Friday, June 15, 2007

If Mr.ABC were to be The First Citizen of India

The presidential elections are roughly a month away..come 18th july n LO! We’ll have our next PRESIDENT smirking at us from the sidelines,rubbing his/her hands in glee..eagerly waiting in anticipation for the election results,,which of course will be a mutually agreed upon one..(by THEM)..after all..they WILLNOT let the “aam admi’s” money go waste..which they are so lovingly n tenderly wasting(oh!no!spending judiciously..??!!)on hosting lavish tea parties ,luncheons,dinners and what not ..for..~bow ur heads humbly~ madamji……,,~salute~mayaji and the other etcetera etceteras………..

Now,since we are going to be presented with a brand new president….very soon..I’ve been a bit of a bad girl~shruti!pardon me for using the g-word..~ and done a peekabo into the future..~~holds ears but refuses stoutly to do any sit-ups~~
So! I present before u a few teeny-weeny glimpses/snapshots of what these prospective candidates will be like as Mr.First Citizen of India.

NOTE:Though not in a very optimistic frame of mind at present..I am strictly focusing on the “brighter side” of each candidate’s PRESIDENCY(??!!)

MR.AMITABH BACHCHAN:
(Though in all probabilities out of the presidential race…..BUT u never know…!!)
I started with him coz well…..(No! m not going in an alphabetical order!)…….he’s from BOLLYWOOD u see..a lil bit of song,dance n drama is always the right way to start any …err….SHOW…

Yes…so if Mr.BigB were to be president,,ah! Need I talk about the “brighter” side…..?!it’s going to be be bright bright bright all the way…….sample this:

Mr.B’s oath taking ceremony:

v A star-studded function where all the big-wigs (and the small wigs too) from the industry will put up their rocking performances..*THE BEST* will of course be “kajra re”….and Mr.President will himself grace the dance floor(yessum!! There will be one……..what were u thinking??!!)…by shaking a leg(or two..)
v Oooooh! Never has any president ever taken the oath in that “to-die-for-baritone”…...quips Ms.bollywood buff_seen bigb’s every movie 16 times…..

Next morning’s newspapers will have full page pictures of Aishwarya Rai..preening away to high glory..(But she is not the president??!!OH! c’mon……..she’s the President’s “bahu”..!!)

Mr.BigB’s first republic day as president:
v Mr.B n his BROTHER and BOSOM-BUDDY Amar SinghJI(sorry sir…for ignoring u …till now..but I like to save the best for the last u see..)will SHARE the salute.They will hoist the flag…TOGETHER-TOGETHER~click~
v Bollywood sond n dance numbers*of course*
v The president’s address to the nation will begin with excerpts from MADHUSHAALA(oh! The to-die-for-baritone…!!)….followed by a vote of thanks to Amar SinghJI and then…….ah! the rest of the mundane stuff about country,,,people etc etc….

~~dear reader(if any …heh heh … apart from shruti,arpita,bhanu,meet and abhishek….)don’t cry FOUL please……I am not being “mean” to chota B…..he is concentrating on his career right now,,,,,,BUT after say 10 yrs he’ll TAKE OVER as President …. He’ll definitely carry foprward the bachchan legacy…~~

(much as I wanted to focus on the “brighter side”…….i cant resist the temptation of giving u this piece of bad news……srk will NOT be invited for the oath taking ceremony…~haw!!HAW!!~….but take heart….he can purchase a pass on his own n attend the republic day parade…..)

