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Allies like these

The widely predicted break-up of the BJD-BJP alliance reveals some important trends in Indian politics. In this season of open political possibilities, alliance negotiations are open to multiple interpretations. Is this about the BJD taking a principled stand against the BJP? Or is this about N ....Read more

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Pratap Mehta's columnBy: Venkatesh | Thursday , 12 Mar '09 19:07:51 PM Reply | Forward Generally, Mr Mehta's analyses is pretty unbiased and objective. I dont agree with all the conclusions. But the adjectives used for the BJP are uncalled for. I find his concept of secularism very wierd. A hindu saint gets shot with Ak47 and is widely known that is an act of the church and you expect no retaliation. The church can abuse hinduism and hindus need to watch this go on is it. Is this the idea of Mr mehta's morality.

bhubaneswarBy: shurkumishra | Wednesday , 11 Mar '09 23:11:15 PM Reply | Forward dear sir,About a year ago, i visited orissa and had the oppertunity to listen to a political discussion held in a small town in western orissa.the consensus was that bjp hurried into an alliance with different regional parties to grab power. had it decided to sit in opposition in 1999, it would have got absolute majority in next general election. however for the love of of power it got itself engaged to oppertinistic alliance or which it has lost its identity in many states like orissa. hope the party will learn from its mistakes and should fight the next election alone.it should not hesitate to take the help sadhus and sanths and other religeous leaders to fight the election.

Reform our systemBy: Manojk | Wednesday , 11 Mar '09 1:22:55 AM Reply | Forward As usual, Mr. Mehta us brilliant in his analysis of the situation. I wonder if 5% of our journalists are as smart as Mr. Mehta, where would be the state of our press and how it could affect the state of our nation. We have a serious need to introspect our parliamentary system and nomination of candidates by parties. We need to separate the three branches of government: executive, legislature and judiciary and elect executive and legislature separately and have a system of checks and balances by one branch against the other. Let us have primary system where candidates are not appointed by central committees. Let the voters inclined towards a party select the candidate they want to represent their party in their constituency and let all the primary winners from each party (with at least 10% of total primary vote) contest an election. Let us elect the executive separately and give legislature powers to check the executive. We will become a stronger country.

Regionalism and its dogma!By: Ramesh K. | Tuesday , 10 Mar '09 19:06:38 PM Reply | Forward Regionalism is a thing of the past. It existed in colonial times, when Punjabis were Punjabis, and Gujaratis were Gujaratis. There was no inter-community relationship. This was also the case down south, when there was no distinction between Tamils, Telgus, Keralites or Kannadas, they were all commonly grouped as Madrasis. People in UP or Bihar were non-existent, but commonly associated as Hindis, and Bengalis have remained Bengalis anyway. Congress party was a unifying force, until it started splitting up into various factional congresses because of leadership fracas. The BJP on the other hand was a new party, which too seems to have gone astray from its ideology, and hence its characteristics are no different from the Congress party, and is doomed to failure, though it still does not have dynastic politics, but not for long. God Save India from such parties and their leadership.

BJP as National PartyBy: Parameswaran M.K. | Tuesday , 10 Mar '09 13:59:34 PM Reply | Forward As a national party, BJP should not depend on regional parties .First build up a cadre base and then think about contesting election. BJP should wait till such time when it would have bargain capacity with other regional parties for seat adjustments. It should not loose its national character for the sake of one or two seats.

Third Front: A LEFT's ploy for own survival ?By: K.Raj | Tuesday , 10 Mar '09 12:18:41 PM Reply | Forward Third Front: A LEFT's ploy for own survival ?Well there are enough resaons to believe that. Given the steep decline of LEFT's hold on to its traditional bastion of Bengal and Kerala, there are enough indications to believe that the LEFT is in its last leg. This fact has been confirmed by even senior leader like Jyoti basu acknowledging that last time performance will not be there. Realising this the LEFT has developed a new strategy for its survival. That is A) Reserruct the third front using regional parties B) Tempt them by showing weild of POWER in Delhi C) Secure enough seats outside the shaky forts of Kerala and Bengal D) Win those seats by actively using regional parties support so as to secure the same tally of 60 MPs as like 2004. This method is more than needed for LEFT in order retrieve itself from a stage of irrelevance. It will be fun to watch post poll the way the LEFT will use its numbers (secured with others support) to flex its muscles.

left-sikhandi of congress?By: ravi | Tuesday , 10 Mar '09 19:17:28 PM Reply | Forward Left bastion itself in trouble in kerala.they want to help congr. back by breaking NDA friends circle under the pretext of "third front"

Advani stand taller than othersBy: Tarun | Tuesday , 10 Mar '09 10:52:22 AM Reply | Forward Firstly, Advani is an organisation builder. For all his charm Vajpayee relied heavily on Advani for his ability to mobilise the organisation. While all the focus is on Advani's bid for the PM's post, Advani has been quietly pushing the organisation to the next level through this election exercise. Whether that is - in asking the second rung leaders to move to the battle ground, identifying potential successors, initiating an open web based engagement of the party with the voters or making it a de-facto presidential form of contest and so on.Every form of ideology has it's extremes - the communist have the naxalites, openness of the congress breeds the absolutely corrupt at its fringes, the regional parties breed separatism in their extreme form just as the Hindutva breeds the hindu zealots. In all such cases the leadership is critical in reigning things in. Advani certainly stands head and shoulders above all other aspirants for the PM's post.

Good riddanceBy: Ram NAth Babu | Tuesday , 10 Mar '09 8:57:16 AM Reply | Forward It is good riddance in fact. If BJP wants to find a strong footing in the state of Orissa, or for that matter any other state, they should stop depending on local allies. The party should contest on its own and build up it base. Orissa under Patnaik may not have done so badly, but at the same time, Orissa is still one of the poorest states in India. BJP instead of accusing Patnaik or congress, should base their election campain on development plank, besides their agenda of appeasement to none and equality to all. This can bring in handsome dividend for them provided their leaders fan out in all constituences and articulate their position well to the people. They have leaders like Modi, Jaitley and Sushma who can attract voters. The most disappointing part of BJP is their President Rajnath Singh, who is a total waste.

Alies like theseBy: N.Swaminathan | Tuesday , 10 Mar '09 8:21:10 AM Reply | Forward I fully endorse this view echoed in the column. When you say you are the National Party at large, you should go to the public and contest on its own strength rather than please the regional parties. It is true that for the past 4 general elections, the regional parties playing an important part in the National politics and parliamenary but they have not allowed the central party in power to act independently for the benefit of the people rather they distracted the achievement to benefit to their regional ends. This kind of situation will leads to many displeasure activities and even may lead to disintegration of unity of the country. I feel there should be two party system would be ideal like US in India to achieve the reality of the dream of our beloved past President Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam that" India will be the super power by 2020".

Bi-Party System -The need of this timeBy: Amrita Ganguly | Tuesday , 10 Mar '09 13:34:09 PM Reply | Forward Absolutely right. We need to get rid of these divisive regional parties if India is to progress in any way. Having a bi-party system will help to root our the mushrooming of infinite small parties with vested interests. None for the good of the nation though.

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