Political Parties,P.M s and Promises!

“I am 18, what I have derived so far from the world’s largest democratic elections is to bunk engineering studies for a day to apply for my voters-id card and bear the brunt of harsh words from an impatient Govt officer in the office who was waiting to screw anyone who filed an application during the actual working hours.I ve never seen a more poorly run office.”
Verdict: Never disturb a Govt officer when he is on “duty” , travel back home and blog on it. Second consequence of Elections has been more startling.
“I was planning to entertain myself at Chepauk, and voraciously witness, CSK take on KKR. There comes the call, IPL-2 shifted to South Africa citing security reasons.”
Verdict: Thankfully, the elections weren't shifted due to security concerns.
Now, provided:
1.The officer considers my application and I rightfully get my voter identity card.
2. There is no Knightrider’s match scheduled on D-Day; *Nah! I’m not so irresponsible,kidding*; I’ll get to caste my vote.Here are a few things which I would look into before I leave for the booth.

The UPA Bloc:

Lead by the Indian National Congress, one major accomplishment which captured my imagination, perhaps even more than the Indo-US Nuke Deal, was the historic accomplishment of ‘The Right To Information Act’, 2005, aimed at transparency in Admin.at all levels.Defense and security, though took more than a beating what with people waking up to IBN’s breakfast show, only to find they had just escaped another bomb blast which had taken place in some other part of the nation.
The UPA, has projected a dignified Manmohan Singh as their Prime Ministerial Candidate- Looking back at the period when he was at the helm Mr.Singh received more brickbats than bouquets, the former obviously thrown by the Opposition.
The high velocity, continuously accelerated brickbats guaranteed two messages – ‘The infamous 10, Janpath nod’ and ‘Weakest P.M’ ever. Harsh accusations. Even though the ‘dummy and puppet’ whispers still do the rounds, Manmohan Singh has achieved certain things which would support his candidature. A record turnout in the recent J and K elections is something no one ever expected. A National Investigative Agency was set up in the wake of the Mumbai Attacks. Taking the intensity of the blasts into consideration, it still surprised me, the speed at which the Agency was set up. Except for the reservation part of it, Congress does need to be given a word of praise for –zero discrimination during distribution of State funds, exponential growth in Railways and power and the Urban Renewal Mission with a waiver of 1 lakh crore. However, the manifesto barely mentions anything about the Indo-US Nuke deal. Is there anything lurking? Congress, has its own methods.
Bank on him to create confusion.RJD leader, Laloo Prasad Yadav has been changing his stance as often as the wind changes it direction, swiftly swaying between what he calls as the Fourth Front (Speak of imagination and ideas!) and the UPA. As my fingers type the following words on my keyboard, The Bihar humorist,L.P Yadav and the National Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar (Third Front?No, for now.) are campaigning for the Congress.Samajwadi Party has no other option left but to join the UPA Govt.SP's manifesto completely baffles me.Mulayam Singh Yadav who released the party's manifesto says that computer education and communication through English would take a back seatto say the least.Trash!Note hear,that both the sons of M.S Yadav studied in Convents and are few of the best speakers in the country.Down south, DMK can’t boast of a strong alliance to the Congress with every other party in T.N backstabbing them and joining the other popular force-AIADMK.
A charismatic Rahul Gandhi was never known to hold the aces or call the shots.This time around he has said that the Congress by no means would indulge in pre poll alliances. It beats me and I’m unable to figure out this decision where people are left out. Voters need to know ‘Who is with Whom’, unless this is revealed the citizens will still be left in he dark, unsure of whom to elect. An integral P.M, few experienced senior leaders, equipped with expertise and an exuberant Rahul Gandhi is what still drives the Congress caravan across the country.

