Kejriwals response to Mukesh Ambani's issuance of defamation notices to TV channels for broadcasting Kejriwal's statements

I have just received the following by email as the text of Kejriwal's response to Mukesh Ambani, who has issued notices of defamation to many TV Channels for broadcasting Kejriwal's statements regarding Ambani at a Press Conference; I have no idea whether any of the following text is valid or accurate; however, I provide it below in the public interest - please check the text against other sources (or of course with the principals, if you have access to Kejriwal and AAP); if the text is wrong in any part, I will happily amend or retract it:

"Dear Mr Mukesh Ambani,

"You have recently sent a defamation notice to a number of TV channels. Their “crime” is that they aired the press conference held on the 31st October 2012 and 9th November 2012, by Prashant Bhushan and me, live.

"In our press conference, we presented before the country how you had illegally pressurized the government into increasing gas prices. We also told the country that your associates and your companies have accounts in Swiss banks where black moneyhad been stashed away. Many TV channels aired our expose live. All these TV channels have now received defamation notices from you.

"I find it quite perplexing. If you felt that you have been defamed by what Prashant Bhushan and I said, then we are the real culprits and, if you had to send a defamation notice, it should have been to us.The TV channels merely broadcastwhat we said. Despite this, instead of sending us the defamation notice, you have sent it to the TV channels.It is evident that your sole purpose of sending this notice was to steamroll the TV channels into subservience.

"The people of India want to ask you some straight questions: Is it not true that the list of those who have accounts in Swiss Banks, as received by the Government of India, includes your name and the names of your relatives, your friends and your companies? Is it not true that a balance of Rs.100 crores is shown against your name in this list? Is it not true that you have paid the tax on this amount after this list was received by the Government?

"If the above is true, as we suspect it is, it proves that you have admitted your guilt. As per the law of the land, you should be tried and if the charge of tax evasion is proved, you should be sent to jail.

"However, this would never happen.Why? Because the Government of India is intimidated by you. You have been reported as saying that the Congress Party has been bought by you – it is your dukaan, to be precise.

"You are right. according to some media reports, Mrs. # Sonia_Gandhi sometimes travels by your personal aircraft. People believe that Mr. Jaipal Reddy’s ministry was also changed because of your influence.

"Why only the Congress? Even BJP and many other parties are in your pocket. Earlier, Mr. Advani used to make a lot of noise about Swiss Bank accounts, but since your accounts have been exposed, BJP has suddenly gone quiet. BJP has not mentioned a single word in the Parliament about your accounts.

"It appears that almost all parties are afraid of you. Most leaders are scared of you, too. However, the citizens of this country are not scared of you. All parties could be your dukaan but India is not up for sale. India is ours, it belongs to the people of this country. You can purchase political parties and political leaders with your money but we will not let India be sold.

"You say that the TV channels have tainted your reputation by airing our press conference live. That’s wrong. I would urge you to answer this question honestly – Did # Prashant_Bhushan , myself and the TV Channels defame you or did you defame yourself through your own misdeeds?

"1. In 2002, you gave 1 Crore shares with a market price of Rs. 55 per share to Mr. #Pramod_Mahajan at just Rs. 1 per share. This was a straight bribe to get “Full Mobility”. When you were caught, you took back the shares. Presently, the matter is In court. Didn’t you defame yourself by doing this?

"2. You have made your multistoreyed residence on # Wakf_land. This land had been set aside for an orphanage. You have stolen the right of poor and orphaned Muslim children. Didn’t you defame yourself by doing this?

"3. A few gas wells belonging to the Country were allotted to you in 2000. You were supposed to extract gas and give it to the government. The gas belongs to us, the people of India. We are the owners of this gas.

"You were only a contractor appointed to extract the gas. However, cleverly you became the owner of the gas. You started “selling” the gas to the government. Because the Congress is in your pocket, it always bowed before your bullying.

"The Congress kept increasing the price of gas under your pressure and the nation kept wailing. Because of you, the prices of electricity, fertilizer and cooking gas kept rising. When it crossed all limits, Mr. # JaipalReddy opposed you. He was the Minister for Oil and Gas at that time. You got Mr. Jaipal Reddy transferred. Because of you many things have become increasingly expensive in India and the people are groaning under the load of these high prices. Do these shenanigans suit you? Do such acts not defame you?

