Jai Ho!

The battle cry of Jai Ho! (Victory Be Thine!) has served its purpose well for the Congress. The Grand Old Party has been voted back to power in a manner so decisive as to surprise even its own stalwarts.  

Clearly, it is a vote for stability and continuance of good governance, and as Shekhar Gupta so succinctly writes in his today’s editorial in Indian Express - “politics of aspiration has won over the politics of grievance”.

Regardless of one’s political affinities, it is a matter of pleasure to note the most obvious positive – a firm rendering of caste and religion as irrelevant in the democratic process as demonstrated in the rout of BJP and Behen ji.

Another positive is that the Indian voter has ably learnt to make a distinction between the state and central elections, which is why the regional parties have been more or less swept off the electoral map this time.   

So, here is wishing the new government all the very best. I sincerely hope this time Congress party puts its head down and tackle issues that really matter – education, nutrition, child care, unemployment, poverty, followed by Kashmir, Naxals et al. They have been blessed with a strong mandate, and inaction would surely attract capital punishment at the next hustings.

Oh, and by the way, while they get on with their work, I wish to at least once meet the entity which they say is responsible for all of it – the Indian Voter. S/he is the bhagya vidhata of our politicians and indeed of our country, because it is s/he who decides who would rule us. All the surveys and editorials talk about he/r.

I wish this being would remain awake more often than every 5 years it does now, and guide the government with the same iron hand it has elected it.  

Indian Express, 14th May'09

Indian Express of 13th May'09 carried a photograph of a proposed four-faced statue of Mayawati. I thought I was above contempt for this woman but a fesh wave of nausea surprised me. 

Today's Indian Express Delhi Edition carries my following letter in response:

"Mayafication ■ MAYAWATI’S photograph on your front page (‘Maya, Maya...’, IE, May 13) aptly summed up all that Mayawati actually stands for — self glorification, ideology be damned.

While there’s no denying that much needs to be done still for Dalit empowerment the big question remains whether this purpose is being served through Mayawati’s wasteful expenditure. I am surprised at the collective silence of our intelligentsia.

— Rahul Gaur Gurgaon"