Udhayanidhi Stalin - raising torchbearer of Periyar’s legacy?
Most of the people reading this blog may have heard/read the controversial comments made on
Sanatana Dharma by Mr. Udhayanidhi Stalin. At the the Sanathan Abolition
Conclave organized by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association in
Chennai on Saturday, September 2, 2023 Udhyanishi declared, “A few things cannot
be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can't oppose dengue, mosquitoes,
malaria, or corona. We have to eradicate this, that's how we have to eradicate
Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated”. People of Tamil
Nadu are used to this kind of crude, offensive anti-Hindu tirade, thanks to
Erode Venkata Ramasamy Naicker, 'Father of the Dravidian movement’, lovingly
known as Periyar, In this social media age, this rant received nation-wide
attention and condemnation. In response, Stalin doubled down and said, “ I have
not said anything which is not said by Periyar.”
Is that true? Did Periyar say
such awful things?
A quick search of Periyar quotes bring up the following:
“Human progress can only be achieved through reason and science, not through
blind faith.”
“There is no god, there is no god, there is no god at all. He who
invented god is a fool. He who propagates god is a scoundrel. He who worships
god is a barbarian.”
"So far as god is concerned we find the Christians and
Muslims, somewhat reformed from the olden days of barbarians. They say that
there can be only one God. They say that it is beyond human comprehension. They
say that God does good to those who are good and punishes those who are bad.”
Some critics read these quotes and say Periyar was a hypocrite:
https://llrr.quora.com/This-is-the-real-face-of-Periyar-the-favorite-tool-of-Tamil-Nationalists-https-www-quora-com-What-is-your-review-of
His followers, however, say the quotes are misinterpreted and he is a true
reformer: https://theperiyarproject.com/2022/07/24/periyar-on-god-a-commentary/
Why is Udhayanidhi Stalin taking on the mantle of Periyar’s legacy at this point
of time and making waves?
To understand this, let us delve into who this guy is.
Udhaynidhi (treasure of ascent/success in Sanskrit) is the grandson of Muthuvel
Karunanidhi who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (TN) for almost two
decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. As everyone knows in TN,
Karunanidhi, true to his name, is a treasure of mercy and he named one of his
sons after another merciful man from Soviet Union: Joseh Stalin who was a hero
to many important people in India (including India’s first prime minister,
Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru). Stalin implemented the first 5-year plan in USSR which
Nehru’s Congress Govt. adopted. But most of the world including current day
Russia does not remember Stalin with the same fondness: Joseph Stalin and Adolf
Hitler are regarded as the two most brutal dictators and mass murderers of the
20th century. But the name worked its magic for Karunanidhi’s son, Muthuvel
Karunanidhi Stalin who won bitter political succession contest with his elder
brother, Muthuvel Karunanidh Aliagiri to claim DMK throne. Muthuvel Karunanidhi
Stalin is the current chief minister of TN. Obviously, he did not want to give
up the good luck charm of Stalin name and named his son Udayanidhi Stalin.
Udayanidhi Stalin started his professional career in Film industry as a producer
and distributor, and acted as a hero in several hit movies. His production
studio Red Giant Movies rules the Tamil film industry. He joined active politics
ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when he was appointed a secretary of the
DMK’s youth wing. He contested and won his first election for an assembly seat
in 2021. A year later, his father made him the minister of Youth Welfare and
Sports and fulfilled his wife Durga’s desire to guarantee a smooth succession of
their son in DMK party.
Clearly, the family believes the high priest of DMK
party must be from the Karunanidhi clan. It is made clear to the DMK ranks that
they can not dream to ascend the high altar of DMK for at least one more
generation. Only Udhayanidhi is qualified to do so. The DMK ranks accepted their
fate without any whisper of protest. When Annadurai said, “Ondre Kulam Oruvane
Deivam (there is one clan and one God), he meant only one (Karunanidhi) kulam
can produce chief ministers in TN. So much for Periyar’s social justice! Periyar
did not seek power and he discarded his kulam name. But this clan continues to
hang on to the name of Stalin and the power of government.
When things are going
so well, why is Udhayanidhi making a clarion call to eradicate Santana dharma?
