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Fortnightly Magazine

CONTENTS

Editor

Prabhat Jha, MP

Executive Editor

Dr. Shiv Shakti Bakshi

Editorial Team

Ram Prasad TripathyVikash Anand

Creative Editor

Dharmendra KaushalVikas Saini

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3 Kamal Sandesh March 1-15, 2014

RalliesParivartan rally at Sujanpur Tira, Himachal Pradesh............... 7Vijay Sankalp Samabesh in Bhubaneswar, Odisha................. 9Bharatha Gellisi rallies, Karnataka.............................................. 11Maha Jagaran Rally in Guwahati................................................ 13

BJP on BudgetInterim Budget................................................................................ 14Rail Budget..................................................................................... 17

ArticlesUnder Dr. Manmohan – Sonia duo, parliament hits an all time low

By L.K Advani....................................................................... 19Is Congress responsible for stalling of legislation in Parliament?

By Arun Jaitley...................................................................... 23Unable to govern, they threw in the towel

By Balbir Punj........................................................................ 24Narendra Modi : The man India awaits

By Kanchan Gupta................................................................ 26

OthersNASSCOM India Leadership Forum (NILF) 2014................... 21US Ambassador Nancy Powell calls on Modi......................... 28CII National Council meeting...................................................... 29

Golden words from Adhyatama.................................................. 30


;kokuFkZ mnikus loZr% lEIyqrksndsArkoku~ losZ"kq osns"kq czkã.kL; fotkur%AA46AA

All that is served in a well water is better served by a vast lake; similarly all thepurpose in all Vedic scriptures are realized to he who khnows the Ultimate Truth.

—(Bhagavadgita : Ch.-II, 46)

QUOTES

“They(Congress) say that theblack out of Lok Sabha wasdue to a 'technical glitch'.No. It was a tactical glitch.”

-Sushma Swaraj

~~~~☯☯☯

~~~~

“UPA's budget is anattempt to gloss overits economic failures.”

-Rajnath Singh

Holi : March 17, 2014

~~~~☯☯☯

~~~~“2014 is not about victory or defeat.

It is about ensuring a bright futurefor our nation & sowing the seeds ofa 'Bhavya' & 'Divya' Bharat!”

-Narendra Modi

Holi is an ancient Hindu festival with itscultural rituals. It is celebrated at the end ofthe winter season on the last full moon day

of the lunar month Phalguna (February/March),(Phalgun Purnima), which usually falls in March,sometimes in late February It is mentioned in thePuranas, Dasakumara Charita, and by the poetKâlidâsa during the 4th century reign ofChandragupta II. The celebration of Holi is alsomentioned in the 7th-century Sanskrit drama,Ratnavali. The festival of Holi caught the fascinationof European traders and British colonial staff bythe 17th century. Days before the festival peoplestart gathering wood and combustible materialsfor the bonfire in parks, community centers, near temples and other open spaces. On top of the pyre isan effigy to signify Holika (Holika dahan)who tricked Prahalad into the fire. Inside homes, people stockup on colour pigments, food, party drinks and festive seasonal foods such as gujiya, mathri, malpuas andother regional delicacies. Children and youth spray coloured powder solutions (Gulal) at each other, laughand celebrate, while elders tend to smear dry coloured powder (Abir) on each other’s face.

The festival has many purposes. First and foremost, it celebrates the beginning of the new season,spring. In 17th century literature, it was identified as a festival that celebrated agriculture, commemoratedgood spring harvests and the fertile land. Hindus believe it is a time of enjoying spring’s abundant coloursand saying farewell to winter.

Holi festivities mark the beginning of new year to many Hindus, as well as a justification to reset andrenew ruptured relationships, end conflicts and accumulated emotional impurities from past. Like HolikaDahan, Kama Dahanam is celebrated in some parts of India. The festival of colours is these parts is calledRangapanchami, and occurs on fifth day after Panchami (full moon). Holi frolic and celebrations beginthe morning after Holika bonfire. There is no tradition of holding puja (prayer), and the day is for partyingand pure enjoyment. Children and youth groups form armed with dry colours, coloured solution, meansto fill and spray others with coloured solution (pichkaris), balloons that can hold coloured water, andother creative means to colour their targets.

Kamal Sandesh March 1-15, 2014 5

Edito

rial..

.Kejriwal exposed!

Arvind Kejriwal has resigned as Delhi chief minister. As he chose to abdicate hisresponsibilities as chief minister of Delhi with his eyes fixed on coming LokSabha polls, people of Delhi are feeling cheated and befooled. Speculations

about his resignation were rife in the political circles as he was unable to manage theaffairs of government for which people were made to pay heavily. While he failed tocope up with the expectations created by his false promises he had no options but tofind an escape route which he sought to create through his drama over Janlokpal Bill.While he made to pay people heavily in his short stint as chief minister, there is nodoubt that people of Delhi will now settle their scores in the coming polls.

Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation was not only an act of betrayal but also a step tocamouflage the failure of his government. By running away from governance he hasreinforced the doubt over his ability to govern and maturity to handle issues to theirlogical conclusions. He could have tried to build consensus over Janlokpal but the kindof haste he showed in pushing the bill knowing full well that this would not stand thelegal scrutiny proves that he wanted to get rid of the responsibilities he had acceptedand do politics over the issue. Such approach is not only irresponsible but speaksvolumes about rank opportunism and his style of self seeking politics. In place ofdelivering to the people on his tall promises, he chose to run away seeking to blameothers for his inefficiency and incompetence.

Known for his penchant for enacting drama and sensationalism, serious businessof governance did not go down well with Kejriwal. First he tried to save the skin of hisministers who violated law in full public view by resorting to tactics which furtherlowered Kejriwal’s public image. Who could have thought of defending SomnathBharti, his law minister who took law in his hands and picked two Ugandan womenfor drug test? But everything was possible for Kejriwal. To save his ministers he sat ona dharna but retired as soon he saw that his unacceptable demands were not going tobe accepted. While he claimed to wage a movement against corruption of Delhi Police,he called off his dharna with face saving decision to send two officials on leave pendinginquiry. What did he gain from disrupting the normal life of Delhi by his dharna? Itwas sheer hypocrisy.

Kejriwal government failed completely to measure upto the expectations of thepeople. In the name of fulfilling the tall promises he made, half baked steps wereinitiated with the aim of befooling the people. Arvind Kejriwal was himself neversincere in addressing the problems of the people, he mainly tried to mislead the gulliblepeople treating them as mere voters. He was completely exposed when contrary to hisclaim he prayed to the Delhi LG to allot him two Duplex of five rooms each (Ten roomsin total) for his residence. In fact he got those duplex allotted in Delhi’s posh localityand was prepared to shift in but the public outcry forced his hands. He was neversincere about what he said and always sought to manipulate things when the situationwent out of control. In fact the AAP government had neither vision nor policy orprogramme for a better Delhi. They also lacked competence and efficient deliverysystem which is so important in democracy. In the name of ‘participatory democracy’Aam Aadmi Party government sought to promote hooliganism and mob-mentalityshowing no respect to either constitution, democratic institutions or democratic ethicsand principles.


The resignation ofArvind Kejriwal is awell though design toserve many purposes ata single stroke. Whileit has freed AAP fromthe responsibilities ofgovernance, it can nowaim at stopping thevictory march of ShriNarendra Modi andBJP. AAP is actuallyhand in glove withCongress. Right fromits formation it hasbeen dancing to thetunes of Congress sothat the anti-Congressmood in the countrygets divided anddiverted. But the peoplehave now seen throughthat design and are inno mood to get befooledagain and again. AAPand Congress bothnow stand exposed.But the people willhave to stand in guardagainst their design.Every Karyakarta willhave to remain alertand take people inconfidence whilestrengthening thesupport base of theparty.

The nation nowcannot afford to bemisled again by suchunholy nexus. Peopleare looking at ShriNarendra Modi andBJP with high hopesand enthusiasm. Everykaryakarta will have towork tirelessly so thatthis enthusiasm canpave the way for thefuture of great India!

NaMo’s Chai Pe Charcha a revolutionarystep towards participatory democracy

BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Shri Narendra Modi participated in thefirst round of ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ on Februry 12,2014 to connect witht h e

common manfrom 1000 teastalls in 300cities. Thetheme of thefirst round ofChai pe Charchawas ‘GoodGovernance’.Agence FrancePress wrote onthe Chai percharcha “OnWednesday night, Mr Modi began Chai pe Charcha (Discussion over Tea),which saw him slurp a glass in his home state and take questions aboutgovernance. The event was broadcast to tea stands and their working classclients across the country in 300 cities.”

The Washington Post wrote, “Modi, the son of a train station tea vendor,is vying for power with Rahul Gandhi, 43-year-old scion of the powerfulpolitical dynasty that has dominated the Congress party. To emphasize Modi’s

humble beginnings,the BJP launched anationwide “chat-over-tea” program with thecandidate Wednesday.He sat in a roadside teastall in Gujarat andtook questions, viasatellite link, fromordinary citizens athundreds of similarstalls around thecountry.”

Chai pe Charchawith Namo was

launched at a press conference by Ms. Sushma Swaraj at the BJP Headquartersin New Delhi on February 5,2014. This initiative is being organized by Citizensfor Accountable Governance and is unprecedented both in concept and scale.A unique mix of satellite, DTH, internet and mobile technology is enablingShri Narendra Modi to have a live, constructive dialogue with the people ofIndia across 1000 tea stalls in 300 cities. A unique platform devised to discussand highlight local issues with senior leaders from BJP and Narendra Modiover a cup of tea, this indeed is a revolutionary step towards direct andparticipative democracy.


Addressing a massivecrowd of supporters atthe BJP’s Parivartan

rally at Sujanpur Tira inHimachal Pradesh, on 16thFebruary, BJP Prime MinisterialCandidate Shri Narendra Modispoke about issues plaguing theState and the sky-high arroganceof the Congress that had ruinedthe Nation.

Seeking support from thepeople of Himachal for the BJP,Shri Modi said, “NDA is forming

the next government and ouragenda is National DevelopmentAlliance.” He urged the peopleto vote for the BJP and show theirsupport for ‘DevelopmentPolitics’ instead of ‘DivisivePolitics’.

