Smart Cities and RSS: Two contradictory sides of Narendra Modi

Soon after coming to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a grand announcement of setting up 100 new smart cities in the country. Later, the ministry of urban development has prepared a draft concept note on the smart city scheme. The government had announced a plan to develop 100 smart cities to provide better amenities in urban areas. The 100 smart cities will include all state capitals and union territories. It will also comprise 44 cities in the population range of 1-4 million people, nine satellite cities with a population of 4 million or more, 10 cities that are of religious and tourist importance and 20 cities in the 0.5 to 1 million population range.

India is urbanizing at an unprecedented rate, so much which estimates suggest nearly 600 million of Indians will be living in cities by 2030, up from 290 million as reported in the 2001 census. It is clear that Prime Minister wants to take the living standard for big cities to a new level where 24X7 utility services becomes an essential part of public service delivery mechanism.  High quality infrastructure and technology based governance will be provided to the citizens.

The whole idea looks good for India as it will change the face of country in global market. But there are many other aspects too, which requires lot of brain storming. The very basic requirement to build a new smart city will required land pulling, that will add more fuel to the heat created due to the suggested changes in Land Acquisition Bill by NDA government. Even on ground, farmers are reluctant to give up their plots of land as they know their employment prospects in the new cities are dim, concentrated in low-wage and insecure informal work.

The other and the most interesting facet of smart cities concept is RSS, which is also a serious ‘backstage’ stakeholder in Narendra Modi lead government. It may be an 89 year old organisation, identified as representing a more conservative set of values. But the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is witnessing steady progress by introducing many technologically advance programs. RSS knows that its growth is inversely proportional to the development of smart cities and there will be no place for RSS’s core Hindu ideology is any of the smart city and that will act as a barrier in its expansion.

It is evident that according to RSS, two different nations India and Bharat resides in our nation and RSS always bats for the very idea of ‘Bharat’. Their view suggest that the very idea of westernization persists deeply in the urban class which they called India.

RSS knows the idea of smart cities is so appealing that it will openly fascinate the rural crowd and will directly impact to their aspirations. It will be wrong to say that RSS is present in urban cities but majorly in terms of ideological connect, it is very strong among rural masses. Even today, ‘Shakha’ plays a vital role in the personality development of many rural and small town children.

On the other hand, smart cities will follow the western pattern of development which will consist of tall buildings, largely English speaking crowd, well decorative public spaces and high class infrastructure. It is obvious to understand that such places have no space for RSS to hold ‘Shakhas’ for engaging masses. A study suggests that in last one year ‘Shakhas’ have grown by 18% across country. No doubt, Modi’s popularity has played a key role in the sudden growth of RSS and enhanced its reachability towards urban youth.

Modi’s smart city plan is, commendably, linked to expanding manufacturing jobs. Newer and better urban infrastructure, in theory, will attract investment and jobs, but the principle of “if you build it, they will come,” in India as well as elsewhere in the world, has produced more white elephants than thriving cities. RSS used the same argument when Rajiv Gandhi was keen on introducing computers based infrastructure in India but now things are different. This time RSS can’t dare to oppose the idea at open platforms because of two very strong reasons. First, this time the ruling party is BJP, which considers RSS its ideological parent. Secondly, in this globalized era, RSS can’t afford the hating of aspiring youth which constitutes 65% of India’s population in total.

From a distance, it appears that RSS going through its golden phase but the truth is, RSS top brass is actually worried about the future of their organization. Modi’s political and ideological background deeply connected with RSS but since 2002, when Modi crown as the CM of Gujarat, their relationship saw many ups and down. During his 12 years long regime, he sidelined RSS, VHP and many other organizations which consider BJP as their political brother. But, you may call it the beauty of Indian politics, the same organization put their all weight and efforts behind Modi during 2014 general elections.    

Things are different now, despite of having differences on many issues, Modi and RSS are incomplete without each other and shaping up the idea of smart cities is need of the hour.  

This article was first published in Janta Ka Reporter.

The Battle of Uttar Pradesh: Here people vote for caste not leaders

The principal architect of Indian constitution Dr. BR Ambedkar once said “Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus from co-mingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. Caste is a notion; it is a state of the mind.” But in India’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh, where the name of Dr. Ambedkar holds a big impact, these words seem to be wrong. 

The debate between casting the vote and voting for caste has always been a heated one when it comes to elections in the Hindi heartland, and more so in Uttar Pradesh, which is not only bigger than many countries of the world, but is also a key player in deciding the national vote with its 80 Lok Sabha seats.

It is so evident in UP that the party which will be able to get 30% votes will emerge as a winner. But the whole ‘Dangal’ has stuck among 23% upper caste population, 41% other backward castes, 21.1% Dalits and 19.3% Muslims. In the battlefield, BSP chief Mayawati is considered to be the savior of Dalits whereas SP chief Mulayam is considered to be the rescuer of Muslims.

