The days of Vajpayees or Advanis BJP is long past. Modi-SHAH combo knows only one Rajdharma which is keep power close and everybody else away. Delhi Durbar will not tolerate any strong regional leadership in the land of the Marathas. SS leaders should be prepared to face ED or CBI raids on trumped up charges. Look at Yedy in Karnataka and how he has been reduced to an inconsequential clown, so much so even to make simplest of appointments Yedy must now beg&bribe Delhi durbar.
Indian Political Discussion
- Thread starter Parul
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The days of Vajpayees or Advanis BJP is long past. Modi-SHAH combo knows only one Rajdharma which is keep power close and everybody else away. Delhi Durbar will not tolerate any strong regional leadership in the land of the Marathas. SS leaders should be prepared to face ED or CBI raids on trumped up charges. Look at Yedy in Karnataka and how he has been reduced to an inconsequential clown, so much so even to make simplest of appointments Yedy must now beg&bribe Delhi durbar.
as expected, they could not buy the MLAs so they declare presidents rule. These guys are morons.
They didn't have enough time for the horse trading to become successful. You see when you want to buy horses in a rush, you have to pay dearly for the luxury. There was a news report that in the period 2018-19 BJP received 700 crores in donation, mostly corporate donations. Give them time and BJP will come up with a plan to buy democracy. They did it in karnataka and they will do the same in Maharashtra, just wait and watch.
The Transformation of India Is Nearly Complete
The Indian Supreme Court’s decision to allow the building of a temple for Rama on a disputed site is likely to intensify the Hindu nationalist efforts to turn India into a majoritarian nation.
By Hartosh Singh Bal
Mr. Bal is the political editor of The Caravan magazine in New Delhi.
NEW DELHI — On Saturday, fireworks were set off in parts of India to celebrate the verdict by the country’s Supreme Court to clear the way for the building of a temple for Rama — the Hindu deity and the protagonist of the epic poem “Ramayana” — in Ayodhya, a northern Indian town.
The piece of land where the temple for Rama will be built is considered by many Hindus to be his exact birthplace. But the land in question and its ownership have been long disputed. The Babri Masjid, a mosque built in 1528, stood there until Dec. 1992, when a Hindu mob demolished it. Hindu and Muslim litigants had been fighting for its ownership for decades. When the Supreme Court announced its decision, lawyers outside the court yelled, “Hail Lord Ram!”
In the mid-1980s, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a sister organization of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, started a campaign to reclaim the birthplace of Rama in Ayodhya. In 1990, Lal Krishna Advani, then the president of the B.J.P., rode through India on a truck designed like a chariot to whip up support for Rama’s temple. Amid appeals to Hindu pride, Mr. Advani and other B.J.P. leaders framed the building of the temple as the way to end what they termed as thousand years of servitude to Muslim rulers.
On Dec. 6, 1992, a mob led by the leaders of the B.J.P. and its affiliates illegally demolished the mosque, sparking riots that killed more than 2,000 people.
The movement to build Rama’s temple and the demolition of the Babri Masjid led to the B.J.P.’s meteoric rise in electoral politics — from two seats out of 541 in the Parliament in 1984 to forming a national government in 1998. The campaign for Rama’s temple ushered in an era of majoritarian politics in defiance of the promise of secular nationalism that has held together this multireligious country since 1947.
Saturday’s verdict by the Supreme Court of India, while distilling the complicated history of the disputed site, made some important observations on the history of deceit and criminality that got us here.
The court concluded that while excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India at the site revealed the ruins of a Hindu religious structure dating back to the 12th century, there was no evidence to suggest this structure existed or was demolished when the mosque was built.
The judgment also states that the two events that have served as the basis for Hindu claims — the supposedly miraculous overnight appearance of Hindu idols in the mosque in 1949 and the demolition of the mosque in 1992 — were both criminal acts, the handiwork of Hindu fundamentalists. Yet this verdict amounts to rewarding criminality.
The Supreme Court green lighted the building of Rama’s temple, in effect asserting the primacy of the faith of those who believe that the disputed site is the birthplace of Rama. As there is no evidence for the historicity of Rama, this must surely rank as one of the more remarkable legal justifications for deciding a case about ownership and possession of a piece of land.
The court’s verdict comes against the backdrop of a heightened assertion of Hindu nationalism by the government of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, which was elected for a second term with an overwhelming majority in May.
Shortly after, in August, Mr. Modi abrogated the autonomyof Muslim-majority Kashmir. The decision was in keeping with the long-stated demands of the Rashtriya Swayam sevak Sangh, the Hindu nationalist mother ship whose influence over Indian society today can be compared to the sway of the Communist Party in China.
