The 10 Point Challenge of being UPA, ehhh INC!!

Congress: At the CROSS roads…

Sometimes one can assume that running the Indian Govt is like riding a Tiger! Neither it is easy to ride it, nor one can afford to get down from its back :)

The recent controversy about Salman Khurshid’s comments on current political status and need for their No2 leader to demonstrate bigger role may have caught many eye balls, but the point he raised may be only a tip of the iceberg for the party which is facing challenges on various fronts currently. Today when we see (or at least try and see, since there is little clarity!) the UPA Govt in action, one can figure out that it’s more about the Congress party which seems to be “enjoying” this tiger ride more than anyone else. Its allies are in the best position where they are enjoying power with little accountability and though they are in Govt. they never leave any opportunity to run down the Govt along with opposition on any step which does not “seem pro-masses”. Barring a DMK which had its anxious moments thanks to Telecom scam, allies seem to be enjoying the best of both the World’s, while the Congress seems to be getting the brunt from all the sides!
If we see the political scenario from the public eye, there are quite a few pointers which the grand 127 year old party needs to immediately address or else it is staring a realistic scenario of losing the “Ruling tag” in the near future:

1) No Visible Defined Goal: There seems to be a mess of sorts in terms of Goals, Strategy & Execution. The party seems to be lacking not just a long terms road map but even the short term and midterm goals don’t seem to be in place around which the strategy and execution plans can be woven. As one of the senior party leaders has recently stated, Governance and Politics has got intermingled in such a manner that there is only one thing which is clear: Chaos! Initially the power sharing between the PM and party high command worked well for them, but the recent spats, scams, policy decisions have cast a shadow over the arrangement as to who will plan and who will execute, “How” is a question which hardly reaches the table. Party needs to have a Vision, a Direction towards which it needs to be led as a collective well-knit unit in the interest of all the stakeholders…

2) State of Paralysis: Often we hear only about the lack of economic reforms, but it is more of total lack of reforms: Be it economic, political or administrative which is collectively hurting the Nation. There have been bills including judicial ones which have been pending. Due to scam up roars, even bureaucracy has gone into a freeze not willing to take any action for that matter. If Manmohan Singh getting FM and Pranab being proposed for Rashtrapati Bhawan is considered a move, Sonia may have played a master stroke in not just getting their man as President but also paving way to allow PM to play and direct the Reforms game he is considered to be a master of! Though in this current landscape, it will not be easy even for him.

3) Lost in the politics of Coalition: Opposition seems to acting better than their allies. At least they are clear that they need to oppose! Economic paralysis is something which is hurting everyone and its time Govt gets the political will to score before it gets late. Party seems to be finding light in the maze between TMC, SP, BSP & DMK. Neither these “Allies”, nor the Govt is sure if they are “In” or if they are “Out”. Even after winning 206 seats in 2009, if Congress has to manage such show, one can reckon their state if there tally falls in the next Lok Sabha. Bigger problem is that it does not itself have clarity if it wants to go all alone in future or manage this “Coalition of Opportunism”.

4) Showing the National face or the Regional face? Its centrally controlled leadership under Sonia Gandhi’s iron hand has certainly helped it being stable and having disciplined stock which was not the case in 1990’s, but little local faces have started hurting its fortunes now. Be it UP, Bihar, AP or many other states, at most places it is devoid of strong local leaders. If YSR could ensure 33 seats for them in the last polls in AP, after his tragic demise, going against popular sentiment and not allowing his son to be in the chair is a decision which today will be difficult to justify knowing the YSR Congress monster it is looking at in addition to the Telengana woes and seasoned TDP in the next polls in the state which sent Max. MP’s for it. What it needs to think is if it needs more Sheila Dixit’s to help Center concentrate on bigger challenges.

5) Who is the Leader: Youth OR Experienced? Though parties like SP have seamlessly combined the Youth power with experience of erstwhile leaders, Congress yet seems not to be in sync as there have been murmurs of dissent every time elections come or policy is prepared with experienced lot calling the shots as of now. Though transition is underway, it still would take time before the Youth start leading from the front and come out of the shadows of the elderly. There seems to be a base prepared in terms of second rung youth leaders and the Crore plus IYC membership, but one yet has to see them taking the center stage.

6) History or the Future? Today nearly 65% of the country’s population is less than 35 years of age. This population only relates to Nehru and Indira as historical personalities and now they seem more inclined to see fresh ideas, fresh ideologies corresponding to the current times. So today when Sonia Gandhi seems to be having some undisclosed illness and preparing to pass the baton, Rahul Gandhi would be the face who would be tested by this population. Though there would be a lot of followers he would get, there would be an equal amount of detractors in the crowd who would test him and find empowerment breaking the “dynastic shackles” in their endeavor to see a modern India free from historical references of any sorts. It is here the party needs to clearly learn from its history to strengthen its Present and seek a brighter future for itself and the country!

7) Popular or Practical Policies? Success of MNREGA has given confidence to NAC to go with more such schemes like proposed Food Bill. But seems there heart and mind are not in sync as to which way to go as the mind tells them that the direction of heart is not easy. Moreover 2 things deserve to be given due importance. Firstly the funds which need to be spent for such inclusive programs need to be arranged and current economic paralyses along with shaken investor confidence will not help the cause. Secondly there have been good policies which have been made for ages in India. Where we lack is the Execution. There still seems to be little importance given on that front.

