India Elections: Congratulations to the people of Delhi for electing the Aam Aadmi Party

Congratulations to the Aam Aadmi Party for winning the elections for Delhi State, it is indeed a landslide victory, but not a good victory for the state. It is a slaughterous victory for democracy by giving 67 out of 70 seats to one party. My biggest disappointment is the future of this kind of democracy where there is no room for opposition.

If you look at the history of democracies be it India, Israel, UK or USA, all the evil wars and implementation of bad policies have been occurred with such majorities. We have got to create a movement where we give majority to a party in each house to cause debates before decisions are made. This will guarantee us the public that we do not have sheepish representatives, but the ones who debate the merits of a bill.

The entire BJP juggernaut was rejected by the Delhi Public. Never in the history of India, the entire national machinery, and 120 cabinet Ministers and the Prime Minister focused on winning the election in the state of Delhi.

Modi has failed the Indians – a lot is written about his inability to control the extremists in his party. This is the first sign of reality catching up with BJP. He cannot help himself, he is not trained to be an inclusive individual, he is trying hard but his RSS Madrasa education prevents him from being inclusive.

Meanwhile, Indians are getting sick of BJP - they promised to focus on prosperity but ended up messing up with social structure - 5 churches were burnt in New Delhi and forced conversions of Muslims is going on, and Mr. Modi has remained silent. This is a pay back and hope Mr. Modi learns.

The problem with Modi is he has got too many Chamchas (sycophants) who blindly praise and even worship him, and perhaps keep him misinformed. It will all accumulate to his ungraceful fall. What he needs is people who are critical of him, that will cause him to be on his toes and succeed in his sab ka sath sab ka vikas goal. On my part I will be critical of him and keep him on his toes. I may look bad to the Chamchas, but that is the right thing to do, than let him fall. If he succeeds, all of us will.

If Mr. Modi does not control the extremists in his party, he is doomed to lose more and the majority of Indians will not cry over it.

I am pleased to add the following incisive analysis by Dr. Amal Mukherjee. I urge Modi supporters to be critical. The greatest enemies of Modi are his Chamchas, defending him on everything he does without realizing its effects on the social cohesion of India. Chamchagiri is the ugliest thing one can do to a leader, be the best citizens of India and criticize where necessary and praise where it is deserved, if not he will fall ungracefully from the esteem you have given him.

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67/3 in Delhi, What went wrong for the BJP?
- Inadequate water and electricity in the Capital.
- Failure of law and order
- PM's inability to reign in the so-called fringe / extremist elements.
- Failure to improve the environmental quality of life .
- Ghar wapsi , forced conversions , church attacks .
- Perception-disconnect between the common man and the PM's personal life-style. ( I think this is a bit over-the-top , but the common man has his own notions + his vote ).
- More time spent with foreign dignitaries in India as well as in abroad and with the corporate honchos, less time with the common man on road.
- Name calling of the AAP leaders, especially of AK, by the BJP leaders - backfired on them.
- Hollow promises by BJP leaders (black money etc.), especially by NAMO, before the general election, not fulfilled, made it worse by Jaitley's song and dance.

It is time for BJP to do some serious introspection and soul searching. Basking in the glory of their general election win is gone. They need to break some new ground.
AAP must fulfill their commitments also otherwise soon they will be kicked out. Indian voters are very intelligent and cannot be fooled. Money cannot buy them anymore. Those days of Congress malpractice have long gone.

Amal
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Disappointment

As an Indian deeply committed to democracy in India, I am disappointed that we do not have a strong opposition. A strong opposition keeps the government on its toes, and at least somewhat accountable. Fascism takes root when the government has huge majority and huge mandate; it is the most dangerous thing for a nation to give full powers to a single party.

Now that AAP has this mandate, from here on I will be extremely critical of them, that is the patriotic thing to do to prevent the nation from going to dogs. I will be Critical of Modi government as well, even though I spoke favarobly about Modi in the beginning, listening to his thoughtful speeches. I urge Modi supporters to be critical, if not he will fall ungracefully from the esteem he has earned. Modi should speak out against radicalism from his party, and not be a goonga.

About Modi - still to be updated. http://mikeghouse.net/NarendraModi.asp

If Mr. Modi does not control the extremists in his party, he is doomed to lose more and the majority of Indians will not cry over it.

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net

 About Modi - still to be updated. http://mikeghouse.net/NarendraModi.asp

Indian Democracy - will it survive?

As an Indian deeply committed to democracy in India, not the theocracy that will sink every one of us in the end, I hope and pray that the people of Delhi have voted for AAP.  We will wait for the results. Whatever the outcome of Delhi Elections, we have to live with it.

