Hilarious "Letter to the Editor"

Chindu indulges in excessive censorship on any views not in line with its own. On the other hand, even lunatic elements from the Left are liberally accommodated.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/11/stories/2008101154791003.htm

Who is living in denial needs to be explored quite honestly. Except this one, the other encounters are not genuine. Why conveniently single out this incident and try to portray all human/civil rights activists in a bad light?
- T. Rajendran, Nagercoil

http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/11/stories/2008101154791002.htm

The open letter is indeed a high order political communication and has served as a tool to get a clearer understanding of status quo.

The letter reflects the openness of the party and the quantum of freedom the Prime Minister enjoys in crucial areas. The mature advice of madam has rich value and content. Soniaji’s sense of commitment, non-self-centeredness, deep insights into problems and issues and transparency, are reflected with great sensitivity and concerns for nation building. The letter has touched the nation’s economy, every key problem and issues confronting us and ways to overcome without the blame culture.

Soniaji’s letter is most timely and appropriate.

- H.K. LakshmanRao, Chennai

Manipulative Mainos - an old report from Italy

Look what the beacon of socialism (The Frontline) had to say 10 years ago about the current two-in-one beacon (of secularism and sacrifice).This is one of the most interesting artciles I have ever read. We get amazing glimpses about the Maino family that are guarded more ferociously than even Indian national secrets.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fline/fl1509/15090140.htm

. "I remember it like it was yesterday. Sonia was 20 years old. We were having a school reunion and she had come here with some old pupils. Dinner was being served when she suddenly announced she had to leave. "Why," one of us asked, "you've been away in England and we haven't seen much of you. Why don't you stay for dinner?"

"No," she said, "I can't stay. I have a special guest coming to dinner tonight." When we asked her who it was that was so special, she said with a peculiar toss of the head: "It's the son of Indira Gandhi, India's Prime Minister." I can still see her standing there. A little later she went to India. She had turned 21 by then. And then one day we opened our newspapers and saw the headlines. She had married Rajiv Gandhi. She had sent a telegram home to her father from India informing him of her decision as soon as she turned 21. She was always a little manipulative. She should do well in politics," adds Sister Anna Maria with a wry twist to her lips

I set off for the Maino residence. The last time I visited, it was closed and shuttered. Now the windows are open and there is a large metal blue car parked in the driveway behind the high gate with its prominently displayed "Beware of Dog" sign. Number 14 Via Bellini is a large two-storey house painted a dull, dark ochre with chocolate brown shutters. In a generally poor and run-down area, the house is conspicuous by its neat and well-kept appearance

There are three names on the interphone outside. Maino A., Maino N. and Maino Predebon. I know that Anushka, Sonia's elder sister, is in town. I ring the bell.

"Who is it?" a querulous voice answers.

"An Indian journalist. I would like to speak to someone from the family," I answer.

The voice immediately becomes tough, aggressive. "There is no one here. Go away," it says peremptorily.

"When will they be back?" I persist.

"I don't know, not for a while. I am just the maid. I can't tell you anymore." I know that voice. It bears an uncanny resemblance to Sonia Gandhi's. The reaction does not surprise me.

I knew Stephano, or Eugenio Maino as he liked to be called, quite well. He has been dead these past ten years or more. Came here penniless as a mason and made good. Started a small construction business. Brought up his daughters in the old traditional way - church, confirmation, communion. Suspicious of foreigners, he was.......I ask him about Eugenio Maino's alleged Fascist sympathies. "That shouldn't surprise you. He came from Asiago not far from Vicenza in the Veneto region where nationalism was strong. He fought in the Russian campaign alongside the Germans and remained true to Fascist Nationalist ideology all his life.......He even gave his three daughters Russian names in honour of the campaign in which he fought. He venerated the Duce. Many still do," says Giovanni, referring to Italy's war-time Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

Even so, I wonder if we in Italy would accept a foreigner, and a woman at that, to take over a party which has symbolised the country's struggle against foreign rule and which continues to enjoy great, if diminished, support across the land

I was at school with Sonia until the age of 12. After that she went to the more fashionable college of Maria Ausiliatrice in Giaveno, 15 km away, run by the nuns. Sonia was a year older than I - I was born in 1947, she in 1946. She was nice but always aware of her social superiority. But Anushka, her sister, is not nice. She is a nasty piece of work, that one...

Her son is the best-liked in the family. He seems to be a real gentleman. And so goodlooking! But the daughter takes after her aunt - tough, arrogant and stubborn. I remember the tantrums Priyanka threw when she came visiting with her mother - a typically rich, spoilt brat. We were all very disappointed when Sonia decided to enter politics. I'm sure she did it for her daughter. They also say there are corruption charges against the family, that Rajiv took a lot of money. But somehow I cannot believe he did it for himself

Serena and Sylvia take me to Anushka's shop in Gerbola di Rivolta. They want to be photographed among the Indian artefacts there and I am happy to oblige.....The shop called Etnica is located in a lonely and depressing commercial complex a couple of km from Orbassano......The shop itself is an oasis of good taste in a desert of semi-urban kitsch. There are some rare old pichwais. A couple of exquisite silver pieces from Bikaner. The display is an intelligent mix of old and new, antique objects and recent Indian artefacts. The prices are astoundingly high. I noticed goods like Shatoosh shawls, the export and sale of which is banned.

