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Why Baroda’s queen mother prefers Modi to Rahul

by: Patrick Ward in TOP STORIES Leave a comment

Turning off a busy main road in Baroda, the scene suddenly becomes tranquil, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Ahead is the majestic 19th century Laxmi Vilas Palace, an Indo-Saracenic Revival building surrounded by acres of flat grass complete with golf course, monkeys and peacocks.

This is the home of Shubhanginiraje Gaekwad, the rajmata (queen mother) of Baroda. After a long hiatus, she has made a political comeback as one of those who proposed Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s candidature for the Lok Sabha constituency of Vadodara.

We wait in a large room adorned with paintings of royals past, piles of books and a chandelier fitted with energy-saving bulbs. After a while we are invited into a bookcase-lined room to meet the rajmata, who sits at the head of a long table, her iPhone in front of her. On the wall is an old map of what was once the kingdom of Baroda, one of the wealthiest princely states, whose Maratha monarchs were among just five Indian rulers accorded a 21-gun salute by the British Raj.

Shubhanginiraje’s husband, the late maharaja Ranjitsinh Pratapsinh Gaekwad, was known for his passion for the arts and cricket and for his paintings. He was also elected twice (1980, 1984) to the Lower House of Parliament on a Congress ticket. The rajmata herself contested the Lok Sabha elections twice, once as an independent candidate in 1996 in Baroda and again as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate in 2004 from next-door Kheda but without success. She speaks to Patrick Ward on Modi, Gujarat, communalism and Rahul Gandhi.

Does your nomination of Narendra Modi mark another attempt to enter the political fray? If so, why now?

I don’t know. When Mr Modi decided he would like Baroda to be his constituency, I was one of the persons he asked and I agreed because I am glad we are getting someone like him to represent us.

I am supporting the BJP for these elections. The people of Baroda don’t forget us. They still remember us.

Why did he ask you and why did you agree?

I can’t say why he asked me. Probably he wanted my family’s support. He wanted people from all walks of life to support him and I am not his only proposer. Also, I think he wanted to pay respect to our family and the work done by them. You talk to people in town and they still remember the good administration they received during the reign of the Gaekwads. This was during British India, of course.

Modi comes from a small place called Vadnagar, which was part of the old Baroda state. Baroda state was quite extensive, disjointed and vast. It wasn’t easy to administer the entire area, but it was still well done. At that time, only Baroda achieved cent per cent primary education for every child in the state. So, I guess, he wanted to emphasise that because he said, ‘I am a product of that. I received education in a small village because I was part of Baroda state.’

I appreciate Modi because of the credit he gave. Most often, people want credit for themselves. So I appreciate it when someone like him in his position thought of giving due credit. No one would have thought about it if he didn’t mention it. No one would have missed it. This is something from over 100 years ago. Did you know that there was a book published in the times of Maharaja Sayajirao about learning the ropes of good administration? Modi actually got it translated into Gujarati and English and gives it to all his administrative staff. “I give this book whenever new officers come so they can learn something from it, even how to deal with each other, but they would learn the good administration that prevailed in Baroda state,” he said on the day he signed his nomination papers. In a six-minute speech to talk about this for 3-4 minutes is quite telling.

There’s talk he might win both Vadodara and Varanasi and will have to choose between them. If he gives up the Vadodara seat, would you or your son Samarjitsinh be interested in contesting the by-election?

That is for the party to decide. I have no idea just now. I might consider it if they think it is the right thing to do.

Most often, when royalty enters the political fray in India, they do very well. Why were you unsuccessful in those initial rounds?

Once I stood as an independent, so that was a little tricky because there are two big parties against you. Voters were also fewer in number and I remember the race was neck to neck. I got exactly one-third votes. The Congress candidate, who won that year, only won by a margin of 17 votes. It was all last minute and not much preparation had been done. There was also a lot of confusion.

Most people always associated my husband with the Congress. That year, the Congress fielded a candidate with the same last name — Gaekwad. This got people confused in the rural areas. Today, things are a lot better; voters are smarter, more educated.

The next time I stood as a BJP candidate, but I didn’t stand from Baroda, unfortunately. I stood from Kheda, a stronghold of the Congress. The sitting MP was there for two terms, and I told the party I was not at all keen, because I knew I was stepping into a disaster. At that time, (Atal Bihari) Vajpayeeji personally requested me and I got pressured. I said, “I think I’m going to lose, but because you telling me to stand, I will do so.” So I went and followed my party’s orders.

Are you politically active? Do you attend party meetings?

