique” within the leafy boundaries of the Lutyens Zone, several of those seen as being part of such a group say that their only contact with him was as civil servants to their minister, and hence that the same degree of familiarity and loyalty as they demonstrated to Chidambaram was attached to his predecessors and successors.

Several of these officials have continued their close contact with the former minister even since 26 May 2014, while he himself has, according to sources in the civil service, used his still considerable clout to ensure desirable posts for his presumed protégés. The valuable trait of effectively ensuring that the tasks given to them by their political masters get smoothly carried out is what seems to have ensured that several who are seen as being part of the “Chidambaram Clique” have retained important responsibilities during the present NDA dispensation, and indeed have been promoted to much higher posts. Doing the bidding of the minister who set the CBI against the Intelligence Bureau in the Sohrabuddin encounter case, and who sought to establish the existence of a Hindu terror network across the country, does not seem to have adversely affected the careers of Chidambaram loyalists in the BJP-ruled government.

CHIDAMBARAM’S FAVOURITES

The Congress politician’s clout and goodwill extend beyond the boundaries of India. Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, as an example, is considered personally close to Chidambaram. He is said to be responsible for the RBI reversing, in 2014, its 2012 decision on the “Kumudam matter” involving Jawahar Palaniappan, who is close to Chidambaram. A Lutyens favourite, Rajan is accused by former colleagues in the RBI of having tipped off the former Finance Minister about queries made to them by the Enforcement Directorate on the Aircel-Maxis case. In New York and London, fund managers swear by Chidambaram and many have since worked with Karti. Over the past eleven years, the junior Chidambaram has built up a record of financial success that would give Warren Buffett pause, although friends of the family say that this is entirely because of the financial genius and trading instincts of the hard-driving Chettiar scion from Tamil Nadu. A senior IAS officer, whose name comes up within his circle of peers as being “very close” to P. Chidambaram is K.P. Krishnan. Because of his proximity to the then Union Finance Minister, even routine presentations by him were reverentially attended by the RBI Governor and his Deputy Governors, as also by such top bankers as HDFC founder Deepak Parekh and the heads of private banks such as ICICI and Kotak. The officer’s detractors link him to Chidambaram and the minister’s (well deserved or not) reputation for partiality towards the National Stock Exchange (NSE). It is true that neither SEBI nor the ED seems to have exhaustively examined the co-location snafu in the NSE, where some influential brokers were said to have secured access to confidential trading data of the exchange through connecting their servers via “dark fibre”, in the process making trading profits amounting to four figures in rupees crores. Certainly individuals linked to NSE, such as Ravi Narayanan, Ajay Shah, Sunita Thomas, Susan Thomas, Suprabhat Lala and Chitra Ramakrishnan knew Chidambaram and Karti well, but whether this was linked with what took place in the co-location mess at the NSE is a matter that does not appear to have been investigated (especially by SEBI) with the seriousness that multiple allegations of “dark web” insider trading merit. K.P. Krishnan and another IAS officer, Ramesh Abhishek, are regarded by their peers as having been active in taking steps that resulted in the downfall of an exchange that was competing with NSE, but this is again a charge that seems to have evoked little interest within the agencies even after the NDA came to power. Sources say that the officers had been behind the reluctance of agencies to ensure that the eight brokers who profited from the NSEL scam repaid the moneys owed. Instead, they ensured that SEBI and ED fire got concentrated on Chidambaram’s target, the founder of the competing exchange, Jignesh Shah. The CBI, SEBI and other agencies have followed the Krishnan-Abhishek cue of concentrating only on Shah, rather than the brokers who actually defaulted. Abhishek, it may be added, is held in as high regard by the NDA as he was by the UPA. As for SEBI, Chidambaram was seen by officials as succeeding in having his own man in charge of that organisation, such as C.B. Bhave, who was appointed to the post despite having that very agency investigating him at that time in matters connected with NSDL. Naturally, this “investigation” went nowhere.

