Deshpande's Adda!

Before Mr. Modi was announced as PM candidate, everyone (including me) has predicted a complete washout of Shiv Sena from Maharashtra. It was evident- as with time, old guns of Sena had started deserting the party. Come 2014 and even just before the elections, it was difficult to predict the impact of “Modi tsunami” on Sena candidates. Looking at specifically results from Thane, Konkan and a few other regions, I can easily say that the "Modi tsunami" was much more than even Sena/BJP could imagine. A few seats in particular: 1. In Navi Mumbai - a tradition bastion of the Naik family- where they have never lost any election: previously from Sena and now from NCP. In the LS election, Sena's Rajan Vichare won from ALL assembly segments- including those of Naik’s stronghold. 2. In Sangli - never ever has any party except Congress even come closer to victory! In 2009, Sena/BJP has supported an independent, since they had little power of contesting here. Today, the...

How do you react when someone asks ‘you’ about Politics? (Unless you are in that rare bunch of people who are politically inclined) Usually ‘you’ will ignore the question with disgust on your face. But isn’t the same ‘you’ who will abuse the politicians and loathe the system when you are seeing a new scam popping up on your news channel. Every day a new fraud is unearthed and every day a new word is added to your list of abuses aimed towards the politicians. You lament over the present situation yet show your outrage for the people involved, still you decline to comment on it publicly and sometime even refuse to vote. This indifference towards the system just widens the gap between the People and the Power. The first step to reconciliation is elections. Here is where the fun begins! To win an election in India, all you need is 3 things: money to dispense, issues to rattle on and a specious opposition to bark on. The first depends on the party the candidate is representing, second i...