[Reader-list] Feudalism in Pakistan

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Anupam jee

I would just add one more thing to your mail. You have stated that BJP won
because it went on the plank of 'security, development and fight against
corruption' in the 1998 elections. I think more than the BJP gain, it was
the Congress which lost, and the reasons to me are clear somewhat in this
statement of Aashish, the friend I constantly refer to in this forum:

'40 saal tak Congress power mein thee. Unhone kya kiya?'. (For 40 years, the
Congress was in power, as till 1989. What did they do?)

The BJP and other parties asked this question, and stated that the answer
was that Congress had done nothing. They staked their claim to power by
stating that they will do something for the people. So the BJP (and others)
came to power. But such politics also has its limitations. When the people
send you in Delhi with the hope of getting benefits, and you don't provide
it to them (sometimes because of your inability or incompetence, sometimes
because of administrative incompetence, and sometimes because of too much
being asked in too little time and space), they get impatient and fight for
their rights.

The BJP has a very tough road to power even in 2014, according to me, simply
because not only would minorities never vote for it (as most of the minority
section is poor and is threatened by the VHP and the Bajrang Dal), but also
because now that the BJP has ruled, people know that they are not the answer
to the question they asked themselves.

And hence, Modi or no Modi, I don't see any BJP coming back to power, unless
there is an all-India pogrom/riot/genocide or the Congress rules absolutely
badly, or coalition politics ruins the Congress. (Also of course is the case
that BJP is limited only to certain states in India, not the case with the
Congress)

Regards

Rakesh