Expressing his disapprovalof the sky-high arrogance of theCongress party, and theirunwillingness to answer thepeople of India over the plaguing

issues of inflation, corruptionand unemployment, Shri Modisaid, “Congress leaders aregoing across the nation talkingabout greats of the past but whatabout price rise. They are notwilling to tell the people that wewere unable to bring down pricesdespite promising to.”

Condemning the approachof the Congress whichconsidered politics as a careerand a business, Shri Modi spokeof how the BJP was only

concerned with Rashtrabhaktiand service. “There is nothinglike membership in the BJP. Wehave a relationship of blood anda relation for generations,” saidShri Modi.

Speaking about thepreference of the Congress to do‘zeher ki kheti’ Shri Modi said,“The Nation knows very wellwho is doing the Zeher KiKheti,” while adding about the

hatred of the Congressgovernment towards the BJP, andthe tactics they adopt to pull theBJP down. “One day a Keralaleader praised me, he wasremoved, a minister from Keralamet me he was taken to task. Thispolitics of hatred anduntouchability is not good for ademocracy. Congress is adynastic party and this is theopposite of being a democraticparty,” said Shri Modi, whilestressing on how Sonia Gandhi

questioned the essence of ShriModi’s initiative of the Statue ofUnity, but was ready to fight thenext election on the aspect of‘Unity’.

Stressing on the need totackle the vice of corruption, ShriModi said that to free the Nationfrom corruption, we needed tofree the Nation from the corrupt.He retorted to the PrimeMinister’s statement of ‘money

Parivartan rally at Sujanpur Tira, Himachal Pradesh

NDA is forming the next government and our agendais National Development Alliance : Narendra Modi


not growing on trees’ by citingthe example of the Himachal CM,who belonged to the Congressparty. “Leader of Congress andHP CM, his assets have risen 14times and this was written in hisaffidavit. The PM says moneydoes not grow on trees but yourown CM became 14 times richerafter growing money from trees,”said Shri Modi.

He further went on to addhow each of the Telecomministers under the Congressgovernment were embroiled insome scam or charge ofcorruption. “Till when will theCongress keep saving itself? Theroot cause of corruption in thisnation is the Congress party. IfCongressmen are not corruptthen what is their worry ingetting black money back,” askedShri Modi, while stating that howthe black money stashed abroadactually belonged to the peopleof India and how they had beenlooted by the corrupt Congressgovernment.

He said that he himselfstrongly opposed corruption.“And for whom should I becorrupt. I have nothing. Thismind and body is totally devotedto the nation,” he added.

He asked the people ofHimachal if they had any faithin the ruling Congressgovernment, and if not, whywere they still tolerating them.“Governments need the trust ofthe people to function. This isperhaps the first governmentwhich is not trusted by thepeople,” said Shri Modi.

Citing the grievances of thefarmers of Himachal, Shri Modispoke of how they were paid thefull value of their apple produceduring the rule of Shri Atal Bihari

Vajpayee, and how under theCongress government, they werebeing exploited by not beinggiven their due. Shri Modi spokeof how a paradigm shift wasneeded in the Nation’sdevelopment journey, and howthe decision-makers need tochange their perspective oflooking at things. “Solutions inone place cannot be used in otherplaces. We need to understandissues and then solve them. Bycalling CM meet and asking CMsto speak for 10 minutes will nothelp. The Prime Minister mustcome to the Himayalan statesand sit with the CMs,” he said.

Highlighting the immensescope of tourism in a country likeIndia, Shri Modi spoke of howrail connectivity was animportant contributor to thegrowth of tourism. Stating thatHimachal had sadly been left outon this front, especially due tothe lack of visionary leaders inthe Delhi government, Shri Modicalled for the need to lay dueemphasis on this aspect.Speaking about environmentconcerns Shri Modi said that

under Shri Dhumal ji’s ruleHimachal had got many awardsfor being environment-friendlybut that was a thing of the past.

Addressing the rally, ShriModi spoke of his specialassociation with HimachalPradesh during the years he didorganizational work in the State.He said how he got anopportunity to visit the State eachtime Shri Vajpayee ji came here,and how he had gone to serveGujarat as the Chief Ministerafter serving the people ofHimachal as a BJP karyakarta.

Shri Modi dulyacknowledged the contributionof the youth from Himachal inserving the Nation by saying thatit was only because they wereawake on the borders of Indiathat India could sleep peacefully.He added that the BJP partyleaders were witness to thededication of the soldiers to servethe Nation, especially during theKargil war, but also shared hisdispleasure to the fact thatinspite of such devotion andfearlessness of the Indian soldier,India was being bullied by othernations.

Shri Modi put forth the BJP’semphasis on ensuring thegrowth and progress of everyonewho had been left out of thedevelopment journey, andassured the people of bringingchange in a span of merely 60months.

Among others BJP NationalPresident Shri Rajnath Singh,Former Himachal Pradesh CMsShri Prem Kumar Dhumal andShri Shanta Kumar, BJP NationalGeneral Secretary Shri JP Naddaand BJYM National PresidentShri Anurag thakur werepresent.

“Solutions in oneplace cannot be usedin other places. Weneed to understandissues and then solvethem. By calling CMmeet and asking CMsto speak for 10minutes will not help.The Prime Ministermust come to theHimayalan states andsit with the CMs”.


BJP PM Candidate ShriNarendra Modiaddressed Vijay Sankalp

Samabesh in Bhubaneswar,Odisha, on 11 February andencapsulated issues of localprominence and nationalimportance.

Addressing the massivecrowd, which reverberated to hisprayers of Jai Jagannath, ShriModi began his speech in Odiyaand said that this move of hisshould not be taken as hisrebuke for Odisha’s CMNaveen Patnaik (who is notknown to be well versed in thelocal language), but rather ashis love and respect for alllanguages.

He said there is no districtor block in Odisha whoseresidents don’t stay in Gujarat.I meet a lot of people belongingto Ganjam district. When I askthem where is Ganjam district,they say it is their ChiefMinister’s district. ‘I amsurprised that people fromeven the CM’s district have tomove to Gujarat for work’ ShriModi said. There is not a districtin Odisha from where peoplehaven’t come to work in Surat.Odiya is almost the secondlanguage there.

Shri Modi said even the Silksaree weavers from Odisha dolabouring jobs in Gujarat. Whycan’t they work in Odisha. Whocreated this mess? he asked.

Shri Modi spoke of thepresence of the Third Front, and

the accompanying badgovernance that had ruined theState. He mentioned the hugegap in the development of thewestern and eastern states ofIndia, while highlighting theprogress witnessed in the BJP-ruled western states ofRajasthan, Gujarat and Goa.Speaking about the remarkableimprovement in the economies

of BJP-ruled states ofChhattisgarh and MadhyaPradesh, Shri Modi said thatinspite of the presence of Maoistsin Chhattisgarh, the state hasgrown tremendously under DrRaman Singh, so much so thatwhile earlier it was dependenton rice imports, today itsproduce is sufficient even for theneighboring states. In MadhyaPradesh, which was earlierconsidered ‘bimaru’, theagricultural sector has shown

remarkable improvement underShri Shivraj Singh.

Citing the pro-peoplegovernance of the BJP in Gujarat,which has been serving the statefor nearly 14 years, Shri Modisaid that while Gujarat hasreached a stage where it attractspeople from other states, inOdisha the youth still have toventure to other states for work

opportunities. “Even peoplefrom the Chief Minister’s districtare having to leave homes,” saidShri Modi.

Speaking about how Odishahas been lacking the vision fordevelopment, he urged theaudience to show their supportfor BJP in the 2014 elections andaffirmed that the BJP wouldtransform Odisha in such amanner that those who have leftthe state would also want tocome back.

Vijay Sankalp Samabesh in Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Odisha needs right leadershipfor faster development


Highlighting the pitiablecondition of the karigars of silksaris in Odisha, who have toleave Odisha and get settled inSurat for better work prospects,Shri Modi said that this apathyof the State and its people wouldcertainly cause pain to Biju Babu

– referring to the former MC ofOdisha and the stalwart ofOdisha and National politicsShri Biju Patnaik. “Should wenot create an Odisha that makesBiju Babu happy? Yes we haveto make such an Odisha. UttamOdisha is the best tribute tohim,” said Shri Modi. By raisingthe issue of acute drinking waterproblem in Berhampur city inparticular and Ganjam districtin general Shri Modi alsohighlighted the bad governancein Odisha and stressing on thefact he said that the State was yetto take concrete steps to solvewater crisis although there isabundance water available inOdisha , however, Gujarat hadtaken revolutionary initiativesfor the same, he said.

He urged the people torealize that the Third Front wasa group of 11 parties, out ofwhich 9 supported the Congress,only to wear the mask of theThird Front during elections.“The Third Front has one thingto do- save the Congress whenthey are in trouble,” said ShriModi.

Putting forth the lousy

attitude of the Centralgovernment, Shri Modi spoke ofhow the Congress leaders werenever keen on the aspect ofdevelopment, and how they havenever bothered to address thenational concerns of inflation,corruption and bad governance.

“What has the Congress givento the nation? It has been 60 yearsand one family ruled. These bigcanons come from Delhi but whyare their lips sealed when thereis talk of corruption,” asked ShriModi.

Calling for the need to

ensure that the 2014 electionswere not just about who will formthe government, but aboutpurifying the political system,Shri Modi said, “The Nation andOdisha need the rightleadership.

If I want to do good for thestate I need MPs of BJP from here.We need a direct line fromOdisha to Delhi. I want to serveyou, so send us 21 Lotuses fromhere,” said Shri Modi.

Shri Modi also offered hiscondolences to families of thosewho had lost their lives in theSambalpur boat tragedy.

Among others BJP NationalPresident Shri Rajnath Singh,BJP National General SecretaryShri Dharmendra Pradhan,Odisha BJP President Shri KanakVerdhan Singhdeo and all othersenior leaders of the party werepresent on the occasion.

Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh joins BJPCongress MP from Gurgaon Rao

Inderjit Singh on February 13 joinedthe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alongwith retired Director General of Police(CRPF) Shri R.K Singh in the presenceof BJP National President Shri RajnathSingh .Shri R.K Singh served in Indianpolice force for 39 years decided toserve the country as a member ofBharatiya Janata party.

Ashok Parnami appointed asRajathan BJP President

BJP National President Shri Rajnath Singhappointed Ashok Parnami as Rajasthan PartyPresident. A second time legislator fromAdarsh Nagar, Jaipur has been a grassrootsworker and actively involved in state partyaffairs. Shri Parnami was the mayor of Jaipurin 2008. He won assembly election in 2008.He won again recently in the 2013 polls.