Obviously, he is not threatened internally. Is he sensing a mood change of
voters before the next elections? Elsewhere in India, power of the family based
political parties are declining. BJP, he so crudely vilifies for following
Sanatana principles, has made a chai-wala, Narendra Modi from a backward caste
the Prime Minister of India and an adivasi lady, Draupadi Murmu the President of
India. Modi included a large number of BC, SC, ST, Dalit and minority members in
his ministry. In contrast, the Dravidian parties failed miserably to empower
these communities and achieve much progress on social justice in Tamil Nadu in
spite of holding power for five decade.
The junior Stalin wants to divert
attention of voters away from this dark contrast. He doesn’t have the option of
Periyar’s modus operandi of rousing mass emotions by publicly breaking of
Ganesha idols and burning copies of Kamba Ramayanam or Periyapuranam because
they have become worshipers of the idols of Periyar and his anti-sanatana
gospel. Frustrated by this reality Udhayanidhi Stalin is enacting a high octave
hate drama to save his political future.
White and Saffron against Black: Action or Over-action?The color of the year 2011 for India is Black. But Black has become a curse. There began a big euphoria to erase Black in a spectacular battle comparable to India’s independence struggle. Now the battle took a concrete shape. There is a definite outline of the adversaries and the battlefields. Let us examine these outlines to judge the (over) actions, reactions and outcomes:
Battlefields: Jantar Mantar, Ramlila, and Rajghat. (Haridwar does not count.)
Battle tactic: Fasting and Fasting to Death
Black: People in power who can stop corruption and black money, but do not stop. They are the members of the Ruling Party (Congress), the Executive, the Bureaucracy and the Judiciary.
The adversaries of the Black brigade target , Digvijay Singh , Kapil Sibal, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee and others..
As this brigade controls power of the state, they do not parade their supporters on the streets for the TVs to broadcast. Besides, they have other work to do like legislating, executing and prosecuting – basically running the government. They know corruption is a serious problem, but it is too deeply rooted in Indian society. In fact, they think corruption oils the wheels of economy (and politics) in India, and they fear that the economy will grind to a halt if corruption is stopped completely. They also know Rs 75 lakh crores of black money of Indians in offshore secret accounts is a huge exaggeration – it can never be realized.
The Black brigade is on the loosing side, bur they are not seriously worried about this phony battle. They are veterans at such battles and can make winners look like loosers.
White: People who see
corruption is the main cause of India’s backwardness, and want to force Black brigade by hook or by crook to end corruption.
The White brigade consists of “Civil Society” members lead by Anna Hazare (Net worth: lakhs), Shanti Bhushan (many many crores), Prashant Bhuson (many crores), Justice N. Santosh Hegde (crores) and Arvind Kejriwal (lakhs). They think some members of Black brigade are ‘liars, cheats and conspirators’. Their leader believes a piece of legislation will end 90% corruption.
These are also veterans. In fact, these folks hobnob intimately with the Black brigade (including the liars, cheats and conspirators) on a daily basis. They go through the same revolving doors in Delhi’s power structures. Some of them were members of the Black brigade in their previous careers. They worked with Black brigade previously in drafting RTI legislation. They want to make new rules – and do not care if the new rules break THE RULEBOOK - the constitution of India.
The White brigade leaders are self-righteous, "pure" and "untainted". They mostly wear white and are mostly male. Remember they did not think Kiran Bedi to be good enough to get into their Five Star Chamber, but included a father and a son. This brigade enamors the electronic media. They have visible following in many town squares in a dozen big cities, in sections of Bollywood, and on twitter and facebook. Most of these followers are urban and tech-savvy males. They can quickly raise resources for the battles. Just before the White brigade’s first battle, they raised a donation of Rs. 82+ lakhs in a couple of days, spent Rs. 32+ lakhs and saved Rs. 50+ lakhs for future battles. Even the mini-show on Jun 8 at Rajghat fetched quite bit of money.
The White brigade wins the first round and a place for its members in Lokpal bill drafting committee.
Saffron (New): People who see
black money is the principle cause of the decline of our economic status and prestige in the world. These are
new kids on the block lead by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev. They wanted all black money (400 lakh crores) brought home before Baba ended his fast, so that Indian Rupee attains its true value of 50 US dollars (instead of current equivalent of Rs. 50 to one dollar).
