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Bye Election Results And Its After effects It’s No Good Crying Over Spilt Milk

Bye Election Results And Its After effects It’s No Good Crying Over Spilt Milk

by | May 11, 2021 | Media News, Political News, Politics | 0 comments

Successive victories often plunge the victor into indifference and arrogance. Conversely, fear of defeat humbles an individual,making him become down-to-earth and realize his mistakes.But, of what use would late repentance be?

In the last few years, everyone whether a supporter or opposer of the Modi-led government, has protested directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly, against the everyday increasing rates of inflation and fuel prices. Even, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on several occasions drew the attention of the government to show how badly the common man was hit by the issues. Unfortunately, the government instead of addressing the issues turned a Nelson’s eye to the sufferings of the common man. But, the setback suffered by the ruling party in recent bye-elections to 29 Assembly and 3LokSabha Constituencies has brought the central government to its senses. Barely a day after the election results, the Union government slashed rates of petrol and diesel, and walking in its footsteps, Karnataka and almost all other states in the
federal setup have announced further reductions in exercise duty on fuel in their respective territories. This move would no doubt bring some relief to dissatisfied citizens. Reacting to the announcements, the Congress Party has derided the government and said that it is not the concern for the people but the election defeats of the ruling party that hascompelled it to cut fuel rates slightly. Besides fuel prices, the other factors that have contributed to the defeat of the BJP are the growing levels of inflation, unemployment in the country as well as the deteriorating law and order situations in the states ruled by it.

The party has suffered its worst defeats in Himachal Pradesh where it lost three Assembly constituencies and a Parliamentary seat to the Congress. Despite its shortcomings, the BJP along with its allies has managed to register a victory in 14 out of the 29 Assembly and 2 out of the 3 parliamentary constituencies.
The performance of the Congress Party in Assam was highly disappointing as the party failed to bag even a single seat out of the five. Though the party had fielded candidates having winning potentials and worked hard, the percentage of votes polled in its favour and for the ruling party which was 40 and 50 respectively,
made the difference. The BJP with its allies swept the Northeast states and the Congress was left empty￾handed. In Bihar, the scuffle between the Congress and the RJD parties in entering into an alliance for sharing seats enabled the ruling JD(U) to win both the seats in the bye-polls. Had the Congress and RJD agreed for one seat each, the JD(U) would have been stripped of victory in both the constituencies.

Ultimately, the results of the bye-elections have made it amply clear that the upcoming Assembly elections in 2022 in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, and Jharkhand are not going to be a cakewalk for the BJP. The humiliating defeat it has suffered in Himachal Pradesh denotes that the resentment of the
people at the party is rapidly rising upwards. Growing unemployment, rising inflation, falling GDP, skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, high rates of fuel and LPG, and worsening law and orderhave remained the main issues in the recent bye-polls. Added to these, opposition to the three farm reform laws
against which farmers across the country have been protesting for over a year also had its play in deciding the electoral fates of the parties. If the state of affairs continues as it is today without any remedial changes being effected, then the issues that ruled the roost in the latest bye-polls will again dominate the
upcoming Assembly Elections in 2022, andof course with more intensity. Fighting elections against those issues might be extremely challenging for the BJP and the prevailing circumstances might facilitate the return of Congress to power. On the flip side, Congress and other parties need to realize that non
addressal of the said issues by the BJP-led government at the centre would not solely guarantee them victory in the upcoming elections. To garland BJP with defeat, it is imperative for Congress and other secular parties to get united on points of commonalities and face the elections.

The BJP may be drawing solace that a section of voters under the intoxication of the feelings of hatred against Muslims and other minorities, moral policing, etc. are overlooking the prevalent issues of unemployment, inflation, poverty, and so on. They are not able to notice the failures of the BJP government but are engaged in spreading disharmony through a variety of slogans and phrases such as Abbajan Abbajan, Love Jihad, Ghar Wapasi, and others. The BJP while assessing the real situation must not place reliance on this category of voters alone but must take into account the growing political awareness and the maturity levels of voters collectively and take steps to arrest the discontentment of voters by properly attending to the issues under discussion. It is the right time for the BJP government to take
seriously the mandate of people in the bye-elections and come up with effective policies to abate the sufferings of people under the impact of the said issues. Lest, the results of the upcoming elections in 2022 may not be to its full expectations and in the post-results, constraints may emerge calling for immediate addressing of the issues, in the same way as lowering of fuel prices following results of the recent bye-poll. Let Indians not wait for another occasion to welcome addressing of issues as ‘crying over spilt milk’ in the aftermath of another election results.

Is India Heading In The Right Direction? What Ideologies Are Governing Us?