"The list of such illegal acts done by you is quite long. The majority of the traders, businessmen and industrialists want to do their work honestly. But the system forces them into wrongdoings. But when a businessman like you brazenly subverts the system for his personal benefit, the entire industry and business world gets a bad name.

"You are on one side with immense wealth. On the other side are the people of this country. The people have now awakened. Fire is raging in their heart. History is witness that whenever there has been a clash between money and such rage, the rage has won.

"Kindly do not try to intimidate the media of this country. There may be some mediamen who may have done wrong things themselves. Such media-persons may succumb to your pressure. However, the majority of media persons keep the interest of the Country at heart even today. They are not going to capitulate so easily. History witnessed that whenever the judiciary, bureaucracy and legislature crumbled, it is the honest fourth pillar, comprising such media-persons that kept democracy alive.

"You have invested in some media houses directly or indirectly. It is possible that these media houses do your bidding. However, the journalists working for such media houses will not barter their integrity so easily.

"What is your dream? Do you want to become the world’s richest person through dishonesty? Suppose you became the owner of all the wealth in this country. Would that make you happy?

"Happiness does not increase by accumulating more and more wealth. Happiness comes with sacrifice. If you stopped doing business dishonestly and contributed your wealth for the development of the nation, this country will remember you with pride forever.

"With regards, "Arvind Kejriwal".

Upsetting India: Aam Aadmi Party (article published in the current issue of THE INTERNATIONAL INDIAN MAGAZINE, Dubai)

Everyone was shocked by the results of the Delhi elections: Aam Aadmi is a political party which did not even exist a few months ago.

Most Indians have still to recognise the significance of the results: the notable thing is that even though BJP won a plurality of seats, it actually lost votes - in spite of Narendra Modi’s supposedly charismatic and magnetic drawing power, the BJP’s vote share actually declined.

The results were not only a slap on the wrist for Congress, they were also a shock for BJP – after the announcement of the election results, the BJP leadership initially boasted that they would still provide the government for Delhi, but when it actually came to the decision, they did not dare to come up to the platform.

AAP had already announced that it would not work with anyone’s support, and wisely made clear the minimum agreement necessary before it would work with any party. Its 18 point minimum demand is too extensive to list here, but included items which were bound to be totally unacceptable to both Congress as well as to BJP, such as: The VIP culture to be stopped in Delhi: no MLA, minister or Delhi official to use a red beacon on their cars, nor live in big bungalows or be provided any security greater than is available to the ordinary citizen; locally-relevant decisions to be taken directly by the local citizens in ‘mohalla sabhas’ in every locality and colony; complete statehood status for Delhi: the Central Government’s hold on organisations like the Police and the Delhi Development Authority to be ended; an audit of all electricity companies in the national capital from the time these were privatised: licences to be cancelled for any companies that refuse to participate; all unauthorised colonies to be regularised (thirty percent of Delhi’s population lives in such colonies); clean and affordable ‘pakka houses’ (properly built houses) for those living in slums; regular jobs for all those working on contract; roads, electricity, water and other basic facilities to all street traders; setting up enough courts and appointment of a sufficient number of judges so that all uncleared cases are dealt with within six months; and, all sexual harassment cases to be investigated, prosecuted and judgments delivered within three months.

As one person put it on an internet chat group: “AAP had guts to put conditions and its conditions are exactly the demand of people”.

Another put it this way: “I am a supporter of Congress and if they do not agree on most of the AAP’s points, I think I will have to think about realigning my support”.

I am sure the refusal of BJP to support the AAP agenda will also have led to most BJP supporters to reconsider whether their support for BJP should be discontinued.

In any case, it was clear to me and to any other clear-eyed observer that no such minimum agreement would be forthcoming (it is entirely contrary to the spirit and modus operandi of both Congress and BJP).

So it is also clear that we will have a re-vote for Delhi around the time of the National Elections – and that, unless AAP does something extremely stupid before then, or BJP or Congress do something extraordinarily smart, AAP should then win the Delhi re-vote by a clear if not outright margin.

What AAP’s triumph signifies is a shock to the entire political culture in India which has slowly declined since Independence, and became totally reliant on money- power, muscle-power and caste-based calculations.

