Arun Jaitley Mumbai Talk and Q&A: Key Points
Thanks to Sahana Nayak for putting this together. [The video of the entire Mumbai event is available here.]
Democracy shapes the life of a nation and decides the road map of a country. The greatest threat to India’s democracy is the loss in the faith of politics, which leads to indifference and cynicism. It is a heartening development to see successful professionals from various fields who are willing to pay back to the country.It is a great opportunity to have a meeting on the eve of elections; a festival of democracy. The message should be spread by having the “Friends of BJP” meetings in many districts across the country so that the professionals can look within deeper, in a non-partisan way to understand the current state of our nation and strive for betterment.
India is Changing
Demographic Change: Delimitation during the 13th Lok Sabha (1971-now).
A consequence of economic development is the move to urban areas. After delimitation in 2026, Maharashtra will be 65-70% urban, Punjab and Haryana will be 80% urban. The entire demography will change and this will have an effect on the voting pattern. Last Assembly election, Gujarat which fought elections before delimitation, won 117 seats which could have been 135 if the delimitation was already done. In Karnataka, BJP won with a majority post delimitation. In Bangalore, there were 26 seats compared to the 18 seats in the previous elections and BJP won 18 of these seats. Education, urbanisation and economic development will have an impact on the voting pattern and finally the elected representative.
Why the BJP?
1. ECONOMY
From 1991 till 2004, irrespective of the Government in power, the message was clear: the ultimate objective was to carry on the message to unshackle entrepreneurship and unshackle India. This is a globally accepted model and change was happening even in USSR and China. Unless one can ensure a profitable environment, there will be no investments, hence no money for the state, no revenues, no infrastructure development, no poverty alleviation, no jobs and hence a sluggish economy. Looking back at history, had Indira Gandhi liberalised our economy in 1971, the history of India would be different.
When the UPA came into power, they inherited a booming economy and it was hoped that with the Dream Team of the 3 wise men, they could do wonders. In reality, the Left blocked every move for 4.5 years and once they left the UPA nothing was done to strengthen the economy; hence the current state. Projects that were initiated by Shri Vajpayeeji, like the Golden Quadrilateral was completed up to 97% by the NDA, whereas the UPA has completed only 39% of the roads; the rural roads are as good as abandoned. The UPA has splurged on advertising in times of recession and inaugurations of incomplete projects are being carried out indiscriminately.
2. NATIONAL SECURITY
A major concern in the present day scenario: LTTE, Maoist attacks, cross border activities all require an anti- terrorism approach: this does not in any way speak against any religion. We should strengthen our security instead of linking it to vote bank politics.
Terrorism has no religion and the answer to terrorism also should have no religion.
Whoever threatens Indian should be dealt with in the same way. After 1993, TADA was repealed and after the UPA came into power POTA was repealed. 4.5 years later, the UPA has realised that the normal laws are not enough; we have had a collapse of intelligence and the security response has not been adequate. 27 cities have been attacked in the last 4.5 years and the attacks on 26/11 have reinforced the idea of India being a soft state. While no one attacked the US after 9/11, and no one dares attack Israel, the UPA has made India a SOFT STATE. How can we expect Pakistan to accept the role of their Army and ISI during the Mumbai attacks? Even more shocking now is the Taliban emergence in the SWAT valley, wherein Pakistan state actors have consented to the idea of Taliban. This is dangerous, since it is only 5 hours from India’s borders; Taliban is an idea that doesn’t respect borders and it is so close to us.
The situation in the country is terrible; Governors are used to save Governments, the CBI is used to perform duties of the UPA, holding a free/fair election by the Election Commission will be a challenge; The greatest crisis India faces today is a decisive leadership, art of forcing a consensus not postponing it. The 15th Lok Sabha elections will be the first where there will be a de jure leader and a de facto leader. The current campaign of the Congress shows that while the de facto leader is still learning to play cricket, the de jure leader is willing to remain merely as a night watchman instead of taking up the role of the Captain. Learn at the cost of your party, not at the cost of the country!!
How does Political Leadership Evolve?
