Dear All,
My column in TOI today on the failed cut motion by BJP. The link is here.
As always, comments welcome as they make it a more meaningful discussions. Readers please read the comments as well.
Regards,
Chetan
Dear All,
My column in TOI today on the failed cut motion by BJP. The link is here.
As always, comments welcome as they make it a more meaningful discussions. Readers please read the comments as well.
Regards,
Chetan
Your article was inane if not silly but since TOI gave it space therefore have to respond.
1 – BJP’s answer to Rahul Gandhi :: cant be….BJP does not have a hereditary power structure….if you are a fan of dynastic rule….good luck to you
2 – BJP shud learn from Congress :: Yes the way they manipulate the CBI and reduce all institutions to a joke
Lastly :: you do not seem to have any sense of politics so better keep out of it….your networking cud give u media space but u dont deserve it
another worthless piece from a good for nothing pulp author … TOI seems to see diamond in this dolt … all i see is hog shit
Why dont you tell about the deal Mayawati had with Congress for this vote. And the alleged deal regarding withdrawl of cases by CBI.
Congress has three power centres- honest Manmohan Singh, austere Rahul Gandhi and sacrificing Sonia Gandhi. You need to bucket this act of political opportunism to one of them. Isnt it henious corruption. And sadly none in the media is highlighting this.
Your comments are awaited.
i do not think the first two gentlemen agrred with ur view,,,may be they r the supporters of BJP or L K ADVANI has just read ur article and oredered his supporters to go to chetan bhagat’s blog and say nonsense……but i think BJP needs to read ur article and take a lesson but problem in india is that we don’t want to learn from other’s(soory, dont know the reason). BJP shud do gud work in the sates in which it still has power,,,,,,and MR VAIBHAV- its not abt looking at opposition’s bad points but good points…and if BJP do not follow congress then it deserves the same place …..for a stronger government ,,,u need a stronger opposition….
@VAIBHAV- WHAT CHETAN IS TRYING TO SAY IS THAT BJP NEEDS A RAHUL GANDHI,,,,A YOUTH POWER WHICH CUD GIVE COMPETITION TO CONGRESS,,,,
BUT THE PROBLEMM WITH INDIA IS THAT WE PEOPLE USE HEART AND DO NOT GIVE IMPORTANCE TO BRAIN ….USE UR BRAIN MR VAIBHAV,,U LL GET THE POINT WHAT CHETAN HAS MENTIONED..
@Shubham
I am not a BJP supporter but I hate Congress and Indian media more than anything else. By ignoring the wrong deeds of Congress government, we are repeating the crime which India did in 70′s.
There is a government headed by Manmohan Singh which has used all unethical means to buy votes. It has approved the crimes of Mayawati and none is saying a word on it.
In fact people who are being blamed are those who lost because of these tactics.
Do Mr Bhagat seriously thinks that Mayawati supported Congress as she doesnt want to side with communal forces or there is something more than that. For that matter, it was secular communist party which had initiated the motion.
Isnt Manmohan Singh responsible for this. After all he heads the CBI which is being shamelessly misused for benefitting him only. And still Mr Bhagat has not a word to write.
And then there would be a small subtext which would say that we also disapprove of the Congress too.
I would welcome Mr Bhagat to write a piece in TOI next sunday which describes the Mayawati angle, the 2G scam and the reason why in the end, likes of Laloo, Mulayam (all haunted by CBI) backed in the end.
And somewhere for all this the responsibility lies with the head of the government and the head of the congress party.
No wonder Congress misuses its power time and again and reduces every institution in our country to a mere farce as vaibhav mentioned earlier.
I am indeed thankful to Mr Chetan for admitting the real fact that “ BJP is a fortright party with less hypocritic ideology “.
But rather than blaming a few of BJP’s ideologies why do not we look at the kind of development work their leaders do. I cannot find a better example than the state of Gujarat itself. Why do not i find a single word from Mr Chetan about that. Having young leaders will always help but these people engaging in contoversies just to garner votes sucks big time . Actions need to be matched with words.
