I have been reading several Indian mainstream English newspapers and watching a couple of TV news channels for a couple of months. What I find is that they are giving hyped up coverage of Narendra Modi, while ignoring the many festering problems in his "Gujarat model".
For instance: significant lack of human development, institutionalized daily corruption, that a large number of ordinary people face, and the many questions that people are asking him.
Recent independent studies have demonstrated that development in the two non-Bharti Janata Party (BJP) ruled states, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu over the last five years has been better than in Gujarat. Also BJP's L K Advani has said that development in Madhya Pradesh and Goa - two BJP ruled states - is better than in Gujarat.
Sweetheart deals for Modi's super wealthy cronies that acquire the poor farmers' lands with low compensation, and give it at throwaway prices to industrialists, who then make tons of profits from their industrial projects built on that land, is the order of the day.
Modi's Gujarat government has recommended that the Indian government pay Reliance Inc the outrageously high rate of $13 per MBTU for natural gas against their production cost of $1 per MBTU, extracted from gas wells in various parts of India. Should this kind of anti-common man Modi model be hyped as ideal for the nation?
Muscle politics by Modi in Gujarat has been routine for years. A couple of his ministers in Gujarat are convicted criminals. Who can forget all those extra-judicial police killings in Gujarat that the Supreme Court is still investigating.
Recently in Vadodra, Gujarat, from where Modi is contesting for the parliament, he has acquired all public poster display sites with nothing available to other candidates.
When his Congress party opponent Madhusadan Mistry protested, the police arrested him. When Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP members visited Gujarat, they were harassed by police and their cars were vandalized by Modi's supporters.
In all these months of campaigning Modi has hardly ever answered any questions from either the public or the press.
It is always an orchestrated monologue to audiences that are brought to the sites of the rallies in buses by BJP volunteers.
He flies in and out of the rallies by helicopters like a maharaja, without any interface with the ordinary Indians.
Indeed several senior BJP leaders have chided Modi for his authoritarian, personality cult style and muscle politics as being contrary to the principles of BJP.
In India it is not only religious minorities like Muslims, but also many Hindus and a multitude of the youth who are concerned about BJP's hardline, exclusivist, Hindu-supremacist policies, of which Mr. Modi is a poster boy. These do not bode well for the future of our progressive nation.
On the flip side the tremendous popularity of the Aam Aadmi Party due to its inclusive and principled policies across the nation in a few short months, which is a contrast to BJP and Modi, speaks for where the Indian nation wants to go and what kind of leaders it wants.
Comments
| Quick linksNews
National
International
Regional
Politics
Education & Career
Business
Science & Technology
Health
Views & Analysis
The Funny Side
© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.
Rush for Muslim VotesThe Sansad demanded that Janmabhoomi be handed over to Shriram Janmabhoomi Nyas and Hindus were called upon to vote such a government that would do so (i.e. the BJP) and the Hindus were warned to beware of country-wide 'Muslim plans' of annihilation of Hindus against countrywide goondaism to protect honour of Hindu womenfolk. ..... More
Also Read: UDF, LDF battle for Kerala's 24 million votes
Arvind Kejriwal slapped, says he fears threat to lifeAAP leader and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday said he faced a threat to life after being slapped by a man while campaigning for his party here. AAP leader and former ...... More
This is a very significant development because the leaders of the 11 parties have indicated that individual parties can go in for seat arrangements in their respective states. Right now they together have 92 seats in the current Lok Sabha. .... More
In a letter dashed to Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Thursday a local NGO asserted that Reliance Industries Chief Mukesh Ambani had grabbed Waqf land by fraudulent means and urged the minister to initiate a high-level enquiry by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Ambani and others involved in the case.. ... More
Also Read: Shame on Ambani who occupied land of orphans: Asaduddin