The Aam Admi Party, popularly known as AAP has made a smashing debut in politics. It has won a creditable 28 out of 70 seats in Delhi assembly elections. In the process both the Congress and BJP have been denied an opportunity to come to power. In fact BJP could win only 31 seats and Congress a pitiful 8 seats. The Chief Minister of Delhi had to suffer defeat at the hands of Arvind Kejariwal leader of AAP party after ruling for 15 years or three terms.

Many reasons are being put forward for this performance of AAP party. It is clear that the voters are agreeable to consider a viable alternative to the two national parties. The electorate are rightly in search of a party which can deliver in a style unlike that of the  existing parties. 

The Congress is a more than 120 years old party. It fought for India's freedom and after 1947 has been in power for nearly 80% of the time. Whatever India has become today is largely due to its policies and ideologies. It is a party which has incessantly promoted secularism, socialism and programmes for the poor. Of late it has come out with programmes which are aimed at the poor but involve huge subsidies from the budget for their implementation. Post 1991-92 it has diluted its socialistic stance and promoted free economy and promoted globalisation of Indian economy in a big way.

The BJP is seen as a rightist part. Many of its programmes and policies are opposed to those followed by Congress and that is a reason for its existence. It is seen by many as a non secular party in the sense that it is seen as favouring a particular religion. This may not necessarily be true but this is an ambiguous image it has successfully created. It is seen as party of traders and industrialists and is seen as promoting capitalism and is low on social parameters. 

The AAP party is only an year old. It is passionate about making India corruption free. For this, it almost seems, it has a single point programme of getting the Jan Lokpal Bill passed. It emerged out of the agitation led by Anna Hazare which was hugely successful and attracted youth in a big way. The party has made many promises which seem to be very difficult to implement like reducing electricity bills by nearly 50% and so son. The party has not held power so how it will behave is unknown.

The Congress is seen as a dynasty driven party which is seen as appeasing minorities and its economic policies have failed to prevent price rise and inflation. It is seen as building a vote bloc through its pro poor policies by promising them freebies at a very high cost to the exchequer. It is seen as a party bereft of leadership and also soft towards corruption. Major scams have come into the open in the past few years causing a severe dent in its image.

The BJP is seen as an aggressive party guided by the RSS. It also is seen as playing vote bank politics by taking up the side of the majority against perceived discrimination both in the past and present. However it also tries to appear non communal at the same time. It has positioned itself as an alternative to Congress's mishandling especialy of the economy and failure to prevent scams etc. As a major opposition party it does not have to perform but can make huge promises to be fulfilled when it comes to power. It has a few states like Gujarat, MP and now Rajasthan to show as its prize victories. It has also suffered due to corruption in Karnataka.

The AAP party has started by projecting itself as a party of idealists who are out to stamp out corruption from India. For them corruption by existing political parties is responsible for the sorry state India finds itself in. They project themselves not as different but as part of the masses. Their major leaders are from the average middle class and this has given them a mass appeal. They have tried to act in a transparent way and their stopping asking for donation after having received the target of Rs 20 crores is praiseworthy.

The Congress has in the PM a very learned economist of international recognition. It is therefore ironical that under his stewardship the country should be suffering from high inflation  and high prices, both of which affect the poor very much. However the dual nature of its leadership model where the Congress President  has power and the PM has responsibility was successful in UPA I when GDP was going up  but in UPA II when GDP has gone down it is seen as an ineffective model of leadership. 

The BJP has tried to project itself as a non dynastic party where decisions are taken in a democratic manner. It also tries to project the fact that anyone can reach its top irrespective of their background. However it is also well known that RSS gets its decisions implemented within BJP under the cover of democratic decision making. It has had only one PM in Vajpayeeji and they tirelessly project him as the model PM the country ever had.