Should leaders only emerge from 200-300 families like the feudal system or should we choose them on the basis of MERIT rather than on the SURNAME? A mature democracy likes ours cannot be ruled by a Vansh, but by people with merit. Professionals and men of talent should come forward and give back to the country based on merit. When family businesses did not survive the Liberalisations and new entrepreneurs came in such that a captive India became Liberal, how can merit be replaced by a surname?
There are predominantly 2 major political parties today; the BJP and the Congress. The third force is based on the principle of staying in power and hence there are parties that have been in power for 12 years no matter who forms the government. The BJP needs to consolidate the anti congress space with men of merit and clear determined leadership. India needs a determined leadership, a freedom from vote bank politics, and freedom from surname based governance. BJP follows these principles; they have a determined leadership based clarity on policy, freedom from vote bank politics and decisive leadership.
Shri Advaniji is a senior leader with experience and integrity. In the horizon I see no one better than him, capable of being a determined leader, providing decisive governance with clarity of policy. I think clarity and decisiveness is something even his critics concede to him.
Interactive Session
What is your vision for 2020?
AJ: The cliché answer will be to transform India from a developing nation to a developed one. In reality, we have to focus on core issues, better the quality of education, politics and leadership. By 2020 we should eliminate the BPL, have a secure state and improve the quality of every Indian. No Indian dies of hunger and no Indian dies because of terror. We have to improve the quality of governance by addressing the right issues.
What is BJP’s stand on Ram Mandir and the Uniform Civil Code?
AJ: Pandit Nehru believed in special status for Kashmir and hence full constitutional integration with India did not happen. Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee wanted full integration, however article 370 was proved to be a Nehruvian blunder and the country paid for this. But because of vote bank politics, not many will support the core issue.
Every minority in India is entitled to its own religion, language, rituals and religious practises. Uniform Civil Code does not deal with religious practices but dealt with rights where religions created discriminatory practices. After adopting the constitution, there should be social and gender equality. Even though the BJP might believe in this core issue, the politics of today cannot work out easy solutions unless there is a National consensus. There has to be commonality of agreement, and till that is done these cannot be made issues of governance. Same principle applies for the Ram Mandir.
What is BJP’s stand on criminals/ charge sheeted persons entering the political arena?
AJ: NDA had proposed an amendment in the law to balance the two situations; if merely a charge sheeted person is debarred from contesting, then a Pakistan like situation can arise whereby the state can debar political opponents from contesting.
How can a hardened criminal be debarred? The NDA brought a legislation to notify certain categories and create a category of heinous offence. If a person had 2 charge sheets of heinous offence, he/she would be debarred automatically. In this way you could check abuse out of victimisation and a large number of criminals could be kept away. NDA called for an all party meet; the Congress opposed it, and NDA didn’t have the numbers in the Rajya Sabha to enforce this.
Does India have the inner strength to overcome the global economic crisis?
AJ: India has a huge advantage, the extent of manufacturing and consumption within India should not affect our economy as badly. However, it is a fact that we are affected by the global crisis. We are capable of overcoming the present crisis, if decisive steps are taken. It is a challenging situation but can be dealt with if good quality of governance takes over.
Will BJP use innovative methods for campaigning in the coming elections?
AJ: Modes of communication have improves, channels have changed and there are so many interests to address. BJP will have to look at different modes of communications and the one currently being used is a non conventional approach.
A lot of the youth feel the politicians are corrupt and how will this be addressed?
AJ: The biggest challenge to our democracy will stem out of indifference which leads to cynicism. This needs an attitudinal change. We have to try and influence the quality of our elected representatives, be fearless in criticism of them to root out the evil. India has no alternative to democracy, so don’t let cynicism take over.
What are the three things BJP will do if it comes to power?
AJ: Decision making which has suffered in the last 5 years and hard decision making!! These decisions will not be influenced by vote bank politics or the desire to remain in power indefinitely.
Why do we allow the term “minorities” in India? No other country uses this term.
