Meanwhile
May 13th, 2004 - 1:58 pm
The Congress Party is back in charge in India. What this means for India and Pakistan’s attempts at reproachment, I have no idea.
The Congress Party is back in charge in India. What this means for India and Pakistan’s attempts at reproachment, I have no idea.
The Congress Party in the old days was bad for the Indian economy: lots of socialist-type bureaucratic cronyism. But times may have changed; we’ll see. And Sonia Gandhi? That’s interesting.
Excellent blog….not. What insight into issues! I guess you prove once again that most americans are totally ignorant about the world. Read book and stop preaching…
Excellent comment … not.
Bobber, no one put a hood on your head, stood you on a box and made you read this blog. If its content and style are not to your liking, look elsewhere and keep the nasty comments to yourself.
Stop preaching indeed.
Chris Bertram at crookedtimber.org says:
‘Sonia Gandhi may well become the world
One of my co-workers had this exchange this morning via IM:
Q: whats the story on sonia Gandhi and the election?
A: its SAD – The Congress and Sonia Gandhi won India was doing so well in the last 6 years. It opened its markets to the world made peace with Pak , even won the kargil war with Pak The Congress party believes in dynasty rule Nehru his daughter Indira Gandhi, her son Rajiv Gandhi and now his wife Sonia Gandhiits a little too much. out of a billion people do we only find the gandhi family to rule the country? They ruled the country for so many years doing little good to the country
The BJP party which was in rule for the last 6 years has done so much good
in so little time. Unfortunately the uneducated class fall for Sonia gandhis kids Rahul and Priyanka and remind them of Rajiv Gandhi …
Q: see, thats why I go right to people who are from a place to discuss a place. I read a dozen things this morning on the election, not one made it as clear as that. sonia seems to be stretching the gandhi family connection pretty thin dontcha think?, I mean, i could go to india and call myself “gandhi” with a much ownership as she seems to have.
A: yeah….The problem lies with the fact that much of the voting population are in the rural areas get easily swayed by a chic looking lady greeting them. Their lives haven
As I recall, the BJP was home to some of the Hindu militants and Indian nationists, who were a big factor of the Indian government to test their nuclear devices and launch rockets during that little spat with Pakistan in the late nineties.
On the one hand, it may reduce tensions with Pakistan. On the other, it’s sort of like a Madrid-Election Lite.
Yeah, most of my family was pretty surprised. They thought Vajpayee did a good job, especially after the attack on the Parliament by fundamentalists and with starting dialogue with Pakistan again. What most people are saying is that Congress campaigned really hard with the rural voters and farmers/laborers who have not felt the impact of the economic changes seen in the (expanding) middle class. I have two worries: that the opening up of the economy will slow down and that the improving relationship with the US will slow down as well. Will Congress continue joint military excercises? Dunno.
MD,
This is one chance that Vajpayee may have really missed. Back in the early phases of the Iraqi peacekeeping mission, when the US was wandering around hat in hand for peacekeepers, Vajpayee had a shot at getting India signed up as a tried-and-true member of the Anglosphere.
Had he been able to weather the attendant doemstic political firestorm, India’s relationship with the US would have been pretty safe for a while to come.
As is, I think the US is still receptive to India, if nothing else, because it still fits in with the current administration’s ideological worldview.
That said, people have been known to drop the ball from time to time.
Bobber:
I assume you won’t read this because you probably think you have better things to do than listen to an ignorant American. But for others like you, consider this:
The device and systems you used to post your message were invented and improved by ignorant Americans. The site you excoriate provides links to sources that give full weight to issues Steve Green thinks are worthy of thought or discussion. See postings above.
I wouldn’t have known as much about the Indian election without Vodkapundit. Same goes for other issues global and local. Given all that, ask youself: Who’s truly ignorant of the world?
Grow up, Bobber. The world’ passing you by.
The Gandhis have been an unmitigated disaster for India, right from the start, when Nehru put it about that India was a “non-aligned” nation. Meaning, they were with the Soviets, which put them back 50 years. They bought Soviet tanks when they should have been building their own; they were a prime (forced) customer for the USSR – when they should have been developing their own industries. The driving philosophy was communist. Other countries took up capitalism (SE Asia) and thrived and didn’t look back. But India was mired in the backwardness of the USSR and the Gandhi philosophy that only they knew what was right for India.
Indira was just as bad, but with less charm and more pursed-lip disapproval of anything that looked like capitalism. Or anything that looked like a good time.
Sanjay would have been next, but he died in a plane crash, so Indian Airways pilot Rajiv took over the top post and took to corruption like a duck to water. He was in the pay of the big aircraft manufacturers.
Lucky that Indian dieties have so many hands, because now they’ve got another killer weapon to put to their heads: Sonia, who is not qualified for anything. Out of a billion people, they chose yet one more member of this dreadful, destructive family. And just when India was emerging as a credible power in Asia. What a bloody tragedy! But what does that tell you about the country’s self-confidence, which was destroyed by generations of horrible Gandhis?
I have met Indians in powerful government positions who, unbelievably, positively revelled in being backward. If I heard it once, I heard it 50 times: “They tell us we need to build a better bullock cart! But if that is the case, then first, we need to build a better bull! Ha ha ha ha ha!”
What does this tell you? OK, one, they are terribly unfunny. Second, the logic is startling in its stupidity. And third, in an age of space travel, they were making self-deprecatory jokes about building a better bullock cart!
India has the brain power and the vigour and the industry to become one of the world’s major powers, and now they’ve got Sonia Gandhi running the show. One billion people and another Gandhi was the best they could do. I could weep.