Tag: news

Know Your Alphabet: A Random A-Z List For 2024 Lok Sabha Polls

by Derek O'Brien

We have crossed the halfway mark for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Here is a random A-Z list. You too can think up and share your own A-Z lists.

A. Appointment: In December 2023, a new Act of Parliament revised the composition of the selection committee to appoint Election Commissioners. The Chief Justice of India is no longer a member of the committee. The Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha), and a nominated Union Cabinet Minister now make the selection. Effectively, this grants de facto control to the Union government.

B. Brij Bhushan Singh. Enough said.

C. Constitution: Try and make the time to read and re-read the 85-word Preamble to the Constitution of this great nation.

D. Demonetisation: One of a select group of words not even mentioned once by the Prime Minister on the campaign trail. 15 lakh jobs were lost in just three months post-demonetisation.

E. Electoral Bonds: The Supreme Court has spoken.

F. Female voters: 47 crore female voters are exercising their right to vote in India Elections 2024. Intriguingly, for India’s first elections in 1951-52, 28 lakh women had their names struck from voter rolls. The reason? They refused to disclose their actual names, instead identifying as A’s wife or B’s mother.

G. The Opposition’s favourite four-letter word to describe a pliant media.

H. Himachal Pradesh: A tehsil in Himachal Pradesh, Chini (now Kinnaur), was the place where the first vote was cast in India’s first elections in October 1951.

I. Indelible Ink: Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd., a company in Karnataka, is the only licenced manufacturer of the indelible ink used to mark voters.

J. You can guess the five-letter word in Hindi for ‘an unfulfilled and fake promise’.

K. Kejriwal’s Arrest: Arvind Kejriwal became the first sitting Chief Minister to be arrested (Hemant Soren too, but after he resigned). Soon after he was released on bail, the Delhi Chief Minister set the cat amongst the pigeons by bringing up the ‘retire at 75 years’ policy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

L. Lok Sabha: The eighteenth Lok Sabha to be formed after these elections will be the first where the strength of the House will be 543. The Constitutional (One Hundred and Fourth Amendment) Act, 2019 scrapped the reservation for two members from the Anglo-Indian community to be nominated to the Lok Sabha, reducing the maximum strength of the House from 545.

M. Model Code of Conduct (MCC): The MCC originated during the 1960 Kerala State Legislative Assembly elections, when the State Administration for the first time regulated the conduct of political parties for fair elections. After multiple delegations to the Election Commission, Opposition parties now refer to the MCC as the Modi Code of Conduct!

N. North Paravur: In 1982, a by-election to this assembly constituency in Kerala witnessed the first use of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

O. Opting for NOTA: The concept of ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA) was introduced in 2014. NOTA polled 1.1% or 60 lakh votes that year.

P. PM Sayeed: The Congress leader PM Sayeed was elected to the Lok Sabha for ten consecutive terms, 1967 – 2004. He represented the Lakshadweep constituency since its formation in 1967.

Q. Queues: No queues ever in the voting booth in Banej, deep inside the Gir forest. This voting booth in India Elections 2024, was set up for only one person. Reason? The law states no voter should be more than 2 kilometres away from a polling booth. Fascinating piece of trivia.

R. Reduction of voting age: The minimum voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 years in 1989 via the 61st Constitutional Amendment. The voting age in Brazil is 16 years.

S. Shyam Saran Negi: Independent India’s first voter, he also held the distinction of being India’s oldest voter till 2022. He passed away in November 2022 three days after casting his vote for the 34th time. He was 106.

T. Telangana: Malkajgiri in Telangana is the largest constituency in India, with 37.5 lakh voters.

U. Uniform Civil Code (UCC): One of the key BJP poll planks. BJP founder, S.P. Mookerjee, criticised the efforts of the Nehru government to introduce monogamy and divorce into Hindu Law. He famously claimed: “This would end up killing the very fountain source of the Hindu religion”.

V. Voter turnout: The Election Commission used to publish the final voter turnout within 24 hours of voting. This time, the final percentage (and not absolute numbers) was released many days after the first phase.

W. Women’s representation: Parliament has just 14% women members. The global average is 27%. The Women’s Reservation Bill, passed in 2023, can only be implemented after delimitation and the Census. So only lip service before 2034.

X. (Formerly Twitter): For all the cynicism and allegations about manipulated algorithms, X remains the go-to platform for political parties and politicians to get their points of view across swiftly.

Y. Youth unemployment: Major issue that the ruling dispensation wants to keep away from the headlines. India’s youth account for 80% of the unemployed workforce. The share of youngsters with secondary or higher education in the total unemployed has shot up from 35% in 2000 to 66%.

Z. Gen Z: India’s Gen Z, 1.8 crore first-time voters, are below 19 years of age.

[This article was also published in NDTV | Friday, May 17, 2024]

Posted 17th May 2024 by Derek O'Brien

Why voters no longer believe “Modi ki guarantee”

by Derek O'Brien

January 12, 2024. “Modi’s guarantee begins where expectations from others ends”. The launch of “Modi ki Guarantee” as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s key campaign slogan for the general elections 2024.

March 30, 2024. This column appears, with the headline, “No warranty for ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’”.

April 14, 2024. The BJP launches its manifesto. The cover page says “Modi ki Guarantee 2024”.

