IPL vs IPL, Politicians and their cricketer equivalents!

Indians love cricket, and a lot of them hate politics with an equal measure. But, if you look at things closely, you will realize there is not much of a difference. If IPL stands for Indian Premier League, it can also stand for Indian Political League. And, if you dig deeper, even the players ( or characters if you think its all a drama) bear an uncanny resemblance.  This season of the Indian Political league will come to an end this Friday, while the cricketers will carry on for a bit longer. We, in the meanwhile, will try to find the cricketer equivalent of some of our more popular politicians.

Lets start with the man of the moment, Narendra Modi, who for the past year or so has been in the best form of his life. Ofcourse, you will have to concede that he has had his fair share of controversies. He can always be trusted to have some not-so-kind words for his opponents, but has kind of mellowed with time. Currently captains his IPL team and hopes to soon take over the reigns at the national level. Virat Kohli?

Arvind Kejriwal – A gutsy player, who has his own unique style. Started with a bang, a century on debut but threw away his wicket when he was nearing a double. Off late, has started throwing away his wicket cheaply and form has been very sporadic. He will need to bring consistency into his game or the selectors might have a relook. Shikhar Dhawan?

Sonia Gandhi – Was never in power, yet always in power. Remote controlled the team from the outside. The captain damaged his clean reputation by falling in line with her plans. Obviously, the son-in-law has not helped!  N Srinivasan?

Robert Vadra – Ok. This is too easy. Who else but Gurunath Meiyappan!

Rahul Gandhi – Had a rich heritage and a legacy most of the country adores. Got opportunities based on the same legacy but could never live upto his surname. A surname doesn’t make you a good cricketer, why should it be any different in Politics? Rohan Gavaskar?

Digvijay Singh – Was once considered highly talented but wasted all his opportunities. Has a foot in mouth disease. His affairs outside the real game have grabbed the limelight lately. If anyone in politics could be called Controversy’s Child, its him! Sreesanth?

Priyanka Vadra – The poor lady has not even began her career yet. But, for the faithful she has already become a ray of hope. Her every movement is tracked, every innings is being watched! Arjun Tendulkar?

So these were the players, What about the teams??

Aam Aadmi Party –  A team which has done the most with limited resources. Created shockwaves with their maiden performance! A mix of everything. First time youngsters or people with years of experience who never got their chance, they have everyone. Rajasthan Royals?

Congress - Corruption scandals have haunted them. Captain was considered clean but the owners have made sure he is also caught in the mess. Yet, can never be counted out. Chennai Super Kings?

BJP – Have become a one man show. Have many players worth their names, yet they are overshadowed by this trailblazer. After the poor form of last few seasons, decided on a total rejig of the team. Brought in a lot of new players, masterminded by someone sitting in the dugout, are currently leading the charts. Kings XI Punjab?

Which makes me realize, there is difference between cricket and politics! In politics, we don’t have a non-controversial figure, someone who is loved by all. Politics doesn't have a Sachin Tendulkar ( or Rahul Dravid ) equivalent!

When the Country Spoke up

“You have gone mad? Stop it!” was the reaction I received from many quarters, sometimes in less kind words, as I engaged myself in a debate ( toeing on war ) in reference to the Indian elections on  Facebook. Debate sounds like a sound alternative for Status wars, as some others would call it.

So, I tried to introspect and asked myself whether I was taking it too far, or the ones taking a contrary view? I have always have had political inclinations towards a particular side, which I believe is right ;) but never was I so open about them, never did I engage in fierce war of words around them, never did I try to influence others but something changed! And this change is not just with me, this change can be seen everywhere. I remember the 2009 elections or many assembly elections post that, never was there a sea of people openly backing one side over the other, making their views known to the world. And just look at you facebook walls or twitter feeds today!

I can’t talk for everyone but atleast at a personal level, I grew up in a household where discussing your political leanings was not considered as the most intelligent choice. “People will judge you based on this” was what my mother would tell me. Others would have their reasons but the fact is, discussing your political leanings in public was never fashionable, till now!

UPA might not have done much for the nation but you have to give them one thing, they screwed us up so badly that people were willing to come out and take a stand. 2G, CWG, Coalgate, JijaG etc etc had made frustrations reach levels unseen or unheard. So, I am not surprised when my “debates” in the last few days have been centred around ( against ) AAP, because frankly for a large part of the intelligentsia – Congress is not even an option and for those that it is, are probably too embarrassed to put it out in the open.  

Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP may yet not be a national phenomena, but he has played a role in redefining the political discourse in the country, he has galvanized the youth of the country in a way others have not been able to. I may not like his dharma style politics but he has enthused a large chunk of people who had given up on the country. Narendra Modi, too, has made sure the debate in this country moved on from caste/religion to national agendas like development/economy/security. He has become the messiah for those who were fed up with the appeasement politics of the last 65 years. Surprisingly, many Modi supporters don’t even like the BJP, they just believe in the man! Be it the MODIfiers or Aam Aadmis, one thing we all have to concede is that the two leaders in question – Modi & Kejriwal have sensed the mood of the nation and have brought out energy unseen in the past so many years, atleast since I have been around.

The result of this election will soon be out. Soon, the social media will see the excitement diminish that it has so grown used to, and a sense of calm will set in. But, if the next Government fails to live up the expectations, the decibel levels will rise again, people will make themselves heard and the unworthy will be shown the door.

In a democracy, difference of opinion is bound to be there, or what’s the use of having the most complex form of governance? But, for me, this election will be iconic for having made that opinion come out strongly like never before!

Left with a choice to crib silently or to press for change, we chose wisely!  

On the Way to Race Course Road

The race to the seat of President of India has been won by Pranab Mukherjee even before it has begun. The numbers clearly suggest that Pranab Da is soon going to become the 1st Citizen of India, taking over the mantle from Pratibha Patil. He is being opposed by Former Speaker P.A. Sangma, who we all know doesn't stand much of a chance. But still the BJP chose to support him. Why??

There was a small period in between when the BJP would have been smelling blood-Remember Mulayam's 'support' for Kalam or is it to much in the past now!! But, President Kalam is not a politician and there was no way he was going to contest "just to make a point." 


After the Mulayam fiasco, BJP decided to support the candidature of Sangma though it has not been supported by allies like JD(U) & Shiv Sena. There have been arguments that BJP didn't want to lend support to a fledgling UPA, which maybe true. There have also been voices that BJP didn't want to support Mukherjee, because it was not consulted before the announcement. Again, if there is one thing consistent with UPA/Congress, it their arrogance & audacity. So, it wouldn't have come as a surprise. So, why fight the losing battle?


I am not a journalist and don't have contacts in political parties to tell you what the "insiders" say but my own observations tell me that supporting Sangma is the best Political move BJP has made in ages. Who cares that they will lose. Who remembers the person who fought against APJ Abdul Kalam? Who remembers Who supported her candidature? BJP knows that Sangma's candidature and this election would be forgotten pretty soon. They have used this election as a launchpad for 2014. They understand very well that 2014 is the best chance for them to return to power and if not, the next chance may not come in the current leadership's life time. Seriously, CWG/ 2G/ Inflation/ Rupee Falling etc etc. If anyone benefits from all this, it has to be the BJP. And who is the best candidate to get them to 7, Race Course Road? Yes, you got it right- Narendra Modi! One may have any views against him or his politics, but you can't deny that he has become the posterboy not just for "Hindutva" fanatics but for "development" freaks as well. The biggest hurdle in his way is not the opposition from Congress but that from the JD(U). By supporting Sangma, BJP has gained favours with AIADMK & BJD, which in fact double the strength of JD(U). As for Shiv Sena, BJP knows- Jayenge to Jayenge Kahan! 


Also, Supporting Sangma would ensure BJP some traction in the North East where it is non-existent. There is good possibility of Sangma & his supporters joining the BJP after the elections. Though North East doesn't have the strength to play make or break but it could be BJP's chance to make its presence felt in that part of the country as well. Though BJP wouldn't want to depend on it, but chances of support from Mamata Didi would also be very high.



And after all, Sharad Yadav has been the NDA Convener for all these years so you can't except JD(U) to support Congress in the next elections. Although nothing is certain in Politics but such an eventuality looks unlikely. Therefore if the BJP falls a few numbers short in 2014, they can always bank upon the outside support of JD(U)!! Ofcoure, all these calculations are hypothetical in nature and depend a lot on whether or not BJP can set its house in order before the next General Elections. But for the time being, they seemed to have Bypassed Raisina Hill on the way to Race Course Road. 

Moving On?? What moving on??

