This post was triggered by two unrelated links I read last weekend.  The first: Is Sonia Above Questioning? by Sh Rajinder Puri from which this brief excerpt:
…The BJP has taken up the secret Indian Swiss bank money issue. Does it seriously contemplate recovering the money? Or is it just a poll gimmick?
…Are they political opportunists? Do they or don’t they really intend to deliver results on the Swiss money? If the BJP is serious about fighting corruption there is no dearth of issues. Take one glaring example.
On August 15, 2006 …

…in other words, some light weekend reading.
*** Excerpts from a recent interview of Nafisa Ali ***

Why have you rejoined the Congress?
Because that’s my party.
…
Why do you say that your decision to join the SP was ‘a mistake’?
I took a step which, if I was rational and calm, I would never have taken. I went against my principles. I made a mistake because I didn’t have political backing and the support I needed at that time.
Did you join the SP because you wanted a seat at any cost?
It’s not about …

Recap from yesterday:
The serious questions being asked include:

If the polling was not even complete how could “votes polled” data be available for all but 47 of the 8071 candidates?
If EVM’s were secure with DEO/district collectors, and elections were not even held in many constituencies, how was the data for 8023 candidates or all but 47 of the 8071 candidates available to the ECI on files downloaded between these dates?

…If this is a Mistake, Why No Clarifications from the ECI?
Read on:
On the 6th of May Anupam and Prof Nalapat asked …

A few weeks ago, during my last visit to Bharat, I met Anupam Saraph, Pune’s Chief Information Commissioner. I was introduced to Anupam via a chain triggered by Barun Mitra.
I was keen to meet him, especially as his profile seemed to be very very intriguing.  Anupam and I met on a rainy evening at ShivSagar restaurant (the best coffee for its price in Pune, I think!) and it was only around 10pm that I realised we had been talking for 3 hours!
What Anupam told me that day was unbelievable…So I …

Dear All: I am reproducing below an internal communication from a BJP member who has requested anonymity.  Pl. read on.
***  “BJP and The Art of Lie-Cycle Maintenance”  ***
The rise & resurgence  of India is inevitable. It is going to happen ! The challenge is not in making it happen. The challenge is how soon can we make it happen. The challenge is in minimizing the volumes and masses of blood and sweat that we are going to shed during the journey. BJP is not an end in itself or for that matter its …

Comment # 131:
@Ashwin, I agree, let us wait for 15 months (not 5 yrs) to see how Raul really is as a politician cause I feel that will the the time when he will be installed in the front end of the government.
I find your selection of words, to describe Raul, very funny and more NDTV/CNNIBN type when you say “Rahul has been media shy and more measured when he is asked to give instant comments on issues…”
That is the hypocrisy I hate most! Different yardsticks for different people?
Comment by …

As I was clearing my backlog of articles from past few weeks, I chanced upon this interview of Digvijay Singh by Karan Thapar.
Read the excerpts against the backdrop of events leading up to the elections and the 2009 mandate to Congress (I)…and you will see why I chose the title of the post.
*** Excerpts from Devil’s Advocate: Digvijay on what if Cong loses ***
Karan Thapar: The revelation that your government has withdrawn the red corner notice against the Bofors scam accused Ottavio Quattrocchi, is an embarrassment. What justification you can …

I write this post as someone who wishes well to the BJP – a party from whom I have high expectations. It is essentially a compilation of key points culled from various articles, analyses, emails and comments following the party’s dismal performance in the 15th Lok Sabha elections.
Since I have never been trained to be a writer, the form of expression that comes naturally to me – after more than two decades in the “real word” – is a “summary of key points”. This is what the post …

Start the weekend with this provocative piece by Atany Dey. A brief excerpt from Whistling in the Dark about the Future:
Gurcharan Das writes in the Times of India (10th May) that “The Future Belongs to India.” That’s his argument which I suppose he made in a debate in London on the proposition that “the future belongs to India, not China.” I understand perfectly the need for such an argument because I too feel a lot of distress when I compare what China has achieved relative to India and have to …

Anil Bairwal of ADR released their “Updated Analysis of Lok Sabha MPs” – Criminal, Financial,Educational Background yesterday in which I found this nugget of information:

Total number of crorepati MPs in the present Lok Sabha – 300

I realise being a crorepati is no big deal in India today (e.g. read India home to fastest growing number of millionaires) but still…
Sadly, ADR’s report reveals in spite of all the talk about “change” and clean, value-based politics, the BJP has the maximum number of MPs having criminal cases against them – 43 (out …