Media Corrective Required...Urgently!

Another immaculate 'Read' by Sankrant Sanu . This one goes out specially for my friends who label the BjP as the ' Right Wing ' party …. and also for those who think differently .

IS "RIGHT-WING HINDU-NATIONALIST" BALANCED AND FAIR REPORTING?

When we allow this flavour of reporting to go unchallenged we unwittingly weaken India’s ability to negotiate with the world on our own terms. SANKRANT SANU asks why avowedly Christian leaders in the UK and US are not similarly tagged.

As a new government is taking charge in India, it is time to reflect on the terminology used about India in the Western press and also by English-language Indian journalists writing in India and abroad.

Western news outlets routinely describe Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP as “right-wing Hindu-nationalist” in practically every news report. This is problematic for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is not clear that the label “right” and “left” so easily apply to Indian politics and do not map clearly to Western political categories. Certainly no economically right-wing politician in the West would declare in their first major address after being elected that the “the new government is completely dedicated to the poor” as Modi did in his first meeting of the BJP parliamentary committee.

Nor is the label “Hindu-nationalist” entirely accurate, particularly since it is used pejoratively. British Prime Minister David Cameron, recently wrote in The Church Times, the leading Anglican newspaper, “I believe we should be more confident about our status as a Christian country, more ambitious about expanding the role of faith-based organisations, and, frankly, more evangelical about a faith that compels us to get out there and make a difference to people's lives.”

Now, it is worth remembering that Britian is not officially secular. It has a state religion and an official Church, the Church of England. Their head of state, the Queen, is also head of the Church. Despite Prime Minister Cameron’s clear espousal of Christianity, and its centrality, both legally and restated by him, in the conception of their nation, the Conservative party is not routinely called a Christian-nationalist party. To make this contrast even clearer, let us imagine that Prime Minister Modi made the statement:

“I believe we should be more confident about our status as a Hindu rashtra, more ambitious about expanding the role of Hindu organisations, and, frankly, more evangelical about spreading Hinduism to make a difference to people's lives.”

All hell would break loose in India if Modi were to say this. However, this is just a restatement of Prime Minister Cameron’s statement about Christianity and Britain. But for some reason, Prime Minister Modi apparently has to be tagged as a “Hindu nationalist” in every press report while Cameron is not tagged as a “Christian nationalist”.

An even clearer example is George Bush Jr., who made no bones about his faith as a born-again Christian. Bush explicitly loosened the purse strings so that federal money could flow to “faith-based” organizations. But he was not routinely described as an evangelical Christian in every news report. There is a misconception, however, that Bush was somewhat unique in modern American presidents. Every US president, Republican or Democrat, publically avows his Christian faith. Bill Clinton was Southern Baptist, a conservative Christian denomination and attended church every week till he went to college. He could “quote scripture with the best of them.” Jimmy Carter was a self-described evangelical born-again Christian. Obama also avowed “I am a Christian. I have a deep faith.”

Despite affirmation of (Christian) faith being practically a pre-requisite to be President of the United States, presidents are not tagged by their religion in every press report. We must start to question when Prime Minister Modi continues to be tagged as such.

This is not only the question of a level playing field. It also leads to a mis-understanding of India and its pluralistic nature. The BJP is not a Hindu party that will impose Manusmriti on everyone. People in Pakistan are very surprised to learn that the BJP has a Muslim general secretary and Christian MLA’s and MP’s. An improper equivalence is created, fanned by Indian writers in Pakistani newspapers, that the BJP is somehow the equivalent of its Jamaat-e-Islami, which is fighting to have Sharia law in Pakistan.

Now the odds of the Jamaat having a Hindu or Christian general secretary are, to put it mildly, quite low. But this incorrect equivalence causes Pakistanis to make statements like “unlike India, we have never had the religious right win an election.” This misunderstanding can become an obstacle to peace and also provide further impetus for atrocities on Pakistan’s vanishing Hindu minority. If you actually examined the parties’ official positions and religious affirmations you will find the BJP left of the leftmost mainstream political party in Pakistan. The BJP affirms its commitment to secularism, even if it derides its opponents’ flavour of it. A Pakistani party can only affirm its commitment to the Islamic state.