MR.SOMNATH CHATTERJEE AND MR.PRANAB MUKHERJEE:
v The Rashtrapati Bhavan will be “cleansed’ of all IMPORTE(eeeeeeeks!!)D filth..(like furniture,fittings,food items etc etc…I mean everything phorrrrrrrrrrren….)
v Wall-Mart will NOT be allowed to carry out their “nefarious activities” in our country.
v All-an-all…..we will revert back to and cherish the spirit of Swadeshi……and “touch-not,see-not,feel-not,talk-not,consume-not”anything phoren.
**hail the spirit of swadeshi**

MR.MOTILAL VORA(ah! The blessed one...):
v First and foremost we actually get to know “who” Mr.Vora is…….
v For any issue or decision of national importance…..Mr.President will solve all problems in a jiffy wid a lil bit of hocus pocus n voodoo-ing……
v The Rashtrapati Bhavan might be renamed Puttaparthi Bhavan..~oh! C’mon….at least Puttaparthi(sort-of) rhymes wid Rashtrapati~~
v AND!! The icing on the cake…..PAAN-FARMING ON THE RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN…….howzzat??!!

MR.SUSHIL KUMAR SHINDE(the self-proclaimed “saada” man…..):
Read the background story…..n I needn’t say anymore…………………………sarvadharmasamabhav.....eh?
Had a flashback….decided to archive it lest it gets lost in the plethora of anecdotes we have to share.Though of course..on the face of it they seem amusing~already in stitches shruti….?.ah!u must’ve guessed what am going to talk about from the title itself~…..”they”….refers to these “anecdotes”..yet…if we think of the orgy of DOUBLE-FACEism we as a nation are suffering from..they are enough to wipe off those thoughtless grins off our faces(or double faces,shall I say?).Oh!The anecdote……hmmmm….here it is..In one of Baba Ramdev’s camps~~see mamma!!Baba’s on my blog!!God bless u for calling me/forcing me that day to watch that particular telecast of his camp~~ somewhere in Maharashtra…”honourable” Mr.Ex-C.M. Sushil Kumar Shinde had been invited as the guest of honour.Swami Ramdev spoke first..on sarvadharmasamabhava..n of course whatever he spoke…was from his heart and made sense too.But then!He invited Mr.Shinde on the dias…..Oooooh!I must say this..though it is a bit of an understatement,,still,,I’ll try__that was the most heart-rending,thought-provoking,tear-inducing and moving homily I ever heard on sarvadharmasamabhav….It began with how Swamiji has been propagating sarvadharmasamabhava(which is true)……then lo!! He jumped to jaativada and all jaatis are equal and jaati this and jaati that(which is a bit ahem ahem…were’nt we talking about sarvadharmasamabhav….Mr.Shinde…??oh! tut!tut! u ignorant child! We lily white politicians always do that…..glibtalk and blufftalk our way to high glory….right??)n then….!! He began his pathos-filled story of how he was/is a dalit…n how despite his being a dalit…..”iss Maharashtra hi janta ne ISS DALIT ko saraaha,support diya,pyaar diya…aur C.M. BANAYA!!…and it went on and on and on….DALIT DALIT DALIT……ME A DALIT..ME ADALIT..ME A DALIT..I mean! Can u digest that??He begins with..sarvadharmasambhav…very cutely n conveniently forgets that….n jumps to jaativada……n talks about how we should not discriminate against any jaati and that they is no such thing as jaati…… and all jaatis are equal…….and after having said all THAT….he harps on the love n support given to “ISS DALIT”(……this dalit that means my dear inglissssss babus n angrezzzzzzi mems……)…..or if I remember right…..”isss bechare dalit”…..~~stop flaring ur nostrils shruti … n bhanu…u can stop shaking ur head now……the story’s over…..feel bad about subjecting u both to this torture the second time over…~~How dastardly!!(Mis)using a yoga-camp and a divine concept like sarvadharmasamabhav….for …we all know what…Err…why this entire discourse…on Sushil Kumar Shinde??(He is one of the candidates being put forward by Congress to be the next President-for those who came in late.Though there has not been much news of his candidature lately)Well…..i had to answer ur question(about why I was “AFTER” s.k. shinde)..Mr.Mittal no.1……..………..signing off……….”SHINDE”ed for today……Kanchan
Posted by Ignited Indian Minds at 7:45 AM