8) To be Corrupt or to be in Opposition? Power corrupts & absolute power corrupts absolutely. After witnessing recent scams, public will be happy they dint give the latter to UPA in 2009. It’s evident that every party which comes to power gets to see the corrupt side of some of its leaders, sometimes less sometimes more. With recent media renaissance and frenzy to highlight happenings, corruption as an issue has become a headache for those in power. If that was not enough, the groups like Anna’s People against corruption have further helped propagate the sentiment of people against the ill. So Congress needs to decide if it prefers to fight corruption charges being in power or fight the Govt by others; after sitting in the opposition!

9) Give us 10 More Years?? One can imagine a BJP or BSP to come to the electorate and ask them to give a term to depict how they could lead the development efforts. But when one hears a Congress leader asking for another “Chance” it seems a joke to say the least. An individual may not be the best judge to figure out if the current state of the nation is good or bad knowing the history where we started 65 years back, but the party which has been at the helm of things for almost 5 decades now forming almost 70 % of the central Govt’s till date should not seek chances from the voters. It should simply talk of its performance: The Good or the Bad is something which needs to be decided! In 2004, they got a chance as they were riding the anti-incumbent wave, but if this time if there has to be one, they will need to tide against it!

10) Self Introspection: Like in recent UP polls, a party leader hinted something which seemed pro-minority, and when it fell flat suddenly they projected themselves to be "truly secular" and "Unbiased". They want to talk about merit, in the same breadth they talk about increased quotas. There are a lot of times we don’t work on the basics while being in complex scenarios. One such basic; which party leaders should currently do is self-introspection to clearly identify What they want, When they want and How they intend to do it. The answers to these simple questions may give them a road map to have answers to more complicated ones!

In this entire dark story there are a few bright spots. Congress as a party has seen all this many times earlier. They have it what it takes to “Manage” this and much more, thanks to their experience! They are masters in turning the tide and have been written off earlier also; only to come back stronger. Lack of a planned, united & strong opposition is another factor allowing it breathing space during crisis. Hopefully even this time there would be seasoned players and think tanks within the party who would be having answers for not just these points but many other obstacles which will come during their bumpy run to 2014. How successful they would be in clearing these points along with more severe opposition assault is something the Janta of the country will decide when they go to vote in 2014.

Rowdy Delivers; what it Promised!!

I am not sure why I am so elated as neither Sanjay Bhansali nor UTV have agreed to share the profits with me after a huge opening it has taken, but then there are few things from the heart which defy logic! Though Akshay Kumar had witnessed few successful outings after Singh is King, I firmly believe he had not got that one Huge Masala film with right genre & hype to woo the masses in hoards as he missed the bus in picking action projects which are ruling roost for last few years. This was his best chance to score, with right genre, music, & promotions : & he along with the team of Rowdy Rathore seem to have scored Big by delivering what they had promised : Entertainment for the Masses :)

There are few films which are meant for mass audiences & there are others which are targeted at elite intellects. Right from the conceptualization of this film, the producers, actors & the director were very clear that they were making this one for the mass Indian audiences on the lines of Dabangg & Singham. The same was depicted in the trailers & when one sees the movie, he would realize that the people will get what was promised: Doses of Action, comedy, romance, songs: a Complete Entertainment package. Critics & pseudo intellects can stay away as this outing was not meant for their sharp brains.

When you try and copy a successful product with some alterations, there are two possibilities. One is that you might end up cooking a Khichdi which is intolerable to eat. The other possibility is that you end up making an equally compelling product if not better than the original. It is here Prabhu Deva scores big time. He was trudging a high risk zone of mass entertainers where comparisons with Dabangg, Singham & Agneepath could have hurt his fortunes badly in case he would have faltered, but he has executed his dish pretty well to ensure a successful product.

Makers have shown no qualms in accepting that they did not intend a sophisticated product for classes. There is a definite plot which has been picked from the Superhit Telgu version. The alterations have been made to suit it to the Hindi mass audiences with clear vision to serve them whether it is characterization, look, dialogues, screenplay, music, cinematography or the choreography. The screenplay ensures you sit in a 140 minute joy ride with seat belts on!
The movie is however not free from minuses. There are sections in the middle which seem totally unwanted. Then some songs seem to pop up from nowhere, either to increase the length of film or give some required footage to Sonakshi. Few scenes & dialogues look over the top and actually filmi…

Story is about 2 look a likes and the way their lives intersect and impact each other. One is an honest cop fighting the goons in Bihar & the other is a thief in Mumbai who comes across surprising incedents where he gets attacked for mistaken identity. Akki is the soul of the movie and plays double role with ease: One of the super cop Vikram Rathore which would remind you of Salman & Ajay in their successful outings earlier. But it is as thief Shiva, he brings the house down! He seems to be in his element to the hilt, be it body language in action scenes, or the comedy where he has again excelled. Even critics who would bash the movie will find it difficult avoiding crediting him for being the bright spot. He should thank Prabhu (Both God & director!) as he couldn’t have asked for a better return to action genre.. Sonakshi has limited screen time but looks good the time she is there with good chemistry with the actor. Other actors playing negative roles have done full justice to their roles of being the modern Gabbar’s in the new age Sholay  Sajid Wajid’s music is in sync with the entertainment quotient though they could have given few compositions better. Cinematography is of high grade covering the landscape well. A very special mention to the dialogue writer: He has done wonders to the film by striking a chord with audience prerelease & even a bigger chord post release by creating a roaring impact , people are certain to cherish & take home “Jo mai bolta hu vo mai karta hu, jo main nahin bolta, vo mai definitely karta hu”