AJ: On this issue, we should keep the larger situation of the country in mind and not adopt an extreme position. We have to understand the underlying principles of various religious or linguistic minorities, but we cannot allow decision making to be directed towards particular minorities. Appeasement to none, Equality to all is our motto!!
Accountability and transparency are two imperative facets of democracy. If the NDA comes into power, will you succeed in getting a political consensus in both houses for the Judges Inquiry Bill and the National Judicial Commission?
AJ: We are in favour of National Judicial Commission. As a law minister I had tabled a constitutional amendment in parliament. This time round, we will make one more change to it. The judicial commission looks after charges of any misdemeanour. A bulk of the debate is on who should appoint the judges .The executive has the last word and the collegium has the last word. The more important question is what are the criteria by which judges are appointed? A non transparent process of the collegiums shows lot of subjective criteria that goes into judicial appointment. As a result, the quality of appointment has not improved. Additional change that we would recommend, is even though the collegiums have the powers, objective criteria should be defined before you get into the threshold for consideration. There should be some objective assessment number of cases appeared in, number of case laws applied, the number of reported judgements, educational criteria and so on- and only those who clear the criteria should be considered.
How will the BJP counter the misinformation mainly by the English print and electronic media?
AJ: When in politics don’t enter into quarrels with the media. The media is a messenger of information- the content of your message should be so powerful that even if the messenger tinkers with it, it doesn’t help. Four illustrations:
- Salt Satyagraha by Gandhiji- The pro British press ridiculed the movement and one paper even carried out the event in a column called the “cranks Corner”. However the act of lifting a fist full of salt electrified the nation and defied the English.
- Emergency: Censorship of the press and no news of the opposition were covered during the emergency. Once elections were declared, we were organising a rally in Chandini Chowk for which permission was not granted. Eventually permission was granted for the Ram Lila ground which is the largest in Delhi; however thousands of people came for the rally and spilt kilometres away from the ground. The message was so powerful that the electorate couldn’t be kept away.
- Rath Yatra: After ever successfully rally, the media reports the next day were disastrous. However this did not stop BJP from being a force to reckon with in Indian politics
- Finally if media was the only determinant, a BJP government would not be formed in Gujarat.
What is the stand of the BJP on “One Rank, One Pension”? Isn’t it disheartening to see soldiers returning their medals to the President?
AJ: Shri Jaswant Singh has looked into the matter and has taken a public stand supporting the “One rank, One Pension”.
What about the plight of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits?
AJ: This assembly election, the Kashmir valley voted in large numbers, they voted against the separatists. They demolished the myth that the separatists could call the agenda for the valley. The government has to work towards some kind of rehabilitation, but we are not in favour of rehabilitation in terms of creating ghettos. This is artificial and not viable.
Why are such meetings arranged just before the elections? Has the party been sleeping for 5 years?
AJ: If that was the case, then the BJP/NDA would not have won 8 out of the 11 elections in the past 5 years.
Comments
26 Responses to “Arun Jaitley Mumbai Talk and Q&A: Key Points”
[...] The key points made by Jaitley and the Q&A details are available here. March 3, 2009 | Filed Under [...]
[...] Yesterday’s events in Mumbai and Pune were attended by about 1,500 people (650+ in Mumbai, and 850+ in Pune). This is a great start for the Outreach programme and we are looking forward to doing more such events in other cities in March and April. Thanks for all the questions and comments — we received over 600+ questions on SMS, and 50+ via the Web and email. We will put up Arun Jaitley’s talks shortly. The video of the Mumbai event is available here. The key points made by Jaitley and the Q&A details are available here. [...]
Hi Really appreciate the friends of the BJP for taking action for a nationalist party.
Was very happy to see the whole event on the you tube. Few changes could be made to such town halls to keep things focussed. First, lets not have other speakers speak before the invited speakers, and also lets not have other people sit on the stage along with the invited speaker (for e.g. we had a speech from Rajesh Jain followed by Dawar, then by Goenka and then finally Arun Jaitley came to speak). Instead, Rajesh Jain could have simply introduced Arun Jaitley and let him speak. This approach keeps total focus on the invited speaker and allows more time for Q&A. Second, improvement can be made the way Q&A was handled. Instead of someone taking mike to people asking question they could have been requested to form two lines in front of the stage and taken turn in asking questions. These suggestions are not new, and anyone who has seen C-Span covering any townhall meetings like these must have noticed the way things are handled.