MR.V.P.SINGH:
v AH! Well…….he’ll manage THEM “somehow”… PRESIDENTIAL DUTIES I mean *what else…!!*……….moreover…..someone (now this isnot some ill-informed hapless land-tiller in some wayward n remote area …this is an “educated” someone..who is vieing for that coveted MBA tag…..n calls himself a very-well-informed-can-never-go-wrong-with-“facts”-person.)actually tried telling me that the present president…Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam(pulllleeeeeeeezzzz not “abdul kalam azad” for god’s sake) does nothing other than visiting schools n presenting roses to school kids..(!!)….now if that is true….surely….Mr.V.P.Singh is “capable” of handling (n not bungling)that lil bit of rose giving n visting……m sure…..*tho…ahem ahem….will the school kids..?...well…that’s a different issue altogether..!!... ;)*

MR.VEERAPPA MOILY(mm…..the crème d’la crème)
v Err…the brighter side had I said…??Err….well……guess our mums will never have to crib about the milk not being “creamy” enough……~sigh~

MR.SHIVRAJ PATIL:
Noooooooooooooooo!! Who said that he has been “not-too-successful” as a Home Minister………
Atleast he dresses better than so many of these “potential” candidates.

MRS.PRATIBHA PATIL:
v Hmmm….. a woman candidate….so what if she’s politically affiliated,,,,n that they are considering her as a rebound option…..
v OOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh!! I found this on wikipedia……..”Champion in Table Tennis during college days and won shields in Inter-college”(yes PRATIBHA PATIL……)

she’ll be a sport of a president I tell u….a real sport…will pander to all THEIR whims n fancies…….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~curtains fall~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEE!! The “brighter side” …..isnt it bright??
I wonder what the not-so-bright-side will be like…….
Any guesses ……anyone??

……..signing off……
KANCHAN ……an ignited Indian mind all set ablaze……

If Mr.ABC were to be president......

The presidential elections are roughly a month away..come 18th july n LO! We’ll have our next PRESIDENT smirking at us from the sidelines,rubbing his/her hands in glee..eagerly waiting in anticipation for the election results,,which of course will be a mutually agreed upon one..(by THEM)..after all..they WILLNOT let the “aam admi’s” money go waste..which they are so lovingly n tenderly wasting(oh!no!spending judiciously..??!!)on hosting lavish tea parties ,luncheons,dinners and what not ..for..~bow ur heads humbly~ madamji……,,~salute~mayaji and the other etcetera etceteras………..

Now,since we are going to be presented with a brand new president….very soon..I’ve been a bit of a bad girl~shruti!pardon me for using the g-word..~ and done a peekabo into the future..~~holds ears but refuses stoutly to do any sit-ups~~
So! I present before u a few teeny-weeny glimpses/snapshots of what these prospective candidates will be like as Mr.First Citizen of India.

NOTE:Though not in a very optimistic frame of mind at present..I am strictly focusing on the “brighter side” of each candidate’s PRESIDENCY(??!!)

MR.AMITABH BACHCHAN:
(Though in all probabilities out of the presidential race…..BUT u never know…!!)
I started with him coz well…..(No! m not going in an alphabetical order!)…….he’s from BOLLYWOOD u see..a lil bit of song,dance n drama is always the right way to start any …err….SHOW…

Yes…so if Mr.BigB were to be president,,ah! Need I talk about the “brighter” side…..?!it’s going to be be bright bright bright all the way…….sample this:

Mr.B’s oath taking ceremony:

v A star-studded function where all the big-wigs (and the small wigs too) from the industry will put up their rocking performances..*THE BEST* will of course be “kajra re”….and Mr.President will himself grace the dance floor(yessum!! There will be one……..what were u thinking??!!)…by shaking a leg(or two..)
v Oooooh! Never has any president ever taken the oath in that “to-die-for-baritone”…...quips Ms.bollywood buff_seen bigb’s every movie 16 times…..

Next morning’s newspapers will have full page pictures of Aishwarya Rai..preening away to high glory..(But she is not the president??!!OH! c’mon……..she’s the President’s “bahu”..!!)

