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Ajit Datta Profile picture
Ajit Datta
@ajitdatta
Author (Rupa 2021) and political commentator. Part of the @frustIndian and @pondylitfest families.
May 14, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Random thought

Some of the key strategies that make BJP an election winning machine - the massive membership drives, the internal OBC push, the mobilization of labharthis, the panna pramukh system etc. - have only become part of public discourse after being tried & tested.

1/n One hardly ever hears about such strategies at the stages of conception or planning, and yet they are implemented seamlessly and at a large-scale.

Contrast this to how the Congress Party works. It's a reality tv show, with the media giving us minute by minute updates...

2/n
Apr 6, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
A remarkable paper about India has come out today from the IMF. Its findings are mind-blowing. Since this is about India's success, and particularly that of the present dispensation, many are avoiding it altogether.

Here's a thread about the paper and why it's being ignored. The image below contains certain highlights of the paper. Among them, extreme poverty (PPP$1.9 per person per day) was below 1% in 2019 and 2020 (pandemic year) in India! A low percentage in extreme poverty for 2 consecutive years is considered as elimination of extreme poverty!
Feb 8, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Thread of pandemic-related tweets that did not age well. (Pls leave what I have missed in the replies, I will add it to the thread)

Lol, 1/n Lol, 2/n
Sep 18, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
THREAD

After becoming Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi vigorously pushed for DBT. The gravy train ended, your hierarchy of patronage collapsed. Meanwhile, you were busy planting stories about intolerance in the international media.

1/n Amit Shah was busy crisscrossing the country, building the largest political party in human history. Meanwhile, you were returning your awards.

As the months passed, gas cylinders, houses and toilets reached the villages. You were rearing a zoo full of stand-up comedians.

2/n
Aug 25, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
A thread about what's happening in the Pappu Party

The first thing that's important to understand is that the family is going nowhere. You can throw the management out if a company does badly, but you can't throw the owners out.

This is the backdrop.

1/n Now you have maino who wants the son to take over, but on her terms. And you have the son, who won't take over unless it's on his own terms. Not that it makes a difference in the real world, but the son being a Pappu thinks it does because things went south last time.

2/n
Jul 16, 2020 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
The BJP currently faces the biggest dilemma that has confronted Indian politics. Thread.

I came across this interesting tweet from my favourite journalist. We have no reason to doubt him because it doesn't concern TRPs.

1/n The Congress machinery is used to wielding power. It is evident that being out of power and no clear roadmap for a revival is frustrating them. Alternatives beyond the family are being thought about.

Remember, alternatives beyond the family = alternatives beyond Congress.

2/n
Jul 4, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
If PM Modi doesn't spring any new surprise today, Khan Market will return to PGV's Lucknow house hunting.

Recently Karti Chidambaram said PGV should be the CM candidate for UP.

Just how the family and its cronies are being PLAYED is unbelievable. Thread.

1/n PGV has been posturing herself as Yogi's adversary in UP. The posturing takes place in Noida's TV studios and op-ed pages. The Congress Party has 1 out of 80 MPs and 7 out of 402 MLAs in the state.

The BJP obviously sensed an opportunity here.

2/n
Jun 29, 2020 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
This thread is about the fraud that these shameless thugs are committing. It's high time that the Goverment of India steps in and bans PETA.

Since 1997, Lakhmi has been an integral part of our lives in Pondicherry. PETA doesn't care about her, their interests lie elsewhere.

1/n I had earlier made a thread about Lakshmi, how she was showered with love from everyone in the town, how the temple had made arrangements for her to live comfortably. I know this for a fact because her shed is right down the road from my house.

2/n
Jun 26, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
On the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation website, under a section called 'Our Story', for the year 2004-05, one of the activites undertaken by RGCIS is listed as "China Association for Internationally Friendly Contact".

This left me intrigued. I ran a Google search. It's explosive.

1/n According to wikipedia:

"The China Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC) is a united front organization subordinate to the Liaison Department of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission. CAIFC was founded in 1984..."

