Tweet

Kannan Gopinathan

22 Jan, 7 tweets, 2 min read

COVID: More than 85% of respondents lost their jobs or saw their income decreased. - MOTN

Should have been the headline.

Not whether respondents are still happy in an abusive relationship with the PM. 1/n

More percentage of people in Italy find their Govt did a good job. More people in Japan find their Govt did a bad job than in Italy or in India. And if we compare actual impact of Covid on these countries, we will realise how far disconnected it is from these ratings. 2/n

Whether you are happy with Govt is an irrelevant question as long as people don’t connect own hardships to failures of Govt.

If 85% lost job/income & still consider Govt performance good, it is evident that these two are in two unrelated planes. Zero expectations from Govt. 3/n

Is your life better or worse? Are you facing hardships? Has Govt done enough to ease those hardships? If you have lost job has the Govt reached out?

These questions will throw light.

Don't ask who we blame.

As a people we are designed to blame ourselves for our hardships. 4/n

It might help us to understand that a lot of us are in an abusive relationship with our PM.

A PM who constantly asks us to perform up to his expectations and not to question him on anything.

And we have this desire to do more & more for him. For that half a second of attention.

But whatever we do, it is not enough. Somehow we are only to blame for his failures. Be it China, be it economy, be it demonetisation, be it jobs, be it anything.

And since it was our choice to be in that abusive relationship, we will defend him and through that our own choice.

The only question is will we continue in this relationship till the point of self-destruction, or do we find the confidence to question the leader for his failures?

Unlike the 85%, leader hasn't lost his job or seen his income decreased.

He is making a new mansion for himself.

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More from @naukarshah

Kannan Gopinathan

@naukarshah

22 Jan

Today, petrol price is ~₹90 when crude is ~$56.

In 2013, petrol price was ~₹80 even when crude was ~$100.

If opposition can pick one petrol pump in a city & give 'UPA era discount' to people filling petrol there, it may demonstrate how much this Govt is squeezing them.

@jamewils

PS: The insane increase in central excise duty via @jamewils

@tradingeco

PPS: How personal income tax rates have also increased during the same time via @tradingeco.

The squeeze is real. Like a dhritarashtra aalinganam.

Read 5 tweets

Kannan Gopinathan

@naukarshah

21 Jan

Is India in a neopatrimonial phase?

Bratton and van de Walle described some regimes as "neopatrimonial" with key characteristics being clientelism, strong presidents, and the use of state resources for political legitimation. They also don't allow any political competition.

I know this might seem irrelevant. But unlike a US which has strong institutions, where a journalist can stand up & counter the President in a PC, we have weak institutions and even weaker individuals manning them. Identifying the phase we are in might point us to solutions too.

Sad part is that even our academia is not independent or bold enough to analyse current events from theoretical-historical framework.

How many IIMs/economic schools published their analysis on the impact of demonetisation on our economy?

We dumb ourselves down to Sir sir sir...

Read 4 tweets

Kannan Gopinathan

@naukarshah

30 Dec 20

@ECISVEEP

A few simple questions to @ECISVEEP and @SpokespersonECI on the current EVM-VVPAT design and the vulnerabilities therein.

Hoping that all political parties will also raise these questions to ECI & demand an answer in the interest of both transparency and national security. 1/n

1. Is the EVM-VVPAT connected (networked) to any external device after the elections are announced?

More specifically, is the EVM-VVPAT connected to any external device after candidates are finalised and booth allocation of EVMs is done? 2/n

- If yes, then what are those external devices and what is the network protocol used?

- If no, then how and at what stage information regarding candidate names and symbols are uploaded to EVM-VVPAT? 3/n

Read 6 tweets

Kannan Gopinathan

@naukarshah

15 Nov 20

In an ideological battle, you can defeat the other.

In an electoral one, you need to win them over.

While electoral battles do have an ideological component.

they are not entirely or even mainly ideological battles.

If we consider people who voted for the opponent as our enemy, then we are fighting an ideological battle.

But based on a wrong data. Their voting preference.

And if we continue to treat them as our enemy, then we are only helping to consolidate the current power position.

Read 8 tweets

Kannan Gopinathan

@naukarshah

22 Oct 20

@narendramodi

"The worst is over"!

Dear PM @narendramodi, here is a collection of "The worst is over" ft that you pulled off year after year. Imagine being able to say that every year and people believing it every year.

Here. This is 2017. The year after de-monster-stroke.

@narendramodi

Beginning of 2018, and I think here economic survey guys honestly thought the worst was over.

But they underestimated the power of a stupid man in power. Yeah. That's you dear PM @narendramodi.

By end of 2018, some of your ministers were seriously hoping for that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Without realising that the light will come only if you move towards it.

We can't expect light if we are digging a grave and not a tunnel.

Read 10 tweets

Kannan Gopinathan

@naukarshah

12 Sep 20

On April 18th, we told China that we see their investment as hostile. That their money is not welcome.

Signalling a decoupling & possibly firing the first salvo without preparation.

This was some days before the unilateral aggression by China on LAC. 1/n economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/p…

The way we framed rules was very 'Modi'ish. That neighbours would need to take an approval route for investing in India. Without taking the name of China.

With that what we also conveyed that we put China and Pakistan in a similar category. As a hostile or an enemy nation. 2/n

For China, a limited skirmish with India would have always been on the table as an extension of their diplomacy. Considering the infrastructural advantage, historical disputes and distance from mainland, this was a region they could always pick to fight. 3/n

Read 14 tweets

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