Celebrate Modi, don’t just criticize him

Celebrate Modi, don’t just criticize him

Before you jump to conclusions, this blog is not a random praise of Narendra Modi. Neither does this extol you to vote blindly for him and his party.

Rags to riches story don’t happen every day. Agreed, Modi’s story is not a “rags to riches” story. His is a “plead to power” story. From pleading with his customers to buy tea to a man in power, and possibly set to become the PM of the country, Modi has traversed a long journey.  The road from plead to power is even more challenging, more difficult and crooked. You can become rich on your merits, but in a democracy you get to power by convincing others of your merits and establishing the trust and confidence of your supporters. Or, if you are a dynast, then, by being born in a particular family. Clearly, Modi belongs to the former category – none of his family members have ever been associated with politics.

Getting to power is like a race. Unfortunately, in this race, everyone doesn’t start from the very beginning. If you have strong political affiliations, you are planted near the end or at the end. But if you have to start from the very beginning with none to watch out for you, we have to credit the contender for their perseverance, hard work, dedication and laser- focus on the end goal.

In this race, all the contenders carry a bag-back which is used to gather experience on the way. The contenders planted near the end goal, hardly have time or ability to capture enough. But those who started from the beginning gather immense experience and learning and lessons learnt on the way. It makes them more wholesome in their abilities. The Modi of 2002 is different from the Modi of 2014. In 2012, we had a Modi with zero experience as an administrator. Come 2014 and we have an administrator with over 12 years of experience of running a government. Good experience can and should never be discounted. The Akhilesh Yadav of 2025 will be very different (read experienced) from the man we see today.

The race will end soon and winners and losers will be known to all. The winner will get all the credit; however, equal credit must also be given to organizers of the race. In this context, the democratic framework and citizens of India, who I believe are the biggest winners. While the BJP and Modi may or may not form the next government, it is a tremendous win for the country that a poor chai-walla Narendra today dreams to lead the country. Not only has he done something right to reach this position, but our fathers did us a great service to establish a framework where at least everyone can dream to race!

We can always find a reason to criticize the man, but be positive and celebrate the dreams of the man. 

2014 Indian Parliamentary Elections: Idealistic vs. Practical vs. Unknown Challenger

Indian Parliamentary Elections, 2014: Idealistic vs. Practical vs. Unknown Challenger

The 2014 Lok Sabha elections is the battle between three distinct visions of India. There are tons of details available in the speeches and interviews of their leaders. But simply put, it is a war between the three leaders, who represent the “practical” vision, the “idealistic” vision and the “unknown challenger”.

Arvind Kejriwal of AAP represents the most ideal vision of India. His idea of a corruption free, prosperous country, an honest nation, where there are no bribes, no money laundering. Arvind Kejriwal is the idealist- zero tolerance to corruption, crony capitalism, pure and shudh 100% honesty in politics. He challenges anything and everything that is wrong or has a whiff of dishonesty in it. He wants to lead us to a perfect world bereft of the demons of dishonesty and corruption. He is the ideal Vishnu avatar born to banish evil from our society forever.

The guy with the most likely chance of making it to the chair, Narendra Modi, presents the practical approach, where he will inherit the throne with all its biases and imperfections and turn it around, slowly but steadily into a country that is progressive and thrives on opportunities for everyone to grow and let grow. 

And finally we have an unknown challenger in Rahul Gandhi. It is ironic that he is labelled the challenger, since he is supposedly born to rule. But fortune only favors the brave. Lack of skills can only propel you so much. He asks questions with no answers. Questions which we all know.

Kejriwal represents the ultimate future state; Modi presents the roadmap along with the low hanging fruits.

Where will your vote go?

Kejriwal2.0 and Modi2.0 - Two sides of the same coin

If you look around the Indian political landscape, you will realize that the top 2 problems confronting India are:

1.India has been following a policy of tokenism and selective appeasement (based on caste, religion, etc).

2. Corruption is another problem that has become a significantly serious challenge for the country.

 
Of course, this is not to say that these are the only 2 challenges the country faces, but these are fundamental issues which are holding the country back. You could link poverty, rapes, crimes, lawlessness, etc to one or both of these fundamental problems.

Clearly, in order to progress we need a resolution mechanism. And any resolution mechanism needs a leader to drive the changes. Driving such changes needs strong determination from the leader, tough decisions need to be taken which are in the larger interests of the people and not necessarily for a certain section of people. People must be able to identify the leader with solution to the problem.

India does not need to look too far. For we do have two leaders, who are so different personalities and with different backgrounds, but each one is identified with the two issues being discussed here.

Narendra Modi2.0 signifies inclusive development, which is devoid of any tokenism or selective appeasement. His brand of development represents growth for all sections of society, as his election plank has demonstrated. Gujarat 2012 elections did not boast of any religion or caste based promises, but Modi2.0 spoke just about development, future growth and was very aspirational, which appealed to all stratas of society. The rich see new investment potentials, the middle class see new job opportunities or support functions. The poor see newer avenues of income. The farmer sees promise in farming and his produce more returns. Common people see government machinery working for them. Modi2.0 is another promise for inclusive development, a paradigm different from traditional tokenism and appeasement, which has led us nowhere. Modi2.0 has come to symbolize inclusive development.

Now, let us talk about problem # 2. In today’s world, corruption is no longer equivalent to exchange of bribes. Corruption has become much more complex and beyond comprehension of common people. Which ordinary person could ever figure out the corrupt practices in involved in 2G or Coalgate. A corrupt government can alter policies to favor a business house (of course, in exchange for money) or not grant permits to another business house to reduce competition for a favored party. The one name that instantly comes to mind as someone who has become the antithesis of corruption and corrupt practices is Kejriwal2.0. Not only he (and his team) successfully exposed several scams, but also made them visible so a common person can make some sense of the corrupt practice involved. While people may not fully comprehend the corrupt practices involved, they at least understand that their is a quantum of money that the exchequer lost, which could have put for economic welfare. Indeed. Kejriwal2.0 has become synonymous with the honesty incarnate who can destroy the corrupt and bring the lost money back.

Reality is we need both problem solvers to take the country forward. We need collective leadership which not only honestly counters corruption, but also propagates inclusive development, not reservations or quotas or freebies which make no economic sense. 

Both Kejriwal2.0 and Modi2.0 are the two sides of the same coin.