The AAP party has piggy ridden on the back of the Anna movement and in fact encashed the entire goodwill to itself. Its tries to downplay any power trappings. It has so far successfully projected itself as a collective leadership driven party constantly stressing transparency and honesty. It is seen as a clean party worth being given a chance.

The Congress has in an undeclared manner tried to give the impression that if they come to power in 2014 Rahul will be the PM. He has so far kept himself away from joining the government and thus is widely seen as lacking experience. He also has not had much success in the state level elections and is thus not seen as a effective leader. Congress is thus in a dilemma as far as projecting a leader is concerned. Will it be from the dynasty or from outside is going to be a very important decision the party will have to take in the near future.

The BJP has decided upon its PM candidate who is now very aggressively campaigning across the country. He is working very hard to ensure that he becomes the PM in 2014. He faces no opposition within BJP having anointed himself as its nominee much before the elections in mid 2014. His track record in Gujarat in all spheres is available for the masses to judge him. His ideology is also well known. Will all the NDA allies flock around him is still not clear.

The face of AAP is Arvind Kejariwal. He is a well educated person, an engineer from IIT, and is very simple in his life. However he has successfully shown himself to be an effective leader and has enhanced  his reputation by defeating Sheila Dikshit in Delhi by a good margin. For only a year old party to emerge as a creditable second rank party is a great achievement. Lot of credit for this should go to Kejariwal and his band of his close associates.

So how is the voter going to make a decision. In Delhi it has resulted in a hung assembly. AAP is not there outside Delhi. However having tasted success in Delhi it can surely be expected to travel far and wide within the country. How much success it will get is going to be a million dollar question. India is far bigger than Delhi. So is it for BJP's PM candidate also. India is far bigger than Gujarat. But for the undeclared candidate of Congress, will India respond, is also a huge question the answer to which is not clear.

Thus India is up for a very challenging elections in 2014. In many states the regional outfits like SP, BSP. AIADMK, TMC, DMK etc are going to offer stiff competition. It is not going to be easy for the voter to make a decision or is it going to be very easy only the final results in 2014 will tell.

I am writing this from memory. In 1975 the country celebrated the birth centenary of one of its greatest sons, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He was born on December 15, 1875. A collection of his correspondences  between 1945 and 1950 was pulblished in many volumes as a tribute.

I also read a few volumes especially the one's which consist of considerable volume of letters exchanged between him and then prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru immediately after independence in 1947 and after. It is very uplifting to go through the correspondence both exchanged with each other. Apart from the economy of language what comes out strikingly is their mutual respect for each other and the deep commitment with which they are facing the aftermath of the partition and Pakistan's attack on Kashmir. The considerable frequency with which they exchange their views and consult each other to formulate responses does not indicate anywhere that the two had considerable differences as is now sought to be portrayed by vested interests.

However there is one incident that is worth recalling.

It seems the Sardar was carrying within himself a hurt feeling at having been not chosen as PM by Gandhiji, who instead chose Nehru. As a loyal follower of Gandhiji, the Sardar not only accepted the decision but also agreed to work in Nehru's cabinet as Deputy PM and India's first Home Minister.

However many of his so called well wishers would not let him forget  the fact that a majority of the members of the Congress Working Committee had recommended his name for the post of PM but had left the final decision to Gandhi. From time to time they would also tell him how he would have handled the situations better if he were in place of Nehru. The Sardar would disregard these biased opinions but somewhere they would register as after all he was also a human being.

As luck would have it it was announced that Nehru will be touring Gujarat and would also be visiting Karamsad the native and  karmabhoomi of Patel. The pent up feelings of Patel gave him an idea. He decided to visit Karamsad on the same day afternoon while Nehru would visit in the evening. The Sardar thought that the crowds that would greet him and attend his meeting would be not only massive but would be much larger than Nehru's meeting. He felt this would be a nice indication to Nehru that he was more popular than him.

