10 reasons why 2019 is (so far) a fantastic year for Modi

india gate-712575_960_720Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had great electoral years in 2002 (Gujarat), 2007 (Gujarat), 2012 (Gujarat), 2013 (State elections), 2014 (Lok Sabha and State elections) and 2017. In fact 2017 was one of the best years when BJP won a whopping six States, a feat not seen in Indian politics for decades.

In 2009, Congress got more Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat. In 2015, Modi lost key ego battles with Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad Yadav (Bihar) and Arvind Kejriwal (New Delhi).  But by the end of 2017, a second Modi term seemed a foregone conclusion.

vikasa-soudha-245037_960_720However Modi probably got his worst year ever in 2018, his Annus Horribilis. First despite being the single largest party in Karnataka, the BJP totally messed up the trust vote and ceded ground to a JDS-Congress government. Then the NDA government in Jammu & Kashmir fell.

Finally at the end of the year, BJP won 0/5 State elections while the ailing Congress got a real shot in the arm and formed governments in the key states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Congress supporters and Modi haters finally smelt blood at the end of 2018.

But that is distant memory now and 2019 is firmly The Year of Modi (so far). Here’s why…

1. Spectacular surgical strikes.

f16 plane-4115480_960_720While the 2016 surgical strike in Uri was great, the 2019 one was simply spectacular. For the first time in history, an Air Force conducted air strikes on a nuclear power. Jaish-e-Mohammed was decimated in Balakot (Pakistan proper), while Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen terror camps were hit in Muzaffarabad and Chakothi (PoK).

Then Wing Commander Abhinandan shot down an F-16, the first MiG-21 to do so in history. Abhinandan became a POW, but was released in quick time. India looked decisive and Pakistan was caught firmly on the back foot.

2. Great annual budget. GST-DeMo shocks absorbed. GDP growth up.

money india-3887567_960_720Usually when a budget is presented, there are many pros and cons in the media and sometimes consensus is elusive whether it is god or bad. But Budget 2019 was an unqualified success and critically acclaimed by all.

It had something for everyone: The farmers, the middle class, the industry… While many ruling governments don’t go in for a full-fledged budget in election year, Modi presented a bold one which pleased all and helped his 2019 electoral cause.

Then, remember the total disruption that GST and demonetization caused? Well they are distant memories now and the economy has totally absorbed those shocks. Among large economies, India now has the highest GDP growth rate in the world. The good budget complemented this.

girl child-306607_960_7203. Economic reservation Bill.

This was another unexpected sixer out of the park. Nobody saw it coming. Nobody could really criticize it. While most such moves are based solely on caste and religious lines, this one was solely targeted for the poor.

4. The NDAgatbandhan.

handshake-819279_960_720Everyone was talking of the Mahagatbandhan, but the NDAgatbandhan has taken over. The BJP has strong allies in the form of JDU-LJP (Bihar), Shiv Sena (Maharashtra), ADMK+ (Tamil Nadu) and SAD (Punjab). Then there’s their surprise North-East Democratic Alliance which has a dozen odd members. Even if the BJP gets 250, it will be a stable 5-year government and more allies will be looking to jumping on the NDA ship.

5. Looks like Bollywood is totally with him!

BollywoodThe film industry is severely Left-leaning. That way you could say that 99% of Hollywood is against US President Donald Trump. When Modi finally made his intentions to run for Prime Minister in 2012 crystal clear, Bollywood was by and large against him. But not anymore!

In 2019 it seems that Bollywood is almost campaigning for Modi. At the beginning of the year Uri: The Surgical Strike became 2019’s biggest hit. It reminded people of the 2016 strike and even as it was playing in the theatres more happened.

On the same day the nationalistic Battalion 609 was released along with The Accidental Prime Minister, which showed Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in bad light. This was followed by movies like 72 Hours: Martyr Who Never Died, Thackeray and Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi.

Then we had Mere Pyare Prime Minister, based on the Swachh Bharat Mission, the patriotic and jingoistic Kesari and the controversial Ram Ki Janmbhoomi. Romeo Akber Walter also brought back the India-Pak focus.