The Mass audience of B & C grade centers will certainly like Rowdy more than their counterparts in metros. The class audience of metros who seek entertainment will also like the venture. But the intellect section which may not have liked potboilers like Bodyguard earlier should stay away from this one.
At the box office this will work, & work big time. Smaller centers would see records tumbling; bigger ones will also see descent business. This will certainly help Akshay consolidate his position after Housefull 2 as the star of masses and give Salman Khan Company in that segment. As for producers, they have kept their all promises: Promise of entertaining audiences & make distributors & themselves go all the way smiling to the bank. In one of my previous articles I had mentioned, the result for Akki's biggest test this year would be out by 3rd June, yes it is out & he has scored HUGE! As for Akki fans, we can only tell the critics: “Don’t Angrryyyyyy Us” & let us celebrate the Rowdiness :D :D

Akshay Kumar : After a “Housefull” start to 2012, the real test lies ahead

Why the year 2012 is crucial for Akki’s Bollywood journey…


I had planned this write-up right in the first weekend of release of Housefull 2. But it has taken almost 2 more weeks to publish it as the film took this time to clock perfect 100 @Indian Box office! In 17 days, Housefull 2 has taken Akshay in the league of stars with 100 Crores from Domestic box office. Though he is a late entrant to this elite club, its important he is there & its heartening that after long not just his performance, but even his film has been appreciated and trended very well over 3 weekends which has hardly been the case for him in last many years.

Akshay Kumar is one of the few self made stars who has come from humble middle class background with no Bollywood connections and captured the industry as one of the reigning superstars. But just like any filmi story, even his success has not been only a set of roses. He has seen too many ups and downs during his 2 decades in tinsel town. I still remember being in a single screen hall watching one of his movies in late 90’s with his 15 other loyal fans in the entire hall in its first week of release. The film bombed badly and was a part of the double digit of flops he had churned in continuity. When one looks back to that particular phase in his career, frankly not many could have predicted him to turn around his fate in this competitive industry with no God-father to promote. But this has become his habit now, to come back stronger once he touches the lows in his fairy tale Bollywood journey. He had started consolidating his position since the start of last decade with movies like Jaanwar & Sangharsh and with Hera Pheri he got the ticket to entertain the audience and use his comic timing to target the top band of stars he is a part of today.

Though he witnessed many successes in between, it was in 2007 his stock touched the roof with 4 back to back successes in the same year. It was Singh is King in subsequent year which positioned him in the top bracket as one of the most saleable stars in the fraternity. But after that, he somewhere seems to have lost the plot. The biggest problem for him since then has been that he is doing 3-4 movies a year unlike a Shah Rukh or Amir who have one/two releases in a year, thus making it difficult for him to maintain the quality of content which can sustain his box office pull. Initially he managed good initials and subsequently films fell but lately it started taking a toll on his initials also. He has suffered recently due to some poor content as well as flurry of releases without substantial gap. Akshay & Salman have been 2 superstars who believe in doing more films and giving their fans more opportunities of meeting them in cinemas in a year. But its important that these reasons are enjoyable and worth spending hard earned bucks!

This year is critical for the Khiladi in more than one respect. One reason has been the lack of noticeable success in the last 2 years which has made his critics again write him off out of the top league. Second most important reason has been that since 2009, there has been a hoard between top stars for the right appropriate date of release + right genre + high prints + high promotion to get bumper opening as the trends suggest most of the successful ones write their success story right in the first weekend of the release. Akshay somewhere missed the bus on this combination and has not been able to utilize this formula post Singh is King. There was a time few years back when even a 30+ crore weekly collection was ticket to films success. Now every big release is safe only if it has a 40+ crore weekend!! Salman is the best example of mastering this game in last few years. Today economics of film is a mere two week run and Akki was late in reacting to this trend.
But as they say, it is better late than never. With a Houseful start this year, he has marked his return amongst the numbers. But again, this was his safest venture this year with an established brand, successful production house-Director combo and host of other stars to support him. His real challenge lies ahead. His other releases this year include Suhirish Kunder directed sci-fi 3d “Joker” expected to be out in August. Going by the track record of the director, the genre of film and their last outing together (remember he wrote Tees Maar Khan :( ) this one is Akki’s weakest link this year according to analyst. It would be interesting to see if he can make this venture sail through! Then there is Milan Luthria directed sequel to the hit “Once Upon a time in Mumbai” where he would be literally donning the D company look. This one would be a venture which is expected to get him the most critical acclaim along with box office moolah to the producers. Then Khiladi 786 is also to take off.

However the biggest test for Khiladi this year will be in his next release, the Prabhu Deva directed “Rowdy Rathore” where he returns to action after a long time. As he himself confesses, the wave amongst the audience currently is for action films with right script, music and an overall entertainment package. He seems to have put in his learning’s from blockbusters of his contemporaries with this outing and it is very important for him to get this success formula replicated for him on the lines of a Dabangg, Ghajini, Bodyguard or the latest Agneepath. Though its first trailer along with the success of Houseful 2 have risen hopes from the movie touted to take massive initials, by June 3 (end of its first weekend), the fate of the film would be out for one and all. This is a perfect massy potboiler, which for Akki & his fans sake better doesn’t go wrong!
It is important for Akshay to get back amongst the numbers and consolidate his position this year and turn things around as it took him almost a decade of hard work to see a 2007!! Knowing age is not on the side of most of current top stars, it’s important for him to sustain this hard earned super stardom and give his fans more reasons to celebrate… We are sure, Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia will give us more memorable cinematic moments and entertain the masses to the hilt... did we hear "DON'T ANGRY ME"!! Rathore is coming :)

The Legend of Sachin Tendulkar…

On the onset, it is difficult to be Sachin, Sachin 100dulkar. It’s also a difficult feeling trying to pen down thoughts about someone you have grown admiring on and off the field. A long wait of a year came to end yesterday; he became the first cricketer ever to have 100 international Centuries. On a budget day, if there could be one individual who could have made the individual headlines, then it could only be Sachin. Still you would have lot of people with below statements, even if they would be in minority-:

“Whenever he hits a ton, India loses the game.” Hmmm…
“He only plays for his records.” Well…
“He is now old enough to retire” Is it???