Accordingly the Sardar planned his visit to Karamsad. He addressed a meeting in the afternoon and the crowds which came to listen to him were indeed massive. The Sardar felt satisfied and happy and concluded that he had achieved his intention of proving to Nehru his greater popularity. The Sardar was confident that Nehru would not be able to attract larger crowd than he had addressed in the afternoon.

In the evening when Nehru came to address the meeting a mammoth crowd had gathered. By any yardstick it was bigger than the afternoon crowds that assembled for Sardar's meeting. Sardar saw both the crowds and accepted the fact hat Nehru was more popular than him even in his own home town. He became full of remorse at harbouring such thought. He understood that Gandhi's decision to select Nehru was right.

On his return to Delhi, he wrote to Nehru detailing the entire negative flow of thoughts and their influence on his subsequent conduct at Karamasad. The letter was emotional in nature. Nehru's equally emotional reply is worth reading. Both recommitted to each other to work in unison for the welfare of the emerging nation.

The fact that Sardar writes to Nehru rather than keeping it to himself is what makes him a great person in the eyes of the ordinary reader. History would never have come to know about it. Yet Sardar writes a letter to Nehru and it is now part of history. Why?

Because the leaders at the time of the independence and soon thereafter were made from a different mould. They were honest not only with with each other but also to themselves. This is what made them great.They believed that their conscience has to be clean and then only they are qualified to advice and lead others. Therefore while they too were human beings, occasionally malicious thoughts would come to them also and they would act under its influence. They would later on realize their misdeed and then would atone for it. This is what separated them from ordinary leaders and gave them an aura. They were not afraid of owning up their mistakes. They wanted to be honest in their relationships.

No doubt Sardar was an above the ordinary person in fact much higher. It was because of this quality that everyone would accept him and follow him. It was also one of the very important contributory factors, in his immense success in bringing more than 500 princes, into the Indian nation at the time of partition.

The above incident shows the tremendous strength of character in the Sardar. It also shows humility and absence of a false sense of pride. No doubt Sardar Patel is revered and highly respected today also and will continue being remembered with dignity and respect always by Indians in future also.

When we see the legacy of such tall leaders being hijacked or debated by the pygmy leaders of today one is saddened. Rather than shine by their own contributions they want to fall back on these leaders of the past to reap sympathetic support from whom they consider gullible(?) public. Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru were the last of the tall leaders the country had the extreme good fortune to have at the right time during the birth of an independent India.

How one wishes we could have only one such inclusive leader in present day India. One should not lose hope.

Our government and we  

We have no alternatives left but to pray to the God almighty to make our government’s foreign policy strong enough because they are least worried. We all know that only a strong government with a strong foreign policy and strong decisions in place can make a country strong. Moreover, when talking about strong decisions one of the points it includes that the relations with neighboring countries depend solely on the stands of a country. If we have a soft state that talks a lot but does nothing but talks, then you should expect your neighbors to behave exactly the way they are doing.

A popular government should have the option to let its neighbor know in a certain manner that they do not approve a certain step of their neighboring countries in particular and other countries in general. If a government has no right to express its opinion to convey its messages to its neighbors that it does not like their certain steps which are clear breach of international laws in that case that government has no right to stay in power. Let them do a self-diagnosis and go for a leader from within the party folds who can take strong decisions. 

The present situation is

We know that every government in our country is a popular government it has to be because it came into existence by a popular vote by the public of this country. However, we should assume that every government invariably having a cabinet consisting top politicians of the ruling party in it, have minds of their own. They can think and think in the right direction some times but keeping their party affiliations aside. They should speak beyond their standard statements that we are so used of listening so far, have a look-

One- We will see that no one takes disadvantage 

Two- We condemn this act 

Three-We shall not tolerate this

Four- We shall go deeper into the root of this problem

Five- Enemy should not consider us weak

Six- Every possible step will be taken to keep situation under control

Seven- We are trying to take this up on political and diplomatic level

Eight- We are one of the biggest superpowers of the world

Nine- Terrorists have no religion

Ten- We shall fight with communal forces until our last breath

That is about all we do to keep our public happy and offenders warned. Anyone willing to make his career in politics and having right contacts must know this simple formula to succeed in our kind of politics and he gains the right to rule. One only needs to know these TEN points, as there is no need of knowing any complicated training programs related to politics, which may be necessary in other democracies but not in India. 

One can rest assured that he has won half the battle once he mastered over all important points, later he can learn different finer points which come to a successful politician learning naturally from the experienced campaigners in the field. There is so much to learn but to enter into Indian politics; these points are necessity to become successful. 

We as people

The other side of the coin is that we as citizen of this country have never stood up to ask questions in a positive manner. We have right to know that why our government never asks the neighboring country whom they blame for existing terrorism in our country that too indirectly. But our government never feels asking a very simple question ‘Why do they have Chinese rifles?’ But this is our government and our policy, we can ask what we like and might not ask what we don’t like. This is our foreign policy and we have full right to go as per own rules, no one should ask us what our government should ask and what they should not ask. And that ‘no one’ includes ‘we, the people of this country’ and please do not tell me that our government asks in very strong terms but that is ‘State Secret’ and we the normal people have no right to know about it. 

We feel so proudly of our culture 

We have right to think proudly about our culture, and there is nothing wrong if we have big religious feelings about Mansarovar but do we have willpower to raise questions on Chinese army boots which are allover that particular area? Can we even imagine raising our eyebrows leave apart a strong protest! No our government is not weak but has a firm trust in non-violence so every thing goes. We are one of the strongest followers of human rights but our human rightists have no place for Tibet in their agenda, neither have they Kashmir in that because they believe that human right of Kashmir is being well taken care of by Pakistani counterparts. We can well limit our foreign policies to Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai and keep mum on Kashmir and Tibet issues. We have yet to refined our foreign policy, there is lot more scope in it. 

We are true followers of Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru

No, I am not referring to policies of Mahatma Gandhi and Pundit Nehru here because these were the two still the ‘Source of inspiration’ to our respected leaders. Mahatma Gandhi gave us Ahimsa the Non-Violence, the great tool to fight with enemies and Pt. Nehru provided the universal philosophy of Non-Aligned movement. You can see both made us NON-Existing in today’s references but you are free people, you can sing songs in their praise. The whole world considers us weak, a soft state but we proudly announce it as our generosity for the neighboring states. There won’t be a foreign policy without Nehru and there won’t be our own existence if we deviated from the path of Nehru and Gandhi. 

Consider us weak if you like that

The world is free to think that we are a soft state and come to agreement table only when we stand to loose something. We have no firm policies to fight against terrorism, the innumerable arms brought in this country through all borders, the drugs, the fake currency notes, the unauthorized intruders, and all are welcome. Foreign made weapons killing our innocent citizens owned by intruders and terrorists have no restriction but we have very strong rules to provide arms licenses to innocent citizens who could fight some of the evils if they were only provided with arms to do so. I am sure if we had a policy to fight against evil on its merit and not as per Gandhi’s Ahimsa, we could be far better off. No terrorist would have dared to enter into in this country if he knew that he would be shot down by any civilian at his entry level.  

Conclusion

Our political parties should understand that the need of the hour demand them to give up present policies of selling this country, their own loyalties which should be for the welfare of people of the nation and not limited to their own children and relatives only. They should learn to be sincere and honest to their motherland. They should make no compromises with policies for the sake of vote bank politics. They should not look divided in religious groups for the sake of cheap politics that will lead this country to a point of no return, if we are not already there. Today we are silent on border issues tomorrow there would arise more such maters. That is not going to help the cause of this country. We should act in a way that no other country should consider us coward or soft state. That would be the biggest achievement for us if we could stand with our heads raised high among the world community. 

