Point to ponder… Why is it called horse-trading when it’s asses that are being traded?!

It’s amazing how the “yuvraj” of the “Kingdom of India”, Rahul Gandhi, has picked up the patronizing tone that characterizes the old guard within the Congress party. That, combined with an enduring sense of self-righteous entitlement, makes up a wicked combination that I’d rather not see in a person who has aspirations to govern a democracy.

Just the other day, Rahul baba spoke in glowing terms about Dr. Manmohan Singh. Fair enough, I say. But because it was an election rally in Punjab, Rahul Gandhi went a step further to massage the collective Sikh ego…

They call our prime minister weak, the lion of Punjab, who has earned a name to the country in the world. I have not seen a weak Sikh in my life,’ Gandhi told an election rally at Barnala.
[Source: ANI report]<

Amit Varma rightly points out the patronizing nature of that assertion. I wonder why that kind of patronizing tone is made use of around the election time. I wonder, indeed!

A couple of days later, Rahul Gandhi is at it again… this time in P Chidambaram’s constituency, Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu. At an election rally, Rahul said…

“We have given thousands of crores of rupees for the development of Tamil Nadu. The Central government’s first decision was to sanction setting up of a desalination plant in the state.”

Referring to his visits to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the Congress leader said he will visit Tamil Nadu regularly after the elections.
[Source: IANS report]

Rahul makes the government’s allocation of funds to Tamil Nadu seem like a dole… a mere handout. And which self-respecting Tamizh would, I wonder, be impressed by Rahul Gandhi’s promise that he would visit the state regularly after the elections!? If that is not patronizing, I wonder what is!

The fact that Rahul Gandhi is a young upcoming politician is a good thing. We definitely want more of those, though I’d much rather prefer a young upcoming politician who’s not in politics just because of the family name. But if Rahul Gandhi continues to live under the delusions that his is a blue-blooded lineage that reserves the right to “rule” the country, he would continue being patronizing and shallow.

Quit being patronizing, Rahul! Wake up and smell the filter coffee!

I voted early this morning, at about 7:15 AM, at the polling booth in Maharashtra High School No. 2, Dadar, Mumbai. There was hardly any crowd at that time and I could just walk in without having to wait in queues. I was in and out of the booth within 2 minutes after having voted using the electronic voting machine (EVM). Even though it was just 15 minutes since the polling had started, I was already the 7th person to vote in that particular booth (the said polling station has about 4-5 booths).

I voted! Did you?

It looks as if the voter turnout will be fairly decent, at least here in Mumbai. The sparse crowd at the polling station comprised of people from different economic classes and almost an equal no. of male and female voters. Of course, it was too early in the day to call, but signs were encouraging indeed.

If your constituency is going to the polls today and you haven’t voted already, please go out and vote as soon as possible. Not voting does not mean the candidate you don’t want to come to power gets defeated. In fact the opposite happens. So go out and vote for a better, cleaner & worthier candidate and make your voice heard.

Do not shut up and vote… get up, think and shout out a message loud and clear through your vote. Do it now, folks. It’s probably the best thing you would do for now!

After a 21-year old engineering student hurled a shoe at PM Dr. Manmohan Singh in Ahmedabad, the Congress curiously demanded an apology from Narendra Modi, possibly because the incident happened in the state headed by Narendra Modi.

Fair enough! The Congress is entitled to it’s share of buffoonery. But shouldn’t we look at the bigger picture here? The engineering student is an Indian, isn’t he now? So going by the Congress logic, shouldn’t it be the head of the Indian State who should be doing the apologizing? Dr. Manmohan Singh apologizing to Dr. Manmohan Singh… now that sounds like a plan! :-P

Priyanka Gandhi had a loquacious Sunday. I mean, she took issue with Narendra Modi on his budhiya/gudiya statements. She hinted at entering active electoral politics at some time in the future. She endorsed Rahul Gandhi’s qualifications as a future(?) Prime Ministerial candidate (incidentally, Amit Varma’s “open letter” to Priyanka Gandhi hits the nail on the head, on this issue). She was also quoted as saying that she wanted to see her brother Rahul Gandhi as a “bridegroom before he becomes the Prime Minister of the country”.

Hmm… quite a loving, playful remark by a sister about her kid brother. Even though it is a presumptuous statement, I don’t think it should be a cause for controversy.

The reason that I posted about this remark is that it somehow (some lateral mental association at work) reminded me of the fabled remark by Shivaji’s lieutenant Tanaji Malusare when he was setting out to capture the Sinhagad fort (then known as Kondana), in the midst of his son Raiba’s wedding festivities. When the wedding guests tried to persuade him to leave after the wedding was over, he famously said (in Marathi) “Aadhi lagin Kondanyache, mag lagin Raibache!“… which translates to “First let me marry off Kondana, only then we will proceed with Raiba’s wedding”. Tanaji then went on to scale the fort with a handful of Marathas and laid down his life in winning the fort for Shivaji.

As I said, some random lateral association in my mind, that’s all!