Most depressing thing about this election.

[The Outsider]

Are you being sarcastic/funny/drunk here?

Hyperbolic I guess.

[Ram]

you have got to be kidding? It was mamata vs. Left in WB' date=' and I promise you the lesser evil won. I was jumping for joy when I heard Karat speak. [/quote'] In terms of declared policy, yes, the Left is an unmitigated disaster. But I can promise you that in terms of Governance, Mamta is a nightmare. She has a tendency to keep flip-flopping on key issues. And being the eccentric that she is, you never know what she’s gonna do next. Having her in the ruling coalition will be a head-ache. I wont even be surprised if she withdraws support half-way.

Btw, does anyone know if you can be a cabinet minister if you don't win your Lok Sabha seat? Cause Chiddu lost...and his is poojniya Home minister.

Lol, our previous PM, Manmohan Singh was not a member of the Lok Sabha. There's also something called the Rajya Sabha. :D

Excuse me- Mamta might be a tantrum thrower but sue has strong principles as evidenced in the Nano saga. There is no way an industry should be erected on people's homes and livelihood.

Oh really? So how come that this same Mamta Banerjee, as Railway Minister, sanction one project after another that involved large-scale acquisition of farm and agricultural lands?

[The Outsider]

Oh really? So how come that this same Mamta Banerjee, as Railway Minister, sanction one project after another that involved large-scale acquisition of farm and agricultural lands?

Nothing wrong with acquisitions if compensations are adequate, specially for something like the Railways which forms the backbone of the country as opposed to acquiring land without compensation and gift it to a private corporation.

[Ram]

Nothing wrong with acquisitions if compensations are adequate' date=' specially for something like the Railways which forms the backbone of the country as opposed to acquiring land without compensation and gift it to a private corporation.[/quote'] Are you suggesting that for every railway line that was laid during Mamta’s tenure, all the parties and people concerned were adequately compensated? Of course not. And then, there’s this whole issue of comparison between a railway line and car factory. A railway does not create jobs (at least in the short to medium term), but the Nano factory would have created 1000s of jobs, directly and indirectly. Add to that the promise of the Tatas to invest in the community too. I am not actually trying to defend the Nano project. It may well be that the people were not fairly compensated. But, I do have a big problem with Mamta Banerjee the Railway Minister thinking its absolutely fine to sanction dozens of railway projects that would have led to the acquisition of 1000s of hectares of farm land and then Mamta Banerjee the opposition leader objecting to a car factory in West Bengal. There is a word in English for this – HYPOCRICY.

[karteekmvs]

Firstly, I am glad that a single party has got more than 200 seats. Secondly, if you look at all the major allies, DMK, Trinamool, SP, BSP (SP and BSP have offerred support as I write)- none of them have enough numbers to dictate terms although they would be happy to get their preferred cabinet postings. So there is a very good chance of the government being stable for 5 years without any major stebacks, which is really good for the growth of the country. The saddest part is we are going to have a person like Rahul Gandhi as our Prime Minister in 2014. I really hope Mr. Modi would stick to Gujarat and mind his business there. Charges against 150 MPs is not where we got to be, but the average age of an MP is now 50 which means the probability of an MP serving his constituency for a longer period of time is high and that is good. Even a person like Nagarjuna who has campaigned for the Congress mentioned that it is corrupt. With the probability of the Congress ruling the country for a longer time getting higher and higher that does not serve well for the country.

[suraj]

Despite Modi's campaigning etc' date=' the BJP lost vote share in Gujarat as well - down 0.9%. In contrast, the Congress lost only 0.5%. His inability to keep the Congress down to single digit number of seats in Gujarat is a big setback for Modi's image of being able to get any candidate elected from anywhere.[/quote'] Keep-it-cool, do I know you from somewhere???

[Keep-It-Cool]

Keep-it-cool' date=' do I know you from somewhere???[/quote'] yes, of course!

[The Outsider]

Are you suggesting that for every railway line that was laid during Mamta’s tenure, all the parties and people concerned were adequately compensated? Of course not. And then, there’s this whole issue of comparison between a railway line and car factory. A railway does not create jobs (at least in the short to medium term), but the Nano factory would have created 1000s of jobs, directly and indirectly. Add to that the promise of the Tatas to invest in the community too.

I am not sure - probably not given the poor history of land acquisition we have. But the fact is that she did fight for a fair cause here and gets my support for it. And I think you are just being facetious if you are seriously comparing the benefits of laying down railway tracks in the country with setting up of a car factory.

I am not actually trying to defend the Nano project. It may well be that the people were not fairly compensated. But, I do have a big problem with Mamta Banerjee the Railway Minister thinking its absolutely fine to sanction dozens of railway projects that would have led to the acquisition of 1000s of hectares of farm land and then Mamta Banerjee the opposition leader objecting to a car factory in West Bengal. There is a word in English for this – HYPOCRICY.

