The Great Indian Political Drama - 1 (Oct 2017 - Mar 2018)

[hanumadu]

The only issue I have with Modi is not taking care of the rural sector earlier before farmers' unrest in MP, MH, GJ, RJ and else where. How could Modi miss this?

[Indrad]

it is an insurance scheme and not a payment scheme. GoI essentially offers an insurance policy (probably linked to one Aadhaar ID per family) worth Rs.5 lakh in coverage and pays the annual premium for it. Policies like this already exist in multiple states, where the state pays the premium on similar policies. In other words, there's already expenditure on similar plans on a smaller scale, and this simply is a more ambitious aggregation of the matter into one large scheme. If a basic policy is available for Rs.1000-1500 premium a year, that's Rs.10,000-15000 crore overall spending, part of which is already penciled in due to states spending on similar schemes already in existence.

as always spot on: it is an excellent health insurance, I wish this was brought earlier. With Aadhar linking scope of scam is significantly reduced.
And why cry of scam when we didn't have one in last 4 years?

Lutyens hates him. Media hates him. Colonised intellectual brigade hates him. Even judges hate him. Yet, ordinary India stands by him with zero doubt! http://5forty3.in/gaze_articles.php?articalid=196 …
The power of being India's 1st breakthrough PM. The power of being Modi!

http://5forty3.in/gaze_articles.php?articalid=196

[Karthik]

Chinese have that kind of infra because they are taxed like that. We will have that infra too if you are willing to pay that kind of tax.
India's percapita is Re1,15,000. Indian's do not pay income tax up to Re2,90,000. You don't pay tax up to more than double the percapita income. I don't see what you are complaining about? There is a reason IT paying citizens are a minority - because the vast majority do not have that income.

You've got statistics all wrong. That percapita number you posted doesn't take into account parallel economy which could be as high as $1T. What was China's percapita income 10 years back and how was their infra then? How many minority schemes they have? How many doctors and rich farmers pay tax in India? Rich farmers earning crores don't pay tax, can speak of myriad of other professions. All these guys earn exponentially more than salaried class. How much tax kashmiris pay? What's the amount govt allocated to them? How much is spent on security of hurriyat? From where the money comes from?

a) Not everyone pays tax even though they make far more than salaried class.
b) Taxes collected as used for many subsidies, minority schemes SOPs etc.and not for betterment of lives of the tax payer.
c) Only group that doesn't get any relief in any budget.
Ofcourse people will get angry.

And you have got everything right.
The parallel economy and the figure you say is just conjecture. You cannot pull a figure out of thin air and base your argument on just that.
The chinese were taxing their citizens much more than us for a long time. So pay those taxes for a few years and then ask about infrastructure.

Why bring minorities, temples, Kashmir into a tax debate?

Yes, not all pay their fair share of taxes. But the solution for it is not 'lets everybody not pay taxes'. The solution is to bring them into tax net which the government is trying to do by DeMo, GST etc. But you probably complained about them too how the core BJP vote bank is being affected by Demo and GST.

MIddle class get plenty of subsidy. Public transport is subsidized. Railways, metro, suburban transport, National highways, education. All these are used by middle class than the poor. Would you rather pay less taxes and have none of these?

It's you who put out percapita figure saar. It's weighted average, just because percapita < tax exemption amount, doesn't mean there aren't many people more than salaried class. Something you yourself mentioned later in your post.

Why bring minority, kashmir?? Why do you think people pay taxes? It's not for the govt to spend it on others as freebies. People pay taxes so that the amount is spent on them in terms of infra, security, etc.

I'd rather pay full ticket amount, think about it, that subsidy bill is paid by some tax payer. All subsidy bills are.

My point is stop spending on freebies and minority schemes etc. Even if the tax bracket is as wide as possible. what was it, 80k crore package for Kashmir? What's the revenue from that state? Spend only on things that'll help the economy grow.

[Primus]

I don't know too much about the minutiae of the Indian economy. I just finished listening to Rajat Sharma's Aaj Ki Baat on the budget. He hails it as a revolutionary move, giving much needed relief to the people that matter, i.e the poor, the farmers and the lower middle class. Interviews with Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and AJ himself, with clips of Modi talking about it, all suggest that this was well thought out.