Sadly BJP in Karnataka is going against its principles by giving ticket to Yeddi’s son, and to relative of another MLA.
This is disgusting considering that state unit has shown such brazen disregard for party policy in its very first term.
i’ll be voting against BJP for the first time in my life,
Jai Hind
Arun sir namaskar, You says VISION FOR 2020: Quality Education,POLITICS and LEADERSHIP
Is it possible?
I am elgible candidate for NARSAPUR Assembly, Medak District,AP. Are you give ticket(MLA) without money. If so I am ready.
VEERAMALLA KESHAVA RAO
Gen.Sec., BJP
124 HYDERNAGAR DIVISION GHMC
HYDERABAD-72.
Ph: 09246181828
When Mr Jaitley say that in 2020 “No Indian dies of hunger”. Does he have any plan? Or is he too talking just for sake of talking like everyone else. I never heard of any plan for making that happen.
LTTE is not a terroist organization they are fighting for the rights of their land and sovernighty of their land. No one can comment on this issue.
BJP is not protecting the Hindus in srilanka, if they are xian or a islam then they might have got the protection from any islamic or xian country becuase of hindu sonia gandhi is killing the hindus.
I am not happy about the function of BJP becuase the BJP never protect the Hindus in India also all the minorities are voting against the BJP and they are getting all the citizen of Indias in the name of minority rights of Article 30. Soveirgnity and integirity of India is spoiled by the UPA government giving scholarship to minority students and appointment in minoirty institutions only the minority is also the threat of the sovergnity and integirty of India. BJP is getting consideration from the UPA so that they are not bothered about the Hindus.
I deny that LTTE as terrorist organization. India armed and trained them; if they are terrorist then India is guilty. Maladev transformed into Muslim country over night by killing non-Muslims. Sri Lankan government trying to transform the country into Buddhist nation by killing Hindu Tamil. Tamils are not occupied any ones land they are fighting for their political right ‘self determination’ and independency. India helped to form a Bengali based Muslim country but deny to form Hindu Tamil Eelam. All nations appeal for cease fire in Sri Lanka except India then who conduct war on Tamils. So for 400 indian fishermen killed by Sri Lankan army but no single case is registred against the Sri Lankan Army. Are the Tamilian in India are citizen of India or not?
hi every one i am a hard core lover of BJP ,i will vote for BJP and i appeal every indian PLEASE
VOTE FOR BJP because WE NEED A CHANGE and the only one who can provide us the change we need BJP
no matter what happens BJP will come to power in
the 2009 elections i am sure about this ,please all indians join hands together and vote for BJP the BJP is not communal it isvery moderate and the best party in our country look at gujarat it is a example of BJP’s good governance after the eart quake GUJARAT came to shambles but now because of BJP rule its one of the top three states in our country then imagine if BJP rule come to power this country will become a paradise,no poverty, no illetracy,no-terrorism,what else do we need
WE NEED A CHANGE ,WE NEED BJP
Question to Mr. Jaitley:
“Society wants sacrifice from an individual.” Even though you are professionally settled successfully, why did you not give your consent for being Delhi’s Chief minister in the recently held assembly elections? Siuation at the ground level would have been clearly different now for BJP.
Dear Mr. Jaitley
I would like to congratulate on having courage to see the difference between GOOD and BAD and raising your voice against evil.(Sudhanshu Mittal)
Have your say and god will see to it, please don’t compromise. God Bless.
Poonam
Dear Mr.Jaitley
You said LTTE as major concern in the present scenario regarding NATIONAL SECURITY. Can you enumerate their terrorism activities? The number of persons killed by Congress party men were more than any militant organization.
Please, go for complete information without relaying on biased articles or books. Ask the records of government under Right to Information or Indian Evidence Act.
