As I read about Sanjay Dutt’s rousing welcome in Lucknow, I was remined of a brief email exchange with Dnyanesh from some days back. Dnyanesh asked me my thoughts on what should be the selection criteria for candidates contesting elections for Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies. I shared some ideas with him (below) but I don’t think these are either complete or the best.
I would like everyone’s inputs and suggestions on this…
My initial thoughts are:
Candidates must be able to satisfy the following criteria at the very least:

Financially solvent
Above 21 years …

Continuing the series of posts by Sanjeev Sabhlok, I am very glad to present this thought-provoking argument on creating and maximising opportunities.
*** Guest Post by Sanjeev Sabhlok ***
No one in developed countries will be found living off a few coconut slices sold under the hot sun each day. So why is this man forced to waste his entire life in this totally insignificant activity? An answer is found in our politics.

This man could well have been a successful industrialist or entrepreneur given the right opportunities. But today, most Indians are …

Continuing the promised series of articles by Sanjeev Sabhlok, here is Sanjeev on Freedom. Please note that the emphasis is mine.
Freedom first
A country is jointly created by its citizens through a social contract to defend their life and liberty. Freedom actually comes before everything else even if we don’t often think about it. It is vital to our existence.
As Pearl S. Buck said, “Men would rather be starving and free than fed in bonds”. Even the poorest villager prefers to roam free and enjoy the sunset, than stay in solitary confinement …

I was alerted to this article earlier yesterday. It raises some hard (and disturbing) questions about the purpose and the context of US President-Elect Obama’s visit to Pakistan in the early 80s. Some excerpts from India Wake Up: Why did Obama go to Pakistan in 1981? by Brian Baldwin:
What was Obama’s fascination with Pakistan in those decades past when he traveled and spent three weeks there in 1981 during his college years?
Why Pakistan? Germany, or France, or even India or the Philippines, yes … But, it is not typical, …

Following up on my earlier post, here is a neat table titled “Index of Fiscal Self Reliance”. It comes from Annexure 7 (Annex 7.10, Para 7.33) to the 12th Finance Commission Report [pdf file].
Index of Fiscal Self Reliance

States own Revenue/Revenue Expenditure ( as %)

Average
Average

 
’93-’94 to ’95-’96
’00-’01 to ’02-’03

Andhra Pradesh
                     59.2
                        59.5

Arunachal Pradesh
                     20.3
                          9.5

Assam
                     30.2
                        32.7

Bihar
                     34.2
                        24.8

Chhattisgarh
                     56.7
                        58.2

Goa
                     77.9
                        74.0

Gujarat
                     79.6
                        58.8

Haryana
                     75.5
                        77.6

Himachal Pradesh
                     25.7
                        21.9

Jammu & Kahsmir
                     16.9 …

From “The Leader We Deserve” by Michael Kinsley…Although the article is about Obama, McCain and the US, it could have easily been written for India.
Peace and prosperity. During the last decade of the 20th century, Americans enjoyed more of both than any other people in history. Not all Americans, but most. Certainly most voters….Now both peace and prosperity seem uncertain.
…Through the fog of partisanship, we can acknowledge that both candidates are good men. But good isn’t enough. This time we need greatness.
Greatness is a compliment generally conferred in retrospect. We have …

Last week, I was alerted to two excellent initiatives: Jaago Re! and ADR.
Jaago Re!’s focus is to get India’s one billion voters to register and participate in the electoral process.
Its uniqueness lies in exploiting technology “…to make registering to vote online a possibility. It also serves as a one-stop-shop solution to all your voting needs.”
On top of that, “…it gives you the opportunity to run your own voter registration drive and be a part of the movement to get the entire country registered!”  I whole-heartedly support this initiative and recommend everyone …

*** UPDATE ***
You can still participate in the poll by clicking on clicking on this link. Thanks
***
A few weeks ago, I requested you to take part in a poll on “What is stopping you from joining active politics?“.
I am very pleased with the level of participation. I got over a 100 responses and also some though-provoking comments e.g. “…Fear that at the end I will be forced to be corrupt for survival sake” and “no inner party democracy in any party…”.  But first, the results…
Poll: What is stopping you from …

1. DGP and BJP MP B P Singhal examines “The sting and the truth about Gujarat” including this Aaj Tak faux pas:
It was therefore truly shocking that on 25.8.2007, Aaj Tak harped on the same old refrain that “Modi did not call the army until three days had passed“. Even more outrageous was their insistance on this point. When Aaj Tak contacted me on phone to get my response, I told the anchor that the Godhra carnage took place on February 27, 2002, that the Hindu backlash commenced on February …

In a recent TIME magazine article, Michael Elliott suggested that Japan’s experience may be a clue to a post-modern era in which “…politics, something that we have assumed for 200 years was the wellspring of national success or failure, is somehow just not that important..”.