@Vaibhav- dude, try to understand, we need to learn the good things. Who said to learn the CBI-mayawati part. And actually Congress is good in that too – how to trade MPs as they are united.
Congress strength lies in their unity today. BJP suppports Sibu Soren and he votes for congress. What a Joke!
India really need two partied and BJP really need a leader today – who can unite them.
Chetan,
It’s easy to sit back and criticise what the BJP should be doing and should not be doing, adding to that the disclosure stating you do not promote or back any political party.
Indian politics needs influential people like you to come and join politics and assume responsibility for whatever is happening in our country’s political system. If you are not happy with the system / working of any of the political parties, please have guts to enter into politics and do your share of building an indeal opposition or a ruling party instead of sitting back and criticising (that too with a disclosure) an ideologist party like like BJP.
dude your article in times of india today was aweesome.. I am your fan, i would love to read something from your side again.. needless to say i have read all three novels of yours.. I am not a huge fan of politics but i am following the same for the past one and a half years.. according to me, bjp don’t stand any chance untill they drop their agenda of “hindutva”.. Being a sikh i can say- “its lame, and the netas who’re still following it are lunatic, Advani is one of them”
Very well written,Your sense of humour is fabaluous.
I am from Gujarat and really impressed by the way Gujarat has progressed under a BJP lead government.
I agree completely that there must be a strong oppostion.
The youth icon for the BJP would be Gujarat’s CM Narendra Modi,The only thing that goes against him is that opponents never speak good about him.If someone does something good you must appreciate him! Nobody is perfect !
@Manish- “dude, try to understand, we need to learn the good things. Who said to learn the CBI-mayawati part. And actually Congress is good in that too – how to trade MPs as they are united.”
This is how we trivialize crimes committed by Congress.
There is an individual who has just spoilt the biggest state of India. There is complete corruption in the state. Rahul Gandhi is on yaatra to overthrow the same government. And his party directs CBI (hopefully people are not that dumb to need proofs for that) to help Mayawati in those cases so that her corruption can continue. What a joke on Indian people!
Why we are becoming blind towards the sins committed by the Congress. Are we waiting for another emegency to come.
Again I dont like the BJP of today but some 10 years ago, there was a no confidence motion in the parliament. NDA had 272 members and only 272 members voted for them. Vajpayee lost by one vote. Again in 2003, BJP sacrificed its coalition government in UP due to Taj corridor case and went along with Tourism minister Jagmohan.
And todays media would say that BJP is a fool and it should learn lessons of pragmatism (read corruption) from an ‘honest’ Manmohan Singh!
And given that the majority of youth follow you immensly, we feel that it is people like you who can create the difference by balancing the biased Indian media.
Not only India needs strong opposition but India needs an unbiased media which is not lured by a Padma Shrees and which atleast publishes front page articles on scams like 2G allocation.
We expect a lot from you Chetan!
Despite the disclaimer, you come across as a strong pro-Congress and anti BJP person. Not a single word about scams like 2G allocation! Also, despite the role of the government during the riots in Gujrat, one can’t deny the progress made by that State. When Mr. Ratan Tata publicly joins the Narendra Modi for PM chorus, surely it deserves at least a few comments from your side.
1. It’s not the fault of the BJP, they are doing well, what an opposition party has to do ”the opposition for the opposition”.
2. Two Party System should be introduced as early as possible. For the rapid growth of nation, it’ll be too late to wait the natural death of Regional-Parties.
3. BJP & Congress are the two faces of same coin. Unemployment, Corruption, Misadministration, Discrimination, Lack of Vision, Communal-Riots, Poverty, Scams, Scandals etc are the common-character of the BJP or Congress lead governments.
4. Parliament/Assemblies are loosing it’s relevance day by day. MPs/MLAs do not respect each other. Their image in public is very low. Mostly people have to elect those to whom they do not like, and not have any other option.
5. Only few leaders know the answer of ‘Good Governance’ But most of leaders know how to make money after becoming MP/MLA.