Finally we had The Tashkent Files, which showed Indira Gandhi in really bad light. The release of PM Narendra Modi got delayed but now Modi can claim the EC is neutral. That movie will be released after polling and may be a superhit if it forms part of the victory celebrations.

6. Solid development and governance credentials.

yamuna-expressway-385352_960_720Modi is campaigning in 2019 with great confidence. That’s because he has solid development and governance credentials. He has pulled up the bureaucracy and ministries. India has seen a record number of toilets, power connections, LPG cylinders, roads and bank accounts. Modi has become a foreign policy superstar and he received a further boost during electioneering when he got Russia’s highest award.

Fake News7. Rafale damp squib.

Pappu keeps hammering on Rafale a million times and nobody cares. Rural India still doesn’t what the hell it’s all about and urban India laughs at him. Even the courts dismissed it in December last year. Just for a review petition to be accepted made Pappu declare that “Chowkidar is chor” for which he had to eat crow in front of the Supreme Court. This is key, because Pappu thought this was the ace in the hole.

8. Main bhi chowkidar/media interview blitz.

Social media-998990_960_720Continuing with Rafale, in 2014, Modi turned the chaiwallah jibe into a brilliant #ChaiPeCharcha campaign. This time when Pappu thought that his “Chowkidar Chor hain” won the day, Modi again turned it around with the widespread and immensely popular “Main bhi Chowkidar” campaign.

If #AbkiBaarModiSarkaar ruled 2014, then its #AayegaToModiHi in 2019. While during the December 2018 elections it seemed that the BJP was totally losing it on social media, Modi got his mojo back by the time of the general elections.

All the channels can’t get enough of Modi. They keep showing his speeches, rallies, road shows and programmes like the one at the Varanasi Ghat. He also went on to do many media interviews and the biggest hit of the year was probably the one with Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar.

9. Opposition unity totally in tatters.

Cross mark-39951_960_720There is no real UPA and there is no Third Front. Everyone wants to be Prime Minister. Congress has no tie-ups in UP while their ones in Maharashtra and Karnataka seem to be ineffective. They had a win with the DMK in Tamil Nadu; however BJP is already sitting at nearly nothing there and moreover tied up with the ADMK. Chandrababu Naidu also broke it off with Congress realizing it was going nowhere.

Everyone is celebrating the SP-BSP tie-up in UP without mentioning that they got 5 + 0 seats last time as against NDA’s 75. Also the Yadav and Dalit vote banks are not additive, but at loggerheads with each other.

The main problem is that everybody hates Pappu and everybody wants to be PM. Sharad Pawar, Mayawati and Mrs Vadra are not even contesting the elections. HD Deve Gowda may lose as may Pappu in Amethi. There’s a chance that both Naidu and Naveen Patnaik may lose their CMship. It’s been ages since the opposition has been so weak.

10. UAE award and temple inauguration during voting.

burj-khalifa-2212978_960_720Modi haters have tried to spread the “Muslims under siege” narrative multiple times and failed. One thing that has blunted this is his excellent relationship with Muslim heads of state and perhaps he has surpassed all his predecessors in that regard.

Before this new year started, he had got the highest award of three countries: Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Palestine—all Muslim countries. Then in 2019, during electioneering, he was conferred with the highest award of the UAE. That Muslim country also inaugurated a temple there.

Parting shot…

parliament-2028311_640Pro-incumbency is the norm at the Centre. Nehru won all the elections in his life. His daughter Indira also won all the elections save one where she had imposed the dreaded dictatorial Emergency. The Janata Party and Janata Dal disintegrated and only a slew of scandals sunk Rajiv in 1989. Vajpayee in 2004 was not expected to complete his term had he been elected and he was scandal-ridden and overshadowed by LK Advani. Manmohan got re-elected in 2009 even though he was mediocre in UPA1.

That means a youngish Prime Minister who even gives a mediocre performance without any major scandal has a near cent per cent chance of winning re-election. Modi is in his prime and young enough to complete two more terms so it is unlikely that India will vote against him in 2019.

