Maharaj: How is the Election Kurukshetra progressing Sanjay.
Sanjay: The second phase battle has drawn considerable interest of spectators. Not much rookies or pawns are in view: bishops and knights demonstrate their skiils riding horses and elephants with high octane sound boxes. Very interesting,
Maharaj. The Leftists led by CPM raised lots of expectation about giving a strong fight in the second day’s battle of Election Kurukshetra. They chose the day of the War: the Railway Budget Day. Yes, the Railways are not the issue or target of the CPM. The enemy is the Railways’ Minister Ms Mamata Bannerjee, the trouble-maker for the CPM in West Bengal. All major CPM leaders cheered up the crowd for the second day’s battle. But they returned completely bruised at the end of the day in the Parliament and in TV screen debates. All their missiles got burnt-out by Mamata’s Railway Budget Speech.
Maharaj: How was the Second Day's battle? Did the Leftist use the latest versions of their weapons?
Sanjay: Yes, Maharaja. They did but could not use them effectively. They had chosen a weak strategy and an inappropriate day because Mamata was fully prepared for both solid Defence and smart offensive moves to win over the voters. She had the widest range of weapons that Railway arsenal is rich with.
Maharaj: Please narrate the use of weapons.
Sanjay: The leftist fielded the few stalwart articulate debaters they have. They alleged that Railway Finances are in a mess: ‘Mamata is capable of doing the Impossible – She has turned the Railways from a profit making department to a loss-making department”. Their allegations have turned out to be completely false.
Maharaj: How?
Sanjay: The figures reported by Mamata showed that the Railways made a much larger surplus, though the major part of that surplus was eaten away for payment of huge arrears of salaries to employees on account of the Par Revision to the extent of 97% increase. The Railways earned more gross revenues than what was budgeted for 2010-11. She gave the normal dividend and met her capital expenditure target more or less.
Maharaj: But did not the leftist use follow uo attacks on the Finances.
Sanjay. Yes, the did but that brought lot of embassment and they got bruished. They still harped on the Railways having made a loss, therby revealing their ignorance of what loss means. They even said that because of the loss, Railways will have to borrow more in 2011-12. They seem to know that only budget deficits require to be met by borrowing. And, Mamata did generate an excess in 2010-11, will generate another larger excess in 2011-12 and will get more borrowings to finance her Rs.50,000 crore plan capital outlay for 2011-12. Maharaj, since you are blind, you can read the post at http://senkonomix.blogspot.com/ . She shattered all attacks of her enemies on this field.
Maharaj: What other weapons did the left use?
Sanjay: The CPM had thought that Mamata cannot keep fares and freight rates constant for three successive budgets and awaiting a chance to bombard the Trinamool chief’s anti-people activity. Unfortunately, Mamata did not give that chance to them. Rather, she further consolidated her anti-inflationary, pro-poor image. Mamata used the logic of being consistent with the need for curbing inflationary spiral by putting off any increase in passenger fares and freight rates and took the credit of being poor friendly. She has also announced reduction in booking charges and concessions. CPM calls this election-oriented activity but admits that no increase in fares and freight is a positive step.
Maharaj: But didn't the left brigadiers use the aerial attack with poor physical performance bombs and missiles.
Sanjay: Of course they did Maharaja: The CPM counted on demolishing the Trinamool Chief on her actual achievement in relation to her promises and targets. But these bombs and missiles went astray not able to locate the best target spots. Mamata gave figures to disappoint her critics again. She claimed to have met targets in most of the areas fully and in some cases to a fairly large extent: her Railways have set a record in new lines project completion, gauge conversion, line doubling, survey completed for identified projects, introduction of new trains, increasing the frequency of trains, reducing unmanned level crossings and progress of work on new factories proposed. And, she used her actual performance artillery to justify her equally ambitious targets for 2011-12 and attract points from the voters. She proved that the Railways are capable of doing much more things at a faster speed. The CPM stalwarts like Yechury and Acharya could not inflict any damage to Mamata’s credibility: her credibility on delivery of promises got strengthened. Her new set of promises will please many voters. CPM could do nothing about this.
Maharaja: Didn't the leftist use the Naval attack with long-distance missiles of future pessimism to create suspicion in the minds of electorate?
Sanjay: That was the last, fall back attack the leftist relied on. They did try to develop the clouds of uncertainty about the future of Mamata as Railways’ Minister. The critics sarcastically pointed out that Mamata has to remain as Railway Minister if the Rail’s targets were to be achieved, but she also wanted to be the Chief Minister of West Bengal and therefore she was making promises she won’t be there to meet. CPM seems to be completely unnerved and did not know what quagmire they were falling into.
Maharaj: How could Mamata turn the table?
Sanjay: She carefully planned to instill in the minds of the Electorate and give them the feeling that Mamata would be further aggressive in ensuring that her promises at least to West Bengal are met and that she would be able to give more time to her ministry’s work once the State elections are over and she decides not to become the Chief Minister (assuming that CPM’s fear materializes)? Then, the Railways would do even better. On the other hand, if she were to become the next Chief Minister of West Bengal, Trinamool would continue with the assured Railway Ministry till the UPA-2 government’s tenure ends. Mamata would then become also the boss monitoring and reviewing the performance of her party colleague she would nominate to take over the Railway portfolio in the Union Cabinet.
Maharaj: How could Mamata signal this certainty?
Sanjay: That was clever craftsmanship. The Budget details showed that the bulk of the Railway's capital expenditure plans for the projects in West Bengal had been crafted as non-lapse-able, non-transferable and specific bond raising programme linked to remove uncertainty about her promises being realised.
Maharaj: Did the leftists give up fighting within a few hours of the start of the battle.
Sajay: No, Sir. The communist stalwarts were determined to fight till the end of the battle period. Of course, they were faltering at each step at every debate. One questioned why should Manipur get a diesel locomotive project – that’s a National loss for locating such a project in a remote yet-to-be-connected-by rail location. The debate revealed this person knows nothing about what the diesel locomotive unit is supposed to be doing and how locating such a project in Manipur would contribute to Nation Saving.
Maharaj: What about the anti-parochialism shelling by the leftists captains?
Sanjay: They used that also but failed to snatch the popularity from Mamata. When Mamata Bannerjee was seen flagging off new trains in West Bengal, the leftists had complained that she was not functioning like a Union Minister. And, when she proposed in the Railway Budget new trains, new lines and new railway factories in West Bengal, they complained that she converted Railways into largely a West Bengal Railways and Kolkata Metro. Mamata rattled off the list of her projects and programmes - whatever is necessary and possible in all different parts of the country - from Jammu and Kashmir to Tamil Nadu and from Maharashtra to Manipur and developing the most integrated network of Railways for the entire country ever envisioned by a Railway Minister. The leftist shells became waste garbage and CPM got embarrased being unable to retort to Mamata's quip: Is Kolkata not in India as much as Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai are (and by implication is Kolkata not as important to claim Railway resources as much those cities claimed over the years) ?
Maharaj: I am no fan of Trinamool or Mamata. But I have appreciation for people who deliver quality performance and like to see politicians using their brains for criticisms based on reality and facts rather than out of fear of competitively more efficient performer in terms of delivering results.
Sanjay: Sure, your Excellency. That is the reason that I make all effort to extract entertainment when people fail to deliver results as promised and just emotionally debate without logic and facts.
Post Script: Lok Sabha on Monday March7 2011 approved the Rail budget for 2011-12 after Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee assured the House of effecting measures to ensure availability of adequate coaches and wagons in the coming years. "Our performance is not bad...I have (approved) 16 projects. There will be no problem of coaches," she said winding up the discussion on the Rail Budget. The Rail Budget was passed after Speaker Meira Kumar suspended rules to allow the House take up the general discussion on Rail budget, supplementary demands for grants and relevant appropriation bills together.
Referring to the crippling shortage of coaches and wagons, she said, the Rae Bareli factory would roll out its first coach in April. "I will invite UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the function in April," she said.Banerjee said other factories would also come up to bridge the demand-supply gap of coaches and wagons.
Earlier during the discussion, some members accused her of bypassing Planning Commission and Finance Ministry. "It is a deceitful budget done through the sleight of hand. This railway budget is a victim of coalition compulsions and I am surprised how the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) allowed such a budget," CPI-M Rajya Sabha leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters in parliament. Yechury said the budget has been prepared keeping in view the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal, where Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is in opposition. But even then there is nothing in the railway budget for the next year, he said. Mamata's announcement on projects for Bengal have been done keeping assembly elections in mind and she has cleverly placed them in the 12th five year plan under the PM's Rail Vikas Yojna. So nothing is for the 2011-12 year. Even last budget announcements have not been fulfilled for Bengal," he said. The CPI-M leader in the Lok Sabha, Basudeb Acharya, also criticised the railway minister and said: "Plan of Vision-2020 has gone haywire as no adequate funds have been announced for the projects in 2011-12 like laying 1,300 km of rail line. Even last year's plan for l,000 km reduced to 700 km in revised budget of 2010-11."
Refuting charges of ignoring Finance Ministry and Planning Commission, the Minister asserted that she has not done anything without their approval. "We discuss every proposal with Planning Commission before going ahead...we should not play dirty politics in development works," she said, adding that everything was done in accordance with the Constitutional provisions.
The Minister also assured the members that their constituencies would get one passenger railway system (PRS) on individual request. About new lines in their constituencies, the members were assured by the the minister that Railways would conduct a feasibility study and inform them about the fate of their proposals.On concerns expressed by the members on projects pending since long, Banerjee said such projects worth Rs. 1,50,000 were stalled because of fund crunch and these could not be financed from earnings from fare and freight.
She assured all members that their request for Aadarsh Stations in their constituencies would be considered but it is not feasible to have too many World Class Stations because the consultancy work alone requires funds to the tune of Rs. 30 crore to Rs. 40 crore.
The Railways bore extra financial burden due to imposition of cess on diesel and 6th Pay Commission report, but did not increase fare and freights. About the Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Railways, she said a committee was working on it. She said anti-collision devices would soon be introduced in seven railway zones to prevent mishaps.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Bengal Warms Up for Kurukshetra: First Phase Battles
Maharaj: How are the rivals shaping up for the War of Election Kurukshetra, Sanjay.
Sanjay: The warming up battle has just beem concluded. This is just a rally-based, inaugural battle. There was not much to describe. I would just request you to listen to a conversation that I have recorded for you, my Excellency. C and T, two typical ordinary Bengali voters of the strongly politically conscious breed that proliferated since the 1960s in West Bengal, picked up the appropriate verbal duel the other day. Since media in Bengal is meant for intellectuals and politicians, I have this special CD plated for you. First, they claim their right to victory. Each party is a Self-declared Winner. Please concentrate on the CD being played.
C: We are going to win the elections to the State Assembly being scheduled in May/
T: You are dreaming. You have lost the Parliamentary elections, pachyat elections, the municipal elections since 2008. Voters have deserted you. We will continue our winning streak in the ensuing elections.