The R.S.S. is set to celebrate its hundredth year in 2025, and the temple that is likely to be built in time is an appropriate marker of its rise from insignificance. A few years back, I traveled to Ayodhya. Since the demolition of the Babri mosque, a workshop run by an R.S.S. affiliate has been preparing for Rama’s temple. A model of the temple stands at the heart of the workshop. At one end of the workshop, rows of bricks marked “Shri Ram,” which were brought there by pilgrims from across the country, were piled up.
The ground where the mosque once stood was guarded by armed policemen. I walked with a crowd of Hindu pilgrims through a corridor covered with wire meshing. Several body searches later, we stopped in front of a makeshift temple to Rama, where a policeman played the part of a priest. The pilgrims were curious to know where the mosque had stood, but there was nothing to indicate that it had ever existed. The erasure had been complete.
Back at the temple workshop, I saw a wooden model for Rama’s temple, as envisioned by the R.S.S.: a two-storied structure, 268 feet 5 inches long, 140 feet wide and 128 feet high, with 106 pillars on each floor and 16 statues carved on each pillar. Behind me, the visitors raised slogans to Rama.
In the early years of Indian Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, spoke of steel factories and dams as the temples of modern India that would propel the country toward prosperity. Speaking after the court’s verdict, Mr. Modi said: “The Supreme Court verdict has brought a new dawn. Now the next generation will build a new India.” But this temple, the symbol of Mr. Modi’s India, is being born out of acts of criminality, embodying the Hindu nationalist vision of the subordination of others.
On a recent visit to the northern Indian state of Punjab, I spoke to friends and family — all from the Sikh minority — and I realized that something fundamental had changed. The Sikhs are not a minority threatened by the B.J.P., which claims them as their own, a part of the Hindu fold, but their clear sense of a distinct identity has left them deeply uncomfortable with the vision of a Hindu nation.
Most of the people I spoke to had aligned themselves against the idea of a separate state demanded by armed Sikh insurgents in a violent insurrection that lasted for a decade, from 1983 to 1993. Now they were telling me this was not the country they had staked their faith in, and for the first time they spoke of working to make sure their children would become part of the large Sikh diaspora in Canada, Britain or the United States.
Already, before the R.S.S. vision takes shape, a vast majority of Muslims from Kashmir and elsewhere, the Christians of the northeast and the rest of the country as well as many in the south of India who lay claim to a different Hindu cultural identity from those in northern India, like the Sikhs I spoke to, are making it clear they want no part of it.
In a country burdened by history, the one consistent lesson is that centralized authority imposed against the wishes of the marginalized and those on the periphery never holds. Mr. Modi is overseeing the transformation of India into an exclusivist, majoritarian Hindu nation and fulfilling the dream of the Rashtriya Swayemsewak Sangh, his Hindu nationalist parent body. A singular question arises: What will become of an India increasingly held together not by consent but by force?
Hartosh Singh Bal is the political editor of The Caravan, a magazine published in New Delhi.
The Indian Supreme Court’s decision to allow the building of a temple for Rama on a disputed site is likely to intensify the Hindu nationalist efforts to turn India into a majoritarian nation.
By Hartosh Singh Bal
Mr. Bal is the political editor of The Caravan magazine in New Delhi.
NEW DELHI — On Saturday, fireworks were set off in parts of India to celebrate the verdict by the country’s Supreme Court to clear the way for the building of a temple for Rama — the Hindu deity and the protagonist of the epic poem “Ramayana” — in Ayodhya, a northern Indian town.
The piece of land where the temple for Rama will be built is considered by many Hindus to be his exact birthplace. But the land in question and its ownership have been long disputed. The Babri Masjid, a mosque built in 1528, stood there until Dec. 1992, when a Hindu mob demolished it. Hindu and Muslim litigants had been fighting for its ownership for decades. When the Supreme Court announced its decision, lawyers outside the court yelled, “Hail Lord Ram!”
In the mid-1980s, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a sister organization of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, started a campaign to reclaim the birthplace of Rama in Ayodhya. In 1990, Lal Krishna Advani, then the president of the B.J.P., rode through India on a truck designed like a chariot to whip up support for Rama’s temple. Amid appeals to Hindu pride, Mr. Advani and other B.J.P. leaders framed the building of the temple as the way to end what they termed as thousand years of servitude to Muslim rulers.
On Dec. 6, 1992, a mob led by the leaders of the B.J.P. and its affiliates illegally demolished the mosque, sparking riots that killed more than 2,000 people.
The movement to build Rama’s temple and the demolition of the Babri Masjid led to the B.J.P.’s meteoric rise in electoral politics — from two seats out of 541 in the Parliament in 1984 to forming a national government in 1998. The campaign for Rama’s temple ushered in an era of majoritarian politics in defiance of the promise of secular nationalism that has held together this multireligious country since 1947.
Saturday’s verdict by the Supreme Court of India, while distilling the complicated history of the disputed site, made some important observations on the history of deceit and criminality that got us here.