Baba Ramdev with mammoth Yoga enterprise (worth Rs. 1100 crores) has a following of tens of thousands of people all over India in cities as well as small towns. About 5,000 of his followers traveled from different states to Delhi to support his show of battle at Ramlila grounds. These followers include men and women of middle class background and are driven by promise of health and a sense of patriotism. They do not have influential friends in Delhi’s power centers, TV media or Bollywoord. A Bollyward icon came forward to dismiss Baba Ramdev’s battle as “politically motivated”. The old Saffron crowd (RSS and sections of BJP) was glomming on to Baba, but offered little help. The BJP were Block brigade (ruling party) before UPA-1.
In a simple surprise midnight sweep, the novice Baba disguised in ”white“ female robes was removed from the Ramlila battleground and his followers were dispersed. To save face, Baba continued fast in Haridwar far away from the real battlefields of Delhi. He is now in a hospital due to deteriorating health. Finally, Baba ended his fast without any gains to show.
The Reds (Communists) are conspicuously absent in the battlefield, but that is understandable. They do not want to be seen with the Safron brigade and the White brigade does not want to be seen mixed with Reds. Also, the Reds are licking their wounds of huge defeat in the recent electoral (real) battles in their last outposts in West Bengal and Kerala.
So far, the Black brigade is enjoying the show of over-actions by the White and Saffron brigades. The Saffron brigade tasted a big tactical loss, and is in disarray. The White brigade won the first battle, but is not far from looking like a looser.
Mamata for 15 minutes at BangurThe new West Bengal Chief Minister's interaction with employees and director of Bangur Institute of Neuroscience in Calcutta for 15 miners illustrates what went wrong with the work culture in the state under 34 years of Left Front rule.
None of the technicians, doctors or the director present in the MRI room know what instruments are in the room and how many are faulty. The director is not sure if he can manage to provide an answer to the Chief Minister the next day. 24+ hour time is not sufficient for him to count the number of machines in MRI room and to note what they are for and how many are defective! That is a naked display of executive incompetence, irresponsibility and callousness. This type of behavior is common in most parts of India, but more so and pervasive in West Bengal.
Also, look at the director's response to the complaints of patients from the outdoor section. He fails to say he will look into the complaints and address them, but complains that he is to talk about them in front of the media.
Dr, Shyamapada Ghorai may be a world class neurosurgeon, but he is not fit to be the head of the institution. His suspension should not be revoked.
Read the report below and post your comments.
Hospital head suspendedTAMAGHNA BANERJEE
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110527/jsp/frontpage/story_14036254.jsp
Calcutta, May 26: The director of the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences was suspended late tonight under instructions from chief minister Mamata Banerjee for alleged “misconduct and insubordination”.
Hours before, neurosurgeon Shyamapada Ghorai had told Mamata that the trail of people following her during a surprise check was inconveniencing patients. Ghorai had several critical surgeries lined up for Friday, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether he could still conduct them.
The Telegraph was present when the chief minister, on her way to Writers’ Buildings, stopped her car in front of the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences on Sambhunath Pandit Street in south Calcutta.
***********************
Mamata, who also holds the health portfolio, enters the hospital at
11.47 am. She stops in front of the radiology department on the ground floor. Two patients are on stretchers.
Mamata: What happened? Why are you here? Aren’t they treating you?
A patient’s relative: We are here for an MRI.
Mamata: OK.
She opens the swing door and strides into the radiology department’s “imaging unit”. Around seven employees, including at least one doctor, are inside.
Mamata: What is done in this room?
A doctor: Ma’am, we do MRI.
Mamata: I hope you don’t face problems at work.
Doctor: No, Ma’am, things are fine over here.
Mamata: Do all these machines work properly?
Doctor: Yes, Ma’am, most of them. A few of them may have some problems.
Mamata: What sort of problems? How many machines have such problems?
The employees do not reply.
By then, informed by one of the employees, institute director Ghorai walks up in haste. An official introduces Ghorai to the chief minister. Ghorai folds his hands in a namaskar and Mamata reciprocates.
Mamata: How many faulty machines do we have here?
Ghorai: I can’t say. There are some.
Mamata: How many machines are here and what are they for?
Ghorai: It’s difficult to say. There are quite a few.
Mamata: Meet me tomorrow with a detailed report of all the machines over here, their present condition and the number of faulty instruments.