I know a lot of people in the middle class sector and above (most of those here on BGR) are upset. But viewed in the larger context it is probably good for the country overall, or so I understand, I may be wrong.

The other thing AJ said is that the minimum slab was lowered last year to 5% which is unheard of anywhere in the world. If the MC got such a break last year, should they have gotten another this year? I don't know, the experts here can explain.

[hanumadu]

It's you who put out percapita figure saar.

So? Am I not supposed to post any figures? Does it make it automatically wrong?

It's weighted average, just because percapita < tax exemption amount, doesn't mean there aren't many people more than salaried class. Something you yourself mentioned later in your post.

Percapita is average income, not weighted average. You are setting up a straw man here. I never claimed there are not others earning more. I just said in a country which has a lot more poorer people, the tax burden on salaried people is fair and is not lopsided.

Why bring minority, kashmir?? Why do you think people pay taxes? It's not for the govt to spend it on others as freebies. People pay taxes so that the amount is spent on them in terms of infra, security, etc.

I'd rather pay full ticket amount, think about it, that subsidy bill is paid by some tax payer. All subsidy bills are.

My point is stop spending on freebies and minority schemes etc. Even if the tax bracket is as wide as possible. what was it, 80k crore package for Kashmir? What's the revenue from that state? Spend only on things that'll help the economy grow.

If people pay taxes so the amount is spent of them and on them alone, then the super rich paying higher taxes than most people should demand infrastructure and facilities that caters to them only no. We are city people, we don't need no rural roads, we don't need no irrigation. Food security be damned.

Ah, you'd rather pay full amount. It's all about you isn't it? Perhaps, your family was always well to do. You never needed subsidized travel or education. Then you are the lucky minority. Well, we needed the cheap fares when we were young. Now that we can afford to pay the full price, I am not going to turn around and say others less fortunate should do so too.

How about roads? Don't you need them too or do you want your money to be used only on the roads you travel?

[Suraj]

The only issue I have with Modi is not taking care of the rural sector earlier before farmers' unrest in MP, MH, GJ, RJ and else where. How could Modi miss this?

The unrest is politically driven . The underlying economic factors do exist, and Jaggi describes it very well in his analysis of the budget on Swarajyamag. But the nature of the unrest is manufactured, complete with 'youthy con leaders' like Hardik and Mewani who are just inexperienced ruffians propped up by others. There's enough time for the budget's effects to percolate to the rural economy ahead of GE2019.

[KL Dubey]

This budget is the best I have ever seen. Several aces from NaMo in it. Everyone seems delighted about it except Pappu and cronies.

Between now and May 2019, NaMo will be playing many such cards. The 4 years of sound governance and management will pay dividends. Congis will have nothing to counter with except to try and foment "unrest" here and there.

Rajasthan needs some action though, to mollify the voters. That, and the NaMo election campaign in 2018, will make up for much of the current voter anger.

[shravanp]

Teetar RW:

Bihar, Delhi loss - 2019 gaya
UP win, Niku change camp - 2019 pakka
GST anger - 2019 gaya
Guj HP win - 2019 pakka
RJ bypoll loss - 2019 gaya

[hanumadu]

I think Modi has a lot of divestment targets lined up in case more money is needed. He deliberately went slow in the previous years to keep the powder dry for an election year.

[chetak]

The only issue I have with Modi is not taking care of the rural sector earlier before farmers' unrest in MP, MH, GJ, RJ and else where. How could Modi miss this?

Indians have very short memories and so bringing this scheme this late in the game will keep it and also other things already done/being done front and center, in the run up to 2019.

The opposition is thoroughly flummoxed and are making the usual strangling sounds. This is more left of center that even the congis and commies would dare to venture.

They are now afraid at what else the Modi team has in store.

i really hope that the BJP whitewashes the congis and the naxal commies right out of the political arena.

vasundhara raje hasn't been playing ball in RJ. Time for some drastic measures. Some dynasts need to be taught a very tough life lesson, both in the RW and the Left Wing.