6. Regional Parties and their so called leaders black-mail,whosoever may be government at centre. These leaders support and withdraw at their whims and petty issues.
7. Two party system seems only solution for consistent and persistent growth of the nation. And it’s very simple issue, either stay in government or oppose it or retire from politics (you are not relevant today).
Thanking you for a thoughtful article.
Wonderful article…
I have been arguing with my friends and many others on many of these points with same logic, but people think that i am a supporter of BJP rather than considering the merit. As such, because this time it comes from some one of your stature, I hope people will sit up and take notice.
More than that, I hope, BJP itself takes note of the suggestions that you have given.
Once again, I would like to complement you for a really wonderful article.
Whatever, guys one has to agree that there are internal conflicts and fighting in BJP which we can’t ignore. And it must come out of it. The only plus point Congress has is its unity. And one more, how to make business, and when I said business, it is how to buy MPs and allies.
“And the next time you plan a bank robbery: learn how to use the gun, pre-load it and have better sidekicks. Better still, don’t rob the bank.” Mr Bhagat, I don’t understand how cut motion is equivalent to robbing a bank!
Hi Chetan ,
I appreciate fiction style but as far as your this political analysis is concerned I am not agree with you .
1-It smells as if you want to please Rahul.
2-You want to prove that you are not backing any party.
3- You studied in IIMA but you didn’t talk any postive point about the CM or BJP – the state’s progress can be a role model to rest of the country.
4- You Admitted “ BJP is a fortright party with less hypocritic ideology “.
This is the only problem or you can say positive point of BJP
.They are not good in number game as Congress deal with Malawati then using CBI =congress bureau of Investigation for political stabilty then both base less laloo & soft singh. This is a real mockery of Indian system be it a print media or parliment or CBI. You have Business acumen as you are from IIMA so you know how to communicate in media and what to ,that can help you to get good social network regardlessly how it affect our political system.
I liked it a lot, was sensible.
Hey Chetan,
You wrote quite very well here. But the problem is that when one person sees this problem he sees it in the interest of nation. But all these ppl sitting together in a party meeting sees the problem with the eye of self-interest. For democracy to b successfyl we don’t need 2-3 patriotic ppl but (by the jargon of democracy) a majority of ppl representing the nation to be patriotic.
A naive response to a naive article!
No party in India can be considered as flawless !!
What abt the agriculture deals Mr. Manmohan Singh made with d US in 2005 :-S According to that all the good grains are exported to US and waste grains are again imported…
another one is all the grains are exported, treated in US and again imported, lodging all the pain of inflation on Indians…
Rats are eating grains of 6000 ppl everyday..
and many many more…
But yah there must be 2 powerful parties.. and i m a fan of Rahul Gandhi’s thoughts
I wonder if i will get to join politics someday.?
Excellent blog overall.But I seriously disagree with your opinion on Rahul.He is the most overrated and under performing politician in Indian History.
Rest of it is superb.
It was really good article. BJP should reaaly do introspection and make a genuine effort to come back to power as many are fed up with congress but they had no better alternative.
Look at the real estate prices in congress regime and they see to it that prices are unaffordable to common man.If any one is with them and doing lots of scams, it is OK but the moment that person goes against them. they will see that he is finished.
I just request BJP leaders and followers that take it positively and start acting.We are fully confident that Nitin Gadkari with his innovative ideas will take BJP to new heights.
for all those who CB never speaks about guj….. look…..my craziness has saved this screenshot:
http://twitpic.com/1kcy0b
on a serious note, when even Big B wasn’t spared for praising Gujarat; how can we think of someone…anyone for that matter, saying something good abt guj AND/OR bjp
I do liked your article. But why does it seem to me that you are always Pro – BJP? I agree they did some good work but lacked the power of execution. The face of the matter is – the survival of the fittest. No doubt congress has influential power but they did the work what BJP only has on paper. And of course, strategies of congress worked for them – be it minority thing or Rahul Gandhi wooing young people. I have no regards for any political party but all I want to see if progress in the country in all formats – education , industrial, employment and healthcare for poor areas. Guess Mr. Modi from BJP will help some reforms for total India, but the question will remain – will he ever be the PM? Like someone said – we all live on hope.