Ghorai: Let’s see if I can manage. I have a few operations tomorrow. (He conducts operations on Tuesdays and Fridays.)
The chief minister looks angry. She storms out and the staff follow. So does Ghorai.
Mamata meets some patients from the outdoor section who bombard her with complaints.
“Didi, we don’t have drinking water.”
“Didi, the gates are shut most of the time, preventing the patients’ entry.”
“Didi, there are not enough doctors and they keep us waiting for hours.”
“Didi, the doctors at the outdoor department never turn up on time.”
The chief minister takes notes in a small diary.
A patient’s family begs Mamata for admission. She turns to a hospital official and says: “See what he has to say.”
She asks some of the staff: “What are your problems?”
They call director Ghorai, standing at a distance.
Ghorai (with folded hands): Ekhane ki ebhabe katha bola jai? Aapnar shathe ato lok, ato TV camera, era shob patient-der opor haamle porchhe, odero oshubidha hochchhe (is it possible to speak with so many people and TV cameras around? They are walking all over the patients and causing inconvenience).
Mamata (raising her voice): What is your problem if there are so many people here? I haven’t brought the media with me…. They move about with me because they love me. But you seem to have a problem with the media coming to your hospital.
She pauses for a moment. Ghorai gestures to suggest she is getting him wrong, folds his hands and is about to say something.
Mamata: Seems like you are afraid that if the media come here, you and your acts will be exposed. You have already been exposed. You don’t know etiquette… how to behave with people. I don’t want to speak to you any more. You meet me tomorrow, I will take a decision.
She turns back. On her way out, she pauses beside the two patients on stretchers.
“Did any of the media people disturb you?” she asks.
“No,” says one.
Mamata advances a few paces and mumbles: “Shob shomoy amaar naame dosh chapiye deoa (the blame is always pinned on me).”
12.02 pm: Mamata’s black Santro leaves for Writers’.
Black Money in Foreign Banks: All Talk, No Action?In America, “everyone talks about the weather and nobody does anything about it” (Mark Twain). In India, everyone talks about black money and nobody does anything about it. Even the Supreme Court is making long commentaries on black money stashed in foreign banks for the past several days. Justice B Sudershan Reddy-led Bench of the Supreme Court started hearing the case on black money stashed illegally in foreign banks by Indians on January 27, 2011.
Every prominent politician from the opposition parties is talking about it. There are daily news commentaries in print and electronic media and blog postings. Of course, there are chain e-mails. Talk of black money is everywhere.
Black money is the money accumulated by way of illegal transactions without declaring it for tax purposes. It is part and parcel of everyday and almost everybody’s economic life in India. It is an accepted fact. For example, most legal real estate transactions in India are carried out to evade registration costs by understating the actual value of the transaction. The current excitement around black money is not about all black money, but it is about the money stashed away in foreign banks. The amounts of money allegedly run into lakhs of crores – the numbers are eye-popping and mind-boggling. And some reports claim India beats all other countries by a wide margin in terms of the amount of money stashed away in the secret off-shore tax havens.
The BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani claimed that resident Indians had deposits between $0.5 and $1.4 trillion (Rs. 25 – 75 lakh crores) in Swiss banks. In more recent utterances, he is sticking to Rs. 25 lakh crores. PC Alexander, a prominent statesman and politician in a recent Deccan Chrionicle column (Jan 05, 2011) writes: According to a Swiss bank report of 2006, India topped the list of depositors of wealth in banks in Switzerland to the extent of $1,456 billion (around Rs. 75 lakh crores) compared with Russia’s $470 billion, UK’s $390 billion, Ukraine’s $100 billion and China’s $96 billion. It appears that there is no such report from any Swiss Bank. It is also not true that India leads other countries in terms of money stashed in off-shore banks. The volume of black money outflows from India is only the fifth or sixth highest (depending upon the method of estimation) among developing countries.
Anyway, the huge numbers created a sensation and outrage all over the media and blogosphere.
A chain mail says, “280 lac crore of Indian money is deposited in swiss banks which can be used for 'taxless' budget for 30 yrs. Can give 60 crore jobs to all Indians. From any village to Delhi 4 lane roads. Forever free power supply to more than 500 social projects. Every citizen can get monthly 2000/- for 60 yrs. No need of World Bank & IMF loan. Think how our money is blocked by rich politicians. We have full right against corrupt politicians.”