Is India Heading In The Right Direction? What Ideologies Are Governing Us?

by | Mar 12, 2021 | Bangalore Karnataka Congress, Media News, Political News | 0 comments

Mohammed Obaidulla Sharief Chief Editor, The Daily Pasban

In his latest tweet, Munawar Faruqi, the popular stand-up comedian, has announced that he will no longer perform comedy shows. His words are: “Putting me in the jail for the joke I never did to cancelling my show which has nothing problematic in it. This is unfair………I think this is the end…..You guys were wonderful audience. Goodbye! I’m done.”These are the words of disappointment from an artist whose face always beams with smiles and who has tried to tickle through his performances, smiles, and laughter in his audience. The manner in which the laughter show of the artist scheduled in Bangalore on November 28 was cancelled on the basis of frivolous reasons intended to highlight a particular ideology, indicates where our country is heading. Someone in the ‘Wire’ (Urdu version) has commented that after the cancellation of Munawar Faruqi’s show by the Bangalore police, it is evident that India is losing the status of a State based on its constitutional values but is heading towards becoming a country hinged on the philosophy of a particular community. The cancellation of the show has also proven beyond doubt that law enforcement
and administrative authorities who should take unbiased stands on issues have become susceptible to passionately playing the roles of volunteers for some organizations and their affiliates.

Munawar Faruqi is a cheerful person with smiles always radiating from his face. He portrays the socio￾political, economic and other realities of modern India in his comedies. He is a writer and a rap singer too and is seen in one of his video songs revealing the harsh experiences of his life in Bombay. His Youtube channel has more than five lakh subscribers, and he is also highly popular on Instagram. The topics of his comedies are other than general subjects and often end without conclusions, leaving the audience to ponder and seek answers and solutions. For instance, in his jokes, he criticizes those Punjabi musical videos that present women as greedy; quips about Indian social websites as dating platforms, and so on. Like artists in other freedom-loving countries, he uses his satirical talents to criticize even the government and was jocular when he recently lamented about the waste of water cannons on protesting farmers.

It appears from the measures against Munawar Faruqi that he is an indirect target to send a subtle message to the citizens at large that the criteria for decision-making at power centres are changing. It is a dangerous trend for Indian democracy. A few cases in point are the recent instructions by the police for Christians in Belgaum to skip prayer meets in the wake of possible threats of attack by right-wing organizations. The stand of police in not acting against those threatening law and order but directing Christians to lay low and opt for online prayers does not bode well for democracy and the protection of human rights. At the periphery, it appears that most of the law enforcement has ascribed to the views of some particular organizations and is in tune with them in considering Christians and Muslims as secondclass citizens and requires a nod from them for performing lawful duties of protecting the rights of the religious minorities. The incident at Gurgaon near Delhi, in which Muslims were prevented from offering Friday prayers but Hindu organizations were granted permission to perform puja and sing bhajans illustrates the shift in the perspective of the authorities. Denial of permissions for the shows of Munawar Faruqi in Mumbai, Kanpur in Chattisgarh earlier and recently in a dozen other cities in the course of two months for likely threats by right wing activists, bears ample testimony to the changed mindsets. These facts also remind of an incident in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh where a University department hosting a talk on an academic subject was treated by the police in much the same way as its Bangalore counterpart. Since, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad had objections to the inclusion of a particular speaker in that talk, the police instead of being proactive, forced the University to cancel the event.

The growing connections between law enforcement and some particular organizations and the ascription of the former to the views of the latter, are portending a threat to the Rule of Law in the country as well as to its integrity and stability. Courts have not taken cognizance of these developments, thinking of them as temporary aberrations and would get set right organically with time. But all sensible citizens know that the developments are not transitory deviations but gradual slopes from the summit going down into the abyss.

We can comprehend the gravity of the affairs considering the stand of the Indore police in arresting Munawar Faruqi for an uncommitted offence and applauding the complainants for the objections against him. The words of Munawar Faruqi, mentioned at the beginning of this column, have come out sincerely from the depths of an aching heart, and in miniature outline the prevailing grim state of affairs. There is a crying need that everyone concerned with the protection of the Constitution, enforcement of Rule of Law, safety and integrity of the country, be he a parliamentarian or a legal practitioner or a bureaucrat or a law enforcement official or a democratic-spirited citizen must contemplate about the aforesaid developments and their adverse impact on the society. Needful reforms in a legal manner have to be brought in place to uphold the supremacy of the Rule of Law and to make law enforcement and administration consciously deter from succumbing to pressures, coercion, or arm-twisting from any quarter. Only then it is possible to have a peaceful, healthy, harmonious society as dreamed of by the founding fathers of the Constitution.
Satire in its various forms, such as comedy, parody, jokes, etc. is a tool for highlighting through humour, the social-political and other evils, clamouring for reforms, remedies, corrections, and atonements. It must be encouraged and welcomed with open arms.