While caste-based calculations still have some hold in the less-developed parts of the country (that is, of course, the actual reason those areas are less-developed), it is clear that their hold is declining and will soon be a thing of the past. At least if ethics- and law-based parties such as AAP deliver administrative performance that matches their promise.

Given the economic and political structure of our country, that cannot be delivered if any such party forms the government only in a few states. As the entire structure of the country is steeply pyramidal, with economic as well as political power concentrated at the top levels of the Central Government, it is necessary for such ethically- based parties also to have power at the national level.

The challenge before AAP and similar parties elsewhere in the country is that of scaling up their effort - and there are indeed efforts for such parties to come together on the basis of a minimum common agenda in order to form a united national Rule-of-Law Front.

It is already evident that many if not most eminent thought leaders from the country will be with such a front, once it is formed.

Can India move beyond the upset of the Delhi elections to upsetting the entire direction of corruption and incompetence in which it has gone increasingly in the decades since Independence? If so, it will upset many who are currently benefiting from the incompetence and corruption.

But some upsets are good ones.

___

For the full text of the current issue of THE INTERNATIONAL INDIAN MAGAZINE, please see http://theinternationalindian.com/index.php

What economic policies does India need to provide progress for the enormous mass of its poorest people?

A friend writes:

"What would you like to see in the manifesto of political parties on economic development in India?

"Can you lead a small team to help us articulate that, with a focus on the 75% of Dalits, Tribals, Minorities and BCs who are left out of the development processess and gains?

"On XXX (date) a group of about 100 dalit and tribal leaders are meeting at YYY (place) to discuss the way forward to the elections of 2014. Please support this initiative.

"If you are willing I'll set up the groupon Economis policy to work with you on this".

My response:

Dear ZZZ

The policies needed are simple:

1. Clean, efficient and just administration committed to encouraging development, not control (i.e. administration should stop interference in self-development efforts of the people, e.g. all impediments, such as the Foreign Contributions Registration Act, need to be revoked)

2. Good roads, drinkable water, basic health facilities, provision of an educational system that makes sense

3. A legal system that works (appointment of a sufficient number of *suitable* judges, committed to the values of the Indian Constitution - not people like the High Court judge of a Rajput caste who had to be ordered by a Court to release his 30-year old daughter from captivity because she wants to marry a Brahmin)

4. Liberalisation of economic activity (most of the licences, permits and registrations in our country are not only useless, they are counter-productive). A *very* few essential things need to be retained and those can easily be identified and agreed on.

The problem in our country is not "avidya" or lack of knowledge about what needs to be done.

The problem in our country is "paap" or sin (we knowingly do wrong things in order to benefit ourselves even if it results in great hardship for many other people).

We do not need more manifestos, we need clear commitment to undertaking actions. AAP and other such rule-of-law parties are coming together to create a national front. Let us support this new movement.

Congress and BJP are on their way out.

On that topic, I will send you an article, which is due to be published in the next edition of The International Indian magazine (Dubai).

Warmly

Prabhu

Interesting analysis of the configuration of India's political parties

Interesting point of view, that I haven't come across earlier:

1) The BJP, as is well known, is a front for the RSS, but it is now dominated by the Other Backward Castes, so the RSS wants the BJP to die as early as possible.

2) AAP is the other front organisation of the RSS. Kejriwal is a strong opponent of reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes & Other Backward Castes.

3) From the RSS point of view, Modi's candidature for the post of Prime Minister is not for the purpose of defeating the Congress-led UPA, but for the purpose of defeating the (possible) Third Front, and that is because the third front is also dominated by the Other Backward Castes.

That is an interesting caste-oriented analysis. I'm afraid I myself don't think much in terms of caste-conglomerations. As one of my friends said in a post today, democracy has gone from being "a government of the people, for the people, by the people" to being "a government of the winning cluster of voting people, for the winning cluster of voting people, by the guys who got their maths right about which was the winning cluster of voting people."

My own view is that, when everything is up for grabs, it is better, naively, to support anyone who is willing and seems remotely capable of delivering an honest government devoted to the welfare of India's citizens.

In Delhi, at present, that's Aam Aadmi Party for me.