No, I haven’t been very active since. When I stood independently, my husband had left the Congress. Before that he was not active and was totally disillusioned with the party. But having been in the party, he didn’t want to go and join another party. His temperament was not to jump from one party to the other. So he left the party. Otherwise he wouldn’t have canvassed for me.

He did more campaigning for the BJP later. He even campaigned for the BJP candidate in Baroda.

After (former prime minister) Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, which was tragic, things changed. I think when (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi joined the party, he became totally disillusioned. Your worth in the party was just how much you could please some people. He said, “I can’t do those things.”

Why do you think the BJP is a good option?

They are a good option. What other choice do we have? Surely we can’t have (Congress vice-president) Rahul Gandhi? What are his credentials? He hasn’t proved himself by being a minister in a Cabinet, he hasn’t done a day’s job in his life. He hasn’t proved himself in any task. I feel, as a young man, one at least ought to go out and earn one’s living. All our young boys and girls are working so hard. But look at him. Here he is, a young fellow, accept him as prime minister. Why? What has he done?

Our country is so very diverse and complicated. It is not the same, every part is different. You need someone to have thought about these things deeply. Someone who is mature, and it is not just his age that’s an issue. Some people do their best at a young age. But he has done nothing.

Can Modi reproduce what he has done in Gujarat across the country?

He can try. At least you have a man who has sincerity of purpose and does his best. He has been working hard for the past 12 years in Gujarat. At least he’ll try his best. He is from the grassroots, he knows what is life, he has seen that. In all areas of Baroda constituency, he will definitely do very well. I am sure he is going to win, there is no doubt about that. I am sure he has already gauged that, which is why he has come here to a seat he was sure to win. He knew he was not going to devote much time to Baroda constituency, or any constituency in Gujarat for that matter. So, obviously, he was looking for a safe seat. He is concentrating on all parts of the country now, how much can he be here?

He is a good choice. They need someone who has drive, who has charisma, who can attract people with his talking. As a prime minister, Manmohan Singh is educated, probably much more educated than Modi, but he could not make a good prime minister, people never related to him. And then, of course, there were these two power centres, which was so pathetic.

It’s disgraceful, the office of our prime minister has been degraded thanks to the Congress president. Once a person is on that chair, we have to respect that chair.

What should Modi’s priority be should be become prime minister?

It should be to bring efficiency to the administration because the common man suffers because people who should be doing their job, don’t. Especially in government offices, applications should be dealt with in a swifter manner. People should be tended to, but people don’t do their job.

Also, great reforms need to be introduced in our judicial system. People wait for years to seek justice, but even after 40, 50 years, they don’t get it.

Lastly, a lot of attention has to be paid to infrastructure.

What about communalism?

Some people keep talking about it because they don’t want the people to forget about it. People just want to let it be, forget it and carry on with their lives. Everybody wants to move on. The youth is not bothered. They want jobs, they want to earn a living, they want infrastructure.

Communalism is always raised as an issue by politicians. They want to make an issue where there is no issue. I don’t deny that it is an issue, but it is prevalent all over the country. It is not like Gujarat has more of it than any other part of the country.

No doubt, what happened in Gujarat was sad, but the Congress government at the Centre has always harped on this as this is easy for them. They want to keep it fresh in people’s minds so that people outside the state believe the situation is worse that what it is.

We have had communal riots in Gujarat for many years. Even when my husband was in Parliament we had problems, but it was instigated by some local goons. When there is a Hindu festival, there is a problem and vice-versa. These situations are just manipulated most of the time.

So you think the Congress raising the issue can create divisions?

Exactly. What was the need for (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi to call the imam of Delhi to her office and tell him, “Please tell all the Muslims to vote for the Congress”? You can’t do that. You may tell him in private, that’s all right, but you can’t call him and tell him and make an official statement on television. This means you are already dividing the country and its people.

Why are you dividing them on the basis of religion? Let anyone vote for the Congress, let anyone vote for the BJP.

What about the hate speech made recently by Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia?

There are a few people like that, talking rubbish. But there are people like that on all sides. You can’t go on controlling the way people talk and elections only make people fiercer in their speeches. Politicians talk like that to divide the people, but as a party, the BJP has not tried to do that. Modi has tried to bring people together. The Congress, on the other hand, has only tried to appease the minorities, especially the Muslims, which I don’t agree with. Why appease them? Why aren’t there the same rules for everybody? Why can’t they follow the law of the land? This only makes other people irritated about the situation, causing an anti-Muslim vibe. This is the policy of the government, which benefits a few people.

This interview was also published on Rediff.com, our media partner.

