Who doesn't like a fight?

I am proud of my Prime Minister. His quote from today is inspirational "...If we have to go down , lets go down fighting:". If ever there is a quality that needs to be appreciated, it is courage. I am proud of the Prime Minister for having displayed this rare quality of courage and standing up for what is right. I wish he had displayed this an year or two ago, it would have saved him the ignominy of being called an underachiever in an otherwise illustrious career.
Today, the government has kicked inaction in its face. The government has broken the shackles of paralysis that its policy makers were accused of lately. It has chosen to not get embroiled in mud slinging, coal-gate or the numerous other allegations that have come up in recent times.
They made a bold move but, what did the government do today?
One,  They raised diesel prices. The hike is sharp at five rupees a liter and it probably wouldn't have been if the government had displayed courage in hiking it nominally over the last three years. The truth is that the price of a non-renewable source of energy will continue to escalate with time. The government in its bid to be populist has subsidized it all along, leading to a higher fiscal deficit. The fiscal deficit has meant a downgrade in India as an investment destination. Already, the government has a 72 hour ultimatum from Didi to roll back the price hike. Her argument is that it will have a cascading effect on all commodity prices.
I delve deeper into this myth to understand how much this fuel price hike impacts the Aam Aadmi that Mamta Banerjee stands for. By my estimate, with some help from a few truckers, I rationalize the cost of this price hike. A seventeen foot truck consumes about a liter of diesel to travel 7 kilometers. So, at erstwhile prices, the cost of fuel per kilometer for a truck was 5.76 per liter ( assuming Gurgaon prices until recently). Now, that would increase to almost 6.48 per kilometer. Sharp hike indeed.
Lets assume that a truck covers a distance of 300 kilometers to ferry vegetables from somewhere in Punjab to Delhi. Therefore, the net increase in fuel expense is Rs. 216 (6.48-5.76)*300. At normal load, the truck has a capacity of 75 quintals or 7500 kilograms.
The net increase per kilo of any commodity goes up by Rs 0.028  or 3 paise. Who can't afford it?
The other people who are horribly affected by the fuel price hike are poor mortals like me who own diesel guzzling SUV's. The government has been more than kind to subsidize my fuel bill and its about time that I start paying for myself. Hell, its still cheaper than driving on petrol!!!!
The other thing that the government did today was open up FDI in retail and aviation. I am not sure if they are good or bad moves. I leave this to the economists and the leaders to decide. I do follow the sensex and it seemed happy about the move. The rupee felt even happier. I think the Sensex knows best.
In all the good that seems to happening, the politicos are bickering, again. The allies want to fight the government more than the opposition. They are issuing statements and giving ultimatums. Will the government go down fighting?
If it does, I would be unhappy. For once, the government and the Prime Minister have shown courage. It reminds me of  Lt. Colonel Frank Slade's legendary speech (Scent of a Woman), " he isn't selling anybody out to buy his future. That, my friends is called integrity. That's called courage. Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of"

The Poor Sikh Gentleman

Manmohan Singh must be ruing the day that he chose to become Prime Minister. An economist who was thrust into the dirty, mudslinging world of Indian politics. I wish he had listened to his 'inner voice' and said "No" to the Prime Ministers job when Madam's inner voice said that she shouldn't become the Prime Minister.

Well, he didn't; and so, he continues to listen to the slander that gets thrown at him. He has recently been  heard using poetic verses in Urdu to defend his silence on the coal scam issue.

The BJP, meanwhile holds the parliament at ransom, not allowing a single debate or a bill to be introduced during the short two week monsoon session. Their demand is that Manmohan Singh should quit. 

Let's for a moment assume that Manmohan Singh quits. The cabinet will need to be reconstituted and a new Prime Minister found. In keeping with this assumptive theory, lets explore the candidates available within the UPA.

Since the Indian National Congress emerged as the single largest party in the last elections, chances are that they would have the  first shot at putting up another Prime Ministerial Candidate. With Pranab Da elevated to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, there are very few choices. Lets look at some of them -

Sonia Gandhi will continue to listen to her inner voice. Her foreign origin issue is still alive and the moment that she stakes her claim, the allies and opposition will have a problem. So, its safe to rule her out.

Rahul Gandhi is a political novice. With the recent results in Bihar and UP, his claim to be the congress' new messiah stands rubbished.

P Chidambaram does not have a clean image. The moment he is presented as a Prime Ministerial candidate, the media and the opposition will dig deeper into the telecom scam.

A K Antony has a clean image but has little or no mass appeal. He has been India's defence minister for a while but can hardly be seen taking on the mantle of the Prime Ministers job.

Kapil Sibal can do the talking but if he could walk the talk, we would know Chandni Chowk ( being his parliamentary constituency) to be a different place from the one that it is today.

There are various other 'leaders', but, atleast I don't see them as Prime Ministerial candidates.

Therefore, if the Prime Minister does not come from the INC, then it must come from the allies or supporting parties. My list of probables there are below. Without commenting on their virtues or vices - the candidates ( really, the party heads) are Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Karunanidhi, Ajit Singh, Farooq Abdullah, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Laloo Prasad Yadav and Shibu Soren.

I am not sure if any of those names inspired an awe.

Given that none of these candidates are better than Manmohan. Its probably best to dissolve the parliament and hold fresh elections.

I am not an astrologer but chances are that the anti-incumbency brings the NDA to power. The BJP is the single largest party and lets look at the hopefuls there

LK Advani is tainted. The blood of Ayodhya refuses to leave him.

Narendra Modi is in the same boat as Advani. What Ayodhya is to Advani is what Godhra is to Modi. One might argue that he has done wonders for the state of Gujarat, but just his name as a prime ministerial candidate will take away Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, both Muslim dominated states away from the BJP. We all know which states make our Prime Minister.

Sushma Swaraj once said that she would shave off her head and wear a white Sari if Sonia Gandhi ever became Prime Minister. As Delhi Chief Minister, she was a failure and couldnt bring the party back to power. If anti- incumbency was the reason for her failure, then why is Sheela Dixit serving a third term as Chief Minister?

Arun Jaitley has never contested an election but has the oratorical skill that Manmohan Singh is so weak at. I am not sure of the substance that he possesses besides that. There has been too little evidence of his prowess. 

The other hopefuls then would be the regional leaders Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patnaik and Prakash Singh Badal.

We all know what happened when a smaller regional party comes to power backed by a large national party. The ex-PM's Chandrashekhar, Deve Gowda and IK Gujral and their fate is a testimony to that.

So, mid term elections might not help in getting us that perfect, charismatic leader who can represent us on the world stage. And if we do not have an alternative, then why change? Why bother going after the poor Sikh gentleman when the other options are so limited?

In less than thirty days, he will be deemed a failure for not pushing through any reforms. Will someone, then, ask the BJP if they let a bill be presented in parliament that may catalyse reforms? Will the masses ever know or remember this fact whenever the next general elections happen?