While we are on the subject of Pakistan, practically every Western news agency finds it necessary to use the phrase “nuclear-armed neighbours” in any article about the two. Perhaps it is time we start repaying that reminder when talking about “nuclear-armed neighbours UK and France” or in the case of the United States, the “only country to have deployed a nuclear weapon in war”, in every foreign policy report about these countries. Nor does every report dealing with US-China relations state they have nuclear warheads pointed at each other. We need to start recognising the messaging when “nuclear-armed neighbours” is repeated in every report, just as “right-wing Hindu nationalist” is. It is the Western gaze on the natives that they do not apply to themselves.

When we allow this flavor of reporting to go unchallenged we unwittingly weaken India’s ability to negotiate with the world on our own terms.

Sankrant Sanu is an author and entrepreneur based in Seattle and Gurgaon. He is a graduate of IIT Kanpur and the University of Texas and holds six technology patents. Follow on Twitter @sankrant

Landmark moment in Indian Media...

Not that the independent Journalism died with this takeover. But it has died slowly everyday and this is just the swelling of the body after death. I don't expect perfection, but media has lost its glory and dignity and it was seen clearly by the way they covered the whole 2014 elections. The topics they chose to debate and to exclude showed much.

In my opinion the main reason of this rot being the urge to be politically correct (which denies justice) and to seek permanence in high positions (withers new talent) and self-seeking behaviour (merit is ignored). People, just like politicians, just dont want to live life ahead. They want to retain the honey, money and position till the grave. There was a huge disconnect with the larger India and none of that seems to be going to change with the takeover. But, yes, it seems one thing will change- earlier one party and person who was made to be a demon may be looked from a different light...

For journalism, things have changed but yet remained same and will remain so until 1. some of the czars become truly professional and ethical2. media is delinked from corporate and,3. a wider debate on the correctness of profit-targets of media houses is held and resolved.4. A self-regulating working mechanism is implemented with some external inputs too.

Read more on the news here: 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghabahree/2014/05/30/reliance-takes-over-network18-is-this-the-death-of-media-independence/
Reliance Takes Over Network18: Is This The Death Of Media Independence?
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In two words? Quite likely.

India’s largest company Reliance Industries Ltd., which is owned by India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, announced Thursday that it was taking over one of India’s largest media companies–Network 18 Media and Investments Ltd.

Network18 owns TV channels (including CNBC TV18, CNN-IBN, CNN Awaz), websites (firstpost.com, moneycontrol.com), magazines (including the license for Forbes India), entertainment channel (Colors, MTV and Homeshop Entertainment) among other businesses. RIL said it’s board approved funding of 4,000 crore rupees (or roughly $730 million) to Independent Media Trust (IMT), of which RIL is the sole beneficiary” for taking over Network18. (You can read the financial details of the deal here.)

Network18′s CEO, CFO and COO quit in the days preceding Thursday’s announcement. Earlier today the company’s founder and managing director Raghav Bahl and his wife, a director at the company, announced their exit as well, while there are strong rumors doing the rounds that the news division’s top editorial team too is on its way out. Indian newspaper Mint cited a few employees who described the situation as a “hostile” takeover.

Anger, panic and pandemonium aside, the takeover is a strategic move for RIL which is expected to launch its 4G network later this year and can use the wide range of content produced by Network18 to feed its telecom play. In its press release RIL said: “The acquisition will differentiate Reliance’s 4G business by providing a unique amalgamation at the intersection of telecom, web and digital commerce via a suite of premier digital properties.

This takeover, once combined with RIL’s telecom business, makes the combined group likely bigger than media baron Rupert Murdoch’s empire in India and bigger than any other media group in India. And that should raise some serous questions about it.

“If India’s biggest corporate conglomerate is also India’s biggest media company, what does it do to diversity of opinion, plurality of opinion, what it does do to unfavorable news coverage?” asks Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, an independent journalist and teacher who was a member of the Press Council of India where he co-authored a piece on “Paid News: How corruption in the Indian media undermines democracy.”

To be sure, India has several thousand newspapers and about 900 tv channels and a thriving social media. Despite that, there are only a handful of media companies that dominate the market and mainstream media still has a significant role in setting the agenda.

“What happens when big business interests get into the media business?” says Thakurta. “They influence what comes out into the public, what is heard and read…. [Suddenly] You have your large business groups, conglomerates determining what people read, hear, watch. It does raise concerns and questions about what happens to the voices of not just those who are contrary to RIL, but the marginalized?”

While the Network18 deal may be the biggest media deal in India, it is a very tiny part of the giant that is RIL. But the deal is important for other reasons, points out P. Sainath, an independent, award-winning journalist.

