Lutyens Media-Time for Introspection

      Media & Credibility, these two words are seldom used together. Historically, media has always been dominated by left-wing pseudo intellectuals. Their only claim to fame is their proximity to power circles in lutyens Delhi & over-usage of oxford dictionary. Conventional media has become a propaganda tool for left-wing ideology.
      The media space required for an alternate ideology in a true bipolar democracy has never been provided by the mainstream Indian media. This is the reason why political events in India have always flummoxed the arm-chair media in lutyens Delhi. Going by the political discourse dictated by lutyens media, the scale & spectacular success of Ram Janmabhoomi movement cannot be explained. Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi government in 1975 exposed all the pseudo liberalism of Indian media, when it was asked to bend by the then government, it began to crawl. With the exception of media giants like Ramnath Goenka, media proved itself to be a government stooge. Lutyens media must realize that they don't have proprietorship over what they define as 'Idea of India'.
     What has now hurt lutyens media is not the clampdown on freedom of speech but their loss of undeclared monopoly over political discourse in India. In this digital social media age, it's the voice of the previously silent Indian majority which is making noise. Lutyens media is unable to digest the fact that previously silent Indian middle-class has become politically opinionated. Previously, political discourse in India was unilateral. The agenda was set  by the media & right to express your opinion was a privilege exercised by lutyens media intellectuals. But today, social media has provided a platform where the intellectual caste divide doesn't exist anymore. Today, India is more opinionated than ever before. 2014 elections demonstrated the rise of the silent Indian majority. Going by the media debates from 2012 to 2014, the rise of Modi just cannot be explained. But social media discourse perfectly captured the mood of Indian masses.
     NDTV's cry over one day ban is not about freedom of speech. It's their cry over being held accountable & being questioned by the government. Lutyens media has never been scrutinized. Accountability is fundamental in any democracy. Mainstream media must use this as an opportunity to re-establish itself as what they should be-The 4th pillar of democracy. Frankly, today lutyens media is heading towards irrelevancy. If they still believe that majority in India can be dictated by their debates then it's the time for them to pack their boots. Practically, it's the social media which is actually the voice of the people today because the agenda & discourse is decided by 'We, the people of India' and not 'We, the people of Lutyens Delhi'. 

AAP claims Modi masterminded chikungunya in Delhi

                In a video addressed to AAP followers, Delhi Chief Minister & AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal claimed that dengue & chikungunya outbreak was a well thought out plan by PM Modi to defame the Delhi government.
               Kejriwal said that PM was terribly disturbed by the pace & scale at which AAP government was working in Delhi. He said that the mohalla clinics in Delhi were creating a revolution & soon WHO was all set to declare Delhi as the world's first disease free city. Referring to his sources in the Ministry of External Affairs, Kejriwal said that Modi government refused to grant visa to a WHO delegation which was going to come to Delhi to study the working of Mohalla clinics. He said that WHO Director had personally called him & said that he was keen to apply the concept of Mohalla clinics in New York & Washington. So in a bid to sabotage the working of the Delhi government, PM Modi in consultation with LG Najeeb Jung made extensive plans to wreck the health care system of the Delhi Government.
              Citing his sources in Health Ministry Kejriwal claimed that 5 months back the National Centre Disease Control(NCDC) received special instructions from the highest echelons in Modi government to breed highly infectious & potent mosquitoes which are

 lethal.
             Also sources close to Kejriwal confirmed that throat surgery was just a reason given by him to save his life from Modi made mosquitoes. Earlier in a video Delhi CM had claimed that PM was hatching a conspiracy to kill him & that this Chikungunya outbreak was a part of that well orchestrated conspiracy by the Modi Government. Deputy CM Sisodia's visit to Finland was also intended to save his life. Dy. CM Sisodia also addressed the video jointly with Kejriwal & said that his flight to Finland was also infested with Modi made mosquitoes & only after application of Patanjali made mosquito net he could save himself.
           Both CM & Dy. CM citing an internal AAP survey claimed that this episode had exposed the Modi Government & that in the next assembly elections AAP would win all the 70 seats in Delhi & all the opposition candidates were all set to lose their deposits.
            Meanwhile BJP Spokesperson Dr.  Sambit Patra mimicked Kejriwal coughing heavily & advised him to visit Patanjali Mansikrog Upchar Kendra for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD).