After a century of Tons and still counting and over 30,000 international runs, if a person is still hurled these “compliments”, then it becomes imperative that the emotions attached with this game in the country are absolute crazy. & in a heterogeneous population of over a billion plus, where every soul is a leader; each seems justified to air an opinion of his own. In the land where Cricket is a religion & Lifeline of masses, some refer to him as God, few think he is selfish, but surely everyone has an opinion about him. You can Love him, you can hate him, but if you are an Indian; you cannot ignore the legend of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!!
My first memories about watching this genius are when he was himself a teenager. Even when he was good, frankly at least I had not expected these feats from him back then. There were many greats who used to praise him highly and hoped he would make it big in cricketing world. But there was hardly anyone who could predict he would assume the heights which he has attained today. Even if we go by his yesterday’s admission that “Dreams do come true”, probably he may not have himself been sure of reaching the milestones where he stands today. However we were destined to see a miracle which was to only grow with time.

For youth, he is an inspiration and a role model. There are a lot of important take away’s from the master blaster’s kitty for one and all. The kind of dedication, perseverance & hard work he used to put in when he was a teenager, you would invariably find the same kind of efforts from him even till date, be it on field or preparation prior to it. Maintaining the same commitment over such a long duration is something which looks only theoretical but he has presented a live practical demonstration for us what successful leaders are made of. Another important aspect of his long innings has been “Focus”. Be it public on the road, or people from the fraternity, right from Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, the Chapell’s or most recently even Dhoni (suggesting slowness of seniors); everyone has something or the other to observe and suggest about his game every now and then. But rather than defending, clarifying or retorting aggressively, Sachin has only focused on field and let his game do all the talking and giving all the replies to what the world has to say. Seems he does not believe in getting into spats off the field, he only wants his bat to fight it out with the ball on ground!

He has been ethical, humble & epitome of integrity. There have been hardly instances where anyone has been able to point a finger at him questioning his integrity or humility. That is one of the biggest reasons apart from his success which has made him one of the greatest role models in the country. However his calmness and composure does not take away his hunger to score and win. He may not have the in your face aggression of a Ganguly or Yuvraj, but his conviction and passion to win is second to none. Yes the new blood deserves a chance to be groomed; new heroes will come up eventually. But the fact remains despite the age, Sachin is still amongst the better performers in the team even today when he has been seeing the rough patch every cricketer goes through. This highlights the ability and quality of this master, even his average looks at par with others good forms!

The man has seen many highs and lows in Indian cricket in this journey of 22 years. Even individually he has been used to criticism and scathing attacks. Be it his changed approach of building the innings now as against the initial Sehwag like onslaught we witnessed in initial days, or the long one year wait for conquering the final frontier of 100th ton which made critics write him off and ask for his retirement, he has seen it all. But the key for him has been his ability to adapt to changing circumstances, changing needs, surely the character this person is build of is not common. His conviction to keep trying and never say No attitude has helped his and teams cause. Physically he has been recovering from injuries in this long journey but it has been his mental strength which has kept him going even after the pressure of expectations from fans and blatant attack from critics. One also must not forget the solid support system in terms of his family, which has helped him run this marathon.
Sachin would have been fortunate to get an opportunity to serve his nation. But then even the nation has been fortunate to have this sportsman serving it for 22 long years. As for the masses, we have been genuinely blessed to have witnessed one of the rare gifts of God to mankind undertake this journey for his love for the nation, the love for the game!

It’s not over yet, we are sure we will get to see more from the run machine before he decides to call it a day. But then the contribution he has made to the sports, he has written the rarest of the rare chapters in the history of the game and nation, the chapter we would never forget: “The legend of Sachin R.Tendulkar”!

6th March 2012, Part 3: Poll Results: Congress Stumped, Collectively Opposition wins the Semis

Few important things to note before we get on to the results.
1) Analysts & observers can go wrong, sometimes less sometimes more. Only thing where they were almost right this time was SP would be single largest party in UP, getting majority was something even they could not fore-see.
2) Local issues and tastes of masses need to be addressed. It is important for National parties to follow the Global MNC’s in their approach: Think Global but Act Local or else they will end up becoming insignificant in most states moving forward.
3) Personalities work but work only with proper support system in place. Hype is sometimes not translated to results.
4) Though Anna may have got lost in background post Dec, media may have forgot public ire against scams & price rise, the voting masses seem to have not. For a change, their memory has stretched and few things have got stuck in their sub conscious mind along with hearts. Ire may not be on roads, but results indicate Centre needs to be careful.
5) Media sometimes operates at 100 feet over ground & fails to pick up exact ground reality.
6) Elders experience & persona coupled with youth passion & vision seems to be a winning formula this time on political horizon.