Another Chidambaram favourite in SEBI, according to senior officials of the time, was U.K. Sinha, whose record in ensuring that defaulters pay back the moneys taken by them was visibly less than stellar. Sources in an investigative agency claim that a very senior SEBI official (not Sinha) was even spotted transporting in a commercial flight a suitcase that was filled with cash, which represented payment by a grateful tycoon for compounding a high profile case. Within the Department of Financial Services (DFS), another Chidambaram favourite, Amitabh Verma, was claimed by colleagues to have “encouraged” Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to sell their loan portfolios to private banks at low values. These private banks very soon resold such loans for a much higher value. Thus far, no investigation appears to have been initiated into such UPA-era transactions. Chidambaram was also considered within North Block as instrumental in getting Atul Rai to be made the Managing Director of IFCI.

CHARMED LIFE

Thus far, the former Union Finance Minister has led a charmed life, although there have been scattered accusations, including of allegedly standing by, especially during 1996-97, as poppy growers grew more than they needed, the balance getting sold to the narcotics trade. Interestingly, the lawyer chosen by many clients involved in narcotics-related cases to represent them was Nalini Chidambaram, the wife of P. Chidambaram, who is known as a highly capable advocate who gets good results for her clients. Chidambaram too is among the best lawyers in India, while Karti seems to be a financial genius, judging by his results both domestic and global.

In the INX Media case (involving FIPB sanction), officials present during that time say that two senior officials, Ashok Chawla and Arvind Mayaram, were in the picture, allegedly at the behest of the then Union Finance Minister, who is known to be close to both of these officials. The same sources say that the duo were also involved “on Chidambaram’s say so” in the Aircel Maxis case, although only an investigation would show whether both had been acting within the rules. A detailed enquiry will bring out the truth of the case. The INX case was cleared in the FIPB and was not referred to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, a step that had been suggested by some at the time. Earlier, the senior Chidambaram’s associates were accused of having taken over land at a throwaway value in a coastal area near Chennai, land that belonged to poor fishermen. This was allegedly “facilitated” by the then Revenue Secretary to the Tamil Nadu government, Saktikanta Das. The officer concerned was subsequently promoted and shifted to the Central government as Joint Secretary in the Finance Ministry when Chidambaram was a minister. Even the NDA regards Saktikanta Das highly and has given him further promotions. This hard-working IAS officer, who was among the prime movers behind the 8 November 2016 demonetisation, is now a member of the Finance Commission. No serious investigation into lands in urban conurbations of Tamil Nadu transferred to Chidambaram’s family and associates while he was in high office has thus far been conducted, nor is any likely, judging by the record of the probe agencies thus far.

Palaniappan Chidambaram has had the good fortune of having several at the top of the LIC being close to him, such as T.S. Vijayan, who subsequently became Chairman of IRDA. The LIC invests heavily in the stock market, entirely coincidentally a favourite playground of Karti and his associates. Several nationalised bank chairpersons were known to be favourites of the former Union Finance Minister, including Canara Bank Chairman M.B.N. Rao, State Bank of India Chairman O.P. Bhat and Yogesh Aggarwal of IDBI. Several individuals were appointed to the boards of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) through Chidambaram’s efforts. These individuals are claimed to have lobbied for several loans that subsequently morphed into NPAs. No enquiry seems to have been conducted by the present government into exactly which bank directors or politicians recommended big loans during the UPA period, advances that went bust, including those to Kingfisher Airlines. From removal of duty differences between natural and man-made diamonds (benefiting defaulters Winsome and Geetanjali Jewellery); to ensuring through budget announcements the sale at a cheap price to a close friend of a mine in Goa; to making a leading state-sector bank “force exporters” (eventually at great loss to them and to the detriment of the country’s exports) to enter into forward positions on dollars through a dubious US-based paper entity; to nudging banks to make expensive changes in logo and software so as to benefit favoured entities, several charges have been made by serving and retired officials about the manner of functioning of the “Chidambaram Clique” that till the past few weeks seem to have been ignored. However, it is possible that the prediction being made by him, son Karti and wife Nalini that they will “soon be free of any taint” (through arguing their case within the legal system) may come true. And should the Congress party cash in on the errors of the BJP—mistakes pointed out every week by Columnist Chidambaram—and manages enough Lok Sabha seats to lead a coalition government in 2019, Chidambaram will almost certainly return as the Union Finance Minister. Some, especially in Washington and London, predict that he may even be made (a la Manmohan Singh) the Prime Minister, should Rahul Gandhi decide to sit it out till 2024, the way the Congress president did during 2009-2014.

