INDIAN POLITICS (EPISODE - 06)

Arindam: -Hello viewers. Today, in this episode, we have in our studio, Mr. Sangram Tiwari from Janata Dal United, Mr. Chandrakant from Shiv Sena, Mr.Umashankar from Rashtriya Janata Dal and Mr.Prabir from Maharashtra Navanirman Sena. Thanks to all of you, for coming to the show. My first question to Mr. Umashankar about the Lok Sabha 2009 Election results in Bihar. Laloo Prasad Yadav, the former Railway Minister has been just white-washed in this election. He contested from two constituencies. In one he lost, but managed to win the other one. In Bihar, this time RJD has bagged only 4 seats.

Umashankar: -as rightly said by Laloo Prasad Yadav also, that it was a bad decision of RJD, for not supporting the Congress Party. The leftist image of Ram Vilas Paswan really costs us a lot.

Arindam: -Mr. Sangram, is it the only issue, why RJD fared badly and BJP-JD (U) got a clean sweep in Bihar.

Sangram: -See, one thing you must appreciate that under Laloo Prasad Yadav, there was no development in Bihar. Maybe to some extent, in the railway sector, it has happened. There was terror everywhere. I can even tell you the name of those constituencies, where RJD used to win because of that fear factor. Not only have that; RJD was so much supportive towards the minority groups to show their secular image that you will find Muslim extremists just ruling some parts of Bihar, with their forceful and illegal violence. Today, people of Bihar wants development, they want peace. That is the only reason, why Laloo and his entire party have been thrown into the trash.

Arindam: -Coming to Mr.Chandrakant; Shiv Sena have not fared well in Maharashtra. It was only 11 seats.

Chandrakant: -You better ask this question to Mr. Prabir. It is for their MNS party, the Marathi votes have got split. I don’t know, what kind of Navanirman, theirs party has done so far, that Marathi still have faith in them.

Prabir: -of course, we are doing development for the Marathis. We are demanding for sanction of jobs for them in every sector. We have also urged the companies operating from Maharashtra, to give 1st preference to the Marathis only.

Sangram: -But, that does not mean that you will start killing and beating the North Indians.

Prabir: -of course, our people have not done anything wrong. It is for the Bihari and Uttar Pradesh people that anti-social activities have increased in Mumbai. They have snatched many jobs from the Marathis.

Umashankar: -If your party people were so concerned about the crimes and terrors in Mumbai, then where were they, during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Chandrakant: -at that time, they were just sleeping. Believe me; it is for Raj Thackeray that Mr. Bal Thackeray had to bear the brunt. Let me tell you that if Marathi people are still responding to Raj, then it is because he is the nephew of Mr. Bal Thackeray. He has repeatedly got bails because of his uncle’s image only.

Prabir: -I don’t want to argue on these issues. But, what I want to say is that, why you people don’t create job opportunities and employment in Bihar only. It is because of Laloo and other politicians, there is no development in Bihar. Net result, they will come to Mumbai with big dreams, but at the end of the day, they will become anti-socials to survive in Mumbai. If Bihari politicians will do all the ghotalas, scandals and scams, and there will be no progress in Bihar, then why the Mumbaikars are going to bear the side-effect of it.

Arindam: -but, one thing you must appreciate Mr.Prabir, that the Biharis are engaged in such kind of jobs in Mumbai from Coolies to Road-Sweepers, that without them also, Mumbai cannot survive. Just think about it.

INDIAN POLITICS (EPISODE - 05)

Arindam: -Hello viewers. Today in this episode, we have in our studio, Mr. Rajagopala, the supporter of All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIDMK) party and Mr.Balasura, the supporter of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party. Thanks to both of you for coming to our show. First I want to ask Mr. Rajagopala that how you are feeling after the Lok Sabha Election results. AIADMK won only 9 seats whereas DMK have bagged 19 seats. So, how will you react to this?