Congress went on the front foot, but it missed the ball & has got stumped. It would again have to start in the crease, a bit demoralized, probably on the back foot. Mixed news for BJP though: It managed to retain Punjab with SAD, wrestled Goa, is somewhere there even in Uttaranchal; but has failed badly to benefit from Anti incumbency in UP. Regional parties have yet again proved their importance: SP & SAD have proved their mettle against the National parties. If 2014 would be the finals, then opposition seems to have won this semi finals of 2012.

UP: Starting with the most important state. BSP faced the anti incumbency; SP has taken all the benefit of this leaving the other 2 players high and dry. Though vote share wise, BSP is still a force to reckon with 26% vote share. But a fall of 4% votes from their 2007 share has cost them a whopping 126 seats along with the rule bringing down their tally to 80. Akhilesh Yadav has subtly wrestled back power for his father, Cycle crushing the elephant with outstanding 224 seats and a clear mandate! As for the other 2 contenders, both BJP & Congress need to do some self introspection. Irrespective of how badly critics bash them, a true fact is both failed to rise to the occasion. BJP has just managed 47 seats, 4 less than last time. If Uma failed for BJP, Rahul Gandhi’s dedicated, sustained & aggressive efforts failed to translate into votes. With 28 seats, 6 more than 2007, this would hurt them. The pro quota frenzy seemed to have little buyers & more sellers to their dismay. They were not in race to top the charts but the way they lost, will haunt them for long. As for Rahul, critics may bash him failing after Bihar, but the way he accepted taking blame for the loss and learning lesson from it; it seems the battle might be lost but the war is still far from over for him. With an increase in % votes for party in state, he may be down but not completely out & may have a long journey to cover in the state. Probably the ground needs to be built before his efforts can do the trick for his party. Till then Ms. Bahuguna & Mr. Digvijay Singh can take the blame for poor showing shielding their leader. But losing in strong holds of Amethi & Rae Bareily is something which would have tough explanation. At the centre too this will have implications. SP will have more say now, Congress will need to figure out how to operate in the maze between Trinamool, SP & BSP!


Uttarakhand: The only state which could not decide with results as to who would be the next CM. BJP was expected to lose comprehensively but still getting 31 seats behind Congress’s 32 will not hurt much. Khanduri succeeded in saving BJP from visible rout, but the general could not save his individual seat! Now the Govt formation will depend on the BSP & others accounting the rest 7 seats.

Punjab: Akali Dal has defied history by becoming first party to be voted back to power in 4 decades along with their partners BJP. SAD-BJP combined won again 68 seats, Congress failed to get the expected victory from the Badal’s getting only 46 seats.

Goa: BJP swept the state thanks to the mining issue! Another loss in Congress kitty.

Manipur: If there was any good news for Congress today, then it could find solace in retaining Manipur which had limited players.

We all would wait for the day when leaders would compete to perform and win rather than just try to promise & win. The lesson for all parties: Kindly perform or perish! People will vote for you if you would work for them.

6th March, 2012 : (Polls Part 2 : The Music of Exit Polls)

Exit polls are out. Though Anti incumbency seems to be the flavor of the season like most of the times, exit polls indicate that only UP will have a clear mandate against the ruling BSP. Punjab & Uttaranchal seem to be a close fight where the ruling Govt’s might be presenting tough time to opposition. Our politicians being politicians are rubbishing the bad news & looking in sync with the good ones! Political reactions on these have very short shelf life as the verdict would be out in a day. A quick look at what the exit polls look to suggest:
UP : SP was expected to be the single largest party even before the polls were declared. But whether it will be able to get the magic figure of 202 on its own is something not many people were ready to believe. Exit polls also indicate that it might not get a simple majority, but it may be very close to the target and in the battle of youth, Akhilesh might have benefitted the most from anti incumbency against Mayawati regime. The BSP’s loss seems to be divided between the other three contenders, BJP & Congress being gainers behind the maximum gain by SP. Unless SP gets the magic figure on its own, we may see the political permutations & combinations come into play along with uncertainty all across as was the case before 2007 landslide in favor of BSP.
Uttarkhand : BJP was expected to be voted out before the polls, thanks to the anti incumbency wave. But the exit polls are indicating a very close fight between BJP & Congress. Seems “Khanduri Hai Zaruri” may have saved BJP from a clear cut ouster.
Punjab : This Northern state has been known for its anti incumbency wave, which had Congress hopeful of ousting SAD-BJP combine. But the exit polls suggest it to be a neck to neck fight where either side may be just managing to cross the winning line.
Goa : BJP would get the benefit of anti incumbency here and might be voted to power against Congress.
Manipur : Congress seems to be the single largest party here, though may not get simple majority.

Though these are only indications and political parties having mixed reactions to these, but the cat seems to be on the run amongst the pigeons! Though the results will have political fall outs, it is UP which is going to be the most important of the lot. The rankings were more or less clear before the polls, but it would be the exact number of seats different parties get which would set the tone for the 2014 general elections. The stakes are high for everyone : Be it Mayawati who is all set to lose the power, Akhilesh Yadav’s campaign to get back the power for his father, be it Uma Bharati trying to get the BJP back on track in the state or the hard work being put in by Rahul Gandhi in the last 5 years. Congress seems to be planning to protect Rahul incase results are not favorable. Digvijay feels that exit polls are rubbish and party will get over 125 seats & is ready to take the blame if they lose. Beni Prasad feels Maya would be a better ally than the SP, but party feels this is his personal stand. Rahul himself is believed to have met the senior editors few days back explaining them that only number of seats should not be the only criteria to measure success as they were coming from 22 seats with a vote share of only 8% in 2007. It is understood that he felt that even if party is able to double its vote share this time, it would be a descent success. But analysts feel this may be only damage control & “expectation management to redefine success” by changing the goal post incase ball goes in a different direction!!

