Delighted at Davos ?

P Chidambaram is delighted at Davos

All the foreign industrialists and businessmen he met , told him,

"  We have confidence in India's growth story

    We are bullish on India

    We plan to invest in India , in a big way  "

For fear of offending , what they did not tell him , is :

"  Everything depends upon who becomes your Prime Minister in April 2014

   We hope , he is Narendra Modi , who has promised to build,

  >   100 brand new Smart Cities in 5 years,

       =  20  new cities  EVERY  YEAR

       =   1  new city every  18  DAYS  

  We can imagine the inputs that India will need to build these cities

  For building same 20 cities per year , the Chinese are consuming 50 % of ALL  the steel produced in the entire World , EVERY  YEAR  !

And constructing a 5,000 MW coal-fired power plant  EVERY  WEEK 

And building 500 Km of new rail-roads  EVERY  MONTH 

Apart from steel , you will need millions of tons of

>  Aluminium / Copper / Cement / Ready Mix Concrete / Wood / Glass

>  Paint / Varnish / Chemicals / Tiles / Marble / Wires / Cables

>  Light fittings  /  Bulbs / Switch-boards / Towers / Pumps .. etc

And those millions of people who will occupy these Smart Cities , will need,

>  TV / Fridge / Washing Machine / Water Filter / Micro-wave Oven / Mixer

>  Fans / Air Conditioners / Cars / Scooters / Computers / Tablets / Mobiles

>  Furniture / Food / Garments / Clocks / Watches / Music System / Books

The lists can go on and on

Every year , you will need 10,000 additional factories to produce all of these

That is the only way you can raise contribution of Manufacturing to overall GDP , from current 16 % to 25 %

Which will create 10 million new jobs , year after year

Still short of population growth of 15 million every year  !

But to create just ONE new job , you will require a Capital Investment of Rs 1 million

So , every year , you will need capital investment of Rs 10 Million Million  !

We are ready with the money  !

Since UPA - 2 could not give us a Green Signal , we are now waiting for the

Saffron Signal  !

Mr Chidambaram ,

You said ,

> India's economy can certainly return to 8 % growth rate if mistakes of the

   past are not repeated

No doubt about that  !

People of India have decided NOT to repeat their mistake in April 2014  !

Verdict of the people of Delhi , was only a " Curtain Raiser "  !


Defeated in Delhi  /  Delighted in Davos  ?

*   hemen   parekh  (  24  Jan  2014  /  Mumbai  )

Selling Rainbows ?

On the last day of the recently concluded BJP session in Delhi , Narendra Modi announced ,

" If voted to power in April 2014 elections , BJP will build 100 new SMART cities , in 5 years "

That is 20 new cities to be built EVERY YEAR  !

By sheer coincidence ( no doubt ) , China's current target is also 20 cities / year

But then China has an enviable track record of having actually built , 500 brand NEW cities since 1978

That is approx 14 new cities per year

Non - stop , year after year , for the last 34 years  !

Capable of accommodating 700 million citizens

Is Narendra Modi being audacious  ?

Not at all

Earlier , in Dec 2012 ( before Assembly elections in Gujarat ) , BJP manifesto said ,

" If voted to power , we will build 50 Lakh houses ( of course , for the poor ) in next 5 years  "

That is 2,739 houses per day

Or , 10,68,210 new houses in the last 390 days , since BJP came to power  !

Cannot find these  ?

Silly  !

How can you build houses , unless you first build a brand NEW city , once every 18 days  ?

Can't you see , how we are building city of Dholera , for the last 3 years ?

Why don't you go ask AAP ,

" Where are those brand new  6  schools that you promised to build in the last 24 days , since coming to power ( @ one school every 4 days )  "

A cynic once said ,

"  Like Laddoos , promises are meant to be broken ! "

And rainbows exist in the sky - for a very brief period , before elections  !

*   hemen  parekh  (  23  Jan  2014  /  Mumbai  )

Accused ? Vanquished ? Anarchist ?

After AAP withdrew its Dharna last evening , panelists / analysts / journalists ( - and anyone who got invited by TV anchors ) , were busy pronouncing :

>   Murder of Democratic Processes

>   Ignominious Defeat

>   Shameful Withdrawal

>   Face-saving Formula

>   Renegade Retreat

>   State - sponsored Anarchy

>   Lawmakers taking law into own hands

>   Why don't Somnath go on long leave  ?

