[iqxdvjgmat]

Like anyone cares about your third world country.

[Infellgedq]

No, I'm sure we won't care. If Americans don't give a damn about Gordon Brown, what makes you think they'll even care about some Gujarati?

[YTmWSOA5]

Originally posted by aneeshm
he may walk, one day, to the Prime Ministership of the country. Thankfully, teh BJP is a dying party, and teh rest of India is civilised enough not to vote a mass-murderer to power

[Lunims]

Originally posted by LordShiva


Thankfully, teh BJP is a dying party, and teh rest of India is civilised enough not to vote a mass-murderer to power

You've been away for India for too long, old chap. Come back and see the BJP completely sweep the next general election. Thankfully, it's close enough that the effect of this victory will not have worn off.





If it were possible to make this victory any sweeter, it is the delicious sight of the CENTRAL Government coalition descend into infighting, with the Communists attacking the Congress over their election campaign in Gujarat.

[gamblingstats]

Link to Advani's Press Statement


Statement issued by
SHRI L.K. ADVANI
Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha)

People of Gujarat have voted for Good Governance, Development and a leadership that delivers
*
Triumph signals BJP’s comeback trail

Today is a historic day for Indian democracy. I sincerely thank the people of Gujarat for reposing their faith, yet again, in the BJP. I also heartily congratulate the state unit of the party, and, in particular, Gujarat’s dynamic and highly popular Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi for scoring a resounding victory.

State assembly elections are quite frequent in our country, but rarely does the people’s verdict in a particular state become a ‘Turning Point’ for national politics. The BJP’s spectacular victory in Gujarat today is indeed a turning point because it signals the BJP’s comeback as the frontrunner in the next parliamentary elections.

In my very first press conference after the May 2004 Lok Sabha elections, in which the BJP-led NDA suffered an unexpected defeat, I had said that my party would bounce back. I am confident that the BJP’s victory in Gujarat, and our certain victory in Himachal Pradesh (where the results will be known on 28th December), will indeed prove that the BJP is bouncing back.

In 2002, our critics attributed the BJP’s victory in the state to Godhra-related incidents. It was, of course, not true. By winning a renewed mandate in 2007, my party has conclusively shown that the people of Gujarat have voted for good governance, development and a leadership that delivers.

I want to emphasise here that there was not a single communal riot in Gujarat in the last five years; not a single hour of curfew in the last five years; and not a single incident of terrorism in the last five years. People belonging to all castes and religions in Gujarat have been the beneficiaries of Shri Modi’s single-minded focus on good governance, development, security and fight against corruption.

The Congress campaign in this election was characterized by unprecedented vilification of the BJP. In particular, it was a negative and personalized campaign against Shri Modi.

In this sense, the 2007 Gujarat election reminds me of the 1971 general election in which the entire opposition came together on an anti-Indira Gandhi platform (without, of course, the vilification element). Smt. Indira Gandhi made skillful use of this negative campaign to her own advantage by saying, “The Opposition says, ‘Indira Hatao’. I say ‘Garibi Hatao’.” This time the Congress and all the other self-styled secular parties were saying, “Modi Hatao”. There is, however, a crucial difference between 1971 and 2007. Smt. Gandhi did very little to implement her ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan. In contrast, Shri Modi has won not on the basis of promises made but on the basis of promises fulfilled.

The BJP’s victory in Gujarat has highlighted six important lessons for the polity as a whole:

1: Shri Modi has disproved the conventional ‘wisdom’ that good governance does not make good politics. Many practitioners and observers of politics believe that the voters are not swayed by the probity and integrity of leadership, clean and transparent administration, and a sincere attempt to break away from old ways of thinking and acting in government. Shri Modi has proved that the people enthusiastically support a leader who delivers with this refreshingly new approach to politics. Thus, it was not the anti-incumbency factor that was at play in Gujarat; it was the pro-incumbency wave.

2: Shri Modi has disproved that elections cannot be won on a development plank. Even critics of the BJP have had to admit that Gujarat made impressive strides in the past five years in both economic and social development, even emerging as No. 1 on many counts.

If massive investments in infrastructure development, mega-industrial projects, urban and rural development, trebling of agricultural income (from Rs. 9,000 crore to Rs. 34,000 crore) in five years, and focus on E-Governance (Gujarat is one of the best E-governed states in the country) told one part of the Gujarat story, the other part was told by the trend-setting Jyotigram Yojana (which brought 24x7 three-phase power to all the 18,000 villages in the state), Sujalam Suphalam scheme (drinking water provided to 5,000 villages and making the water-scarce state tanker-free), Chiranjeevi Yojana (which brought infant and maternal mortality rates down), Beti Bachao Andolan (which improved Gujarat’s sex ratio from 802: 1000 to 870:1000 in just six years), Vanabandhu Kalyan Yojana (which benefited 6,000 tribal villages) and Sagarkhedu Yojana (a welfare scheme for fishermen in 3,000 villages along what is the longest coastline in the country).

3: The BJP in Gujarat has disproved that elections can be won only by appealing to people’s caste and community sentiments. We have demonstrated that divisive and cynical formulas of yesteryears such as KHAM, M-Y, etc can be defeated on the basis of a positive and socially unifying agenda.