We need a strong opposition to keep the government on its toes, and at least somewhat accountable. Fascism takes root when the government has huge majority and huge mandate; it is the most dangerous thing for a nation to give full powers to a single party.

Radicals no matter where they raise their ugly heads simply destroy the nations – it’s happening in Iraq, and Syria, and gaining ground in Pakistan. None of us want India to become a theocracy like theirs, we want to be a nation of free people and not to be ruled by a bunch of idiots who who tell us what we can drink, eat, wear or believe.

Those radicals who think Hindutva *** Government is the way to go, will severely regret a few years down the road, and will say;

First they came for Muslims,
we didn’t care, we were not Muslims;

Then they came for Christians,
we rejoiced, we were not Christians;

Then they came for Sikhs,
we did not care, they were not Hindus;

And finally they turned it on us,

They wanted us to be obedient dogs,

and there was no one left to defend us.

The only reason I wish AAP wins is not because I like them, but I like our democracy to win and India to win.  The vote would be a reminder to Modi to bring humility in governance and let the ahankar go.

*** Hindutva is a political ideology similar to Islamists. It is neither Hindu nor Hinduism in character, just as Islamist are neither Islam nor Muslim. 

Enjoy the following political video featuring Modi, Kejriwal, Bedi and Shah.

Video link - https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153285734992580 

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net  

India's experiment with clean politics and preferred election outcome

Years ago, India ranked # 1 on the list of corrupt nations in the world, and today it is not. Despite the economic, social, cultural frictions we have, we are inherently a pluralistic democracy.

The General Elections are going to be held from April 7 through May 12, 2014, and we have several regional and national parties competing for the 543 Parliament seats. There are two major alliances of regional parties;  NDA - National Democratic Alliance with BJP as its anchor, and UPA- United Progressive Alliance with Congress as its anchor. There is a third front is emerging with regional parties and AAP.  It takes 272 Members to form a government.  Currently Congress holds 228 seats and BJP 137, all of this is likely to turn upside down.

Arvind Kejriwal leads a brand new Party called AAP -Aam Aadmi Party, and his party will be competing with two well organized established parties – Narendra Modi leads the BJP – Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian version Republicans) and Rahul Gandhi heads the INC- Indian National Congress (Democrat equivalent).

You may differ, but my personal choice is for no party to win the majority. A coalition government would be much better, as it compels them to be watching each other, decisions will be made by issue and not party line. It will also lend to greater debates on the issues. Unlike the US, if the coalition government does not perform, it can be brought down with a no confidence vote.

Arvind Kejriwal – no experience in governance, nor does he have an established system to carry the Party – the AAP; Aam Aadmi Party – common man’s party. But he is good for India. He wants to run a clean corruption free government. My worry is simply this –what if he is killed by the same party that killed Mahatma Gandhi, does he have an established system to carry the party forward without him? Is the manifesto written up?

Arvind is a good guy – at least corruption will be checked, but we need to make sure, he has systems in place to carry the business of governance.

The man leading the BJP plank is Narendra Modi, who needs lessons in history, biology, math and society, he is making blunders upon blunders. His popularity sounds like Ted Cruz's but not sure if it is managed or real. He is not an inclusive man and does not seem to believe in freedom. His state is one of the few where Christians, Dalits and Muslims are harassed, people do not have the freedom to choose their faith.

In the last two months he has worn over 25 different style hats in every town he visits, but refused to wear a hat given by Muslims – Under his watch nearly 1200 people were massacred while he did not stop the mayhem, 20,000 People are still living in wretched camps displaced by the massacres. To this day, he has not expressed remorse or regret for the deaths, just like George Bush has not done it yet. He promises prosperity and development, and is compared to Hitler, who promised and delivered prosperity to Germans at the cost of Jews and others, at the end nothing survived. If he does not care for social structure, all that development will not be sustainable.

Rahul Gandhi on the other hand represents the INC – it appears that he does not want to fight to win, nor does he have the experience. The only thing going for him is the party machinery which is well established. He lacks experience and does not have guts to run the largest government in the world.

Again, no one should be given a free hand, let there be a coalition government, let them learn to work with each other and deliver prosperity without hurting the social structure. A cohesive India is the way to go, a prosperous India without cohesiveness is doomed, the disparities may give birth to communism - to rip from the over night rich to give it to the depressed ones.

Faceboook: https://www.facebook.com/IndiaPluralism
Yahoogroups: DallasIndians@yahoogroups.com 
URL: http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2014/03/indias-experiment-with-clean-politics.html
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.