Given Chidambaram’s record of assisting friends and annihilating foes, both sets of individuals will be watching the immediate fortunes of this urbane and ruthless politician from the South with unwavering attention.

[Karthik]

Easy thing to say from a safe place, you live next to rohingyas in jammu, you'd ask for a "right type of governance" as well.

Jammu has got its own BJP leadership, right? I know that they have formed an alliance with PDP there, but why don't Jammu-ites take their own local folks to task? Why expect Modi to be the beat police man, who is expected to be present 24/7 at the right place at the right time, always and every time?. And one big question remains, people who demand n things from Modi & Co, what have they done from their side to fix the problems (they face)? I remember reading that Sardar Patel asked the very same question to a group of Hindus who came complaining that Islamic gangs are hitting them.

You are saying exodus of indics is not a serious enough matter for PM or NSA to look into? Especially given it's the second wave of exodus from the same state?
What you suggesting about people themselves fixing their problems, sir this is not the US where citizens can form militia and buy tonnes of guns. The other side is supplied by the pakis and has huge political and international support. It's govt's duty to protect the civilians. The people there voted BJP for this reason in the first place. Don't forget that.

[syam]

Guys, you are further dragging forum quality by still letting people like Karthik post here.

He has so many mental issues. He needs break from the discussions and come back to reality. May be it's me who has issue. I shouldn't expect BRF environment on this chuthiyapa thread.

[MehtaRahulC]

(1) Why RSS won NE elections : Mighty problem of Bangladeshies, and how RSS-workers and paidmediamen created fake hopes that RSS (= BJP) will solve the Bangladeshi problem --- the MAIN factor behind RSS's victory in NE

Bangladeshi are now over 30% of Asam and growing. In other NE states, they are 5% to 20% and growing. And everyone in NE is shell shocked at growth of numbers and strength of Bangldeshi.

With morning shakhas, uniform, parading, band baja and a military style superficial posturing, rss-workers were able to create fake hopes in NE people that RSS can save themselves from Bangladeshi. And massive paidmediamen coverage helped further. And so Hindus of Asam voted for RSS en-masse 2 years back and so did other NE states now. This was similar to Gujarat where problem of Latif etc grew so high that Hindus voted en-masse for RSS in early 1990s and ever since.

Missionaries have no problem siding with RSS now because RSS has made it clear that they will NOT stop Missionaries in anyway. In fact, with growing tribes of leaders like David Fadnavis and Vice President Victor Naidu, Missionaries would prefer RSS to congress. Because in congress days, VHP-workers used to offer some resistance to Missionaries. Now over 95% VHP-workers have become passive, and Modiji is using a good strick over remaining 5%. So Missionaries all supported RSS en-masse this time in NE.

Now will RSS solve Bangaldeshi problem?

I started working as software engineer when I was in third year in my B Tech in 1989, and since then I have been a low life coder only. And right in the first few months, I noticed that there are people who are very very good at talking big and gaining trust, but they could never write code, never debug\extend their own code forget debugging\extending legacy code, and never solve any problem. And their math/logic is so poor that they will flunk bank clerk entrance test. And some are good at writing/debugging/extending code and some are very good. And many times, those who were good at gaining trust will have very low opinion about us coders.

You can decide where SoMoKe and congress/rss/aap workers fall in this spectrum. IMO, all these are only good at gaining trusts and votes from hapless voters who are deeply depressed due to huge problems they are facing. Solving problem is a task that is too too lowly for them.

======

(2) Bangldeshi problem and RSS

So central question of 1997-2004 and 2014-now has been --- can RSS solve Bangladeshi mess without US help? And problem may become tougher if China decides to send lakhs and crores of guns and grenades to Bangladeshies in India via Bangladesh. And much more tough if USA decides to help Bangladeshies and far far tough if BOTH China and USA decide to help Bangladeshies. And should we ask USA to help?

So we have following questions

(a) can we solve BD WITHOUT US help, if neither China not USA aid Bangladeshies?
(b) can we solve BD WITHOUT US help, if China but not USA aids Bangladeshies?
(c) can we solve BD problem WITHOUT US help, if not China but USA aid Bangladeshies?
(d) can we solve BD problem WITHOUT US help, if both USA and China aid Bangladeshies?

Apply more combinations.