The best thing I like about your articles is that they give hope and are positive. You don’t like something, that’s ok. Its personal. But you tell them a positive alternative. If they follow they can improve. I also like your emphasis on being humble and ego-less. The scriptures promote this. Perhaps we can do with a dose of Gita in the class rooms. Atleast we will have humble leaders with good character.
Good article. Chetan your article points out things which BJP needs to do to get things moving. I truly agree with your point. But in the bank robbery example you should have included the Mayawati incident and how the govenment used CBI to buy her vote. That would have been a complete story.
here again, we are following the gr8 indian way of fighting for no means,,,guys leave this work to the leaders and members of BJP and CONGRESS respectively. i dont think chetan was supporting congress or was against BJP in the article but what he tried to say is that we need a stronger opposition so that the ruling government also works in a better way, but BJP had been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the past,,,they themselves are fiting with each other,,,arun j v/s rajnath is the prime example….
NOTE: i am not supporting congress here….:)
some buddy needed to six point BJP,,,and chetan did that….
hi,
i read your article in TOI yesterday.A brilliant piece of writing and loved the 6 points proposed by you.
i have a idea, can this b a possibility, to list these political parties on NSE & BSE as a part of the clean up drive in politics……that might be a way to fix responsibility and accountability……but i wonder who will buy the shares of these parties…….lol…
Your arguments on politics are very simplistic. This one is – so was the 10 million votebank one. A lot of people would like to see a credible alternative to Congress rule emerge – but we must understand evolution happens one step at a time. Revolutionary change as suggested in this piece just doesn’t happen so easy – there’d have to be the one leader with cult following and the right ideas to get this going. Which among Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi would you annoint? Each specializes in a different brand of rhetoric – they neither have originality nor integrity.
Agree with you CB. BJP needs to get stronger to be a competitive opposition. They should prove to the people that they have better ideas to run India better than UPA. Atleast UPA is capable of keeping the govt stable so that they can think of doing something (presumably, good) to the public. I know BJP can match UPA in governance but they are some homework away from that. Both are great parties..but who can serve the public better is the question. To answer that, first, BJP has to ensure it stays in the league.
sirji this leadership issue can’t be settled like this.leadership within bjp n other parties except cong is always in a flux n that is good as it keeps the parties democratic plus checks n balances r there too in place so don’t make faces @ this utha-patak enjoy
write about mayawati’s wealth and misuse of power..
This place is becoming a BJP-Congress battle field! Hey friends don’t start mockering here and fill up Chetan’s webspace!
This article maybe flagged off as a non-political “funny” post; but its the youth of India that is speaking… We want BJP to prosper, not to sideline Congress or any other party; but to work for a better democratic functioning. We want BJP to become strong because we don’t want Congress to make speeches and win our votes – just because we don’t have any option!
The present condition BJP is in; seems very gloomy. We want them to get up and keep going. We don’t support dynastic rule; but we definitely want BJP to come up with a face like that of Rahul Gandhi. He is no any milk-bathed “icon”; but we want the BJP too to have someone whom atleast 60% of the nation entrusts to be the PM. We want BJP to…. (and the list goes on…)
What others have to say about your post Chetan; I don’t know; but my conscience says, I should be with you…
Thanks for that!
Regards,
JD
Hi sir ,
I like your article ,it was good. But i would suggest if you can avoid writing on political stuff. You do justice to the articles that requires sarcasm or satirical tone.
Everyone wants BJP to do better…coz let’s admit…miraculous changes happened under BJP led coalition. It used to take close to 2 yrs to get a telephone connection earlier. Now it’s a phone call and form away. For the first time…Indian motorists were using the breaks lesser and accelerator more, while driving.
