Revival of BJP

Bikash Choudhury




A strong central Govt. is as important as the principal opposition;any under graduate student of political science would vouch for. Recent political developments and parliament proceedings tells a tail of abject failure of BJP inside the parliament and outside. Apparently, BJP lost its mooring after two consecutive setbacks in parliamentary election;which, should not be the case for an Ideological party, as it is made out to be and claimed in public. Public perception makes and breaks the fortune of political party; it has become cliched statement, but, truth is not otherwise. BJP lost the 2004 election on negative perception created in the minds of general public across the country on Gujurat;although, party did well in the State of Gujurat. 2009 was a winable election for BJP but due to combination of myopic candidate selection and bad strategy into the run up to election sealed tha fate of party and its then leader Sri L.K. Advani. Idea of Bharat that is India is much bigger and pious than BJP & RSS put together; however, not many would grudge the credit to BJP and RSS for its significant & substantial contribution to the Idea of Bharat. BJP has a short term goal of winning power to pursue policy dear to its mentor as much as possible by retaining political power. RSS, instead has larger and long term goal of achieving "Akhanda Bharat" as per its own policy and method come what may. Apparently, the fight between two approaches has ruined the electoral prospects of BJP and party, it seems loosing in the game of public perception. The Jharkhand episode did not add any value to the party;rather, it weakened the trust of party workers on the leadership. The new party president Mr. Nitin Gadakari may have the blessings of RSS;but, he needs to earn the respect of senior central leaders by concrete action which may take time. Further, Gadakari does not have exposure in Delhi politics;which will remain his biggest handicap for some time. The leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Smt. Sushama Swaraj has not come to her own and still prefer to play the back room boy of team Advani;which does not help create a perception of strong opposition in the lower house and affects the general image of the party outside. BJP needs a surgery with mutual consent any party worker would tell you. Party needs a leader of Late Pramod Mahajan's ability to steer through this current bad patch. A leader with stature, experience, organising ability and oratory to inspire the rank and file and to stop the slide in public perception of " A party with Ideology and party with a difference". Currently, there are two leaders, coincidentally both from the State of Bihar; Mr. Jaswant Sinha & Mr. Rajiv Pratap Ruddy. Mr. Sinha has no doubt stature of a great leader from old school of leadership that of former Prime Minister Sri Chandra Shekhar, being his ardent follower at some point of time and many other impeccable qualities and proven abilities that was tested during run up to V.P. Singh Govt. as Janata Dal party spokes person and subsequently as Finance Minister in Chandra Shekhar Govt. Mr. Sinha has also been a great organiser; given a choice and chance BJP would reap a wind fall gain. Rajiv Pratap Ruddy is another leader with promise and power to turn the table head on given a chance and, if necessity arise. Mr. Sinha should be elevated as leader of opposition in the lower house and Mr. Ruddy should be drafted to help the new president to gain a grip over the organisation and mobilise the workers to raise public opinion on the issues that is dear to people at large to build the party from scarch with active consensus of all senior leaders like Mr. Sinha, Ms. Swaraj, Mr. Naidu. Party would also do well to welcome former general secretary Sri Govinda Acarya & Vice President Mr. Kalyan Singh. The leaders must remind themselves about BJP's often repeated percept" Country first, Party next and individual last" if they wish to make a strong pitch for office, in the next round in general election to parliament in 2014.

SOUTH ASIAN RAIL

Bikash Choudhury







SAARC must explore huge tourism potential in South Asian region. Currently, Europe dominates in attracting foreign tourist globally. Euro Rail has helped a great deal in connecting all places of tourist interest in all sister countries of Europe. Can we concieve a "South Asian Rail" connecting all the important tourist destinations in SAARC countries. I am sure, this will help attract foreign tourist as well as domestic tourist of the region. Apart from creating substantial Economic opportunity for people at the bottom of pyramid in the region;'South Asian Rail' if unvailed would go long way in integrating the people & diverse cultures of the region. Hope, the issue may be taken up in the next round of foreign secretary level talks between India & Pakistan at Islambad and subsequently at SAARC summit meeting.

Flogging a dead horse

Bikash Choudhury



On avoidable recent controversy about Bhopal gas tragedy. In my opinion, it is sad that our politician and media to an extent can’t distinguish between National interest and professional interest. At this point of time, it is most important that the victim of Bhopal gas tragedy, all Indian citizens get justice with honor; and, not who let go Union Carbide Chief, Mr. Anderson over twenty five years a go. It is, also, quite unnecessary to drag the name of former Indian Prime Minister, Late Sri Rajiv Gandhi without concrete evidence to that effect; precisely because, it reflects Indian polity as a divided house; which does not augur well for an emerging global power like India in its external relations. India did not have the economic standing in the world at the time of Bhopal gas tragedy; however, at least now India has international stature to stand up to any global power in case any injustice is meted out to its citizen. Therefore, all political forces & media instead of gunning for Mr. Anderson must use their fire power against the Company and US administration to give justice to all the victims of gas tragedy; which is otherwise, one of the greatest ‘human rights violation’ in recent times. Human rights issues are very close to the heart of US policy makers; and they have given Indian security forces a bad name, those have to fight extremist from across the borders in very adverse circumstances. Now, we just have to remind US administration stoically that double standards on human rights won’t do. UPA Govt. and principal opposition must agree to bring a suitable ordinance that would arm our investigating agency and judiciary with enough powers to review the Bhopal gas tragedy case afresh to be able to offer suitable and just compensation to all the victims without any further delay under Indian laws. None the less, investigation must be carried out forth with to unravel the mystery behind the release of Mr. Anderson, who did it and why? And, law should be allowed to take its course. Tail piece being ‘A National tragedy of Bhopal gas leak proportion' must not be used to generate political capital by any party or politician.