Mr.BigB’s first republic day as president:
v Mr.B n his BROTHER and BOSOM-BUDDY Amar SinghJI(sorry sir…for ignoring u …till now..but I like to save the best for the last u see..)will SHARE the salute.They will hoist the flag…TOGETHER-TOGETHER~click~
v Bollywood sond n dance numbers*of course*
v The president’s address to the nation will begin with excerpts from MADHUSHAALA(oh! The to-die-for-baritone…!!)….followed by a vote of thanks to Amar SinghJI and then…….ah! the rest of the mundane stuff about country,,,people etc etc….

~~dear reader(if any …heh heh … apart from shruti,arpita,bhanu,meet and abhishek….)don’t cry FOUL please……I am not being “mean” to chota B…..he is concentrating on his career right now,,,,,,BUT after say 10 yrs he’ll TAKE OVER as President …. He’ll definitely carry foprward the bachchan legacy…~~

(much as I wanted to focus on the “brighter side”…….i cant resist the temptation of giving u this piece of bad news……srk will NOT be invited for the oath taking ceremony…~haw!!HAW!!~….but take heart….he can purchase a pass on his own n attend the republic day parade…..)

MR.SOMNATH CHATTERJEE AND MR.PRANAB MUKHERJEE:
v The Rashtrapati Bhavan will be “cleansed’ of all IMPORTE(eeeeeeeks!!)D filth..(like furniture,fittings,food items etc etc…I mean everything phorrrrrrrrrrren….)
v Wall-Mart will NOT be allowed to carry out their “nefarious activities” in our country.
v All-an-all…..we will revert back to and cherish the spirit of Swadeshi……and “touch-not,see-not,feel-not,talk-not,consume-not”anything phoren.
**hail the spirit of swadeshi**

MR.MOTILAL VORA(ah! The blessed one...):
v First and foremost we actually get to know “who” Mr.Vora is…….
v For any issue or decision of national importance…..Mr.President will solve all problems in a jiffy wid a lil bit of hocus pocus n voodoo-ing……
v The Rashtrapati Bhavan might be renamed Puttaparthi Bhavan..~oh! C’mon….at least Puttaparthi(sort-of) rhymes wid Rashtrapati~~
v AND!! The icing on the cake…..PAAN-FARMING ON THE RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN…….howzzat??!!

