Most successful lawyers are successful because they 'win' cases for their clients; the legal system is so designed, rightly or wrongly, that even one innocent should not get punished, even if the system has to let 99 culprits go scot free for want of the 'right evidence'. How do lawyers win cases - winnable cases are won by bringing out the facts, as clearly and as lucidly as possible. Successful lawyers, at times, even win cases where the case is very weak; they do this by discrediting the evidence, or by discrediting the prosecution witness(es), by reducing their credibility.
Something similar is increasingly happening in India these days. In a diverse country like India, it is worrisome that the BJP juggernaut is winning nearly every election, be it the national, state level, panchayat, or municipal. The entire opposition has no answer to the BJP's election winning streak, except uniting for the wrong reasons, without any agenda to convince the people about their genuine desire to serve the people; the opposition has been so 'family & friends centric' and corrupt that they have lost credibility in the eyes of the majority of the people of India. India needs a strong opposition that can stop the BJP juggernaut. I had blogged about this in March 2017. There is no credible opposition leader, of the calibre of Modi, that the people can trust.
Winning elections, by any party, is only possible if it can convince the people on the merits of their agenda. BJP was elected on the agenda of development, which has been aptly summed up in the statement, 'Sabka saath, sabka Vikaas. The entire opposition has not been able to counter this narrative of the BJP. Instead they have now resorted to what the lawyers do best to win weak/ non winnable cases - discredit the evidence/ witness.
After every election, the opposition parties find it convenient to blame the Election Commission and the 'faulty EVMs'. Instead of introspecting on the reasons for their losing elections repeatedly, these parties are focusing on bringing down constitutionally created institutions. This is a dangerous precedent.
Govt of India holds a 'pravasi divas' on 09th January, every year, since 2003. Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) decided to hold a global conference for people of Indian origin in Bahrain this year, starting 06th January. This was inaugrated by the Ambassador of India, and had various speakers from across the political spectrum. Rahul Gandhi was also one of the speakers to the summit. His speech was termed as 'irresponsible' by the BJP. His choice of words and issues in a foreign land were totally uncalled for. It is the people of India who decide on who is to be given an opportunity to govern, not global Indians. He should instead have focussed his efforts in connecting with the grass root level people in his own party, and the people of India. We NEED a strong Congress in the opposition.
Rahul Gandhi is the President of the principal opposition party; he may be a well intentioned individual, but does not have the political maturity, and needs to be guided on how to even interact with people, let alone on issues facing the nation. His performance on stage in Bahrain was less than self assured; he was being constantly being chaperoned by Sam Pitroda, the man behind the event.
Last week, 04 judges of the Supreme Court, out of a total of 27 have gone public, through a press conference, much against the code of conduct of sitting judges. This should have been an occasion for all political parties to come together and find a solution to this national constitutional crisis. Independent judiciary is the third pillar of our democracy, and needs to be strengthened, not weakened.
PS: 16 Jan 2017: The judges have since reconciled their differences, and the chief mediator the Bar Council of India has issued a statement to this effect. There were no substantial issues in the press statement given by the 04 judges, and it seems that it would have died a natural death, with the government keeping off the issue, and by calling it an internal matter of the judiciary.
Instead of acting in unison with the government by permitting the crisis to defuse internally, the principal national opposition party was quick to hold a press conference, and decry the 'danger to democracy', even when this issue was not one fit for political exploitation; this being a constitutional crisis, in which every political party should help in defusing the 'dangerous situation' that has been created. The TMC and Communist leaders also joined the 'danger to democracy' band wagon.
Rahul Gandhi did not stop at this alone, but went on to demand a probe in the death of Justice Loya, which is totally unrelated to the crisis at hand. The son of Justice Loya had to hold a press conference that they have no suspicions about the death of his father, and that this case should not be politically exploited. Did Rahul Gandhi show political sagacity?
Damaging and discrediting constitutional institutions of our country, (like the Election Commission, the Supreme Court, the office of the Prime Minister, and the CBI, etc.), is a dangerous game of political one upmanship, and can have far reaching negative consequences. The opposition has to build their credibility with the people of India by convincing them that they are 'for the people'. Until the BJP govt came along, it had been governments 'of the people, by the people' but not wholly 'for the people'; it was wholly for family & friends and the inner circle coterie.
Congress has been reduced to a 'one family' in the top hierarchy of the party; merit or qualifications do not seem to matter, the only thing that matters in Congress today is the last name, and the proximity of the others to the 'high command', which comprises of the family and an inner coterie of advisors; Rahul Gandhi, the 'selected rather than elected' Congress President has no concept of India or Indians, as he does not even understand the issues faced by the poor of India; Congress has lost touch with the citizens, as also with their own grass root level leaders. As a first step the Congress will have to accept this fact; only then can they even start to revitalise their grassroots level leadership. Not only leadership at the grassroots level, but alll other levels of leadership, including at the national level, needs to be elected through popular mandate rather than through farcical elections.
How better can one explain to the Congress that the majority of the citizens are not with them, other than by interpreting the following happenings in India:
To better their performance and win elections, which is the need of the hour, as India deserves a strong opposition, the opposition in general and the Congress in particular, will have to stop wasting their time discrediting constitutional institutions,(which every democracy needs to keep the required checks and balances) but more importantly, work at the grass root level so as to re-establish a bond with the common citizens of India.