[hanumadu]

Another thing I am extremely, extremely happy about is

A ‘Prime Minister Fellowship Scheme’ was also announced for top 1,000 BTech students in the country to provide opportunity to the students to pursue a PhD in IITs and Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

I hope the fellowships are so generous that they are more than the salaries they earn in industry. We need our best students pursuing PhDs to innovate and become technologically self sufficient.

[MehtaRahulC]

(1) Rs 15 lakh promise and "tricking vs lying"

one dude on my group started the "15 lakh" argument. I agreed with him and asked him to first show me the video to tell others , and after he did, then asked him to translate the piece ..and then it turns out his original claim that "modi promised to put 15 lakh" is not exactly what modi said in the rally.

Yes. Basically, it is tricking (or decieving) vs lying. Dictionary definition of trick is "trick -- a crafty or underhanded device, maneuver, stratagem, or the like, intended to deceive or cheat; artifice; ruse; wile.".

In one different video in around Jan-2014, Modiji asks audience "Mitron, yuvaanoi ... aapko aapke MERIT hisaab se naukari milani chaihiye yaa nahi?" means "friends, youth, should you get or not get jobs as per your MERIT"? Since word MERIT in India is used only in context of caste based reservation, many upper caste youth will think "aha !! when Modiji becomes PM , he will remove caste based reservation" !! Whereas, Modiji has ONLY asked a question - he has made no statement or given no promise !!!

So if "Rs 15 lakh per family" video is shown to 1000 voters chosen at random in the month of jan-2014 (when paidmedia had projected Modiji as God), most will think "Modiji is promising me Rs 15 lakh per family". But only if he hears every word carefully twice and applies literally meaning, he will realize that "Modiji is only saying that money is Rs 15 lakh per family --- Govt of India or you guys may not get even 15 paise".
.
All leaders have masters degree in decieving and Modiji has triple PhDs. But such act of deciciving work only when leader has paidmedia support. And paidmedia can then hold him as hostage and rob nation by forcing the leader to take steps that benefit paidmedia owners. And that why we are seeing more and more FDI, and handing over of Indian economy to usuk-elitemen who head the BIF

============

(2) Rajasthan election shows voters are slowing realizing that RSS-workers and Modiji are p-nationalist and p-Hinduvaadies. Solution?
.
All three seats were won by RSS in previous elections and now BIRF-agent congress won all three seats. (BIRF = break India rapidly forces). Thats because many voters have now finally realized that Modiji and RSS-workers are psuedo-Hinduvaadies and psuedo-Nationalists. But there was NO true nationalist or true secular or true Hinduvaadi option. So voters sick of RSS voted for BIRF congress !!

Solution I propose is that nationalists better work to create a true nationalist and true secular alternative to Modiji and RSS. Or else, more and more voters will end up voting for congress, aap, sp and other BIRF agent. There is a limit to which voters will put up with corruption and defunctness of rss-leaders and rss-workers. If nationalists still decide NOT to work to create alternative then well --- get ready for traitors like congress/aap to get more victories.

In Gujarat, Hindu voters rightly or wrongly believe that congress will encourage muslim criminals. Its hard to say whether this fear is right or wrong --- but I myself also believe the same i.e. I believe that congress leaders will surely encourage islamist criminals. And right or wrong -- the fear is there and it will play role. And rss-workers in dec-2017 also circulated a video on whatsapp that Ahmed Patel will become CM. So in Gujarat, RSS-workers could convince voters to vote for rss despite rampant corruption and defunctness in state as well as center. But in Rajasthan, fear of muslim criminals is lesser. So RSS has one less magnet to hold voters. So more voters may walk to congress
.
Some RSS-workers insist that ONLY Shrimati Vasundhara Rajeji should be blamed for corruption, defunctness and mess in Rajasthan, and Modiji should NOT be blamed. I am anti-RSS (and also anti-congress , anti-aap), so I wont get into internal details of RSS. But imo, Modiji and Shrimati Vasundhara Rajeji are one and the same. And I dont know how long will voters put up with this nonsense that "vote for RSS in oct-2018 and may-2019, because everything wrong that has happened is because of other RSS-leaders and not Modiji" !!