“It has the power to reach into every drawing room; the power to tell you what to read, see and think,” he says. “How will they [the Network18 journalists] have any chance of doing a decent story on the KG gas deal [where RIL has the rights to dig for gas and is in dispute with the government], the Radia tapes [taped telephone conversations between publicist Nira Radia and a former telecom minister and senior journalists where she's lobbying on behalf of several big corporate clients], how will they cover any damn thing? The greater the monopolization and corporatization of media, the less the space for smaller voices, differing voices, dissenting voices.”

RIL made its first investment in Network18 in January 2012 with a minority stake in the company via IMT. At the time it said it was merely an investor, recalls Thakurta.

“Now that Chinese wall has come crashing down,” says Thakurta. “Earlier the people who were investors are now the people who call the shots.”

Critics of the deal have also raised concerns about how this will impact the media’s coverage of India’s newly elected government. India’s corporate sector endorsed–and donated to–Narendra Modi and the BJP’s election campaign. So what are the chances that media companies–owned by some of those same corporate houses–will encourage independent reporting of its favored Prime Minister and government?

“Once upon a time the media took its role to question people in power very seriously,” says Sainath. “Media was the adversary. It would take on those in positions of power, whether in government or the corporate sector. Time alone will tell how that adversarial role will exist under these sort of corporate deals.”

Agriculture, i.e in Bharat..

In my opinion, Agriculture, Defence, Science, Art and Spirituality are the five natural directions Bharat must move towards.....and contribute immensely to the world fraught with despair.

Modern parasitic professions like Marketing and Advt, economy, Media etc (though can't be done without) must be subservient to the above and not vice-versa, as some would have us believe!! _/|\_

For agriculture, here is an 11 point agenda from Shri Devinder Sharma, which i totally agree with..

Please read below:

http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.in/2014/05/my-11-point-agenda-for-resurrecting.html


An 11-point agenda for resurrecting Indian agrculture and restoring the pride in farming




Time to usher in "Acche din..." for the Indian farmers.

Indian agriculture is faced with a terrible agrarian crisis. It is a crisis primarily of sustainability and economic viability. The severity of the crisis can be gauged from the spate of farm suicides. In the past 17 years, close to 3 lakh farmers reeling under mounting have preferred to commit suicide. Another 42 per cent want to quit agriculture if given a choice. The spate of farmer suicide and the willingness of farmers to quit agriculture is a stark reminder of the grim crisis.

Even at a time when the country was in the midst of elections, there was a spurt in farm suicides. In the past few weeks, on an average five farmers ended their lives in Vidharbha every day, another five in Telengana, three in Bundelkhand. In Marathawada in Maharashtra, news report say 101 farmers have taken their own lives in March-April. In progressive Punjab, 14 farmers have ended their lives in past two months.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi blames UPA for the plight of jawan and kisan during the past 10 years, he raises a lot of hope for the beleaguered farming community. During election campaigning, he had specifically talked of farmer suicides, farm prices, crisis in agricultural marketing and also touched on local agricultural issues in different parts of the country. After all, kisano ke bhi to aache din aane chahiye …












What should therefore be the agriculture agenda for the new government? What should be the strategies and approaches that Narendra Modi has to follow to pull farmers out of the deep morass? Knowing very well that India cannot compromise with its food self-sufficiency, there has to be a number of short-term as well as long-term measures. I am being asked this question time and again. Here is my 11-point agenda:

1) Providing a guaranteed assured monthly income to farmers. According to the Arjun Sengupta Committee report the average monthly income of a farm family is Rs 2,115. This includes Rs 900 from non-farm activities. About 60 per cent farmers are dependent on MNREGA activities to survive, and an estimated 55 per cent farmers go to bed hungry. But these farmers produce economic wealth for the country in the form of agricultural, horticultural and dairy produce. It is high time they are adequately compensated for generating that massive economic wealth in the form of food. My suggestion is that the new government should set up a National Farmers Income Commission which should have the mandate to compute the monthly income of a farm family depending upon his production and the geographical location of the farm.