Photos: Vaiyhaysi P Daniel/Rediff.com

14Apr

Indians in UK want new government that will bring change

by: Adele Couchman and Confidence Uwazuruike in DIASPORA Leave a comment

Indian citizens living in the UK have decried the state of affairs in their native land and hope a new government will improve the people’s lot.

Kavita Vachaknavee, freelance writer and examiner at the University of Cambridge, who hails from Yamunanagar, Haryana, and has been living in the UK since 2011, said: “This election will dictate the direction the nation takes. As an Indian living abroad, I am ashamed of the negative influences in my motherland, especially the crime rate, which is increasing rapidly.”

India’s most famous political dynasty is clearly threatened by the growing support for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Narendra Modi and the Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal. “What we have at the moment are politicians who care more about their family than the people,” said Vachaknavee. “The BJP appears to me a strong and uncorrupted party dedicated to the nation.”

Minita Patel, head of operations at Global Explorers, grew up in Gujarat but has been living in the UK for 33 years. She said: “For me, the BJP is the only political party ready to take India forward. The Congress has shown itself to be a corrupt, dynastic party held back by tradition and family. It’s time we let a new government change things.”

Not everyone believes the BJP and Modi are incorruptible. Many continue to see Modi as a polarising figure who has a case to answer regarding the mass killings of Muslims in the Gujarat riots of 2002. But he and his party are being seen as the only real alternative.

Pardip Kumar, 46, actor and activist, said: “Modi is basically a nationalist. Though he has been accused of involvement in the massacre of Muslims no one has been found guilty.”

Kumar said the elections would be close. “Modi has a good chance,” he said. “There isn’t an alternative. Nothing is new; it’s the same thing repackaged.”

Modi’s popularity has soared on his perceived performance as chief minister of Gujarat. “We have seen the immense progress Modi has made in Gujarat,” Patel said. “There is now more manufacturing and more international companies than ever. The entire nation is looking at that state. Who is to say he can’t do this for India?”

Others, however, remain unconvinced. “Gujarat has always been prosperous,” said Vishal Jain, a technical consultant from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, residing in the UK for the past five years. Jain’s home state has 80 seats in the Lok Sabha. That is where Modi has to make the most impact if the BJP has to win at least 200 seats in Parliament. “Many forget that the people of Gujarat have always been talented, educated, and hardworking. Development there has had more to do with these people, not Modi,” he said.

The ruling Congress, meanwhile, has been tripped up by corruption, the treatment of women, and promises that the party failed to keep. “Congress has not done a lot of what it promised to do,” said Kumar. “It concentrates on big players on the international stage and forgets issues at home. Not only is the economy suffering, corruption is endemic.”

But people like Jain believe the BJP is as much to blame. “For too long now both the BJP and the Congress have been making promises, yet only 20% in India are literate and so many are still struggling for a livelihood,” he said.

“For decades Congress politicians kept billions for themselves and did the absolute bare minimum to help the poor. The BJP never spoke up against this corruption strongly when given the chance. If they had, the Congress would never have got away with all the money it has stolen,” he said.

Rima Amin, a freelance journalist whose family hails from Gujarat, said: “India’s development is impressive but I will be more impressed when India’s people can have strong infrastructure supporting their basic needs. The truth is, poor, densely populated, disease-ridden areas still exist and India’s leaders, be they from the Congress, BJP or anyone else, need to help them.”

Jain said the country needs a leader who is focused on democracy and delivering equality for the people, by the people. “For me, Arvind Kejriwal is the only leader who will do this. AAP will provide a transparent system that will spend money on the development of India, not [on creating] politicians’ wealth,” he said.

For many, improving the state of women’s rights in India is pivotal to this year’s election. Vachaknavee said: “As soon as I set foot in my home country I feel insecure. As a woman, I find it much more comfortable and safe here in Europe.”

Amin hoped the international outrage following the Delhi rape case of December 2012 had compelled India’s politicians to look deeper into the rights of women. “Human rights are fundamental and must come before all else,” she said. “India needs to ensure processes are in place to make this happen.”

Radhika Dave, a student at Bradford University who also hails from Gujarat, said: “I was shocked to hear India ranked as the fourth most dangerous place in the world for women. People have awareness of women’s rights now and with recent incidents that have shaken the public, none of the parties can ignore this issue.”

However, with the 25 million Indians living abroad unable to vote in the general election, only those resident in India will have the final say. What will they decide?