April 27, 2024. The day after the second phase of elections conclude, the

“Modi ki Guarantee” slogan is put away into the closet.

In the world of marketing, a brand proposition, as the term connotes, is a promissory note, that is, a promise of substance being made to the customer that will be fulfilled by the brand. It reiterates to consumers the key reasons to assess, reassess, buy or repurchase the brand.

Brand propositions should be conceived of with great thought and care, because you should not promise more than you can deliver. As the marketing adage goes, you can get someone to buy something once, or even twice, but eventually the consumer will see through you. Brand propositions should ideally last for years — even decades.

And finally, the success of the brand lies not in the proposition itself, but in its successful delivery, in all channels of customer engagement. This means that everyone, from the worker on the factory floor, to the quality control system, to the salesman, the outlet and the after-sales-service has to be focussed and committed to that goal. This is what delivers customer satisfaction and the ultimate prize, brand loyalty.

It is, therefore, not surprising but amusing — and a sobering lesson — that the BJP’s brand proposition “Modi Ki Guarantee” for the Lok Sabha elections 2024, barely lasted a couple of months.

Here are 10 statements quoted verbatim from the BJP manifesto. The paragraphs accompanying each statement provide clues as to why the key proposition, propagated in January 2024, has virtually disappeared in the campaign by early May.

We will ensure the dignity of women: Hathras. Unnao. Kathua. Bilkis Bano. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Prajwal Revanna. Sandeskhali.

We have gone from a nation that was in the “Fragile Five” to a nation that is one of the top 5 economies of the world: Ten years ago, India was the tenth biggest economy in the world with household financial savings at 7.2 per cent of the GDP. Today, as the fifth largest economy, income inequality is even worse than it was during the British Raj. Net financial household savings are at a 50-year low, at 5.1 per cent of the GDP in 2022-23.

Fifty-plus crore citizens have joined the banking system through PM Jan Dhan Account: As of December 2023, one out of five Jan Dhan accounts created has been inoperative/dormant for over two years. This translates to 10.34 crore accounts not being used at all. An amount of Rs 12,779 crore is lying unused in these dormant accounts.

Four-plus crore families now have pucca houses under the PM Awas Yojana and other initiatives: As of January 2024, one out of three houses that were sanctioned under PMAY-U are yet to be completed.

Improved health care of women by making sanitary pads available at Rs 1: In 2019-21, one out of five women did not use hygienic methods of protection during menstruation. One out of four girls either misses school during periods or discontinues her education entirely due to inadequate facilities and other obstacles.

1.4-plus crore young citizens availed skill training under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana: As per the 2022-23 Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development, the placement rate for the PMKVY 2 stood at 23 per cent. For PMKVY 3, it was even lower, at just 8 per cent. As of June 30, 2022, over half of the budget allocated was unutilised.

Unprecedented hike in MSP: Farmers protested to demand MSP as a guarantee. They were not allowed to enter Delhi, teargassed and sprayed with water cannons. In 2024, 19 farmers died and 40 got injured during the “Dilli Chalo” protest.

Unprecedented improvements in connectivity of the Northeast by expansion of roads, bridges, railways and airports: Out of 181 projects sanctioned under North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme, only 25 have been completed as of December 2023. In the last six years, the scheme utilised only 40 per cent of the allocated funds.

Constructed 3.7 lakh km of rural roads in villages under PM Gram Sadak Yojana: The scheme has four verticals of which none had completed all the sanctioned projects as of January 2023. Two of these verticals had a deadline of 2022. Road Connectivity Project on Left Wing Extremism Areas, which had a deadline of March 2023, has only completed half of the sanctioned kms.

Achieved 100 per cent electrification by providing electricity connection to 2.8-plus crore families under Saubhagya: According to the government’s definition, a village is considered electrified if just 10 per cent of households in a village have electricity. In 2021, as per some states, nearly 12 lakh households were yet to be electrified. Moreover, according to a response by the Minister of Power in Rajya Sabha in December 2023, nearly five lakh households were left to be electrified in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

“Modi ki Guarantee” is a brand proposition that the consumer did not believe. No wonder it was quickly put to bed. A new brand proposition is now being brazenly propagated. But that’s the subject of a column after the results.

[This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, May 10, 2024]

Posted 10th May 2024 by Derek O'Brien

Election Commission: Four Questions To Ask India’s ‘Neutral’ Umpire

by Derek O'Brien

Phase 1 done. Six more to go. Over the next few weeks, few institutions across the universe will be under more public scrutiny than the Election Commission of India (ECI). In performing its solemn national duty, which is to ensure free and fair elections, not only must the ECI be fair, but they must be ‘seen’ to be fair in all they do.

Since 1950, the ECI has earned itself a reputation of being an umpire whose task is to ensure a level playing field. The phrase ‘neutral umpire’ is superfluous, because an umpire, by definition, is meant to be neutral. Independent, non-partisan, effective, fair, efficient, are adjectives that must fit snugly into the pockets of the black and white coats of the neutral umpire. But do they?

1. Has The Appointment Process Eroded Credibility?

    In Anoop Baranwal vs Union of India (2023), a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously held that the selection of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioner would be done by a three-member Committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India. The ruling stated that the architects of our Constitution “did not intend the executive exclusively calling the shots in the matter of appointments”. The court also referred to what Dr. B.R. Ambedkar said in the Constitutional Assembly debates, “the election machinery should be outside the control of the executive government”.