2) The time for price policy is now over. Every time the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is raised questions are asked about its impact on food inflation. Moreover, the Bali Ministeral of WTO has questioned India's subsidies that it provides to farmers by way of MSP. It is therefore an appropriate time to move from Price policy to Income policy. The income that a farmer earn should be de-linked from the price that his crops fetch in the market. That is why I have been asking for a guaranteed monthly income for for farmers. Let us not forget, if inflation is rising it is also rising for the farmers. While the Govt employees get DA instalments every 6 months to compensate for inflation, and get a pay commission every few year, farmers get only MSP and that too is un-remunerative. In an interesting study from Kerala, it was computed that if paddy price rise was to match the salary rise of govt officials, paddy price in 2005 should have been Rs 2669/qntl. It's Rs 1,310 today. In other words what paddy farmers are getting in 2014 as paddy price is 50 per cent of what they should have earned 9 years ago.

The burden of providing cheap food therefore to 1.25 billion people should not be only on the shoulders of farmers. The society too must share the burden.

3) There is an immediate need to strengthen the network of mandis (market yards) across the country whisch provides farmers with a platform to sell their produce. Leaving it to markets will result in distress sale. To illustrate, let me take the example of rice farmers in Punjab and Bihar. In Punjab, which has a huge network of mandis linked with roads, farmers bring the produce to these mandis. Last harvest, Punjab farmers got an MSP of Rs 1,310 per quintal for paddy. In Bihar, where APMC Act does not operate, farmers resorted to distress sale with prices not exceeding Rs 900 per quintal. The Commission for Costs and Prices (CACP) is now pressurising Punjab Govt to dismantle the mandis and let markets operate. Which means, Punjab farmers will soon go the Bihar way.

4) For a country which was able to build up an excellent marketing network for one of the most perishable commodities -- milk -- I see no reason why a similar approach cannot be adopted in providing a viable marketing network for fruits and vegetables. If the National Dairy Development Programme could ensure that milk is procured from each and every village, and then through a cooperative chain it is finally delivered to the consumers in the cities, I see no reason why India cannot carve out a marketing chain for fruits, vegetables and other farm commodities.

5) Cooperate farming need to be encouraged. Appropriate laws must be framed to make cooperatives more independent and effective. Drawing from the experience of the Amul cooperative in dairy farming, a similar system needs to be adopted for vegetables/fruit farming. I know of small cooperatives of organic farmers which have done wonders. Why can't it be replicated to rest of the crops?

6) Aim at making villages self-reliant in agriculture and food security. Feeding the population has to be linked with farming. Chhatisgarh has given an excellent model of self-reliance in agriculture and food security. It has shifted the focus to local production, local procurement and local distribution. This is exactly what needs to be done throughout the country for which the National Food Security Act needs an amendment. Instead of providing 5 kg of wheat/rice/millets every month, the focus should be on making the villages take care of their own food security needs. This will help reduce the huge subsidy bill on food security that is required every year and thereby reduce fiscal deficit. Such a programme will also help in removing hunger in the long term.

7) Green Revolution areas of the country are facing a crisis in sustainability. With soil fertility devastated, water table plummeting and environment contaminated with chemical pesticides and fertiliser, the resulting impact on the entire food chain and human health is being increasingly felt. The new Government should launch a nation-wide campaign to shift farming to non-pesticides management techniques. In Andhra Pradesh, no chemical pesticides are used in 35 lakh acres. Farmers have even stopped using chemical fertiliser in some 20 lakh hectares. Production has gone up, pesticides pollution has come down, insects attack has also come down, and more importantly farm incomes have gone up by 45 per cent because of reduced health expenses. There has been no farm suicides in these areas. The same system now needs to be extrapolated to the entire country with local modifiations/adaptation.

8) Agriculture, dairy and forestry should be integrated. Agricultural growth should not only be measured in terms of increase in foodgrain production but should be seen in the context of the village eco-system as a whole. This will also shift the focus to low external input sustainable agriculture (LEISA) practices. At the same time such an approach will limit the ecological footprint.

9) Importing food is importing unemployment. Recently, apple growers in Himachal Pradesh have been protesting against the low import tariffs for imported apples as a result of which the local produce goes abegging. There are no buyers for Himachal apples, and the prices have plummeted . Similarly for other crops. The Govt must raise the import duties on agriculture, horticulture and dairy products and refuse to buckle under the pressures being exerted through the Free Trade Agreements. It should not accept the European Union's demand for opening up for dairy products and fruits/vegetables by reducing the import duties. Studies have now shown that indiscriminate signing of FTAs and bilateral agreements has been disadvantageous to the country. Time to revisit the trade treaties and protect domestic agriculture thereby millions of livelihoods.