In last General elections, BJP won 73 seats out of 80 and that was because of the brilliant arithmetic BJP followed along with polarization while distributing tickets. In 2014, BJP fielded 25 OBCs, 17 Brahmins, 14 Thakurs, 17 Dalits, 3 Vaishays and one Pasi and Bhumihar each while 2 seats were given to Apna Dal. It means 27 tickets were given to OBC candidates if the Apna Dal is included. Interestingly, the BJP has always fought for 50 percent of the total votes since the remaining have traditionally never voted for the BJP.

This time too, the Bhartiya Janta Party is playing strategically and has appointed 23 OBCs as District level heads and 2 Dalits. The focus of BJP is to get 60% of upper caste vote and 32% of other backward castes. Party understands in presence of SP, BSP and Congress, it will not be able to woo Muslim voters towards itself. If Muslim votes will get split into BSP and fractions of SP then it will be beneficial for BJP and that’s the reason some SP leaders are blaming BJP for the fractions emerged in SP.

Recently, Supreme Court of India ruled out that politicians cant’s seek votes on the basis of religion, caste, creed or language and on the very next day BSP chief Mayawati releases a list of 403 candidates citing their religious and caste background. One may consider it as contempt of court but that represents the reality of political battleground of Uttar Pradesh.

Everyone understands the ticket distribution game of Mayawati. If three dominant castes and religions are added, the constitute 51 percent of the vote. If Muslim voters go in favour of the BSP, the scenario will be changed drastically if not then Muslims votes will be fragmented. If Muslims vote for Mayawati’s share may touch 40 percent but it seems unlikely. The changes in the pattern of the BSP’s ticket distribution in UP reflect these objectives. BSP is focusing on Dalit-Muslim-Brahmin combination.

This time Dalit Tsaritsa Mayawati has played a master stroke by giving more tickets to Muslims as she is keen to take advantage of split in Samajwadi Party, which usually a favorable option for Muslim community. Overall, Mayawati has given 97 tickets to Muslim candidates, 87 to Dalits, 106 to OBCs, 113 to upper castes (66 to Brahmins, 36 to Kshetriyas and 11 to Kayasthas, Vaishyas, Punjabis). This is actually the original formula which lead to a grand victory of Mayawati in year 2007.

On the other hand, another key player of Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party, which is on the verge to split into two sections always focused on Muslims and Yadavs. According to a study, 80% of Yadav votes and 50% of Muslim votes usually go with Samajwadi Party along with that party always able to get some votes from other communities as well. This time too, the ruling party is focusing to get 65% of Yadav-Muslim votes, 14% of Brahmin votes and the other 30% of backward castes. But their real problem is the party has divided into 2 camps and this may benefit BSP a way as Muslim vote will divert to it.

As far as Congress is concerned, it has no base left in Uttar Pradesh and it is solely looking towards SP for a tie up. Rahul Gandhi had rounds of Yatras but that will hardly be going to make an impact among voters.

The Election Commission has announced elections in 5 states and this battle will get more interesting in coming days. So far only BSP has officially announced a list of candidates and other key players, SP, BJP and Congress are holding their cards to make sure no way they make a wrong choice.

BJP, like in Bihar will go with the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is keen to take advantage of Demonatisation. From the recent Opinion Polls, BJP seems to be a frontrunner and majority of people has supported PM Modi’s Demonitisation move but it will not so easy in absence of a CM face. The other and most popular face of UP, Akhilesh Yadav who is looking for a second term is having a tough time because of the fractions in family which lead to split in party. The stark reality is that caste and religion are the deciding factor in state politics and it will be interesting to see which party will emerge as champion.

                                                                                         

This article was first published in The Quint.

The curious case of Nitish Kumar

It wouldn't be wrong to say that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seems to be one of the most confused politician of recent time. Few months before the May 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Nitish played the biggest gamble of his political life and broke all ties with alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party opposing the elevation of Narendra Modi as the PM face of NDA. That decision was part of his optimism stemmed from favorable reports he was receiving from ground that by doing so he would get total support from Muslims which in turn pay him rich electoral dividend.

The actual verdict showed that Nitish was way off the mark in his political assessment and ended up with 2 seats in Loksabha elections. A thumping BJP win on the other hand in Bihar, even with a realignment of rivals, will give it positive vibes heading into a series of assembly elections this year and create a strong launchpad for Bihar in 2015.

In 2005, the JDU-BJP combine scripted a new chapter in Bihar’s history by ending Lalu’s 15-year reign and formed government with the agenda of ‘Good Governance’. Nitish’s first reign (2005-10) focused on improving law and order, strengthening institutions weakened by Lalu’s regime, and removing political interference from the State’s bureaucratic machinery. As law and order improved, Muslims became confident that an NDA regime wouldn’t discriminate against them and women felt safer on the streets.

There is no doubt that Nitish Kumar has brought a positive change in Bihar and because of that people had started seeing in a bigger role that too in center. But time has changed now, BJP along with Ramvilas Paswan’s LJP is in power in center while Nitish enjoying power with the support of same Lalu Prasad Yadav for whom he used to say that during the RJD regime, people seldom ventured out in the night hours but under his regime, people were on the streets even after midnight.