If I want to do good for the state I needMPs of BJP from here. We need a directline from Odisha to Delhi. I want to serveyou, so send us 21 Lotuses from here.


BJP Prime Ministerialcandidate Shri NarendraModi addressed on

February 18th,2014 the BharathaGellisi rallies at Davangere andMangalore in Karnataka.Addressing the rally ShriNarendra Modi spoke on the keyaspects of ensuring a Congress-Mukt Bharat, getting rid ofcorruption, ensuring prosperityof farmers and focusing on thedevelopment of coastal regions.

Addressing a large rally inMangalore, Shri Modihighlighted a comprehensivevision for the development ofIndia. He talked about the richpotential of coastal areas toemerge as development hubs.Shri Modi affirmed that inaddition to port development,what is required is port leddevelopment. He also called forcreating fishing harbours andcalled for integrating latesttechnology for the betterment ofthe fishermen community.

In Mangalore Shri Modi tookon the Congress Party for theiranti-people policies and theirlies. He said, “Congress hasruined the nation and cannottolerate if anyone asks them anyquestions. When someone asksthem questions they are jailed.Congress also misusesinstitutions.” He further attackedthe Congress for their corruptionand false promises.

Expressing disdain andshock at the Congress’ strengthto mislead the people, Shri Modispoke of how for the Congress

democracy was only aboutpower, and nothing else. Hementioned the recent statementmade by a Congress leaderduring his visit to Karnataka,wherein he had said that theCongress did not have a highcommand. “Do you believe this?Can the party run without highcommand,” asked Shri Modi,while stating that the Nation hasknown it for years that the

Congress did not believe indemocracy.

Attacking the sky-higharrogance of the Congressgovernment, Shri Modi statedthat they were least botheredabout replying to the people onthe rising concerns of inflationand corruption, while addingthat even though they found thetime to visit the rest of the country,they did not care to visit thepeople of Seemandhara andTelangana, where they hadsowed the seeds of poison.“Andhra Pradesh put them topower in Delhi but see what havethey done. They do not have thetime to visit Andhra Pradesh

when the people there need thesupport. Congress put salt ontheir wounds,” said Shri Modi.He further urged the people tovote out Congress in 2014elections, by saying, “A smallpunishment will not do for theCongress. If we want to saveIndia then the only Mantra isCongress Mukt Bharat.”

Shri Modi also expressed hisdispleasure at the Congress’

politics which was ruining thedemocratic system of the Nation.“Democracy has 4 enemies-dynasty, casteism,communalism andopportunism. Congress has all 4in them,” said Shri Modi.

Attacking the form of politicsfollowed by the Congress, ShriModi said, “A Congress leadersays Congress is a thought. It wassurely a thought when Gandhi jiwas alive, but after the NakliGandhis came, things havechanged.”

Stressing on the differencein thoughts of both the parties,Shri Modi said that while theCongress focused on

Country wants freedomfrom the Congress’ thoughts

Bharatha Gellisi rallies at Davangere and Mangalore, Karnataka


considering India a beehive, forthe BJP it was our Bharat Mata.The Congress had Vanshvaadas their agenda, while the BJP’sfocus was on Rashtravaad. TheCongress’ sole aim wasRaajneeti, as opposed to the BJP’sfocus on Rashtraneeti.

Shri Modi further said thatwhile the Congress wanted to

divide the nation and rule it, theBJP wanted to unite the peopleand prosper it. “We have broughtin values of nationalism, whileyou have been brought up invalues of dynasty andnepotism,” said Shri Modi,attacking the appallingCongress attitude.

Taking opposition to theCongress’ thought ofremembering the poor only fortheir benefit, Shri Modi said, “TheCongress does not enjoy if theydo not talk about the poor, butfor us, when he hear about thepoor, we do not get sleep.”

Shri Modi also spoke on thedisturbing issue of womensafety, while mentioning thatunder the Congress rule thenational capital of Delhi hadnow become the rape capital. Hefurther questioned the high-endyet false claims of the Congressof ensuring development bysaying that inspite of theirpromise to reduce inflationwithin 100 days of their coming

to power in 2009, the situationhad only worsened. Shri Modialso stated how many Congressleaders in states like Rajasthanand Haryana were lying in jails,with their corrupt deeds. “TheCountry wants freedom from youand your thoughts. It does notwant to get ruined any further,”said Shri Modi.

In retaliation to the PrimeMinister’s statement that moneydoesn’t grow on trees, Shri Modisaid that for the BJP money grewon the farmers’ land, reaped bythe farmers’ hard work forgrowing good crop.

Shri Modi said that theCongress and corruption weretwin sisters, with each goingwhere the other goes. So if thereis Congress there is bound to becorruption, and wherever thereis corruption, the Congresswould be present there.

He also asked the Congressparty to stop spreading lies bysaying, “They tell us we gaveBills but the BJP does not allowit to pass. Atleast speak the truth,people know your lies,” andadding that, in fact, it were theCongress Ministers who did notallow the Parliament to functionsmoothly. “Pehle dhool dale theab mirchi bhi daal rahe hainlogon ki aankhon me,” said ShriModi.

Shri Modi highlighted the

injustice done to the textileindustry in Karnataka and howthe sugarcane farmers and maizeproducers were being looted bynot being given the due for theirproduce. He also congratulatedShri Yeddyurappa ji forintroducing a different budget foragriculture, and spoke ofadopting the 5-f strategy –

involving farm tofibre, fibre tofabric, fabric tofashion, andfashion to foreign– whereby theentire processcould be done atthe same locationand the finalproduce sent for

export, thereby reducing on thetime consumed and also savingcosts. Acknowledging thepresence of the massiveaudience, despite the afternoonheat, Shri Modi assured thepeople that their affection andsacrifice will not go in vain. Heurged the crowd to show theirsupport for the BJP, and said,“You have given me a lot of lovebut now you must send a Lotusfrom every seat.”

Senior BJP leaders present onthe occasions included ShriPrahlad Joshi, Karnataka BJPpresident, Shri GM Siddeswara,Lok Sabha MP from Devangere,Shrimati Shobha Karandlaje,former Karnataka Minister, ShriAnanth Kumar, BJP GeneralSecretary, Shri BS Yeddyurappa,former Karnataka Chief Minister,Shri Shivkumar Udasi, LokSabha MP, former Deputy CMShri Eswarappa, former CM ShriJagdish Shettar, former ministerR Ashok and Shri ArvindLimbavalli.


Shri Narendra Modiaddressed a large MahaJagaran Rally in

Guwahati in Assam on February8. This is Shri Modi’s first visit toAssam after he was declared theNDA’s Prime Ministerialcandidate. In an elaborate speechShri Narendra Modi shared hisvision for the overalldevelopment of the Northeastand called for uprooting theCongress Party from the Centre.

Shri Modi also questioned thePrime Minister of India on whathe did for the state of Assamconsidering he has representedthe state for 23 years.

Urging the people of theNortheast to vote for the BJP ShriModi said that the 8 states of theNortheast are like theAshtalakshmi and the relationbetween Lakshmi ji and theLotus is very well known.

Shri Narendra Modi

expressed his pain at the lack ofdevelopment in Assam. Hepointed that Assam has greatpotential, as it is a land of teaand timber. He asked why is itthat the same Assam, whose teaenergizes the entire nation everymorning is without energy andis facing power crisis. He furtherquestioned why such a peaceloving land was been full ofviolence and bloodshed? ShriModi said that the Congress

leaders arealways keen totalk aboutN R E G Awherever theydo but asked thepeople if theygot any jobs inAssam. He alsocommented onthe poor lawand ordersituation in thestate which isevident due tot h ekidnappings ,k i l l i n g s ,extortions and

bombs. “Assam has theBrahmaputra but Guwahati doesnot have water to drink,” avowedShri Modi. Referring to theAssam Chief Minister, Shri Modistated, “Naam Tarun hone sesoch Tarun nahi ho jati.”

On the Prime Minister’s lackof concern for the state that haselected him for 23 years ShriModi said, “The Prime Ministerof the nation is elected fromAssam and that too for 23 years.

You made such a big investmentbut what did you get? Even ifour small Karyakarta was in theRajya Sabha for 23 years he orshe would have made efforts forAssam’s development.” ShriModi accused the Congressleaders of considering the nationas their private property and thiswas seen in the manner in whichthe Congress decided to goahead on the land swap dealwithout consulting the people ofAssam.

Shri Narendra Modi assuredthe people that the BJPgovernment at the Centre wouldbring back every penny of blackmoney and spend the money forthe purpose of development. Healso spoke out against the illegalinfiltration from Bangladesh andcalled for proper verificationprocesses to ascertain who camefrom Bangladesh.

At the start of his speech ShriNarendra Modi paid tributes toall those who lost their lives inthe creation of Assam. He paidtributes to Gopinath Bordoloiand said that so immersed wasthe Congress in the Bhakti of onefamily that they forgot thecontribution of others in thefreedom struggle. He also tookon the Congress leaders who areattacking the Gujaratgovernment’s efforts to make aStatue of Unity, saying thatSardar Patel is not a leader of aparty but the leader of an entirenation.

Several BJP leaders andKaryakartas were present on theoccasion.

Maha Jagaran Rally in Guwahati

Narendra Modi blames Congressfor lack of development in Northeast


The ‘Vote on Account’presented by the financeminister Shri P

Chidambaram on February 17 inParliament was a failed attemptto gloss over the failures of theUPA Government. He juggledhis numbers to come up with afiscal deficit of 4.6 percent for theyear 2013-14. He rolled over fuelsubsidies worth Rs 35000 croreto next fiscal to arrive at a betterlooking fiscal numbers.

Even his fiscal deficit targetnumber of 4.1percent for 2014-15 is not credible as he has keptthe total subsidy bill at Rs 2.46lakh crore which is the same asthis year without evenaccounting for the Rs 35000 croreas rolled over fuel subsidy.Revenue deficit of 3.3 percentclearly indicate that thegovernment has not made anyeffort to contain its fiscalprofligacy. The UPA governmenthas been able to match its fiscaltargets only by drasticallycutting its planned expenditure.It means the government hasreduced its investments in theeconomy. The announcement of‘One Rank One Pension’ to theex-servicemen is a welcomedecision. The governmentdragged its feet for years on theissue but when itrealised laterthat the BJP was committed togive the ex-servicemen thebenefits of ‘One Rank OnePension’ it finally gave itsconsent today. Although ShriChidambaram rightly identifiedthe miserable state of Indianmanufacturing sector but he

could not come up with anyconcrete measures to boostinvestments in the sector. TheUPA Government spelled out itsNational Manufacturing Policyin 2011 but there has been littlefollow up action in subsequentyears. The Interim Budget saysthat eight nationalmanufacturing zones have beenapproved along the Delhi-Mumbai corridor but we allknow that the entire project ismoving at a snail’s pace due todelay in clearances and decisionmaking.