See also…

9 reasons why Modi is heading for a landslide in the 2019 general elections

Indian Congress keeps sabotaging itself again and again

The 75 lies they told you about Prime Minister Narendra Modi…

The Force Awakens was why you got the shit fest of The Last Jedi

millenium-falcon-1627322_960_720Everyone blasted Star Wars 8: The Last Jedi and I was no different—Read: Star Wars is dead! However very few people seem to realize that the problem was not The Last Jedi, but its predecessor Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens. That was the movie where everything went wrong and from then on the entire Star Wars franchise was doomed.

We got a really bad movie in the form of The Force Awakens and yet curiously everyone decided to cheer it as if it was one of the greatest things ever. It made more than US$2 billion at the global box office and into the Top 100 Rotten Tomatoes all-time great movies.

Never had such a downright mediocre movie got such a massively positive feedback from the fans, critics and box office.

Let me explain…

1. It wasn’t really Episode 7, but Episode 8.

8The original trilogy flowed seamlessly in terms of storyline as did the prequel trilogy. In fact you can watch Episodes 1 to 6 back to back and feel you are watching a continuous mini-series. However there is a huge jump from Episode 6 to 7.

At the end of Episode 6: Return of the Jedi, both the Emperor and Darth Vader were completely defeated and Princess Leia was in charge. Luke was the greatest Jedi in the galaxy and Han Solo was a genuine hero.

So at the beginning of Episode 7, this troika should be in charge of a government that is a replacement of the Empire or the defeated Empire should have struck back. So either Leia is leading the galaxy or an equal battle is brewing with a new potential Empire.

However we know absolutely nothing about all this as things have simply been fast forwarded. Snope is supreme. (How?) Leia-Han romanced, Kylo Ren was born, grew up and went to the Dark Side and nothing is explained properly. We know absolutely nothing of this and are expected to follow it seamlessly nevertheless.

George Lucas had always hinted that Episode 7 would go straight to the point where Luke-Leia-Solo were old but this is not at all what any of us expected. This seemed like a Star Wars from a parallel universe and not the original one.

2. The entire new cast was terrible.

rey-1449242_960_720Adam Driver—Kylo Ren. Daisy Ridley—Rey. John Boyega—Finn. Oscar Isaac—Poe Dameron. Absolutely no-one leaves a lasting impression. This is quite a lacklustre cast indeed. They are all weak and it is surprising how they were cast especially considering that Netflix and the TV universe together have such a vast and talented pool of excellent actors who give great performances.

When I came out of the cinema hall, I had forgotten the screen names of all of them. I struggled to discuss the movie with people after that with phrases like “That woman Jedi”, “That Darth Vader knockoff”, “That Stormtrooper” and “That other guy”. Such a thing was unthinkable when the original Star Wars was released in 1977.

Decades back when fans came out: Darth Vader, Luke, Leia, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2D2 and C3PO were firmly etched in everyone’s minds. They immediately became cultish and their action figures sold like hot cakes.

Even though the prequel trilogy was boring and wooden at times, it had excellent performances: Liam Neeson—Qui-Gon Jinn. Ewan McGregor—Obi-Wan Kenobi. Christopher Lee—Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus. Samuel L. Jackson—Mace Windu. Ray Park—Darth Maul.

3. Leia-Solo were both terrible.

In terms of acting both Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher gave terrible performances. There was zero on screen chemistry between them even in the—what should have been an iconic scene when they meet. Both of them looked contrived and somewhat like props and I was left wondering what the hell they were doing there. Both of them could have well been left out of the movie and nobody would have noticed.

4. It broke away from the Star Wars canon.

While the prequel trilogy diluted the force with its use of Midi-chlorians, that was about it. Stars Wars 1 through 6 can be considered canon. Episode 7 first broke away, not Episode 8.

In the original trilogy, Luke was a perfect Bildungsroman character who grows slowly and steadily throughout the three movies. He is a total non-entity at the beginning, but you accept him as a great Jedi master at the end.