10) Climate change is certainly going to affect agriculture. But instead of looking at strategies only aimed at lessening the impact on agriculture and making farmers cope with the changing weather patterns, the focus should also be to limit greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Considering that agriculture share in greenhouse gas emissions is about 25 per cent, the thrust must shift to reducing the application of chemical fertiliser/pesticides in farming. Following the AP model of non-pesticides management being the right approach, the cropping pattern too needs a revision. In the dryland regions of the country, for instance, at present hybrid crops which required almost twice the amount of water than normal crop varieties, are grown. Common sense tells us that in rainfed regions, which occupy 65 per cent of the cultivable area, crops requiring less water should be grown. But it is just the opposite in reality thereby accentuating the water crisis at times of rainfall delay.

I see no reason why Rajasthan, a semi-arid region, should be cultivating water guzzling sugarcane, cotton and rice crops. Similarly I see no reason why Bundelkhand should be cultivating mentha crops, which requires 1.25 lakh litres of water to produce 1 kg of mentha oil. Why can't the cropping pattern in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh shift to pulses, oilseeds (like mustard) and millets? Why can't the Goovt provide special incentives by way of a higher price for these crops so that farmers can willingly shift to more sustainable cropping patterns?

11) Lack of storage for foodgrains is appalling. It was in 1979 that under the Save Food Campaign, the Govt had promised to set up grain silos at 50 places in the country. This should be the top agenda for the new government. Not even a single grain should be allowed to go waste. #

Thoughts on the political affairs till the 2014 elections

1. Democracy, in India, is a word most people do not understand and can not understand/practice given the vast difference in social, technological, economic and academic difference within the electorate, which always leads to a situation of "My vote is on sale if....i get a loptop/bottle/''gamchha''/reservation etc ". And the very idea of democracy based on the merit of the candidate (ADR is a champion, here) and his (candidate's) promise for allround development is defeated and hence democracy itself is defeated or actually convoluted! It either degenerates into populism (mostly) or chaos (Argentina).

2. For academic purpose, i may portray AAP as a stunner or whatever (though TDP and Assom Gan Parishad too had totally swept their debut elections, but without this fanfare and lofty appraisals that AAP enjoyed). But, can we rule out the fact that if the media can be made complicit in the act of cornering the power in few ideologues/group ( also shared by a group of media and now "civil society"), the public perception can be moulded suitably. The 24x7 positive coverage of AAP wasn't corruption of the grossest nature, right in our faces. The congress had become too naked and dishonoured to be able to talk about development and honesty. The vacuum was evidently to be filled by the other major party and another corruption happened by painting all political parties with the same brush of corruption. Every incident was utilised to launch a new alternative --AAP, to fill that vacuum easily available to BJP. AAP was presented as the most honest and democratic party. Eg the Nirbhaya incident was, forgive me for using the word, "milked" to the fullest for political gains, in manipulating the anti-corruption movt and channelising it with a clear foreplan to suddenly form a pol party. Thus, the corrupt soul of congress, like a phoneix, morphed into AAP and gave the typical left-leaning seculars a new broom to beat BJP with. Unfortunately, few of my good friends and teachers are still refusing to see what many have seen that the democracy is AAP was just a sham, the honesty was a bigger sham with no action on many many allegations on prashant bhushan, somnath bharti (repeatedly), kumar vishwas, shishodiya, damania and almost all prominent ones.

I know many saw AAP as an opportunity to capture power, as seen in delhi. And many saw it as a route to the NAC. Whatever happened to ethics and all that!!

 3. Perhaps Indians still believe in man-worship which can be seen from the fact that inspite of Rahul Gandhi's drama, he is still projected as a leader of the nation (claim to leaderhsip?? his pedigree or his dimples?). There has been such hate-propaganda carried on against Modi for more than 10 years but the man-worshipping Indians are thronging to his rallies actually thinking he will be the new saviour from immense corruption, communalism, price rise, insecurity and hardships.So, majority of the Indians in cities and villages just want to off-shore their troubles into someone who should give them a solution. Either ways there are people supporting these two. Our hero Kejriwal is another such new-formed god, in whom many have vested their faiths and believe he is the only saviour. And each camp is strictly pitted against the others. Especially in AAP i see no agenda just allegations. Perhaps that is the agenda- to keep the scene murky till the elections and hold as many away from MOdi as possible!

And there is a reason, when Modi comes he will come with his own set of media czars (or build new ones), business tycoons, civil-society champions and so on... the whole establishment will be shaken and reformed. Those who see benefit in investing in Modi are doing so. For me, i do not see any personal benefit in him, except that when he comes he will try to end the present strong communal and casteist politics. He will put India's interests before everything else. And hopefully he will contain corruption better than the incapable, irresponsible and manipulative AAP.

