Comments on: More presidential elections

By: Aishwarya

Aishwarya — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:07:41 +0000

Jeffaclitus – Eek. Difficult questions, all of those. The BJP has a lot of links with Hindu nationalism, but it’s also very much linked to the interests of the (Hindu, conservative) middle class and can be quite pragmatic when necessary. And then there was Godhra and what happened after it.
I don’t know how threatening Hindu nationalism is, to be honest, because those who advocate it are usually not taken seriously by what passes for a liberal media here. Hindu dominance is pretty strong when it comes to social and legal codes and such, but that’s also because Hindus remain in such a huge majority.

Tejaswi – The last UP elections really were a shocker, weren’t they? I was reasonably pleased.

Catherine – I said Kalam’s poetry was execrable. I didn’t say i didn’t enjoy it! ;)

By: Catherine Martell

Catherine Martell — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:33:05 +0000

Great post. I think India has actually been ahead of the game in terms of having women present in political life. There were women in cabinet ministerial positions, women governors of provinces, and women ambassadors right from the day of independence. Nehru’s pro-feminist credentials were remarkably solid.

I’m not exactly stoked about Pratibha Patel, either. Though I can’t believe you don’t adore Kalam’s poetry. The lyrical affectations? The semi-mystical Stalinist odes to the glory of industrial development? The frequent use of the double exclamation point? The occasional foray into mild homoeroticism?

Only the vision will ignite the billion souls.
It has entered into me ; The ignited soul compared to any resource is the most powerful resource on the earth, above the earth and under the earth.
I will keep the lamp of knowledge burning to achieve the vision – Developed India
If we work and sweat for the great vision with ignited minds, the transformation leading to the birth of vibrant developed India will happen.

But there is more. So very much more.

By: Tejaswi

Tejaswi — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 05:30:39 +0000

The Indian presidential elections are important because a sympathetic president can be quite helpful (to his/her supporting party/faction) if the next general elections result in a hung parliament. Going by the last 5 elections, hung parliaments are a norm in India (the last UP assembly elections came as a huge surprise). That’s why everyone has their own lobby to get their person in the presidential seat.

By: jeffaclitus

jeffaclitus — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 23:17:34 +0000

Hi, Aishwarya, great post. I’m afraid I’m not as familiar with Indian politics as I should be, but I remember a few years ago a lot of the discussion about India in western news sources was about the rise of Hindu nationalism and the BJP, and concern about what this would mean for India both domestically and internationally, especially vis-a-vis Pakistan. Did that surge of Hindu nationalism peak when the BJP lost the general election in 2004? Was concern about the belligerence of the BJP overblown, since they pursued peace talks with Pakistan? Or is Hindu nationalism still a major and somewhat frightening force in India? Not that you have to answer all or any of these questions, of course, but another interesting parallel between India and the US is the rise of social/religious conservatism over the past little while (in the US, I suppose this really began at least as far back as the mid-70’s, and (one hopes) peaked with the current administration), and, of course, the way that conservatism has dealt with terrorism and been perceived to deal with it. But, anyways, great post.

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Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:57:12 +0000

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