C: We have already made a comeback. This has been proved by the turn out of people at the Brigade Parade Ground Left Front meeting on 13 February. Voters have come back to us. Remember, we have won the State election six successive times.
T. You did not see the voter turnout at the feet of Gandhi Statue on 20 February and loud call to evict you from the position of the Ruler in West Bengal. Voters are with us now.
Maharaj: Sankay, the rivals seem to be confident it appears.
Sanjay: Yes, Sir. Both excudes Confidence, but the CPM releases the Track Record Weaponf first. Just listen:
C: Voters are not going to be impressed by your rallies. They are impressed by our excellent track record of achievements. We have achieved so many good things in 34 years: panchyati raj, land reforms and land to tillers, expansion of education for all and heath facilities, industrial estates, rapid growth in agricultural output and fish, poultry, IT Parks and employment there, so many state government corporations for transport, infrastructure and for housing for the common people.
T: The voters have got tired listening to your decades old hackneyed song. They now can see through your old song to assess the reality of your poor performance record. You have converted the panchayati raj into your party raj giving away favours to your party loyalists. You distributed lands to many but forcibly took back from those who did not obey your party instructions or protested against your oppression. Your party’s aggressive labour movement drove out big industries and industrialists away from West Bengal and consequently forced many small industrial units to close down. West Bengal’s rank in industry has gone down substantially because of your incompetence.With little job creation, talent and merit had flocked out of the State in search of high salaried jobs elsewhere. Your health services expanded in terms of brick and mortar: actual health service quality has deteriorated.
C: All these are propaganda of the capitalists, stoooe of US Imperialism and the media. What record do you have?
T: If we had 34 years to rule uninterruptedly, we would have made our State among the top ranked in terms of industry, agriculture, transport and employment. You are a tested failure: we are not. are not tested failure like you.
C: We have long experience and competence. Our ministers are very experienced and competent. You have no experience and competence.
T: We have lots of experience and lots of competence. Our leader has long experience as Central Minister for the Railways and sports. She has performed the best among the Railway Ministers to date. She brought so many railway projects to West Bengal. We have four five ministers at the Centre. All these minister have shown that they are more competent than your ministers with long innings.
C: Your ministers work very little. How can they be competent when they spend most of the time in West Bengal although they are Central Ministers?
T: Competence is proved by results and not how much time you spent on working in the office room.
Sanjay: Next the CPM fires the Ideology Missile and the Trinamool uses the anti-ballastic Ideology missile.
C: You have no ideology. We have the most scientific ideology developed by such great people as Marx, Lenin and Stalin. Our ideology is for the betterment of the week and the poor.
T: Our ideology is also for the betterment of the weak and the poor. We believe in democracy and not on single party dictatorship and oppression. Our ideology is not imported but based on the thinking of internationally recognized Indian thinkers like Gautam Buddha, Raja Rammohan Roy, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Swami Vivekananda, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore and Subhas Chandra Bose, besides legend performers like matinee idol Uttam Kumar and Suchita Mitra.
C: But you have no comprehensive idea of the society, history and dialectic materialsm in your ideology.
T: We have a clear vision as to what we want Bengal to be in future years. We are at the same time action- and resulted-oriented. You only give lectures based on a ideology discarded all over the World. You could not even paint how would West Bengal look twenty years or Fifty years hence.
C: Do not get excited with temporary set backs: all the poor of the World knows Communism will soon grip the whole World again.
T: You are still in dreaming state.
Sanjay: Next, the rivals exchange the Terrorism bombardment.
C: We are not dreaming but try to stop your terrorist activity. Yours is a party of goons, criminals and extortionists.
T: Your party is the most competent and experienced in terrorizing the common people. In three decades you have only developed two armed forces to terrorize, torture and oppress those who seek democracy and protests against your discrimination and repression: one is your Harmad terrorist gangs and the other is the State police converted into a force controlled by your party bosses to oppress the people not showing allegiance to your party’s command.
C: Your party is anti-national extremist group because you support, encourage and collaborate with the Maoist terrorists. You have never denounced the Maoist killings of our supporters and ordinary villagers. Rather, you want withdrawal of central forces deployed in the in the State to combat the Maoist terrorists.
T: Maoists are nothing but your dissident former members and supporters who profess the same Marxian ideology as your do. They are your party’s creation. They turned to terrorism because you wanted to repress them. You did not ban them but wanted your Harmad gangs to annihilate them. You neglected the poor and weak tribal people who have no alternative but become the target of oppression by both your party and the Maoists. On the other hand, we have made public appeal to the Maoists to lay down arms, stop killing and get on to talks with Central Govt. You are practicing terrorism. You have good relations with the Maoists in Nepal also.
Sanjay: Heavy shelling continues with Injustice Protest Credential bullets now:
C: Voters know well that we are not practicing terrorism but fighting terrorism and violence perpetrated by the Maoists and your party. We are a party has a solid history of providing leadership to the poor and the weak in their struggles and agitations against social and economic injustice. You have no connection with the bulk of the poor and the weak. Hundreds of our party supporters and activists have been killed by the Maoists and your goondas.
T: We have always rushed to the people who have been exploited and oppressed, especially in the villages by the Police or the Harmad army of your party. We have not taken up arms and become violent even when your party sent armed Harmad gangs and police to repress all protests and agitations of the oppressed people Singur, Nandigram, Rajarhat, Sashon, Chotoangaria, You have killed the weak and the poor in different places: we have rushed to those places to protect them by non-violent democratic methods. Your party has murdered hundreds of our party cadres and supporters who rushed to the help of the poor. Your party is using the State police to continuously harass our party workers by falsely implicating them in various cases.