Please note - I am not a sarcastic type but the ways things are moving in my country, it has turned me into one. I also want to sound nice and full of giving praise to our government like many others do but it is not an easy job for me. I apologies for being rude at certain points but that is how I think. 

Please also note – The opinion in this article is my personal thinking that has nothing to do with this site’s policies. Anyone who finds them objectionable is free to express their resentment. Please express your views openly by writing your comments. Thank you all for reading it thus far. 

Subhash Chandra Bose was a national leader who was faithfully associated for many years with the Congress party that followed Gandhiji's path non-violence, but when he saw the atrocities of British Government and the plight people, he chose a path totally different from Gandhiji's school of thought. He believed in the saying, 'An eye for an eye' and 'a tooth for a tooth'. And to rid the country of the British, he formed the Indian National Army (INA) or the Azad Hind Fauj.

Indian National Army (INA)

The INA was an excellent example of social equality. The army consisted of people from different religions. But the spirit that united them all was their desire to release India from the bonds of slavery. The British Government was following 'Divide and Rule' policy at that time. But Subhash Chandra Bose's efforts  in forming INA was a blow to the British policy and a symbol of national pride. And he set this example at a very young age.

The Making of a Revolutionary

When Bose was studying in school, the prevalent thought was the British children was superior to their Indian counterparts. The making of revolutionary was witnessed when he beat an English boy in school to protest against the discrimination. When he was just 15, he told his mother that India was God's favorite country. He kept this thought kindled in his heart till the end of his life and also urged his followers to keep their solemn faith in India. He was of the option that no country in the world had the power to keep India in fetters for long. He had faith that India would soon gain independence.

Bose was born into a wealthy family in Cuttack. After completing his studies in India, he was went to England to appear for the Indian Civil Service Examination. He cleared the examination and returned to India But because of his patriotism, he gave up the ICS and joined the struggle for freedom.

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose occupies a unique position in the history of India's struggle for independence.  Though a member of the congress, Bose took a different path in his struggle for Indian independence. The whole nation was excited when it learn the Bose had gathered a large force to challenge the British and declare war to win India's independence.

The incident happened in 1940. There was a memorial named Dalhouse Square in Calcutta. The British claimed that in the First War of Independence in 1957, the Indians had burnt the hall after suffering it was English men, women and children. The story, however, did not hold any water. This was an attempt to malign the Indians. Subhash Chandra Bose started a campaign to put an end to this memorial. Bose and his associates were imprisoned. Seeing the wrath of the Indians, the memorial was removed, but Bose was not released from prison.

In protest against the atrocities of the British, he went on a huger strike on 20 November 194. The British Government panicked and he arrest amidst tight security.From then onwards Netaji's struggle for Indian's independence become famous.

The Second World War was on. But nobody could read Netaji's mind. During the house arrest, he grew a beard. This helped him disguise himself as a Pathan and flee from the clutches of the British to Peshwar. In Germany, Hitler was on his victory trial. Bose believed that it was best to befriend the enemy of one's enemy. So he met Hitler and sought his help. But it was difficult to fight for the cause of India from Germany. So after some time, he reached Japan in a submarine.  He believed that Gandhiji's policy of non-violence could not help India in a achieving freedom. So he founded the Indian National Army. He received the co-operation of Indians settled in Burma, Singapore etc. He called on patriots and said, "Give me your blood and I'll give you freedom." In February 1944, he had his first success. He was able to instil a sense of pride and devotion for India so that people were ready to make sacrifices for their homeland. 

But the INA was not successful in liberating India. One of the major reason was that in the predominantly marshy and thickly forested region, the weather lead to the spread of malaria among the soldiers. Japan had to surrender to America after the latter used atom bomb. In Europe, Germany was defeated by the Allied Force. The INA was successful in reaching Imphal. But because of the fall of Hitler, whom he considered his ally, Bose's dream of liberating India could not be successful. It is believed that he later died in an air crash in Taiwan in 1945.