Elections are pending in Bihar this year and Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad are in "undo-the-past" mode. Realizing their opponent would go overboard on reminding people of their past enmity, the bitter have started persuading people that the past would not be repeated. On the first day of 2015, Nitish pledged he would not allow the "Jungle Raj" (lawlessness) to resurface despite taking Lalu in his boat. Today, Lalu urged masses not to be scared of him.

Nitish’s sanguinity is solely based on electoral arithmetic. A combined Janata Parivar is expecting votes from, among others, Yadavs, Kurmis, Mahadalits, Muslims and Most Backward Classes (MBCs). These groups together constitute nearly 60 per cent of the state’s population. Interestingly, last two election cycles (2004 and 2009) have shown that there is 50 per cent probability of assembly elections following the trend of the preceding Lok Sabha elections.

Whatever may be the result, there is no doubt that Lalu Yadav will surely manage to gain something out of it. Also, BJP will retain its upper caste votes and will manage to get some of the vote from other castes because of anti-incumbency and Modi’s charisma among the youth. But the real mystery of this whole show revolves around Nitish Kumar. He may or may not, get enough seats for third consecutive time but one battle he is set to lose is the clash of perception.

There was a time when Nitish was seen as a person of high integrity having clean image. But now his association with Lalu Yadav is raising several questions among the people of Bihar. Even if Nitish manages to win Bihar this time, he will never be able to get back the badge of ‘Susashan Purush’ at the national level. Some of Nitish' supporters seem to feel that Lalu has become bit of a burden on the Bihar CM now. Their alliance is weighing Nitish down heavily and may erode his supporter base. Also, It is understood that Lalu is backing Nitish for an anti-BJP front, not as him as the CM.  The BJP leaders are amused by the alliance of Lalu and Nitish and they can be seen saying very often that “After the alliance with the RJD, the government is providing patronage to criminals”.

Brand Nitish and brand Lalu evoke contrasting responses in Bihar. Even after years of dilution, they retain their appeal across the state. Merger of contrasting brands tend to create confusion. Biharis are still clueless about what will the merged brand stand for. Will it be closer to brand Nitish with a clear focus on development? Or will the brand Lalu that has so far stood for a particular kind of social justice and communal harmony prevail? If the confusion persists, people may find it hard to identify with the merged entity.

AAP: An Alternative not a Substitute

Since the announcement of state assembly elections all eyes stuck to the capital of India, not because of Gandhi’s or Modi’s but because of a new political party Aam Aadmi Party. The real success of an election for any political party measured by the number of seats they win in respective election but this time things are different. This time things are not just limited to wining number of seats but it’s a matter of confidence for Congress, matter of pride for BJP and matter of existence for AAP.

Famous musician and artist Kurt Cobain once said “They laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at them because they're all the same”. These lines impeccably describe the current political situation of the national capital. The giants of the game are making fun of newly formed party, considering it a fad group and questioning its existence in terms of votes but the inside story says both are scared of the new born party. Aam Aadmi Party is acting like a trend setter this time and others are just following and copying its strategies.

The basic and most praiseworthy difference lies between Aam Aadmi Party and others is that AAP has a strong volunteer base and others have huge money and power base. For AAP people are serving, for others people are working. As name suggests Aam Aadmi’s are selflessly living every single day and night for AAP to accomplish the dream of Swaraj.

“Why should I vote for AAP?” This is the most floating question among the people of Delhi. It is good to ask questions in a democracy and much better scenario is to get answer of those questions. That’s what makes AAP different from others as they have all the answers in their pocket; exaggerating further they are providing answers even before getting the questions raised. They have a vision to decentralize the power and to bring direct involvement of people into the governance. To understand the idea of AAP, we must go into the fabrication of its roots. Like many other parties they have emerged from an agitation but what make them different are their intentions and the sacrifices which they made into the past.

Many people left their jobs, students have sidelined their studies, some have donated their houses and shops, poor have bestowed their earning, NRI’s have come to India and many others have donated huge amounts just to bring down the idea of Swaraj into existence. The populist face of Aam Aadmi Party and its national convener Arvind Kejriwal is the most admiring leader because he has shown courage to put everything on stake, a career, a comfortable living and even his life (Being diabetic he sat for 15 day long fast).

Today a thought of India shows a picture of poverty, corruption, communalism, poor infrastructure and many others problems. From last 66 years of post-independence we are fighting with these basic issues and Arvind Kejriwal led AAP has dramatically flourish his party's election symbol, the broom while vow to flounce out the rubbish that has accrue over the decades. The results of Delhi Assembly elections 2013 will not only decide the future of AAP but also the future of country politics. The results will determine whether it is feasible to take a fight with well established, powerful, and richer political class or we are just bound to substitute one established giant of this field with the other.

For a broader picture the real concern is not about the next move of Arvind Kejriwal if he loses this time but the more elaborative and thoughtful concern is what will happen to the idea of corruption free well developed India. This election will not only determine the future of Arvind Kejriwal or his party AAP but on a greater node it will determine the future of the people of India. An India which no longer concerned about the government malfunctioning, an India which is far ahead of Hindu-Muslim issues, an India which no longer concerned about poverty, an India which no longer felt insulted due to the corruption instead of all this AAP has providing an alternative to null out all these silly issues to see a bigger picture of exultant and prosperous India.