Expect me to write bullshit about Narendra Modi. I want the brainless retarded “Bhakts” to abuse me on my blog and increase the number of hits on my website. This way my blog will gain popularity and it will get a better Google rank. And trust me, neither am I going to spare Mr Arvind Kejriwal of AAP fame nor Mamata Bannerjee – the now chief minister of West Bengal. We have a special task force of AAPtards who are always ready to spam.
If that has taken you by a surprise or has amused you, you must have realized what most of the personal bloggers and small scale news channel already do in their websites – speak bad or excessively good about Narendra Modi to excite a group of people and increase visibility of their website.
Let me start by saying, this general election is highly derogatory, corrosive, below dignity, low and dirty. There used to be a time when voting was supposed to be a secret affair. These days, people wear their choices on their sleeves! Many people want Modi to become the prime minister and have no clue why! They seek an alternative to the 10 years of Congress rule primarily, while the rest just tries to flow with the tide. Err, I mean – the supposed wave. Many flood their Facebook wall with brainless reading material. Not many of who spreads that, are even eligible to vote. If the craze of the “Bhakts” and the “-tards” were not enough, the recent speeches by Narendra Modi was in extreme bad taste. Wasn’t TMC’s metaphorical reference to hand dripping in blood, equally bad? I wonder where the sense of grace disappeared.
If you have tolerated my writing so far, let me tell you – Voting and elections are not that complicated an affair. It is very simple.
However much the Indian National Media might make it look like the US General elections, the Indian Lok Sabha or the Legislative assembly elections are neither that complicated nor that risky an affair. And I’ll tell you why.
First of all, it is not a choice between two individuals. It is a choice between two or more than two national parties. And their families, and their friends and yes, the other smaller parties who take shelter under their names, and other opportunity seekers who hone their mathematical skills after election results and become coalition partners, and those who give outside support. (And then there are people who give a shit.)
So we need to simplify it.
“Think locally, act nationally”, well at least that was the thought of the makers of the Indian constitution. We need to know who all are contesting the election from our area.Vote for the person you trust, you can relate to. Vote for the person you think can help your locality grow. Forget the rest. The person can belong to Trinamool Congress. The person can represent CPIM or Congress or the Bharatiya Janta Party or even AAP (which practically does not exist in Bengal).
The candidate with maximum votes represents the area. They go to the lower house of the constitution or the Lok Sabha and elect their Prime Minister. Now, the more the candidates belong to a particular party, the more the chances that party’s elected candidate becomes the Prime Minister. So keep it simple. But think,
A stronger local leader is what is required: Yes. If the local representative is not responsible or not trust worthy, all the money that the center allocates for your region will not be properly utilized. Vote for the person you trust. Vote for the person who is easily approachable. Vote for the person who has shown work. Vote for the person who has shown credentials and is perhaps educated. I would not personally prefer voting for a party whose goons terrorize my locality. Check that as well. How peaceful or safe is your locality?
What about a strong central leader? Running a government cannot be a one (wo)man show. Damn, even for a single project we require multiple managers to run it. The government is possibly the most complex of all teams formed. A strong leadership can send directives. The local leader needs to execute them. They require trust and ability.
So for me a recognized local face is important whom I can trust with responsibilities – irrespective of the political ideology he belongs to, the political flag he represents. That shall be an informed choice.
Vote and be done with it! We cannot afford to take it any more.
Every single day there is negativity, every single day there is an exchange of words. Every single day there is growing hatred around. It is no more a source of amusement. Even if I try my best, I can not smirk at it.
Why do we need to speak about Bangladeshis or Biharis or Odiyas and not concentrate only on development and development indices? Every single day some friend says something about Modi and some other random person comments (read: bashes brainlessly) on it. There are some new bloggers or blog posts coming up slamming Modi or Mamata, because both the names sell! And if both come in the same news article, it sells more than Poonam Pandey shedding clothes at a Bachelor’s party!
If you are a misinformed voter, you need to realize that you are misinformed in the first place. Then you need to realize that personal websites and blog posts spreading claims should not be your source of information. There is so much paid news that popular news channels might not be your source of information as well. The best way is to use your own brain. Yes, that is always the best practice.