>   Eating Crow / humble pie

>   Arrogance Unlimited

>   Unbridled Activism

>   Goodbye to Governance

>   Footpath Cabinet

>   Shameless Selfishness

>   Rabble Rousing Ruffians

>   Climb-down  /  Compromise

No one asked ,

"  How do you categorize the following incidences from Independent India's

   history  ?  "

>   Imposition of Emergency by Indira Gandhi

>   State - tolerated Delhi murders of 1984

>   Demolition of Babri Masjid

>   Asking Indian Army to revolt

>   State - sponsored Bundhs

>   Fake encounters in every state

>   Moral policing

>   Khap Panchayat rulings of honour - killing

>   Fearful Fatwas

>   Police Atrocities

>   Political Rallies bringing traffic to halt

The list can go on and on

All the past and the present governments ( Central and States ) have been guilty of , one or more , of the above - mentioned " illegal " crimes  !

Only difference between them and the current AAP government in Delhi is :

AAP has the moral courage to openly admit that it will continue with its agitations / protests / dharnas / activism , even as it continues in power  !

A very refreshing candor  !

For the common men ( Aam Aadmi ) , this unconventional approach of AAP is their last ray of hope that things can be changed democratically

But it seems , the Corrupt / Criminal / Callous politicians don't like this democratic approach  !

They seem to be telling AAP - and the people :

>  Don't shout slogans and sing patriotic songs on the streets

>  Stop protesting

>  We don't understand your polite requests

>  Only language we understand is the gun-sounds of Naxalites

What these power-hungry politicians forget is that , thousands of our fore-fathers sacrificed their lives to the bullets of the British , to win freedom

And , win the right to vote !

In 2014 , people of India don't need to pick -up guns to change government

They don't need to pull a trigger

They only need to press a tiny button on the Voting Machine

A button marked with a broom ( a Jhadu )  !

After 66 years of ruling / ruining this country , it is possible that the Satraps of Congress and BJP , cannot see the approaching Tsunami called AAP , which will sweep them into the dustbin of history - come April 2014  !

Wake up ,  People of India  !

2014 is your " tryst with the destiny "  !

*    hemen  parekh  (  22  Jan  2014  /  Mumbai  )

AAP is the new Google !

Eric Schmidt , Chairman - Google , was in India a few weeks back

In an interview , he said ,

"  It is quite possible that the next Google comes out of India  "

May be he was thinking of AAP  !

Because AAP is the new Google

Within months of being launched ( Sept 1998 ) , Google left behind the mighty and powerful , established search engines like Yahoo  /  MSN ( Bing ) / AOL  / Alta Vista / Meta Crawler / Excite / Ask Jeeves etc

In a similar fashion , ONE YEAR old AAP will soon leave behind , the mighty and entrenched political parties of India , such as , Congress  /  BJP  /  BSP  /  SP  /  TMC  /  CPI (M)  / AIDMK  /  DMK  / BJD  / RJD  etc

Why is that not only " possible " but also highly " probable "  ?

Just look at what is happening on the streets of Delhi since yesterday morning

Arvind Kejriwal - and his cabinet ministers - are sitting on a " Dharna " , near Rail Bhavan - and even sleeping on the footpath  !

They are raising their voice and challenging the " ESTABLISHMENT " of the corrupt / the criminals / the callous / the Congress 

For the first time in the history of independent India , the Ministers are not sitting in their air-conditioned Mahels

They are out in the Mohallas , leading the people , ready to be arrested / lathi-charged / what have you !

Without deviating from their peaceful , non-violent means

They are walking in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi / Martin Luther King / Nelson Mandela / Dalai Lama

They will teach the oppressed people of the World , how to bring about a change - democratically , without resorting to guns

Nearly 72 years ago , on 9th Aug 1942 , Mahatma Gandhi asked British to " Quit India " - peacefully

And gave to the people of India , mantra of  "  Karenge  ya  Marenge  "  !

There is a strong possibility that the history may repeat today , outside the Rail Bhavan  !

People of India are welcoming the rise of the new  GOOGLE in their political sky  !

*   hemen   parekh  (  21  Jan  2014  /  Mumbai  )

Copycat Congress ?

After Congress defeat in Delhi , Rahul Gandhi did say ,

"  We have a lot to learn from AAP  "

For a change , he meant it too  !

At the recently concluded AICC session , he outlined Congress Strategy for 2014 elections

He said ,

>  We will ask people to tell us what they want . People will prepare our

     Election Manifesto

    (  AAP did it first  )

>  We will let Congress workers to " elect " their candidates in 15

    constituencies ( ala , American Primaries )

    (  AAP did it in all the 70 constituencies of Delhi  )

>  In many states , we gave responsibility to YOUNG and we will do so in

    many more

     (  AAP is THE party of young !  )

>  We will pay special attention to the " NEW MIDDLE CLASS " of 700 million

     people

     (  Narendra Modi has already capitalized on this fact for 1 year ! )

>   In the first 3 months of being voted to power , we will aggressively

     attack inflation and corruption

      (  1 year ago , AAP came into existence on exactly this premise  !  )

And copying AAP's " Activism " , Sanjay Nirupam now got Maharashtra CM , Prithviraj Chauhan , to reduce power tariff by 20 %  !

