Gadkari's Basic Instinct

BJP Prez in Sharon Stone moment

This is your friendly neighbourhood BJP party president, Nitin Gadkari. If I were to deconstruct this photograph and the attitude of L.K.Advani and the RSS towards him - the former thinks he should uphold certain values while the latter has termed him the "Nagpur boy" who is pretty much okay - then it is clear that Gadkari does not quite care about what anyone thinks of him. 

His legs are crossed at an extreme angle while his gaze is straight ahead. It means he keeps an eye on what's going on, and yet does not lose touch with who he is and who he is with. 

The generous exposure and view of flesh also conveys that he might preempt his opponents with a 'show me yours, I am showing you mine'.

BJP's Backroom Boy: Kejriwal

The only person who is probably surprised that Nitin Gadkari’s name has come up in the grand Arvind Kejriwal expose would probably be Nitin Gadkari himself.  

Not because of the accusations of financial deals, which no politician likes exposed, but due to not being even recognised as a politician at all:

“Gadkari is not in politics, he is not a politician. He is using BJP to further his business interests. It is sad that BJP amended its constitution to give a second term to the BJP President.”

So, cry hoarse as much as you want to. Kejriwal is the BJP’s backroom boy. After outing Robert Vadra and Salman Khurshid, he had to portray a semblance of parity in corruption. His India Against Corruption (IAC) is not breaking new ground. In fact, his target is the UPA. Here:

Kejriwal said that Gadkari was illegally favoured by Maharashtra government in allocation of farm land and also alleged quid pro quo with the ruling political party in this land allotment. Kejriwal said that Gadkari was in league with Congress-NCP to get undue personal favours. “Is BJP the opposition party or the partner of the ruling party?" Kejriwal questioned.

When he accused Robert Vadra, it became a Gandhi family and Congress issue. When it was against Salman Khurshid and his Trust, it again became a Congress issue. Now that it is the BJP President, why is he not as scathing against the party?

One has to be naïve to imagine that when it comes to making a political choice Kejriwal will not join hands with the BJP. His revelation against Gadkari has two purposes:

1. Show that he is non-partisan
2. Choose the out-of-favour BJP man as target

Neither works as intended. 

Gadkari has a business empire. So does Sharad Pawar. Why has he not named Pawar? Why has he not named other BJP leaders who stashed money? Is corruption only about acquiring wealth or also about ensuring that you stay in power by disbursing wealth and permits? In the Vadra and Khurshid cases, he was certainly more clear.

Everyone knows that certain people in the BJP want Gadkari out. Kejriwal is playing for them. More importantly, he has made the BJP into some sort of martyr trapped into making this tough choice. There are the usual noises in the BJP. It seems too pat, in some cases rehearsed.

Would he like to stretch the argument and ask how the BJP president, by denying the farmers of what was theirs, managed to hold on to his seat in the ‘clean’ party? Was he possibly keeping some people happy within? Does it mean that every single person who is in a position is capable of doing so?

It is unfortunate that every single day for a few months now, Indians are being treated to this bizarre tantalising show. After the Anna and Ramdev tamashas, Kejriwal – the most self-righteous among the lot – is indulging in what he accuses others of: playing politics. That is his aim and that is what he has always been from the very start.

Forming a political party on the basis of exposing others is churlish. However, we give him space and time because we are spoon-fed this sort of weak ideology of uprightness in contemporary times. It is essentially an advertisement for the man. He is selling himself.

Why are we buying him? Does everyone believe him? Is he the new messiah?

The answer to all is an emphatic no. Arvind Kejriwal will be swallowed into the big party and sent off to handle farmers.For all his concern about them, he knows that in the Indian political scheme this is "chillar" (small change), a word Nitin Gadkari used for his expose.