MR.SUSHIL KUMAR SHINDE(the self-proclaimed “saada” man…..):
Read the background story…..n I needn’t say anymore…………………………sarvadharmasamabhav.....eh?
Had a flashback….decided to archive it lest it gets lost in the plethora of anecdotes we have to share.Though of course..on the face of it they seem amusing~already in stitches shruti….?.ah!u must’ve guessed what am going to talk about from the title itself~…..”they”….refers to these “anecdotes”..yet…if we think of the orgy of DOUBLE-FACEism we as a nation are suffering from..they are enough to wipe off those thoughtless grins off our faces(or double faces,shall I say?).Oh!The anecdote……hmmmm….here it is..In one of Baba Ramdev’s camps~~see mamma!!Baba’s on my blog!!God bless u for calling me/forcing me that day to watch that particular telecast of his camp~~ somewhere in Maharashtra…”honourable” Mr.Ex-C.M. Sushil Kumar Shinde had been invited as the guest of honour.Swami Ramdev spoke first..on sarvadharmasamabhava..n of course whatever he spoke…was from his heart and made sense too.But then!He invited Mr.Shinde on the dias…..Oooooh!I must say this..though it is a bit of an understatement,,still,,I’ll try__that was the most heart-rending,thought-provoking,tear-inducing and moving homily I ever heard on sarvadharmasamabhav….It began with how Swamiji has been propagating sarvadharmasamabhava(which is true)……then lo!! He jumped to jaativada and all jaatis are equal and jaati this and jaati that(which is a bit ahem ahem…were’nt we talking about sarvadharmasamabhav….Mr.Shinde…??oh! tut!tut! u ignorant child! We lily white politicians always do that…..glibtalk and blufftalk our way to high glory….right??)n then….!! He began his pathos-filled story of how he was/is a dalit…n how despite his being a dalit…..”iss Maharashtra hi janta ne ISS DALIT ko saraaha,support diya,pyaar diya…aur C.M. BANAYA!!…and it went on and on and on….DALIT DALIT DALIT……ME A DALIT..ME ADALIT..ME A DALIT..I mean! Can u digest that??He begins with..sarvadharmasambhav…very cutely n conveniently forgets that….n jumps to jaativada……n talks about how we should not discriminate against any jaati and that they is no such thing as jaati…… and all jaatis are equal…….and after having said all THAT….he harps on the love n support given to “ISS DALIT”(……this dalit that means my dear inglissssss babus n angrezzzzzzi mems……)…..or if I remember right…..”isss bechare dalit”…..~~stop flaring ur nostrils shruti … n bhanu…u can stop shaking ur head now……the story’s over…..feel bad about subjecting u both to this torture the second time over…~~How dastardly!!(Mis)using a yoga-camp and a divine concept like sarvadharmasamabhav….for …we all know what…Err…why this entire discourse…on Sushil Kumar Shinde??(He is one of the candidates being put forward by Congress to be the next President-for those who came in late.Though there has not been much news of his candidature lately)Well…..i had to answer ur question(about why I was “AFTER” s.k. shinde)..Mr.Mittal no.1……..………..signing off……….”SHINDE”ed for today……Kanchan
Posted by Ignited Indian Minds at 7:45 AM


MR.V.P.SINGH:
v AH! Well…….he’ll manage THEM “somehow”… PRESIDENTIAL DUTIES I mean *what else…!!*……….moreover…..someone (now this isnot some ill-informed hapless land-tiller in some wayward n remote area …this is an “educated” someone..who is vieing for that coveted MBA tag…..n calls himself a very-well-informed-can-never-go-wrong-with-“facts”-person.)actually tried telling me that the present president…Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam(pulllleeeeeeeezzzz not “abdul kalam azad” for god’s sake) does nothing other than visiting schools n presenting roses to school kids..(!!)….now if that is true….surely….Mr.V.P.Singh is “capable” of handling (n not bungling)that lil bit of rose giving n visting……m sure…..*tho…ahem ahem….will the school kids..?...well…that’s a different issue altogether..!!... ;)*

MR.VEERAPPA MOILY(mm…..the crème d’la crème)
v Err…the brighter side had I said…??Err….well……guess our mums will never have to crib about the milk not being “creamy” enough……~sigh~

MR.SHIVRAJ PATIL:
Noooooooooooooooo!! Who said that he has been “not-too-successful” as a Home Minister………
Atleast he dresses better than so many of these “potential” candidates.

MRS.PRATIBHA PATIL:
v Hmmm….. a woman candidate….so what if she’s politically affiliated,,,,n that they are considering her as a rebound option…..
v OOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh!! I found this on wikipedia……..”Champion in Table Tennis during college days and won shields in Inter-college”(yes PRATIBHA PATIL……)

she’ll be a sport of a president I tell u….a real sport…will pander to all THEIR whims n fancies…….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~curtains fall~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEE!! The “brighter side” …..isnt it bright??
I wonder what the not-so-bright-side will be like…….
Any guesses ……anyone??

……..signing off……
KANCHAN ……an ignited Indian mind all set ablaze……

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Here's how u do YOUR bit for the Cause..the time has come!--continued--

----continued---
could write only these two so far...
will put up the letter to President A.P.J Kalam very soon...