It appears that after bulldozing the wishes of ordinary people for the past

66 years , Congress is about to re-invent itself  !

Not bad for a party of 128 years to learn , a thing or two , from a party which is 1 year old  !

Or is it merely a case of

>  a " Re-Active Rahul "  ( as opposed to " Pro-Active " )

instead of

>  a " Copycat Congress "  ?

*   hemen  parekh  (  20  Jan  2014  /  Mumbai  )

Thank you , Rajdeep Sirdesai !

Thank you for conducting that brutal interview of Arvind Kejriwal , Saturday evening

Normally , Arvind is a very reticent fellow

But you managed to rattle him  !

But for your penetrating questions , Arvind would not have volunteered to reveal on his own , the following  :

>  RESERVATION OF 90 % SEATS

    -  It is only for 28 colleges which are partially or fully funded by Delhi

        Government

        It is for ANY student ( from any state of India ) , who passes his / her

        10th standard from any Delhi school

>  FREE  WATER

     -  Only 20KL per month is free

        Our goal is to " Reduce Consumption / Conserve "

        Hence it makes sense to charge those who continue to consume more

        than 20 KL .

        If they want FREE , they must cut back on consumption  !

        Again it makes lot of Economic Sense , to give water free , only to

        those who have meters

        Lakhs of households will now get motivated to install meters !

        A very powerful incentive

        That will introduce " Measurement of Resource "

>  NO WATER IN SLUMS / UNAUTHORISED COLONIES

      -  This is a physical problem of laying 150 Km of new pipe-lines /

      installation of pumps etc

     No one asked Congress government re this for 15 years !

     It is totally unfair to expect AAP to do this in 15 days !

>  DIFFERING VIEWS / OPINIONS AMONGST AAP LEADERS

   -  This is what democracy is all about  !

   We encourage ALL to speak their minds without fear / reservations

   Ideas must flow unhindered

   We believe in brain-storming , not in suppressing views  !

   But ,

   PAC members / MLAs / Core Committee Members etc will need to toe the

   FINAL PARTY POSITION 

( arrived after fierce internal debate / evaluation /

   consensus ) in public , irrespective of their personal views

   As far as millions of ORDINARY MEMBERS are concerned ( including Capt

   Gopinath / Mallika Sarabhai etc ) , they are at liberty to criticize even the

   FINAL PARTY POSITION

   We impose PARTY DISCIPLINE , only on office bearers

   And since Vinod Binny is our MLA , he is bound by this internal CODE OF

   CONDUCT .

   He must leave the party , if he cannot comply

>  SOMNATH BHARATI TAKING LAW IN OWN HANDS

   -  If Delhi police won't act against drug mafia / sex racketeers , despite a

   pile of complaints from local citizens , then our ministers will come out on

   the streets , in support of the oppressed

   We will not hesitate to join their agitation / revolt against the corrupt  !

   Even Mahatma Gandhi , had to break the unjust British Laws

   We will do the same

   If we cannot change the law with the support of our MLAs , then we will

   break it with the support of the suffering public

   Make no mistakes about it  !

>  AAP ENGAGING IN ANARCHY / CHAOS / POPULISM

   -  Another TV channel editor said , we are continuing " Activism "

    Still another TV anchor says , AAP failed to graduate to " Governance "

   Use any - and all - adjectives you can , to describe our behavior / actions

   We are not guided / governed by  any " Ideology " ( Left / Right / Center )

   When we take any decision / action , we only apply " Gandhi Guideline " ,

   viz ;  " Will this help the poorest person ? "

>  AAP TAKING CONGRESS SUPPORT

  -  If they like , let them withdraw their ( unasked for ) support today

     Let there be re-elections

     People of Delhi will bring us back with 50 seats

>  CONTESTING LOK DABHA SEAT  ?

   -  I may , if Party asks me

    [  Arvind ,

        Whereas all the rest of your answers were most appropriate , this was

         the most disappointing  !

         If you succumb to the " wishes " of your colleagues , not only the

         people of Delhi , but of entire India , will conclude that ,

         #    You are an opportunist

         #    You are after power

         #    You cannot be trusted

          #   You have betrayed them  ]

Once again , thank you Rajdeep ,

But for your grilling , public would have continued to believe the canards being dished out by those pseudo - experts trying to drown out each other , on panel discussions / obsessions  !

*   hemen  parekh  (  20  Jan  2014  / Mumbai  )