Real Voter February 16-28, 2019

Lok Sabha Election News and Views

REAL VOTER News Magazine on Politics in India February 16-28, 2019

Mamata Banerjee

An Editorial Initiative of Raman Media Network

News | Events | Opinion | Voter Education | Trends

Main Stories in This Issue

Political Issues

Campaigns

Rahul Gandhi Invites PM Modi for a Debate Expiry Date of Modi Govt: Mamata Banerjee

Mera Parivar, Bhajapa Parivar Priyanka Gandhi Kicks Off Poll Campaign

Trends

Developments

Use of Technology for Lok Sabha Election Election Paradox in India How to Win Elections in India

Kejriwal Wants to Win All 7 Lok Sabha Seats Course on Politics and Governance Opposition Parties Agree for EVMs

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BJP Launches Mera Parivar, Bhajapa Parivar Campaign BJP urged people to take selfies with the flag and post it on Facebook and Twitter.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is organizing the “​Mera Parivar, Bhajapa Parivar​” campaign.

Mera Parivar, Bhajapa Parivar. Photo: BJP

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With an eye on the Lok Sabha election, the campaign runs from February 12 to March 2.

According to BJP, 50 million BJP workers and supporters across the country will put up BJP's flag at their homes under this campaign.

The party also urged people to take selfies with the flag and post it on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #MeraParivarBhajapaParivar.

Expiry Date of Modi Government Has Come: Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee said that Modi’s political career had started with Godhra (Gujarat) riots and the victims of the 2002 riots have not got justice.

West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee – who is a fierce critic of PM Narendra Modi – said on February 2 that the end of Modi Government has come.

She added that Modi has ruled for 5 years by using law-enforcement agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (​CBI​), Income Tax (IT) Department, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to target his opponents.

“Expiry date of Modi Government is here. He has ruled for five years with the help of CBI, IT, and ED,” Ms. Banerjee stated.

“The highest levels of the BJP (Modi’s party) leadership are doing the worst kind of political vendetta. Not only are political parties their targets, they are misusing power to take control of the police and destroy all institutions. We condemn this,” she added.

Launching an attack on Modi’s communication ​skills​, Ms. Banerjee said that Modi can’t even speak properly and he reads his speeches from a teleprompter. “He is good for nothing,” she

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said, adding that Modi’s political career had started with Godhra (Gujarat) riots and the victims of the 2002 riots have not got justice. “He (Modi) lacks humanity and compassion,” Ms. Banerjee said​ in her hard-hitting article.

Mamata Banerjee She had organized a huge opposition rally - United India Rally - in Kolkata on January 19 with the aim to defeat Modi’s BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha​ election​.

She said that the Modi government has destroyed the economy with demonetization and hurried implementation of Goods and Services Tax (​GST​). “This is a fascist government. He (Modi) has no courtesy. He does not know the manner in which a PM must speak. His arrogance will soon end,” Ms. Banerjee said.

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Election Paradox in India A major paradox in Indian elections is that majority of the voters don’t elect but they reject the party that forms the government.

The problem begins with the elections (Lok Sabha as well as State Assembly elections). Today, in India’s population of 1.3 billion, there are nearly 800 million voters. On average, about 60% voters vote. It’s mostly seen that a candidate in any constituency wins the election with nearly 50% of the votes polled. So, if there are, say, 100 voters in a constituency, 60 will vote. And the winner will get 30 votes.

In other words, out of 100, 70 have not elected that candidate for their area. Then how can such a candidate be the true representative for the whole population in that area or constituency?

A major paradox in such elections is that majority of the voters don’t elect but they reject the party that forms the government. But this faulty system is followed throughout India. Take, for example, the Lok Sabha elections of 2009. In those elections, 417 millions votes were polled out of total voters of 716 million.

In the 543-member Lok Sabha, a political party needs at least 272 seats for majority and to form the government. But the Indian National Congress (or Congress) won just 206 seats and formed the government – with support from smaller parties with fewer seats.

This is a major flaw by itself because a coalition government is formed on mutual convenience of political parties rather than any convergence of ideologies or objectives to serve the masses.

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In 2009, Congress got 119 million votes, which is just 16.6% of the total votes. That means, 83.4% voters did not want Congress to form the government. [ ​Download the Consultative Paper: Need to Transform the Political System in India​ ] Similarly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in 2014. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 336 seats in the Lok Sabha election of 2014. The BJP itself won only 31% of all votes, which gave it 282 seats in the Lok Sabha (Parliament).

That means, 69% of voters and a bigger percentage of Indian citizens never wanted BJP to form the government. This is simply a mockery of democracy, which is instituted through a flawed election process. People elect the candidates without analyzing their capabilities and then keep complaining during their tenures till the next elections.

How can a government function properly without having the trust of majority of its people? This fault in the Indian electoral system has been persisting for decades.

After Complaints, Opposition Parties Agree for Election on EVMs Opposition parties allege that when EVMs malfunction, strangely they start voting in favour of PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A delegation of the representatives of some national and state-level political parties met the Election Commission of India (ECI) on February 4 to complain about the vulnerability of electronic voting machines (​EVMs​).