Sensations have a way to bury facts, grow rumors and breed cynicism. Even reasonable and thinking people fall prey to the adversary impacts of cynicism and hopelessness. In the heat of the moment, everyone forgets one critical fact that the money is in SECRET accounts. Swiss banks refused so far to release any details of these accounts. No names or no amounts of these accounts are revealed. The fact is that nobody really knows real numbers. How did PC Alexander and LK Advani get those numbers? The numbers are all guess work of some smart people.
The Rs. 25 - 75 lakh crore range appears to come from Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report,
Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2002-2006 (http://india.gfip.org/). The report critically reviews 5 older models and proposes a new model. It is important to note that not all six models give the same results. Ashok V. Desai, Economist and Consultant Editor of The Telegraph (Calcutta) raised important questions on the weaknesses of the models used in the GFI report to estimate illegal outflows (http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090505/jsp/opinion/story_10890118.jsp). Dev Kar of GFI stressed in his columns about the problems they faced to make good estimates of illicit financials flows and he clearly stated that GFI favored Rs. 20-25 lakh cores as the estimate of illegal money of Indians. In spite of that, the higher number of Rs. 75 lakh crore is supported by R Vaidyanathan, professor of finance at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and head of a taskforce set up by Advani for preparing a strategic document to get back the national wealth agrees with that estimate. (see http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_indian-money-in-swiss-and-other-banks-is-over-rs-70-lakh-crore_1244317)
Economic models are widely used to make estimates, predictions, and projections of an economic activity or a policy. The numbers that come out of these models are generally treated for guidance and are used to make policy adjustments. The estimates from models are not facts.
The distressing part of the current talk on black money is that Advani, Alexander, Vaidyanathan, the Supreme Court, bloggers and chain e-mailers are peddling the estimates of an economic model as verified facts. That is flatly wrong and a disservice to the country.
The real fact of the matter is -- It is all talk. Nobody will do anything about it. Like weather, black money in India is an extremely complex issue – not as simple as the Supreme Court commentaries suggest.
Karat's demands for Obama
(1) US stop assistance to Israel
(2) US stop economic blockade of Cuba
(3) US initiate talks with Iran
These are ridiculous demands, but are consistent with pro Cuba and pro "secular" politics of the left parties.
What is more ridiculous is his demand for expansion of US trade to Cuba, but opposition to expansion of trade with India.
Read full article in Hindu newspaper.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/11/05/stories/2010110553591400.htm
Karat: U.S. still pursuing global dominance
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday said while the Left party MPs will hear the U.S. President Barack Obama during his address to the joint session of Parliament on November 8, the four Left parties will stage a demonstration and voice the opinion of the Indian people across the country on the day.
“As far as the CPI (M) and the Left are concerned, we recognise the difference between [George] and Obama. At the same time, we are aware that the Obama administration represents continuity in terms of the basic U.S. approach for global dominance. That is why the Left has decided to utilise the occasion to highlight the opposition of the people of India to the continuing U.S. imperialist interventions,'' CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat said in an article in the latest edition of party organ People's Democracy.
The visit comes at a time when the U.S. economy is still floundering with the unemployment rate standing at a high 9.6 per cent and with reduced support among the people after the mid-term elections, the visit would see more attempts by the U.S. side to get India to open up its markets and allow American companies to invest in sectors like retails trade and agriculture.
He said President Obama's visit has evoked varied reactions in India, with the pro-U.S. lobby well entrenched in the ruling establishment hoping the occasion can be used to strengthen the strategic alliance with Washington. This lobby, he said, advocates further expansion of defence ties and conceding to the United States its demands for opening up investment opportunities in new sectors.
“A vocal section of the rightwing and corporate media even want India to go along with the aim of the United States to pitch India as a counterweight to China. We have seen in the past the claptrap about the “Community of Democracies'' acting in concert which was bought by the Vajpayee government during the Clinton administration,'' the article said.
During the visit the Left will express the Indian people's opposition to the pressures mounted by the U.S. government to intensify the neo-liberal economic policies in India and to facilitate the opening up of vital sectors like agriculture, retail trade and higher education to American multinationals.