Answer to all is YES. But it is far far beyond Modiji and RSS-workers. Given their elitist ideology, and given defunctness of Sri Modiji and corruption in RSS-leaders and RSS-workers, they wont solve Bangladeshi problem even if Bangladeshies are NOT aided by China or USA or even Bangladesh !!!

We can see that from how 2 bit Rohingyes are gaining inch by inch in Jammu, which is Hindu majority and RSS stronghold !!

======

(3) Voyage from "vote for Modiji to solve problem" to "solve problems yourself and dont bother Modiji"

Jammu has got its own BJP leadership, right? I know that they have formed an alliance with PDP there, but why don't Jammu-ites take their own local folks to task? Why expect Modi to be the beat police man, who is expected to be present 24/7 at theright place at the right time, always and every time?. And one big question remains, people who demand n things from Modi & Co, what have they done from their side to fix the problems (they face)? I remember reading that Sardar Patel asked the very same question to a group of Hindus who came complaining that Islamic gangs are hitting them.

Typical RSS-worker response.

Before election, RSS-workers will say "you hindus should vote for RSS and Modiji and we will solve all Hindus' problems, and pls dont look for solutions elsewhere". And once elections are gone, the tone is "why dont you Hindus solve your problem yourself"?

When some Hindus like gorakshaks try to solve problem on their own, Modiji and RSS-workers are the first ones who will call them gunda and insult them in public, and also get them arrested

Same here. If Hindus in Jammu were to take any direct action against Rohingyes, then Modiji and RSS-workers will be the first persons in India to call them goondas, insult them and also get them arrested.

The key point here is --- Rohingyes did not come on one day, They have been trickling at the rate of 10-50-more per day since 2012. And since 2012, RSS-leaders never gave any newspaper advertisement across India to bring the problem to notice of Indians, and RSS-leaders and Modiji never proposed any law in JK Assembly or Parliament to expel Rohingyes or take any executive action. Thats because Rohingyes give bribes to congress leaders as well as RSS-leaders in Jammu And please dont blame judges ALONE. Judges have taken bribes from Rohingyes and let them stay and let crisis increase. But it is congress/rss/aap MPs who decided NOT to fix the courts. So yes judges are corrupt, but along with judges, congress/rss/aap leaders are neck deep in malaai eating.

[abhijit]

I agree it was unnecessary.

on a lighter note.. now we know what only thing in this world can pause his loooong bhashan

Indeed, it was not necessary. It was one of those very very rare occasions where to me at least ModiJi appeared fake. I mean give me a break, a prayer was going on somewhere outside, and there would have been nothing disrespectful had he just continued his speech wherever he was.

He just did a Trudeau

[Karthik]

Guys, you are further dragging forum quality by still letting people like Karthik post here.

He has so many mental issues. He needs break from the discussions and come back to reality. May be it's me who has issue. I shouldn't expect BRF environment on this chuthiyapa thread.

I am yet to meet a more shameless and disgusting person than you. I mean, how many times do I have to say I've put you in my ignore list and don't want to talk to you or about you. I also asked the same from you. Yet you keep on replying to my posts and/or take my name. I read you post as I didn't login, so it was visible to me. Any sane and self respecting person would have moved away from further discussions. You got it right, you are the one who has some issues.

BTW don't talk about BRF quality, many of us here have been on BRF a decade before you joined, you didn't set any standards there.

[chetak]

BJP Win In Tripura Has Unnerved Mamata Banerjee, And It Shows

BJP Win In Tripura Has Unnerved Mamata Banerjee, And It Shows

by Jaideep Mazumdar

Mar 04, 2018, 12:35 pm

Snapshot
The BJP’s spectacular win in Tripura will have its fallout in Bengal, and Banerjee knows that too well.
After unseating the well-entrenched Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M) from power in Tripura, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will now set its sights on Bengal. This is evident from BJP president Amit Shah’s statement that his party will concentrate in and win Bengal, apart from Odisha and Karnataka, “in the coming days”. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is, thus, unnerved, and her ugly remarks (“a cockroach trying to become a peacock by putting on its feathers”) betray her nervousness.