By the grace of God, almost all major political leaders are in social media. Check what they update, check what they claim. Are they rational? If they speak of development, is the development visible in your locality? If they are being derogatory about someone else, how much can you trust the claim? Take the arguments, judge them, debate with your friends with an open mind and open heart regarding them. Be informed. Spend some time contemplating, read more. Be knowledgeable. Believe in debates, listen to the arguments. Are the arguments appealing to you?
I am appalled to see there is so much hatred either deep down inside or have recently cropped up. In our discussions, one of our Muslim colleagues very subtly said, that he is a Bengali with a Persian name. He fears being labeled as a Bangladeshi and be discriminated against, if Modi comes to power. My viewer needs to realize, he is an educated colleague, an able photographer and a very good person.
Mr. Modi needs to realize, this is Bengal which hosts the districts like Murshidabad which is the only district in India which has 65% Muslim population. About half of our population have extremely Islamic names but are very Bengali and their forefathers were born in modern day India and that, they are not illegal immigrants! In every district in Bengal, you might find such good amount of Bengali Muslims. The RSS-BJP and Modi Bhakts have steered a storm. The very thought of BJP-RSS coming to power unsettles me. I’ll be honest. Like me, many true heart Bengalis will be dismissive of BJP.
The Gorkha – Bengalis gave BJP one seat in Lok Sabha last time, hoping that they will get a separate state – the Gorkhaland. Did the BJP keep their promise? And now that the peace has been restored, no one would even wish for the state division. BJP again promised a state division. Shameful.
Narendra Modi says not “Vote for BJP”. He says “Vote for me!”. That’s not how the Indian system should work. He projects himself bigger than his party today. The day next, if elected to power, he shall project himself bigger than the nation. We can not allow a fascist. His hands might not be dripping blood, but statements like “bring Hindu-Bangladeshis back” really takes me back thinking. The election should be policy based, ideology based, performance based and party based. Equality, stability, security and education are my priorities.
My friends and acquaintances often accuse me of being an AAP agent or a TMC cadre. I am neither.
I want AAP in Bengal and in good presence. They will form an incredible opposition if not a better government than that of Mamata Banerjee’s. CPIM has to hibernate, rejuvenate and get back. Not only did it fail in the last few years of 34 years of governance, its sly nature failed the people – the hope of a better and strong opposition. TMC is marred with the Saradha scam and that shall take some time to fade away.
But so far, Mamata Bannerjee government has been able to restore peace in the terrorist hit areas and in Northern Bengal. It has been able to bring down shutdown and bandhs that often symbolized Bengal. We might not have an over publicized big ticket investment, but the general investments have improved. The medium and small scale industries have a credit flow of over 100%. Revenue collection has improved. Thankfully we did not have schemes for Muslims or Jains. Instead, we had a “Kanyashree” scheme which the Bengal state government will execute with UNICEF. The GSDP has been about 158% of the national GDP. The present government with all its Banga Bibhusan and different kind of “Utsavs” has made a small, but a significant Brand Bengal.
I should not praise the present state government more, lest people should think this is a paid blog post.
On the second thoughts, how informed and able is the candidate who is representing my locality?
Mamata Bannerjee too fell short of dignity. The jibe at the election commission, the Anna Hazare incident and the latest exchange of words with Narendra Modi leaves a bad impression.
I am attaching a light painting of the Trinamool Congress symbol. Do not think I am a TMC cadre, I request. I know a lot of people might not read this long article. To bring them to my blog, I need an interesting and impressive graphic. So this be it.
If you are a first time voter – spend some time reading different articles, discuss, listen to your leaders, form an opinion of your own. Like I said, vote for the person you believe will be by the side of your locality and that you lay your trust on the candidate.
And yes, do not get into ugly fights regarding this. One of my friends updated, “So by the end of these elections, whether NaMo, RaGa and AK lose or not, a lot of my good friends are definitely going to lose a lot of their good friends.” Let that not be true.