Rajagopala: -Ha ha ha … boss, this is Tamil Nadu. You must appreciate that the Tamil Nadu voters are the most intelligent voters of India. If you analyze the trend, then you will find that after every 5 years, the power gets shifted. If this term is for DMK, then the next term is for AIDMK and then again it changes. Maybe, that is why, whether it is DMK or AIDMK, it hardly matters; everyone performs for the improvement of the state. Maybe, for these intelligent voters, Tamil Nadu is also emerging as a good developed state, in terms of financial services and manufacturing sectors.

Arindam: -but, if I assume that AIDMK was not expecting to bag many seats in this Lok Sabha election, then why NDA was interested in making allies with this party and some analysts also predicted that Jayalalitha may act as kingmaker. Then, what went wrong?

Rajagopala:- I have no answers to it. The answer lies with the voters only. Anyway, every time, what has been predicted in the exit-polls or pre-poll always proved wrong. But still, this time you cannot say that it is a full sweep for DMK.

Arindam: -Coming to Mr. Balasura. Do you think that the sympathy that Karunanidhi showed towards the Tamil civilians who suffered very badly in Sri Lanka, favored the DMK party to gain more seats in this Lok Sabha Election. We have also heard people saying that Karunanidhi decided to fast in between the breakfast and the lunch.

Balasura:- That is a media rumour! Actually, after getting confirmation from the Indian Government, that they will help to rescue the Tamil civilians of Sri Lanka, Karunanidhi decided to break the fast, otherwise it would have continued.

Arindam: -Is Vaiko and his MDMK controversies still haunting DMK? MDMK protested POTA of NDA. Now, UPA have also come up with the modified version of POTA only. So, how is DMK going to react to it with at least 5 ministers in the Parliament?

Balasura: -See, there is again a misunderstanding in this regard. Our party never supported LTTE. We were only concerned about the innocent Tamil civilians, who have done nothing, but were getting sandwiched, in the bullet-firing battle between Sri Lankan armies and LTTE militants. And where from this Vaiko issue is coming in? You should be aware of the fact that, he was expelled from our DMK party long time back.

Rajagopala:- Uuh…everyone knows that to safeguard Mr. Stalin; that man was thrown out from that party. Take the current situation only. He sent the list of all his family members for the minister post in the Parliament.

Balasura: -Well, that matter has been solved out now. It was just a tug-of-war between DMK and TMC. But, now, everything is Ok. Let us not discuss about it anymore. At least DMK is more faithful as allies than AIADMK.

Arindam:- before ending this program, I have two questions to both of you. Is Prabhakaran still alive or dead? How will you react to the Obama’s suggestion to share the power between Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka?

Balasura: -These are very tough questions to answer, but the USA is always fond of adding fuel to the fire.

INDIAN POLITICS (EPISODE - 04)

Arindam: -Viewers, in this episode, Mr. Tamang, Mr. Tapas and Mr. Nandi have been replaced by Mr. Ramareddy of Telangana Rashtra Samity (TRS), Mr.Venugopala of Congress party, Mr. Anand of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Mr. Ganesan of Prajarajyam Party (PRP). Today, our focus is on Andhra Pradesh. I will first ask Mr. Ramareddy that after this 2009 Lok Sabha Election, where your party is standing, in terms of the demand for a separate Telangana state.

Ramareddy: -We will not stop our campaign for a separate Telangana state. We were expecting the NDA government at the center to fulfill our dreams. But still let us see, what our party can do in the future.

Arindam: -So, we can expect that this TRS party will weaken gradually in the next coming 5 years, or it may form an alliance with PRP or TDP. Maybe, TDP will not be a favorable option for TRS. Mr.Anand, in this election, was your party expecting to come back?

Anand: -Yes, of course. We could have easily put up a great fight against the Congress party, if there would have been no new formation of a regional party like PRP. PRP became a great threat for us. And if you analyze also, all the major chunk of anti-congress votes went into their account. And, of course the actor image of Chiranjeevi was more than enough to attract the voters. Earlier also, Andhra Pradesh have always accepted an actor turned politician as their chief minister.