    The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, states that the President will appoint the CEC and ECs on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of

    1. Prime Minister as Chairperson,
    2. Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha as member,
    3. Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.

    In effect, this now gives the Union government de facto power to appoint the CEC and ECs.

    A former CEC called this act “dilution of the authority” since these changes attempt to equate the Election Commissioners with civil servants, and the “political class cannot be disciplined by civil servants”. “Judges are given an independent stature under the Constitution because they have to decide cases that involve the government, the Prime Minister and Ministers. That kind of independence is needed for the Election Commission too. This is sending the wrong message about the independent character of the EC,” said this former CEC.

    2. Has The Model Code Of Conduct Been Violated?

      Since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force for the 2024 elections, even before the first vote was cast, 300 complaints by various political parties and 268,080 citizen-reported violations were filed with the ECI. The complaints ranged from alleged misuse of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in West Bengal to conspire against the BJP’s political opponents, “undue influence” through announcement of monetary benefits schemes, to multiple complaints against Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking votes on religious grounds. The ECI responded to these complaints with a sweeping: “broadly satisfied with the compliance of the code by political parties and that campaign by various parties and candidates has remained largely clutter-free”.

      3. Morbi Bridge Tragedy Leaves Unanswered Questions

        In October 2022, the ECI announced the assembly elections for Himachal Pradesh. Inexplicably, the announcement for the Gujarat assembly elections was held up by a month. The reason given was that “the gap between the tenure of two assemblies is 40 days”. The Opposition was quick to point out that in the case of the Goa and the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the gap was 60 days, but the elections were still clubbed together.

        Critics accused the ECI of batting for the BJP. The delayed announcement gave the party’s star batsman some extra time (in the slog overs) to inaugurate projects in Gujarat. The Morbi bridge tragedy, in the home state of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, happened during this period. Was the ECI equally culpable for the Morbi tragedy by not notifying elections in order to allow the ruling party to hurriedly inaugurate projects before the MCC set in?

        4. Major Change To Rules Of The Game

          Let me share a specific example. In 2019, the ECI tweaked a rule related to polling agents. The rule specified that one had to be a voter of that booth or an adjoining booth to be appointed a polling agent by a political party. What was the change made? The scope was broadened so a polling agent could now be appointed if s/he was a resident of any booth within the entire assembly segment. Political observers have opined that this could have been done to help the BJP in states where it has a comparatively weak organisational setup.

          Postscript – City: Chandigarh. Voters: 35. Post: Mayor. Political parties asked for Decision Review System (DRS) like in cricket and the Supreme Court had to be the Third Umpire and overturn the decision.

          [This article was also published in NDTV | Saturday, April 20, 2024]

          Posted 20th April 2024 by Derek O'Brien

          Fluid Friendships: Over A Quarter Of BJP Candidates Are Defectors

          by Derek O'Brien

          One out of four BJP candidates in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are defectors from other parties. An analysis of the 417 candidates announced shows that 116 of them, that is 28%, have switched sides to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The highest number of such defectors, 37, are from the Indian National Congress.

          In Indian politics, the phrase ‘Aya Ram Gaya Ram’ is often used to describe politicians who frequently switch parties. The story goes that Gaya Lal, an MLA from Hodal, Haryana, won the election as an independent candidate in 1967 and joined the Congress. Thereafter, he changed parties thrice in 15 days.

          Between 1967 and 1983, there were approximately 2,700 defections at the state level. As many as 15 defectors went on to become chief ministers. This high number of defections led to the enactment of the Anti-Defection Law, the 52nd Amendment Act of 1985.

          Even though the anti-defection law is in place, it is very easy to circumvent it. The Supreme Court’s rulings on this matter have also not been enough to curb the malaise. Politicians now often resign from their original party, instead of formally ‘crossing the floor’ or voting against their party in a confidence motion. This sidesteps the law, while bringing down the party’s strength in the House.

          An analysis of 433 MPs and MLAs who changed parties and re-contested elections held between 2016 and 2020 shows that out of 405 MLAs who switched political parties, 182, almost 45%, joined the BJP. Out of 16 Rajya Sabha MPs who switched political parties, 10, that is over 60%, joined the BJP.

          Here are five instances from recent history where democratically elected state governments have been toppled through defections.

          1. Karnataka

          A party or coalition needs 113 seats for a majority in the 224-member state assembly. The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S) formed a coalition government in 2018 with 115 MLAs. However, 13 MLAs of the Congress and three MLAs of the JD(S) resigned within 14 months, reducing the strength of the House to 208, and the majority mark came down to 105 seats. The BJP, which had exactly 105 MLAs, proved its majority and formed the next government.

          2. Madhya Pradesh

          The fall of the Kamal Nath-led government started with the resignation of Jyotiraditya Scindia from his seat in Parliament. Following this, MLAs loyal to Scindia, including six ministers, resigned. This led to the toppling of the Congress government in the state and paved the way for the formation of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government. Scindia was awarded by being made a minister in the Union cabinet.

          3. Manipur

          In the 2017 Manipur Assembly Elections, the Congress won 28 seats and the BJP 21. The majority mark in the 60-member House is 31. The BJP and its allies together had 30 seats. The BJP got a single Congress MLA to form the government. Later, eight other Congress MLAs lent their ‘unofficial’ support to the BJP. The Congress MLAs who supported the BJP never actually resigned from the Congress or issued letters of support for the BJP-led government. They even continued sitting in the Opposition benches to avoid violating the anti-defection law.

