Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Election 2019


  Stage is all set for counting which will begin in few hours. Election 2019 witnessed highest voter turnout all over the country. I was that typical guy who used to say “Politics is all crap…full of corrupt people” but you know what I developed interest towards Politics by reading many newspaper articles. One thing which I always love during my childwood was sipping Bournvita and reading ‘The Hindu’ daily by turning straight back to sports column, Friday review, Metro plus etc., Now I do the same until my six months old stare at me “Appa ..time to change diapers” Only thing that changed was I started reading more of Political articles. I was curious to know myself how did I develop interest into Politics but then realized I witnessed Politics among 100 + families in close quarters recently and that could have played a role since I was able to observe and draw conclusions on so many aspects. So basically the more you try to decode and analyze the moves it would fascinate you. When nothing at stake and still so much drahma is involved imagine what all goes into the making of MLA seat, MP seat, Chief minister post, Prime minister post. Moreover right from the toothpaste we use, car we drive, Tax we pay, House we live, Food we eat anything and everything boils down to Governance which is turn depends on the Government. If you are running Business, many factors like Government schemes, policies, Taxes play a role in how well we can run the show. I read the Election Manifesto and tried to be a responsible citizen by casting my vote. Guess what I even helped EC officials on how to find voter ID through an app for few citizens.

    Now coming to TamilNadu Politics – I would say state is literally in ICU …Political instability has been a big problem. Many Industries have preferred neighboring states due to lack of ease in doing Business in Tamil Nadu. I am afraid Tamil Nadu is no longer Detroit of Asia as many industries are moving away and existing industries are not setting up second phase. ‘Porattam’ has been the key thing and we see protests for anything and everything. I have no clue who was ‘H.Raja’, ‘Tamilisai Soundarrajan’, ‘Selloor Raja’ few years ago but these are household names now due to all the negative publicity they gained through their speeches/actions. JJ’s death, Collision between EPS-OPS camps, RK nagar chaos, Sterlite police firing, Salem-Chennai highway, Vijayabaskar scam etc., just to name a few were making headlines. State also witnessed some heroes who were born – RJ Balaji become a sensation, Hip Hop Aadhi became overnight hero which I realized only when I saw crowd for his latest movie, Karu Palaniappan became karuthu Kandasamy for his bold speeches. I don’t have any doubt that it would be cakewalk for DMK in Tamil Nadu since the state government themselves made life easier for DMK folks. Mr.Thirunavakarasu in Trichy area representing Congress will literally win by huge margin and my home which is sandwiched between K.N Nehru office and his home will witness wallas of crackers tomorrow.

    Now coming to Mr.Rajini-Kamal entry into politics. I would rather say it is very late ..I know age is just a number but Politics is a different ball game and am afraid both of them are not even mentally ready to take plunge into Politics. If Kamal gets one brownie for contesting then I would take half a brownie away since he himself is not contesting. It just shows he wants to test waters before getting his hands wet in 2021. He talks as if he is coming straight from PHD classroom but just being intellectual alone will not make you as a Politician. Million dollar question is where is Mr.Kamal getting money for his campaigns? Mr.Rajini is making fun of himself ….(I love Thalaivar but in Politics he will be Mr.Rajini); He is at all time high doing Movies and am not sure why does he want to enter Politics. He is worst as far as addressing media and has not even started a political party. Does he believe being a mass hero will fetch him votes ? What happened to Mr.Chiranjeevi? I would rather have Rajini do more and more films. Many make fun about Mr.Vijayakanth but hats off to him to venture into politics when two Dravidian stalwarts were present – J.Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi. In fact one person whom I personally feel has good political acumen is Mr.TTV Dinakaran – he is one person who gives interview in such a convincing manner and I like his attitude in how he carries himself. He is someone whom I believe will make an impact in TN Politics in future.

   But tomorrow is not about State election. By end of tomorrow we will get to know who will be Prime Minister for one of the biggest democratic countries in the world. Biggest drawback for Congress is who will be their Prime minster Candidate…BJP has polarized saffron quite a bit and has created problems for Communal Harmony. Demonetisation and GST has been the biggest talking points during campaigns and N.E.E.T has become a raging topic in Tamil Nadu. There is a clear divide between North and South not just in terms of food but also in terms of picking Congress or BJP. EC has also been receiving quite a lot of flak for its conduct over Elections. I can just think of one man ..T.N Seshan, he was one person who brought in so much of discipline into Electoral proceedings those days. In Summary BJP has an edge but interesting thing whoever wins it may not be a convincing win.