Its been 10 years since Gujarat Witnessed one of the most horrific and unfortunate carnage in the history of modern India. I have not used the word "Riot" as some claim that the violence was state sponsored and therefore, a massacre. The other side claims otherwise. 

Many years have gone by and we still don't know the truth and I fear we never will, Call me Pessimistic! Many people died back then, from all religions. Many were left homeless, again from no specific religion. Many commissions have been set up and a lot of different findings have come to light. While HIS supporters want to believe Mr. Raghavan, the detractors swear by Mr. Ramachandran. 

I have heard many a times that Narendra Modi is a polarizing figure and that you can either hate him or love him but you can't ignore him. Well, I don't think ignoring him is an option since all news channels are always busy advertising him-one way or the other. But, strangely I feel myself a bit neutral towards Mr. Modi. There is no denying that Gujarat has had unprecedented growth in the last 10 yrs but there is also no denying that the Chief Minister could have done better to the control the riot. So, I find it difficult to fit him in one bracket.

Today again, a court verdict seems to have given him a clean chit and thus the news channels are all on about him. The question they ask is, "Is it time to move on?" Well, the sad reality is that many have moved on and the others might never be able to. I still can't shed the tumultuous images of the madness on the streets of Gujarat from my mind. Many commentators have articulated that the 24*7 coverage of the riots have ensured that no riot will ever take place in India again as the concerned Government will not make the same mistakes it did 1984 or 1993 or 2002. I think that maybe right. But while the Coverage was a part of it, the media also became the de-facto judge by declaring Modi as the Villain. For years, almost every news channel in this country treated Modi as the only one to blame for the carnage.I can't claim that I understand the feelings of those who have suffered but my elementary knowledge of human psychology tells me that when those who suffered were literally "told" that Modi was responsible, they believed it! And when the same thing was hard bound after years of media trial, it became a "fact" for them. So no matter how many reports come, Modi will always be the villain for them, and they are not to be blamed for it. 

I don't think that Modi is 24 carat pure, oh No! But the fact remains that nothing substantial may ever surface against Modi but his treatment as "Maut ka saudagar" by the forth pillar of our democracy will never leave our minds. So, "moving on" is something they made sure will never happen!

Is anyone right on Lokpal??

The first time I heard of a person called Anna Hazare was in April this year. Call me ignorant! But when the 73 year old announced his intention to sit on an indefinite Hunger Strike to coerce the Government into acting, he won my heart along with a million others. A lot has happened since then-Joint Drafting Committee, Another fast, some great debating in the parliament, Standing Committee & a lot of mudslinging in the public. Now, we have finally reached a stage when the Lokpal Bill can become a reality after nearly 48 years of having come to light. A lot still needs to be decided and the Government needs to get its act together but given the amount of public pressure, it would be a historic blunder to not fall in line.

Yes, Anyone who has even remotely followed this movement would be able to tell you that the Government has made several flip flops.They have made all attempts to subvert the credibity of the people behind the movement- be it the personal attacks by Mr Digvijay Singh(The less said the better) or be it the IT cases against Arvind Kejrival. Abhishek Manusinghvi could have done his father proud(who introduced the concept back in 1963)  but instead, he decided to please his party leadership. The end result that the Standing Committee came up with was what some people like to call as "Jokepal." 

But, is Government the only party who has made mistakes or rather, shown arrogance??

What about Team Anna or the NDA??

While the NDA & the Left have been saved because of them not being in power and like it is rightly said, only the party in power can pass a bill or make a law. But still, they have not let go of a single chance at Political Opportunism. A specific example that can be talked about here is the curious case of Sharad Yadav. He slammed Team Anna in the parliament, he fully supported them at Ramlila Maidan & then he changed his stance at the All-Party meeting. While Arun Jaitley & Sushma Swaraj got all the adulation for the wonderful speeches during the Lokpal Debate, they have also not taken a clear & specific stand till now. 

Now, moving on to the biggest players in this game. I am, without doubt, talking about Team Anna. I admire the work done by the likes of Kiran Bedi & Arvind Kejriwal in their respective fields, and for mobilizing public opinion on the Lokpal Bill. But, at every step along the way, they have tried to tell the people of this country that the the representatives chosen by them are useless(some of them maybe, but not all). Remember Kiran Bedi's Dupatta act? I am no legal expert but I do tend to watch a lot of TV Debates and from what various experts say, their way in not the only way. Yet, "CBI under Lokpal" is the only solution according to them. The Government's proposition might be absurd, but there are other ways. And last, but not the least, is what my biggest problem with Team Anna is-Lokpal is the "cure-all" solution! A false hope has been developed among the people that an institution called Lokpal will eradicate corruption from this country. Yes, they haven't said it outright but that seems to be the theme. Most of the readers of the blog would know that is not the case. But, what about the common man on the street? 