So congress/aap needs to be stopped. Nationalist think that RSS/Modiji can convince (or fool?) voters and so congress/app can be stopped using Modiji/RSS. Imo, nationalist should dump this method and instead start working to create a TRUE nationalist and true secular political electiral alternative. Because given the corruption and defucntness in RSS-leaders and RSS-workers, voters will not be able to hold RSS much longer.

Have a nice day.

[abhijit]

The only issue I have with Modi is not taking care of the rural sector earlier before farmers' unrest in MP, MH, GJ, RJ and else where. How could Modi miss this?

Indians have very short memories and so bringing this scheme this late in the game will keep it and also other things already done/being done front and center, in the run up to 2019.

The opposition is thoroughly flummoxed and are making the usual strangling sounds. This is more left of center that even the congis and commies would dare to venture.

They are now afraid at what else the Modi team has in store.

i really hope that the BJP whitewashes the congis and the naxal commies right out of the political arena.

vasundhara raje hasn't been playing ball in RJ. Time for some drastic measures. Some dynasts need to be taught a very tough life lesson, both in the RW and the Left Wing.

People vote based on result on ground rather than announcements. Hence Ujwala was a big hit. Hope modi and team will have sufficient time to deliver the scheme in next one year.

I still think this should have been done last year, get the ball rolling in rural sectors since many key assembly elections are planned in 2018. And then in this budget give some sops to middle class to keep them in good humor for 2019.

I think modi is one budget late. Let see.

[MehtaRahulC]

Lies that muslims get higher per capita subsidies and ignoring HUFs

RSS-workers have been promoting this lie that govt gives financial favors to Muslims and not to Hindus, and thus increase rage and anger in Hindus and then convert that rage and anger into vote for RSS

Lets define per capita hindu tax benefit = (Total Tax benefits got under HUF)/(total hindu population)

per capita fund allocation for muslims = (Total subsidy type funds given to muslims)/(total muslim population)

Now Govt has never released official numbers or even estimates. And not all funds given to minorities go to muslims --- these days we jains are also cornering a huge portions of "miniority" aids !! Because congress in 2010 declared jains as non Hindu and as minority !! And rss had supported that !! (I oppose that)

But per capita tax benefits going to Hindus in the name of HUF , imo, are far far more than per capita subsidies muslims get.

Now technically, Muslims can form HUF !!! The law is very vague on this. But fact is that rarely we see a Muslim forming HUF

Likewise, say 49% Govt seats are reserved for under CBR = caste based reservation for SC / ST / OBC. Now say in remaining 51%, some 2% of selectees are muslims. Then had there been no CBR, then number of muslim selectees would have been 4% to 5%. So due to caste based reservation, some 2% to 3% seats which could have gone to muslims went to Hindus. Now some muslims also get CBR, but again, it is much much less. Again, RSS-workers conveniently ignore this

My point is - problems of islamist violence, population growth, bangladeshi infiltration, pakistani aid to terrorists, ISIS etc are real. But instead of focusing on that RSS-workers across India throw LIES like "muslims get more per capita subsidies". And these lies are meant to create rage and anger to increase RSS's voteshare and also take focus away from the fact that RSS does want to bring 2 child law, doesnt want to stop Bangldeshi etc

From shanknaad, is it true?

Shanknaad is run by liars like Subramanian Swamy. In above, he hides tax benefits Hindus get via HUF. What do you expect from liars like SuSwa, who worked with USA to dethrone ABV govt in 1997 because ABV did Pokharan-2 against US wish? In 1997, SuSwa worked to dethrone ABV govt and worked to make SoGa PM or India !! Thats makes him certified BIF agent. Listening him gives me entertainment, and when I see Hinduvaadies and Nationalists following him, I get more sad laughters on how easily nationalists and hinduvaadies in India get fooled.

