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Did BJP actually win Haryana Assembly Elections because of the 14 Independents who were contesting? Here's a thread, SEAT BY SEAT, proving why such an analysis is wrong and reeks of bias. A special shoutout to @PreetiChoudhry since she shared the infographic first. The theory proposed here is that had it not been for the independents on these 14 seats, BJP's tally would have been 30-35, while Congress would have been at 45-50, or even more. But did the BJP really get lucky, even if this was constitutionally correct? Let's contextualise.

The most underrated tech device you can buy for Rs. 3000.

So, last Sunday, I gave my car to service, forgetting to remove the tracker, a small coin-shaped device, that I keep in the vehicle because I live in Delhi (chances of theft, being towed away, etc.). The car came back from service, but a few hours later, I realised the tracker was missing, as my phone buzzed (it connects directly to the tracker). However, I could track its exact location on the app and continued to do so. It was still in the workshop.

🧵Kargil Diwas, Agniveer, and The Real Story

Earlier today, the Prime Minister made a very important point about the necessity of the military being young, and calling out those who made the Agniveer issue about pensions. The PM, again, addressed a problem that is decades old. I can recall that one of the Congress spokespersons had stated casually in a television debate that Agniveers are too young for combat roles. In her ignorance, she forgot the bravery and sacrifice of many Bravehearts from the war in Kargil in 1999.

Here's one way to better UPSC. Dilute the perks. No residence bigger than 2BHK for the first 10 years of service. Not more than one domestic help. No study tours or subsidy on anything, even unofficial trips. Nothing except a driver and car. Many will chicken out from the exam. If some claim that their productivity is suffering, demote them, or move them to a less important role. There is always the option of hiring more people. Ideally, only people with at least three years of real-world work experience must be hired for the top five services.

Election results in France have a lot of lessons for us. One, coalitions are being made to look fashionable. Two, ideology does not matter in a left coalition. Third, the desperation to defeat the Right overshadows personal egos. Four, fear psychosis works wonders. Imagine the impeccable mental conditioning of some people in the country while they are receiving reports of rioting by the far-left because they have won. Even then, these people are celebrating, thinking they have defeated the far-right, which had a more nationalist agenda.

🧵PM Modi In The Lok Sabha

IMHO, the most important topic that PM Modi touched upon today, even if in a couple of lines, was how the opposition is pushing some states to the verge of bankruptcy and converting them into fiscal deficit burdens on the country through freebies. Two important disclaimers. Freebies and welfare are light years apart in terms of policy formulation, implementation, and evolution. I am sharing my piece from August 2022, where I elaborated on the issue.

Modi’s Welfare Vs Everybody Else’s Freebies

swarajyamag.com/politics/modis…

🧵Congress' Plans For 2024-2029 Against BJP

Rahul Gandhi completed his first speech as the LoP ered on by the opposition MPs, grudgingly perhaps, given some of his utterances. Most of it was mud-slinging, but couple it with Kharge's speech in the RS, and few trends emerge. Congress has realised one simple thing. They only need to divide the Hindus in 150-odd seats, leave the rest of the divisions to some trusted partners (SP, RJD, TMC, DMK, etc) and consolidate the minority vote. It's that simple, and they can reach 270-odd in 2029.

🧵Some Thoughts On June 4 And Beyond;

I was in two minds when it came to penning down my thoughts on Twitter about June 4 and beyond. What finally moved me was a video that I came across today, shared by one of the most influential voices on Twitter. Gandhian spine, they say. This is my perspective, and I mean no disrespect, but amongst some of the influencers of the Right (let’s assume the generic definition of Right here), there is a prevailing inability to gauge the political magnitude of what happened on June 4; a historic day.

🚨🚨🚨 SUPER IMPORTANT THREAD 🚨🚨🚨

What is Congress' Idea of India?

Based on whatever is there in the Congress manifesto, and whatever they are saying in their rallies, let's decode what the Indian economy may look like under the Congress-Rahul Gandhi Government. Some context is needed here.

UPA-2 failed to curb an NPA crisis and opened the credit tap as per their whims and fancies for some corporates, could not start a single DBT project, had massive delays in infra projects, was not pro-manufacturing, were unable to tame inflation.

Not one journalist or anchor has called out the Congress for the disproportional loans given between 2007 and 2012. The BJP should use this opportunity to float the 2012 'House of Debt' report again, and explain the nation the credit crisis the previous government gave us. The CAGR in the banking loans for 2007-12 was around 20%, but for top 10 corporate groups, it was 40%, and for Adani it was 70+%. If anything, this government has ushered unprecedented steps against NPAs, unhealthy credit practices like loan restructuring, etc.

What is the economic model of Khalistan?