Sanjat; Now they shift to use the Education -Culture fighter aircrafts in the sky:
C: Your party does not have the qualities to protect and provide leadership to the struggles and agitations of the poor and the weak. Your party and its members are mostly – from leaders to cadres and supporters lack proper educational and cultural backgrounds. Our party is far superior to you in this regard.
T: Unfortunately for you this did not happen even if you had so wished. Many of our leaders are more educated than many of your leaders. You have the support of only those educated, intellectual groups or persons of culture and sports whom you extended benefits from the State: they do not protest against you mainly because you purchased their loyalty by giving them State patronage. You discriminated against many other educated, intellectuals and talented people including actors, artists, sports persons, poets, novelists who refused to accept your party’s dictatorship like slaves. They are now supporting us because the value the principles of and values of democracy that you seek to destroy. Your fascism has been exposed to them and they are frustrated with your arrogance and abuse of State power.
C: You have no support from independent thinking intellectuals educated and cultured groups of people. Some opportunistic persons have become your party supporters and loyalists. Some of them are even patronizing Maoists.
T: That is your propaganda. You have failed to suppress all educated, cultured intellectuals and creative persons to toe your party’s stand all the time.
Sanjay: the battle shifts to the Ocean with Development Submarines:
C: The common people will not cast their votes for a party like yours which is anti-development. You have been creating obstructions to all our development activities. People know how they and the State lost when the Tatas did not get the land because of your negative agitations and withdrew the Nano car project.
T: Nano project is a recent development. Before that our party did not agitate against ay development project. You did not have any significant development project in the State for nearly three decades. Even in the case of the Nana project, our agitation was not against the development of the project itself. We merely wanted the Government to return the land of 400 acres to farmers who were unwilling to sell the source asset of their livelihood. The remaining lands of 600 acres acquired from willing farmers were available for the Tata Project or any other project.
C: But what development initiatives has your party taken for West Bengal?
T: We are not in power in the State. But within a mere 18 month period our ministers have brought in so many development projects through the ministry of Railways, Shipping and Urban Development. Your party could not bring in so many development projects and so much investment commitments as our party has done in the last 33 years.
C: You are not aware how much we have been doing through the State Budget anmd several MOUs and lad allotment to IT projects. The voters know about them/
T: Your party goes on announcing MOUs for many big projects, but none of them materializes. What happened to the four/ five projects announced with fun fare in Salboni and other places including the one of the Jindals. Why are not they progressing.
C: This is because of the adverse publicity that so long as your party is there you will be obstructing most of the projects in West Bengal. You are not a responsible opposition party.
T: We are responsible opposition party. Our MLAs act the way it is needed in the Assembly and outside.
Maharaj: But the battle is becomin boring than entertaining Sanjay.
Sanjay: Yes, Sir. That is why they are continually shifting the battlefied. They have now comback to use Quality Leader tanks:
C: You do not have high quality leadership to act responsibly. We have an educated, cultured and civilized leadership. Ad, we have democratic decision making in the party itself. You have one dictator leader and unruly, indisciplined cadres. Quality of your leadership is poor.
M: We have a leader whom the masses love. She is a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Law. She herself sings, recites poetry, and participates in intellectual debates, paints, besides encouraging performing arts, culture and sports. She knows how to honor National and State heroes and past luminaries in different fields. Just look at the naming of stations and trains. Your party’s culture is restricted to Nadan, film fairs, book fairs and CAB elections. She named and renamed railway and metro stations to honor many of Bengal’s cultural luminaries who had been neglected by the CPM from their very inception.
C: Your leader has been wasting Railways funds on advertising of inauguration/ foundation and stone-laying events almost every day to project her image.
M: Your party-ruled Government is spending huge amounts in both print media and tv channels advertising what the Left front government has done in the last 34 years at the cost of the West Bengal exchequer to attract voters.
C: Your leader has brought Railway Finances to a great difficulty.
T: Your profligate wasteful expenditure and inability to collect revenues have increased the Govt. of West Bengal’s debt burden to about Rs 2 lakh crore in 34 years. This is unsustainable.
C: Your leader has allocated more projects to West Bengal compared to other States, and gone ahead with projects not yet approved by the Planning Commission.
T: Your party the over-dominating ally of part of the First UPA Government at the centre. You wielded power over that government and yet could get only four railway projects for West Bengal allowing other States to get much more. You will soon come to know how far our leader has progressed in just one year when she presents the Railway Bdget later this week.
C: Your leader has made large number projects and promises: very little of them will materialize.
T: Yes, she has announced many projects and trains. All may not be completed or started in just one year months of her tenure but most promises have been kept and most projects started or about to start. Voters will know the details soon.
Sanjay: Sir, they have now started using Corruption Bombs and Inflation Guns:
C: Voters have also come to know that your party is part of the coalition government at the Centre which is deeply entrenched in big corruption cases: Common Wealth Games to IPL Cricket of BCCI, from 2-G Spectrum to Defence Flat allotment scams. Voters will shy away from friends of the Corrupt.
T: You were ally to the same Congress-led Government of the first UPA. Voters also know that you have friendship with scam-tainted parties and their leaders. Your friends like Lalooji, JayaLalitha and others are well-known for their ghotalas. Even in local self governance in the State and various government departments there are reports about corruption and scams. You have lot of things to explain to the voters.
C: As if you are so clean: speck and span. There are reported ghotalas in self government bodies controlled by your party. And, you are responsible for inflation too. Your coalition government has been raising petroleum prices and increasing inflation.