Media khabron ke anusar yah pata chala hai ki North-East mumbai seat ke liye Ex-MP KIRIT SOMAIYA aur Poonam Mahajan mein vivad chal raha hai.Yah thik nahi hai es seat ko lekar koi vivad hona hi nahi chahiye.Poonam Mahajan abhi-abhi rajniti mein aayee hein .Unhe aur bhi bahut kuch sikhane aur anubhav prapt karne ki jarurat hai.Jabki eske viparit KIRIT SOMAIYA ne apne shektra ke liye pichaley 5 saalon mein bahut kuch kiya hai.Samay-samay par wo Mumbai ki samasya ko lekar vidhan sabha mein aawaz uthate rahe hein aur kaam bhi kiye hein.Wo ek karmath neta hein.Dhanyabaad.
JAI SHRI RAM
MP ticket ke liye Poonam Mahajan ko khud hi maang nahi karni chahiye.Unhe abhi bahut kaam karne aur anubhav prapt karne ki jarurat hai.Poonam Mahajan ko Kirit Somaiya ka senior hone ke nate samarthan karna chahiye.MP Ticket ke liye KIRIT SOMAIYA bilkul hi upayukt ummidwar hein.Unhone bahut kaam kiya hai aur aaj ki jaagrok janta kaam karne wale neta ko hi apna vote degi.
Hi,
I am a leading doctor from south delhi and had been in practise for last 23yrs .I have been trying to become active member of BJP ,contacted local members and office bearers,but everytime they say its closed.I dont know the reason but really surprised to learn that BJP is reluctant to give membership to educated people.
Please make friends in Media esp. english media, they keep on bashing BJP just for nothing.Please make friends with these bastards as they are weaning ordinary supporter of BJP away.
dr.prabhat bhushan
9810022957
DEAR JETAILY SIR, I AM MEMBER OF RSS FROM LAST 10 YEARS .I BIELEVE IN ALWAYS IN BJP .THE BANGLADESHIS ARE BIG PROBLEM FOR INDIA . I HOPE MR.L K AADWANI WILL SOLVE IT .
I AM FROM AHMEDNAGAR.
WHEN THERE IS CONGRESS GOVT THERE IS ALWAYS SHORTAGE RATION ,GAS,SECURITY .
I WAS SERCHING FOR CONTACT BJP.
THANKS FOR YOUR WEBSIDE OF 4BJP.
BEST OF LUCK FOR BJP FOR LS POLLS.
Dear Jaitely Ji,
I must congratulate you on your move to mobilise the educated/professionals of the society, who, in fact, have silently been supporting BJP. This class (though scattered), in itself, is a sure strength to bring a swing in the ensuing election. BJP, once most respected party in the country, has been losing mainly because of depriving the educated class and its members the due share. The party today lacks good speakers/orators who motivate the opinion of the masses. They can assist the party to boost their morale and bring them on top again provided the intiative which you have taken continues and does not stop half-way. By the way,we have good candidate from Noida, Dr Mahesh Sharma, and am sure he will come out with flying colours. Good wishes and good luck.
Om Aneja/Noida
Arunji, Iam a great admirer of u, & all my family members are BJP followers,am very sad to say so, inspite of u being at the helm of party affairs lot of infighting is being reported.kindly solve the problem early or else the disciplined party &cadres like me will loose face & may impact the results also. Hope for early solution especially in Karnataka. (Kindly advise yeddi &sd)
Dearest Arunji,
I have a little doubt, whats our coverage thru electronic media. I hope BJP has other modes in place to reach people in backward areas, villages, rural & semi urban areas to vote for BJP/ canvassing.
Vande Matram
I sincerely hope that BJP comes to power under the able leadership of Shri Advaniji.
But, numbers does seem to say different story.
AP, TN, WB & Ker accoun for 143 LS seats, whet BJP will not be able to open teh account. What are your plans to counter this?
In the state of UP, Rajasthan and Orrissa, you may not fare well, compared to 2004. Whats your strategy to counter this?
Now you are left with few handful of big states like MH, Bihar, MP, Karnataka, Gujrat, Assam. How do you think that just banking on
these handful of seats will win you 273 seats required to come to power?