........Shruti

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Here's how u do YOUR bit for the Cause..the time has come!--continued--

....continued from post below.....
will update this with the letter to Dr. Kalam and other things soon...do keep checking.

signing off....Shruti

Here's how u do YOUR bit for the Cause..the time has come!--continued--

---continued form the post below---

LETTER TO SONIA GANDHI/MANMOHAN SINGH

This is in reference to the upcoming Presidential elections. If we must at all have a President in a Parliamentary Democracy, WE, the People Of India demand that we have a President who is worth the huge amount of money that is spent from OUR pockets, on maintaining this office. President Kalam has set the bar high for whoever comes in next- a certain sanctity has been RESTORED to the Position and it pains us to see that people who are being considered to REPLACE him do not match his credentials and qualifications, personal as well as professional (In fact, that would be a gross understatement of facts).
Apart from the personal qualifications and qualities of the candidates proposed by the Congress Party, and even the other political parties, there seems to be an all party consensus (and shockingly, a not very tacit one at that) that the President must have some political affiliation or the other – which amounts to the sacrilege of the spirit/significance of the President’s position, an otherwise titular position; The only possible reason for having a President in India is to have him act as a CHECK on the (mis)doings of those at the helm of the affairs of the country, which he can do only by using his discretion in an UNBIASED manner in consultation with the interpreters of the Constitution of India.

An obvious fact is that any candidate with party leanings would be more biased than One with no such affiliations- clearly, while this is a glaring contradiction in the nomination process, for the People of India, this very contradiction suits the convenience and serves the interests of those who stand to lose a free reign if an UNBIASED, THINKING individual becomes the First Citizen of India.

I, a Citizen of India furnish the resources to maintain the First Citizen of India, And therefore reserve every right to have a say in deciding WHO that person would be.I shall not accept any Tom, Dick or Harry who does not fulfil the necessary qualifications mentioned above as the President of India. I want Dr. APJ Kalam to go in for a second term or someone at least his equal in stature –the bar has been set high and can ONLY be RAISED and not LOWERED at any cost.There is barely a month to go, and precious time has been lost already in making a mockery of the Constitution of India-the time has come to make amends, beginning from NOW. Sir/ madam, surely with the best interests of the country and of the Party at heart, you shall not ignore my voice, THE VOICE of India, which is only going to grow louder.

Thanking you in anticipation
Name (optional), CITY
AN IGNITED INDIAN MIND

On the envelope let the sender’s address be just: AN IGNITED INDIAN MIND IN RED INK…
Let RED be the symbol of this campaign...the symbol of AN IGNITED INDIAN MIND.

postal addresses of

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi-- 10, Janpath , New Delhi
PM Manmohan Singh-- 7, race course road

Good Luck...The ball has been set rolling...

Here's how u do YOUR bit for the Cause..the time has come!

Heres how YOU can help as a COMMON CITIZEN of India…. Each one of u must write a Letter to the Editor of at least one of the leading newspapers of the country-mails BY POST (there being no upper limit to the number of newspapers of course)-the more, the merrier… u can also send emails(in addition to the postal mails) Each one of us will then write postal mails to Sonia Gandhi, PM Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition L. K Advani n perhaps even leaders of CPM …demanding the re-induction Of President Kalam, or at least someone as capable (or more) to step into his shoes, stating explicitly that the bar has been set high and WE CARE ABOUT WHO BECUMS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF INDIA. Each one of us will also send mails by post to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, urging Dr. Kalam to STAY… (PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS ONLY FOR THOSE OF U WHO DO WANT HIM TO STAY- IF U HAVE A DIFFERENT CHOICE, SAY NARAYANA MURTHY OR OTHERS, WELL AND GOOD…MAY THE BEST MAN WIN…OUR IDEA IS JUST TO MAKE YOUR OPINION HEARD).. The idea is to flood the residences of the Powers-that-be and the Rashtrapati Bhawan with such mails (it may sound far fetched, but is a practicable idea if implemented in the right earnest) and we will then highlight this through the mass media –that public opinion is building in this regard, and then it will be imperative for THEM to be answerable for every action, in fact, to act in accordance with OUR interests- making it impossible for them to appoint any PUPPET Tom, Dick or Harry as the President. Given below are the templates of mails to all the concerned authorities---this is just to cut down on ur personal effort – feel free to write on ur own of course--u cud write these mails in handwriting or maybe typed mails, but MUST carry ur name (first name at least) n city and if poss. Signature as well…u cud always sign off as an IGNITED INDIAN MIND of course (stretching the dramatic element—more media attention!)U see we are looking at the volume of mails….that is what will catch the attention of the media as well as the politicians…