The Kejriwal-Kiran Karnama

and a dash of Modi...

a

Kejriwal at the protest

This time I am with Kiran Bedi because I know where she stands. Whatever be her personal motives, she was right in not joining Arvind Kejriwal’s protest on Sunday. To those analysts who believe that he is targeting the BJP, take a chill pill. If the party dangles a carrot before him during the general elections meal, he will happily make a halwaa of it.

What we are witness to is political acrobatics. Team Anna has already announced its decision to form a political party. It should go about its business instead of taking to the streets:

The activists are demanding resignations of the PM and Gadkari and the cancellation of all coal licences following the CAG report that estimated a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the public exchequer.

Does it mean that each scam will result in just such a show of strength? What about the ones in the past? Why don’t they file a PIL? This is indeed an issue, but why does corruption only mean that which grabs media eyeballs?

The activists led by Arvind Kejriwal reached the residences of the PM, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Gadkari three hours before schedule, setting the pace for a manic nine hours for a harried Delhi police that never quite got its grip on the situation.

Kejriwal said, “Our intention was to show the nation how the BJP and the Congress were hand-in-glove over the coal allocation issue. We have done our job, it is time we go back.”

Oh, sure. You create havoc, try and force an ‘alliance’ between opposition parties to show how ‘balanced’ you are and you expect people to believe you?

Addressing the crowd, he said:

“When the ruler is afraid of its subjects, it means that democracy is dead. What wrong are we doing? We are just sitting quietly on the footpath. At least we should be told why we are being detained.”

What they did was not democratic. They just follow another form of autocracy. It never was and cannot be a “people’s movement” when you need to wear Anna T-shirts. The caps seem to have been replaced. Is this what young India wants?

Kiran Bedi, Anna and the goddess

Kiran Bedi’s stand is “realistic” (My piece on her dance and symbolism is here). As a TOI report states:

She had opposed IAC’s plan to target and gherao BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s house on the coal block allocation issue, arguing that the activists should not forget the support given by leaders like Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, L K Advani and Gadkari during their bid to get the Jan Lokpal bill passed.

“Arvind and the Bhushans had several meetings with them (BJP leaders). And they agreed to support in some ways. But at least they were not dismissive as the ruling party. Why must we forget this. End of the day, if we paint all black who will get us what the country needs now and in the near future. India needs honest political leadership and I look forward to widespread changes. But we got to be patient and inclusive. Without losing possible quarters of support even if we have ideological difference with them.”

Kejriwal just wanted to play drama queen until things hot up and he will have to sit and help formulate something called a party manifesto that goes beyond corruption that is already being exposed by others. This is, as I have said so often, a BJP vs. RSS diversionary tactic, and he is so comfortable in such a scenario where one acts as the foot soldier with righteous indignation and the other is the moderate.

See you in saffron in 2014, Mr. Kejriwal.

- - -

Netting Modi

Modi maange more

There are several websites singing his praises, uploading his speeches, capturing his every move. So, why does Narendra Modi need another channel?

Cornered by a relentless onslaught from a rejuvenated Congress and a buoyant Keshubhai Patel, chief minister Narendra Modi is planning his biggest ever media blitzkrieg. An internet protocol channel (IPTV), most likely to be named Namo Bharat, will be launched soon to arm the Gujarat CM with a potent propaganda tool.

“The name itself makes it clear that this is personal projection not just for the assembly election but bigger things that lie ahead,” said a source.

Namo is the name the mainstream English media gave him, just like they did Saifeena (for Saif and Kareena), which was copied from Brangelina. This is also what stores and companies with two partners do – add parts of each name and run shops.

"Bigger things" is a loaded phrase. And adding Bharat does not mean a thing, because even Manoj Kumar used the name for his characters in films. This won’t make Indians more interested in him as potential prime minister. In fact, he will appear so limited, stuck to his “5 crore Gujarati” obsession in the big pool. Good. Perhaps, there is a typo in the name. Is it ‘Nano Bharat’, little India?