The BJP’s spectacular win in Tripura by routing the CPI-M there will have its fallout in Bengal, and Banerjee knows that. The win holds immense significance in Bengal since it has proved that no matter how well entrenched a party is in power, a well-designed and aggressive campaign highlighting the failings of that party can lead to fantastic electoral dividends. And this is what the BJP will do in Bengal as well.

Banerjee’s failings are many, and she knows it only too well. The state’s economy is in a mess (read this article), few jobs have been created, big-ticket investments still elude Bengal (thanks to Banerjee chasing the Tata small car factory away), and resentment against Banerjee’s mercurial actions and faulty policies, as well as the politics of minority appeasement, is brewing. She has been walking away with the credit of centrally-sponsored welfare schemes and projects, and she knows that an aggressive BJP can unmask her clever falsehoods.

For the BJP, the win in Tripura is significant. The false impression that Bengalis are naturally inclined towards the Left has been shattered. Banerjee may have unseated the CPI-M-led Left Front from Bengal seven years ago, but she did so by being more left than the Left. The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee regime was overthrown after Banerjee successfully portrayed the Left Front government (in power at that time) to have turned bourgeois and pro-capital for courting big industrialists. Banerjee has been trying to strengthen the impression that Bengali Hindus are distinct from their co-religionists in the Hindi heartland and will thus never support the BJP. That myth has been busted in Tripura.

The Bengal BJP has been massively enthused by the win in Tripura. Even a year ago, few would have given the BJP even an outside chance of winning in Tripura. At present, fewer still will bet on Banerjee being unseated from power in Bengal. The popular impression was that the CPI-M was too firmly entrenched in power and far too strong a political power for the BJP to even make a dent in Tripura. The same is the impression with Banerjee in Bengal. But the BJP has proved in Tripura that such impressions can be vastly misleading. And, having proved that in Tripura, the BJP is raring to repeat the feat in Bengal. Reason enough for Banerjee to get very concerned.

Banerjee is also acutely aware of the skeletons in her cupboard. The ghosts of Narada and Sarada (the two ponzi schemes that defrauded crores of people of Bengal of their hard-earned millions and from which her party and many in her party benefited from immensely) can return to haunt and damage her anytime. The Central Bureau of Investigation probes in to the two scams hang like Damocles swords over her head. She knows that the screws can be tightened on corrupt leaders in her party any time and her Achilles heel is her nephew Abhishek Banerjee (who she is grooming to be her successor) and her brothers who have benefitted unduly over the past seven years that she has been in power. Exposes on them would permanently tarnish Mamata’s reputation and deliver a crushing blow to her.

Banerjee knows that an aggressive BJP will turn the spotlight on her nephew, brothers and on corrupt leaders of the Trinamool Congress. There are many skeletons that can tumble out of the Trinamool’s cupboards and Banerjee is mortally scared at the prospect of that happening. Hence, her false bravado and her increasing desperation to stitch together an anti-BJP front at the national level that, she fervently hopes, will be able to stave off the BJP juggernaut. Banerjee is even willing to join hands in an unholy alliance with her bete noire – the CPI-M – to ward off the BJP.

Banerjee knows that the first fallout of an aggressive campaign by the BJP in Bengal will be the shift of the Congress vote bank (5 per cent to 7 per cent across Bengal) to the BJP, as has happened in Tripura. That will be followed by the consolidation of the anti-Trinamool votes and a Hindu consolidation. Banerjee knows that her politics of blatant and shameless minority appeasement has put off many Bengali Hindus, who are slowly gravitating towards the BJP. She wants to arrest this, and has thus been visiting mandirs, mouthing Sanskrit shlokas and organising Brahmin sammelans. Like in Tripura, even Left supporters can shift their electoral allegiance to the BJP and in Bengal, that has already started happening with many left supporters and activists joining the BJP out of their anti-Trinamool feelings. Banerjee knows that her support base has already plateaued and can only decline from here if a strong opposition emerges.

Banerjee is also acutely aware of the fact that her party, which has no ideology worth the name, is made up of many opportunists, defectors and fence-sitters, who will ditch her at the first signs of trouble. That was how the Trinamool gained strength in Bengal. Once the going gets tough for her in Bengal, as it is bound to in the near future, many of her trusted lieutenants will surely abandon her. She knows that brand Banerjee alone will not work then.