Manufacturing and theagriculture sector are the twoimportant sectors which provideemployment to millions of peoplein the country and it should berevived on a priority basis.Unfortunately there is no clarityand direction on both thesesectors in the Interim Budget.

No real announcementshave been made for the benefit ofailing agriculture sector. Thefarmers of the country today need

an assured income from farming,institutional support andcheaper credit. The Interim

Budget provides only forincreased amount of nearly 8lakh crores to agriculture lendingbut the interest rates have beenkept unchanged.

Since the BJP believes that itwill form the next governmentafter the Lok Sabha polls weassure the people of the countrythat we will address all the keyissues facing the economy andput the country on a highergrowth trajectory.

Narendra Modi calls Interim Budget,a glorified exercise in self

Shri Narendra Modi shared his displeasure at theInterim Budget by calling it a glorified exercise in self-congratulation. He retorted to the FM’s statement ofthere being no policy paralysis by saying that in realitypolicy paralysis was the only constant policy of theUPA government. Sharing his preference for certainpositive aspects of the Budget Shri Modi said that hewelcomed the decision for ‘One Rank, One Pension’for the servicemen. The only solace from the vote-on-account, according to Shri Modi, was that this was theUPA government’s final act of misery after a decade of decay and policyparalysis.

BJP on Interim Budget

No real announcements have been made for thebenefit of ailing agriculture sector : Rajnath Singh


The Finance Ministerpresented Vote onAccount estimates before

the Parliament on February17,2014. It was an electoralimperative for him to attempt torepackage the 10 years of theUPA. He is faced with a harshreality. He inherited an 8.5percent GDP growth rate. Heexits on a 4.5 percent GDPgrowth. The last three years ofthe UPA witnessed a sharp fallin the growth rate from a near 9percent to less than 5 percent.He, therefore, had to lean backon larger slogans such as his‘Idea of India’. Obviously, in anideologically pluralistic society,there can be more than one ‘Ideaof India’. None can usurp thetitle of a book and claim it onlybelongs to him.

The Finance Minister had seta laxman-rekha for himself lastyear. The fiscal deficit had to bebrought down to 4.8 percent. Henow claims to have brought itdown to 4.6 percent. He achievesthis spectacular feat not bybringing in revenue buoyancy orby reviving the investment cyclebut by cutting downexpenditure, particularly thecapital expenditure. The grantsfor creation of Capital Assets andCapital Expenditure has beencut down by as high as Rs.91,000 crores. This alone would

have impacted the GDP to theextent of 0.8 percent. Similarly,allocations to various Ministriesin the current year shows widedifference between the Budgetestimates 2013-14 and theRevised Estimates of 2013-14.The grant to the Ministry ofDrinking Water and Sanitationare cut down by 21. 3 percent.The grant to the Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare is cutdown by 20.6 percent. The grantto the Housing and UrbanPoverty Alleviation is cut downby 41.97 percent, MHA by 31.3percent, Ministry of HRD by Sixpercent, Ministry of RoadTransport & Highways by 18.72percent and Ministry of RuralDevelopment by 22.92 percent.These are all departments andministries which relate to socialsector and infrastructure. Only

the Ministry of Finance grantshave been increased by 18.3percent.

Then the grants to the Stateshave been cut down from theBudget Estimates of Rs. 1,36,254Crores to Rs. 1,19,039 Crores- areduction of 12.6 percent.

This slowdown in themanufacturing sector is a hugeconcerns. This directly reflectson job creation. The excise dutiesin the current year, which wereestimated to be Rs.1,97,554Crores has now been revised toRs.1,79,538 - a reduction of 9.1percent.

The FM has taken credit forthe stellar performance of theAgriculture sector but the realcredit goes to the States likeGujarat , Madhya Pradesh andChhatisgarh which haveconsistently given double digitgrowth rates in Agriculture.

The subsidy outgo on Food,Fertilizer and Fuel has beenprojected at Rs. 2,46,397 Croresfor 2014-15. Out of this, fuelsubsidy is at 65,000 crores,Fertilizer at 36,970 crores andFood subsidy is at 1,15,000crores. The combinedexpenditures on all Foodschemes has been reduced from1,24,844 Crores in 2013-14 to1,15,000 crores in 2014-15representing a fall. This is muchbelow the expectations under

UPA inherited an 8.5 percent GDP growthrate and exiting on a 4.5% : Arun Jaitley

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Shri Arun Jaitley while issuing a statementtermed the Finance Minister Shri P.Chidambaram’s vote on Account speech as anelectoral imperative to attempt to repackage the 10 years of the UPA.

This slowdown in themanufacturing sector is ahuge concerns. Thisdirectly reflects on jobcreation. The exciseduties in the current year,which were estimated tobe Rs.1,97,554 Crores hasnow been revised toRs.1,79,538 - a reductionof 9.1 percent.


the food security scheme whichrequires a much larger outlay.The subsidies in fuel has beenunderestimated year after year.The FM has once again rolledover fuel subsidies worthRs.35,000 Crores to the nextfiscal. This move is a merestatistical illusion to keep thefiscal deficit look opticallycorrect while its inflationaryimpact on the economy remainsreal.

The FM has again harped onthe OROP viz. the one rank onepension scheme and transferredRs.500 Crores to the DefencePension Account. The UPAGovernment has been paying lipservice to the cause of defencepersonnel. In the earlier Budgetin 2009-10, a committee was setup and its recommendationswere promised to beimplemented. But the grievancesremained as the approach washalf-baked. Again the FM haspromised that this cause hasbeen completely addressed inthis Budget. There should be noattempt to play with theaspirations of our Armed Forces.

Even though the Vote-on-Account is only for a period offour months, there are seriousconcerns on the growth rate, realFiscal deficit, inflation,investment and the slow downin manufacturing sector. Thestability of the Rupee is a matterof concern particularly becausethe Rupee itself has reachedunacceptable levels.

Will the Finance Ministerseriously introspect on thelegacy he would leave behind forthe next Finance Minister? TheFinance Minister will be arelieved man today. Hissuccessor will be in trouble.

Government should come out withconcrete measures to address theconcerns of Seemandhra : RajnathThe bill to create Telangana by dividing Andhra Pradesh was passed

in the Lok Sabha on February 18 amid protests, but live telecast wascut off in an unprecedented blackout. The bill will now be taken up inthe Rajya Sabha. BJP President Shri Rajnath Singh expressed happinessover the bill to grant statehood to Telangana.

He said “I am happy that the Bill to grant statehood to Telanganahas finally been passed on February 18 by the Lok Sabha. Had theCongress led UPA government brought this bill much earlier, theprevailing situation of chaos and outrage among the people in otherparts of the state could have been easily averted. The Congress shouldbe squarely blamed for this confusion and chaos in Andhra Pradesh.”

“Although the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Bill has madeTelangana a reality but it has not adequately addressed the concernsof people living in Seemandhra and other areas of the state.”

He added “The manner in which the bill was pushed through by thegovernment was not transparent and utterly undemocratic. Thegovernment should come out with certain concrete measures to addressthe concerns of Seemandhra and other regions of Andhra Pradesh.”

BJP united on Telangana,Congress a divided house : Sushma Swaraj

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Smt. Sushma Swaraj, said onFebruary 18 that the UPA had not done anything in its second tenure

for the formation of Telangana and had brought the bill in the Houseonly in Parliament’s last session. She said the in 2004 Congress hadfought elections with TRS and had promised that they would work forTelangana. “However they finished the tenure without acting on it,” shesaid, adding, “UPA in its second tenure also didn’t do anything forformation of Telangana. They brought the bill in Parliament’s lastsession.” She also said that the Congress had wanted the BJP to rejectthe Telangana Bill amidst uproar, so that they could blame them fornon-passage of the bill. “Their game-plan was spoiled when we supportedthe bill,” she said. “Congress ignored my point on constitutional flawin the bill,” she added.

Smt. Swaraj also slammed Congress leader Kamal Nath of accusingthe BJP of playing a double-game and said that it was the ParliamentaryAffairs Minister of playing double-games. “