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Voters waiting at a polling booth in India. Photo: PIB The leaders of over 20 opposition parties urged the Commission to ensure that 50% results of EVMs are matched and verified with voter verifiable paper audit trails (​VVPATs​) before the declaration of results in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

Although the Commission did not make any commitment, it said casually that it will examine the EVM issues raised by the opposition parties – which claim to represent 70% of India’s electorate.

The opposition parties reported about various EVM manipulations such as attacks on strong rooms where EVMs are kept, power outages, failure of CCTV cameras, and mismatch between votes polled and votes counted. ​REAL VOTER News Magazine on Politics in India

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They also allege that when EVMs malfunction, strangely they start voting in favour of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

While the opposition parties have been demanding elections on ballot papers instead of EVMs, strangely now they are ready to hold the Lok Sabha election on EVMs saying there is hardly any time left to arrange ballot paper voting.

With the acceptance of the conditional use of EVMs, the opposition parties have embarked upon a suicidal mission, as it will be almost impossible for them to win if the Lok Sabha election is held on EVMs. If they are so worried about EVMs, they should demand election only on ballot papers even if election is delayed for a few months.

Although Congress – which opposes EVMs - recently defeated BJP in three state elections, it is said that BJP surreptitiously allowed Congress to win in small elections so that Congress should not complain against EVMs in the countrywide Lok Sabha election in which Modi will be contesting. It is said that BJP tampers with EVMs cleverly only to win crucial elections.

While the election authorities work for the Modi government, under some pretext they will refuse to entertain the opposition complaints about EVMs and VVPAT counting. In that case election will be held on EVMs, and irrespective of the VVPAT verification Modi’s BJP can hope to win at least 300 Lok Sabha seats.

Now it is also being argued that the so-called ‘Modi wave’ in the 2014 Lok Sabha election was not driven by voters, but it was driven by voting machines.

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Rahul Gandhi Invites PM Modi for a Debate While India is an underdeveloped country where most politicians are not properly educated, they do not participate in open debates.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on February 7 that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is a coward.

The Congress leader was speaking at a national convention '​Mera Samvidhaan Mera Swabhimaan' organized by the All India Congress Committee, Minority Department, in New Delhi. "नरे

मोद डरपोक यि त है ,” Rahul Gandhi said while inviting Modi for a face-to-face debate on

various issues before the Lok Sabha election.

Such ​debates between leaders of competing political parties are held in advanced democracies such as the U.S. While India is an underdeveloped country where most politicians are not properly educated, they do not participate in open debates and usually abuse each other in their solo speeches delivered to illiterate voters.

“If BJP (Modi’s party) has any courage, they should make Mr. Modi stand with me on this stage for a debate,” the Congress leader challenged.

He added that Congress will defeat BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, although he did not elaborate his strategy for defeating Modi or BJP.

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Rahul Gandhi. Photo: Congress It is largely believed that if the Lok Sabha election is held on electronic voting machines (​EVMs​), it will be almost impossible for Congress or any other political party to defeat BJP.

How to Win Elections in India While most political parties are complaining about the electronic voting systems, it appears that only those politicians and political parties will win future elections in India who know the art of stealing voter databases and hacking EVMs.

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India to Leverage Technology for Lok Sabha Election The program was launched during the 2-day training workshop on the use of Information & Communication Technology (ICT).

The Election Commission of India (​ECI​) has launched a Voter Verification and Information Program (VVIP) for citizens for verification of their names, new registrations, changes in the voter details, and corrections in the Voter ID Cards for the upcoming General (Lok Sabha) Election 2019.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora addressing the concluding session of the training workshop on ICT Application for General Elections 2019, in New Delhi on February 8, 2019. Photo: PIB

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ECI has enabled various channels for this program. It has set up Contact Centers in all districts across India. The Voter Helpline number is 1950. The Contact Centres are equipped with latest information and telecom infrastructure to help the callers.

The program was launched during the 2-day training workshop on the use of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) for the conduct of General Elections 2019. It was attended by Additional Chief Electoral Officers, Incharge of IT, Nodal Officers, State Level Master Trainers, and technical resource persons from all States and Union Territories.

Speaking on the occasion, Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa said that the strength of technology is to make it easy for use by all. He reminded the participants that the central theme of ECI's endeavors is to make elections more inclusive. With the use of Apps, prompt responses should be ensured as citizens demand better quality of services.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said that technology is indeed a major game changer.

The purpose at training workshops should be to listen, learn, absorb, and apply. He pointed out that little time is now left before elections and intense consolidation of all learning should be ensured to actually facilitate the voter.

Thinkable Thoughts ● As most politicians in India are illiterate or have criminal records, now it is being observed that India has become a kakistocracy where the government is under the control of the worst, least qualified, and most unscrupulous people.

● No government in India is willing to stop corruption because it has become the lifeblood of Indian bureaucrats and politicians.