          4. Arunachal Pradesh

          After forming the government in 2014, Congress Chief Minister Pema Khandu took 43 of his party MLAs with him in 2016 and joined the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA), which was in alliance with the BJP. By the end of that year, 33 PPA MLAs joined the BJP and formed the government. Later, two more Congress MLAs defected to the BJP. Within a span of one year, mass defections brought the number of Congress MLAs down from 47 to just one.

          5. Maharashtra

          In 2019, the BJP won 105 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena with 56, the NCP 54 and the Congress 44. The majority mark in the 288-member House is 145. The BJP and the Shiv Sena were to form the government; however, they had a falling out. When the possibility of a non-BJP government was imminent, President’s Rule was imposed in the state. On November 23, 2019, at 5.47 a.m., the Union government invoked Rule 12 of the Transaction of Business Rules, 1961, which empowered it to revoke the proclamation of President’s Rule in Maharashtra without the prior approval of the Union Cabinet. This allowed the BJP a chance to form the government when it briefly gained the support of Ajit Pawar.

          The resultant government lasted just 80 hours. Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis resigned. This led to the formation of a coalition government comprising the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress. In June 2022, a Shiv Sena member, Eknath Shinde, with two-thirds of the Shiv Sena MLAs, revoked support to the Uddhav Thackeray government and claimed to be the real Shiv Sena. Shinde and his MLAs then formed a government in coalition with the BJP, with former chief minister Fadnavis as his deputy.

          These incidents highlight the urgent need to reassess the existing anti-defection law and give it more teeth. Blatant subversion of people’s mandates must come to a stop.

          [This article was also published in NDTV | Monday, April 15, 2024]

          Posted 15th April 2024 by Derek O'Brien

          My encounter with the Delhi Police

          by Derek O'Brien

          This week, for the eighth time in my life — or was it the ninth? — I was picked up from the streets and detained by the Delhi Police. What was our crime? We had dared to hold a peaceful dharna outside the headquarters of the Election Commission of India (EC). We were urging the EC to ensure a level playing field for the 2024 general elections. To make this happen, our demand was that the chiefs of the NIA, CBI, ED and IT be immediately transferred. Also, we were requesting the EC to allow the government of West Bengal to release funds for humanitarian relief to people who were affected by a recent cyclone.

          After our 10-member delegation met with the full bench of the EC and submitted our memorandum, we addressed the media outside the main gate. We then sat down, away from the main entrance, and began a peaceful dharna. Within minutes we, Members of Parliament, current and former, were dragged, roughed up, and bundled into a waiting police bus. No request. No conversation. No engagement with peaceful protestors. Just the immediate use of brute force.

          Do not take this columnist’s word for what transpired in those ten minutes. Instead, take a look at the pictures and the video footage. The visuals tell you the story of what happened to a 10-member delegation of the third-largest political party in India within moments of beginning a peaceful dharna. (Of the multiple photographs that appeared in newspapers across the country the following day, there were two that perfectly captured the hostility and aggression of the Delhi police. One was by Anil Sharma of The Indian Express and the other by Manvender Lav of PTI — good old-fashioned political photojournalism in print is alive and well.)

          Among those bundled into the rickety Delhi Police bus was a trio of three-term MPs — Dola Sen, Nadimul Haque and your columnist. There were two former journalists who had recently joined politics: Sagarika Ghose and Saket Gokhale. Sagarika’s was a baptism by fire. She had been elected an MP, but was still 36 hours away from taking her oath. Saket worked as a journalist in Europe and East Asia for eight years before deciding to come back home with suitcases filled with idealism and optimism.

          The 10 of us were told we were being taken to the Mandir Marg Police Station — which is less than 10 minutes away from the EC office. After reaching the main gate of Mandir Marg Police Station, the police did not take us inside. Instead, the bus started again and we were told that we were now being taken to Connaught Place. After about 20 minutes on the moving bus, one of my colleagues, Vivek Gupta, MLA, familiar with Delhi roads, looked outside and alerted us that the route being taken was definitely not the one to Connaught Place.

          When we questioned the police constables inside the bus, we were told that they were taking us to “Jaffarpur”, which they said was “only about 30 minutes away”. We checked Google Maps which told us that the place they were taking us to was in fact about two hours away!

          What was going on here? Was a delegation of MPs and former MPs literally being taken for a ride by law enforcement? Illegally being moved to an unknown location? Why was no information given? This unlawful detention went on for over an hour.

          Under Section 50(1) of the CrPC, anyone being arrested needs to be immediately informed about the grounds for their arrest. None of us were even once informed during these 90 minutes. Also, the law requires that a detained or arrested person be taken to the police station closest to where the alleged offence occurred. Forget the nearest police station, we weren’t even told where specifically we were being taken even after we learnt that it was someplace about two hours away.

          Saket is quite a pundit on all this. Tough nut. He had spent 151 days in Ahmedabad Central Jail last year, on a trumped-up charge in a money laundering case. He was also arrested by the Gujarat Police four times in 15 days and is an authority on what being taken into custody entails. When the police were taking us to some unknown place, Saket demanded that we either be taken to Mandir Marg Police Station or be produced before a magistrate immediately.