The court concluded that while excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India at the site revealed the ruins of a Hindu religious structure dating back to the 12th century, there was no evidence to suggest this structure existed or was demolished when the mosque was built.
The judgment also states that the two events that have served as the basis for Hindu claims — the supposedly miraculous overnight appearance of Hindu idols in the mosque in 1949 and the demolition of the mosque in 1992 — were both criminal acts, the handiwork of Hindu fundamentalists. Yet this verdict amounts to rewarding criminality.
The Supreme Court green lighted the building of Rama’s temple, in effect asserting the primacy of the faith of those who believe that the disputed site is the birthplace of Rama. As there is no evidence for the historicity of Rama, this must surely rank as one of the more remarkable legal justifications for deciding a case about ownership and possession of a piece of land.
The court’s verdict comes against the backdrop of a heightened assertion of Hindu nationalism by the government of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, which was elected for a second term with an overwhelming majority in May.
Shortly after, in August, Mr. Modi abrogated the autonomyof Muslim-majority Kashmir. The decision was in keeping with the long-stated demands of the Rashtriya Swayam sevak Sangh, the Hindu nationalist mother ship whose influence over Indian society today can be compared to the sway of the Communist Party in China.
The R.S.S. is set to celebrate its hundredth year in 2025, and the temple that is likely to be built in time is an appropriate marker of its rise from insignificance. A few years back, I traveled to Ayodhya. Since the demolition of the Babri mosque, a workshop run by an R.S.S. affiliate has been preparing for Rama’s temple. A model of the temple stands at the heart of the workshop. At one end of the workshop, rows of bricks marked “Shri Ram,” which were brought there by pilgrims from across the country, were piled up.
The ground where the mosque once stood was guarded by armed policemen. I walked with a crowd of Hindu pilgrims through a corridor covered with wire meshing. Several body searches later, we stopped in front of a makeshift temple to Rama, where a policeman played the part of a priest. The pilgrims were curious to know where the mosque had stood, but there was nothing to indicate that it had ever existed. The erasure had been complete.
Back at the temple workshop, I saw a wooden model for Rama’s temple, as envisioned by the R.S.S.: a two-storied structure, 268 feet 5 inches long, 140 feet wide and 128 feet high, with 106 pillars on each floor and 16 statues carved on each pillar. Behind me, the visitors raised slogans to Rama.
In the early years of Indian Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, spoke of steel factories and dams as the temples of modern India that would propel the country toward prosperity. Speaking after the court’s verdict, Mr. Modi said: “The Supreme Court verdict has brought a new dawn. Now the next generation will build a new India.” But this temple, the symbol of Mr. Modi’s India, is being born out of acts of criminality, embodying the Hindu nationalist vision of the subordination of others.
On a recent visit to the northern Indian state of Punjab, I spoke to friends and family — all from the Sikh minority — and I realized that something fundamental had changed. The Sikhs are not a minority threatened by the B.J.P., which claims them as their own, a part of the Hindu fold, but their clear sense of a distinct identity has left them deeply uncomfortable with the vision of a Hindu nation.
Most of the people I spoke to had aligned themselves against the idea of a separate state demanded by armed Sikh insurgents in a violent insurrection that lasted for a decade, from 1983 to 1993. Now they were telling me this was not the country they had staked their faith in, and for the first time they spoke of working to make sure their children would become part of the large Sikh diaspora in Canada, Britain or the United States.
Already, before the R.S.S. vision takes shape, a vast majority of Muslims from Kashmir and elsewhere, the Christians of the northeast and the rest of the country as well as many in the south of India who lay claim to a different Hindu cultural identity from those in northern India, like the Sikhs I spoke to, are making it clear they want no part of it.
In a country burdened by history, the one consistent lesson is that centralized authority imposed against the wishes of the marginalized and those on the periphery never holds. Mr. Modi is overseeing the transformation of India into an exclusivist, majoritarian Hindu nation and fulfilling the dream of the Rashtriya Swayemsewak Sangh, his Hindu nationalist parent body. A singular question arises: What will become of an India increasingly held together not by consent but by force?
Hartosh Singh Bal is the political editor of The Caravan, a magazine published in New Delhi.
Modi is so lucky to have such a deluded clowns as opposition, these genius every single time help Modi to sideline any genuine concern or problem. If I was Modi I would ensure these people are sufficiently funded so that they stay in their lala land and never ever come back to reality.
but they are right. He is TRYING. That he has failed despite repeated attempts does not change the fact that he and RSS chaddies are TRYING THEIR VERY BEST. Like the problems they have created around Sabarimala. Not one vote or MLA will be won due to that. Doesn't mean they aren't trying their very best.
Its an even greater tragedy that our national leadership, both the ruling and opposition is filled by court jesters and demagogues. America atleast had more than 200 hundred years to prepare for the sight of clown wearing the crown, but we had just 70 years. Fate has been unfair to our young democracy.