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Course on Politics and Governance The focus of the 9-month program is on the socio-political environment in India.

Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership (IIDL), Thane, is offering a course on politics and governance. It aims to produce future political leaders in India.

The course covers the following areas: ●

Leadership and Management

●

Politics and Democracy

●

Governance and Public Policy

An Indian minister Dr. Jitendra Singh with a group of students from Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership (IIDL), Maharashtra, in New Delhi on February 8, 2019. Photo: PIB

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With its focus on socio-political environment in India, the 9-month program promises to equip the participants with necessary skills for having career in politics, public affairs, voluntary organizations, and allied areas.

After Destroying Delhi, Kejriwal Wants to Win All 7 Lok Sabha Seats While Kejriwal’s AAP expects to win all Lok Sabha seats, it will be a defeat for the people of Delhi if they elected even one AAP politician in the election.

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. This proverb fits well with the beleaguered chief minister of Delhi ​Arvind Kejriwal who has completely destroyed Delhi and still wants to dominate the local political scene.

In order to wrest control over the local governance, Kejriwal urged the people of Delhi on February 14 to vote for his Aam Aadmi Party (​AAP​) in the upcoming Lok Sabha election so he could win all the 7 seats which are now with BJP. Kejriwal fails to realize that Delhi has become a virtual hell under his rule. Most people believe that in 4 years, Kejriwal and AAP have caused such a damage to Delhi that now it will take it almost 40 years to recover from the ruins.

Today, Delhi is among the ​most polluted and the dirtiest cities of the world and ​corruption is rampant​ in every street of Delhi while Kejriwal government never tried to control it.

Similarly, the education standards – particularly in ​Delhi schools – are going from bad to worse while Kejriwal has no interest in improving the quality of education. Rather, Kejriwal and his party colleagues are making false claims about Delhi school education. ​REAL VOTER News Magazine on Politics in India

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While Kejriwal is going gaga over the hyped performance of his ​Mohalla Clinics​, people in Delhi complain about the futility of such a flawed health care concept.

BJP observed February 14 as the Black Day to mark the disastrous 4 years of Kejriwal government. Photo: BJP Earlier, to win election, Kejriwal had made false promises of removing corruption. But now instead of dealing with bureaucratic corruption, Kejriwal and his political colleagues themselves are allegedly involved in a number of ​corruption cases​.

As Kejriwal government has almost ​destroyed Delhi, major opposition parties including BJP and Congress are running aggressive political campaigns to defeat Kejriwal’s AAP.

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BJP observed February 14 as the Black Day to mark the disastrous 4 years of Kejriwal government. BJP says that in 4 years, Kejriwal and his AAP have made 70 false promises and told 74 lies.

Delhi Congress roped in Sheila Dikshit to defeat Kejriwal (file photo) Courtesy: Delhi Congress Similarly, Congress also has released a ​booklet to highlight Kejriwal government’s failures.

Released with the hashtag #AAPFailedDelhi, the booklet explains AAP’s failures in all the areas of governance including healthcare, transport, education, and environment.

Now it is such a chaos in all departments under Kejriwal government that its ministers should have new titles such as Corruption Minister, Pollution Minister, Uneducated Minister, Unhealthy Minister, and Lawless Minister. ​REAL VOTER News Magazine on Politics in India

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While AAP expects to win all Lok Sabha seats, it will be a defeat for the people of Delhi if they elected even one AAP politician in the election.

Click here to read the full story and see pictures to know how Kejriwal and AAP have destroyed Delhi​.

Priyanka Gandhi Kicks Off Poll Campaign Priyanka Gandhi was supported by Rahul Gandhi and another Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The newly appointed Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi – who is the sister of Congress president Rahul Gandhi – kicked off her Lok Sabha election campaign on February 11 in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh – U.P.).

Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. Photo: Congress She was supported by Rahul Gandhi and another Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. An unprecedented crowd of thousands of people greeted the Congress leaders. ​REAL VOTER News Magazine on Politics in India

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With the extreme excitement among the Congress supporters in U.P., Congress can hope to win at least 50 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state - only if the elections are held on traditional ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines (​EVMs​) which - it is believed - can be manipulated to change the results of elections.

Meet the Editor The editor of ​Real Voter news magazine ​Rakesh Raman is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page tech business column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group).

Nowadays, for the past about 8 years, he has been running his own global news services on different subjects. He also has formed a free Education and Career Counselling Center for deserving children at a poor J.J. Colony in Dwarka, New Delhi under his ​NGO – RMN Foundation.

He runs an exclusive community-driven anti-corruption social service “​Clean House​” to help the suffering residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice.

He also creates and distributes a number of ​digital publications that cover areas such as technology, law, environment, education, corruption and transparency.

He has created a comprehensive online information service to educate the Indian voters for the upcoming L ​ ok Sabha election​ scheduled to happen in 2019.

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Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.

Contact

Rakesh Raman Raman Media Network (RMN) Company 463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka, Phase I New Delhi 110 078, INDIA C ​ ontact by email

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