So, while the UPA Government at large or the Congress Party in specific maybe the biggest spoilers, who has "Rin ki Safedi?"

The Curious Case of Ram Jethmalani

Ram Jethmalani can arguably be called one of India's best lawyers, which is a very subjective term so lets call him one of India's most paid lawyers. But he is weird. If you think he is not, wait and read further!

He takes a moral high by fighting against the black money stashed outside India. He joins Anna Hazare against corruption. Then, he defends Kanimozhi?? Do you know he also defended Harshad Mehta & Ketan Parekh. If these names haven't rung a bell, let me remind you that these were the people who were behind the biggest stock market scams in India. Isn't that Black money Sir?

He has also defended some very high profile but infamous names like Manu Sharma & Afzal Guru. Afterwards, he has used excuses like , "Didn't want Afzal Guru to die easily but rot in jail" and "I have some obligations to some peoplE" in Manu Sharma's case.


He has had a very strange Political career as well. He was a minister in the Vajpayee government and then he went on to fight againt AB Vajpayee in the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections and in 2010, he was again a BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha. He has also started a couple of political outfits in the past which didn't really pick up.

I am not judging him. He certainly is one of India's top lawyers and everyone has a right to proper defence in a court but for a person taking high moral ground of issues of black money, Should he be taking such cases?

All I am saying is that he seems to be a confused personality.

The Biggest Indian Cover Up??

Some of us may never have heard the names of Kim Davy or Peter Bleach. Well I hadn't till today. But this is all a good cover up is all about.

To bring everyone upto date, Kim Davy & Peter Bleach were the key accused in the Purulia arms drop case. What was the Purulia arms drop case? Simply put, it was one of the biggest internal security breaches that India might ever have had. A air plane carrying ammunition entered India from Pakistan without being tracked and dropped ammunition worth $450,000 at a place called Purulia which is on the West Bengal-Bihar Border. The arms were supposed to have been delivered for an anti-left organisation called Anand Marga in West Bengal. This all was done to help Anand Marga in a armed mutiny against the West Bengal Government. Peter Bleach, who was the arms dealer involved in the case served 8 years in Indian Prison before being given Presidential Pardon. But, he spent those 8 years without ever getting to depose in front of an Indian Court. Kim Davy had apparently fled from India and was untraceble.

An Indian News Chanel(Times Now) today, somehow, got in touch with Kim Davy and Peter Bleach and aired their interviews. The revelations were startling to say the least. Peter Bleach claims that he had informed the British Internal Security service MI5 about this whole plan before going ahead with it and they in turn had informed the Indian Intelligence, not once, not twice, but three times. He also claims that right after having been caught, he had written a 30 page statement where he shared all the details about the plan and gave it to CBI officials who later refuted that such a statement was ever taken.  He claims that he was never even brought in front of an Indian Judge so that he could tell his story. Eventually when he was given the pardon, he was rushed out of the country when he was supposed to appear before a court in a couple of days which was 8 years later and by then NDA was in power with Trinamool Congress as an ally!

Kim Davy, who was & is a Anand Marga symphatiser, alleges that he was helped by an MP at that time(Pappu Yadav) and CBI official JK Dutt to get out of the country via the Nepal Border. He also claims that Pappu Yadav had assured him that he had backing of someone from the PMO. Kim Davy has been living in Denmark after that and he wasn't living a life of hiding, he was regularly talking to the press. Whereas, CBI was telling the court that he is not traceble.

There are a lot of question marks in this whole episode.An patriotic might look at Davy and Bleach as two foreigners and criminals at that trying to defame India but at the same time a critical look at the matter poses many questions, What did the intelligence agencies do about the warnings they received? How could a airplane enter India(from Pakistan) and not given raise an eyebrow? Why didn't Bleach face a court for 8 years? How could the CBI claim to not being able to find Davy when he was in Denmark all this while and living an open life? Why was he rushed out of India, was it British Government's pressure or political compulsions for the NDA? Why didn't the British say anything while Bleach was in court when Bleach claims they knew about the whole plan? Did the British Govt. also had a fishy role in the whole affair? Sceptics may also say that Why has this story seen the light of day when the Left is almost certain to be thrown out of West Bengal?