Rest of the states have less than 15 numbers of LS seats, where either you are weak or even if you will all the seats, you may
not come near to 273! What is your take on this?
In the backdrop of above stats, how is BJP confidently telling that they will come to power?
Dear Mr.Arun Jaitley,
I feel very concerned about the present state of affairs in our Country. So I thought of expressing my thoughts by writing to you. And may be my Fellow Indians will spread the message. And BJP will fix it.
With Congress and it allies who have been in Power for maximum period since Independence the Country has always had worse situations. As an Democratic Country we should have equal rights for all its Citizens of this Great Motherland Bharat. There should be no reservations based on Religion, Cast or Language. Upliftment of society should not be based on Vote Banks. Today in our own Country the Majority of the Hindu Population has no equal rights.
The Congress which Claims it is secular has always looked at the Divide and Rule Philosphy and have brought the Country to a stage where National interest is ignored and more States are carved out to please regional political parties.
The root cause of all the troubles and insecurity is Reservations. If there are no Resesrvations and Equality for all. Then The Country can stand United as one strong Nation. The anti national Elements must be brought to Justice. Criminals should not be permitted to stand for election. The Election Commision should disqualify all candidates with Crimnal background.
How the faith of Hindus and their belief be insulted by challenging the very existence of Bhagwan Shri Ram. Is this not a Major insult and voilation of Civil code of Conduct in a Democratic Society. Let us Learn to respect each other please. If some Hindu speaks about injustice and inequality then they are branded as communal. Or anti national. Law of the land should be same for all. So please my fellow Countrymen and Women please cast your votes to elect the Government that can give Security, Stability, Strenght, Progress and Unity to all Hindustanis. It was The BJP NDA Government who gave us one of our Best President in Dr. Abdul Kalam. But he was not able to continue……..India is a Dynamic Nation of Peace loving People. Let not your strenght and knowledge be wasted by putting power in the wrong hands.
I have also noticed that in Rallies the BJP leaders are busy in fighting back allegations only. It is very important that a message for what BJP wil do for the Masses and The Country is also Very important. Thanking you All to allow me to express my views. Jai Hind.
how can i help india can i reach parliament
MR.ARUN JAITLEY BRING BACK BLACK MONEY FROM SWISS BANKS DEVELOP INDIA ALL SUCCESS IN THE ELCTIONS DO HARD WORK IAM A POULTRY FARMER OF WARANGAL I AM REPRESENTING IMPOSITION OF 100% INCOME TAX ON POULTRYTO PROTECT SMALL RURAL POULTRY FARMERS FROM BLACK MARKETERS SINCE 1980 THE BLACK MARKETERS ENCROACHED 80% POULTRY DUE TO INCOME TAX EXEMTION ON POULTRY MR R.VENKATA RAMAN PRESIDENT OF INDIA RECOMMENDED MY NOMINATION TO THE SECRETARY MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LETTER NO.5740-PI(4)87 OF 4-11 -1987 AND THE SECOND LETTER NO.668-PI(1)88 OF8-2-1988 FOR MY PRESIDENT AWARDS NO REPLY NO AWARDS FOR GOOD BUT BAD AWARDED KINDLY HELP ME IN GETTING MY DUE AWARDS FROM GOVERN MENT OF INDIA WITH KIND REGARDS IUSED TO ADVISE TO MRS INDIRA SANJAY RAJIV PV RV AND PRESIDENTS PRIME MINISTERS 13-4-2009 V.SAMBASIVA RAO DIRECOR CENTRAL OULTRY COUNCIL MINISTRY OF AGRI CULTURE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA SRILA TOWERS FTNO 3108 KUKATPALLY HYDERNAGAR HYDERABAD 500072 PH 91-040-23895808 MB 91-9290645384 E-MAL sambasivaraovasa@gmail.com
mr.aun jaitley all sucess work hard do not sleep save us 14-4-2009 reply
[...] text of Mr. Jaitley’s speech and Q&A is available here. March 13, 2009 | Filed Under [...]