          Very quickly, the bus was stopped.

          The junior policemen worked their mobile phones. The seniors arrived on the spot. Their bluff had been called. We headed back to Mandir Marg Police Station where we were with the Delhi Police for 24 hours. But that is a story for another day, another column.

          [This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, April 12, 2024]

          Posted 12th April 2024 by Derek O'Brien

          No warranty for ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’

          by Derek O'Brien

          On March 31, the INDIA alliance parties will hold a mega rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi. The message for India’s 2024 general elections is a simple one: BJP versus Democracy. On the other flank, BJP offers “Modi Ki Guarantee”.

          Here are 15 guarantees promised by Narendra Modi and his party. What’s the warranty on each guarantee? Judge for yourself.

          1. Jobs: The BJP had promised to create “25 crore jobs” in their 2014 manifesto. In 2023, a Union minister admitted that only “1.2 crore jobs were created since 2014”. Reportedly, the minister referred to EPFO data to substantiate his claims on employment. As things stand, four out of ten graduates under the age of 25 are unemployed (‘State of Working India 2023’ report by Azim Premji University’s Centre for Sustainable Employment).

          2. Doubling farmers’ income: Incomes needed to grow by 10 per cent year-on-year from 2015 in order to double by 2022. Actual growth has been only 3.5 per cent. At these growth rates, the guarantee will only be delivered in 2035. As per the latest NCRB data, the grim reality is that 30 farmers commit suicide every day.

          (Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2022)

          3. Demonetisation: Bringing back black money, curbing counterfeiting, stopping terrorism, ending corruption — all guarantees have failed. 99 per cent of the demonetised currency has come back into the system. This hare-brained scheme was nothing short of an act of economic terrorism.

          4. Ujjwala scheme: As per reports, despite subsidies, over 1.2 crore households bought no refill cylinders at all in 2022-23. Another 1.5 crore beneficiaries bought only one refill cylinder.

          5. Bullet Train: The project was announced in 2017. Since then, the deadline has been pushed several times.

          6. Swachh Bharat Mission: In the last five years, 367 persons have died while undertaking hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks (Lok Sabha, Unstarred Question No 440, replied on 05/12/2023, Annexure II). This is despite manual scavenging being banned in India since 2013.

          7. Namami Gange: Pollution levels in the Ganga are higher than the levels recorded in 2014. More than half of the sewerage plant projects have been completed. According to the ‘Quantitative analysis of Microplastics along River Ganga’ study by Toxics Link in 2021, of the samples tested, the highest concentration of microplastic pollutants was found in Varanasi — which also happens to be the Prime Minister’s constituency.

          8. Sagarmala Project: A port-led initiative to enhance India’s logistics sector. According to the Demands for Grants 2022-23 committee, out of the 44 projects in development, 31 projects had reportedly not received any funds.

          9. PM Kisan: Rs 3,000 crore was transferred to 42 lakh ineligible farmers till 2021. The Union government recovered only one-tenth of the amount from fraudulent beneficiaries. (Rajya Sabha, Session 263, Unstarred Question No 12, Answered on 02/02/2024)

          10. Atma Nirbhar Bharat: The scheme guaranteed Rs 3 lakh crore in collateral-free automatic loans to MSMEs. However, the reality is that only existing borrowers were targeted.

          11. Digital India: There have been several Aadhar-based data breaches in recent years. Last year, the private data of 81 crore Indians was leaked to hackers on the dark web.

          12. Railway infrastructure: 244 train accidents between 2017 and 2022. 15 major accidents in 2023 alone. Half of the compulsory track safety inspections were not completed. The Railway Budget has been subsumed under the Union Budget.

          13. Nari-shakti: Until 2021, nearly 80 per cent of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme funds were spent on advertising. In 2021-22, women labourers earned 60 per cent of what men did (‘Economic Growth, Structural Change, and Women’s Earnings in India’, CASI, University of Pennsylvania). 4,45,256 crimes occurred against women in 2022. This translates to 51 First Information Reports (FIRs) every hour. (NCRB Crime in India 2022)

          14. Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN): Of the 774 routes awarded under the aviation scheme UDAN-3, half could not initiate operations. Of the 371 routes that did start operations, only one-third could complete the three-year concession period. (CAG Report, Union Government (Civil), Ministry of Civil Aviation, No. 22 of 2023, (Compliance Audit), Para 3.1.1)

          15. Hunger: Three out of four Indians cannot afford a healthy balanced diet. (The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023, FAO). Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, a scheme started in response to COVID-19, had to be extended for five more years. As the number of billionaires increases manifold, 80 crore Indians are still dependent on free rations for their meals.

          Modi guarantee. Zero warranty.

          [This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, March 29, 2024]

          Posted 29th March 2024 by Derek O'Brien

          2024, the election year, the conflict year

          by Derek O'Brien

          This is the first time that Mexico could get a woman president. Joe Biden is seeking a second term in the United States. The Democratic People’s Party in Taiwan has just won a historic third consecutive term. The fourth most populous country in the world, Indonesia, will elect a new President soon. Sheikh Hasina has won a fifth term in Bangladesh.

          In 2024, national elections are scheduled in over 60 countries. Two billion voters will cast their votes. That’s a quarter of the world’s population.

          This is a “super election year”. Election booths will be buzzing in the United States, the United Kingdom, India and Indonesia. Psephologists and political enthusiasts will gleefully witness the dynamics of power, democracy, and unpredictability as elections play out on a global scale. Those suffering from politicophobia (a morbid fear of politics and voting) would prefer to fast forward to 2025.

          One dominant theme emerges from elections being held across the globe this year — societal divisions have been laid bare. From the deeply polarising issue of abortion rights to the contentious debate over corporatisation in agriculture, the fault lines are stark. Many of these elections, including India’s, are not just about choosing leaders; they are about deciding the direction of societies ruptured by conflicting ideologies.

          United Kingdom: Bookmakers’ odds are often dependable barometers to predict results in sport and politics. Even though elections in the UK are expected to be held in the latter half of 2024, British bookmakers have virtually already called the result. According to Ladbrokes, one of England’s oldest betting companies, the Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, are clear favourites to win, with odds of 1/10. To give you some sense of what 1/10 odds mean, let me share a similar example from cricket.

          If India is playing Afghanistan in a T20 match, India will probably start at the odds of 1/10 — favourites to win. In other words, if you invest £1,000 on the Labour Party winning, you only stand to gain £100. So, as far as the bookmakers are concerned, it’s pretty much a done deal for the Labour Party. In contrast, the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has odds of 6/1. What this means is that a £1,000 bet on the Conservative Party will earn a huge £6,000 if the Conservatives win. The populist right-wing party Reform UK (earlier Brexit party), led by Richard Tice, are a distant third with odds of 50/1. It must be pointed out that there are multiple examples where favourites bite the dust.

          United States: Trump versus Biden rematch. The economy, cost of living, LGBTQ rights, the war in Ukraine, and conflict in Gaza are some of the hot-button issues which are dominating political debate on American television. From campaign rallies to made-for-television debates, one flashpoint is certainly abortion rights.

          The seismic 2021 overturning of Roe v. Wade and the Alabama Supreme Court’s controversial decision equating frozen embryos with children have intensified the cultural chasm between conservative and liberal states. Abortion has surged to the forefront of political discourse, with one in eight voters deeming it critical. Research indicates a doubling since 2020 in patients travelling for abortions, with medical abortions now exceeding half of all procedures.

          These have had a profound impact on reproductive rights, stirring voter mobilisation and accentuating enduring ideological divisions. As both the controversial Donald Trump and the octogenarian President Biden line up on the starting blocks for second terms, abortion rights might determine who crosses the finishing line first.

          South Africa: In a historic shift post-apartheid, South Africa’s upcoming general election on May 29 could see the African National Congress (ANC) receiving less than 50 per cent of the vote for the first time since 1994. I am no psephologist, but this could lead to a multi-party government, marking a significant moment for South Africans and the region.

          India: The last five years have seen the country set many dubious records. Household savings have been at a 50-year low. Three out of four Indians cannot afford a healthy balanced diet. Four out of 10 graduates under the age of 25 are unemployed. Women earn just 60 per cent as compared to their male counterparts. And the Press Freedom Index ranks India 161 among 180 countries. These are the issues which the ruling dispensation will obfuscate. These are the issues which opposition parties across the country will need to amplify. These are the issues which television channels turned cheerleaders will ignore over the next six weeks.

          Instead, the Union government will attempt to create a narrative around two laws — the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the Women’s Reservation Bill. You don’t have to be a Parliament junkie to know that the timing is suspect. Consider these: While the average time taken to frame rules for a law is nine months, the rules for CAA were notified after 51 months (over four years). The Union government had asked for nine extensions. Then there was the Women’s Reservation Bill, passed in Parliament, but which can only be implemented after the Census and delimitation is carried out. 2034?

          As the world’s largest democracy goes to elections in the summer of 2024, women’s political representation will only be limited to the glossy sheets of a slickly printed manifesto.

          [This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, March 15, 2024]

          Posted 16th March 2024 by Derek O'Brien

          Calcutta Judge’s Political Turn – An Arranged, Love Marriage?

          by Derek O'Brien

          “I approached BJP and BJP also approached me”

          A sitting Calcutta High Court judge said this on the very same day he tendered his resignation as a judge. Two days later, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This is what you might well call an arranged, love marriage!

          That begs serious questions:

          • Should all the rulings made by this judge in the last year, targeting the government of West Bengal, be declared null and void immediately?
          • What happens to the dictum: “Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done”?
          • How badly does doing preparatory politics from the Bench destroy the impartiality of an institution?

          The judge in question could very well put up a (weak) defence, saying this is not the first time this has happened.

          A Couple Of ‘Precedents’

          In 1967, prior to his retirement, former Chief Justice of India Koka Subba Rao stepped down three months early to run as an Opposition candidate against Congress’s Zakir Hussain in the presidential polls. Similarly, in 1983, former Supreme Court judge Baharul Islam resigned six weeks before his retirement to contest the Lok Sabha polls as a Congress candidate from Assam’s Barpeta seat. More recently, Justice Abhay Thipsay, who gave the verdict against Amit Shah, joined the Congress soon after retirement.

          Former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi now occupies a seat in the Rajya Sabha as a nominated MP. The ‘honourable gentleman’ presided over the Ayodhya and Rafale judgments. A former staff member of the Supreme Court levelled serious allegations against the ‘honourable gentleman’. Sinecure?

          After retirement, Justice Abdul Nazeer (the only judge on the Ayodhya bench belonging to the Muslim community) was made governor of Andhra Pradesh. Justice Ashok Bhushan, also on the Ayodhya bench, became chair of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. Sinecures?

          Chief Justice P. Sathasivam retired from the Supreme Court in 2013. He had presided over a Bench that gave significant relief to the then Home Minister of Gujarat, Amit Shah, in the custodial killing case of Tulsiram Prajapati. He was made Governor of Kerala. Sinecure? Or just a coincidence!

          On Protecting Judicial Independence

          Some members of the Constituent Assembly had strong points of view on the dangers of undermining judicial independence, and proposed measures to protect the same. During the debates, economist and advocate K.T. Shah, member from Bihar, suggested a provision to prevent former Supreme Court and High Court judges from being appointed to executive offices. Shah’s proposal highlighted the potential for abuse if post-retirement positions were not explicitly addressed in the Constitution. He emphasised that the growing availability of executive positions in independent India could exacerbate this issue, warranting a clear and decisive stance to maintain the separation of powers and uphold the integrity of the judiciary.

          The actions of the Calcutta High Court judge delivering ‘politically one-sided’ judgments followed by his resignation and immediately donning the jersey of a political party undermines the very foundation of our democracy. This columnist has refrained from even mentioning the name of the retired judge, lest a selfish individual gets more publicity than he warrants.

          “Judges should be of stern stuff and tough fibre, unbending before power, economic or political, and they must uphold the core principle of the rule of law which says ‘Be you ever so high, the law is above you’.” These words, spoken by the Supreme Court of India in SP Gupta v Union of India, epitomised the pinnacle of judicial integrity and independence.

          In 1995, American academic Dennis Thompson coined the term ‘institutional corruption’ to explain how (parasitic) external influences had compromised the US Congress and made it systematically deviate from its proper purpose.

          Closer home, in 2012, a gentleman, whose ideology I did not share, but who personified Parliament 360 degrees, said, “Pre-retirement judgments are influenced by post-retirement jobs”. Wondering what Arun Jaitley would have had to say about all this.

          [This article was also published in NDTV | Thursday, March 7, 2024]

          Posted 8th March 2024 by Derek O'Brien

          The nari shakti jumla: Six times BJP failed women

          by Derek O'Brien

          The Modi government has launched a few headline-grabbing flagship schemes, ostensibly aimed at improving the lives of women in India. However, the patriarchal mindset that lies at the core of the RSS-BJP belief system has ensured that the outcomes are very different from those envisaged in the scheme documents.

          A former RSS chief said that women should be staying at home and cooking. The RSS is the fountainhead of the BJP. Are women allowed in an RSS shakha? So one cannot miss the irony that in the days leading up to Women’s Day (March 8), the Prime Minister, in the face of misogyny under his watch, has been waxing eloquent about “nari shakti”. Here are six instances when his government denigrated women, but they resisted powerfully.

          Female farmers

          Tens of thousands of women farmers, coming from places as distant as Chhattisgarh, gathered in makeshift camps in Delhi and at the borders of Punjab, Haryana, and UP to protest against the draconian farm bills. Some staged hunger strikes wearing bright yellow scarves that represented mustard fields, while others ran medical camps and soup kitchens. Amidst speeches and silent resistance, when the Supreme Court asked them to go home, the women farmers responded with a loud “No”.

          The stakes were high. Distant and exploitative markets had rendered them extremely vulnerable. As per the NCRB, nearly 10 per cent of farmers who committed suicide in 2022 are women. Over 80 per cent of rural women work in agriculture but less than 13 per cent own any land.

          The women of Shaheen Bagh

          Enraged by the Union government’s decision to impose unconstitutional laws on citizenship against minorities, women protestors retaliated by staging a peaceful demonstration in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh. The 101-day-long protest caught the world’s imagination as women across religions, ages and walks of life united. Shaheen Bagh became a symbol of intergenerational and intersectional political dissent to protect the Constitution. Inspired by the women there, demonstrations took place across the country.

          The government clamped down with violence, specifically targeting minority-dominated areas in BJP-ruled states. In the face of severe backlash that questioned their patriotism, the women of Shaheen Bagh defiantly challenged the Prime Minister to come and speak with them. Of course, he did not.

          Champion sportspersons

          The sickening story of Brij Bhushan Singh — a BJP Lok Sabha MP and former President of the Wrestling Federation of India — is too well documented to bear repetition. He was present and voting when the Women’s Reservation Bill was being passed in the Lok Sabha. Enough said.

          Community healthcare workers

          In 2022, 10 lakh female health workers, who tirelessly provided last-mile primary care in India’s villages, were honoured with the WHO Director General’s Global Health Leaders Award. Once the Prime Minister’s tweets ceased, they were promptly cast into obscurity. Despite being the backbone of the nation’s healthcare system, ASHA workers continue to wait for the recognition they deserve.

          For the last two years, more than 6,00,000 ASHA workers from all over the country have been protesting against the lack of protective gloves, PPE kits, and masks, delayed payments since the pandemic, absence of insurance coverage, and exploitative working conditions that have pushed them to the brink of poverty.