“The Obama visit should not result in Walmart being allowed into retail trade in India which will destroy the livelihood of tens of thousands of small shopkeepers and traders. The Commerce Minister and sections of the UPA government are rooting for FDI entry into multi-brand retail trade,'' he said.
Justice for gas victims
President Obama, Mr. Karat said, should be told that he has the responsibility to ensure justice for the Bhopal gas victims, since the U.S. company was responsible for the worst industrial disaster in the world.
The Left parties will demand that the U.S. stop assistance to the Israeli regime which has sustained an illegal occupation of Arab territories for more than four decades and also demand the Obama administration stop the economic blockade of Cuba and initiate talks with Iran for a settlement on the nuclear issue without resorting to coercive sanctions.
Secular credentials of India's communist ruled KeralaKerala high court puts a break on the promotion of a financial company established by Kerala Govt. agency based on Islamic laws.
----
Court order on Islamic banking firm
From Hindu dated Friday, Apr 09, 2010
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/09/stories/2010040962780600.htm
Special Correspondent
Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the State government and its instrumentalities to desist from participating in any way, financially or otherwise, in the business of a newly formed non-banking financial company, said to be based on Islamic laws, pending adjudication of the writ petitions challenging its formation.
The Bench of Chief Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair passed the directive after hearing arguments on petitions filed by Al Barakh Financial Services Limited and the State government seeking to vacate an interim order.
The Bench had earlier directed the government and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) to ensure that the newly formed company did not commence its operations. The interim order was passed on a writ petition filed by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy against the government sanction given to the KSIDC to form such a company.
AP Elections: My Watch List (Part 2)1. Loyal Translations in Rajahmundry:The CM Rajasekhar Reddy calls him Manchi Anuvada-vaadi. Rajahmundry Congress MP, Vundavalli Aruna Kumar started off as a translator of Rajiv Gandhi’s speeches into Telugu, and continues to do so for Soniaji’s and Rahulji’s speeches during their tours in Andhra. He is loyal to both Sonia and YSR. When YSR decided to take on Ramoji Rao, Vundavalli volunteered to do the “frontal attack”. Such activities, party responsibilities and outside tours kept him away from common voters in Rajahmundry for long periods of time. He had to hurriedly inaugurate a new east side Railway booking counter a day before the election code came into effect. This adds to his list of other achievements such as his drive for sanitation, construction of rail over-bridges, setting up of a university and an agriculture college. Last year, however, he had to make unconditional apology to dalits for making belittling comments on Dr. Ambedkar. This is not a spectacular record for this highly visible and vocal Congress leader.
TDP and PRP sensed the vulnerability of Vundavalli and fielded strong star candidates like Murali Mohan and Krishnam Raju. Murali Mohan had an early start with campaign and may be getting the support of Eenadu/Etv. Krishnam Raju came into the fry late, but has the advantage of a very successful Praja Viaja Bheri – a mammoth public meeting held by Chiranjeevi in Rajahmundary.
2. Billionaire in Bezwada With declared assets worth Rs. 299 crore, Congress MP (Vijayawada), Lagadapati Rajagopal is the richest person in Andhra to file nomination in this election. Interestingly, he had declared his assets to be worth Rs. 9.6 crores at the time of 2004 elections. Rajgopal claims the volume of his property has not gone up, but the value has gone up. That is whopping 31-fold increase in value.
By the way, the richest Indian to contest this election is Deepak Bhardwaj, the Bahujan Samaj Party MP candidate for West Delhi. He beats Khimji Patadia, an Independent candidate for Surendranagar with assets worth Rs 514 crore. Lagadapati comes in the third position. Also, majority of the major party candidates in this elections are crorepatis: TRS 77 per cent, TDP 63 per cent, Congress 48 per cent, PRP 31 per cent. Moreover, TDP candidates, with Rs.23 crores average asset base, top the list, followed by Congress candidates with an asset base of Rs.4 crores.
Coming back to Rajagopal, he says he does not believe that votes can be purchased by money. He declares that the performance of the Congress, that is Sonia Gandhi at the Centre and Dr. Reddy in the State, would fetch him 90 per cent of the votes and his own personal performance and charisma would fetch him the remaining 10 per cent. We have to see those 90% + 10 % votes add up to get him the highest percentage of total votes polled on the election day against Mahakootami candidate, Vallabhaneni Vamsimohan and PRP candidate, Chanumolu Rajiv.
