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Raghu Karnad
@rkarnad
, 18 tweets, 9 min read Read on Twitter
#NanajiDeshmukh, who today was awarded the #BharatRatna, was a pivotal opposition figure in the Emergency years, and in all three episodes I've recently explored – the 'subversive' protests (1975), the 'anti-national' resistance abroad ('76) & the 'unholy alliance' ('77). Thread.
(2) In late '74, JP's 'sampoorna kranti' agitation was gaining momentum in Patna, led mainly by students. On Nov 4, a massive rally was met with a police lathi-charge. According to legend, Deshmukh protected JP from a blow – which nearly broke his arm.
thewire.in/video/watch-re…
(3) Emergency was declared in '75. Before #NanajiDeshmukh was arrested, in December, he issued an ‘eight-point programme for Indians abroad’, a manual for what would become the overseas anti-Emergency movement – the original "anti-national" lobby.
thewire.in/video/watch-th…
(4) In '77, after the Emergency ended, a #mahagathbandhan spanning the CPI(M) and the Sangh came together to avoid splitting the anti-Congress vote. Deshmukh won from Balrampur, a seat which had gone to Congress before & went right back to it in 1980.
thewire.in/politics/modi-…
(5) Interestingly, #PranabMukherjee - who was also awarded a #BharatRatna today - was on the other side of these events. Very seriously so...
(6) #PranabMukherjee was a young loyalist on Indira's cabinet, and played a direct role in putting opposition figures in jail. He was indicted by the Shah Commission, formed to investigate abuses of power during Emergency.
(7) But Emergency wasn't the last time the fates of our two #BharatRatnas would intersect.
(8) So, the Janata Alliance defeats Indira's Congress; Indira neatly trips up the Janata Alliance, wins the 1980 election – and then she is assassinated in 1984. By all accounts, a terrible and alarming time for the country.
(9) Just weeks later, India had to go back to the polls. And the callow new Congress president, Rajiv Gandhi, had the support of none other than ... #NanajiDeshmukh
(10) In her martyrdom, after her battle with the Akalis, it was Indira who seemed the saviour of Hindus to many in the RSS. #Deshmukh published on an essay titled ‘Moments of Soul Searching', in which he endorsed and blessed the son of the woman who had jailed him.
(11) At the same time, Rajiv had a falling-out with none other than... #PranabMukherjee, the versatile, life-long Gandhi family loyalist.
(12) Pranab Da had ambitions. Rajiv had his own, young crew. After sweeping the polls, he left PM out of his cabinet in 1984 – and bad blood spread until Rajiv expelled #PranabMukherjee, who went off to form his own party.
(13) And here we are decades later, watching the @RSSorg man who followed his own lights, defeated Indira & boosted her son – joining the @INCIndia man who, led by his ambition, served Indira & crossed her son – raised up together as Jewels of India. India! You are never dull
(14) Some bibliography :)

#NanajiDeshmukh's letter is *quite* substantial. Many see it as evidence of the @RSSorg complicity in the Sikh killings. I got my reference from Rasheed Kidwai's book 'Ballot', but some excerpts are here:
archives.peoplesdemocracy.in/2005/0821/0821…
(15) Not the most reliable source, but I believe these are the passages from the start & end of #NanajiDeshmukh's letter: praising Indira Gandhi and endorsing Rajiv in the 1984 election.
(16) I learnt about Deshmukh's ‘eight-point programme’ from this fascinating paper: ‘Smugglers of Truth’: The Indian diaspora, Hindu nationalism, and the Emergency (1975–77)', @EdAnderson101 & Patrick Clibbens, Modern Asian Studies
(17) More news of the young firebrands of the #Emergency. As we remember #GeorgeFernandes, let's start by reviving his early motto: जब तक भूखा इंसान रहेगा, धरती पर तूफान रहेगा
(18) In a single life, you can be charged with waging war on India – and be the Union Minister of Defence 25 years later. #GeorgeFernandes #TukdeTukdeGang
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Raghu Karnad
@rkarnad
Anytime a debate kicks off about public transport in Indian cities, I think of a scene I saw on a late summer evening in 2006 (when I still used buses). I think it was route 422, going past Nizamuddin down to Badarpur Border. (1/n)
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Raghu Karnad
@rkarnad
Just a heads up. Every op-ed and Twitter thread talking about a victory of ideology, narrative or spirit – and not talking about monopolies on money, media and tech – is part of the New Big Lie.
(2) We will see a lot of these fallacies / partial truths:
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Establishment has openly targeted X with disinformation. Press: "Why do a majority of Indians believe this? X must admit it has failed." No reference to the distortion blitz.
2. The Network thesis (true, and def part of the real picture – read the thread below). The ruling party had better messaging; optimized and targeted, which reached every Indian, which the opposition failed at. The missing factor from this formula: costs.
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Raghu Karnad
@rkarnad
We're all talking about PM Modi's popularity as if it's based on a psychic link with the public.
Newsflash: it's based on a publicity / propaganda campaign more expensive than you'll believe.
I lift the lid on the insane numbers:
(2) The principal source for this data (excluding ad spends) is the invaluable Association for Democratic Reforms. Follow: @adrspeaks
For more detailed figures and links to sources, read:
thewire.in/politics/bjp-m…
(3) The video does not even cover government spending (as opposed to party spending). By October 2018 / in four and a half years, the Modi govt had spent nearly Rs 5,000 crores on ads, as much as the MMS govt spent over ten years.
thewire.in/government/mod…
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