Darth VaderEven in the prequel trilogy, Darth Vader requires three movies to become Darth Vader. Not so with Rey. She receives no formal training of any kind and knows nothing about the Force and yet masters it. Her defeating of Kylo Ren (a trained Jedi dark apprentice with the Emperor as his master) looked downright ridiculous and gimmicky.

The whole concept of the Force was reduced to a joke.

Storm TrooperAlso a storm trooper rebelling made no sense. There have been 9 Star Wars movies (including Rogue One) and only one storm trooper rebelled in one of them? What sense does that make? Either all of them were brainwashed or a storm trooper rebellion should have broken out in Episode 8.

The concept of the Force is trivialized in Episode 7 and pulverized in Episode 8.

On their first attempt, Rey commandeering the Millennium Falcon was a travesty in Episode 7 but Rose commandeering the speeder was a total farce in Episode 8.

Rey beating Kylo Ren in Episode 7 was Mary Sue-ish, but Rey beating the Emperor was Super Mary Sue-ish in Episode 8.

Luke looked stoned at the end of Episode 7 and super stoned in the first half of Episode 8.

It all began in Episode 7. Episode 8 merely took the garbage forward.

5. It was a remake of Star Wars 4.

BB8 R2D2While this was mentioned by everyone, it wasn’t rubbished enough because it kindled the nostalgia in all the fans. But the truth cannot be denied. Kylo Ren was discount Darth Vader. Emperor Snope was discount Emperor Palpatine. Rey was a discount Luke-Solo hybrid. General Leia was discount Princess Leia. Old Solo was discount Young Solo. Finn was discount storm trooper. Poe was another discount Solo.

The story line was more or less the same. A message had to be carried across the galaxy. BB-8 replaced R2D2. Starkiller Base replaced the Death Star. It was extremely lazy story writing. They then randomly got Kylo Ren to kill his father Han Solo to break the mould somewhat, but the entire story line was incoherent.

What if they had shown a Queen Leia, a supreme Jedi Master Luke and an ageing General Solo being attacked by a mysterious Sith Lord from another galaxy? They would have actually had to use their brains then!

star-wars-Feminism6. Feminism will defeat Patriarchy!

In Episode 7 Luke came only at the end of the movie and threw away his Lightsaber. Solo was clueless, jobless and finally killed unceremoniously. Kylo Ren looked like a scared pansy throughout the movie. Finn and Poe were subservient to Rey. Episode 7 was merely the platform for the Episode 8 Social Justice Warrior shit fest.

8 shifting goal posts of the Mueller probe

donald-trump-wheel3259388_960_720Everyone knew the Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin Russian collusion theory was 100% fake and everyone knew that the Mueller probe that looked into it would probably yield nothing. But still there was such tremendous hype round it. Why?

The simple reason was that this was all a witch hunt and Trump haters were clutching at straws because they were drowning in the tears produced by the loss of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US Presidential polls. Marxists (Socialists + Liberals + intellectuals etc) have a habit of shifting goalposts.

When they don’t score, as they usually haven’t been doing in the 2010s, they simply shift the goal posts and claim victory. However in this particular case, they were so off target that all the multiple goal posts missed.

Here is a list of traps that the Trump haters set for the current US President…

1. He would be a lame duck President.

dementia trump-1750965_960_720That was their first goal. They hope that he would be unable to function from Day 1. They hoped he wouldn’t be able to function in Washington DC and be consumed by the swamp. Trump may be a billionaire with decades with experience, but this was his first political job.

At that time even the Republican leadership abhorred him and the Democrats thought that they would get together and neutralize him via the Mueller probe which wouldn’t let him function.

2. He would resign in frustration.

checkmate-1511866_960_720If the above played out, then Trump would be totally frustrated at having no work done. On top of that Mueller would always be hanging above him like a Damocles Sword and he might wonder: What if the special counsel fixed him over some bogus charge? Might not it be better to just quit and leave? Then his Vice President Mike Pence would take over who would also be attacked 24X7 and that would clear the decks for a Democratic President in 2020.

3. He would sack Mueller and be charged for obstruction.

department Justice -40657_960_720Trump is one of the smartest guys around and he would have fully understood the above. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to just sack Mueller? Then the Democrats would charge him for obstruction of justice. The charges and attacks would just seamlessly shift from collusion to obstruction.