Every party is waiting with fingers crossed for the R-Day. These results are an important moment in the way political landscape gets defined for next few years. As CEC Mr. Quraishi says, the election commission has completed its task of getting the elections conducted & done it pretty well. Now it is time for public’s verdict to be out & politics to take over the central stage. Nobody loses till the final verdict is out, so there is hope for everyone till tomorrow. With only a day to go, we all are also eagerly waiting to see this musical chair just like the players who will actually play it: May the best one win!!

6th March, 2012 (Polls Part 1: Congress- From the back to the front foot!)

The public memory is short lived & the real politics starts only once their memory ends!


Flashback Apr 2011: The ruling Govt got the first taste of public ire against the corruption under the Anna Hazare led Civil Society. & If this trailer was appreciated, then the actual film turned out to be an even roaring success in August’11 with Anna sitting on fast for nearly a fortnight. The ruling Govt. and the Congress leaders were running for shelter and grasping for breadth being total clueless as to what needs to be done. Even after the arrest of Mr. Kalmadi & Mr. Raja for their alleged role in CWG & the 2g scams respectively, the temperatures on the streets were as high as those in the TV news debates where the Congress spokesperson were running out of words defending Govt position. The question at that time was not how many seats will the Congress win in UP. The question being asked was if the Govt will be able to hold its central rule or we may see the midterm polls if the ire of the masses was any indication. Opposition was going for the kill, public was on roads protesting against the ruling Govt for the graft which was hurting them every day.

Cut to the Polls in Feb/Mar 2012. In a span of some 6months, the tables have turned. & not just turned, they have actually been replaced. The Congress has suddenly realized that they are in an advantageous situation and trying to reap benefits of anti-incumbency in 3 of the 5 states going to polls & fighting to retain power in the other 2. Suddenly they have realized that they are in commanding position in Punjab, Uttaranchal & all set to gain along with other opposition parties in state in the all important UP. Nobody remembers the Aug of last year when Congress was almost crumbling to maintain its central rule, not to talk about the upcoming state elections. The Jan Lokpal fever was all across and even the most fluent of the party’s spokesperson were at loss of words, eating back most of what they use to say. Things started to get back on track once Mrs Sonia Gandhi came back from her treatment abroad. They started getting their act together, knowing what opposition was up to and how Civil society needs to be handled. Opposition parties were themselves unsure as to how to get political mileage out of the entire episode as they did not seem totally comfortable with the Jan Lokpal themselves, nor were they in any position to agree with the Govt’s version. Finally politics prevailed on the Lokpal as the bill seemed to go in the cold storage in the dying moments of the Winter session. If there was a nail to be hit in the coffin, it came in form of the failure of Anna’s Jail bharo abhiyaan at Mumbai in Dec, which saved the political brass from the blushes and ruling UPA from any further disaster!

The Mumbai disaster of Anna’s fast was the turning point for the Congress led UPA. It saved them from the “nuclear Lokpal” & gave them the strength to go back in the state polls attacking the opposition for not allowing the Lokpal to be passed and “not serious” about checking graft. Rahul Gandhi had been working hard for over 5 years now in UP, but even his army had developed a cold feet in wake of Civil society storm. But the BJP led NDA just could not sustain the offensive and momentum against their arch rivals, it probably needs better media managers, better strategists, more fire power to push things harder & probably stronger leaders. After losing the plot, it has reached a stage where it is battling anti incumbency and a serious threat to be voted out in 2 states. In UP, where it could have been the front runner against the anti-incumbent BSP, criminal rule of SP & rootless Congress; reports suggest it to be struggling the most. In 6 months flat, it has lost the golden opportunity the Anna storm had presented to it. Even before the results come out, at least it has yet again lost politically. Seems even it needs a “Sonia” to strongly get them against one unified umbrella, to propel their prospects. Is Modi the option, probably the time would have the best answer.

As for the Congress, it seems it has what it takes to rule. Irrespective of the results, it has managed to get over the macro issues of Corruption, Price rise etc to go out aggressively in these polls. It has started laying plans for the next wave of reaching out to masses after MNREGA, if Sonia’s pushing the Food security bill is any indication. It has set its eyes on the finals of 2014, the 2012 being an all important semi-finals it needs to win. Unless the results go in the opposite direction all together, which looks unlikely; one can see the party coming out smiling. But knowing what happened last summer, if it still comes out smiling this time, there would be no reason, not to believe it can dream of going laughing to the parliament in the summer of 2014! But then politics is all about uncertainty, pundits & predictions all can go wrong. Opposition still has hope till the verdict is out: 6th March will present the answer to all!

Consistent in being Inconsistent…

So after a couple of good games, we again lost badly today to Australia!
A dear friend asked me some time back as to why I had not written about Indian Cricket. When I thought about it, even I realized that like most Indians, I have been following the game for as long as I can remember. So what makes it difficult to write about the game and our team? The biggest reason which I could think was the unpredictability with which they perform, they can make the biggest experts of the game eat their words with every performance of their. If Mr. Gavaskar says something good about them, in the very next 2 games they can ensure he might have to hide his write up below his pillow or delete his blog. If Mr. Shastri says something bad about them, it is likely that they may perform so outstandingly in next outings that the general public will try and get an apology from the gentleman for bashing the God’s!