I can't tell you the exact price of the Shatoosh. I received it a few days ago and the price has not been finalised. But it will certainly be between four and six million lire (between $2,000 and $3,000)," the shop assistant had told me on my last trip. A wooden cupboard from Kerala was selling for three million lire - $1,500 - while the pichwais were priced even higher.

I had found the horsey-looking young woman minding the shop a little bizzare. She boasted about her trips to India to buy stuff for the shop but denied she or the shop had any connection with the Nehru-Gandhi family. "I'm told Sonia comes from somewhere around here," she said, trying to look vague, "but the shop has nothing to do with her. The owner is someone from Torino." I had persisted and she had once more vehemently denied any connection. I had found it strange that a shop assistant out in the Italian boondocks should speak fluent English and be so knowledgeable about Indian antiques. She must have a very generous employer indeed, I had mused, pondering over the mystery.


Now seeing me in the company of Serena and Sylvia, she blanches. We have walked into the shop and I have my camera ready. They turn around to greet her but she is already throwing us out unceremoniously. The shop assistant is none other than Aruna, Anushka's daughter and Sonia Gandhi's niece. The girls apologise profusely for her rudeness. "We knew she was arrogant and nasty, but not this nasty," they say.

Aruna and I exchange knowing looks. I am tempted to challenge her earlier claims. Then, feeling sorry for her, I take a picture of the shop from the outside and leave.

Sonia Gandhi's niece "thinks" that her aunt comes from somewhere around India and that this shop has no connection whatsoever with Madam Maino!! Wahhh!!!

Of course people here have heard of the financial scandals surrounding Rajiv Gandhi. But Italians are so used to corrupt politicians that they tend not to hold that against her. And then the amount involved is not very big. Billions of dollars were stolen by Italian politicians as the Clean Hands investigation revealed. We all know about the links between the mafia and politicians. So all that talk about corruption does not bother us. However, I am surprised at what they told you at the shop. Why should they deny links with the Gandhi family, with Sonia? What do they have to hide

I am told Subramanian Swamy filed a case against Madam Maino based on this report for illegally exporting antiques to Italy. Not surprisingly, the case was dismissed in 2005.



The report may not be completely true; but serves a grim reminder to the sycophantic media that Madam Maino is certainly not the angel that she is made out to be. She has been charged with nepotism, corruption,opportunism -charges that have been levelled against any other politician. Why should she alone be exalted ? It could perhaps be for her refusal to accept Indian citizenship despite being married into the family of the Prime Minsiter for well over a decade.How may patriots can boast of that? People who knew her in Italy say she was always manipulative. We couldn't agree more. Madam Maino's palanquin bearers must understand that to "serve the poor" one need'nt be the PM; or worse, be the power behind the throne. Mother Therasa too served the poor.Madam Maino was at her manipulative best in 2004. She wanted power without responsibility and has got more than what she bargained for.

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.

A narration of contradictions

rotfl. This article by Vidya is absolutely hilarious stuff. She should be voted the "official spin machine", as she herself puts it. How can a large crowd, who cant see the stage, and do not understand Hindi, be captivated by a monotonous speech? Yet, Vidya goes on with hers!!! She deserves a category along with Naxal R and Khare.

The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : A tale of two rallies

In the absence of anyone to take on Mr. Modi in the Gujarat Congress, the burden has unsurprisingly fallen on Ms. Gandhi. And she never ceases to surprise. The Congress chief is almost colourless by comparison. Forget humour and witticisms, she is distant and sedate, reading her lines like an automated machine. Nonetheless, her mesmeric hold on the audience is to be seen to be believed.

If the Mahuva meeting was held under a protective shamiana with Mr. Modi in close, mirthful conversation with his audience, in Idar, the stage was a distant blur in a maidan
the size of a football ground. And the crowds came in waves, by foot
and on tractor. By 1 p.m, when Ms. Gandhi arrived, the ground was
filled to overflowing. Ms. Gandhi spoke in Hindi. Her listeners
understood only colloquial Gujarati. Yet they heard her in rapt
attention.

Ms. Gandhi — not to forget Rahul Gandhi — has always been a crowd
puller, with the attendance not always converting into votes. That Mr.
Modi has a vocal fan following across Gujarat is also evident. Go to
any shop, go to a random mohalla, and even in rural Gujarat, you will hear hosannas sung to Narendrabhai.