Will the people respond?
Let’s look at the political world in India today. There is only party in India that has laid down a clear vision for India in the IT field. I read this vision and I was amazed. Here is a party that is trying to change the election battlefield from the shallow Hindu – Muslim divide to a vision based campaign where goals and metrics are defined and the party has laid out clear plans to achieve these goals. Along the way, we will generate jobs, educate people and give a boost to domestic consumption of IT goods and services so that we are not dependent on natural economic cycles of the west. How much debate have we heard on this issue across TV channels and newspaper outlets? As any other party come out with its own vision for the IT area? Other political parties do not want to have this debate. They want to cling on to perennially used election themes that worked in the one party political world from 1947-1996.
There is only one party that has laid out a clear vision on foreign policy. How much debate have you heard around this party’s foreign policy vision? Has any other party spelled out its policy in as much detail? Another example of one party trying to change the election landscape to an issue based election. Similarly only one party has come forward with the money held by Indians in Swiss banks. Only one party has its plans to form a task force comprised of eminent experts on this issue to deal with this. How much noise has the media made about this? Why is there a deafening silence on this issue by other parties? Terrorism is another area where only one party has demonstrated willingness to combat this menace at its roots. It requires political will and only the BJP has articulated it.
Let’s also look at the election from a social perspective. For decades we have heard the same rhetoric over and over again; Girls in India are deprived of education for various social and economic reasons. What have the parties done to solve this problem? Evidently nothing for the past 50 years since this issue is still relevant today. There is only one party that has laid out a clear plan to solve this problem and has approached it understanding some of the social reasons that lead to this problem. Here is one party trying to change the election battlefield again to an issue based election. How many talking heads have you seen debating the plusses and minuses of this scheme? Have you seen any such scheme from any other political party? Answer is again No.
My purpose in highlighting a few of these points is to drive home the point that only the BJP is approaching the elections, the way they should be in a democracy. You lay out your plans, your visions, and your goals before the elections so that the electorate has a clear idea of whom they are voting for. You set metrics for your initiatives so that you can be measure against these at the end of your term. The other parties would never dare to do such things. God forbid if the people actually start measuring your performances. These parties will never win an election again. It is in their interest to let the election be dominated by fringe issues like Varun Gandhi’s speech, reservations for Muslims for votes and other such meaningless words like secularism.
The reason I bring this up is because after the Mumbai attacks, I saw on TV numerous candle light vigils, pledges and a collective will to vote for politicians who will be responsible in tacking issues outlined above and many more that face the nation. My concern is that in this election noise, media bombardment, star appeal, Supreme Court rulings and slogans, can the electorate separate fact from fiction? Can they clearly see the forces in play? Can the electorate separate real issues from fringe issues? Can the electorate separate issue based politics from slogan based politics? Can the electorate clearly see that the nation will not be safe till we have vote bank politics? If the answer is no, then I am afraid all the candle light marches and pledges are of no use.
Deep down I hope that the people can clearly see that only the BJP is trying to change the way elections are conducted in India. I hope that they can see that only the BJP has presented clear ideas on how to solve problems facing India. This is a welcome change and frankly a sign of a healthy democracy.
Let’s look at the political world in India today. There is only party in India that has laid down a clear vision for India in the IT field. I read this vision and I was amazed. Here is a party that is trying to change the election battlefield from the shallow Hindu – Muslim divide to a vision based campaign where goals and metrics are defined and the party has laid out clear plans to achieve these goals. Along the way, we will generate jobs, educate people and give a boost to domestic consumption of IT goods and services so that we are not dependent on natural economic cycles of the west. How much debate have we heard on this issue across TV channels and newspaper outlets? As any other party come out with its own vision for the IT area? Other political parties do not want to have this debate. They want to cling on to perennially used election themes that worked in the one party political world from 1947-1996.
There is only one party that has laid out a clear vision on foreign policy. How much debate have you heard around this party’s foreign policy vision? Has any other party spelled out its policy in as much detail? Another example of one party trying to change the election landscape to an issue based election. Similarly only one party has come forward with the money held by Indians in Swiss banks. Only one party has its plans to form a task force comprised of eminent experts on this issue to deal with this. How much noise has the media made about this? Why is there a deafening silence on this issue by other parties? Terrorism is another area where only one party has demonstrated willingness to combat this menace at its roots. It requires political will and only the BJP has articulated it.
Let’s also look at the election from a social perspective. For decades we have heard the same rhetoric over and over again; Girls in India are deprived of education for various social and economic reasons. What have the parties done to solve this problem? Evidently nothing for the past 50 years since this issue is still relevant today. There is only one party that has laid out a clear plan to solve this problem and has approached it understanding some of the social reasons that lead to this problem. Here is one party trying to change the election battlefield again to an issue based election. How many talking heads have you seen debating the plusses and minuses of this scheme? Have you seen any such scheme from any other political party? Answer is again No.
My purpose in highlighting a few of these points is to drive home the point that only the BJP is approaching the elections, the way they should be in a democracy. You lay out your plans, your visions, and your goals before the elections so that the electorate has a clear idea of whom they are voting for. You set metrics for your initiatives so that you can be measure against these at the end of your term. The other parties would never dare to do such things. God forbid if the people actually start measuring your performances. These parties will never win an election again. It is in their interest to let the election be dominated by fringe issues like Varun Gandhi’s speech, reservations for Muslims for votes and other such meaningless words like secularism.
The reason I bring this up is because after the Mumbai attacks, I saw on TV numerous candle light vigils, pledges and a collective will to vote for politicians who will be responsible in tacking issues outlined above and many more that face the nation. My concern is that in this election noise, media bombardment, star appeal, Supreme Court rulings and slogans, can the electorate separate fact from fiction? Can they clearly see the forces in play? Can the electorate separate real issues from fringe issues? Can the electorate separate issue based politics from slogan based politics? Can the electorate clearly see that the nation will not be safe till we have vote bank politics? If the answer is no, then I am afraid all the candle light marches and pledges are of no use.
Deep down I hope that the people can clearly see that only the BJP is trying to change the way elections are conducted in India. I hope that they can see that only the BJP has presented clear ideas on how to solve problems facing India. This is a welcome change and frankly a sign of a healthy democracy.
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