But now it looks bleak that BJP might come to power. For one…they cannot win in many states – J&K, TN, Kerala, AP, North east. Second, Indian media is biased against BJP. There was hue and cry about Narendra Modi not appearing before SIT. But the great sickular media (or raNDiTV as many ppl put it) never mentioned about “missing Sajjan Kumar” who immediately came out of hiding the moment bail was announced.
BJP should go back to its roots, what it stood for. It should understand that if you please all…you please none.
Hello Sir,
I wanted to give feedback 4 ur book but cant have access to ur email id….
Kindly give me ur id so that i can interact….
Hope to hear from u soon
People, you are not getting what Chetan wants to say. He is not just finding faults and blaming BJP but is also suggesting ways to get out of the situation. People, we really need some mature heads to understand the facts and work on it to improve. I am a hardcore BJP fan and believe that BJP should spend time for going through this article and working on the suggestions.
hello Chetan sir…
plz dnt mind mah way f addressing since m mahslf confused hw 2 do it…
m Maanvi…doin mah engg…2nd yr endin up…
dre’s smthng dat hpnd wid me…it ws a prank…usin ur name…
newaz…watevr hpnd i wntd 2 spk up…n cudnt find ne1 2 share…
so did d insanity f sndng dis msg 2 u…
if possible plz gimme an email id so dat i cn mail n share…
i knw u r too busy 4 dis.
bt i’l b satisfied at mah end n feel lighter…
n it’s nt e1 necessary 4 u 2 read it or e1 2 rply…
i jst wntd 2 lighten up mah hrt…dats it…
newaz…
i got mah final prac 2mrw…
gud day n tk cr!
regards,
Maanvi
Dear Sir
Good Writing but as alwasy baised writing for baised paper.You do not have daring to write anything againt anyone from ruling party.
Do not join the wagon of paid journalist & news channel.
The article clearly shows how much you lack the understanding of ground realities. Keep fooling yourself with watever the congress controlled media feeds you.
However, I am damm sure that on internet, where people have access to other mediums of news and hence get to know the whole story and not the biased one as reported by the media, you will find people mainly supporting BJP.
Any way you are thinking some thing positive for the nation .Though all parties have single agenda how to come in power by hook or by crook.
I aprreciate one thing that you have power to attract millons of Indians. Keep on writing some good fiction.India is awiting.
hi chetan ,
its a must read article for all BJPs……………
i agree with that BJP has to be a good oppositter but in appropriate way……………not by blame the govt. at every occassion……………..bye………..
u hav done a gudjob…… bt i think it is a bit supportive to congress….
hiiiiii chetan…. y dont u write a buk totally related to indian politics and corruption????
Cant agree more on the fact that we need an effective opposition party!!!! Is someone hearing? bothered to do something about it??? However, I respectfully disagree that BJP needs to draw lessons from Congress. Congress is not the benchmark…we can do even better! I liked the idea given by Mukesh Ambani recently in ET stating that India needs ‘Reform 2′. Also, I feel as India is young, brimming with success in recent years and has a lot of zeal….. we need to get feedback, ideas and inspiration ‘from the people’ of the country. Cant we have some hunt like the one you will soon be judgin for developing leaders (who really want to serve the country)? Why is not politics being seen as a good career option by well read people (like you)? (I am not suggesting you join politics)..just a thought! Good Luck!
A well intentioned article with some very sensible analysis. I must however remark it’s dangerous to simply declare pro-business, pro-globalization right wing economic policies of the B.J.P as favourable(although I’m not entirely sure that’s what you were trying to do). As any economist worth his salt will tell you the BJP years may have brought about great economic growth but this was accompanied by inhumane cuts in social spending, spiraling inequality, and serious problems for local and small scale industries. In fact the BJP has been firmly at odds with its own supporter the RSS which prefers a Swadeshi economic policy, as the present globalization has in many ways(although agreeably not in every way) made India a victim of neo colonialism. Like any economically ‘right wing’ party, their growth only benefited selected classes of society, and we need to think very seriously before claiming this to be desirable.
I have read your article “Slitting your wrists with cut motions” in TOI (Ahmedabad Edition) on May 9, 2010 instead on May 2, 2010. Why one week late??