T: Your government has also increased taxes on various items. You should rather reduce the local taxes on petrol, diesel and such items to provide relief to the public. Central government cannot control the international prices of crude oil that the country imports.
Maharaj: What is Next, Sanjay?
Sanjat: That's exactly they are engaged in Sir.
C: We will win hands down. People are once again rallying around us after they have recognized that we have purged bad elements from our party and are no linger appearing arrogant. In case we fail to get 51% of the seats, we will still be a formidable opposition in the Assembly and see what you are capable of. You are not going to have easy life.
T: In case we slip a little, we shall be a formidable opposition. You will runaway because you have never faced such formidable opposition. You are already breathless with our weak strength in the Assembly. But do not worry: you do not have to face that opposition. When we release our election manifesto, the electorate will get convinced that they need change and for change they need to vote for us to bring about the change for the better tomorrow.
C: We will also release our Manifesto soon. Just see what happens after that. With your record of violence and killings in colleges and villages and your rising arrogance, you are losing your popularity. Soon there will be a landslide against you. You are not the type of party on which the Bengal electorate can depend on for the future of the State.
Sanjay: Maharaj, the first phase battle is over now. No casualties: with injuries the parties agree to ceasefire for the day.
Sanjay: The warming up battle has just beem concluded. This is just a rally-based, inaugural battle. There was not much to describe. I would just request you to listen to a conversation that I have recorded for you, my Excellency. C and T, two typical ordinary Bengali voters of the strongly politically conscious breed that proliferated since the 1960s in West Bengal, picked up the appropriate verbal duel the other day. Since media in Bengal is meant for intellectuals and politicians, I have this special CD plated for you. First, they claim their right to victory. Each party is a Self-declared Winner. Please concentrate on the CD being played.
C: We are going to win the elections to the State Assembly being scheduled in May/
T: You are dreaming. You have lost the Parliamentary elections, pachyat elections, the municipal elections since 2008. Voters have deserted you. We will continue our winning streak in the ensuing elections.
C: We have already made a comeback. This has been proved by the turn out of people at the Brigade Parade Ground Left Front meeting on 13 February. Voters have come back to us. Remember, we have won the State election six successive times.
T. You did not see the voter turnout at the feet of Gandhi Statue on 20 February and loud call to evict you from the position of the Ruler in West Bengal. Voters are with us now.
Maharaj: Sankay, the rivals seem to be confident it appears.
Sanjay: Yes, Sir. Both excudes Confidence, but the CPM releases the Track Record Weaponf first. Just listen:
C: Voters are not going to be impressed by your rallies. They are impressed by our excellent track record of achievements. We have achieved so many good things in 34 years: panchyati raj, land reforms and land to tillers, expansion of education for all and heath facilities, industrial estates, rapid growth in agricultural output and fish, poultry, IT Parks and employment there, so many state government corporations for transport, infrastructure and for housing for the common people.
T: The voters have got tired listening to your decades old hackneyed song. They now can see through your old song to assess the reality of your poor performance record. You have converted the panchayati raj into your party raj giving away favours to your party loyalists. You distributed lands to many but forcibly took back from those who did not obey your party instructions or protested against your oppression. Your party’s aggressive labour movement drove out big industries and industrialists away from West Bengal and consequently forced many small industrial units to close down. West Bengal’s rank in industry has gone down substantially because of your incompetence.With little job creation, talent and merit had flocked out of the State in search of high salaried jobs elsewhere. Your health services expanded in terms of brick and mortar: actual health service quality has deteriorated.
C: All these are propaganda of the capitalists, stoooe of US Imperialism and the media. What record do you have?
T: If we had 34 years to rule uninterruptedly, we would have made our State among the top ranked in terms of industry, agriculture, transport and employment. You are a tested failure: we are not. are not tested failure like you.
C: We have long experience and competence. Our ministers are very experienced and competent. You have no experience and competence.
T: We have lots of experience and lots of competence. Our leader has long experience as Central Minister for the Railways and sports. She has performed the best among the Railway Ministers to date. She brought so many railway projects to West Bengal. We have four five ministers at the Centre. All these minister have shown that they are more competent than your ministers with long innings.
C: Your ministers work very little. How can they be competent when they spend most of the time in West Bengal although they are Central Ministers?
T: Competence is proved by results and not how much time you spent on working in the office room.
Sanjay: Next the CPM fires the Ideology Missile and the Trinamool uses the anti-ballastic Ideology missile.
C: You have no ideology. We have the most scientific ideology developed by such great people as Marx, Lenin and Stalin. Our ideology is for the betterment of the week and the poor.
T: Our ideology is also for the betterment of the weak and the poor. We believe in democracy and not on single party dictatorship and oppression. Our ideology is not imported but based on the thinking of internationally recognized Indian thinkers like Gautam Buddha, Raja Rammohan Roy, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Swami Vivekananda, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore and Subhas Chandra Bose, besides legend performers like matinee idol Uttam Kumar and Suchita Mitra.
C: But you have no comprehensive idea of the society, history and dialectic materialsm in your ideology.
T: We have a clear vision as to what we want Bengal to be in future years. We are at the same time action- and resulted-oriented. You only give lectures based on a ideology discarded all over the World. You could not even paint how would West Bengal look twenty years or Fifty years hence.
C: Do not get excited with temporary set backs: all the poor of the World knows Communism will soon grip the whole World again.
T: You are still in dreaming state.
Sanjay: Next, the rivals exchange the Terrorism bombardment.
C: We are not dreaming but try to stop your terrorist activity. Yours is a party of goons, criminals and extortionists.
