Vendetta Politics

Vendetta meaning a prolonged bitter quarrel with or campaign against someone.

Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi over his "insecure dictator" barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi,on 21st Dec. 2018; BJP president Amit Shah said India has seen only two "insecure dictators", one who imposed emergency and the other who wanted unrestricted access to read letters of common citizens. Playing on words of a popular film song, he also tweeted in Hindi, "Tum itna kyon jhutla rahe ho, kya dar hai jisko chhipa rahe ho" (why are you falsifying so much, what are you afraid of). Mamata Banerjee’s dictatorship in Bengal, says BJP as permission denied to Amit Shah’s rally - In May 2019.

BJP is firmly in saddle, with the Congress completely decimated with A catchy slogan:'Aab Ki Baar Modi Sarkar' (Not BJP but Modi-Shah Jodi Sarkar), The usage of IT and social media to reach out to the mass, converted this election into a US presidential model, where his opponents were pushed to talking only about him, good or bad, and that publicity helped; giving his trusted Man Friday, Amit Shah, a free hand, also the presence of Shah, known for his rough ways, send an impression of no-nonsense amongst the cadres.

"The trouble with Indian politicians is that they are animals of convenience. When their partyman is accused and arrested, they scream vendetta politics. So long as we have politicians of this hue, there is no way forward. Our jails are getting filled with politicians of every colour."

Ravish Kumar from NDTV, recently received Magsaysay Award for 2019. In his speech he said - Across the world, democracy is in fire in the broad day light - looking for the coolness in the moon. Information helps build nations. Need courage to put the right views. Power of Citizen Journalism, we need to withstand the present onslaught, and bring a better government in the future. Fight back and bloom like the cactus does in the barren deserts. State has tried to take control of media - narrowing the scope; taking the view of ruling party.

Responding to Trump tweet, FoxNews host Neil Cavuto said: " First of all, Mr. President, we don't work for you. My job is to cover you, not fawn over you or rip you." Does an Indian Journo have the chutzpah to say this to a minister in the government, leave alone the prime minister. - They will have to face consequences like Gauri Lankesh and Judge Loya.

The Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case was a criminal case in the Gujarat state of India, he was also claimed to have links to fellow underworld criminals Sharifkhan Pathan, Abdul Latif, Rasool Parti and Brajesh Singh, who were all members and associates of India's largest organized crime network and underworld mafia operated by Dawood Ibrahim. It was alleged that to give favourable decisions towards Amit Shah - the prime accused, and to stop the case proceeding further, the Chief Justice of Mumbai High Court, Mohit Shantilal Shah, offered a bribe of Rs. 100 Crore to the Supreme Court CBI Judge B.H. Loya, refusal of which caused Judge Loya to have a heart attack and Mr. Amit Shah went on to become the Home Minister of Gujarat.

The CBI had filed a separate FIR in the Tulsiram Prajapati case after strenuously claiming before the SC that Prajapati case was part and parcel of Sheikh case. A Mumbai trial court discharged Shah from the Sohrabuddin-Prajapati case in Dec. 2014. Amit Shah accused Chidambaram and the Congress of misusing the CBI to target political opponents. The Narendra Modi government was in place by this time. Shah has also been accused of ordering illegal surveillance on a woman. However, the woman asked the case to not be followed up, probably due to severe pressure from the government. Shah's name also figures in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

The BJP declared that Amit Shah was innocent yet harassed by the Congress-led government. Interestingly, the Congress is making the same claim about Chidambaram's involvement in the INX Media case.

Social media has been buzzing with tags like “kalchakra (the wheel of time),” “tale of two leaders” and “life goes full circle,” comparing the arrest of two leaders. Some twitter handles are also quoting Mr Shah’s remarks in Gujarati when the Supreme Court permitted him to return to Gujarat in 2012 - “Mera paani utarte dekh kinare par ghar mat bana lena mein samundar hoon, laut kar jarur aaoonga(thinking the tide has ebbed, don’t you dare build your castles on the coast, for I am the sea, and I always come back).”

Hope the freedom of press and judiciary is not hampered. Democracy, is it shaking in India? Wondering how much has Ahmed Patel to do with this - and Was Ehsan Jafri too targeted.

Politics is dirty. There's just nothing you can really do about it. But the brazen and frankly disturbing extents to which Indian politicians take it is a whole different ball game. If the current government, which succeeded on a rhetoric of stamping out corruption, is by all accounts even dirtier, and probably more dangerous, than their previous counterparts time would say, but would it be too late by then?

Modi government has taken several bold decisions – on economy, social issues national security -- including Demonetisation in November 2016, GST rollout in July 2017, Triple Talaq in 2017 (passed by Parliament in July 2019), National Citizenship Register in Assam and Article 370 abrogation in August this year. Each of these decisions have had economic and social impact, long-term consequences and have dominated the national discourse. Stock market crash and rupee slide show that measures taken by the government to pump up the economy have had little or no impact. These steps may work in the long run but the government must create an atmosphere of trust and security to improve consumer sentiment.

Are ‘vendetta politics’ and social anxiety dragging Indian economy down? Ex-PM Manmohan Singh: The state of economy today is deeply worrying. Last quarter's GDP growth rate of 5% signals that we are in midst of a prolonged slowdown. India has potential to grow at a much faster rate but all round mismanagement by Modi govt has resulted in this slowdown. Modi government is accused of unleashing investigative agencies and tax authorities to go after former ministers and the academics have raised concerns about attacks on the intelligentsia. People are divided and the incidents contributes to the fear psychosis across a wide spectrum of the society.

Indian government must create an atmosphere of trust to improve consumer/society/economy/mass sentiments.