Superstar Singh’s Punch:
For a whole five years, Manmohan Singh relied on his actions than words, keeping mum inspite of Advani accusing him as the ‘weakest P.M’ ever, challenging his public speaking skills, calling for a live debate. During a recent press conference, Mr.Singh opened his mouth, moved his lips and delivered an unexpected punch “I may no be able to match Advaniji’s public speaking skills but I can take strong decisions which he can’t.”
Mr.Singh, now, this is what we call public speaking and u ve got loads of it!

The NDA Bloc:

By the looks of it the BJP leaders would have spent the whole five years preparing the present manifesto, a comprehensive and a thorough one at that.11,Ashok Road would have hosted some of the best minds and thinkers in the country over the last term with a mindset of forcing themselves back into power. I however have my doubts whether these elaborate promises can be implemented effectively. Two interesting points I noted were
1.The BJP Manifesto promises to bring back black money stacked in the Swiss Bank. (A Congress man’s heart would have skipped a beat!)
2.The BJP’s master stroke is the final line of the manifesto where it swears to promote Urdu, directly targeting its Muslim base. Elsewhere in the manifesto it mentions the recognition of Muslims as “underprivileged”. Not that, its going to increase its Muslim base (if any existed).It still remains a communal party. It goes without saying, The Ram Temple finds a place in the manifesto.
This is what I would like to emphasise-There has been quite a convergence in the ideologies of the parties, on communal terms and economic policies leaving the voter not much to choose from. The BJP manifesto covers every aspect, leaving very less to be desired.
Two web pages I often visit are Gujarat C.M Narendra Modi’s official site and Advani’s blog.

http://blog.lkadvani.in/ ; http://www.narendramodi.in/

If their virtual world is anything to go by, multi-dimensional development across the country is assured. It needs to be remembered that it was the NDA Govt. created Chattisgarh and was responsible for the development that took place in those regions.
Security and reasons and terrorism concerns cant be used as factors by used by the BJP to garner votes as the country is literate enough to know who was the Home Minister during the Parliament attacks and who initiated, propagated and who was watching Godhra burn.
The NDA would sweep the polls in Gujarat and Bihar-Modi and Nitish Kumar would see to that. The trio of Advani, Modi and Nitish pack a punch in whatever they do. Aggression and dynamism go hand in glove when they address the nation. Attractive promises of the BJP might just lure the voters but promise is one thing and implementation is another. As long as the ‘Ram Rajya’ of the NDA Govt does’nt divide the country on a communal bias, the Govt would be perfectly fine with the people.

Modi’s Mathematics:
He says,
IT + IT = IT
Information Technology + Indian Talent = India Tomorrow
(There you go, my boy! You just about managed to impress my Maths teacher!)

The Third Front:

‘A pack of wannabe P.M’s’-The Third Front leaves me little to pen about. Its all enigmatic. In its ranks are Janata Dal (Secular) leader-H.D Deva Gowda, Telugu Desam ‘s Chandrababu Naidu.The Mayawati Magic might also work in certain regions of the country (Trust me ! Jayalalitha would give her a run for her money as the most popular woman politician).Minus the Left, there is a possible P.M candidate in every other party. The Karat family has been campaigning quite hard as well. If the anti-Congress and the anti-NDA forces join hands with the Left, like the other parties, The Third Front can surprise everyone claiming the majority (Far fetched,still!-They will be able to assert the power in just three states).Consequences might be dreadful though-a fight for the P.M Post would divide the Front within and wouldn’t be the ideal way to start the Govt.

Verdict: Don’t fight for the booty, within, before you get the actual treasure.

I came across an interesting poll prediction that 272 votes won’t be reached by any Bloc and there are going to be a lot of running around done-puffing and panting for post poll alliances. All I worry is about this piece of arresting statistic which I read – a staggering 125 out of 538 seats in the Parliament, last term,were occupied by men who have been charged with criminal cases. The least that I long for is for that number to decrease.Two have already been already chucked out from contesting the elections, thanks to the Sikh journo. If it is to decrease further, Adidas, Reebok and even Paragon might have their work cut out! Call for Honesty!