T: Your party is the most competent and experienced in terrorizing the common people. In three decades you have only developed two armed forces to terrorize, torture and oppress those who seek democracy and protests against your discrimination and repression: one is your Harmad terrorist gangs and the other is the State police converted into a force controlled by your party bosses to oppress the people not showing allegiance to your party’s command.
C: Your party is anti-national extremist group because you support, encourage and collaborate with the Maoist terrorists. You have never denounced the Maoist killings of our supporters and ordinary villagers. Rather, you want withdrawal of central forces deployed in the in the State to combat the Maoist terrorists.
T: Maoists are nothing but your dissident former members and supporters who profess the same Marxian ideology as your do. They are your party’s creation. They turned to terrorism because you wanted to repress them. You did not ban them but wanted your Harmad gangs to annihilate them. You neglected the poor and weak tribal people who have no alternative but become the target of oppression by both your party and the Maoists. On the other hand, we have made public appeal to the Maoists to lay down arms, stop killing and get on to talks with Central Govt. You are practicing terrorism. You have good relations with the Maoists in Nepal also.
Sanjay: Heavy shelling continues with Injustice Protest Credential bullets now:
C: Voters know well that we are not practicing terrorism but fighting terrorism and violence perpetrated by the Maoists and your party. We are a party has a solid history of providing leadership to the poor and the weak in their struggles and agitations against social and economic injustice. You have no connection with the bulk of the poor and the weak. Hundreds of our party supporters and activists have been killed by the Maoists and your goondas.
T: We have always rushed to the people who have been exploited and oppressed, especially in the villages by the Police or the Harmad army of your party. We have not taken up arms and become violent even when your party sent armed Harmad gangs and police to repress all protests and agitations of the oppressed people Singur, Nandigram, Rajarhat, Sashon, Chotoangaria, You have killed the weak and the poor in different places: we have rushed to those places to protect them by non-violent democratic methods. Your party has murdered hundreds of our party cadres and supporters who rushed to the help of the poor. Your party is using the State police to continuously harass our party workers by falsely implicating them in various cases.
Sanjat; Now they shift to use the Education -Culture fighter aircrafts in the sky:
C: Your party does not have the qualities to protect and provide leadership to the struggles and agitations of the poor and the weak. Your party and its members are mostly – from leaders to cadres and supporters lack proper educational and cultural backgrounds. Our party is far superior to you in this regard.
T: Unfortunately for you this did not happen even if you had so wished. Many of our leaders are more educated than many of your leaders. You have the support of only those educated, intellectual groups or persons of culture and sports whom you extended benefits from the State: they do not protest against you mainly because you purchased their loyalty by giving them State patronage. You discriminated against many other educated, intellectuals and talented people including actors, artists, sports persons, poets, novelists who refused to accept your party’s dictatorship like slaves. They are now supporting us because the value the principles of and values of democracy that you seek to destroy. Your fascism has been exposed to them and they are frustrated with your arrogance and abuse of State power.
C: You have no support from independent thinking intellectuals educated and cultured groups of people. Some opportunistic persons have become your party supporters and loyalists. Some of them are even patronizing Maoists.
T: That is your propaganda. You have failed to suppress all educated, cultured intellectuals and creative persons to toe your party’s stand all the time.
Sanjay: the battle shifts to the Ocean with Development Submarines:
C: The common people will not cast their votes for a party like yours which is anti-development. You have been creating obstructions to all our development activities. People know how they and the State lost when the Tatas did not get the land because of your negative agitations and withdrew the Nano car project.
T: Nano project is a recent development. Before that our party did not agitate against ay development project. You did not have any significant development project in the State for nearly three decades. Even in the case of the Nana project, our agitation was not against the development of the project itself. We merely wanted the Government to return the land of 400 acres to farmers who were unwilling to sell the source asset of their livelihood. The remaining lands of 600 acres acquired from willing farmers were available for the Tata Project or any other project.
C: But what development initiatives has your party taken for West Bengal?
T: We are not in power in the State. But within a mere 18 month period our ministers have brought in so many development projects through the ministry of Railways, Shipping and Urban Development. Your party could not bring in so many development projects and so much investment commitments as our party has done in the last 33 years.
C: You are not aware how much we have been doing through the State Budget anmd several MOUs and lad allotment to IT projects. The voters know about them/
T: Your party goes on announcing MOUs for many big projects, but none of them materializes. What happened to the four/ five projects announced with fun fare in Salboni and other places including the one of the Jindals. Why are not they progressing.
C: This is because of the adverse publicity that so long as your party is there you will be obstructing most of the projects in West Bengal. You are not a responsible opposition party.
T: We are responsible opposition party. Our MLAs act the way it is needed in the Assembly and outside.
Maharaj: But the battle is becomin boring than entertaining Sanjay.
Sanjay: Yes, Sir. That is why they are continually shifting the battlefied. They have now comback to use Quality Leader tanks:
C: You do not have high quality leadership to act responsibly. We have an educated, cultured and civilized leadership. Ad, we have democratic decision making in the party itself. You have one dictator leader and unruly, indisciplined cadres. Quality of your leadership is poor.
M: We have a leader whom the masses love. She is a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Law. She herself sings, recites poetry, and participates in intellectual debates, paints, besides encouraging performing arts, culture and sports. She knows how to honor National and State heroes and past luminaries in different fields. Just look at the naming of stations and trains. Your party’s culture is restricted to Nadan, film fairs, book fairs and CAB elections. She named and renamed railway and metro stations to honor many of Bengal’s cultural luminaries who had been neglected by the CPM from their very inception.