3. Bull Racing in Chilakaluripet:Bull races are part of the village folklore in this constituency in Guntur Dt., and the sitting Congress MLA Marri Rajasekhar is a big fan and sponsoror of these spectacular races named after his fasther-in-law (Somepalli Sambaiah Memorial State wide Annual Bull Race Competitions). In these races, a pair of bulls that pulls a solid stone slab weighing about three tonnes to the highest distance (> 2,500 feat) in 10 minutes is declared the winner. In this election, Rajasekhar is in similar situation. He has to pull the maximum number votes with his neck tied down by the weight of opposition from naxal rebels, a resurgent TDP candidate, Prathipati Pulla Rao and polarizing PRP candidate, Posani Krishna Murali.
The idiosyncratic maverick film script-writer, actor and director Posani who declared to his party workers that “Dabbulu adigina vadu, tisukuni pracharam chese vadu iddaru vedhavalu (Those who ask for money and those who take money are idiots)” does not look like a winning candidate.
4. Shifting Loyalties in Rajyampet: On July 22, 2008, the left parties pulled out their support to the UPA government and introduced no-confidence motion as a protest against the Indo-US civil nuclear deal. Chadrababu Naidu (who was notable as the pro US and pro Capitalism CM at that time) decided to throw his weight (5 MPs) with communists to pull down Manmohan Singh’s government. Two of the five TDP MPs defied the party whip and saved the Congress Govt. For this act, TDP expelled its Chittoor MP, D.K. Adikesavulu Naidu and the Congress rewarded him with the TTD chairmanship. He was expecting to get Congress ticket to Rajampet, but was denied the seat. His son, D. A. Srinivas joined PRP and got the chance to contest as MP from Rajampet. To win, Srinivas has to defeat the well-entrenched sitting Congress MP, A. Sai Pratap who will also benefit from Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s contest from the neighboring Kadpa seat. TDP fielded Ramesh Kumar Reddy for this seat. A win for D. A. Srinivas will reflect the strength of PRP and Chiranjeevi “samajika nyayam” plank.
5. Pravasa (NRI) Pratinidhi and Chiru Abhimani in Madanapalle: Inspired by the success of Madhu Yashki who got the Nizamabad MP seat in 2004 (got elected and became a prominent Congress leader), many NRIs from the US, UK and other countries moved to A. P. to try their luck in grabbing an MLA and MP seat. However, most of the aspirants faced disappointment and incurred loss of their time, effort and money. One successful candidate is the head of KAD DVD Overseas Operations, Chinna Vasu Deva Reddy who is contesting as a PRP candidate at Madanapalle. He has to take on TDP’s Sagar Reddy and Congress’s Shahjahan Basha. This is not a high profile contest, but it would be of interest to us to see if Vasu Deva Reddy becomes a second successful NRI story in Andhra politics.
6. Mahilala Maha pOti in Chandragiri: Chandragiri has created a record by having four women nominated to the seat by all the four major political parties: Congress Minister for Medical Education Galla Arunakumari and Telugu Mahila president R.K. Roja are the key contestants. BJP nominated Gali Pushpalatha while the Praja Rajyam (PR) chose S. Sai Ramani Reddy. This is partly necessitated by a slight majority of women voters in this district. It is definitely nice to see this change from the mostly male dominated contests elsewhere. By the way, out of 3,655 contestants in the fray for the 294 seats, only 300 (8.2 per cent) contestants are women. TRS never nominated a woman so far except for Vijayasanthi (who does not come from TRS cadres).
Before the formation of maha kootami and NTR Jr.’s electrifying campaign, Roja provided most of the media splash for TDP. She has been very effective in targeting Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and Chiranjeevi with her “punch dialogues”, which found favor with masses. Mahesh Babu reportedly requested NTR Jr. not to campaign in this constituency to save his sister’s mother-in-law (Arunakumari). NTR Jr. appears to have “accidentally” complied with Mahesh Babu’s request. We have to see if the seat will swing between Congress and TDP or a new voter alignment throws a surprise.