“Their motive was just to introduce bill, put it for consideration andpassing, not to pass it ,” said the BJP leader, adding, “Congress is adivided house. It is clearly visible.” She maintained that the BJP wasunited on the formation of Telangana.

~~~~~~~☯☯☯~~~~~~~


The Interim Railway Budgetpresented by ShriMallikarjun Kharge is not

more than an election gimmickand stunt. The proposals in this‘Election Budget’ are so short-lived that their implementationitself is question mark becausein the next 15 days the modelcode of conduct is likely to comeinto force.

We can term this Interim RailBudget as a ‘Farewell Budget’ ofthe UPA-Congress Government.The entire country is lookingforward to the real Rail Budgetunder the leadership of ShriNarendra Modi’s Government inthe coming months which isgoing to revolutionize the IndianRailways.

The 10 years of UPA will beconsidered as the worst for theState of Karnataka as far as theRailways are concerned. It issaid that the quality ofGovernance is alwaysshowcased by theservices that itprovides for itscitizens and inIndia this is truein the case ofRailways. Thepeople ofKarnataka andwhole of India arewaiting for theLok Sabha elections when theycan remove the triumvirate ofSmt. Sonia, Dr. Singh and Sh.Rahul who have amplydemonstrated their ineptnessand lack of vision.

The BJP Government ofKarnataka was the only StateGovernment in India whichextended the maximum supportto Railway projects by givingbudgetary allocations out of the

State Budget, commitment of freeland for railway projects andalso set up a Special JointLegislature Committee for thispurpose. Despite this Karnatakaand the South-Western RailwayZone always got the least sharein new trains, doubling,electrification, gauge conversion,new lines or passengeramenities.

Karnataka and the SWRailway Zone have given themaximum returns againstinvestment ratio for the Railwaysfor many years now. But everyRail Budget of the UPA has giventhe least allocation to this Zone.

This attitude of successiveUPA Governments at the centrehas resulted in the failure of theUPA Governments to undertakeprojects in the PPP mode. Forexample even though theGovernment of Karnataka hascome forward with unique Joint-Development projects by

allocating land &funds from the StateBudget, theRailways has notcontributed it’sshare resulting inthese projectspending from a longtime.

The SuburbanRail Service for

Bangalore for which theKarnataka Government hascommitted 50% of the project costand the Bangalore-Mysore &Bangalore-Tumkur rail corridorswith doubling, electrification &

BJP on Interim Rail Budget

Interim Railway Budget is not more than anelection gimmick and stunt : Anant kumar

The Statement issued byShri Ananth Kumar, MP,General Secretary, BJP,on the Interim RailwayBudget for the year2014-15 presented byRailway Minister ShriMallikarjun Kharge

The Suburban Rail Service for Bangalore forwhich the Karnataka Government hascommitted 50% of the project cost and theBangalore-Mysore & Bangalore-Tumkur railcorridors with doubling, electrification &automatic signalling being totally ignored.


automatic signalling being totallyignored.

Karnataka is the 8th largest state inarea but has the fourth lowest rail densityexcluding the North-east & Jammu &Kashmir.

Except for the one weekly train serviceto Katra announced in this budget there isstill no direct connectivity from anydestination in Karnataka to destinationssuch as Amritsar, Jammu Tawi, Dehradun& Varanasi. This is despite Bangalorebeing one of the fastest growing citieswhose IT and Services Industry attractspeople from all over India.

Railway stations and passengeramenities in all the cities of Karnatakaare in a neglected state and there is noimprovement over the last ten years.

For the common man to get aconfirmed reservation even months inadvance is a harrowing experience andis always sold out. There has been nopolitical will to be able to ensure fairopportunity to people with no access tothe internet.

The conditions and facilities of thetrains have also remained as they were10 years ago. While other Zones andStates have got new design coaches, we,in Karnataka have to still travel in oldcoaches which are in poor condition.

The total disregard to the safetyfactor saw the occurrence of major trainaccidents in the region which resultedloss of many lives in the followinginstances in just the last two years toname a few:

Fire in the Bangalore City - Nandedexpress in Anantapur district on28.12.2013Derailment of the Muzaffarpur-Yeswantpur Express nearArakkonam on 10.04.2013.The Indore Yeswantpur Expressmet with an Accident at MedakDistrict on 19.12.2012The Hubli - Bangalore HampiExpress collided with a goods trainnear Penukonda on 22.05.2012.

Power to farmers :Gujarat scientists float

novel concept

A time may soon come when farmers who feed thepeople of India will also produce electricity to feedthe national power grid. That is the conclusion of an

innovative study by Tirumalachetty Harinarayana, Directorof the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute(GERMI) Research Centre in Gandhinagar, and Vasavi

Kamili, a student of the Medha Engineering College inHyderabad. Their research published on Feb 11 in the onlineversion of the international journal “Smart Grid andRenewable Energy” suggests that farmers can use their landfor dual purpose rather than growing only food crops. Whilecontinuing to grow foodgrains, farmers may simultaneouslyproduce power by laying a roof of appropriately configuredphotovoltaic (PV) solar panels over the same land to generateelectricity from sunlight. The power so produced can beused to pump water for irrigating their crops and any excesselectricity generated may be sold to the power grid. In otherwords, farmers can augment their income by renting outtheir land to the government or to the solar developer whowill erect the solar panels while they grow food crops asusual in the same land. The scientists have found this novelconcept feasible after ensuring — through computermodelling studies — that the reduction in sunlight causedby the solar roof has no adverse impact on the growth ofcrops below.

Harinarayana said his scientists systematicallyexamined different solar panel design configurations toidentify the one that caused the least reduction in sunlight.


The U.P.A. Government hasbeen in office now for tenyears, from 2004 to 2014.

UPA I lasted from 2004 to 2009;and UPA II from 2009 to 2014.

Dr. Manmohan Singh beganhis tenure with a clean personalreputation. But as his decadelong tenure is coming to a close,he would leave behind him arecord of having presided overthe most corrupt government inIndependent India.

Starting with the scandalsthat surfaced during theCommonwealth Games in Delhi,then proceeding to the 2 GSpectrum scams, most of thescams that came to light underCongress governments wereexposures made by the C.A.G. orthe judiciary and related to bribesallegedly received by ministers/officials in government for illegalfavours extended to the bribegivers.

But I hold that the mostdisgraceful scam that came tolight during UPA I was the Cash-for-Votes Scam. It was an episodefollowing the Left Front’swithdrawal of support to theU.P.A. Government in protestagainst the UPA striking a dealwith Washington on the nuclearissue.

With this development, Dr.Manmohan Singh’sGovernment came face to facewith a grave crisis and had toface a confidence vote in whichit could have well been ousted.

It was at this point that a setof India-related diplomaticcables on the Indo-U.S. nucleardeal were released by theWhistle-blowing websiteWIKILEAKS, and reproduced byIndia’s own Chennai basedreputed Daily, THE HINDU.

The Reuters reported aboutthis episode thus :

The secret U.S. statedepartment cable obtained byWikiLeaks and published byThe Hindu newspaper onThursday details a conversationbetween a senior Congress partymember and a U.S. Embassyofficial surrounding the paymentof almost $9 million by agovernment facing a crucialconfidence vote to members of aregional political party to securetheir support..

Leader of the OppositionSushma Swaraj, who has inrecent months led a scathingattack on the Congress party-ledcoalition government for failingto tackle corruption in India,posted on Twitter: “The

wikileaks details in today’sHindu about payoffs to MPs areshocking. I will raise this issuein Parliament today.”

Both houses of parliamentwere adjourned after uproar overthe cable’s contents.

The cable details aconversation between an aide ofSatish Sharma, Congress partyMP and close associate of partychief Sonia Gandhi, and, U.S.Charge d’affaires Steven Whitein which the aide states that fourMPs belonging to the RashtriyaLok Dal (RLD) party had beenpaid 100 million rupees ($2.2million) each in order to securetheir support for the governmentin a tight confidence vote overthe Congress party’s support ofa nuclear deal between India andthe U.S.

White, who authored thesecret cable, described howEmbassy staff were shown twochests containing 500-600million rupees ($ 11-13 million)that had been earmarked for “useas pay-offs.”

Three BJP MPs along withmy aide Shri SudheendraKulkarni , were involved in anoperation to expose the Scam.They had contacted a TV channelto prepare Videos of the bribery

Under Dr. Manmohan – Sonia duo,parliament hits an

all time lowBy L.K Advani


episode. The Government’sresponse was to put all of thembehind bars. When later ShriNarottam Kaushal pronouncedjudgement in their caseacquitting them, his openingparagraph read :

July 22, 2008 was a blackletter day in the history of IndianParliament. Three members ofParliament namely Ashok Argal,Faggan Singh Kulaste andMahabir Singh Bhagora placedon the table of Parliamentcurrency notes for the amount ofRs. One Crore, when the Housewas debating on Motion ofConfidence.

It was claimed that themoney had been offered to themin connection with the voting.Speaker of the House afterdiscussions with seniorParliamentarian asked theaforesaid three MPs to put-in awritten complaint. Before aformal complaint could besubmitted by the aforesaid threeMPs, a communication dated23.07.2008 was received by theSpeaker, from Rajdeep Sardesai,Editor in Chief of CNN-IBNNetwork. He enclosed five videotapes along with hiscommunication. Formalcomplaint dated 25.07.2008addressed to Hon’ble Speaker,Lok Sabha was submitted by thethree MPs, alleging that theywere sought to be bribed by theleaders of Congress andSamajvadi Party to help theGovernment, by refraining fromvoting against confidencemotion.

When I came to know of thearrest of the three MPs of myparty as also of associates likeShri Kulkarni, I soughtpermission from the Hon’ble

Speaker of the Lok Sabha to makea brief submission before anyother business was taken up.Somewhat angrily I said that ahorrible crime was sought to becommitted, and MPs given croresof rupees to bribe them tosupport the Government.

These BJP MPs did not takethe bribe home and instead,acting as whistle blowers camestraight to Parliament andplaced the money on the Table ofthe House. World over, indemocracies, Whistle-blowersare hailed, and here they havebeen jailed! I as their leaderwould like to tell Government ifthey think these colleagues ofmine have done anything illegalI wish to tell those in authoritythey have done so with mypermission to expose the dirtyscam. I dare the Government toput me also into prison I alongwith these MPs.

No less shameful for theprestige and reputation of theIndian Parliament than thisCash-for-Episode Scam thatoccurred in UPA I’s time is theugly scenes witnessed underUPA II. Under Vajpayee ji theN.D.A. divided three major States- Madhya Pradesh, UttarPradesh and Bihar and createdthree new States - Chhattisgarh,Uttarakhand and Jharkhandwithout even a ripple ofdisturbance. With the presentGovernment, session aftersession has had to be adjourneddue to chaos created overTelangana between thesupporters and opponents ofdivision.