Budget Consultation-Odisha

Bikash Choudhury



EDUCATION:(I) 5 % of budget allocation for Schools & Mass Education Dept. for creating low cost Gurukul Ashram Schools in our old tradition to offer high quality education with traditional value system in rural areas & with full community participation and involvement of NGO.

School level education in rural areas suffers from poor quality. Sarva Sikhaya Avijan is attempting to address the issue which is just not sufficient. Community participation is extremely important to enhance the quality of education in our schools. Navodaya Schools was an effort in this direction but did not make an impact. One more attempt can be made by allocating just 5% of total budget of Mass Education department to Recreate Gurukul Ashram Schools with community participation and assistance of NGO. At least one Gurukul Ashram School can be created in each block.

1. Gurukul Ashram Schools can be created in rural areas in low cost. Land for Gurukul can be donated by village community, NGO may identify suitable educationist to run Gurukul in our old tradition with modern aid for education to offer high quality education to bright students in rural areas.
2. Suitable retired educationist/ or from corporate back ground can be deployed in such schools at minimum cost.


HIGHER EDUCATION: (II) 5% of Higher Education budget can be allocated for facility for Research in all Govt. colleges to encourage students and teachers to apply knowledge to solve problems faced by local community.

For last two centuries, India has not come out with any path breaking break through in any field that would grab global attention. This is precisely because we, as a community have conceded that we would be net consumer of western research led solution than producer of research led products in the country. This is because, we don’t have a mindset for investigation and learning; and, therefore we need to invest to create facility for research in our college to attract students and give them necessary exposure in methodology of research at an early age. Over a period of time State is going to benefit from new and emerging scientist from our Higher Education Institutes.


HEALTH: (I) 5% of Health Dept. budget can be earmarked for training in Basic Pharmacy; at least one youth in each fifty thousand plus villages of our State to provide proximate, 24X7, basic health solution in our villages. That would create 50,000 plus jobs and improve health indicators in rural areas of our State.

(II) Govt. may consider outsourcing health services of a district to private sector on a pilot basis by developing a suitable business model wherein Govt. could allocate current amount of public expenditure on health sector of the district to the private sector and balance financing if any, can be raised by Pvt. Sector from market forces and viability gap funding from multilateral agencies.

Recent survey done by HDF has unraveled the state of health in our State; to speedily improve the health indicators we need to use all our resources and deploy multiple strategies to arrive at internationally accepted protocol for health in our State as soon as possible. We need to be innovative and open to new Ideas in this sector.

AGRICULTURE: (I) Rs. 34 Crore can be earmarked for 17 District Central
Co-Operative Banks to create an Agriculture & Rural Development Consulting Business division to advise the farmers in entire area in the business of Agriculture to help farmers make a decent profit.

In recent past, news paper headline about farmer suicide has become so common that most of us have taken into our stride and move on with our lives; however, the problem still persists and would continue to hunt unless and until a permanent solution to this problem is found and attempted to implement with all seriousness and effectiveness.
Farmers are at the receiving end in terms of cost of credit from financial institutions, marketing their produce and storing their produce due to lack of local warehousing facility in the vicinity and further, due to lack of suitable market knowledge about demand for alternative crops; they continue to produce unproductive and un remunerative crops year after year and suffer under the weight of debt and some times few of them sacrifice their life for good. Is their any alternative?

RURAL DEVELOPMENT: Budget provision of Rs. 100 Crores to constitute Rural Economy Development Corporation in PPP model.

If we break up state economy into a smaller sets of ‘village cluster’ containing 10-15 villages and apply a new market oriented model for development in PPP; then we can effectively deal with the issue of development as smaller size economy would be easier to administer and cost effective to deliver public services.REDC main objective would be to encourage each cluster of villages to form their own economy development company in equal partnership with REDC that would offer management, technology, and marketing assistance to help the Village cluster to thrive economically in a collaborative effort. Each year we can establish 50-100 village cluster level entity that would drive rural development in break neck speed.