4: Fourthly, unlike in CPI(M)-ruled West Bengal, the BJP in Gujarat has proved that a renewed mandate can be won without terrorizing and obstructing voters sympathetic to opposition parties, without ‘scientific rigging’ and without all the other electoral malpractices. In this context, I congratulate the Election Commission for their good job.

5: The BJP’s victory in Gujarat has shown that the people in the state have disapproved of political defections and also inner-party dissent amounting to indiscipline and defection.

6: Sixthly, and this is most important, the BJP’s victory is a victory against politics of vilification, negativism and arrogance. I cannot think of any other leader in Indian politics in the past sixty years who was as viciously, consistently and persistently maligned as Shri Modi has been since 2002. The ‘maut ke saudagar’ slur is only the most recent addition to the ammunition of lies used by our opponents to slander the BJP and Shri Modi, both nationally and internationally. The people of Gujarat have given a fitting reply to the practitioners of this kind of toxic politics. I appeal to the leadership of the Congress and other parties to abjure, at least from now onwards, this brand of politics. I hope they will introspect and learn the right lessons from their defeat in Gujarat.

[zCLadw3R]

I was responding to Aggie's question about teh national level.

[secondmortgagek]

Modi remains lonely amidst celebrations
Sunday, 23 December , 2007, 21:45

Ahmedabad: Despite the national focus on him for his astounding victory, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi remains alone, returning to an empty residence with no family or known close friends to share his moment of triumph.

Coming to politics with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) background, he is a bachelor. His mother and brothers keep away from the limelight.

Modi's party colleagues remember the time he spent in Delhi as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary and spokesman in the late 1990s, when he lived with his confidant Dileep Sanghani, MP, or at a small room in the party headquarters - with little socialising.

Although he won many admirers as Chief Minister and by espousing the hardline Hindutva, Modi continues to live alone at his official residence in capital Gandhinagar.

Even as the news came in the morning that he was winning yet another election, he remained closeted at his home with a few colleagues, arriving at the grand reception at the party's state headquarters only in the afternoon.

BJP workers recall his swearing-in ceremony this month five years ago when his mother turned up for the occasion - she sat quietly in a corner till somebody recognised her and arranged for her to sit in the front row. They also remember that he had refused to acknowledge her in public.

After creating history with his win against all odds, Modi will turn only to his laptop. He says he has never taken vacation in the past five years.

[AbeldeldepBug]

Originally posted by Asher
India.

Most boring country, ever. Meh.

You're just jealous that you don't have any politicians who can wield a sword and actually carry if off, unlike your effete wussified politicians over there who'd be afraid of even holding the damn thing.

[Rounteetepehryn]

Originally posted by aneeshm


Meh.

You're just jealous that you don't have any politicians who can wield a sword and actually carry if off, unlike your effete wussified politicians over there who'd be afraid of even holding the damn thing. WTF? The only people who wield swords these days are retards.

The main problem with India is the politicians spend all day masturbating and swinging swords around rather than leading a country like grown adults.

[Abofedrorobox]

Originally posted by Agathon
Weird you should say that since the Indian Communist Party is probably the most successful openly Marxist party in existence. They don't really have much competition.

Their success is limited to teh states of 1. West Bengal, where they've remained in power partly due to land reform and partly due to electoral practices inconsistent with free, universal franchise , and have recently started wooing foreign investors to teh state and violently suppressing farmer/worker protests against those policies , and 2. Kerala, where they and teh opposition Congress alternate turns in power, without fail.

[StanWatts]

Originally posted by Agathon
Why? This is the BJP isn't it? Bunch of worthless bigoted, authoritarian lunatics.

I guess aneeshm wants to out massacre Al Queda.

[PetrZimin]

Originally posted by aneeshm
Photoshopped!

Here's the original:

[VIDEOHITE]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
I guess aneeshm wants to out massacre Al Queda. Teh Hindu memetovirus

[erelvenewmeva]

Originally posted by LordShiva

They don't really have much competition. Yeah right. I don't see anyone stopping people from running against them.

Their success is limited to teh states of 1. West Bengal, where they've remained in power partly due to land reform and partly due to electoral practices inconsistent with free, universal franchise , and have recently started wooing foreign investors to teh state and violently suppressing farmer/worker protests against those policies , and 2. Kerala, where they and teh opposition Congress alternate turns in power, without fail. Sounds like any normal political party to me. If people keep voting for them, they must be doing something right. It's amazing what can happen when your party isn't suppressed by elites, as happened in New Zealand.

[fabrizioitwloch]

Originally posted by Agathon
It's amazing what can happen when your party isn't suppressed by elites, as happened in New Zealand. Teh Communist Party is run by elites.

[conurgenceDen]

So what's the life expectancy and literacy rate like in Gujurat?

[Attarderb]

3 years ago (with heavy indian accent): "India is about to become the next China"

Today: "India is about to become the next China"

10 year plan: repeat until true.

[Ternneowns]

That kind of love is illegal in some countries.

[wbondarmunw]

Well, they do smoke a lot.

[parurorges]

Originally posted by BeBro


Photoshopped!

Here's the original: