In the run-up to the Delhi polls, why, despite the charisma and vision
of Narendra Modi, I’m still left disappointed with the BJP?
1) Immigrants in our own country: This is far from being a wrong choice
of word or a typo. It is more like a belief that you grow up with, but not
speak it out as you know it’d be criticized (like a white American might think
“nigger” but just say “a black man”). And then your patriotism (which is so
obvious on your FB wall) pictures India as the map you had first drawn in school.
Every inch of the (disputed) soil is ours
– isn't that what we say? So is your patriotism more for the soil than for
the people dwelling there? For I see more talks of the soil than of the people
in these areas.
We know that your belief guides your actions, and it surfaces in one
way or the other (despite your attempts to cloak it). This is precisely what we
see in your vision document, which looks more like a hastily scribbled piece of
shit built up in the 11th hour, where obviously, you expressed what
you have always believed – calling the north easterners immigrants.
2) The Campaign: A greater part of the campaign of BJP is targeted at
the Chief Ministerial candidate of the opposition (Arvind Kejriwal). Some of
the ads being put up are distasteful and very personal. And going by the size
of the ads, it looks like BJP is spending tens of crores of rupees just to
prove why Arvind Kejriwal is a wrong choice. I won’t ask about where the money
is coming from, I won’t bother looking into the broader margins that political
parties should maintain in keeping away from personal attacks against an
opponent. As a voter and a citizen, I would want to know “what will you do for us if you come to power, not what he (AK) has as
deficiencies”. So while you put 5 questions to AK, I’d have actually loved
to see you putting up 5 problems of Delhi every-day and how you intend to solve
it. But then, from the look of the vision document, it seems you have paid more
attention to the cartoons on AK than on your plan for Delhi. Honestly, do you
even have one?
3) Kiran Bedi: No question on her career and her accomplishments. I’ll
give her a clean chit on the Newshour interview as well. She had clearly said,
she won’t take any further questions before removing the microphone (and trust
me, she would be jittery – how would it be like to be announced as the Chief
Ministerial candidate without having any political experience, and then
bombarded with a thousand difficult questions? So my full marks to Bedi on that).
This is where I struggle with her –
a) Bedi’s first speech as BJP leader (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAw0EjHaVzQ)
is comparable to RaGa’s interview with Arnab. It is plain juvenile. I picked
her speech at two other rallies as well (one of which had NaMo), and I started
doubting if she is CM material. She might have some great accomplishments on
her back, but didn't Manmohan Singh have that as well.
b) Her awareness of Delhi and the diverse problems that it has is
pathetic. It clearly comes out in her discussions/ interviews. Women safety is
the first thing – agreed (and every political party is talking about it), but
Delhi is bleeding because of so many other issues. You have to talk about them
(not just 4-5 items).
c) Her past tweets criticizing Modi for the riots. While I agree that
she can have a change of heart and move from
being a neutral voice to a National voice, this still does not explain her
criticism of the riots. She had criticized the Gujarat model as well, which now
she sees as working (I’m yet to see the achche din though). Course correction –
endorse Modi for that. That sounds pretty reasonable. But the criticism of the
riots stands. I don’t want to call her an opportunist, but I’m at a loss while
looking for an explanation for it.
4) The Hawala case: First of all, hawala is not a case where you
transfer money into an account. While I do not defend AAP in this, my logical
mind (and I’m sure we all have a decent level of intelligence) tries to find
the answer. AAP is putting up the
details of every single paisa that is being donated to them. If they have some
illegal donations coming in, would they have put it up in their website? Logic
says NO (they’d probably ask the donor to pay them in cash or other means that
cannot be tracked). So where did these 2 crore donations come from? This needs
to be investigated, but it’d be premature for us to judge right-away. As a
precedent, we have one such investigation being done during the last Delhi
elections (on foreign funding to AAP) where AAP came clean. But we Indians
have a way with things – we don’t need court-kacheri, we pass the judgment over
a coffee table discussion, and that is why Arnab’s talk show still runs. And
while I, you and the citizens question AAP on this and ask for an
investigation, where does BJP stand? Isn't it the same party with 75-80%
donations (if I’m not wrong) coming in from undisclosed sources, the party that
together with Congress had vetoed the Political Parties from falling under the
ambit of the RTI (and hence saved themselves from the disclosure of funding). I
would have loved to hear Nirmala Seetharaman saying - investigate all parties on their funding. But instead, I hear her
saying – investigate AAP. Come on
BJP, you need to use the same yardstick to measure yourself as well. In fact,
since you are the party forming the Central Government, the need for
transparency is more in your case. But what do I see – you are making sansani khulasa in news channels about some other political party’s funding.
Why aren’t you taking actions on it – get an FIR lodged, involve the famed CBI?
Or is it like what a friend of mine had said:
BJP – AAP is getting hawala
donations;
AAP – We should let the SC check
the donations to AAP, BJP and Congress;
BJP – bhai, mai toh mazaak kar
raha tha!!!
PS: I’m a North Easterner, and a Muslim by birth
(does not mean that I follow it). Considering the type of reactions that I
normally see in the social media when somebody criticizes the BJP, one has the
options of abusing me as a Chinese, chinki (although I don’t look like one),
Bangladeshi, and also as a Paki who needs to be sent to Pakistan.