[Sachin]

It is an insurance scheme and not a payment scheme. GoI essentially offers an insurance policy (probably linked to one Aadhaar ID per family) worth Rs.5 lakh in coverage and pays the annual premium for it

I am dead sure that linking this to Aadhaar would be the very next step . And expect more whining from the anti-Aadhaar brigade. For such schemes to fail, I guess only every insurance policy holder making a claim of Rs. 5 lakh in close succession (all across the country) would lead to such an event. And for that to happen there has to be connivance of many Babus at many levels all across the country.

The only issue I have with Modi is not taking care of the rural sector earlier before farmers' unrest in MP, MH, GJ, RJ and else where. How could Modi miss this?

Or is it that, he just waited for all the trouble makers to actually come out of their hide outs? He just allowed the puss in the wound to come out, and then he can give it a quick permenant healing?

I know a lot of people in the middle class sector and above (most of those here on BGR) are upset. But viewed in the larger context it is probably good for the country overall, or so I understand, I may be wrong.

One thing perhaps which we could do next time in this forum is to run a poll to see how many members here actually marched to the polling booth and voted. This is not to shame the people who did not "walk the talk". But it would give us a fair understanding on the voting trends of the so called middle class (which is what many in BGF claims to be). I have heard it first hand when local corporators telling a set of middle class "intellectuals" that his priority would be to the slums. His Corporator's fund can be utilised 70% in the slum, and he gets 100% votes in return. He puts in 90% of the funds to the middle class areas, gets 20% of votes and 110% of new demands and complaints.

This budget is the best I have ever seen. Several aces from NaMo in it. Everyone seems delighted about it except Pappu and cronies.

I am sure that there would be lots of "communist/socialist/JNU intellectuals" who would be calling the GoI budget as a waste. Then they should be directed to the budget being rolled out in the communist & socialist heaven of India; Kerala.
Land tax increased; New board for farmers’ welfare......
Financial discipline, expenditure reduction essential: FM......

vasundhara raje hasn't been playing ball in RJ. Time for some drastic measures. Some dynasts need to be taught a very tough life lesson, both in the RW and the Left Wing.

What are the options BJP (and the Sangh) have in RJ? The problem with this has been kings & queens is that they still retain a feudal mindset, and would be interested to get back their old style of "ruling". What is required is the KL treatment for the "Kings & Queens" i.e made absolutely irrelevant in politics, with many actually doing the work which a commoner would do.

[Sachin]

Mean while CJI has issued a roster based on which the cases would be allotted to the Supreme Court Judges
ROSTER OF THE WORK FOR FRESH CASES, NOTIFIED UNDER THE ORDER OF HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA w.e.f. 05-02-2018,TILL FURTHER ORDERS.
"Social Justice Matters" would be heard by CJI
"Personal Law matters" would be heard by Justice Ranjan Gogoi
"Ecology, Religious & Charity Endowments" would be heard by Justice Madan Lokur
"Family Law matters, Personal law matters, Religious & Charity Endowments " would be heard by Justice Kurian Joseph.

[Indrad]

Karni Sena celebrates defeat of BJP in Rajasthan https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... IIndiaNews

No, 'Padmaavat' wasn't banned, nor did the BJP government at the Centre make any special budgetary concessions to assuage the wounded egos of this self-proclaimed 'Rajput pride' gang. It merely lost.
That is, the BJP lost three crucial bypolls in the land of the Rajputs. It wasn't able to retain any of the seats that elections were held for earlier this week. Yesterday's results saw all three seats going to the rival Congress party.
That was the reason 'Rajput pride' outfits, including the Karni Sena and others, gathered at Rajput Sabha Bhavan - to celebrate the Congress party's victory in the Lok Sabha seats of Ajmer and Alwar, and the Mandalgarh Rajasthan Assembly seat.
The BJP governments at the Centre and in Rajasthan "betrayed the Rajput community on the issue of Padmaavat" and for that they got their just deserts, said the Karni Sena and other groups of its ilk, who wanted the film banned for "disrespecting" the Rajput community.
"The BJP's defeat in the bypolls is a result of the ruling party's disregard for Rajput sentiments," said Karni Sena members

[Karthik]

Why bring minority, kashmir?? Why do you think people pay taxes? It's not for the govt to spend it on others as freebies. People pay taxes so that the amount is spent on them in terms of infra, security, etc.

