India in Googletimes

By Vijaya Pushkarna It is challenging times for the Indian National Congress. If Jyotiraditya Scindia could walk out the way he did, it may not be long before others do.  The BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah , has its doors wide open , with bouquets and  saffron BJP stoles ready. There are two issues before the Grand Old Party. First, it has to realize that being in the Opposition is not being out of power.The Congress has been out of government at the Centre—where the likes of   Scindia have been comfortable as MPs and ministers—for just six years. And yet, they are not able to slug it out as an opposition party that has the power and the   best opportunity to represent people and raise their issues, take on the government. It is an opportunity the party is frittering away as infighting   and frustration consumes all their time and energy. Having tasted the blood of power, it is easy to imagine that Congressmen will wilt

By Vijaya Pushkarna How does a man feel in the BJP after spending very many years  in the Congress? On March 10, when Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the Indian National Congress his aunt Yashordhara Raje Scindia told a television channel that the decision would not only impact the Congress and the BJP, but also Jyotiraditya himself. The discussion was in the context of the loss for Congress and what he would take to the BJP table. A long time close friend of   Rahul Gandhi, a former minister and an influential Congress leader, Jyotiraditya’s own world would indeed change , after he joined the rival BJP which he had publicly rubbished till a few days ago. The saffron party’s president J P Nadda made the transition sound   light and easy by recalling the association of the Scindia family , beginning with his grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia with the Janasangh and later became the BJP.That did not make the sombre Scindia smile. Possibly, it had been a difficult dec

By Vijaya Pushkarna Malvika Iyer   Dr Malvika Iyer  , a bomb blast survivor , is a motivational speaker and disability activist. Using the PM’s handle, @MalvikaIyer tweeted, “ People with disabilities should have equal representation—be it media, politics or any other field. The more we see them, the more we accept them as part of our society. Representation is key.” Malvika  wrote, “Acceptance is the greatest reward we can give to ourselves. We can’t control our lives but we surely can control our attitude towards life. At the end of the day, it is how we survive our challenges that matters most.” The suspense was finally  over at 11 am on Sunday,  when PrimeMinister Narendra Modi signed off his social media accounts for the day, and what we saw by way of tweets from @narendramodi were hashtagged #SheInspiresUs. And seven women got to spread the message of their passion and work, using the @narendramodi handle.  None of them is a name that we can immediately place o