Photo: Dean Ayres via Compfight cc. NRIs at a Diwali celebration in London

8Apr

The extraordinary man who set up India’s extraordinary electoral system

by: Vikas Lather in TOP STORIES 1 Comment

India is merely a geographical expression… To leave India to the rule of the Brahmins would be an act of cruel and wicked negligence… the judicial, medical, railway and public works departments would perish and India will fall back quite rapidly through the centuries into barbarism
–Winston Churchill, later Britain’s prime minister, at the Royal Albert Hall, December 1930

India is a land beyond explanations, an extraordinary country — one of the world’s fastest growing major economies, home to the world’s most watched cinema, and the second most populous country with over 1.2 billion residents. India is the largest English-speaking nation and its cricket team is currently world champion. And, despite its enormous social and political diversity, it shows remarkable tolerance in situations of classical conflict.

It is, however, not the present but the past that makes India so remarkable. India undertook one of the most astonishing journeys for freedom. And its future depends on how well the nation understands its past crises and how the fathers of modern India worked to win freedom with compassion and creative thinking.

One giant of modern India, a person of critical importance in his time but largely forgotten today, was Sukumar Sen, mathematician, civil servant and, most importantly, the man who set up our extraordinary electoral system.

Sukumar Sen was born during the famine of 1899 in a Bengali Vaidya-Brahmin family. He studied in Calcutta’s Presidency College and graduated from the University of London with a gold medal in mathematics. His contribution to India began in 1921 when he joined the prestigious Indian Civil Services. He also served as a judge before becoming chief secretary (the highest position an ICS officer could aspire to under the Raj) of West Bengal, holding the office from 1947 till 1950. In March 1950, a year after the Election Commission of India was established, Sen became India’s first chief election commissioner, in which role he supervised the general elections of 1952 and 1957.

Sen took great care while designing the electoral system; he knew democracy meant an opportunity for everyone to participate in decision-making. He was confronted with 176 million Indians aged 21 or above, of whom more than 85 per cent lacked even elementary education. The Election Commission had to identify and register each adult inhabitant. After all voters were registered, a coordinated series of activities had to be undertaken to design party symbols.

The first general elections saw candidates being chosen for 4,500 seats for the Lok Sabha as well as the state assemblies; 380,000 reams of paper were consumed to print ballot papers, 389,816 phials of ink were used to mark voters, 2 million ballot boxes were made out of 8,200 tonnes of steel. Sites were chosen to set up 224,000 polling booths, 16,500 clerks were recruited on six-month contract to design the electoral process, 56,000 officers were selected for supervision, 280,000 volunteers and 224,000 policemen were deployed for honest administration of the polls and to protect voters against aggression and misconduct. All India Radio and films were used to educate the public about the elections — 3000 films were shown around India. In mountainous areas bridges were specially built; for small islands boats were used to ensure people’s participation.

One of the greatest challenges Sen faced, however, was social. For instance, women in Northern India were reluctant to give their names to the officials preparing the electoral rolls as they were habituated to being known by association with one or the other family member, such as Ramu’s mother or Shyamu’s wife; so they had registered in that fashion. Sen was outraged when he saw this and directed his officials to rectify the records. As a result, some 2.8 million women struck their names off the list. But historians now believe it was a good move to force them to register with their own identity and helped to establish women’s equality with men; most women who dropped out in the first election added their names in subsequent elections. This was the first time in history when every adult, regardless of race, sex and social stature, was granted the right to vote at the same time in true universal adult franchise.

The first general election saw India successfully enter the new age of direct democracy. ‘The second election in 1957’, an India Today report reveals, ‘cost India Rs. 45 million less because the prudent Sen had safely stored the 3.5 million ballot boxes used the first time round.’

With the democratic tradition taking root in the national psyche, electoral contests are now being articulated with a unique vocabulary: colourful, vibrant and seeking total participation. A fair, stable and robust election system has been one of the most striking features of Indian democracy, but this would have not been possible without the remarkable vision and dedication of its architect.

Sukumar Sen was later invited by Sudan to oversee its first general election. The media there announced him as a man of extraordinary skills for his ability to organise elections in daunting circumstances.

Sen was also a thinker; he raised serious doubts about Western claims over the idea of democracy, arguing that, in fact, ‘republican forms of government existed in many parts of ancient India’.

Historian Ramachandra Guha calls Sen ‘the man who had to make the election possible, a man who is an unsung hero of Indian democracy. It is a pity we know so little about Sukumar Sen. He left no memoirs and, it appears, no papers either’. It is sad that a man of such distinct intelligence and integrity has slipped from public memory and been reduced to a mere geographical expression (G T Road in Burdwan was renamed Sukumar Sen Road).

Sukumar Sen still awaits his biographer. His contribution deserves to be recognised with the Bharat Ratna, and Indians owe him a debt of gratitude.

Photo: Election Commission of India