BTW, VOTE!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjvsaYwg0zA

Cross Posted in Bodhi Commons – liberating Thoughts, reclaiming Commons

Because if you remember 1991-1996, and 2001-2006, and what we collectively went through as a group of helpless people with no semblance of a government, you don’t want a 2011-2017. Because on an evening in May 2001, Eliyas John of NTV, producer of then popular news programme “Aniyara”, a vocal critic of the then left front government, summarized the election results that came in, in this way -

“This programme has been a harsh critic of the Nayanar government. But tonight we feel sad that Kerala is losing another left democratic government. Because if history is any indicator, we have nothing much to hope for in the next five years”. Short and sad. But if anyone remembers the UDF reign from 2001 to 2006, you might have that sinking feeling on the night of May 13th, whichever party you voted for.

Now in case you don’t remember stuff from 5 years back, these names might ring a bell -

Do you remember Nalakath Soopy? I clearly remember the Minister for Education, a person handling one of the most tricky and critical departments in Kerala, as a student activist. Soopy was a fool, to put it lightly. A senior congress minister admitted that Soopy didn’t get it, and another doubted if Soopy had seen a school veranda given the way he conducted himself in cabinet and outside. But Soopy reigned over the education sector for 4 long nightmarish years. 4 long nightmare years at the end of which A.K. Antony expressed his disgust over how minority institutions have let the people of Kerala down. A.K.Antony had to step down as Chief Minister, and Soopy went back to eating koi biriyani he made out of Kerala’s educational sector.

Hightlight: “Pennum Koiyiyum” in reference to this classic painting.

Do you remember P.Sankaran? The Karunakaran loyalist who ran Health for 4 years? Do you remember how he sleep walked through Kerala’s much touted health sector with no clue what he was speaking about. Do you remember him complaining about the fact that no one listens to him anywhere. Malabar owes a lot to rest of Kerala for sending Soopy and this gentleman to Thiruvanathapuram.

Do you remember Cherkalam Abdullah? the man who replaced and was succeeded by Paloli, to run the most critical experiment in the Kerala Model. Do you remember him making egg scramble out of the People’s Plan campaign initiated by the Nayanar government and referred by Nobel winning economists as the most important experiment in any third world country? He was another lucky dude from Malabar who escaped multiple corruption charges along with P.Sankaran and T.M. Jacob because the limelight of corruption and decadence, and the opposition’s ire was monopolized by another fine gentleman from Malabar – P.K.Kunjalikutty.

Now if education, health, and local self government seem unimportant to you, we should look at the Ministry of Industries.

Kunjalikutty demonstrates what he will do with Kerala come May 13th. Something like ‘up yours’

I’m sure you remember P.K.Kunjalikutty. And unlike Soopy, Sankaran, and Abdullah, Kunjalikutty has not gone anywhere. He will be back as a deputy Chief Minister if UDF wins this election. Haha the ides of May.

So you remember Balakrishna Pillai I guess. The Minister for Transportation, and long serving minister for power. He is in Poojapura central jail. He did file a review petition, and the court said fuck off.

Do you remember Kuriyartutti-Karappara? also known as T.M.Jacob’s route to join his fellow Kerala Congress man in Poojapura Jail.

Do you remember M.V.Raghavan? This gentleman spend his five long years as Minister for Co-operatives and Ports, as a long fight to win the control of Pariyaram Medical College. He did score a couple of points against arch nemesis CPM, but then he kept saying no to the vizhinjam port and then slept over it as pressure built up.

Do you remember Gowriamma? The question was less about whether Agriculture sector in Kerala will survive the monsoon, and more about will Gowriamma survive the rainy season. She is still there. Respect.

Do you remember M.A.Kuttapan? A pawn in the long squabble between the Karunakaran and Ommen Chandy groups. Thats all i remember about him.

Do you remember Kadavoor Sivadasan? The man who inherited a state without power cuts, and then totally derailed the Vision 2000 gains made by Pinarayi Vijayan as Minister for Power. Kadavoor though gained his share of notoriety by distributing pamphelts during election season to split Ezhava votes against Mercykutty Amma. He won the election, though the matter was taken up by the court. That remains his only achievement.

Do you remember K.Sudhakaran? Otherwise this video might help.

Do you remember Vakkom Purushu? The man who officiated during Ommen’s absence and was finance minister. And many of us think Veerappan was the biggest sandal wood smuggler. Then of course Andamans is not India, though cellular jail wasn’t the biggest crime that happened in Andamans.