Banerjee defeated the CPI-M by using the Marxists’ own tricks against them. In the run-up to the 2006 assembly polls in Bengal (where she unseated the Left), hundreds of CPI-M musclemen joined her and she could thus defeat the CPI-M’s formidable poll machinery. She also had the support of the Union government, which ensured a level playing field during the polls through effective deployment of central forces. She knows that the goons she now harbours can also ditch her and the poll rigging tactics she has copied from the CPI-M can easily be defeated by strict vigil. A resurgent BJP will not allow her to rig polls in Bengal any more, and that is bad news for her.

That is why Banerjee went out of her way to belittle the BJP’s victory in Tripura. But that only betrayed her nervousness at the prospect of the BJP turning its attention to Bengal. She knows that the BJP will now deploy its formidable organisational strength and tactics to winning in Bengal exactly as it did in Tripura. She is scared of that and her default reaction is, thus, her familiar rants against the BJP. But Banerjee’s verbal volleys won’t scare off the BJP or deter it from training all its guns on her. She knows that too, and that is why she is running scared and desperate.

Jaideep Mazumdar is an associate editor at Swarajya.

[KL Dubey]

Things moving on expected lines in Meghalaya, with the BJP, NPP, and da Guvnor all playing their parts perfectly. I believe the swearing-in will be on Mar 6 morning. Nagaland and Tripura on Mar 7-8.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 159045.cms

Meanwhile Ahmad, Kamal, and the two Mukuls come up emptyhanded again:

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/we-shou ... or-1819348

PS: Even the PDF (which I earlier thought would sit in opposition with the Congis) has joined the NDA combine, making it a comfortable majority of 34-35 seats.

[KarthikSan]

Actually Kerala is much easier than TN (or even AP).

Actually, it is quite the opposite. The Hindus of TN are more emotional and spiritual, less "secular" than the average commie propaganda fed KL Hindus. TN is also much more free market oriented and commie BS has very little traction among the populace. There is a lot of anti-incumbency against the *DMK parties and the right leader can trigger a landslide to the Dharmic side. It is a TINA situation now. Who is that leader? One with the oratorial skills of MuKa, the charisma of MGR and the authority/confidence of JJ. In short TN needs a NaMo clone. The current crop of TNBJP leaders have a few down to earth, sons/daughters of the soil types who have put their heads down and done good work. But when it comes to projecting that work and taking on the propaganda machine of the *DMKs they score a big zero. Maybe, NaMo can address a few dozen meetings here during election time and with a good translator like Mrs. NS things will change very fast.

[syam]

I am yet to meet a more shameless and disgusting person than you. I mean, how many times do I have to say I've put you in my ignore list and don't want to talk to you or about you. I also asked the same from you. Yet you keep on replying to my posts and/or take my name. I read you post as I didn't login, so it was visible to me. Any sane and self respecting person would have moved away from further discussions. You got it right, you are the one who has some issues.

BTW don't talk about BRF quality, many of us here have been on BRF a decade before you joined, you didn't set any standards there.

You can't even face my replies and you talk about hindu assertiveness and what not. Typical spineless hindu.

Yeah. I agree. I didn't set any standards on BRF. If I had, I would have kicked you out long time back. Now go back and cry about how Modi stealing your food or something.

[syam]

Forum is only useful when we predict things good. These days, it is nothing more than whine club. BJP going to win the elections and with good majority.

The so called RW keep flagging false alarms, making us big fools. Posters here have no idea what's going on in the society. Mods need to wake up and use ban-hammer quite generously. Enough with this BJP cheating hindus and pandering to some evil forces. Criticism is only good if it helps us in some way. Not like this.

[Karthik]

I am yet to meet a more shameless and disgusting person than you. I mean, how many times do I have to say I've put you in my ignore list and don't want to talk to you or about you. I also asked the same from you. Yet you keep on replying to my posts and/or take my name. I read you post as I didn't login, so it was visible to me. Any sane and self respecting person would have moved away from further discussions. You got it right, you are the one who has some issues.

BTW don't talk about BRF quality, many of us here have been on BRF a decade before you joined, you didn't set any standards there.

You can't even face my replies and you talk about hindu assertiveness and what not. Typical spineless hindu.

Yeah. I agree. I didn't set any standards on BRF. If I had, I would have kicked you out long time back. Now go back and cry about how Modi stealing your food or something.