Lets hope we get the answers someday, and sooner the better!

aLIVE!!

Alive seems to be the perfect title for this post, considering the fact that this blog has been dormant for a long time. But more than that, this heading is appropriate because of the contents that are about to follow.

25th April, 2011, to me, would always be a day of victory for the Indian Media. A day when Suresh Kalmadi was arrested and a day when Kanimozhi was chargesheeted. Not taking the claims of Indian Politicos on the face values and not being bogged down by the threats of certain high profile people, Indian media followed the two cases-2G & CWG with utmost perseverance and dedication. When Mr. Kalmadi thought that he could get away with looting our country of crores of rupees, Navika Kumar from Times Now brought crucial evidence from England that implicated Kalmadi and despite his dozens of attempts to threathen them and dissuade them, Times Now stood ground. Not to take any credit away from other news channels, they soon picked up the story and made sure that the people concerned are not able to get away with their deeds.

Similarly, in the case of the 2G scam, when almost everyone thought that A Raja getting caught was enough, our friends in television and print media kept following it and now we know, (as Subramanium Swami said) , "Raja hai to Rani bhi hogi hi." 

But what has been more heartening has been the efforts of the media itself to downplay the arrests of Kalmadi and Kanimozhi. Rather than trying to showcase themselves as heroes, they themselves have accepted that Kalmadi and Kanimozhi might be people acting as the fall guys and the big fish might still be out in the open.

There is still a lot to be answered and a lot that has to be pursued. But with the kind of  excitement shown by the civil society and a alive & LIVE media, I am sure the Bosses of the Kalmadis n Kanimozhis and Hasan Alis will soon be chakki peesing & peesing in Tihar Jail, which apparently is the latest hotspot for VIPs :P

DCET & The Changing Face of Student Politics

One of my first memories of Panjab University, Chandigarh is Ankit Malik & Puneet Rooprai, two 2nd year seniors coming to my room and giving me my first lesson in Panjab University Politics, in process making me a SOPU member for life. But I also remember me having thought at that time, “ I have not come here for politics, I will study!” That might have been the case with most of the people entering Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology as politics is perceived as a thing for the law or arts guys. But PU is a place where you just can’t stay away from SOPU-PUSU or INSO & ABVP & SOI as well some may say. Looking at it all in hindsight, I don’t think I regret having been an active supporter of SOPU or being “involved” in politics. I think it in reality, it lead me in discovering a totally different side of myself.

I was as staunch a supporter of SOPU as one could be but I was good friends with a lot of people who didn’t support my party. There used to be a tradition in our hostel that some seniors were baptised as fathers of some juniors, based on how close they are to each other. Ironically, my “godfather” was Rahul Ravi- a PUSU member and so were most of his friends. But that never was a bone of contention in our relations. We did our best to make sure that we bring success to our parties but we never fought our such stuff. I don’t remember having seen any Senior-Junior alternations because of politics during my first couple of years in DCET. Now that I am no more enrolled as a student in the University and am not directly involved in the elections or any related activities, I realise things have drastically changed. Or were they changing when I was there?

Panjab University Campus Students Council elections have recently concluded and PUSU won 3 out of 4 seats in the council. I am myself disappointed by the result, but what pains me even more is the Facebook wars going on between various supporters of both parties from my department. What hurts me even more is the fact that in majority of the cases, it is a case of seniors(in some cases- passouts) and juniors having a full frontal attack on each other. Something that was unheard of in “our times.” I don’t know what is the reason for it-It can be the sudden rise of Facebook which has given wings to people’s thoughts, It can be the fact that now “ragging” is banned unofficially as well as officially so juniors probably have no real nor apparent respect for the seniors, it can also be due to our dedicated efforts in making our juniors loyal to our party more than anything else or it maybe due to some other reason or maybe due to a mix of reasons. But, I know it is not good for the future batches of my beloved DCET( can’t get used to UICET).

So just a heartfelt request to my fellow DCETians, support your party as much as you want to, just have some respect for your fellow batchmates, seniors & juniors even if they support some other political outfit. I think you will enjoy your stay in the university much more.