In fact, the session presentlyon has on this issue ofTelangana precipitated sceneslast week which made the Prime

Minister Dr. Manmohan Singhdeclare “My heart bleeds when Iwatch such scenes on the floorof Parliament.”

Most members were shockedone day to see as many as half adozen Ministers of the presentGovernment totally disregardingthe presence of Prime MinisterDr. Manmohan Singh andCongress Party Chairperson Smt.Soniaji in the House, rush intothe well of the House and jointhe ugly ruckus that was takingplace, when amidst shouting ofslogans for and against divisionof Andhra Pradesh,parliamentary papers were beingtorn and thrown all around. Thishappened on WednesdayFebruary 12.

The limits of unsavorybehavior were crossed the nextday when apart from a repeatperformance of the previous daya Congress Party MP pulled outa black pepper spray and startedspraying it all around so thatseveral MPs including Smt.Sushma Swaraj had tears in hereyes, and many others were seencoughing in acute discomfort. TAIL PIECE

Some of the Headlines in theCapital’s dailies on February 14.

The StatesmanP A R L I A M E N T

DISGRACEDThe Times of IndiaPepper Spray in House

leaves Indian democracy in tearsHindustan TimesParliament Attacked, This

time by MPsThe PioneerTHE DARKEST DAYTHE HINDUMPs make it a day of shame

for Parliament


Speaking on the theme oftransforming Indiathrough technology at the

NASSCOM India LeadershipForum (NILF) 2014, Shrinarendra Modi on February 14, addressing the session viavideo-conference, spoke aboutthe need to bring about the ITrevolution in India

Shri Modi said “I see therole of IT as a change agent. Itempowers, connects and canbinds isolated parts of India andcreate harmony. IT can joinpeople with governments, bridgethe gap between demand andsupply, and can bring us closerto knowledge.”

Signifying the current dayrelevance of IT in the corporateworld, Shri Modi said that it is aknown fact that those corporatehouses where information goesfreely from bottom to top andwhere effective guidance comesfrom top to bottom succeed. Hespoke of his confidence in theimpact and effectiveness of IT bystating, “I keep saying IT+ IT= IT(Indian Talent+ InformationTechnology = India Tomorrow).The IT sector can be the shininglight of Brand India.”

Shri Modi underscored thesignificance of IT in the domainof e-governance, while alsostating the tremendous impact itcould have in grievanceredressal. “E governance canbring minimum government andmaximum governance. It is easy,effective and economicgovernance. It bringsempowerment, equity andefficiency of the economy. It is a

very useful field that can be thegreatest problem solver ofpeople,” said Shri Modi, whilesharing his concern that mostleaders in power today werefurther confusing the issuesrather than bringing solutions.

Shri Narendra Modi’s

address to the IT professionalsat the NASSCOM IndiaLeadership Forum (NILF) 2014

While speaking on the vastpotential of IT in convertingchallenges into goldenopportunities, Shri Modiemphasized on the need toempower the youth withnecessary skills. “We are amongthe most youthful nations of theworld. Just imagine the energy

and potential of this talent pool.We need to empower our youthwith skills for their developmentand the growth of India. Thisway we will succeed in puttingIndia on the road to fast andinclusive development,” saidShri Modi.

Stressing on the imminentneed to focus on ICT training,Shri Modi highlighted Gujarat’sefforts towards this by citing theeMPOWER (electronicmanpower) programme. Hespoke of how ICT training wasthe need-of-the-hour, and couldenable India emerge as a bigservice sector and business hub.“What we need is the skills.NASSCOM should focus on this

India should become a digital India,knowledge-based society and economy : Narendra Modi

NASSCOM India Leadership Forum (NILF) 2014


on its silver jubilee,” said ShriModi.

Highlighting his vision ofcreating a Digital India, ShriModi said, “India should becomea digital India, which is aknowledge-based society andeconomy. We are a very diversenation, with every district havingits specialities. We neednetworks to integrate this andthe IT industry can do this. By2022, when we celebrate 75 yearsof freedom, we must be a different

nation. And IT can be the growthengine of New India.” He saidthat by then our market shouldbecome a knowledge marketwhere every seller and buyerknows everything, and theworkers in every sector areknowledge workers. “Use oftechnology can further enhancegrassroot services,” added ShriModi.

Shri Modi also cited the needto focus on promoting softwareas much as hardware, whilestating that such an approachwould only ensure inclusivegrowth. He put forth that it wasthe collective responsibility ofsoftware engineers, ITprofessionals and hardwaremanufactuers to promote

software since, according to ShriModi, real strength lies insoftware utility.

He encouraged NASSCOMand its representing companiesto focus on Corporate SocialResponsibility, enabled by IT.“Through CSR can you take upany one problem that India faces.You can take up a problem, formtask forces and focus on resolvingthe issue,” said Shri Modi, whilegiving an example of tackling thedrop-out ratio in schools via IT-

enabled tools.Stressing on the need to

adapt IT into governance, ShriModi spoke of how we need tofocus on bringing features of likeand share in governance, andhow effective this could prove inthe One Day Governance modeladapted in Gujarat. “We have tobring features of like and sharein governance. Through socialmedia we must ensure everycitizen is involved ingovernance,” said Shri Modi.

India should become adigital India, which is aknowledge-based society andeconomy.

He also urged the decisionmakers of the IT world to ensurethat the digital divide being

experienced in India does notpercolate further. “Digital Dividemeans that what a person canget through IT in a city is notavailable to a person in remotevillages. We cannot let the digitaldivide spread. We cannot have 2Indias like this, where one isrunning fast but the other is onthe reverse gear,” said Shri Modi.

Putting forth his views of theimmense scope of IT in varyingdomains, Shri Modi mentionedhow the application of IT ininfrastructure could change theface of the country. “InformationHighway Network can play avery big role in transforming thenation. It can be a matter of greatstrength. The sooner we adoptIT the better, the sooner wedeploy it, the better it and thesooner we master it the better,”stated Shri Modi, while alsospeaking about the need for thegovernment and the IT industryto join hands for the creation ofharmony in the society, to reducethe gap between demand andsupply and thereby get thepeople closer to knowledge.

He spoke of his belief in thepower of IT, by saying, “I ampersonally a great advocate oftechnology. IT can and willtransform our lives…it is aninevitable force in the modernworld.”

He further spoke of hisfondness to stay connected withthe people of the country throughsocial media network, and howtheir feedback and suggestionshad been a source of inspirationfor him.

Aspects of cyber securityand the role of InformationTechnology in the securityconcerns of the Nation were alsoshared by Shri Modi.

Stressing on the need to adapt IT into governance,Shri Modi spoke of how we need to focus onbringing features of like and share in governance,and how effective this could prove in the OneDay Governance model adapted in Gujarat. “Wehave to bring features of like and share ingovernance. Through social media we mustensure every citizen is involved in governance,”said Shri Modi.


As we enter the last weekof the Parliament sessiona legitimate question

which arises for considerationis –who is responsible for thenon-passage of several pendinglegislations? The Congress VicePresident, Rahul Gandhiyesterday made a statement thatthe BJP has blocked the Anti-graft legislations in the

Parliament.The truth is that the

Congress conceived of somelegislations towards the end ofUPA’s 10 year rule. By this timethe party had lost majority inboth Houses of parliament. Mostof these legislations and severalother laws such as legislationrelating to protection to beprovided to street vendors orsetting up of a central universityin Bundelkhand are not subjectmatters of any controversy. Theseare laws which can be passedafter some discussion. Several

organizations of disabledpersons have been pressing forearly consideration and passageof laws which deal with theissues of concern to them. Just asRahul Gandhi blamed the BJPyesterday for the non-passage ofthe Anti graft laws, stake holdersin relation to other legislationsare being fed with similararguments.

The facts in this regard needto be clearly stated. The BJP hasno reservation against most ofthese legislations. We are willingto support them. Not a single BJPMember has disturbed theproceedings of either of the twoHouses of Parliament. No BJPmember has gone into the well ofthe House. We assemble everymorning in Parliament. TheHouses are disturbed on accountof the issues relating tobifurcation of Andhra Pradeshwhich is pending consideration.The Speaker and the Chairman

of the Houses regularly adjournthe Houses since proceedingscannot be conducted in thisenvironment. A large number ofmembers of the Congress Partydisturb the Houses every day. Idon’t think Rahul Gandhi hashad time to either come to theHouse or acquaint himself withthe disturbance being created byhis own Party members. Nothaving spoken even once onmajor scams such as the 2Gspectrum allocation, the CoalBlock allocation, theCommonwealth Gamesorganization etc., he has onlybelatedly realized thatcorruption is a major issue inIndian politics. Instead of pattinghimself on the back for this ratherbelated realization and takingundue credit for introducingthese legislations towards the fagend of the tenure, Rahul Gandhineeds to look inwards and findout the honest answer to thequestion why these legislationsare held up. Because it is theCongress Members whorepeatedly disturb the House.They are held up because theGovernment is not able to restoreorder in the House. The momentRahul Gandhi realizes the truthand his party takes correctiveactions, the BJP will have nodifficulty in supporting most ofthese legislations.

(The writer is Leader ofOpposition, Rajya Sabha)

Is Congress responsible for stallingof legislation in Parliament?

By Arun Jaitley

Not a single BJP Member has disturbed theproceedings of either of the two Houses of Parliament.No BJP member has gone into the well of the House.We assemble every morning in Parliament. The Housesare disturbed on account of the issues relating tobifurcation of Andhra Pradesh which is pendingconsideration. The Speaker and the Chairman of theHouses regularly adjourn the Houses sinceproceedings cannot be conducted in this environment.


Arvind Kejriwal’sc o n f r o n t a t i o n i s tconduct was a trick by

him to avoid the serious businessof delivering. He tried to spreadthe canard that rivals wereblocking people-friendly plans.But he never had the solutions

The ignominious exit of theAam Aadmi Party Government,within weeks of its formation,was in-built. The AAP did nothave a majority on its own andhad assumed office on the propsprovided by the Congress,suspect even at the best of times.There was a contradiction whichwas impossible to reconcile. Aself-proclaimed ‘anarchist’ anda system drawing its strengthfrom the Constitution, obviouslycould not co-exist.

An anarchist, by definitionholds the state to be undesirable,unnecessary, or harmful. ArvindKejriwal, in his avatar as DelhiChief Minister, has lived up tothis definition. His Law Ministerleading a mob in a midnight raidagainst foreigners smacked ofracial prejudice. Mr Kejriwalcreated history by sitting on adharna when he should havebeen dealing with public issuesin the Secretariat as a ChiefMinister.