That my fellow Malayalis was the UDF cabinet of 2001-2006.

I am skipping the treacherous Smart City Deal, the “GIM”mmick, Kodoth episode, Black Sands controversy, K.Karunakaran, Pappykutty, and totally skipping the 1991-96 cabinet with the likes of Musthafa, Pillai, Padmarajan, and Ommen.

The choice in front of the electorate in Kerala is amply clear.  Have things changed in the UDF? How did the UDF perform in the opposition? Can Ramesh Chennithala frame a coherent policy and articulate it? Have you ever seen him do that – Other than say things like “..if we come to power we will bring 2 smart cities” (one in Puthupally and the other in Mavelikkara ofcourse). Cannot sum up the Ommen Chandy opposition’s performance better than this -

“കേരളത്തിലെ പ്രതിപക്ഷത്തിന്റെ പ്രവര്‍ത്തനം അല്‍പത്തരങ്ങളുടെ ആകെത്തുകയാണ്. രാഷ്ട്രീയ കാരണങ്ങളാല്‍ ചില മാധ്യമങ്ങള്‍ ഈ അല്‍പത്തരങ്ങളെ ആഘോഷമാക്കി മാറ്റുന്നുവെന്നു മാത്രം.”

Berly summarizes it with a classic curtain raiser,

കേരളത്തില്‍ നിയമസഭാ തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പു കഴിഞ്ഞു എന്നും നമ്മളെല്ലാവരും കൂടി ഉമ്മന്‍ ചാണ്ടിയുടെ നേതൃത്വത്തിലുള്ള സര്‍ക്കാരിനെ വോട്ടു ചെയ്ത് വിജയിപ്പിച്ചു നിര്‍ത്തിയിരിക്കുകയാണെന്നും ഇപ്പോഴത്തെ സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ കാലാവധി കഴിഞ്ഞിറങ്ങുന്ന മുറയ്‍്ക്ക് ആ ടീം കയറി ഭരണം തുടങ്ങുമെന്നുമുള്ള കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ ഞാന്‍ മാത്രമേ അറിയാത്തതായുള്ളോ അതോ നിങ്ങളും അറിഞ്ഞിട്ടില്ലേ ?

ഇന്നലത്തെ ബജറ്റിനെപ്പറ്റിയുള്ള യുഡിഎഫുകാരുടെ പ്രതികരണം കണ്ടപ്പോള്‍ മുതലാണ് എനിക്കു സംശയം തോന്നിത്തുടങ്ങിയത്. ബാലകൃഷ്ണപിള്ള അകത്തുപോയി. പാമൊലിന്‍ കേസിലേക്ക് ഉമ്മന്‍ ചാണ്ടിയെക്കൂടി വലിച്ചിടാന്‍ മുസ്തഫ ആഞ്ഞു ശ്രമിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. കുരിയാര്‍കുറ്റി-കാരപ്പാറ പദ്ധതി അഴിമതി കേസില്‍ ജേക്കബിന്റെ കാര്യവും കയ്യാലപ്പുറത്താണ്. കുഞ്ഞാലിക്കുട്ടി സാഹിബ് ഐസ്ക്രീം കേസില്‍ പാറിപ്പറന്നു നില്‍ക്കുകയാണ്. അഥവാ മണ്ടന്മാരായ നമ്മള്‍ വോട്ടു ചയ്തു വിജയിപ്പിച്ചാലും യുഡിഎഫില്‍ ഗൗരിയമ്മയും മാണിസാറുമല്ലാതെ വല്ലവരും പുറത്തുണ്ടാവുമോ എന്നുറപ്പു പറയാറായിട്ടില്ല. മുഖ്യമന്ത്രിയാവാന്‍ റെഡിയാണെന്ന മട്ടില്‍ വയലാര്‍ രവി ഗദ്ഗദങ്ങള്‍ പുറപ്പെടുവിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. എല്ലാവരും അകത്തുപോകുന്ന സാഹചര്യം വന്നാല്‍ കെ.മുരളീധരനു പോലും സ്വപ്നങ്ങള്‍ നെയ്യേണ്ടി വരും.

The choice is not roundabout. It is clear. If you are voting for your caste or your religion, none of the above matters. Nor does 1991-1996 or 2001-2006. And we’ll see the clear divisions across districts with CPM carrying the southern districts and the north and madhya Keralam voting for the right. A very plausible scenario.