          Chief Minister Ajay Bisht aka Yogi Adityanath had promised to increase the honorarium for ASHAs in Uttar Pradesh, purportedly to end the protests. Turns out, it was another jumla.

          Women for Manipur

          Since May 2022, over 180 lives have been lost and 60,000 people displaced in Manipur. The much-touted double-engine sarkar has miserably failed to control the situation. In July 2023, horrifying news broke about Manipur. Two women had been stripped naked and were videographed by a mob of men. Women’s organisations from across the country rose in solidarity and organised protest marches and demonstrations in Imphal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, Goa, Bhopal, and Bengaluru. Thousands of women took to the streets demanding the resignation of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh, owning moral responsibility for the incident.

          It has been nine months, yet neither the state nor the Union government has taken any responsibility. The Prime Minister has not visited the state. In a dangerous precedent, not a single question on the issue has been admitted and answered in Parliament.

          MGNREGA workers

          Despite being one of the best performers under the scheme, the wages of 59 lakh MGNREGA workers from West Bengal have been withheld. Women constitute more than 50 per cent of the beneficiaries. Their access to livelihood has been cut off.

          MGNREGA was more than just an Act; it was a guarantee, a promise by Parliament to the people of India, especially women. Today, that promise lies broken.

          [This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, March 1, 2024]

          Posted 1st March 2024 by Derek O'Brien

          How BJP government’s Data Fails Rekha, Kavita, and Mohan

          by Derek O'Brien

          The interim budget session of Parliament has just concluded. Nine days of the Union government using a deluge of several self-aggrandising adjectives — some romantic, others poetic and almost all unsubstantiated by fact. Intellectual dishonesty about data is endemic. This columnist delves into the lives behind the numbers. The people who aggregate into government “data” and find out how India really lives. This is the story of Rekha, Kavita and Mohan.

          Health: “The Ayushman Bharat scheme has greatly helped the poor.”

          Scenario A: Rekha visits a government hospital and waits in a long queue. She desperately needs medical assistance. She knows the treatment she will get here is of poor quality, but this is all her pocket allows. Not just the quality of the treatment, but the process of accessing it is also difficult. Data stored with government hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat scheme is riddled with errors. This pushes Rekha, and citizens like her, further away from timely healthcare. The numbers either misidentify the dead, incorrectly record surgery details or entirely leave out beneficiaries from the list. If Rekha is lucky enough to not get entangled in all the red tape, she would be treated at a government facility, where resources are limited and facilities often sub-par. What more can one expect from a government that invests a mere 2.1 per cent of GDP in healthcare? Endless out-of-pocket expenditure coupled with insufficient government support impoverishes 55 million Indians every year.

          Scenario B: Rekha attempts self-medication to save money. This severely jeopardises her health. According to the recent NFHS report, the proportion of households that typically avoided utilising government health facilities between 2019 and 2021 was a staggering 49.9 per cent. This means that half the country does not turn to government facilities in their time of need. Reality gets worse for Indian women like Rekha. Six out of 10 women from the general category, and seven out of 10 women from the tribal community have reported at least one concern in accessing healthcare. P.S: The International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) Director and Senior Professor K S James, who was behind this year’s NFHS data, was suspended by the Union government shortly after the release of the report.

          Food security: “India’s food diversity is a dividend for global investors.”

          Scenario A: Kavita decides to buy her family’s monthly ration from the government-subsidised ration shop. The prices are low but so is the nutritional value. Kavita’s is not a one-off case. Her reality confirms what various independent surveys say, like the Global Hunger Index where India ranked 111 out of 125 countries. Kavita’s reliance on subsidised options amplifies the struggles faced by countless low-income Indian families whose nutritional needs remain unfulfilled.

          Scenario B: Kavita opts to buy groceries from the supermarket close by. It gives her more options, and better quality, albeit at a higher cost. Kavita reduces the number of meals she has in order to afford the quality. Her predicament supplements the report recently published by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO which finds that three out of four Indians (a staggering one billion people) cannot afford a healthy diet.

          Employment: “Today, every youth believes that they can cement their job position with hard work and skills”

          Scenario A: Mohan decides to participate in a recruitment drive organised at the local school. Like the five thousand others from his state, he joins the queue for a job in war-torn Israel. Mohan fears for his life but the prospect of earning over one lakh rupees per month is tempting. That is ten times more than what he is earning now. Twenty-four year-old Mohan knows that there would be a grave threat to his life in a country where 30,000 people have been killed since October of last year. However, in the grocery store in his locality, a packet of rice costs 56 per cent more while dal costs 120 per cent more than it did earlier. If he wants to provide for his family, then a job in a war zone is his only option.

          Scenario B: Mohan is considering taking up a job as a delivery agent for a food services company. He has a graduate degree in economics from a reputed central university. Sadly, much like the other 42 per cent graduates under 25 years of age, he has not found employment. It has now been 11 months. Every morning he finds himself as one of those 10 per cent who the newspapers report to be unemployed at a two-year record high. Mohan has to provide for his ageing parents. He understands that as a gig worker, no law protects him from losing his job or working unfixed strenuous hours. So he tells himself, “let me board that plane to Israel.”

          The voices of Kavita, Rekha and Mohan did not find a place in the Prime Minister’s marathon monologue in Parliament.

          [This article was also published in The Indian Express | Friday, February 16, 2024]

          Posted 16th February 2024 by Derek O'Brien