The debate is over, the votes cast, and Singh is King! The UPA got a stunning victory, with 275 for and only 256 against. As I predicted in my earlier post, there were 10 abstentions. Interesting, there was some pretty substantial cross-voting from the BJP, with as many as 7 voting with the government.
I am not an avid follower of national politics, but this last week had me rivetted to the TV... never before has the country seen such a strongly contested debate, spilling over from parliament into every household, courtesy of our dozens of news channels. Irrespective of the lack of morality shown by many over issues like the Aarushi case, one should feel very proud seeing the complete freedom of press enjoyed in India - can such free and open discussions be expected any where else except in the West?
I am still trying to figure out if anyone but the Congress and the UPA allies gained anything out of this nonsense thrust upon the country by the Left! Let's take a quick round up. The Left has shown itself to be completely devoid of any consideration for the country's good, holding the country to ransom for one Mr Karat's ego, and then showing how empty their talks of principles are by aligning with the NDA, who they claimed as their sworn enemies. What about the BJP? What face does it have left? Advani has been completely over shadowed by Mayavati's master strokes, and leaders like Rudy made such a fool of themselves coming up with ridiculous points for arguments, ridiculous predictions, and even more ridiculous accusations against the government. Where were all those other smart leaders - Yashwant Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Vajpayee? The final straw was perhaps the stunt in parliament preventing the PM from making his closing speech, ridiculing the parliament and making a spectacle of their own MPs, later referred to by Amar Singh as political prostitutes. And Mayavati? She actually calls a press conference accusing the NDA of siding with the UPA to make sure the "daughter of a dalit" doesn't become the PM! Jayanti Natarajan perhaps summed it well last night when she said Mayavati was being used by powerful men for their own games and machinations, and would be immediately dumped!
On the other hand, Amar Singh and Mulayam, Lalu, and other UPA leaders closed ranks and rose up like a Phoenix from the ashes of the Left pull out. Sonia showed this government was not a puppet of the Gandhi family, ensuring it was about Manmohan and not Sonia and Rahul. And Dr Singh, well, you are king! Someone who was accused of being a technocrat, not even voted by the people, has shown what an astute politician he is! Many other Congress and UPA leaders also showed their mettle - Kapil Sibal, Praful Patel, Jayanti Natarajan, Digivjay Singh, Pranab Mukherjee - have all proved their worth in countless debates on TV! And the shining star - Somnath Chatterjee. He truly brought respect to the Speaker's chair, conducting the proceedings in the most amazing manner. One only needed to watch the proceedings in parliament for a few minutes to admire and applaud this most respectable politician!
What happens now? The UPA has a clear mandate to move forward, freed from the shackles of the Left, and bolstered by the SP, while the unholy troika of Karat, Advani and Mayavati ensure that whatever opposition existed is broken up into pieces, unsure and confused of what their stand should be! I hope the UPA can now push ahead with all the financial reforms that were being held back by the Left, go ahead and sign the nuclear deal, and of course, make sure the divisive forces in the country and routed in the coming elections, putting India firmly on the path to take it's rightful place at the helm of the world.
1 comment:
Twenty four hour news channels have completely changed the way I look at national and international affairs, in the sense that I actually look at them now :)
Times Now's coverage of the Confidence Vote was simply outstanding. At one point, I was watching the debate live on DD. It ended with Chatterjee adjourning the house when one of the BJP guys accused the UPA of bribing ministers for votes and the very next second, when I switched to Times Now, the reporter had already started a panel discussion on the validity of the accusations made by the minister! At that moment I was awe struck by the quality of news being delivered. The number of people being put on the stand. The candid analysis of issues. The ability of these reporters to pin point topics of national interest and ask all the relevant questions. It was simply, Beautiful!
Congress and the UPA have definitely emerged through the votes with a lot of dignity. They maintained their calm, behaved in a very civilized manner, stayed away from foul language and finger pointing and simply maintained their stand - "We'll win at the votes" and that’s another word the Congress has managed to keep
I have lost all faith in the BJP and the Left with all the scandals they created, their behavior in the Parliament, the arguments that I heard from their ministers and those from the ministers at the UPA. It just seemed so clear. BJP lacked the vision and the “class” that an emerging nation like India needs today. I’m not sure I want a party that walks into the Parliament with a bag full of cash as a last resort to have its way, to represent India. It lacks innovation!
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