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

This is in reference to the upcoming presidential elections, If we must at all have a President in a Parliamentary Democracy, let us have one who is worth the huge amount of money that is spent from our pockets, on maintaining this office. President Kalam has set the bar high for whoever comes in next- a certain sanctity has been restored to the Position and we shall not let the indifferent Politicians defile the same. The names that are being suggested as candidates (who would make puppet presidents of course) make a mockery of the ethos of the Constitution of India. And we, the people of India DEMAND through these columns OUR President, if not President Kalam, then at least someone as capable as him or more, but certainly not someone who would lower the standards so raised.
Here is the address for The Times Of India:
My Times, My Voice
c/o EDIT PAGE EDITOR
The Times Of India7,
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110002
Email:mytimesmyvoice@timesgroup.com
....continued....

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Updated info on Presidential Elections 2007

The Election Commission of India will hold indirect 12th presidential elections of India on 18 July 2007.
The President of India is elected indirectly by the members of Indian Parliament and Legislative Assemblies of individual States. Although the election involves actual voting by MPs and MLAs, they tend to vote for the candidate supported by their respective parties.[1]
Hence the internal process for the election involves lobbying by parties for their respective candidates. UPA, the ruling coalition and NDA, the major opposition coalition hence hold the key to the nomination and support gathering. Another key player in the final decision could be the Left parties, which are offering external support to the government. The Left has agreed to support the UPA candidate under certain conditions for nomination[2]. Mayawati, the newly elected chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of India, is also said to be a significant factor in the final election.[3]
Probable candidates
Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam (Hon President of India)
Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (Hon. Vice-President of India)
Mr Vasant Sathe (Former Union cabinet minister)
Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde (Union power minister and prominent Dalit leader)
Mr Pranab Mukherjee (Union external affairs minister)
Dr Karan Singh (Diplomat and son of former king of J&K, Maharaja Hari Singh)
Mr Somnath Chatterjee (Speaker of Lok Sabha)
Dr.Manmohan Singh (Prime Minister of India)
Mr C.Rangarajan (Former Reserve Bank Governor and Current Economic Advisor to Prime Minister)
Mr Jaswant Singh (Former external affairs minister)
Mr Shivraj Patil (Union Home minister)
Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy (IT major Infosys founder)
Mr Rahul Bajaj (Prominent Industrialist, Rajya Sabha MP)
Dr Raghunath Mashelar (Prominent scientist, scientific advisor to the PM and former chief of the CSIR)
Mr H. D. Deve Gowda (Former Prime minister of India)
Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee (Former Prime minister of India)
Mr I.K. Gujral (Former Prime minister of India)
Mr V. P. Singh (Former Prime minister of India)
Mr N.D.Tiwari (Former Chief minister of Uttaranchal)
Dr Mrs Najma Heptullah (Former Rajya Sabha deputy speaker)
Mr A. M. Ahmadi (Former Chief Justice of India)
Mr V.N Khare (Former Chief Justice of India)
I lifted all this info from Wikipedia….. Shruti

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

An IIM asks: How will this campaign help?? WE cant vote for OUR Prez can we??

My Friend posted a query on the community:

sorry shruti u may scrm at this ques of mine but..can u tell me how can we affect the prez elections?how can we select our prez?as far as i know the prez elecs are not open to publc or are they?i know the ques is a bit silly at this juncture but i really need to know this?!for better understanding n participation in the cause!!

