Yesterday no massive jams were reported out of Noida, Gurgaon or Delhi. It would have had been a really good thing if its it was not Dhanteras. The bazaars were no where near to the ‘Indian black Friday’ levels. Malls seem to be only marginally better than the weekend crowds. The slowdown is real and now its biting to even those who did not care about it until recently. GST has broken a lot more than it has fixed, and it will remain broken till the time ubiquitous Indian jugaad finds a way around.
Till that time – we must believe that Ram Mandir is just 12 months away, that there was a Bofors scam and that Rajiv Gandhi took money from a Pakistani (no less) and that Robert Vadera needs two million rupees as bribe for flying off to a European destination.
First a disclaimer: I wanted a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, since I was 10 years of age. Bofors gun has proved its metal and that it was the lowest bid received by Army. And Mr Vadera getting being blamed for first class air ticket to Europe as a bribe is lower the standards of accusation against the man.
My problem in the meantime is with sitting Cabinet Ministers who are demanding explanations on Bofors from congress based on a report of a private investigator. This is making me a little confused who is power and who is opposition. If the charges of a private investigator are serious why isn’t the CBI reopening the case? if they are not why is the Cabinet Minister hurling charges? Where has the high ground that BJP promised while coming to power is dropping low?
Similarly for Ram Mandir. The project has been in works for quite sometime with out of court settlements being approached to certain parties and it was for all to see that it will be an issue by 2018. The plan seemed civilized and free of agitated elements. To many it seemed that Prime Minister Modi was actually working with a plan in mind – get the Economic Engines firing (Like Chinese in last decade) with make in India, freeing Islam from hardliners (Triple Talaq issue) and restoring Hindu pride with Hindu way of consensus. But the hardline rhetoric on the temple seem to be drowning the image of a national leader that many believed Modi to be.
We know GST has hit hard, and that it will hurt for at least six months more, but then the things will realign. And this realignment will happen in the due course even if the Government were to fall tomorrow. Mistakes were made in the roll out and that cannot be undone. This would also mean that whoever comes to power in 2019, will have a much larger tax base and much lesser tax evasion to carry his agenda. The political cost of the implementation failures will be that of Mr Modi to bear, there is no getting away from that.
The day Prime Minister Modi bowed to hallowed grounds of the parliament, i thought i saw history in making. Mr Prime Minister its an appeal to you – by taking up done and dusted allegations do not take away our another tryst with destiny and history