That is why they went after his Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions could well have sacked Mueller and taken the heat on himself. But he was virulently attacked and forced to recuse himself so that the Mueller sacking would solely be on Trump and the obstruction narrative could move forward.

4. He would enter a perjury trap.

meeting-room-10270_960_720Mueller kept trying to get Trump into a room and grill him. Trump wisely got out of such a situation. Mueller would have asked him as many questions as he could and had anything that technically could be a lie would have been called that.

If collusion and obstruction fails, then go for perjury! That’s what the theory of shifting goal posts is all about!

5. He would be a disgrace by 2018.

2018The Democrats thought that even if Trump fought it out, then Trump would be a total disgrace and spent force by 2018 by which time they hoped to take the House and they actually did. The Democrats would then impeach Trump and the action would have shifted to the Senate.

While it is highly doubtful the Senate will remove Trump (The Democrats need 67 votes and they don’t even have 50) the narrative would have shifted away from the Republicans and the Dems would be primed to take over the White House in 2020.

6. Something Russia over his colleagues and family.

saint-basils-cathedral-708349_960_720Actually they knew that if would be quite difficult to tie Trump to Russia, but anyone else would do. His children. His campaign team. Any senior person in his many businesses. All they had to do was nail any close Trump associate for having close ties with Russia and Trump would be guilty by association in the public court.

Perception is all that matters!

7. Something. Anything. About Anything.

pray-1639946_960_720Actually it wasn’t just about Russia. The 22-month probe covered everything. The Dems were hoping to dig tonnes of dirt and get anything. Anything related to finance. Anything related to tax returns. Anything related to any of his dealings. Anything related to even racism in his businesses.

However anything became nothing in the end.

8. What if he did actually collude with Russia!

putin-2972184_960_720For Marxists, the 2016 is probably the worst year since 1991 when the Communist Soviet Empire collapsed. That year had both Trump and Brexit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi won in 2014. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kept winning. And the Right is rising in almost every European country. They keep losing.

The Marxists have become severely delusional and have entered their make believe world where anyone who isn’t Far Left is a Hitler Nazi. They actually believe that all their opponents are evil. They keep doubling down and getting more and more delusional and they actually believe Putin and Trump colluded.

But then if that’s the case then the then US President Barack Obama should be arrested because he allowed it to happen because it happened under his watch. Such subtle nuances are totally lost on the Marxists.

trump-3123765_960_720It is amazing that Trump continues to soar, save all the opposition goals and doesn’t have an approval rating below 20%. He has used his Twitter handle to totally neutralize the mainstream media.

The Mueller Probe is dead, but it still lives in the hearts of the Marxists.

Also read…

How the media whitewashes the black and blackwashes the white

10 reasons why Sonia ruled like a dictator (and nobody really cared!)

Queen chess-1483735_960_720Congress dynasts do nothing and are given power after which they rule like dictators. BJP leaders work their way up the ladder and when they reach the top, they are attacked 24X7 by the mainstream media, liberals and so called intellectuals. If that’s not enough, then the Congress dynasts are called secular democrats while the BJP leaders are called fascist dictators.

The latest in this long line of dual identity switching is Congress leader Sonia and Gandhi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A look at the reasons why Sonia, not Modi, has been ruling her fiefdom like a dictator…

1. Congress President for a whopping 20 years.

GandhiIf you look at the list of Congress Presidents then it’s an illustrious list full of stalwarts who ruled by rotation. Very rarely did anyone rule at a stretch and a double figure reign was unthinkable. Well Sonia was President for an amazing 20 years, from 1998-2017.

So does that mean she was the best President ever who got elected by a thumping majority? Not really. Her tenure started with the then President Sitaram Kesri being locked in the toilet so he couldn’t oppose Sonia. Then in 1999, Sonia crashed the Congress to 114/543 Lok Sabha seats, the worst ever.

After that from 2004-14, she fired from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s shoulder and gave the worst and most corrupt government in Independent history and broke her own Lok Sabha record Congress for a paltry 44 seats. Yet nobody challenged her and she passed her title to her zero achievement son Pappu.