Further, I respect MJ Akbar's honesty and courage when he writes this: http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/TheSiegeWithin/entry/party-s-over-for-socialists

March 2, 2014, 5:36 AM IST MJ Akbar in The Siege Within | Politics

Party’s over for socialists

Revolutions, famously, are devoured by their children. It was characteristic of Indian socialists that they waited until senility to gobble up the caste-and-community insurrection conceived by Dr Ram Manohar Lohia in the 1950s and 1960s. There will be many stories within and around the 2014 general elections. A principal occurrence will be the earthquake that swallows the socialists. Its epicenter will be Bihar, but the perimeter of devastation will extend across Uttar Pradesh. 

The last three heirs of Lohia, Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav surely know in their hearts what their minds might refuse to admit. The party’s over. Ever since they first sipped power at the fountain of coalitions in 1967, one fact has been transparently clear. Indian socialists have always been far better at politics than government. Such talent should not be underestimated in a democracy. It is difficult enough to win elections even after delivering on the promise of incremental prosperity. To do so through sheer emotional arithmetic is genius. 

Since that high point of emotion in 1989, when temple, mosque and caste dominated the debate, Lohia’s children have ruled Bihar with a tenacity that remains a formidable tribute to their rhetorical craft. 

Their formula began to seem infallible: the Chief Minister’s loyal castes were rewarded with a stake in power, allies were kept onside with marginal benefits, and the vital Muslim vote was patched on with a debilitating concoction of illusion and fear. Muslims got prayer and tokenism; jobs went to others. Religion became the opium of the people. 

Nitish Kumar’s brief encounter with glory had little to do with the quality of governance. He was the much-needed relief vessel after the Lalu shipwreck. His years in power were primarily consumed by a relentless search of sub-castes to knead into a political dividend. It was vote bank politics, but with rural banks, a low capital base and insufficient transactions. As a long-term business model, it offered little chance of success. Now that Nitish Kumar has run out of time and ideas, the alibi game has begun. It won’t work. 

His problem was compounded by the disability that Indian socialism, like its cousins across the globe, simply did not have the legs to stride into the 21st century. Nor did its leaders possess the imagination to re-invent their philosophy, and adjust dogma to new demands. Its office-bearers became its pall-bearers. 

Today’s voter is sick to the stomach of deceptive jargon. Politics, unfortunately, has become a malevolent word. Indians want jobs, security and empowerment through economic growth. They are equally tired of the misuse of secularism to justify corruption, dynasty and piteously weak administration. In any case, when the opening sentence of a book on Narendra Modi’s views states that secularism is the equality of all faiths before the law, when he avers in his speeches that the only religion of a politician is the Constitution of India, there is not much left to discuss apart from riots. Voters then compare facts. They know that a former Gujarat minister is in jail, while no one has been punished for the Sikh massacres of 1984 or the vicious Mumbai riots of 1992-93. 

This is why Ram Vilas Paswan, who left the BJP coalition a decade ago over riots, will become a partner in 2014 and address a rally alongside Modi in Bihar. This is why America’s ambassador Nancy Powell goes with conciliatory flowers to Ahmedabad. This is why BJP is picking up new allies each week. Once Bihar changes, you might say, there is nothing left to change. 

The long-term consequences are significant. For four decades, Indian socialists have denied BJP primacy in the crucial Ganga-Jamuna belt. BJP was successful in displacing socialists in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan (Lohia’s home province), but could never quite get their act together in UP and Bihar. The party touched nadir when two years ago Mulayam Singh Yadav won UP by unprecedented margins, and Nitish Kumar chose this psychological moment to distance himself from BJP, and start a flirtation with Congress. Today, instead of being wooed, Nitish has been isolated. And Lalu Yadav, who was so certain about his own resurrection and Paswan’s subservience that he began issuing ultimatums, has been hit by a thunderbolt from blue skies. 

If Bihar’s personality-driven socialists cannot recover, and it does seem unlikely, then the confrontation in UP and Bihar will become a direct contest between BJP and Congress. This process might take a little longer in UP, since Mayawati remains a formidable third force, but the trend cannot be missed. 

No party can achieve a majority in the Lok Sabha on its own without significant support from UP and Bihar. 2014 could be the starting point of the return journey to stable government in Delhi.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

~bLUECZAR