INDIA HAS CHOICE

Bikash Choudhury

I for one, completely disagree with the contention that India does not have any choice in global affairs and our strategic dialogue with US is intended to clear Civil Liability Bill,only. First of all, with or without civil liability bill US Company have got away with very lightly; Bhopal gas tragedy-Union Carbide was one prominent example. ‘Might is right’ holds good from the beginning of human civilization, and, it holds good even today at this age. We can romanticise about what is good for India? and what is not? but, can we entirely ignore practical operational issues in our external relations with US? Building strong and good relations between individuals, even, takes time and building relations between two nations as complex as India & US would take much longer. We can not, now, afford to make mistake of looking at relationship between US and India from a small hole. Apparently, US policy makers have started realising that in the company of India-in Asia; US would be able to hold on to its influence over global affairs much longer than otherwise. Further they understand, today or tomorrow half a billion Indian population would migrate from BPL to middle class, creating a mind boggling size of market for US companies and over 10 % GDP growth has its own center of gravity in global financial capitals. Who said India does not have options? India actually has; and India actually can maneuver its importance in global affairs by bragging a little in global capitals by people from diverse back grounds with a judicious mix of diplomats, politicians, Business leaders, and media chieftain like your editor in chief. India has to just attract 500 billion USD worth of investment for its infrastructure sector and rest would fall in its place. India would actually emerge as a very powerful force in global affairs on the strength of Gandhian model of sustainable development, liberal and accommodating culture, Art & Science of Yoga, Ancient and rich language of Sanskrit, Knowledge from ancient scriptures like four Vedas, Ramayana and Mahabharat; And, last but not the least by the virtues of Hindu ways of life in just a decade from now. Mark my words today.

Gandhi Jr. must Rethink His Strategy

Bikash Choudhury




Rahul Gandhi must rethink on his broad strategy afresh to take over as Prime Minister after general election-2014. More so, after the verdict of media on completion of a year by the UPA II Govt. which is average, keeping in view the improved mandate in comparison to UPA I and factoring the absence of belligerent Red. In spite of the noble intent of incumbent Prime Minister and his impeccable team in the cabinet and his peers with blue turban in planning commission. It would be a mere repetition to enumerate failings of current Govt.; a few of them would read like this-- could not control price rise, failed to keep their date with infrastructure, unable to forge a national consensus to deal with Maoist and on top of it, failed to implement their own plan completely, due to lack of coherence and co-ordination with State Govt.. If the trends continue like this, by the end of the current term of parliament UPA II would have lost a substantial portion of their mandate and therefore making it more difficult for Rahul, to bid for the coveted office which was adorned by four generations of his family.

They say ‘Time and tide waits for no man’ is just apt; and Rahul must revisit his strategy afresh. Apparently, his current strategy revolves around regaining UP for Congress Party and rebuilding Youth Congress. No body can fault Rahul visiting dalit homes either; which has potential to replenish support of dalit and eventually a vote bank into the coffers of Congress Party. Neither, his twin plans are at any fault; but, leaving the Govt. unattended could create a waterloo for him as it did for his father; if he manages to take over as Prime Minister after E-14, due to lack of administrative exposure and experience in governance. Politicking-winning election and Governance are two separate ball game and need uniquely independent skill set to survive and much more to triumph. Gandhi Jr. must be aware about the legacy of his father Sri Rajiv Gandhi, who was admired even by his detractors for his sincerity and vision for the country. Information & Communication Technology (ICT) revolution was one of his many contributions for the country. Rajiv Gandhi also devoted his entire time in party before taking over as Prime Minister; all of a sudden, following tragic death of his mother Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi begun with a clean slate and a massive mandate; many political commentators say he lost the mandate because of his inexperience in Governance. That reminds me of quotable quotes of Confucius “What I hear I forget. What I see I remember. What I do I know?” Now, Rahul must revisit his assumptions and revalidate; keeping in view the performance of his coalition Government.

If I were his advisor; I would have suggested him to join the cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister; that would give representation to over sixty five percent of registered voters in the cabinet, as defacto number two. In order to add much needed enthusiasm to the cabinet of wise men and also to offer a new & fresh direction to the policies and decision of his coalition Govt. intended to benefit majority of electorates that is all our young people. Further, Rahul would be able to grasp the nitty gritty of governance and very essential parliamentary experience from treasury benches. He can also put his advisory experience to good use by working with each ministry on a consultative role; setting goals, overseeing execution, evaluating the outcomes and validating the processes of each ministry to gain a ring side view of all the issues that matters in governance under able guidance of Mr. Manmohan Singh and his senior colleagues. Rahul won’t get a better school for training in the job of premiership. It may so happen;

Ms. Priyanka Gandhi Vadera would call it all quits; to her domestic responsibility and take the place of Rahul Gandhi in the Congress Party to complete the long pending restructuring of grand old party?? That would be a real icing on the cake for millions of younger people who are sold out on brother & sister team and hope their voice would resonate in the highest policy making body of the Govt.. May wiser counsel prevail?



Author: Bikash Choudhury, Chief Executive of Strategy Consulting Firm based at Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. Contact: Mobile: 00 9853426657 Email: streben.market@gmail.com & bikashchoudhury@sify.com