C: Your leader has been wasting Railways funds on advertising of inauguration/ foundation and stone-laying events almost every day to project her image.
M: Your party-ruled Government is spending huge amounts in both print media and tv channels advertising what the Left front government has done in the last 34 years at the cost of the West Bengal exchequer to attract voters.
C: Your leader has brought Railway Finances to a great difficulty.
T: Your profligate wasteful expenditure and inability to collect revenues have increased the Govt. of West Bengal’s debt burden to about Rs 2 lakh crore in 34 years. This is unsustainable.
C: Your leader has allocated more projects to West Bengal compared to other States, and gone ahead with projects not yet approved by the Planning Commission.
T: Your party the over-dominating ally of part of the First UPA Government at the centre. You wielded power over that government and yet could get only four railway projects for West Bengal allowing other States to get much more. You will soon come to know how far our leader has progressed in just one year when she presents the Railway Bdget later this week.
C: Your leader has made large number projects and promises: very little of them will materialize.
T: Yes, she has announced many projects and trains. All may not be completed or started in just one year months of her tenure but most promises have been kept and most projects started or about to start. Voters will know the details soon.
Sanjay: Sir, they have now started using Corruption Bombs and Inflation Guns:
C: Voters have also come to know that your party is part of the coalition government at the Centre which is deeply entrenched in big corruption cases: Common Wealth Games to IPL Cricket of BCCI, from 2-G Spectrum to Defence Flat allotment scams. Voters will shy away from friends of the Corrupt.
T: You were ally to the same Congress-led Government of the first UPA. Voters also know that you have friendship with scam-tainted parties and their leaders. Your friends like Lalooji, JayaLalitha and others are well-known for their ghotalas. Even in local self governance in the State and various government departments there are reports about corruption and scams. You have lot of things to explain to the voters.
C: As if you are so clean: speck and span. There are reported ghotalas in self government bodies controlled by your party. And, you are responsible for inflation too. Your coalition government has been raising petroleum prices and increasing inflation.
T: Your government has also increased taxes on various items. You should rather reduce the local taxes on petrol, diesel and such items to provide relief to the public. Central government cannot control the international prices of crude oil that the country imports.
Maharaj: What is Next, Sanjay?
Sanjat: That's exactly they are engaged in Sir.
C: We will win hands down. People are once again rallying around us after they have recognized that we have purged bad elements from our party and are no linger appearing arrogant. In case we fail to get 51% of the seats, we will still be a formidable opposition in the Assembly and see what you are capable of. You are not going to have easy life.
T: In case we slip a little, we shall be a formidable opposition. You will runaway because you have never faced such formidable opposition. You are already breathless with our weak strength in the Assembly. But do not worry: you do not have to face that opposition. When we release our election manifesto, the electorate will get convinced that they need change and for change they need to vote for us to bring about the change for the better tomorrow.
C: We will also release our Manifesto soon. Just see what happens after that. With your record of violence and killings in colleges and villages and your rising arrogance, you are losing your popularity. Soon there will be a landslide against you. You are not the type of party on which the Bengal electorate can depend on for the future of the State.
Sanjay: Maharaj, the first phase battle is over now. No casualties: with injuries the parties agree to ceasefire for the day.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Damp Squib Debate, Entertainment Explosion
Telegraph Kolkata's National Debate event was supposed to be a stimulating intellectual debate last Friday 18th February. The House considered the motion like this: 'Government would do better without politicians': "India
The team for the motion wad possibly designed to be weak, fielding Rahul Dravid, former Indian Cricket Captain, known for his solid defence in batting, Suhel Sheth as a last minute replacement for Victor Bannerjee, a former film actor, Swapan Dasgupta, a reouted columnist who turned his mind against leftist ideologies as he grew up and Dipankar Gupta, the only apolitical intellectual among the debaters. The team against the motion were well known columnist Ramchandra Guha, (columnists need politicians in government for their critical commentaries and patronage), and three active politicians, Salman Khurshid, Jay Panda and Mamta Bannerjee, the Railway Minister and President of the Trinamool Congress Party.
Sheth made it is for the opposition bowling: his stance was far way from the crease so that the motion can be stumped with any ball of any length and pace so long as it can be collected by anyone and the bails removed. He just argued that he does not want corrupt and incompetent politicians to be associated with governments and mentioned how he admired the qualities of the leadership of Mamata Bannerjee as a leader of men and women in contrast to many other politicians. He further stated how (intellectually accredited and honest, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not "know between which stools he stands!” in the context of the alleged corruption of his coalition partner nominated ministers. Dravid, admitted he stayed away from debating scenes from his childhood days and never looked at politics and politicians for an assessment, and also expressed his love for the Eden Gardens and the cricket spectators of Kolkata. He just let the initial wide gap in the defence of the motion further widen: he seemed to dislike bad politicians causing disturbance and seemed to love good things that good politicians deliver.
The only good thing about the team in favour of the motion was its 50% strength bowling by Dipankar Gupta's reasoned argument: he bowled good length, quickies straight on the stumps. The opposition batting just let those balls go by and concentrated on the plenty of loose slower balls outside the stumps delivered by Swapan Dasgupta, despite his efforts to take the gloss out of the ball by rubbing against good English.
Ramchandra Guha led the attack of the opposition: he emphasised on the birth right of politicians to exist at least for the purpose of running governments from time immemorial possibly (it was not necessary to debate if Krishna in Mahabharata, Ram in Ramayana, Alexander in Greece and Akbar the Great were politicians or they denied birth to politicians). Jay Panda had little scope or capacity to bowl or bat, while Salman Khurshid with his anecdote-sledging disturbed the concentration, if any, of the team for the motion.