This is n'th time I am saying, I have no interest in engaging you. Don't take yourself seriously, nobody is talking to you to "face" your reply, or whatever you call your post.

Something like BRF is way beyond your maturity, stature and caliber, continue dreaming about kicking out people from your nonexistent sphere of influence.

Have a nice life. And again, don't try to engage me.

[syam]

This is n'th time I am saying, I have no interest in engaging you. Don't take yourself seriously, nobody is talking to you to "face" your reply, or whatever you call your post.

This is nth time I am saying, we don't need your constant whining. RahulMehtha and you make nice couple. People here are not ready to take your crap anymore.

I logged on to forum after really long time. First thing I noticed is, your stupid post. Nothing changed at all. I don't know how anyone can tolerate people like you.

[Chandragupta]

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 148497.cms

Why o why o why?

More importantly, what is a loudspeaker doing in a mosque in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi and so close to BJP HQ? Isn't there a rule against using loud speakers? And the PM stopping to respect this illegal act shows exactly what?

[KL Dubey]

Congi losers whining and doing rona-dhona:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 160366.cms

[Indrad]

RSS has reason to rejoice. It had been seething since 2001 when four of its 'pracharaks' were abducted in Tripura and killed in Myanmar. The Vajpayee government’s failure to secure their release upset the Sangh and caused it to campaign only halfheartedly in the 2004 polls. The formation of a saffron government in Tripura should lead an ecstatic Nagpur to put aside the grievances of its affiliates and throw its weight fully behind Modi’s 2019 Lok Sabha campaign.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 154268.cms
Northeast election results: 5 key takeaways from the verdict

[Indrad]

संजीव नेवर (Sanjeev Newar)
‏

@followsanjeev
19h19 hours ago
More
Am ashamed of my PM for his repeat nautanki of stopping speech every few days for Azaan. This bootlicking has emboldened Jihadis. Makes his Swachhta Mission a joke. Instead of stopping a public nuisance, he is the one encouraging it. Or does he believe Sufis invented loudspeaker?

[abhijit]

I seriously don't understand why he is encouraging that nuisance. By his nautanki he has endorsed it now and what is he gaining out of that when at the same time his ministers and chief ministers preventing hindus from celebrating their festivals under the name of social and environmental nuisance.

[Kabir]

संजीव नेवर (Sanjeev Newar)
‏

@followsanjeev
19h19 hours ago
More
Am ashamed of my PM for his repeat nautanki of stopping speech every few days for Azaan. This bootlicking has emboldened Jihadis. Makes his Swachhta Mission a joke. Instead of stopping a public nuisance, he is the one encouraging it. Or does he believe Sufis invented loudspeaker?

In the hail Modi days we are forgetting a fact that the man has a penchant for showmanship.

[Sachin]

It's govt's duty to protect the civilians. The people there voted BJP for this reason in the first place. Don't forget that.

Sir, let us keep this simple. From what I see in your writings; you are NOT a BJP/RSS supporter any ways. So there need not be any angst regarding their well being. If majority of the people feel that BJP is not protecting the rights of Hindus (in a way you expect them to do), the very same people would vote for some one else in the next Lok Sabha elections, one year down the line. Such people then can figure out, who is the other alternative group which can protect the rights of Hindus (and perhaps throw out every one else). Considering how Congress & Commies behaved during last 60+ years, I don't think they would do any thing to benefit the majority community. VHP would be the next choice, but how much votes they would get is another laughable question.

Things moving on expected lines in Meghalaya, with the BJP, NPP, and da Guvnor all playing their parts perfectly. I believe the swearing-in will be on Mar 6 morning. Nagaland and Tripura on Mar 7-8.

I feel the BJP & RSS should never lose their guard, and start getting over confident. KA, MP, RJ; all require more stronger efforts. In KA; Karnataka's finest seems to have picked up some Hindu right winger(!?) - this time from Hindu Yuva Sene- who is said to have some role in Gowri Lankesh murder. The police has admitted that "he is neither the mastermind nor the main executor in the killing of the Gauri Lankesh killing. He’s merely the weakest link, who was careless enough to let the police get on his track"[sic]. But this is enough reason for the "seculars" to solve the murder mystery, and put it on the heads of the Sangh Parivar.