True democratic leaders become stronger with every success (like Modi) while dictators become even more powerful with every successive failure.

2. Remember the social media crackdown and the dreaded Section 66A?

censorship-610101_960_720Remember the dreaded Section 66A of the Indian IT Act where you could be arrested even if you annoyed a politician. That led to great mayhem in the run up to the 2014 general elections. Many were arrested while a good number of Congress critics got threatening notices.

Interestingly even in the run up to the 2019 elections it is Modi and BJP supporters who are finding their social media accounts suspended and deleted proving that Modi is not the dictator. However Sonia’s party continues to crack down even after being out of power.

It runs in the family actually. Jawaharlal Nehru brought in the First Amendment which severely curbed freedom of speech. Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency. Sanjay’s goons would beat up anyone who disagreed with him. Rajiv tried to impose the anti-defamation bill which would jail journalists. What’s new?

see no evil-1020175_960_7203. Secretive and aloof beyond measure.

Forget doing anything against her, she can’t even be discussed. Her IT returns, travel plans and mystery illnesses do not come under Right To Information. You can’t know anything about her. You can’t ask anything about her. She’s royalty and you have to bow down your head when it comes to her. She is powerful that we don’t even have the right to any kind of information that she deems unfit.

nehru-2361331_6404. Mainstream media management surpassed even Nehru.

Nehru faced some dissent in his time. Rajiv was totally disgraced by the end of his term in 1989. However from 2004-19 the entire mainstream media has shown that it is petrified of her. You can’t do articles critical of her and have to withdraw completely if “Sonia is unhappy”.

Every editor wants to be in her good books. Every media house quakes in its boots at the thought of her. Does this sound like a democracy or a dictatorship?

5. Zero dissent and debate with fleet of sycophantic leaders.

A whole galaxy of leaders opposed Nehru, Indira and Rajiv under their reign. However after the deaths of Madhavrao Scindia, Rajesh Pilot and Jitendra Prasad, Sonia ruled the party like a dictator from 2001-17. Nobody could challenge her. Nobody could stand up to her. Nobody could question her decisions. Quite strange in an allegedly flourishing democracy like India!

throne-2790789_960_7206. Zero Accountability during UPA.

2004-14: Sonia was the most powerful person during UPA. UPA was also the most corrupt and worst governed regime. Yet Sonia is 0% responsible for all the problems of the UPA? How does that work? Why did the Prime Minister of the land behave like a servant and treat Sonia like his master. Why is MMS still petrified of her? Fascist dictator anyone?

7. Goebbelsian team surpassed previous spokespersons.

The spokespersons of the Congress party give two hoots to truth, logic and decency. They even give two hoots to the Congress party. Their only aim is to please the Queen and her son. That’s it. Every failure has to be twisted in such a way that the party and its leaders can be rubbished, but not the supreme dictator.

8. National Advisory Council and its constitutionality.

parliament-2028311_640If Sonia during UPA was a super PM, then the NAC was a super cabinet. This was an extra-Constitutional body created just for Sonia. Just to give her legitimacy. Just to give her power. Just to give her an excuse to impose her will on the government. A powerful body created by one woman, just for one woman. It was thankfully scrapped by Modi in 2014.

9. What about all those crimes?

Modi was accused of dozens of crimes and there was never even a chargesheet. However Sonia is actually an accused in the National Herald scam. Her name also cropped up in an Italian court in the Agusta Westland scam. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has even linked her name to the 2G scam, exodus of antiquities, the KGB etc. But nobody may even look into it, speak of it and even deny it, for that will acknowledge its very existence. She who must not be named. Her scams must not be named.

10. Cult of Sonia alive even today.

Even in 2019, a powerless Sonia is still not investigated, attacked or even criticized. Media houses stay clear of her, politicians do not want to take her on and investigative agencies would rather look the other way when her name crops up. She may yet be India’s greatest dictator wince the days of the British Raj.