The only argument that Ramchandra and Salman duo could master is that non-politicians had been tried out in Governments with dismal results. None of the debaters, by the limitation of their vintage) probably had any idea that empiricism no longer wasn't so simple as it were in their bygone days of language dominated intellectualism and that 21st century intellectualism could not be practised sans application of probability statistics in inference and testing of hypothesis - even if the subject matter happened to be politics or governance: for India, however, lack of such quatitaive rigour and precision mattered little because of her inherent intellectual resource limitation.
But lack of intellectual unfamiliarity with quatitative methods made it easier for Mamata Bannerjee, the only all rounder player among the debaters, to show her performance skill with agility and smartness. The game would have been a dull draw but for Mamata Bannerjee's googlies and over boundaries. She used simple, attractively appealing sentences to draw the approval of the audience to appreciate that, as in political field, in all spheres including cricket, corporate management and jounalism, there were bad elements and good elements, that one could not get rid of good elements and leave a vacum in visionary, result delivering leadership for the masses, that democracy was the only way to governance of nations, allowing different views to flourish through politicians and political parties, and that it was the politicians who could work for the betterment of the poor and the weak. She proved once more gifted political leaders attract the masses to rally around them because choose the most communicative language, gestures, anecdotes and arguments that appeals to the audiences where they address. Mamata Bannerjee just did that and won the hearts of the House.
The debate did produce an extremely entertaining friday evening for relaxation, with both the motion and its alternative hyopothesis untouched by intellectual examination of any serious level. The pseudo intellectualism yielded a damp squib. It was probably designed that way and with great success. The business of politics got scot free with entertainment.
The team for the motion wad possibly designed to be weak, fielding Rahul Dravid, former Indian Cricket Captain, known for his solid defence in batting, Suhel Sheth as a last minute replacement for Victor Bannerjee, a former film actor, Swapan Dasgupta, a reouted columnist who turned his mind against leftist ideologies as he grew up and Dipankar Gupta, the only apolitical intellectual among the debaters. The team against the motion were well known columnist Ramchandra Guha, (columnists need politicians in government for their critical commentaries and patronage), and three active politicians, Salman Khurshid, Jay Panda and Mamta Bannerjee, the Railway Minister and President of the Trinamool Congress Party.
Sheth made it is for the opposition bowling: his stance was far way from the crease so that the motion can be stumped with any ball of any length and pace so long as it can be collected by anyone and the bails removed. He just argued that he does not want corrupt and incompetent politicians to be associated with governments and mentioned how he admired the qualities of the leadership of Mamata Bannerjee as a leader of men and women in contrast to many other politicians. He further stated how (intellectually accredited and honest, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not "know between which stools he stands!” in the context of the alleged corruption of his coalition partner nominated ministers. Dravid, admitted he stayed away from debating scenes from his childhood days and never looked at politics and politicians for an assessment, and also expressed his love for the Eden Gardens and the cricket spectators of Kolkata. He just let the initial wide gap in the defence of the motion further widen: he seemed to dislike bad politicians causing disturbance and seemed to love good things that good politicians deliver.
The only good thing about the team in favour of the motion was its 50% strength bowling by Dipankar Gupta's reasoned argument: he bowled good length, quickies straight on the stumps. The opposition batting just let those balls go by and concentrated on the plenty of loose slower balls outside the stumps delivered by Swapan Dasgupta, despite his efforts to take the gloss out of the ball by rubbing against good English.
Ramchandra Guha led the attack of the opposition: he emphasised on the birth right of politicians to exist at least for the purpose of running governments from time immemorial possibly (it was not necessary to debate if Krishna in Mahabharata, Ram in Ramayana, Alexander in Greece and Akbar the Great were politicians or they denied birth to politicians). Jay Panda had little scope or capacity to bowl or bat, while Salman Khurshid with his anecdote-sledging disturbed the concentration, if any, of the team for the motion.
The only argument that Ramchandra and Salman duo could master is that non-politicians had been tried out in Governments with dismal results. None of the debaters, by the limitation of their vintage) probably had any idea that empiricism no longer wasn't so simple as it were in their bygone days of language dominated intellectualism and that 21st century intellectualism could not be practised sans application of probability statistics in inference and testing of hypothesis - even if the subject matter happened to be politics or governance: for India, however, lack of such quatitaive rigour and precision mattered little because of her inherent intellectual resource limitation.
But lack of intellectual unfamiliarity with quatitative methods made it easier for Mamata Bannerjee, the only all rounder player among the debaters, to show her performance skill with agility and smartness. The game would have been a dull draw but for Mamata Bannerjee's googlies and over boundaries. She used simple, attractively appealing sentences to draw the approval of the audience to appreciate that, as in political field, in all spheres including cricket, corporate management and jounalism, there were bad elements and good elements, that one could not get rid of good elements and leave a vacum in visionary, result delivering leadership for the masses, that democracy was the only way to governance of nations, allowing different views to flourish through politicians and political parties, and that it was the politicians who could work for the betterment of the poor and the weak. She proved once more gifted political leaders attract the masses to rally around them because choose the most communicative language, gestures, anecdotes and arguments that appeals to the audiences where they address. Mamata Bannerjee just did that and won the hearts of the House.
The debate did produce an extremely entertaining friday evening for relaxation, with both the motion and its alternative hyopothesis untouched by intellectual examination of any serious level. The pseudo intellectualism yielded a damp squib. It was probably designed that way and with great success. The business of politics got scot free with entertainment.
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