If we closely observe our boys in blue in the last decade or so, it would be imperative that we would realize that there have been positive strides in terms of performance & passion to win. The energy levels and commitment was there even with earlier teams, but with newer formats and shorter versions gaining more significance, the team has moved well in last decade and half to adapt to the need of the hour. For getting to be the top team in formats of the game, one needs an able team and also have the commitment, intent & passion to play to the top of their caliber. We did see the veterans like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid & Sehwag being ably supported by the youth brigade of Yuvraj, Rohit, Virat, Pathan led by Dhoni. Results have been clearly visible & indicative. Winning world cup after 28 long years was certainly not the fluke but an amalgamation of good work being done over a period of time. Though they have always been in a comfort zone when they are at home, the performances have always been better when they play in sub-continent as compared to those abroad.

Irrespective of the good and bad we have seen, this team has travelled, and raised the bar. With Ganguly retiring few years back & Dravid & Laxman being in line; it is an important phase in the game for country. The hope is transition would be smooth & one which would carry the game to the next level from where the veterans have taken it. The future would be bright when able Sharma’s, Kohli’s & Pathan’s step up in the shoes to deliver the goods. But one thing which has been consistent in the entire journey till date has been their inconsistency in performance. They change track faster than the weather in the mountains. & with their performance, even the public mood & emotions keeps changing for our team. The pendulum swings in tandem. We are an emotional bunch of people, we tend to make our cricketers God when they win. But as soon as they lose, we tend to burn their effigies & demand their sacking. If the current test series against Australia made every critic go ballistic against the team, the public wanted to sack almost everyone in the team! Then suddenly a couple of wins in one day suddenly made us think that even if we are having trouble in Test matches abroad, we are still one of the best one day units. The supporters started praising the team, its captain. But as things started going well, we have a collapse as in today’s match against Australia. So every good win is followed by a debacle, not allowing you to make up your mind if they are good or bad, if you love them or hate them! They have made it a habit to surprise us, the BCCI, the commentators & it would be not be unfair to say they even Surprise themselves!! & yes, one of the other certain traits which has come out in this series yet again is “The last over syndrome” (Remember http://rochakvig.blogspot.in/2010/09/last-over-syndrome.html ). Dhoni was fortunate to get one win in the last over and the other one went in for a tie. But then it is a part of our blood!

So one can safely say that times have changed, the formats might have changed, and even the team members have changed. But if something has not changed over decades, it is the unpredictability of our team. Cricket is more than just a game in this country of Billion plus. It is entertainment, it is staple food for media, it is a religion, it is a part of our daily lives. & then why just blame the men in blue? Just like our otherwise inconsistent lives, politicians, film-stars, the general public; even cricket is not an exception. If there is one thing we all collectively believe and maintain is our ability to be “Consistent in being Inconsistent”!!

The Day India votes for Development…

Short sightedness is sometimes worst than being not able to see, as it takes away the vision, the bright things which could have been a part of our future. But we mostly tend to be short sighted; after all, we are humane.
Elections are again around the corner & we can see something all across the spectrum: Promises, Promises & more Promises! & We are voters who are humane. We get carried away when someone from our caste is standing from our constituency, irrespective of whether we will ever see him before the next elections. We get influenced if a party promises some extra quota for our community, irrespective of whether they will actually yield benefits on the ground. Then we at times get so frustrated for being promised and then ignored that we decide not to vote for anybody. But then if we need to vote again, we would prefer to vote for candidate who is from our religion and the party which promises our community the moon, even if they have been doing it for the past 5 terms! We don’t care if they are corrupt and criminals as long as they are from same caste.

It is this tendency which has been exploited by various parties to keep us engaged for over six decades now. It has been now 65 years to be precise. Different parties have ruled, some at centre, some at states. The quota has been prevalent for the under privileged sections. Endless promises have been made to the minorities by different parties. Dreams have been sold to the majority masses as well to create a paradise for them on earth. But do we see the masses having got benefit of all which was planned and promised to them. I am sure irrespective of our background & political affiliations; we all would be unanimous in our response to this query. Because if the backward sections had derived the benefits of these schemes, today they would have been at par with the advanced sections in society and we would have been discussing to phase out the quota politics rather than sustaining/increasing those numbers. The political Diaspora is well versed with this fact. It is this primary reason that instead of showcasing their development efforts in their report card, they focus on getting the “appropriate” candidate who the major chunk of constituency would relate to and then show them same old wine of promises in a new bottle. The problem is the ones who talk about development; even they do their caste calculations & constituency profiling to get on the winning side. But the bigger problem is; that it actually works!

Though the picture is not totally grim, as in the last decade we have some definite examples where masses have rewarded the development efforts of our leaders. Sheila Dixit was voted back to power for the third time in 2008, thanks to the development efforts she has made to create a Delhi which seems almost a model state as compared to its peers. Narendra Modi would wish if he could erase the dark pages in Gujarat’s history witnessed around a decade back which is used by opposition to run him down. Because apart from it, he has written such a glorious development chapter for the state that he was not only voted back in 2007 but also has been lately hinted being the party’s nominee for the PM’s post at centre. Then the most recent has been the case of the politician who has turned around the fate of India’s one of the most backward state. The state in question is Bihar and the leader being referred is Nitish Kumar. He has redefined the definition of development in the state of Bihar known to vote only for the caste, promises & stage drama! But the thumping victory for Nitish in last year’s polls has highlighted a very important aspect of Indian democracy: That we also vote for Development and if we get people who work for us, we would go all out to extend our support to them without getting into the dream world of promises. Anti-incumbency is a reflection of poor performance, but then the ruling party is aware & hopeful while moving out that it will again get a chance next time as the opposition gaining power will not be able to deliver on bloated promises. Hence it starts preparing for better & bigger promises with better target strategy in terms of profiling of masses for the next elections! Thus non-performance gives a chance to all rather than better performance!