Something similar is increasingly happening in India these days. In a diverse country like India, it is worrisome that the BJP juggernaut is winning nearly every election, be it the national, state level, panchayat, or municipal. The entire opposition has no answer to the BJP's election winning streak, except uniting for the wrong reasons, without any agenda to convince the people about their genuine desire to serve the people; the opposition has been so 'family & friends centric' and corrupt that they have lost credibility in the eyes of the majority of the people of India. India needs a strong opposition that can stop the BJP juggernaut. I had blogged about this in March 2017. There is no credible opposition leader, of the calibre of Modi, that the people can trust.
Winning elections, by any party, is only possible if it can convince the people on the merits of their agenda. BJP was elected on the agenda of development, which has been aptly summed up in the statement, 'Sabka saath, sabka Vikaas. The entire opposition has not been able to counter this narrative of the BJP. Instead they have now resorted to what the lawyers do best to win weak/ non winnable cases - discredit the evidence/ witness.
After every election, the opposition parties find it convenient to blame the Election Commission and the 'faulty EVMs'. Instead of introspecting on the reasons for their losing elections repeatedly, these parties are focusing on bringing down constitutionally created institutions. This is a dangerous precedent.
Govt of India holds a 'pravasi divas' on 09th January, every year, since 2003. Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) decided to hold a global conference for people of Indian origin in Bahrain this year, starting 06th January. This was inaugrated by the Ambassador of India, and had various speakers from across the political spectrum. Rahul Gandhi was also one of the speakers to the summit. His speech was termed as 'irresponsible' by the BJP. His choice of words and issues in a foreign land were totally uncalled for. It is the people of India who decide on who is to be given an opportunity to govern, not global Indians. He should instead have focussed his efforts in connecting with the grass root level people in his own party, and the people of India. We NEED a strong Congress in the opposition.
Rahul Gandhi is the President of the principal opposition party; he may be a well intentioned individual, but does not have the political maturity, and needs to be guided on how to even interact with people, let alone on issues facing the nation. His performance on stage in Bahrain was less than self assured; he was being constantly being chaperoned by Sam Pitroda, the man behind the event.
Last week, 04 judges of the Supreme Court, out of a total of 27 have gone public, through a press conference, much against the code of conduct of sitting judges. This should have been an occasion for all political parties to come together and find a solution to this national constitutional crisis. Independent judiciary is the third pillar of our democracy, and needs to be strengthened, not weakened.
PS: 16 Jan 2017: The judges have since reconciled their differences, and the chief mediator the Bar Council of India has issued a statement to this effect. There were no substantial issues in the press statement given by the 04 judges, and it seems that it would have died a natural death, with the government keeping off the issue, and by calling it an internal matter of the judiciary.
Instead of acting in unison with the government by permitting the crisis to defuse internally, the principal national opposition party was quick to hold a press conference, and decry the 'danger to democracy', even when this issue was not one fit for political exploitation; this being a constitutional crisis, in which every political party should help in defusing the 'dangerous situation' that has been created. The TMC and Communist leaders also joined the 'danger to democracy' band wagon.
Image: Courtesy Google Images: 4 SC Judges at their press conference
Rahul Gandhi did not stop at this alone, but went on to demand a probe in the death of Justice Loya, which is totally unrelated to the crisis at hand. The son of Justice Loya had to hold a press conference that they have no suspicions about the death of his father, and that this case should not be politically exploited. Did Rahul Gandhi show political sagacity?
Damaging and discrediting constitutional institutions of our country, (like the Election Commission, the Supreme Court, the office of the Prime Minister, and the CBI, etc.), is a dangerous game of political one upmanship, and can have far reaching negative consequences. The opposition has to build their credibility with the people of India by convincing them that they are 'for the people'. Until the BJP govt came along, it had been governments 'of the people, by the people' but not wholly 'for the people'; it was wholly for family & friends and the inner circle coterie.
Congress has been reduced to a 'one family' in the top hierarchy of the party; merit or qualifications do not seem to matter, the only thing that matters in Congress today is the last name, and the proximity of the others to the 'high command', which comprises of the family and an inner coterie of advisors; Rahul Gandhi, the 'selected rather than elected' Congress President has no concept of India or Indians, as he does not even understand the issues faced by the poor of India; Congress has lost touch with the citizens, as also with their own grass root level leaders. As a first step the Congress will have to accept this fact; only then can they even start to revitalise their grassroots level leadership. Not only leadership at the grassroots level, but alll other levels of leadership, including at the national level, needs to be elected through popular mandate rather than through farcical elections.
How better can one explain to the Congress that the majority of the citizens are not with them, other than by interpreting the following happenings in India:
- The demonetisation exercise led to a lot of hardship on the citizens; the opposition tried their best to incite the people, but to no avail. Despite hardships the people supported the PM, and gave a big thumbs up in the UP election, by voting the BJP to power in an unprecedented victory.
- GST was introduced. It had shortcomings, and hurt the trading community the most. The people of Surat were badly hurt, if one goes by the 'Gujju psyche of aversion to taxes', and yet Surat returned BJP to power in Surat. Why? It is because the citizens do not find another credible leader who is willing to work tirelessly 'for the people', without 'parivar vaad' and corruption.
To better their performance and win elections, which is the need of the hour, as India deserves a strong opposition, the opposition in general and the Congress in particular, will have to stop wasting their time discrediting constitutional institutions,(which every democracy needs to keep the required checks and balances) but more importantly, work at the grass root level so as to re-establish a bond with the common citizens of India.
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