Put quality before capital

40% of the water is lost to leakages during transmission. And we want to build dams, 50% misdiagnosis and we want to build hospitals. 86% of the money doesn't reach the beneficiaries and we want to allocate more capital to social spending. 40% of electric power is lost in transmission and we want to build new power plants. 80% of engineering students are unemployable and we want to build more universities.
All this building, capital allocation, investments etc. favors a certain class of people. All such policies promote crony capitalism. All such actions smack of a lazy approach. All such policies create waste. All such policies undermine our people's capacities.
Quality not quantity, innovation not capital, should be focus of public policy. That's how we can build an efficient society. That's how we can be a leading society. That's how we can preserve our traditions. That's how we can preserve our environment. That's how we can provide a higher quality of life for most.

An idea is bigger

An idea is bigger than the people. It has the potential to transform.
The idea of transparency is bigger than the people fighting for it. It is bigger than those fighting to obstruct it.
It is an idea whose time has come.
People fighting for the idea may fail at times. People fighting against it may be powerful. It may even seem at times that they are winning. But in the end it is the idea that will win.
The idea will defeat or transform those against it. The idea will raise the standards of those fighting for it.

Not by selection but by vote

The internal confusion and infighting in the BJP seems to be undermining its chances of presenting itself as a credible alternative to the present dysfunctional government at the center.

All the training, sermonising and image making that Gadkari and co. are undertaking is likely to have little effect in ending the confusion and infighting. All the sermonisation cannot contain the personal ambitions that many in the party may carry in their head. All the training cannot turn duds into top performers. At the heart of the problem lies the method by which candidates are chosen for the different positions in the party, legislature and the government. It's the method of choosing candidates by selection that is the real cause of the problem. It can never really shed itself of the allegation of bias.

Perhaps the best way to deal with it is to change the method to one of vote by which candidates are chosen for the various posts and positions.

What this can guarantee is that a small set of people cannot high-jack the agenda and machinery of the party, which is turn will increase the chances of a meritocratic culture taking root.

Yes there is a chance that some competent but not so popular members of the party may lose out. But such people can always be accommodated in other ways, albeit always maintaining the primacy of the vote as a method for choosing potential candidates.

Despite this, we have to make a choice

The essense of the BJP is about realising our full potential as a nation. It is about leveraging the strengths of our culture to distiguish ourselves but this thinking has also breeds intolerance.

The Congress represents inclusivity and openness but it breeds corruption.

The Left for all its stupid economic theories is compassionate and rightly opposed to crony capitalism.

The regional parties represents the local culture and needs but also breed separation as a result of their indulgence in identity politics.

But we still must take a stand.

It is our responsbility to do so.

We cannot afford the luxury (or the laziness) of not making a choice.

The Divine and Demonic Politics

Politics is a fight for ideas and it certainly is a fight for power. Politics remains a powerful instrument of influence over human affairs. Led by divine (compassionate, excellence, fearless...) thinking it can do much good. Led by demonic (envious, self serving, manipulative...) thinking it can wreck great havoc.

Deficit of right wing politics

Much of the Indian political system is left wing (socialist), from the left of center Congress to the extreme left wing Naxalites.

There is a deficit both in quantity and quality in right wing politics (that supports individual enterprise).

Given its wider geographical spread and deeper support base, the math is skewed in favour of the Congress. The bjp must do as good as having a strike rate of 80% in the states where it has a non zero presence to stand any chance of gaining power at the center. But I think we can leave the agenda of geographical spread and gaining depth of support per constituency to the bjp.

What it seems to me is of greater concern is quality of right wing politics. What we should be more concerned about are the ideas, values and principles that drive right wing politics in India than the group of people who today represent the bjp and other right wing parties.

There is a need to refine and reform the agenda of right wing politics as much as there is a need to influence and temper the national debate with right wing thinking.

Inclusiveness and Excellence

It's quite plain and simple - If the Congress stands for inclusivity (a good idea by all means) BJP stands for excellence.

Unfortunately, the BJP has been unable to project it in a way that is popular amongst the voters.