Arindam: -Ok, now, if we consider the fact that the popularity index of PRP was high in the Assembly election of Andhra Pradesh. Many analysts also predicted that Chiranjeevi will be the king-maker. Either his party will do the clean sweep, or may be to whom his party will support, will come to the power of Andhra Pradesh. But, nothing such happened. The number of votes that PRP party has got in this election, we must admit that as a new emerging party, it is a good sign for them. But, my question is that if a party was in a more favorable position in terms of public response and star-status attraction, then what actually went wrong for them?

Ramareddy: -the declaration, that they will support congress, after the election, was a huge blow for the PRP party. Now, understand the psychology of the voters. In their mind, it was evident that, boss, any way or the other, this new PRP party is going to support Congress; then what is the essence of voting them, if I am an anti-congress, I will vote for TDP. On the other hand, people of Telangana region also found PRP unfavorable, as Congress was never supportive towards the formation of a separate Telangana state.

Arindam: -Mr. Ganesan, why PRP was more eager to fight against TDP rather than Congress? Don’t’ you think that if PRP would have not supported Congress, and contested single-handedly, then PRP could have won more seats?

Genesan: -as a new party, we were somewhat cautious whether we will be able to crack any seat or not. But, later we found that Andhra people accepted us, but they don’t want to see this party as a subsidiary of any other party like Congress or TDP.

Arindam: -Mr. Venugopala, was your Congress party afraid of PRP or TDP?

Venugopala:- We were not afraid of PRP or TDP but we were afraid of PRP and TDP. That is why; we tried our level best to ensure that these two parties do not form any alliance before the assembly election. If it would have happened, then surely TRS would have also joined hands with them. Then it could have been a tough fight for our party. But, if in this assembly election, Congress has won more seats, then it is due to the rural development conducted by YSR across the Andhra Pradesh. At least, farmers have not committed suicide in these 5 years. Also, don’t forget, Congress have been able to gain more seats in Lok Sabha elections this time.

INDIAN POLITICS (EPISODE - 03)

Arindam: -Ok, again, thanks a lot to all three of you for coming here and participating in this discussion. Viewers, now, we have invited three people from West Bengal. Mr. Tamang, the supporter of Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM), Mr. Tapas of Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Mr. Nandi of CPI (M)! Good evening to all of you. First, I want to ask Mr. Nandi, that the left parties in West Bengal have got a huge blow. What will be the next step for this party?

Nandi: -If you analyze the entire situation, then you will find that under Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, we have lost strong grounds in rural Bengal. In the era of Jyothi Basu, the city people was shouting for Industrial Development, but he has not listened to it, rather he went on improving the agricultural sector. But, today, when, Buddhadeb tried to do the development in the industrial sector, rural Bengal as well as the urban voters rejected it.

Tapas: -People are not against industrialization, but they also don’t want to give up their agricultural lands. You have many lands in this state, which can be used for building factories, then why, you are targeting the agricultural lands. Another point is, without sitting with the opposition party to discuss for a solution, your party sent a huge number of CPI (M) cadres and Police to stop any kind of revolt. That was a political blunder. Rural Bengal experienced a political party, which is always ready for violence and nothing else. But, Newton’s 3rd Law is valid in every case and they have proved it by voting for our party.

Arindam: -Is Mamata Banerjee going to bargain for a ministry? Laloo Prasad Yadav’s condition is very poor after this election. Congress party also does not want the support of RJD at all. There is no point in making him the Railway Minister. Let us assume that, Mamata may get the Railway Ministry, will she accept it or reject it, like she did, when Bajpayee Government was there in the center.

Tapas: -What she will do, it is totally up to her. But, we have heard the news that, she is eyeing the post for ministry of state affairs, as her main objective is to defeat CPI (M) in the coming assembly election of 2011.

Tamang: -This is the real problem with the politicians of this state. They never want to take any charge of any ministry. Earlier, Mamata did the blunder. She could have done many developments of West Bengal, by remaining in that ministry, but she has not done that. This time also, I am very much sure that she will repeat the same history, and if it happens, then believe me, in 2011, again CPI(M) will come back with full power. People of West Bengal have voted her to test, whether she is capable of doing any development or not. If she fails, then there is no chance for TMC to win in the 2011 assembly election.

Arindam: -Jashwant Singh has done his job, by winning a seat at Darjeeling, but as NDA is not at the center, so, there is no chance of a Gorkhaland state. The point is, why, suddenly, you people are so serious about forming a separate state?

Tamang:- It is due to the lack of development. Whether it is Jyothi Basu or Buddhadeb, they have totally neglected the Darjeeling and its adjoining areas. Look at Sikkim; they are far more advanced in every aspect. Today, people prefer to visit Gangtok, rather than Darjeeling. What to say about Subhash Ghising of Gorkha National Liberal Front (GNLF)? In his later days, he just became a puppet of CPI (M). If West Bengal government provides proper development to us, then we don’t need a separate state, otherwise our agitation will continue.

Arindam: -So, the industrial development, without hampering any other sector is the real need of the hour for West Bengal. Like Advani of BJP, Buddhadeb also wants to resign. What is Prakash Karat going to do?

Nandi: -No, no, nothing like that. No one will resign. Why everyone is pointing fingers at Mr.Karat, I don’t know.

INDIAN POLITICS (EPISODE - 02)

Arindam: -Ok, Mr. Vikash, let us have a look, how college students have reacted to this Lok Sabha election result. Our colleague Savita is there in the campus of Jadavpur University of Kolkata. Savita; how is the response there among the college students?

Savita: -Hi, Arindam, here the students are happy about their Didi’s win against the CPI (M), let me take their feedback. Hello, how are you feeling after the win of Congress party at the center?

Student 01:-It is good for our economy that, we have got a stable government. We hope that our economy will recover soon from this recession. As a final year student of this engineering college, we are still in tension whether we will get jobs or not. At least, it is good news for the job market that there is no hung parliament.

Savita: -Ok, as an Indian citizen, what are the new changes that should be made in this new Congress government?

Student 02:-First thing that Congress should do is to be strong and tough in its external affairs, rather than being dominated by our arch-rival country leaders. The security measures need to be tightened up. If Taliban can attack the SWAT valley, what is the guarantee that they will not attack India, by joining hands with the Pakistanis?

Student 03:-Yes, of course, he has said the right thing. After 26/11 Mumbai attack, the government is yet to punish the terrorists. We want young leaders of Congress to take the charge of important ministries in the cabinet. And why not? India is a country where more than 65% of population lies between the ages of 25 to 35 years. Look at other countries; there the young politicians with fresh new ideas are contributing for the country, whereas in our country, all the ministers are above 60 years with their old ideologies and think-tank.

Savita: -Do you think, this stable government will help in boosting the Sensex and Nifty?

Student 04:-Market is yet to get the correction. But, yes, for this week, at least, share market will be in booming state, but that is temporary. Financial policies for the corporate and micro-financing needs to be given more importance in the coming 5 years!

Savita:- Arindam, as you can see, that these young students are looking forward to new ideas and strategies as well as the young ministers in the cabinet. This is Savita from SatyaMahindra TV. Over to you, Arindam.

Arindam: -Thanks Savita. So, Mr. Vikash, as we can clearly see that, somewhere or the other, these young generations is not happy about the security factor as well as the financial development at the root level.

Vikash: -See, it is not so easy to curb terrorism. But, our party is always in constant discussion with the Pakistani government to solve these issues. We are unlike the NDA, who gifted the country with Kargil War.

Shankar: -Our party declared the war to teach them a lesson. See, whether you are Congress or BJP or other parties, it hardly matters, because at the end of the day when you come out of the Parliament house, you are an Indian. As a government, if you don’t take strict actions against the terrorists, then ultimately the economy of the country suffers due to that fear factor. No foreign financial Institutions will invest here.

Arindam: -Mr. Manoj, this time your Left Front will have no power to oppose the nuclear deal. What is your opinion about that?

Manoj: -This party does not understand that USA wants a back-up force to keep China under pressure by signing this nuclear deal with India. On the other hand, it can hamper the emergence of India as a superpower in future.

INDIAN POLITICS (EPISODE - 01)

Arindam: -Good Afternoon, viewers. You are watching the program “Indian Politics”. In this episode, we have supporters of three major parties and Renuka, the statistician of our team. Let me introduce our guests. Vikash, the Congress party supporter, Shankar, the BJP supporter and Manoj from the Left Front. We welcome you all to this program. First I should congratulate you, Mr. Vikash, for your party winning convincingly in this election. So, the tune of “Jai Ho” and the song “Singh is King” really worked for your party.

Vikash: -Indian voters are not fools to get swayed away by those tunes and songs. I should give credit to our young leaders Rahul Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia, for their whole-hearted campaign. It was for Rahul Gandhi that, we were able to snatch at least 10 seats from BSP of Uttar Pradesh, whereas in Madhya Pradesh, at least we gained 5 seats of NDA, due to Junior Scindia. Our party has proved that, all the pre-poll analysis and exit polls analysis are just wastage.

Arindam: -No, I don’t agree to that. In both the pre-polls and exit polls, it was clear that Congress party has the edge over NDA, but the biggest question was, will UPA be able to form the government or there will be some turnaround, due to L K Advani’s strong image? Renuka, can you please provide some insight in this regard.

Renuka: -of course, Arindam. In the pre-poll survey, we found UPA with 195 seats, NDA with 143 seats, but after the 4th and 5th phase of polling, Congress vote-bank became strong. In the exit-poll survey, we found UPA at 220 seats, and NDA at 170 seats.

Arindam: -Thanks Renuka. So, Mr. Vikash, the minimum expectation was 220 seats. Now, where have you gained then? It is of course in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Shankar:- They gained in Maharashtra too, due to the split of Shiv Sena votes which went to MNS party.

Arindam: -but, I think that the biggest gain was from West Bengal and Kerala, if I consider the UPA alliance. Earlier, we were expecting a hung parliament, where Mayawati and Jayalalitha wil play the major role. But, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal really gave a stunning blow to the ruling CPI (M) Party to help UPA reaching the 272 mark very easily. Mr. Manoj, can we have your opinion in this regard?

Manoj: -in Kerala, we expected some losses, but West Bengal was really stunning. Maybe, the Singur, Nandigram and then the Lalgarh issues paved the way for Trinamool congress. 19 seats is not a matter of joke.

Arindam: -Mamata Banerjee should at least claim for a ministry at the center, provided she don’t repeat the same history again, that she did before. We will discuss regarding Mamata Banerjee and her success, in our next episodes. Now, Mr. Shankar, what will be the next step for your party. Actually, what went wrong?

Shankar: -See, first of all, our party is not having presence in all the Indian states. Secondly, there was confusion about whom to project as a PM candidate. It will be Advani or Modi. Third reason was Mr. Varun Gandhi and his controversial remarks before the election, which stirred confusion among some sections of the society. But, at least, our party made a clean sweep in Bihar. That is the only plus point, otherwise, I should say, a proper restructuring is required in the party. There is lack of young leaders in the party, like Congress already has. We are also missing a talented person like Pramod Mahajan, who was expert in controlling both the hardliners and moderators inside the party.

Arindam: -Mr. Vikash, has Mr. Chidambaram won the election from Sivaganga Constituency. We heard that a re-counting was done there, is it true?

Vikash: -No, no, not at all. That was just a rumour. He won the election; after all, he is the Home Minister.

INDIAN POLITICS (INTRODUCTORY EPISODE)

Sain Director: -Good afternoon viewers. From today onwards, we are going to start a special program on “Indian Politics” in your No.1 favorite Royal Bengal Tiger TV Channel (RBTV). In this show, we will analyze the political scenario from the view point of Indian common men, college goers, party supporters and other eminent persons. Our media team will be neutral in their analysis. No political parties, no politicians will be spared. We will hear, what “Aaam Janata” is saying. If there is any serious issue, which needs to be solved, then we will put it forward here. In every show, we will have a discussion regarding that issue. We have not started this program before the Lok Sabha election to avoid any kind of controversy. Now, after the result declarations, we will try to visualize the present Indian Politics in accordance to its history. We will start the show very soon. So, keep watching the Royal Bengal Tiger TV (RBTV) Channel.