Here's the reply:

Hey Meet, take a humble bow n hugs from me first..No, it's a very valid question. I'm grateful that at least u are giving the praticalities and the feasibility of this venture a serious thought.here' s our Plan of action:We plan to mobilise public opinion---sensitize them to this fact : that we have presidential elections cmng up--kalam may leave n someone else -most probably a very underserving candid8 will replace him, coz that suits the interests of our ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES..kalam has been too noisy for their comfort...etc etc..we are going to utilise the media for this purpose--Radio, TV Print media etc etc--the big debate that we intend to initiate is :do we need a President in a Parliamentary democracy?? If YES, then shouldnt his election be influenced by the Public opinion...it is the public after all that spends A LOT OF MONEY to maintain his office.
Thing is: this will not allow the induction of any tom dick n harry as the next president of India, under the carpet. As we proceed, we shall keep posting the developmets n progress on the blog.Do keep checking on it.n do keep asking...we need your help and spirit of participation--now , more than ever!

Sunday, June 3, 2007

A stitch in time saves Nine...

People often ask us: "Seriously, why are u soo very passionate about an issue which is virtually a non-issue ??
How on earth do u think the President is ever going to make a difference?
The Emergency era ended ages ago(*ahem*)...
what difference can his signing or not signing a bill make, really...what can be soo potentially Life Altering..?? "

Fair enough, these doubts...
I will answer these indirectly.

note the title of this post--- it contains the answer, though I can understand that at first it may sound like a far fetched idea.

All bloody revolutions that have occured in history did not take place overnight or because of a sudden realisation on the part of the revolutionaries that things were'nt RIGHT. The Final outburst is always the outcome of little disturbances...unrest...upsets ...SPARKS that are not ignited overnight but are stoked into a fire gradually.

Must we wait for the WORST to happen and only then let out a cry for action(in which case the action is bound to be reactionary and leading to violence)...
Prevention is better than cure, ain't it?..
Why not arm ourselves in advance? We all know that our elected representatives in the Parliament are always trying their best to do their worst n make merry on our flesh and blood...
We all feel strongly on the issue of Reservations(for or against it.. )
On communal, vote bank politics...dont we..
....
so then why do we not take appropriate steps as proactive and enlightened citizens of this nation, and look for ways n which we can make THEM work for OUR interests and not against them- something they actually get PAID FOR!!...

Now is the time to act.....it's not very apparent tho ....how do i make u see this ...wen everything appears to be going on so very smoothly in this nation....

I hope these words will initiate u into thinking:

"Remember, not every paradigm shift is announced by the thundering hoofbeats of the Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse"

Uh-ohh was that lost on some of u...didn't make sense??
okay, in simpler words:

Not every case of social change or a fundamental change in society has to be dramatic, revolutionary, raectionary...OH-MY-GOD-dish..
ever heard of incremental change??? change that occurs in steps ...slowly n gradually ...over a stretch of time?? they say its the most stable n best method of social change coz it lasts in the long run...

So do ur bit, will you??

Plzz help us...
I am begging with outstretched arms ...we need your help!!!

Kanchan, Bhanu and I are completely on our own...n have faced nothing but pessimism n cynicism from all..except a few ppl..we need ur help....
Altho we do have a nice workable plan of action up our sleeve, we need help to implement it properly. We have initated the process already tho..
...if u think u can help us with some contacts in the media, or any other resources, ideas, suggestions...do get in touch with us. but mind u, ONLY IF U CAN help us out...we donot entertain unsolicited communication from passer-bys
for no good rhyme or reason...

Orkut users,
you can get back to me :

http://www.orkut.com/Home.aspx?xid=12738587387133738587

Or Kanchan :

http://www.orkut.com/Profile.aspx?uid=1302530135460693671

Or Bhanu :

http://www.orkut.com/Profile.aspx?uid=4641901893361415413

Or, if u r not on orkut...u can always get in touch with us at ignitedindianminds@gmail.com

Pls note that we are lesser mortals , nobodies really ...maybe some of u aren't all that NOBODY-ish....do come forward for this national cause...

at-her-ignited-best-Shruti