(c) Farzana Versey

Toppling Paper Boats: Modi At Sea

The red carpet walk where Narendra Modi pirouetted at the BJP’s national executive meeting was like a film star at Cannes endorsing a cosmetic company. It was not for a new film release.

If he was given the honour as the number one guy, it was just to keep the party’s face pretty. We will get to that in a bit.

His opponents are out of the woodwork. Two former chief ministers of Gujarat Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta are helming what the newspapers call the banner of revolt.

Those in the party speaking against Modi are said to be close to Sanjay Joshi, an RSS leader who was a victim of Modi’s bullying tactics at the national executive. In their meeting, the dissidents spoke about an atmosphere of fear in the state. “A state of mini-Emergency in Gujarat is now being extended to the national level,” said Keshubhai, referring to Modi’s hustling Joshi out of the national meet…they felt BJP president Nitin Gadkari should not have succumbed to Modi’s blackmail or allowed him to hijack the party ahead of the Gujarat elections in December. Keshubhai, who yet again described Modi as a “dictator”, set the tone of the discussion, saying, “Crushing dissent is not the culture of the BJP or Sangh Parivar. We don’t want such despotic leadership.”

Why did they wait for the meeting to get over? Crushing dissent is very much a part of the Sangh Parivar culture; only, it is called party discipline. If it was all democratic, there would be a second rung leadership. Sanjay Joshi has become the rallying point because he isn’t big enough to be threatening. But don't forget he is a RSS man, and the RSS pulls the strings where the BJP is concerned where it matters.

They are talking about phone tapping. How is it then that Sanjiv Bhatt’s phone was not tapped when he says he has evidence of certain calls where Modi could be nailed?

It is surprising that they are complaining about it now when in 2008 Modi was all set to increase his spy network that would cost the state a staggering Rs 20 crore. Its main task was not to counter terrorism and foreign espionage. His spies were to watch every move of the state’s politicians, including the chief minister’s own men and rivals within the BJP, as well as prominent social workers and members of the business community.

Intensive spying by IB sleuths on local politicians at Modi’s behest have been doing the rounds since 2002, but six years later he increased it by almost 40 per cent. Around 400 government spies were active in the state and additional 93 spies were reportedly brought in from other departments or recruited afresh.

From Rs 17 crore spent every year on the spy network since 2003, the figure jumped to Rs 33 crore in 2008.

Politicians are an insecure bunch, and those like Modi use such blackmail tactics to stay in power and threaten people. It is entirely possible that all those who have been singing about economic development, including some Muslim businessmen, have been under such surveillance and just learned to keep their mouths shut.

Could Modi justify such expenditure? He is the one who rails against terrorism all the time, so why did he not deploy vigilante groups for more concrete efforts?

That is the point. I do not agree with this state of emergency in Gujarat extending to the national level. BJP president Nitin Gadkari knows that right now Narendra Modi is a good publicity stunt. The meeting was in Mumbai, and the message was not for the politicians of the party, but for the business groups in the city. Gujarat is the BJP’s piggy bank. Nitish Kumar may have streamlined infrastructure and made the backward Bihar liveable, and Modi has only added tinsel to gold, but the latter is, as I said in the beginning, a better photo-op.

Much is being made of L.K.Advani’s absence. Let us be pragmatic. Mr. Advani may not want a second term for Gadkari, but Modi is not his calling card. If anything, he has let a Modi flourish simply because the BJP needs a fishbowl. The senior leader is in complete command, as he was even during Atal Behari Vajpayee’s tenure as prime minister. He knows who to keep where. And Modi could push away a Sanjay Joshi, but not a Gadkari. This is the RSS at play, a game Advani knows only too well.

The more important point is that Modi has to return where he belongs. It is this sense of being rooted in one place that makes him both arrogant and insecure. His boasts are exaggerated and his fears result in paranoia about his own. Sometimes, I do feel a tinge of sadness for him. He has to live with so many ghosts and so many private moments grabbed from others. Does he have the luxury of a life of his own?