Reducing power tariffs andgiving free water supply may gethim some applause. But that willnot get for Delhi a distributionsystem for more power assummer comes and whendemand for power will peak.Similarly, giving free watersupply will not tell us from

where and how extra water forthe people of the capital will beobtained.

The Chief Minister seemedto be in confrontation with theCentre at one end and theconstitutional system at theother. If the constitutional systemhas laid down certainrestrictions on the functioning ofthe Delhi Government, either theChief Minister works within the

system or seeks to change itthrough amendments inParliament.

More than the free water,Delhi wants proper andadequate supply. If Mr Kejriwalhad been sincere about the waterproblem, he would have focussedon augmenting its supply byopening negotiations with theChief Ministers of theneighbouring States of Haryanaand Uttar Pradesh, responsiblefor meeting a bulk of the capital’swater requirement. Why can’tDelhi’s potable water quality beimproved to the extent thatbottled water becomesirrelevant?

The anarchist in MrKejriwal does not believe inseeking solutions to the myriadproblems a Delhiite faces in hisdaily life. How shallow was thetactic of holding an Assemblysession with several thousandpeople around who could becounted on to react on the spotas they watch the game beingplayed before them!

Next is the Jan Lokpal Bill

that he threatened to introduce,ignoring the constitutionalrequirements of sanction for itfrom the Centre. If the ChiefMinister is openly seen asdeliberately flouting theconstitutional restrictions, whatexample is he setting for hisfollowers, let alone other people?

To cap it all, Mr Kejriwalawarded electricity bill waiversfor those who refused to pay highcharges. What if many others tooconsider the electricity bills, evenafter the drastic reduction in tariffthat he has given, as excessive,and not pay?

Does he not realise that inmany States, distribution losses

Unable to govern, they threw in the towelBy Balbir Punj

The Chief Minister seemed to be in confrontationwith the Centre at one end and the constitutionalsystem at the other. If the constitutional systemhas laid down certain restrictions on thefunctioning of the Delhi Government, either theChief Minister works within the system or seeksto change it through amendments in Parliament.


of power are as high as 50 percent? Strangely, Mr Kejriwal,who was so eager to award non-payers of electricity bills fromGovernment funds, neverappealed to stop power theft atthe consumer’s end. The fact thatthe discoms have succeeded ingetting convictions againstpower theft carries its ownwarning.

Of course, it is good publicitygimmick for the outgoing ChiefMinister to sit on the road andblock traffic. But the last month’s

event when he did that must havetaught him a lesson. He had tobe bailed out with a sleight ofhand by the Lt Governor, whomMr Kejriwal’s partymen accusedof being a “Congress agent”.

Mr Kejriwal apologised laterbut he did not pull up those whowere arrogant and had crossedthe limits of decency in politics.Another example of his anarchywas his concessions to auto-rickshaw drivers. As ChiefMinister, he should havedisciplined them when thepublic complaint is that theyover-charge and often refuse togo where commuters ask them totake. He had freed them from alldiscipline and wanted the policenot to issue challans to them.

Instead, only the TransportDepartment staff will undertakethe task of surveillance. That

department has only 128 staffmembers while the Delhi-NCRarea needs thousands to keepvigil. Besides, the auto-rickshaws will not be under anyobligation to go by the shortestroute. Delhi has over five lakhvisitors from neighbouringStates. The auto- drivers haveoften been found to be takingparticularly these visitors for aride.

Even local residentscomplain of such harassment. Inignoring the commuters’ plight

against auto-drivers, Mr Kejriwalseems to imply that he has noresponsibility to protect thepublic from harassment andexploitation by the auto driversjust because they have been amajor instrument for his pre-election propaganda. Surely, thatis another demonstration of whatpeople could expect when theyhad a declared anarchist as theirChief Minister.

The woes of the public, sowell demonstrated with the ChiefMinister giving anarchic freedomto auto-drivers to harass andexploit their customers, was allset to multiply when theGovernment would haveencouraged electricity users totamper with their meters or notpay bills; would have removedall traffic discipline in publictransport, and so on.

All decency was thrown outof the window in the AAP’sregime. The Chief Minister rolledout names of anyone in publiceye and dubbed them as‘corrupt’. Then he asked hispeople and his officers to registerFIRs against them. Hecondemned them first and thenset the law against them.

What such anarchy from thehigh pedestal of constitutionalpower will generate, seemed tobe of no concern to the party andthe regime. The AAP seems tosay out loud that whatever itspeople say is the law,; what theconstitutional process says isbogus.

Or was it a ploy on his partto avoid the serious business oftrying to solve the burningproblems of the people, byshowing up that it is others whoare blocking his plans? But henever spelt out in black and whitethe solutions themselves beforetargeting anyone and everyoneas the roadblocks to his heavenof bliss.

If he had been sincere, thevery first job he should have donewas to declare his budget and letthe people know what he wasgoing to do to tackle the problemsand how he would find theresources, the expertise and theorganisation to implement theschemes.

Perhaps we are forgettingthat for a self-projected anarchist,no organisation is required —because all organisations arelikely to be corrupt, createroadblocks, be reactionary etc.The demolition squad is at work.Only the reactionaries talk ofconstructive vision.

(The writer is BJP NationalVice President)

Mr Kejriwal apologised later but he did not pull upthose who were arrogant and had crossed the limits ofdecency in politics. Another example of his anarchywas his concessions to auto-rickshaw drivers. As ChiefMinister, he should have disciplined them when thepublic complaint is that they over-charge and oftenrefuse to go where commuters ask them to take.


Or you could tweak theheadline to ‘The manIndia needs’. Nothing,

absolutely nothing, must beallowed to come in the way ofthis nation’s aspiration

Conversations at socialgatherings should be neitherrecorded nor reported, not theleast because a lot is said amongfriends in a congenialatmosphere and the banter isoften no more than idle tittle-tattle. There is also that otherreason which we tend to forget— many who confide in you atsuch gatherings do so firm in thebelief that what they have saidwould not be shared with others.This is especially true for thosewho are given to a politicalpersuasion different from yours.For example, a high-rankingoffice-bearer, Minister or MP,whose declared loyalty is to thefirst family of the Congress,would baulk at the thought ofhis or her no-holds-barred rantagainst Sonia Gandhi and bitterbitching about how RahulGandhi has led the party into adark and bleak wilderness beingretold with appropriateattribution. This would beequally true for seniorjournalists and editors who arein competition with ManiShankar Aiyar for the honour ofbeing appointed chiefkhidmatgar at the Palace. Peoplelive up to the aphorism ‘in goesthe liquor, out comes the truth’— the wise stick to sippinginsipid red wine — but anunwritten code of honour

prohibits retelling of the truth. Ifit is to be retold because thetemptation to tattle is too strongto overcome, the truth wouldneed to be carefully sanitised andattribution would be an absoluteno-no. That’s a good thumb ruleto follow without burdeningyour conscience or falling foul offriends.

I happened to spend theevening (actually an evening thatstretched well into the night) at

last week’s most important eventon Delhi’s social calendar —probably the biggest event thisseason. The conversation wasgreat, the food was even better.The who’s who of Delhi, apartfrom India’s movers and shakers,were present in full measure. Asalways, it was nice to seepoliticians drop their pretencesand succumb to minor vices, thesource of simple humanpleasures. With a general electionround the corner, theconversation invariablyrevolved around the maincontenders for power andpossible outcomes. I tried to foboff the politically promiscuoususual suspects —there’s noshortage of them in this city andthey come in various shades ofvenality — since there was nopurpose served in listening to

their cringe-worthy flattery of theclaimants to the masnad ofDelhi. Instead, I flitted from groupto group of known — andunwavering — critics of the BJPand its prime ministerialcandidate

Narendra Modi. There werethree common points in whatthey told me. First, there’s amassive Modi wave surging fromKashmir to Kanyakumari. Apollster whose polling skills are

irreproachable used the adjective‘unprecedented’ — in his words,“There’s an unprecedented Modiwave sweeping the country.”Second, the BJP could easilytouch a tally of 220 and even gobeyond that provided it selectsits candidates carefully anddeploys all its forces on theground before and on pollingday. Getting the voter out wouldbe the clincher in this election —if the BJP fails on this front, theresults could go any which wayand the party would have onlyitself to blame. Third, theCongress is headed for its worstelectoral defeat; the party facesdecimation. Yes, the Aam AadmiParty was mentioned but inpassing reference. Curiously, orperhaps not, senior foreigndiplomats, among themAmbassadors and High

Narendra Modi : The man India awaitsBy Kanchan Gupta

The conversation was great, the food was even better.The who’s who of Delhi, apart from India’s movers andshakers, were present in full measure. As always, it wasnice to see politicians drop their pretences and succumbto minor vices, the source of simple human pleasures.


Commissioners, were moreeager to talk about AAP thanothers; most of them wanted tobe reassured that the upstartswould not score more than adozen seats. It’s possible suchun-cordial feelings of theexpatriate community ofChanakyapuri towards the AAPare not shared by the Americans,but that’s a story to be toldanother day.

Anecdotal evidence of howwell (or otherwise) a party’selection campaign is taking

shape cannot be a substitute forempirical evidence culled fromthe ground. But if popularperception matters in politics andif the English-speakingchattering classes of urban Indiaindeed wield disproportionatepower to mould voter opinion,then anecdotal evidencegathered that evening indicatesNarendra Modi is riding apopularity wave whose crestcould be higher than that of theVajpayee wave in 1998-1999. Ifthe Vajpayee wave could propelthe BJP to power in twosubsequent general elections, itcould be argued, then there’s noreason to disbelieve that a Modiwave will sweep the BJP topower in 2014. The various

opinion polls indicate a similartrend — the latest poll showsNarendra Modi’s popularityrating is more than thrice that ofa very distant Rahul Gandhi inthe heartland. The counterargument to such assertions isthat in 2004 the BJP lost thegeneral election despite AtalBihari Vajpayee remaining at thetop, and way ahead of others, inthe popularity charts. Certitudeof victory can make politiciansand political partiesorganisations complacent and,

as we all know, complacence isthe surest, shortest route tosnatching defeat from the jawsof victory. Key takeaway: TheBJP, as an organisation, cannotafford to rest easy between nowand polling day.

There is no gainsaying thatcandidate selection plays a keyrole in determining the outcomeof any election, more so a LokSabha poll. If the candidate doesnot inspire confidence then aleader’s popularity alone cannotensure victory. The massrejection of sitting MPs in 2004and 2009 proves this point. Theonly exception to the rule was in1977 which was a ‘lamp postelection’ — the Janata Party’ssymbol mattered more than the