I'm sorry, but all the "science" of the psephologists doesn't impress me too much about India's future right now.

ARVP reports from other parts of the country

Based on the vision of uniting India's backward and oppressed groups (who form 60% of the population), work is now underway in the following states:

1) Andhra Pradesh

2) Odisha

3) Chattisgarh

4) Jharkand

5) U.P

In U.P this month, there is going to be a padyatra in at least one constituency where 1000 to 2000 people will be walking from their village to endorse this vision.

We hope that we will be able to follow this up in the other constituencies in the month of December.

It has been a hard grind and continues to be a challenge, nevertheless we press on.

We solicit your support in this endeavour.

Meeting in Mumbai of Representatives of 60% of India's population, organized by Adarsh Rashtriya Vikas Party

The meeting in Mumbai was a continuation of the meeting that took place in Delhi on the 4th and 5th of September .

Based on the brainstorming that has taken place over several months, came the idea to focus on the core constituency most affected by bad leadership.

Though on a general level, bad leadership affects the most poor and marginalised: Dalits comprising Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and what is termed as the pasmanda or Dalit Muslims. The second group identified was the scheduled tribes excluding for the moment tribes located in the north east. The third category were the backwards.

The realization came that these 3 groups form close to 60% of the population and in-spite of these large numbers find themselves the most underdeveloped, discriminated against, and persecuted.

The vision of ARVP is to envision these groups to come together on a single platform unifying these groups based on their common victimhood. However, this platform needs to be led by people who embody servant leadership and integrity.

The meeting in Mumbai, had two groups represented the Dalits and the Pasmanda Muslims, and was chaired by Shri Mahesh Bhatt, Maulana Mustakeen Azmi, and Anand Raj Ambedkar. The meeting was called for and organized by ARVP. About 250 people were present. The presentation by ARVP had a huge impact on the people who came and speaker after speaker endorsed the need and the vision of ARVP. Mahesh Bhatt and Mustakeen Azmi were the most vocal on the issue and kept referring to the need for unity of these groups.

After the meeting, many leaders came forward to express their desire for another meeting between key leaders representing the two groups.

The meeting also had representatives from the Aam Admi Party who came as a group and requested that Aam Admi Party and ARVP should join hands. This was followed up by a telephone call by Mr. Mayank Gandhi head of the Maharastra Unit of AAP wanting to have a meeting on the 21st November in Delhi.

Many thanks to the efforts and hard work of Navin Tauro and Abraham Mathai, without whom the meeting in Mumbai could not have taken place.

Why neither Narendra Modi nor Rahul Gandhi will be India’s next Prime Minister

As some of my readers will know, I write a regular column in THE INTERNATIONAL INDIAN magazine (published from Dubai). This is titled "Guptara Garmagaram" and has been willing to publish views that none of the major Indian publications has been prepared to countenance.

Here is the latest of my columns, which will appear in the next issue of THE INTERNATIONAL INDIAN:

Supporters of both Narendra Modi (NaMo) and Rahul Gandhi (RaGa) have started campaigning intensely with a view to seeing their favourite made India’s next Prime Minister (PM). Actress Mallika Sherawat produced a birthday video for NaMo, and my cousin has just sent me singer Krishnan Sugavanam's “youth anthem” which praises NaMo - the lyrics describe his humble beginning as a tea vendor and go on hypnotically to project NaMo’s candidacy.

As for RaGa, many people have predicted that Congress will win inspite of the NaMo factor – whether RaGa then gets a shot at being PM remains to be seen.

The facts are that while BJP will certainly win around 130 seats (it holds 117 seats at present), there is no way that BJP can win more than 200 seats of the 552 in the Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha).

The Upper House is also important in terms of legislation, it has 238 representatives of the Indian States and 12 members nominated by India’s President for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social service – though the Upper House is not significant in terms of political control and rather balances the interests of India’s people as a whole by the interests of India’s States.

Congress supporters think that they will definitely win 140 seats and may win many more (they hold 206 seats at present) – and some seem to think that, given developments in the last few weeks and those that can be foreseen before the elections, Congress may even win enough seats to form a government on its own (and certainly with the support of other parties). No wonder a Congress victory has been asserted as certain by Congress functionaries, ranging from RaGa himself to various minions.