See I am not aware of large scale compensation irregularities she might have been involved in and would happily criticize her if I come across them. But have you ever thought why these irregularities in Railway never garnered so much media attention as Nano - because there was no Mamta Banerjee to take up the issue on a large scale. And that is why you need these kind of characters in politics - otherwise these land acquisition schemes will just run over the people and no one will even come to know. Just to clarify, I have nothing against the Nano project - big industrial projects and construction are part of the future of the country, but cannot happen at the cost of people being treated like vermin.

[Ram]

I am not sure - probably not given the poor history of land acquisition we have. But the fact is that she did fight for a fair cause here and gets my support for it. And I think you are just being facetious if you are seriously comparing the benefits of laying down railway tracks in the country with setting up of a car factory.

You’re right in backing a politician who stood behind what was probably a just cause, just that the politician you chose to back is someone who, as Union Railway Minister, must have sanctioned dozens and dozens of railway projects that would have involved the acquisition of 10s of 1000s of hectares of farm and agricultural land where the land-owners must have been paid pittance in the name of compensation. So, where was her sense of morality and justice back then? And absolutely I am right in comparing a car factory project to a railway. Why? Because most of the railway lines that are sanctioned are driven by political and vote-bank considerations and not by the real needs of the people. Nano is not like that. It was a genuine economic project that would have resulted in tangible benefits for the local economy, but it was shelved. Now, was the process of acquiring land for the project unjust? Probably. So, I am not going to actually complain bout Mamta getting involved in this. But my point is this – You’re backing the wrong person on this occasion.

See I am not aware of large scale compensation irregularities she might have been involved in and would happily criticize her if I come across them. But have you ever thought why these irregularities in Railway never garnered so much media attention as Nano - because there was no Mamta Banerjee to take up the issue on a large scale. And that is why you need these kind of characters in politics - otherwise these land acquisition schemes will just run over the people and no one will even come to know. Just to clarify, I have nothing against the Nano project - big industrial projects and construction are part of the future of the country, but cannot happen at the cost of people being treated like vermin.

Again, I have NOTHING against Mamta dedicating her time and energy if it was a just cause. I have said that repeatedly. But what I want to point out to you is – ‘Don’t give her too much credit. They’re all the same’ Anyways, coming back to the original topic, pretty soon you guys will understand why it is really bad idea to have a central govt., one of whose holding pillars is an eccentric women prone to multiple flip-flops and unexpected actions. As I said before, I would not be surprised at all if, halfway through the 5 years, she withdraws from the coalition citing some state issue. Mamta does have the poise that someone who’s an important cog of a govt. of 1.2 billion should have.

[punjabi_khota]

Important point to note here is that it is not the land OWNERS who were getting a raw deal, but the LANDLESS labourers working in the field, who would have nowhere to go and also get no money since they don't own any land.

[fineleg]

Despite Modi's campaigning etc' date=' the BJP lost vote share in Gujarat as well - down 0.9%. In contrast, the Congress lost only 0.5%. His inability to keep the Congress down to single digit number of seats in Gujarat is a[b'] big setback for Modi's image of being able to get any candidate elected from anywhere.

K-i-c And rightly so!

[graphic23]

K-i-c And rightly so!

On what evidence do you consistently accuse Narendra Modi of being a murderer? A particular SC probe cleared him. (I have no evidence for or against him, so I cannot say anything). But as of right now, the stay has been lifted and the SC has ordered a probe again into the case. But until something new comes out of it, shouldn't we respect what the Nanavati commission has declared to be true - i.e. it cleared him of any misdoings. The man might be proven guilty (and again, I don't know whether he is involved or not) , but until he is officially proven guilty, he is innocent by law. He's also done a fair bit of good things in Gujarat in terms of development of technology, helping the agricultural sector out, etc. How come every post of yours only considers Modi a murderer but fails to mention this as a sidenote - however (in)significant it might be? Supporting one side or the other might be fine but claiming to be neutral/objective and having outright bias is called being a hypocrite.

[chanakya]

Are you suggesting that for every railway line that was laid during Mamta’s tenure, all the parties and people concerned were adequately compensated? Of course not. And then, there’s this whole issue of comparison between a railway line and car factory. A railway does not create jobs (at least in the short to medium term), but the Nano factory would have created 1000s of jobs, directly and indirectly. Add to that the promise of the Tatas to invest in the community too. I am not actually trying to defend the Nano project. It may well be that the people were not fairly compensated. But, I do have a big problem with Mamta Banerjee the Railway Minister thinking its absolutely fine to sanction dozens of railway projects that would have led to the acquisition of 1000s of hectares of farm land and then Mamta Banerjee the opposition leader objecting to a car factory in West Bengal. There is a word in English for this – HYPOCRICY.

another attribute of Politicians among other things