Ram gives Harish a run for his money

Ram and Harish are falling over each other to please Madam Maino. So far, we all thought the Chief Congress sycophant at Kasthuri building was Harish Khare. But Ram begs to differ. To prove his point, he has come up with a typical - leftish (read stupid)- editorial that is sure to give Harish sleepless nights..

This gem towards the end of the editorial requires special attention:

Ms Gandhi’s commitment to secularism and social democracy and her political skills are not in question. After all, she put in place the 2004 winning combination

Let us explore this "commitment to secularism".

Gordhan Zadaphia, Home Minister during the 2002 riots is , according to the secular press, a communal, divisive, bigot. Guess what happened in 2007? Let me quote Chindu's super intelligent Vidya Subrahmaniam

In 2007, Mr. Zadaphia’s nominee and Congress candidate, Dhirubhai Dudhwala lost to the BJP

The Congress can give as many tickets to ex-BJP members and still remain a secular party and Chindu wouldn't even let us question the secular credentials of Madam Maino. Had the same members not deserted the BJP, they would not have qulaified for the secular certificate from the likes of Chindu.

This has been a legacy for the Congress and its coterie of pseudo seculars. The moment a person walks out of the saffron camp, he/she is secular. Take the case of the DMK. Having enjoyed power at the centre from 1999-2004 and having saved itself from Jayalalithaa's onslaught by running a parallel govt from New Delhi, it coolly walked out of the NDA days after cremating Murasoli Maran with State honours. The reason given, among the many given by its chief, was that it walked out in protest against the minority persecution in Gujarat in 2002. This would have made even the Left lunatics gasp for breath! It walked out in 2004 against something that "allegedly" (Chindu style) happened in 2002. Yet, the Congress and the Left would have no problems in accepting the DMK to its fold and endorsing its secular credentials. They formed the DPA in 2006 which included the The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) whose "secular" credentials need no elaboration. As a bonus you get several caste based outfits like the PMK. Yet this outfit sans the BJP is supremely secular. Never mind the fact that many of its constituents openly target the Brahmins in the State and shamelessly make overtures to certain other dominant political castes like the Thevars, Nadars and the Vanniyars making a mockery of the very concept of secularism.

According to Ram, despite these glaring inconsistencies, Sonia's secular credentials should not be questioned.

The other point that he raised in the Editorial was :

She(Sonia) put in place the 2004 winning combination.

To term the 2004 combination "a winning" combination is demagoguery at its worst. The post election combination cobbled together is nothing but a shameless marriage of convenience. The Left and the congress fought tooth and nail in Kerala , WB and the Left's pocket boroughs in the North East. In Kerala, the Congress drew a blank. How can the Left, which ensured Congress's defeat in all 20 seats in Kerala by campaigning against the Congress's policies, join hands with the very same party at the centre? Is this not a fraud on the people of Kerala? Worse, the very CPIM that cut the Congress's throat in Kerala, were (and still are) allies in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Not content with this , Chindu gives this opportunistic association an extra gloss by terming this 'a winning combination' .


http://www.indian-elections.com/resultsupdate/
http://specials.rediff.com/election/poll04results.htm

The seat matrix after the 2004 Elections was :

BJP+ 185
INC+ 220
Others 137

The Congress was a full 52 seats short of majority and Ram still has the guts to call this a 'winning' combination.

What makes this claim even more laughable is attributing this "victory" to Madam Maino's "helmswomanship".

Under Madam Maino, the Congress won 145 seats against the BJP's 138 - a mere 7 seats more. Yet, the media went into a frenzy hailing the coming of age of Madam Maino.

http://www.eci.gov.in/StatisticalReports/LS_1996/Vol_I_LS_96.pdf

In 1996, the Congress fought the elections under a gentleman called Sitaram Kesari. As with other non-Gandhi Congress Presidents, he has been erased from public memory. Under Kesari, the Congress won 28.8% of the votes and 140 seats. The party leaders were furious and unceremoniously threw him out blaming his "leadership failure" for the debacle.

In 2004, the Congress won 26.21% of the votes (in 1999, it won 28.3% of the votes) which translated to 145 seats. There has been a systematic erosion in the vote base of the Congress and only the blind and the biased will not see it. By winning a mere 5 seats more than Sitam Kesari, Madam Maino has proved her leadership and galvanized the party cadres and given a fresh lease of life to the secular fabric of India!!!! I never knew there was such an easy way to prove one's leadership abilities!

With 2 lines, Ram has seeks to cover up a collossal failure and paint it as a victory. To term this cheap would be an understatement.