(The above article is intended as a piece of humour)
Bhaumik J. Kamdar
3rd MBBS
K. J. Somaiya Medical College & Research Centre, Mumbai

Ek Saal Modi Sarkar

All these days news channels have literally gone crazy with their surveys, polls, debates, roundtable talks, etc. All of them are reacting to this event as if for the 1st time any government has completed one year in office. Hardly anyone cares what these news channels boomerang about, In my opinion these news channels make anything but sense. Their absurd debates are really a source of envy for cartoon channels.
So before anyone judges this government, it's important to look at the premises & the context in which this government came to power. This government came to power at a critical juncture where our nation was sans any leadership & suffering from acute policy paralysis. Bureaucrats were confused whether they need to report to 7, RCR or 10, Janpath. Nation required eagle's ears to listen to their prime minister & still they weren't sure if they could listen to him or not. An environment of doom & gloom had taken over India in the last 2 years of UPA-2. It is important that we look at this government's performance in contrast to the previous UPA dispensation.
Now let's assess the present day government realistically. Though one may legitimately say that Modi had raised the bar of expectations to an unrealistic levels. So it was bound to face some flank. But the flip side is that had he not done so, Modi would've never got such a resounding mandate. The biggest achievement of Modi Government is that it has brought governance & policy as a central agenda. The national discourse has shifted from political statements to policy analysis. People are now ready to vote in & vote out any government on the basis of its economic performance. That's the biggest political change that we've seen & it is heartening to note. The dole & freebie culture can't ensure you another term but an 8 % growth does ensure it. Looking at the macroeconomic parameters, economists are of the opinion that Indian economy is getting back on track. Now the assessment of an economist often doesn't match with that of an aam aadmi. An aam aadmi doesn't look at CPI or WPI to gauge inflation or price rise. His definition of price rise is the cost at which he purchases 1 kg onion. But the trickle down effect of economy is yet to be seen. So hopefully even an aam aadmi's economic assessment will match with that of a renowned economist. As far as other economic issues are concerned, be it taxation policy, investments, trade, etc. the real assessment can be done only when the steps taken by the government culminate into tangible results on the ground. So people complaining about 'zameen pe kuch nai hora'  are right in a sense that medicine takes time to act. And giving steroids is not the permanent solution to any disease.
One thing in which Modi's harshest critics will agree is that this man works tirelessly. There can be no doubts about the efforts put in by this government. We may disagree about the effects yielded but we all will agree that there hasn't been any compromise in the efforts put in by Modi & his cabinet. Finally the proof of this government working is the fact that we're scrutinising this government endlessly.
One big change which we're seeing is that social media has become the voice of the people. Main Stream Media has by & large lost its credibility. Their integrity is highly questionable & their clout in Lutyens' Delhi has been demolished. Mr. Modi broke all the power circles & made governance a transparent process. So MSM not being happy is something quite understandable as they were the main middle-men or power brokers in Delhi.
Finally let's remember that Mr. Modi had asked for 60 months & not 12 months. So let's have the trust in him. His record in gujarat definitely points to some 'Ache Din' ahead. And my personal sense about Mr. Modi is that he's much smarter than what everyone thinks.
It's 5 saal Modi Sarkar so have patience.