But if you are looking for a government which hits the right buttons with a 20 year vision for the state, which does not sell out our precious assets and our land, which has clear policies for human development and the ability to execute that on multiple fronts, which does not bow to the pressures of retrograde caste and religious organizations, which has a cabinet of people who know what they are talking about, which makes Kerala rank consistently as the best state in India – You might want to put some effort, drink some coffee, take a deep breath, and try to remember 2006. And try to remember what we went through as a group of helpless people with no semblance of a government. Because otherwise, if history is any indicator, things will fall apart and the center will not hold. 2011-2016 will be a nightmare.

“If anyone raises a finger towards Hindus or if someone thinks that Hindus are weak and leaderless, if someone thinks that these leaders lick our boots for votes, if anyone raises a finger towards Hindus, then I swear on Gita that I will cut that hand.”  – Times

‘Gau hatya rukwana hai, Varun Gandhi ko jitana hai’ (Cow slaughter must stop, Varun Gandhi must win) and “Varun nahin yeh aandhi hai, doosra Sanjay Gandhi hai (Varun Gandhi is like a storm, he is another Sanjay Gandhi)”. – HT

Says Varun Gandhi of BJP on his campaign trail to make L K Advani the next Prime Minister of India. He is 29. Can you take this? Another nakli Gandhi for like another five decades.

But if there is anyone out there who believes what Varun Gandhi says, like the BJP which might be having gleeful visions of a Saffron Gandhi, they’ll most probably be proven wrong before the 2009 political season ends. Because there is none other more Secular than a Gandhi. It doesn’t matter to a Gandhi if you slaughter a cow, a muslim or a sikh. It doesn’t matter to a Gandhi if you do shilanyas or destroy a mosque or you forcibly castrate a thousand. It doesn’t matter to a Gandhi if you are a tamil terrorist or an Akali radical. Capitalism, socialism or public or private banks don’t matter. Nuclear deal or no deal does not matter. Forcible evictions for a car factory or a Kalawati doesn’t matter. Democracy or Article 356 or Emergency does not matter. All that matters to a Gandhi is the Gandhi’s right to power. In every possible way, a Gandhi is truly secular. Only arguable exception is Mohandas Karamchand asli Gandhi. Then again, even Varun wouldn’t dream of being a doosra Sanjay Gandhi. One reason is India has changed.  But a more persuasive reason is that Sanjay Gandhi’s mother’s name meant ‘India’ at one point in time.

The Gandhis contesting on the Congress ticket at least seem to have come to terms with their mortal nature, given the pre-poll alliances they are building. But some people back home in Kerala seem to be so keenly out of touch with reality (like  nakli Iron Man of India’s website) that they are indeed as Varun nakli Gandhi says ‘raising their middle fingers’ at Hindus.

Like Archbishop Daniel Acharuparambil of the Latin Catholic Church.

The powerful Latin Catholic Church in Kerala has written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi urging the party to consider Hybi Eden, chief of the Congress’ student wing, as party candidate for the Ernakulam Lok Sabha seat. – The Hindu

‘Powerful‘ as in,

Ironically, whenever the church sponsored a Congress candidate, with public statements and pastoral letters, he lost. Edezhath, a close confidant of the high priests, lost by over 70,000 votes to an LDF independent in 2004. – DNA

Here, as I am located, in the heart of the Ernakulam constituency, this stupid letter which claims even the number of votes Acharuparambil has will do no good to the candidate, the Congress party or the larger Catholic interests but will only help consolidate Hindu and Muslim votes in favour of CPM’s arguably weakest candidate in the state – Sindhu Joy. If Hybi is indeed the candidate and if Sindhu defeats him, Acharuparambil Archbishop will have to wear a uniquely malayali ‘thorthu mundu’ over his head while he ventures out of his den in Varapuzha.

Perhaps what Acharuparambil Archbishop should have done was to take a leaf out of Nair Service Society’s (NSS) Narayana Panicker’s Book of Strategics. This is how it goes – tell the media that you’ll defeat 10 candidates (across 20 constituencies), and tell them that the names are secret. After the election, minimum 20 candidates will be defeated, and then, THEN tell the media how effective you were in defeating 10 people and claim how powerful Samsthakerala Nairs are.

P.S: The two parties, CPM and Congress who fight for the torch of Indian Secularism, could may be go through this very simple test to prove their secularism (at least in the next 20 years) – A Christian Candidate in Malappuram or Ponnani; A Hindu Candidate in Eranakulam and a A Muslim Candidate in Kottayam.(how about next 50 years?)