On the strength of present surveys what we can definitely say is that neither BJP nor Congress seems at all likely to have an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha. After the elections, therefore, it will be a matter of which party can gather enough other parties around it to form a majority in Parliament. That party seems extremely unlikely to be BJP, since everyone knows that Modi’s strength as well as his weakness is his dictatorial tendency; with him it is “My way or the highway”.

As a result of that, the most likely result is that Modi may end up in Parliament at best as Leader of the Opposition.

RaGa too has many weaknesses so, in my view, a Congress-led alliance willl only be possible at the cost of a compromise candidate – someone other than RaGa.

However, there is a wild card in these elections: entirely new political parties have begun to make their presence felt.

Morever, this is the first election where voters will have the option of voting for “None of the above options” in order to reject all the candidates contesting the election in a constituency.

What good that does in terms of having a result in an election is not clear: what happens if the majority in a constituency votes “None of the above”? Do all the parties then put up fresh candidates for a fresh round of voting? No doubt, we will come to that pass sooner or later – when it will be interesting to watch what happens.

The dates of the elections for seats in the State Parliaments have now been announced for Delhi, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh – and these will be between mid-November and early December, though the votes in all these will be counted on a single day: December 8. That will provide an early indication of which way the wind is blowing for the national elections, though the Indian voter has been consistently canny in sending candidates from different parties to the State Parliaments as against the National Parliament.

Don’t be surprised if the new Parties sweep the board. For example, in the elections for the Delhi Legislative Assembly, a Party that did not exist only a few months ago, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is expected to take 18 out of the 70 seats, according to a poll by ABP News and Nielsen a few days ago (the last poll, a few weeks ago, gave AAP only 8 seats!).

My view is that, as we get closer to the elections, AAP will actually overtake both BJP and Congress to become the single largest party in Delhi - and may even win outright, specially given that its leader, Arvind Kejriwal, is already the most popular candidate for Chief Minister of Delhi. Thirty two per cent of the respondents preferred Kejriwal as the Chief Minister, while 27 per cent preferred the Congress incumbent Sheila Dikshit, and only 27 per cent were for the BJP’s Vijay Goel. Merely in the few weeks between August and the beginning of October, Kejriwal gained a whopping eight per cent over the BJP and Congress candidates.

AAP is, at present, contesting seats only for the Delhi Assembly. However, if it does well here, I have no doubt that it will rapidly spread its wings nationwide. A large number of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who were totally disinterested in politics in view of the widespread corruption in both BJP and Congress, have become active supporters of AAP, many of them actually moving physically to Delhi to support the AAP campaign.

This is in addition to the increasing number of NRIs who, as can be seen on the AAP website, are supporting it financially – not to mention first-time Indian supporters of any party.

But the AAP is only one of the new parties. For example, there is the ARVP (Adarsh Rashtriya Vikas Party) which claims to bring together India’s OBCs, Dalits, Tribals, Muslims and other religious minorities. There is the Professionals’ Party of India (PPI) whose aim is to “improve the quality of life of every Indian”. In anticipation of the national elections, PPI has announced that it “has joined hands with like-minded eminent people, whose primary aim is Nation Building”. Its earlier “Core Group has been reconstituted to provide the party a nationwide support base and a National presence”. However, this is supposed to be “just phase 1” of its plan for more exciting development in the months ahead, during which it is “resolved to provide … the best possible list of candidates who, with your support, will make this nation proud”.

Though, for my taste, we have in our country far more talk of “pride” than is justified by our “work” and by our “achievement”, it is possible that such new, ethically- and nationally-oriented parties will come together to form a New Front in the months ahead, which would be a genuine national alternative to the two old and tired parties.

AAP has already said that it will support neither BJP nor Congress.

If this New Front persists in ethically-based behaviour, it has the best chance of taking the country forward – provided it is not merely ethically-based but also capable of actually delivering better infrastructure, better education, and a better quality of life.

One final fact: we have a new generation of voters that have become eligible to vote – 75 million of them. These young people have no necessary ties with either of the two old parties, and are unlikely to be influenced by their parents.

That is why I, who don’t usually bet, am prepared to bet that neither NaMo nor RaGa who will be the next Prime Minister of India, but an entirely fresh face.