Delhi Government will fall if Lokpal bill is not passed - Kejriwal

Mahatma Gandhi, MLK, Mandela and others... have re-established the fact that when you are committed to serve with no personal gain, you will succeed.

Arvind Kejriwal will succeed, I have faith in his commitment, he has nothing to gain personally, but do good for Indians, the Aam Aadmi. 

The Lokpal bill will be introduced in the Assembly on 13th and will pass on 15th, and it requires 36 votes - with the original congress backing, it should pass. It may be a good idea for a few in BJP to cross the line to vote and let it pass with a super majority.

If it does not, then the Delhi Government will fall. Arvind says he is not in to be the CM or run the Government; he is in for the change and kill the Brhashtachar that has harmed our country and the common man on the street.  

I am concerned about Kejriwal and Modi - they are one man operations, without each one of them, neither AAP nor BJP will rise. Congress has a good functional system, if not Rahul there are plenty others. But again, all good things have started small and Kejriwal has a lot more to offer India - a stable society, I wish and hope he can do that in the few months he has left.  Kejriwal would be good if he can focus on developing systems... 

May be Delhi Government should fall, it will give a boost to Kejriwal to go national, but it is not in the interest of either BJP or Congress to fail Delhi.

God bless India.

I will quit if Jan Lokpal is not passed: Arvind Kejriwal to NDTV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il6wSbiohCg

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net

Arvind Kejriwal; redefining Government of the people for the people by the people.

ARIVIND KEJRIWAL REDEFINING ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S VISION OF GOVERNMENT
URL- http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/12/arvind-kejriwal-redefining-government.html

Arvind Kejriwal is redefining what Abraham Lincoln meant: Government of the people for the people by the people. There are a very few people out there who care less to be heads of the state, but doing the right thing. 
He has a bold message for Indian National Congress; inclusiveness without pragati will not cut it, and the message to the other extremity Narendra Modi, unnati without inclusiveness is not sustainable either.  

 

The voters of the state of New Delhi have defeated the incumbent Congress party giving them 8 seats in the assembly, gave 33 seats to the Bharatiya Janata Party, 2 short of forming the government and 28 seats to the brand new, less than a year new party. The party head Arvind Kejriwal was asked to form the government with the support from Congress's 8, giving it 36 seats majority in the house.

Kejriwal has refused to form the government, and said, becoming the governing party is not important but ensuring proper governance is the right thing. Instead of grabbing the power, he has done the right thing, asking the voters to decide if he should form the government! He reminds me of Nelson Mandela who walked away from power for another term.Arvind Kejriwal – redefining Government of the people for the people by the people.

He has a bold message for Indian National Congress; inclusiveness without pragati will not cut it, and the message to the other extremity Narendra Modi, unnati without inclusiveness is not sustainable either.   

When there is a lack of leadership, or leaders have no idea how to proceed, Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the new Aam Aadmi Party has found the way, and he is just doing the right thing, asking the very people who elected him!  Indeed, Mr. Kejriwal is redefining what Government of the people means.

The only worry, I have about the Aam Aadmi Party is – how will they ensure the corrupt people from creeping in to their system?  As long as they are a Delhi based manageable party, they would be fine, but if they go national, do they have the time to place safeguards and checks and balances in place?

It does worry me, in a press conference in December 2001, General Pervaz Musharraf gave me 6-7 minutes in the midst of huge media crowd in Washington DC. My major question to him besides Cricket Diplomacy was – have you got a “what if plan”, should you not be there, do you have institutions built up to carry the democracy forward? His answer was typical Desi – Oh, yes, don’t worry, we have figured it out everything. 

I wish our damned politicians, particularly my fellow Republicans learn the lesson - to reflect the needs to the public rather than what they want. Arivind Kejriwal has redefined and clarified what it means to be Government of the People by the people for the people.

I will ask the same question to Arvind Kejriwal, what if you fell sick or become dear to God in an accident, is your system established to move forward on its own? Do you have enough people deeply oriented with your ideals to carry the mantle? A sustainable government should be based on a system and not individuals.

My recommendation for Kejriwal is to establish the party in Delhi, be a part of the opposition or form the governance if the Delhi voters say yes, but don't expand to other parts of the country yet, as you are likely to fall like all others.

IBN network has bestwoed the Indian of the year award to Arvind Kejriwal, a well-deserved award. Congratulations Mr. Kejriwal! The following  6 minutes video on YouTube is worth watching to understand a genuine democracy – of the people by the people for the people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQTZCG48cwo

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest onSean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.
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