We all would collectively pray for a day when we would see a minority voter choosing the Saffron candidate who has transformed his constituency for a better life for his family. We would be glad to see the right wing hardliner family voting for a non Saffron government which has worked wonders for their state, their constituency, their neighborhood. Let us all country men get together and start exercising our voting rights more judiciously. Let us promise ourselves; not voting is not the way out. We need to vote & make our vote count. Aam aadmi needs to vote for the future of the Aam aadmi. Lets get our message straight to our leaders: kindly PERFORM! Let us all “Humane” get over the politics of caste & creed and start voting for the politics of Development to set the precedence for our leaders to work for us. Probably our future would be brighter, one where leaders would compete to outdo each other for developing our society, our NATION. Jai Hind!

Its aLL about Marketing- (Part2 : When Politicians turn Marketing Guru's...)

“Utho, Jaago, Badlo” , “Umeed ki Cylce”, “Chad vipaksh ki chhati par, Mohar laga haathi par”

No we are not murmuring any titles of Bollywood potboilers. We are getting these for you from one of the most anticipated & important political battlefield: UP Elections 2012. This is a battle every political party & observer is closely watching expecting one of the closest & fiercest contests in recent times. In addition to the various dynamics of caste, religion & political imaging & posturing, this fight will be remembered for the Marketing carried out by various leaders to project why they deserve to get the priced chair at Lucknow. Whether it is a “Jai Ho” or an “India against Corruption”, marketing has become a key to promote political brands & ideologies and now the communication programmes undertaken are as extensive as marketing wars between top cola brands to outshine each other.


If you pull out the newspapers for recent past, you would notice that a sizeable chunk would be covered by the advertisements/news stories related to political outfits projecting the development programmes they have covered in the interest of the nation (Though readers generally wonder if so much effort was actually made for real development!!). It is not just the central government which is boasting about its efforts now; state Govts are equally active in getting their share of limelight. Thus you would find a Mayawati competing with the star leaders Rahul Gandhi & Narendra Modi having full pages in leading dailies highlighting the achievements of the BSP Govt in last 5 yrs of their rule in UP. Her 3-4 minute documentary on the state Govt’s success on channels seems a challenge which even Birla’s & Tata’s would not be keen to accept. Behenji’s Delhi counterpart Sheila Dixit is not far behind in addressing the different media to share her “success stories”.


Even social groups like Anna Hazare’s civil society seek marketing as a tool to take their cause to the heart of the masses. Irrespective of the intentions & manner of their forcing government to take affirmative action against corruption, the success of Team Anna’s movement was in the well planned and executed marketing blitzkrieg by its team which used the media machinery in the best possible manner to give the political brass a run for their money & insomnia in form of “Jan Lokpal”.


There are few clear reasons for this trend which form a vicious circle of sorts. Firstly it is important to take your promises & ideologies to the masses in this hi-tech age of ever expanding media. There are leaders whose mission is to wrestle power from the clutches of “corrupt, ill-governed & ruthless regimes”. For that they have a vision which is aptly translated into a mission by advisers. But even they realize that without marketing blitzkrieg they will not be able to realize this mission.

Thus whether it is Civil society against the ruling Congress at Centre or the Congress against ruling BSP in UP; everyone tries using this tool effectively. Not surprisingly Congress has hired as many as three agencies: Percept, Crayon & JWT to help them with their Mission 2012 in UP to nurture their heir apparent Rahul G’s dream. Even parties like Samajwadi party who used to be against concept of computers are fully supporting the need to use technology & marketing plans to project their “Umeed ki cycle” overtaking the elephant. You may have excellent development plans on paper, but is very important to sell those to the electorate to get a mandate to implement them.



Then the story doesn’t end there. Incase chosen to power, it becomes equally important to let the electorate know what you have done for them, or at least have “intended” because “actually doing” is pretty difficult most of the times! It is very important to tom-tom about the implementation of the achievements to tell masses how right they were in getting you to power! Whether it is Sheila, Narendra Modi or Mayawati, all are well versed with it.

As a constructive opposition, for attacking the Govt and broadcasting their scams, their ill-deeds & taints, media campaigns are a must or else the entire 2g scam would have died a natural death without any sounds reaching the masses. Hence it equally important to market Advani ji’s Rath yatra against corruption! On the other hand as the defense mechanism, the same marketing provides a tool to the state to defend self from the supposed “wrong doings or the debacles” the mischievous opposition has attributed it with! The beauty of your campaigns is in its flexibility to alter as per the changing circumstances, changing opposition stances & changing public opinions, the faster it adapts to these, healthier would your political standing be.


Yes if there is one thing which remains constant in all these: Politics remain at the heart of all such marketing advents. After all it is the politicians & social leaders who are at the helm of such media circus strategizing how every word can be turned into an award in their kitty and a sword for the opponents! General public just wonders: How if these leaders had actually planned & executed the development plans as good as their marketing ones :) But then the politicians would complain that even when they carry out development, they will still need to market & highlight it or else you will again end up not voting for them :) :)



“ Takaluf uthane se zyada, Takaluf dikhana zaruri hai

Kuch karei na karei hum, Tumse vaada karna majboori hai.

Hakumat ki yeh kahani azab hai, Isme har kirdaar ki jagah ghazab hai

Har labz mei dava aur zeher saath hai, Kahi kamal, Kahi haathi to Kahi haath hai! “