Friday, May 23, 2014

Mother Ganga can gift you votes (and water)

She has made you the tallest man in the land, and she needs to be nutured (back to good health) now so that the votes (and the water) keep flowing. India will resemble Pakistan even more as she switches from rail to roads (why?). There will be a hard push to get more BJP seats in the un-Indias- Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Bengal, and....Axom(???). Bengal and Odisha may be the most promising of  the lot, Kerala/TN will have to be long-term projects (20 years).

We are no experts but some of this seems dreamy-eyed and wrong-footed. If we were leading the charge, the immediate goal would have been to make sure that the dynasty does not recover. Right now the popular pressure is towards dumping Rahul and anointing Priyanka. Hit the soft spot hard- the crooked damad who said the famous words - I am a mango man in a banana republic. This man, who was the sole person permitted (by name) to go through airline security without screening (yes we know, petty stuff). Make an airtight case against him (put Ashok Khemka in charge) throw him into Tihar and throw away the keys.
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So CEO Modi has laid down five flagship projects as top priority. These would include economic, social and political projects. ....It is with this in mind that a complete revamp in the sectors of road, railways, freight transport and ports is being plan­ned. Immediate action would be seen on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Calcutta corridors. Modi’s emphasis, sources say, will be to shift freight transport from railways to road and to reduce oil import.
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Modi’s team confirms that attention will be paid to the revamp of ports, in fact a complete facelift is being planned. Team Modi is looking at possibilities of opening newer ports and competence delivery will be top focus. Modi, sources say, is also keen on turning around the coal, steel and power sectors with focus “first on solving the current mess in the coal sector and then working towards providing quality power generation”. Special attention will be paid to the Northeast. 
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On the social projects front, the Ganga will remain Modi’s pet project once he takes charge of the government as prime minister. 

Sources concede that the Ganga project has political significance for Modi which is why Team Modi has been told to have a special plan in place revolving around the river. A team member says, “Electoral dividends for Modi came from the Ganga belt of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Both the BJP and Modi know that if we want to keep that goodwill coming our way from that region intact, then something concrete needs to be done for that region.”

No doubt, politically, the Gangetic belt is an important region for the BJP and particularly Modi, considering many party MPs come from that area. As a result, Modi has asked his team to have a three-pronged approach towards the Ganga project. In the pipeline is a massive clean-up programme for the Ganga, followed by a flood control management scheme. That done, Modi wants to put in place a water tourism economy plan around the Ganga that would help generate not just employment but even transport opportunities through the river. “We will also ensure that the river generates an economy around itself, which is why water transport for goods and water tourism on the Ganga will be emphasised upon,” a source revealed.
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Those close to Modi confirm that he would be looking at the next five years also as a time to consolidate his position politically. On the agenda therefore is an expansion plan for his party.
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Modi would therefore be working hard on increasing the imprint of his party in states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, West Bengal and Assam. A source explains, “In future elections, we don’t want to be dependent solely on the Hindi heartland for an election victory. These states then become very important bases for us and Modi is clear he wants a massive geographical expansion to ensure that.” 
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Link: http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?290756
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regards

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