VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 274 Date: 25.03.2019
Contents:
1. Campaign Strategies & The Win Numbers
2. Pakistan Should Be Banned From All International Sport
3. Jet Airways Should Not Be Given A Bailout
Campaign Strategies & The Win Numbers
In the context of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the campaigns and focusing on the principal Opposition party, the Congress, which has more of a national presence than any of the other parties in the Opposition. So with Rahul Gandhi leading the Congress snapping at the heels of the Narendra Modi led BJP-NDA combine one can give them an A in doggedness and tenacity, in quality of issues raised it is a B and for creating a pervasive atmosphere of a contest it is a C. Rahul Gandhi has shed his earlier diffidence and seems to be more confident but he needs to focus on more content when he speaks rather than concentrate on sound bytes. The last statement about the PM 'being a joke' sounds very schoolboyish and downright immature. In old conventional naval warfare, while bombarding enemy ships the most effective positioning is to get broadside or parallel to the enemy ship. Then given the large distances involved in sea the positioning of the guns becomes important like its elevation. You let off a volley and see where the shells splash in the water. If it is short then the guns are raised so that you can have the shells go behind the target ship. This also tells you that you have been able to effectively get the target in the range of your guns. And then the gunners are allowed to do their math for gun elevation and you aim for a direct hit. If you get one then you are entitled to celebrate. The lesson in this is that within your competence if you are able to zone in your target then there is a greater possibility of a direct hit. By the same analogy, if you analyse the Congress campaign you will find their shells landing far short of the target and at most the Modi led BJP-NDA combine are getting themselves splashed with water and there is no damage at all to them. Thus the Congress has to elevate their guns to do more damage. However, in contrast the BJP has been hurting the Congress at times grievously to which the Congress have rarely any rejoinders and are caught out fumbling and making pithy responses. One can say that the Congress with a long innings in the seat of government are carrying a legacy which the BJP can plunder to target them. In a sense the BJP have almost outplayed the Congress and are not so much bothered about the Opposition in their race to capture the reins of government once again. The only debacle that one can see about the BJP is what is called 'unforced errors' in tennis. It is goofing upon your play with no pressure from the opponent. And the BJP has committed many 'unforced errors' but you have to give it to them that they have recovered. However, overall with the BJP in their effort to capture the public imagination like in the 'chowkidar' machination one gets the feeling that there is a dumbing down of the political discourse. There is also a sense of alienation where people are beginning to feel that their attention is being diverted of more pressing issues like the economy, joblessness and the hurt that was caused by the gross irresponsibility of the measures of demonetisation and the GST implementation. So all in all if the BJP does not get a majority come 23 May they will have no one else to blame but themselves. But even then my tally for the BJP is still 245 and with the NDA allies ending tantalisingly close to the halfway mark. It is thus going to be a case of so near but yet so far.
Pakistan Should Be Banned From All International Sport
Pakistan had taken objection to our cricket team wearing the combat CRPF caps in the recently concluded India - Australia ODI series. This is rather sad since we are at the receiving end of terror from Pakistan and then we get lectured by them on propriety. The Indian team by showing the gesture of solidarity with our armed forces did the right thing and there is nothing wrong with it. In fact it is Pakistan who should be banned from all forms of international sport since they are not able to provide a safe environment for foreign players and teams in their country. Talking about cricket there was no need for Pakistan to be allowed to have their host matches in the UAE. If they are not able to host the matches in their country or give the confidence to international teams to play in their country then they should have been banned from the sport. Giving them the crutch of playing in another country has given Pakistan the misplaced zeal to lecture others on the whys and wherefores in the administration of the sport. The other thing is that if the de-facto host location for Pakistan is the UAE then it gives them no motivation to correct the situation in their own country and it will be only the international sport associations which will be responsible for allowing this situation to persist. So the best thing is to ban Pakistan from all international sport until they are able to correct the security situation in their own country.
Jet Airways Should Not Be Given A Bailout
In the Jet Airways crisis SBI seems to be getting over anxious in trying to keep the airline afloat. It has been making noises lately that the airline cannot be allowed to sink because the creditors have too much at stake. Though the process suggested by SBI can be termed to be technically correct since they have said that the objective is to save the airline after jettisoning Naresh Goyal. This after Goyal and Etihad being unable to bring in from their side the funding amounting to Rs. 750 crores as their share in the bailout exercise. In fact Etihad has made a comment that they want nothing to do with Jet Airways. The latest figures being put out on the funds needed by Jet Airways to come out of the crisis is Rs. 10,000 crores. This figure is in the same region of what Kingfisher Airlines was in debt for. Kingfisher Airlines even at the time it was folding up had gone to the government and had pleaded for a bailout. But then it was not given any support claiming that they needed to fend for themselves after having got themselves into a crisis. Therefore it is not understood why Jet Airways should be given a crutch bythe government and its majority owned financial institutions. On the operational side only some 40 odd planes of Jet Airways are still flying out of 119 that they own. Therefore if Jet Airways folds up, it is not going to make a great difference in the airline industry within the country since the other airlines can more than make up for the slack once the Boeing Max issues are resolved. Therefore if Jet Airways are not able to continue operations we should let them go into bankruptcy and have other airlines which are being run better to take over the business and expand in the spirit of the more efficient being given more opportunities in a truly competitive environment. The other thing is that SBI is run with public funds and cannot be allowed to spend good money on clearly bad areas. Not only that even if Jet Airways are bailed out by government owned financial institutions what guarantee do you have that in a few years down the road it will not meet the same fate as AirIndia which is a perennial sink hole for funds. That is why it is best that Jet Airways die, a consequence that they have brought upon by themselves.
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