Chacha governor was merely going through the formality of asking NCP and SS to form govt, he had no intentions of allowing any one other than BJP to form govt. NCP and SS can now prepare for ED notices now that AMit shah Raj is in the state. What are the bets that BJP will not split Maha into Vidharba and residue Maha..........Maratha politicians did not learn any lessons from Kashmir saga.
This split has been the dream of people from Vidharbh but BJP had to keep quite as SS was opposed to it. Now BJP must split Marashtra in two parts but splitting SS first.
depends on whether it gets BJP power or not. Likes of people don't make a difference to them.
pretty much what south Indians are saying. I have nothing but love for our Bhaiyyas, but if BJP thinks they will rejig parliament seats based on current population to increase the UP/ Bihar seats and give them more money in the budget, they got another thing coming. You can't disincentivize hard working south Indians who have built high HDI and controlled populations. Instead jokers like Yogi who are incompetent and stupid and don't do any work try to corner more seats specifically for failing population control. That just isn't gonna work.
Well technically the can do a Kashmir on Maha and they dont need to ask anyone since now they can consult their Yes man Chacha governor and perform the caesarean ' constitutionally'. BJP's plan is to do a Haryana in Maha. Cut the Marathas to size with non Marathas and the Hindutva. SS probably saw through the gameplan, but were they soon enough ?
Technically you should get a warning for this rant against fellow members but reading your reply I feel pity on how ill informed or uninformed you are and you didn't even bother to read about the topic you ranted so badly on. I will explain to you and another fellow member like you who is equally hard working below.
To both of you seat distribution based upon population is frozen on 1971 census and in that census every state had either 10lakh population per seat or 10.6 lakh people per seat. So what you see today is heavily skewed representation in Lok Sabha with UP being suffering most loss if you talk about proportional representation. Ironically most people abusing UP and Bihar for greater population are also social justice warrior where they want reservation based upon number of people in their caste! Not just that most of these hypocrites also don't take into account the population density which will again expose the hypocrisy of semi literate geniuses.
Atleast post after reading a bit.
Edit- One example if it was not clear.
In Kerala 1 MP represent 18lakh people whereas in UP 1MP represent 25lakh people, in Rajasthan 1 MP represent 30lakh people. So value of vote of a person or in another words his say in how country works is actually lesser than that of southern states, the ones those play victim every day.
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BJP has huge vote bank in Maharashtra , they wont risk losing state like Maharashtra. Its the cash cow of India
Elevating yogi is the plan apparently. There is now a demand to make the Yogi the head of the trust that will build the temple in Ayodhya. With this Yogi will be catapulted to national limelight and after 2024 Gujju boys Modi-Shah will be politically sidelined like Advani and Yogi Bhayya will take over.
@vstol Jockey what UP needs is
you think I don't know that current seat distribution is frozen per 1971 census? It was done through a sensible gentlemen's agreement between all the parties in order to incentiize states that have focussed on development and the formula has held for 40 years until UPA 2. In Modi 1, BJP has started raising the issues of reorganization basis later census. CBN had raise hell when they also hinted budget distribution basis that. BJP wants to break this for securing more votes for themselves using Bihar/UP bases.
Yogi was originally elevated to stall Rajnath Singh. Someone should tell Modi that unlike Rajnath Singh, Yogi is considered both a buffoon and a moron to boot.
you think I don't know that current seat distribution is frozen per 1971 census? It was done through a sensible gentlemen's agreement between all the parties in order to incentiize states that have focussed on development and the formula has held for 40 years until UPA 2. In Modi 1, BJP has started raising the issues of reorganization basis later census. CBN had raise hell when they also hinted budget distribution basis that. BJP wants to break this for securing more votes for themselves using Bihar/UP bases.
Yogi was originally elevated to stall Rajnath Singh. Someone should tell Modi that unlike Rajnath Singh, Yogi is considered both a buffoon and a moron to boot.
This freeze will end in 2026 and then UP/Bihar will be rewarded with more seats while other states that are implementing population control policies will be punished. Same happened in Finance commission recommendations.
So those states that are implementing honest population control policies should suffer only cz other states failed in such policies.
We contribute highest taxes yet we don't get a say in national power sharing ,why? Cz we have less population , hence less seats.
Thats why theres a saying the road to becoming PM passes through UP. Thats why Modi contested from Varanasi.
Most of this countries rulers have come from UP. Modi is also from UP as he won from Varanasi
that freeze should not end under any circumstances. We should oppose it tooth and nail. Kerala achieved population stability in 1990. If in 2026, 36 years later, states like UP don't achieve it, it really cannot be our problem.
Its in the constitution , freeze on number of seats will end in 2026 and delimitation will take place after 2031 census