(continued)

2/n
Jun 24, 2020 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
On 7th October 2001, Narendra Modi was appointed Chief Minister of Gujarat. That's the day the Congress Party's decline began.

"Know thyself, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories."

1/n You can love him or hate him. You can believe him or disbelieve him. But he wins. Because TINA (There is no alternative).

"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

2/n
Jun 24, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
As of now, there is very little information in the public domain regarding the MoU that the CCP signed with the Congress Party. The more one thinks about it, the more one realizes that the implications of such an MoU are both mind-boggling and sinister. Thread.

1/n Here's a 2008 article about it.
Some key takeaways of the MoU:
- Consulting each other on bilateral, regional, and international developments
- STRICTLY on party-to-party basis
- Building a relationship with Cong and dynasty that goes BEYOND THE GOVT.
2/n
 indiatoday.in/latest-headlin…
Jun 9, 2020 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Thread on Lakshmi the elephant

Lakshmi, the temple elephant, came to Pondicherry in 1997, a year after I was born. She lived down the road from us. The Manakular Vinayagam temple, barely a few hundred metres from home, is where she spent the day.

1/n Whoever visits Pondy generally visits the Manakular Vinayagam temple. Lakshmi used to stand outside. Most people used to go and stand in front of her, and she used lift her trunk and bless them softly on the head. She would bless you only once, there was no fooling her.

2/n
May 16, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
From 15th August 1947 to 16th May 2014:

- Non Congress govts were in power for only 12 years
- Only 1 non Congress govt served a full term
- The longest stretch of non Congress rule lasted for 8 years (with 6 months of Congress outside support in between)

1/n Of the 12 years of non-Congress rule, 4 years were govts. with Congress outside support. So in effect, non Congress rule with no Congress involvment was for 8 years. Congress remained in power or close to power for 59 out of 67 years.

2/n
Apr 30, 2020 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
In the last few days:
- Mafia's emergency tendencies have emerged again with their attempts to censor Arnab
- BJP has stopped sending spokespersons to Aaj Tak (@thakkar_sameet gave us the inside story)
- 8 pm anchors have lied about viewership using filters

Here's a thread: English news viewership might be a big deal for us, but in terms of how many people it influences: PEANUTS!

The real action takes place in Hindi, which is around 100 times bigger. Rule the English segment and the perfumed elite know you, rule Hindi and you control narratives
2/n
Mar 23, 2020 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Can't resist making a political thread about the implications of yesterday's #JantaCurfew and 5 pm show of solidarity. There are multiple interesting takeaways. Here goes:

1/n It is probably for the first time in human history that such a large population has stood behind one leader's call to action. This is a population which has never seen or known a pandemic, and has chosen to put economic and other considerations aside in larger Indian interest
2/n
Jan 6, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
I have a theory about #JNU. If the BJP wanted to do something about it, they would have acted long ago. The entire country would have backed them. But they want to leave it as is, and for good reason. I for one support it. Here's a thread about why that is. What the BJP has made of #JNU is an exhibition for the rest of the country. An exhibition of the most debased, the most degenerate, the looniest elements that the country has to offer. All concentrated in one place. That these elements hate the BJP blindly is a huge advantage.
Nov 26, 2019 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
26/11. NEVER FORGET, NEVER FORGIVE.

Here's a thread about some of the facts related to 26/11 that we should never forget, and some of the people we should never forgive.

1/n While Mumbai was under attack, top officials of the Home Ministry were holidaying in Pakistan. Pak ensured they remained unreachable, while Pak's attack went on. This is what our security/intelligence apparatus had been reduced to under Shivraj Patil.

2/n
 indiatoday.in/india/story/we…
Nov 26, 2018 • 19 tweets • 6 min read
It's not his fault. It's the media's fault that they invite someone who should be in an asylum. This guy is a legend. He deserves a special thread. Here we go.
"Aurangzeb was the finest of the Mughal emperors."
Aurangzeb isn't the only one. About Tipu, he told @Shubhrastha ma'am: “I hail him as a modern man of his times…”