person contesting on thatsymbol. Every election tends todisprove pundits and it isentirely possible 2014 could wellturn out to be a ‘lamp postelection’ with voters voting forNarendra Modi, but that issomething we will get to knowonly after the results are declared.Let us not forget Indira Gandhidid not expect to lose the 1977election; it’s only after Amethiand Rae Bareli spurned theNehru Dynasty did realisationof the enormity of the defeat sinkin. That the collapse of theCongress this time will bespectacular is a no-brainer, butthe exact extent of that collapsewill be known after the last ofthe results is in. Nevertheless, itwould in order to ask: Is the BJPfilling the political vacuum withthe speed with which it is beingcreated by the collapse of theCongress?

In 1998 I had interviewedAtal Bihari Vajpayee which waspublished under the evocativeheadline “The man Indiaawaits.” Sixteen years later, thatsame headline could be used asa slogan for Narendra Modi —he is the man India awaits.Indeed, it could be tweaked to“The man India needs” — torestore confidence in

Government, to resuscitatethe economy, to reinstate faith inour entrepreneurial spirit, toreturn to the trajectory of India’sdazzling rise during the NDAyears, to remind the world thatthis great nation will contributeto the shaping of the 21st century.Nothing must come between theaspiration of the masses and theoutcome of this election. The BJPalone can ensure this. (The writer is BJP National Executive

Member)

There is no gainsaying that candidate selection playsa key role in determining the outcome of any election,more so a Lok Sabha poll. If the candidate does notinspire confidence then a leader’s popularity alonecannot ensure victory. The mass rejection of sittingMPs in 2004 and 2009 proves this point. The onlyexception to the rule was in 1977 which was a ‘lamppost election’ — the Janata Party’s symbol matteredmore than the person contesting on that symbol.


US Ambassador NancyPowell held discussionswith BJP’s Prime

Ministerial candidate ShriNarendra Modi on February 13,2014. After nine year of long gapa high official of United States ofAmerica called on Shri Gujaratchief minister Shri NarendraModi. Powell praised the goodmodel of governance in the stateand said that it could bereplicated in other parts of the

world. It is worth mentioninghere that Narendra Modi hadrejected such requests three timesin last three months, proving thathe has no great desire to meet USrepresentatives.

Earlier,Shri Narendra Modigreeted Powell with flowers anda hand shake when she arrivedat Chief Minister’s residence inGandhi Nagar for the meeting.Shri Modi also welcomed othermembers of the US delegation.

Reacting on the meetingLeader of Opposition in Rajya

Sabha Shri Arun Jaitley said“The US ambassador Ms. NancyPowell has met the Gujarat ChiefMinister Mr. Narendra Modi.The decision by the USadministration to resume contactwith the Gujarat Chief Ministerappears to be based on their suomoto assessment of the domesticsituation in India. I regard it asan internal corrective of the USadministration. The earlierdecision not to keep contact with

an elected representative in Indiadid not appear to be based onany cogent evidence or courtverdicts. It was based onexcessive propaganda in themedia and elsewhere created bycertain NGOs.”

He added “For us in the BJP,the meeting is a part of thediplomatic routine. The GujaratChief Minister is unquestionablythe frontrunner in the 2014general elections. He hasconvincingly won the Stateassembly elections three times.

The earlier decision of somecountries not to deal with himwas a failure of India’s foreignpolicy. It is not for a politicalparty or a State government, toreact to another country’sresponse of dealing or otherwisewith elected representatives inIndia. It was for the ExternalAffairs Ministry (MEA) to reactto it. Did the MEA under the UPAfail in this regard?Unquestionably it did.”

“The reaction of the ExternalAffairs Minister Mr. SalmanKhurshid to this meeting is self-evident. The Congress Party istoday a demoralized lot. For itthe writing on the wall is veryclear. Its best case scenario is adefeat in the elections. Thelogical scenario appears to beindicating a complete rout. Itsvote base has disappeared. Thearrogance of its leaders stillremains.

That arrogance is evidenteven in the reactions in the pastfew hours. The External AffairsMinister who should haveprotected the dignity of anelected representative in Indiaappears distressed even as theUS Ambassador met the GujaratChief Minister.”

“The Indo-US relationship isan important pillar of India’sforeign policy. The NDAGovernment led by Shri AtalBihari Vajpayee had contributedto strengthening of thisrelationship. All sides mustrealize that restraint andstatesmanship can enable us toovercome transient problems.Aberrations cannot beexaggerated to disturb thebalance in the relationship.”

US Ambassador Nancy Powell calls on Modi


Creation of over 200 millionjobs over the next 10 yearsis going to be the priority

of the Bharatiya Janata Party,according to its NationalTreasurer and member ofParliament from Rajya SabhaShri Piyush Goyal who wasaddressing the National Council

meeting of the Confederation ofIndian Industry here on Februry17, 2014. Lamenting the fact thatdespite high growth in the pastfew years, the number of jobscreated in the country wasabysmally low – at a mere 2.5million –Shri Goyal saidaffordable housing alone couldprovide the kind of spur tomanufacturing which thecountry needed. If the countrytook up the agenda of creating100 million affordable homesthen 15 million jobs could easily

be created every year, he said.Linked to the question of jobs

was the issue of skilldevelopment. Ruing the fact thatthe National Skill DevelopmentCouncil (NSDC) had not beenable to get the funds that it hadbeen promised after all theseyears, Shri Goyal said it was

regrettable that only 3 lakhpeople had been imparted skillsagainst a target of severalmillions. He suggesteddovetailing of skill developmentof 200 million people with theMahatma Gandhi NationalRural Employment GuaranteeScheme (MNREGS) so thatpeople could actually beprovided with funds to gainskills. Four areas where skillscould be built, he said, weretourism, manufacturing,housing and infrastructure.

BJP outlineseconomic priorities

Answering a question onthe issue of goods and servicestax (GST), Shri Goyal said BJPwas not against it providedcertain issues were addressed.These included issues such asthe needs of states in situationsof natural calamities. “If thesecontentious points are addressedthen BJP stands committed tothe approval of GST,” said ShriGoyal.

On the issue of landacquisition he said thegovernment should haveincreased compensation andsimplified the procedures but “ithad ended up making the lawso draconian that had not MrArun Jaitley, leader of theOpposition in the Rajya Sabha,insisted on keeping four-fivesectors out of its purview, theentire business would havecome to a standstill.”

Maintaining the party’sopposition to multi-brand FDIin retail, Mr Goyal said that

unless the country’smanufacturing base wasstrengthened, it was not going toallow foreign brands to enterIndia as they were not going towork on strengthening thebackend systems and supplychains.

He exhorted India Inc toempower BJP leader MrNarendra Modi to come to powerwith absolute majority andended his speech on a positiveand promising note.

CII National Council meeting


These instructions containthe very essence of allYoga Sadhana, Karma,

Bhakti, Jnana and Yoga will all cometo one who follows them whole-heartedly. They are the unfailingkeys to quick and effectivedevelopment and culture of thephysical, mental, moral and spiritualself of man.1. BRAHMAMUHURTA

Get up at 4 a.m. daily. This isBrahmamuhurta which is extremelyfavourable for Sadhana. Do all yourmorning spiritual Sadhana duringthis period from 4 a.m. to 6:30 or 7a.m. Such Sadhana gives quick andmaximum progress.2. ASANA

Sit on Padmasana (lotus pose),Siddhasana (adept’s pose) orSukhasana (any pose you like) foryour Japa and meditation for halfan hour, facing east or north.Increase the period gradually tothree hours. Practice Sirshasana(headstand) and Sarvangasana(shoulderstand) for maintenance ofhealth and Brahmacharya. Take lightphysical exercises as walking, etc.,regularly. Do twenty rounds of easy,comfortable Pranayama (breathingexercises). Do not strain yourselfwhile doing Pranayama.3. JAPA

You can repeat any Mantra(sacred syllable), such as pure Omor Om Namo Narayanaya, Sri Ram,Sita Ram, Sri Ram Jaya Ram JayaJaya Ram, Om Namah Sivaya, OmNamo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, OmSaravanabhavaya Namah, Hari Om,or Gayatri (a sacred Vedic Mantra),according to your taste orinclination, from 108 times to 21,600times daily. Devotees of Christ may

repeat the name Jesus or Hail Mary,Mother of Jesus. Parsis, Sikhs andMuslims may select a name orMantra from the Zend Avesta,Granth Sahib or Koran respectively.4. DIETETIC DISCIPLINE

Take Sattvic food. Give upchillies, tamarind, garlic, onion, sourarticles, oil, mustard, asafoetida.Observe moderation in diet(Mitahara). Do not overload thestomach. Give up those thingswhich the mind likes best for afortnight once or twice in a year.Eat simple simple food. Milk andfruits help concentration. Take foodas medicine to keep the life going.Eating for enjoyment is a sin. Giveup salt and sugar for a week or afortnight. You must be able to liveon rice, dhal and bread without anypickle. Do not ask for extra salt fordhal, and sugar for tea, coffee andmilk. People taking non-vegetaraiandiet should try their best togradually give up flesh-eating ascompletely as possible. They willbe immensely benefited.5. MEDITATION

Have a separate meditationroom under lock and key. If this isnot possible then a corner of theroom should be set apart with asmall cloth screen or curtain drawnacross. Keep the room spotlesslyclean.6. SVADHYAYA

Study systematically the Gita,Ramayana, Bhagavatam, Vishnu-Sahasranama, Lalita-Sahasranama,Adityahridaya, Upanishads, YogaVasishta, Bible, Imitation of Christ,Zend Avesta, Quran, the Tripitakas,the Granth Sahib and other religiousbooks from half an hour to one hourdaily, and have Suddha Vichara

(pure thoughts).7. ELEVATE THE MIND

Get by heart some prayer -Slokas (prayer verses), Stotras(hymns) and repeat them as soonas you sit in the Asana beforestarting Japa or meditation. This willelevate the mind quickly.8. BRAHMACHARYA

Preserve the vital force (Veerya(seminal energy)) very, verycarefully. Veerya is God in motionor manifestation (Vibhuti). Veeryais all power. Veerya is all money.Veerya is the essence of life, thoughtand intelligence. This instruction isnot for bachelors only.Householders also must follow itas far as possible. They must beextremely moderate in their maritalconnections with their spouse. Thisis very important.9. CHARITY

Do charity regularly, everymonth, or even daily according toyour means. Never fail in this item.If necessary forego some personalwants but keep up this charityregularly.10. HAVE SATSANG

Give up bad company,smoking, meat and alcoholic liquorsentirely. Have constant Satsang(association with holy people). Donot develop any evil habits.Deliberately exert to developpositive virtuous qualities.

This is the essence of allspiritual Sadhana. It will lead you toliberation. All these spiritual canonsmust be rigidly observed. You mustnot give any leniency to the mind.(Excerpts from 20 Important SpiritualInstructions by Sri Swami Sivananda)

Courtesy: Divine Life Society

10 Important Spiritual InstructionsBy Sri Swami Sivananda

Golden words from Adhyatama

contents180.179.170.84/images/kamal_sandesh/ks_mar_01_2014_e.pdf · pp-66, subramanya bharati marg,...

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