1) Defence, agri, economy, industry; all are due to the Centre
2) Panjab University is outside Punjab (always funny 😂)
3) Zero R&D ecosystem, services sector not taking off
4) Medical infrastructure is weak
5) Infra is Centre-gifted I mean, even if, and a Jupiter-sized 'if' this, a Khalistan was possible, how would they survive. 45% Hindus would exit the state, taking their money along, and whatever will be left behind would be worthless. Heck, the labourers in the fields come from UP/Bihar. What Khalistan!

At @SwarajyaMag, we are now starting with trackers. Head to the home page, and below the featured articles, you'll find a number of dashboards/trackers on all the key topics.

Here's the Punjab tracker, to get you started, with all relevant literature.

swarajyamag.com/politics/track… How can we not have a tracker on China? Follow this space for all the context on China, from real estate to politics.

China Dashboard: Beijing-Moscow Coalition Threatens Return Of The Cold War Order

swarajyamag.com/world/swarajya…

🚨 About Adani;

Last week tells me that next 15 months are going to be about Congress' pawns trying to convince you that Modi had banks giving Adani money, that Adani is sinking like Lehman, and the likes of LIC/SBI are heavily exposed to Adani so they'll sink, and you'll sink. These people aren't even creative. They are drawing their inspiration for the new toolkit from the 2008 financial crisis. They'll tell you that Adani is sinking like the Wall Street banks, was overleveraged, can't pay debt, and will take down the Indian financial system.

BBC is just the start. Indians should brace themselves for more crap from western media as the 2024 elections draw near. Can think of the usual suspects already (NYT, WaPo, Economist). Can guess the usual rhetoric already (anti-minority, inequality, Hindutva bla bla). As an Indian, neither should their praise, fake or real, come as a validation nor should their criticism, mindless or real, be seen as an attack. The core Indian voter, in their entire lifetime, won't even bother to pick up NYT for Rs.50/month or care to check what BBC says.

General Bipin Rawat spoke of a 2.5-front war, and nowhere this is more visible than Punjab. Come to think of it, the state is in a soup politically, economically, culturally, and even socially. Once a promising economy, it now stares at a bleak future. Ten years of the corrupt Akali-led government ushered a failed nationalist who was too blind to see the reality within his party and continued to toe the line drawn by Sonia Gandhi. Today, we have something far more worse running the state.

If you are one of those who were born after 2004, you will probably cast your first vote in 2024, or 2029, but you were not born when Parl attacks happened, you were a toddler when train and market blasts were routine, and you were at best 4 when 26/11 happened, and 10 in 2014. By no fault of yours, you don't understand what happened the three days during 26/11, the magnitude of it, and our sheer shock. For most of us, it was confusing, for we were just wondering how it could happen, and it did. Further, the meek response left us shattered.

This is a very personal opinion, and of course, it would vary from individual to individual, experience to experience, and family to family, so no generalising here, but I feel, personally, that we, as Hindus, are making a mistake by encouraging absolutely nuclear families. Let me define nuclear here; just the couple, and one or two kids. Let me define joint family here; a couple, their kids, and the grandparents (paternal). When I say joint families, I don't mean that all siblings of the second generation are supposed to live together.

All said and done, the radicals masquerading as college bullies got off easy in IBS, Hyderabad. In any other private institution, that would have warranted cancellation of the admission altogether. Ideally, such morons must be blacklisted from all colleges, companies, and jobs. As a society, worrying where we are heading in some pockets. Young students want to challenge school rules in the garb of burqa and what not. College students are now self-proclaimed jury, judges, and executioners, using religion as an excuse. The elders are protesters for hire.

NCR is an interesting case study. The state of Delhi, as a city, tells you why people prefer Noida and Gurgaon. Further, living in Noida tells you how Gurgaon should not have been planned. Furthermore, Noida tells you that malls and societies are no promise of good urbanisation. Make no mistake, Noida is far far better than Gurgaon, and of course, comparison with Delhi is unfair, from an infra perspective, but even then, the random sectors of Noida, decided in a drinking game, perhaps, tell you the blunders that plague even the best of our cities.

About Muslim PM, why is it only about one minority when it comes to such discussions? Why not a Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, Christian, or even a Sikh PM again? Why is every minority privilege reserved for one community alone? Let's talk about potential PMs from other communities too? Also, any Muslim can become the PM, provided they are able to get the support of 272 Lok Sabha MPs across India and can win the election while being the face of their party. Perhaps, Congress can set an example by having a Muslim as the PM candidate for 2024? What stops them?

🧵 about Leicester and Hinduphobia at large;

A few days back, after the episode in Leicester, I sat down for a virtual conference with a few young Hindus, including a few of those who were born and raised in the same neighbourhoods where Hindus were threatened by a fanatic mob. Given that the attention spans are inversely proportional to the information inflow from cross the world, we all are guilty of not being able to follow certain issues for a prolonged period, especially as mango citizens chasing life in routine. Leicester is an example of that.