I'd rather pay full ticket amount, think about it, that subsidy bill is paid by some tax payer. All subsidy bills are.

My point is stop spending on freebies and minority schemes etc. Even if the tax bracket is as wide as possible. what was it, 80k crore package for Kashmir? What's the revenue from that state? Spend only on things that'll help the economy grow.

If people pay taxes so the amount is spent of them and on them alone, then the super rich paying higher taxes than most people should demand infrastructure and facilities that caters to them only no. We are city people, we don't need no rural roads, we don't need no irrigation. Food security be damned.

Ah, you'd rather pay full amount. It's all about you isn't it? Perhaps, your family was always well to do. You never needed subsidized travel or education. Then you are the lucky minority. Well, we needed the cheap fares when we were young. Now that we can afford to pay the full price, I am not going to turn around and say others less fortunate should do so too.

How about roads? Don't you need them too or do you want your money to be used only on the roads you travel?

Do you have a comprehension problem? What did I say, spend on things that help the economy grow, so it includes your roads etc. I said don't spend on freebies. I know many rural "farmers" who have many acres but don't pay tax. BTW let's not talk about each other personally, i don't know you and you don't know me.
When your tax bracket is limited, don't spend that revenue on appeasement and freebies.

[Chandragupta]

The objective of a forum like this is to discuss all kinds of thoughts and not become a Vyakti Pooja platform.

The feedback I am hearing from people is 2014 redux is impossible. I think so too. BJP will fold at 250, but will still make Government. So 5 more years of Modi and his sabkaa saath sabka vikaas and Babaji ka thullu on Hindutva. Or may be like in Gujarat, Modi will rediscover Hindutva before 2019 GE.

Either which way, Hindus have no option but to vote for Modi. But we have to wonder, why do so called 'Hindu Hriday Samrat' forget what brought them to power the second they sit on the gaddi?

[Indrad]

UNBELIEVABLE. @narendramodi govt just amended FURTHER its 2016 amendment that RETROSPECTIVELY let parties off the hook on FCRA violations viz donations.

Now the clemency goes back to 1976, to the very day FCRA became an Act. DACOITS.
https://twitter.com/ARanganathan72/stat ... 6739657728

[Indrad]

after shiv sena, TDP signals exit from NDA https://www.amarujala.com/india-news/bu ... un-jaitley

[Chandragupta]

FCRA matter was subjudice but didnt stop BJP from amending the law. Same party gives excuses of subjudice matter / 'Judiciary will decide' when it comes to Hindu issues. Aak thoo.

[Indrad]

another BJP member killed today in KA: taking toll to 24 since last year.

[Primus]

Cross-posting from the achievements thread:

Got my issue of 'Science' today. Surprised to see the top news item being 'India Plans to Land Near Moon's South Pole'.

Apparently ISRO plans to launch a mission to the moon this summer, named Chandrayaan-2 which will attempt to make a soft landing 600KM from the south pole and then release a rover to explore the area, looking for how much water there is and so on. This area has never been explored before since almost all the previous missions focused on the equatorial zones. It is much more complicated a task to land here since it is difficult to control from Earth and there is poor light, reducing the amount of solar power that can be generated.

The article also reminds the reader that it was India's Chandrayaan-1 in 2009 that first discovered water on the moon whereas prior to that it was simply speculation.

This is very interesting. If ISRO can pull it off, imagine the pride of every Indian. I have always said that although probably irrelevant to the economy, anything that makes the country hold its head up with honor and pride will go a long way in garnering support for the government. Another example would have been getting the Kohinoor back. This is waaaaay better. I still remember the heady euphoria when Rakesh Sharma went up in space and the conversation between IG and him was broadcast to the nation:

IG: "Wahaan se bharat kaisa lagta hai"?
RS: "Saare jahaan se accha lagta hai".

Of course it was rehearsed I am sure, but nevertheless, was a glorious moment for us all.

[shravanp]

No personal attacks please.