See also…

10 reasons why Sonia Gandhi is the worst Congress President ever

Prime Ministers of India, would be PMs and their unnatural deaths…

Gandhi statueIndia was unlucky in its senior leadership right from the beginning. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 and Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel died in 1950. Even economic experts like our first Governor General C Rajagopalachari, who predicted the ills of the License Raj, and BR Ambedkar, the Father of the Reserve Bank and Financial Commission, were both sidelined as India’s 1991 economic collapse was inevitable.

However here’s looking at Prime Ministers and would be Prime Ministers who left early or mysteriously…

Netaji1. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: Congress President from 1938-39. Leader of the Indian National Army.

Chased away by Gandhi he left India to take on the British with the help of the Japanese. It was the 1945 INA trials and subsequent Bombay Mutiny that led to India getting Independence. He would probably have been India’s first Prime Minister had he been around in 1947.

Endgame: Disappeared mysteriously and probably died in oblivion sometime after 1945.

2. Syama Prasad Mukherjee: Founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) which later became BJP.

Kashmir dal lakeOne of the biggest opponents of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he was proving to be a strong opposition to the Congress and may even have replaced him ultimately.

Endgame: He virulently opposed a special status to J&K (much like Ambedkar) and died in a Kashmir jail after being administered penicillin, even though it was well known that he was allergic to it. Prime Minister (1998-2004) AB Vajpayee called it a “Nehru conspiracy” in 1950.

3. Feroze Gandhi: MP and son-in-law of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Seen as Prime Ministerial material by many, he was famous for raising the LIC scandal in Parliament, which severely embarrassed his father-in-law.

Endgame: Died early at the age of 47 in 1960 in virtual oblivion.

4. Lal Bahadur Shastri: Second Prime Minister.

Green Revolution 3467922_960_720Mr Clean. Mr Honest. Jai Jawan (gave decisive leadership during the 1965 war). Jai Kisan (moved India away from Nehru’s strong urban-centric policies). He also laid the foundations of the Green and White Revolutions of India. It is quite difficult to believe that he achieved so much because he was Prime Minister for less than two years.

Endgame: Died mysteriously in Tashkent in 1966.

5. Deendayal Upadhyaya: President of Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

Famous for his Integral Humanism doctrine, his dynamism inspired generations of RSS and BJS-BJP workers and leaders.

Endgame: Months after becoming BJS President, he was found isolated and murdered in a railway station in 1968.

6. Sanjay Gandhi: Virtual dictator of India during Emergency and Indira’s son and heir apparent.

dictator-2161890_960_720One of the most controversial Indian leaders ever, he was the face of India’s 1975-77 Emergency and just 29 when it began. The Indira-Sanjay duo tortured thousands, jailed lakhs and sterilized millions by force. Sanjay became the face of sterilizations and slum clearances. His rise from a nobody to becoming Numero Uno in India was swift and spectacular.

Endgame: Died in 1980 in a plane crash.

golden-temple-397886_960_7207. Indira Gandhi: Third Prime Minister.

Probably India’s most controversial Prime Minister, she cemented the dynasty, decimated the opposition even as a record number of senior leaders left her party under her rule.

Endgame: Assassinated by her bodyguards over the Punjab problem in 1984.

8. Rajiv Gandhi: Sixth Prime Minister.

He became infamous for the Sikh genocide and Bhopal gas disaster even before the general elections of 1984. He lost in 1989 being totally disgraced, especially due to the Bofors scam.

Endgame: Assassinated by the LTTE in 1991.

9. Rajesh Pilot: Central Minister.

A smart upcoming and dynamic leader, he would have been a candidate for Prime Minister in 2004.

Endgame: Died in a car accident in 2000.

10. Madhavrao Scindia: Central Minister.

Active in politics from the 1970s to 1990s, he wore many hats. Like Pilot, he too would have been a candidate for Prime Minister in 2004.

Endgame: Died in a plane crash in 2001.

11. Pramod Mahajan: Central Minister.

Was crowned the successor to the BJP’s Vajpayee-Advani regime and would have been the BJP’s candidate for premiership in the 2009 elections.

Endgame: Killed in 2007.