A welcome change

Political debates in India have generally been about Congress and BJP ripping each other apart, with the third front (if one exists) parties taking a side whichever is convenient to them. The last week has been a welcome change in that regard. Be it the nuclear liability bill or be it the increase in salaries of MPs, the two parties have shown a united face. I don’t earn my bread through premature interpretations or by creating controversies hence I won’t make an attempt to read between the lines. I am just happy to see the two principal parties in the country come together on some issues and forget secularism or pseudo secularism for some time. At the same time, I feel it is necessary for the media and other sections of the society not to develop unnecessary connections and mislead people into territories which stregthen the already very strong anti-political sentiment in the society. We should just see this as an attempt on part of these two parties to seek whats good for the country, unanimously.

It was great to see Manish Tewari, the Congress Spokesperson, saying on television that there will always be two schools of thought as in how to run the country which is infact good for the country as people have two choices. Of course, this welcome change has not been welcomed with open arms by the likes of Lalu Prasad and left parties. Lalu Prasad has accused BJP and Congress of a secret deal where BJP has supported the N-liability bill in lieu of Narendra Modi going scot free in the Gujarat Riots case. This outrageous accusation(outrageous because this is Congress’ biggest accusation and point gatherer against BJP so there is no way Congress will let go of Modi) stems out from the fact that Bihar elections are due this year and Lalu wants to garner some Muslim support. But I guess Mr Lalu has already got more publicity than he deserves so enough of him. On a question of why such unity is not seen more often, one of the senior members of CPM said on a TV show that BJP and Congress keep changing their statements depending on whether they are in government or in opposition, hence we should not expect the “coming together” that often. To this, Manish Tewari was quick to point out, “so you are conceding that atleast you will never be coming to power” which brought a laughter to all panellists sans the left leader. Such calm and jovial atmosphere is generally not visible these days but if it continues, we can have a situation where good discussions on the floor of the parliament may help the MPs, atleast from the main parties, justify there “300%” salary hike.

IPL

Who says IPL is going out of India, its just changed its name-INDIAN POLITICAL LEAGUE. The mega event of Indian Politics is back and seems its bigger.How I wish I could have said, bigger and BETTER. But, sadly our politicians don't give us that privilege. Below the belt remarks have become fashion of the day. Manmohan and Congress attack Advani & Advani and BJP attack Manmohan.

It just looks as if issues and ideology have no space in this great extravaganza of Indian democracy. All this talk about secular and non-secular forces is crap. Each and every party is an equal shareholder in this. Just that some use it to woo the hindus, some to woo the muslims and every community that exists. Besides that what issues are there, no1 mentions economy, no1 mentions national security, no1 mentions the education system,corruption and everything that should be talked about and isn't. Though I wouldn't say that only the politicians are to be blamed. I think the media is an equal party to all this drama. For example, I totally agree that Whatever Varun Gandhi said was absurd and nonsense( i.e. if he did, I dont wanna court controversy myself...lol) but did it really deserve the airtime it got. The media takes shelter that its their duty to report such instances but were they really reporting. For 1 week, the only thing that was there on the news channels was Varun Gandhi, as if the rest of world had seized to exist. I am sure our dear PM and PM-in-waiting both say some substantial things in their press conferences and public meetings but all we get to see is masala. I think the media is working for TRP's rather than journalism.

Coming to the latest news i.e. Advani challenging Manmohan Singh to have a live TV debate. I somehow like this idea a lot.Mr Advani being a seasoned politician that he is, always knew that the congress would never accept this proposal as his counterpart is nowhere near him when it comes to debating and oratory skills, probably used it as a ploy to score some brownie points among the voters who were the proponets of such a concept. But despite that Congress could have handled it better but on the contrary Congress' reply was really funny, They ofcourse refused citing that we don't have a presidential type of election and our voters vote for the MP, not the PM. I think we all know what parliamentary system we follow but despite this, I think we don't always vote for the MP, the national leadership matters a lot. While voting we all need to know what exactly our probable prime ministers stand for and taking forward what congress said, why don't we have local debates between the MP candidates as well. I think it would be a good idea because afterall our country has to move forward from where votes are cast on the basis of religion or on the basis of how much money a specific candidate is offering for a vote. For this there will have to be a conscious effort from all sections of the society, till then its all a masala movie and this time Manmohan and Advani are playing the leads.