Election Trivia

Here's an interesting bit of election trivia. The Valsad Lok Sabha seat is unique. The party that wins this seat has invariably been forming the government at the Centre since Independence. Until 1997, the Congress won this seat and formed the Government. In 1977, the Janata Dal candidate won and Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister. Again in 1980 and 1984,the Congress won this seat, and formed the Government. When the BJP (NDA) came to power twice, the BJP candidate won the Valsad seat. And then in the last General Elections, the Congress candidate won the Valsad seat. Needless to say, the UPA formed the government. This may be just political coincidence, but both the BJP and Congress candidates are telling voters to elect them, so that their party can form the Union government.

Modi enters UP and colour of his Shirt changes from White to Saffron,that's the kind of psychological trick he plays.Though,he has not used his famous Hindutva dictionary in his speeches so far,but the colour does have an impact.Message is still the same,just he is displaying it and not speaking.Model code of conduct??




Shivraj Singh Chauhan : A refreshing break from the hate preachers, corrupt, inefficient, communal or secular politicos. Shivraj Mama, as he is fondly called by his people,is one politician to look for.Combines Integrity,Honesty,efficiency with
the astuteness of a politician and that makes him a robust leader.In for a long run.

Dear Prime Minister Sir

11th April,2009


The Prime Minister,
Republic of India


Ram Ram,

(I know this salutation will make you a little uncomfortable,but as u know,this is how our rural folks use to greet each other).Today in newspapers, I read your statement about yourself,so I assume you must be telling truth as you are known for your Integrity.Quoting you, "I am not a good speaker, but I take decisions.I believe that the proof of the pudding is in the eating." Unquote.

Dear Sir,in a democracy as large and diverse as India, being a good communicator is the first requirement for anyone vying for the top post.Army officials all over the world are known for their decisiveness or for that matter our corporate honchos are second to none,do we make them our prime-minister?

If you mentionn any great ruler\leader in any democracy,you'll almost always find that one thing that sets them apart is their ability to communicate.In Indian Context,whether be it Mahatma Gandhi,Jawahar Lal Nehru,Indira Gandhi or Atal Bihari
Vajpayee ,all of them have been known for their distinctive style of communication.Even in international arena,great leaders have always been a cut above the rest in the art of public speaking.

A prime Minister is supposed to be the representative of the whole nation.He needs to be aware of peoples' aspirations and feelings in order to take policy decisions.He is expected to communicate to the whole nation his policies and views through mediums as parliament(which are a forum of public speaking).I believe, your self admitted 'poor public communication skills' makes you critically dependent upon
your advisors for a pulse of the nation.

Dear sir,sorry to say but we expect our Prime Minister to be aware of what we think.we expect him to have his own independent views on matters of public policy and not that of a borrowed one from his advisors.If decisiveness and academic
skills would have been the sole criterion then Union Public Service Commission would have been the ideal body to select our Prime Ministers.Rather,We would be having a national level aptitude Test on skills as decision making or other such inter-personal skills in the place of General Elections.

But sir,our constitution makers instead decided to elect our Prime Minister through elections,one who would represent people.One who can communicate to the whole nation and eventually to the larger world what a particular group of people think,however small they may be.

Sir,I would like to wish you all the Best for your 2nd prime Ministerial pursuit.But please do give a thought to joining a crash course on public communication before taking oath.

Regards,

Ek Voter

A Trip to Ayodhya

Yesterday was Ramnavami(The day Lord Rama took incarnation on Earth),and I just learnt it in the night while talking to my Mother on phone that it was Ramnavami today.For the first time since I can remember it's been so that I didn't offer my prayers on the ocasion and I feel a little upset about it.Blame it on office works or anything else,It shouldn't have happened.

A few months back,I was to Ayodhya on the ocasion of Chhath,It was my 3rd trip to the sacred city(not so scared politically though).In Ayodhya,as my dad keep saying,Lord Ram rules every part of life and everyone,without making any discrimination.
The politics encircling the Ayodhya seems to have left untouched the residents there and around.
It was an Ocasion AkshayNavami then and I could see a large number of villagers from around Ayodhya flocking it to the city.It's difficult to guess for what they'd been praying to the lord,Moksha(Freedom from Death & Birth Cycles) or Material desires.But one thing was for sure Ram ruled their Heart.Probably,the political wave that marred Ayodhya for a while has downgraded and Lord is back to his usual business i.e. blessing his devotees.

In the evening,I went to 'Kanak Bhavan',the most revered temple of Ayodhya.One thing which amazed me was that inspite of all the halla-hooplah around Ram Janm Bhoomi Temple,people of Ayodhya pay highest regards to 'Kanak Bhavan' and treat it above the Janm Bhoomi Temple.'Shayan Arti'(The Arti before the Lord goes to sleep) at Kanak Bhavan is one event where one can find a large number of local residents,bussinesmen coming to have a Darshan after their daily works.The logic as someone explained to me latter was a little funny but still it showed the place which Lord Ram occupies in their Heart.It was..
"Let the lord remain free for other piligrims for the whole day as we are his people, his nagarwasi(persons belonging to same place) so we'll get a special treatment if we go to see him when the lord is most relaxed i.e. the sleeping time.[:)]"
The arti sung at this time is also a different one and reflects this atitude of the locals there.
Can't really say,whether the Locals are getting a special treatment from their lord but they seem contented with their Lord.They seem to be making no complaints...