AP Elections: My Watch List (Part 1)
(1) Tranformative Politics at Kukatpally (Hyderabad):Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan will usher in a major transformation of politics in AP and India by winning this MLA seat. The win will not be easy against powerful opponents: Vaddepalli Narsinga Rao of Congress, M. Sudharshan Rao of TRS and Kuna Venkatesh Goud of PRP and M.Kantharao of BJP. These successful businessmen have considerable personal resources as well as support of the established party machinery. They are offering freebies (varaala varshaalu) like free medical insurance, free color TVs, and/or "promise" of separate Telangana etc. Jayaprakash promises equal opportunity for all people irrespective of their socioeconomic background, and good governance. I hope he wins.
(2) Pride of NTR at Visakhapatnam: Daggupati Purandaeswari - a soft spoken and charming intellectual, author of a book, Congress MP from Bapatla, and current central Minister of State for Human Resources who drew wide attention for her eloquent speeches at international events representing India has moved to this constituency as Bapatla became a reserved constituency. Visakhapatnam voters have been electing outsiders for the past several election cycles starting with T. Subbirami Reddy and N. Janardhana Reddy. This is causing some resentment among locals against the current candidate. Moreover, Chiru fans and PRP (Palla Srinivas Yadav) supporters are likely to give a good flight in many parts of this constituency. However, Purandeswari is successful in getting the support of the two former Congress MPs. It is ironic that this daughter of NTR is flourishing in Congress Party that was an anathema to NTR. She has a good chance to win the seat.
(3) Praja Rajyam Test Case Anakapalli:PRP sent its number 2 leader Allu Aravind to contest as MP at Anakapalli and fielded its district convener, Ganta Srinivas Rao as MLA candidate. It is interesting that Ganta Srinivas Rao decided to contest against his friend and a senior Congress minister, Konathala Ramakrishna and former colleague Dadi Veerabhadra Rao (TDP). All three are well known in Anakapalli and were elected as MLA or MP at one time, but Dadi and Konathala are local political veterans with deep roots in this constituency. This high stakes contest attracted high profile visits of Rahul Gandhi (first election stop in AP by the "future" PM) and many film stars including Chiranjeevi, Allu Arjun (who celebrated his birthday during the campaign). PRP wins in AKP will signal a PRP wave in north coastal Andhra.
(4) Family Affair in Vizianagram:Congress is fielding four members of Botsa family: State housing minister Bosta Satyanarayana is in the race for Chipurupalli Assembly seat while his wife Jhansi is seeking election from Vizianagaram Lok Sabha seat. Botsa's younger brother Appala Narasaiah is contesting the Gajapatinagaram Assembly seat while their nephew Appala Naidu is the candidate from Nellimarla. Botsa Satyanarayana shot into fame when he hurriedly wrote a cheque for Rs. 11 cores (2 million euros) to Vashishta Wahan (a fake company) to bring Volkswagen car factory to Vizag. It will be interesting to see if voters will vote 4 members of Botsa family to represent them in the Assembly and Parliament.
(5) Pandering to minortities in Nizamabad:PCC president and the Nizamabad Urban Assembly candidate, D Srinivas, reportedly stated that “he would sacrifice his head for the minorities if need be and would cut off the hands of those who pointed a finger at them”. For similar offensive language, Varun Gandhi is put in jail under NSA act and the EC advised BJP to drop him from the contest. But the local ECO, I. V. Subba Rao gave only a warning to D. Srinivas, and advised him not to repeat similar statements. D. Srinivas got lucky with the Election commission, but will he get lucky with electorate?
(6) Will of God in Secunderabad:Sahaja nati Jayasudha believes that if God wants her to win, nobody will stop her. Also she says - "I am not that kind of person - I do not like to pose with poor people to get votes". On pressure from the party, she reluctantly went into streets in a jeep. On one occasion she had to retreat from one location as the local congress leaders did not allow her convoy. She has a simple message: “I’m film actress Jayasudha. I got attracted by the Arogyasri scheme and I decided that I should join the Congress and serve the poor.” she starts off, and adds, “Srinivas Yadav`garu’ won previously. So please give a chance to a woman now. I promise to serve you better.’’ It is a wonder that Congress gave a ticket to a person with such naivety and inexperience. The reason for the ticket appears to be the “common faith” besides cinema glamour. Jaysudha, K. A. Paul, Leo Augustine, Natti Kumar, YSR son-in-law Anil Kumar appear to be mixing politics with faith to derive maximum benefit for themselves and their faith. Jayasudha’s win will point to a new trend of faith politics in AP.