Delhi Elections - Vibrant Democracy

The spectacular & landslide victory of Arvind Kejriwal has many messages which are to be read between the lines. Keeping aside the sarcastic & confrontational election campaign, the elections were the 1st real challenge to the Modi-Shah duo. The Modi juggernaut which seemed invincible & unstoppable had to bite the dust. Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand & JK were won handsomely mainly on two factors, Anti-Incumbency & Modi mania. In all of these elections, BJP simply banked on Modi's face. The local leadership was irrelevant. BJP could raise it's voteshare by 10-15% & could win the elections with comfortable majority.
Well the analysis given above doesn't excite the common man, it's of more interest to the TV Channel Political analysts. But the main clinching point here is that Modi-Shah duo got the message that public opinion cannot be taken for granted. The trust which the public has on the government is governed by the principles of mutuality. The trust has to be reciprocal. 10 months back BJP had lead in 60/70 Assembly segments. So something must've definitely changed that the results have just become opposite. Political analysis will go on but the point here is that Modi Government got a message that public trust is always subject to governments' actions & not its speeches. In a democracy, we've no option but to respect public mandate but my personal opinion is that I think people are unnecessarily getting impatient & restless. In my opinion, victory of AAP signifies win of populism over governance. AAPs freebie culture is in stark contrast to the principles of sustainable governance.
AAPs win has exposed the fragility of our democracy. With the same vote share as that in 2013 assembly elections, BJP got decimated & reduced to 3 seats. This fragility was also exhibited in LS Elections where BJP swept UP with 73 / 80 seats by having just 40% voteshare. This means in layman's term that with same number of people trusting you, your electoral presence in parliament can vary drastically.
So to conclude, the biggest takeaway of this election was that our democracy is very much vibrant. But it is too fragile because of its voteshare-to-seat conversion volatility. Let's just hope that these anomalies will be corrected in the future. And we get rid of this freebie culture. The ultimate aim of democracy is sustainable governance & rule of the people. I'm sure we'll achieve it.

Changing Political Discourse of India

2014 witnessed a tectonic shift in the political history of india. Advent of Mr. Modi & his landslide mandate has invigorated new hopes & has made the environment euphoric. Political & Economic pundits have extensively commented on the agenda put forth by the new government. Those who understand the knitty gritty of economics have also started questioning Mr. Modi's ability to deliver. Political journalists are by & large awestruck with Mr. Modi's charisma & his vote catching potential. We'll not find a single day without some or the other news pertaining to Mr. Modi. Even for Electronic media, he turns out to be the TRP boosting machine. When there's no news suddenly we find a documentary on Mr. Modi.Economists, across the right & left political spectrum have been polarised about Mr. Modi's economic policies.
The most important change which has happened since Mr. Modi's advent is the change in the political discourse of India. This has largely remained unnoticed by main stream media. Discussion has shifted from narrow political statements to debates on policy issues. Never before has the post of RBI Governor been so keenly followed. Never before has the public discussion been so focused on hardcore economic & policy matters. The discussion has shifted from identity & so called secular vs communal debate to development & economics. Every word spoken by Finance Minister is closely scrutinised which reflects the changing political discourse of India. Never before has discussion on Fiscal deficit & fiscal consolidation dominated the prime time debates. Earlier it all used to be TV studio theatrics about he said & she said.
Now whether Mr. Modi actually delivers or not is a big question in everyones mind. I don't know if he'll really bring 'Ache Din' but at least he has definitely brought 'Ache Batein' in the political discourse of India.

ELECTIONS-FESTIVAL OF DEMOCRACY

The world just experienced the greatest electoral exercise in the history of mankind. Tomorrow we will come to know the results of this grand exercise. But the elections of 2014 have really galvanised the youth of India. They have made them reaffirm their faith in the bright future of India. In recent years,  elections in India have brought more pessimism than optimism. But the elections of 2014 have sparked that ray of hope in the minds of disgruntled indians. While how much of that hope culminates into reality is for the political class of India to answer but these elections have witnessed unprecedented electoral participation. With all the ills of the political class of India, survival of democracy is the proof of how strongly we believe in democracy. Post-Emergency election results were a tight slap on the face of those people undermining Indian Democracy & Indian population.
Whatever the results may be but the underlying outcome of the elections is the victory of the indian electorate. The enthusiasm amongst the 1st time voters & optimism amongst the senior citizens is the ultimate proof of our bright future. Elections are more about participation & less about pessimism. The resounding debates about national issues during elections, the views & counter-views, the sense of being Indian are all the positive takes of a typical indian election. Elections are those events where our "INDIANESS" manifests itself. Young indians participating in large numbers is a sign of healthy & vibrant democracy. While tomorrow we will know whether Mr. Modi has been successful in convincing Indian voters BUT certainly I can say that INDIA has won. YOU HAVE WON.
More do I discuss & debate national issues more does my indianess manifests. I hope you all also experience the same. I have made up my mind to be more vibrant & well-informed about the national issues. I hope you all have also made up your minds for the same.
I can assert with certainty that Lok Sabha Elections are as good a festival as a HOLI OR DIWALI is.
INDIA HAS WON. YOU HAVE WON.