28 March 2006

On why it makes sense to vote for amma

Folks;
This is a text i have been sending to all my fellow Tamilian Brothers and Sisters on why voting for "Amma" makes sense. I request you reader to send it across to all those whom you know. Instead of sending those meaningless forwards about small lung cancer and HIV infected needles in theaters, please forward this mail !
And before i start i would request all readers to make sure they vote on the respective date of election in their states. If they are not in their state and close enough, say in bangalore or hyderabad i would urge you to please go and cast your vote. Nothing will happen if you/we dont participate in this basic process of democracy.

Ok now that the basic issues have been dealt with, here is the letter that i have been sending.
UPDATE: There seems to be more of a flame war than trying have a meaningful discussion.so no more comments. if you have anything meaningful to say you will know where to find me.

En Iniya Udan Pirappae;
Tamilnadu as you and i know is at a very important crossroad now. The state is going to polls as we all know on the 8th of may. It is a monday and it is a working day for those who are not there in TN. While i request you to please go and cast your precious vote, i would also request you to kindly tarry a second and make a wise choice before you cast that vote of yours.

No i am not going to beg or plead or threaten you to cast your vote for "Amma". I am going to highlight a few things and leave the choice to you educated individual to decide on whom you want to vote for.
What we first need most importantly is a Stable Government for the next five years to carry forward the momentum that "Amma" has managed to generate over the past few years.

I can safely assume that a majority of readers of this mail are going to be software people. Now think about this. Every sunday the bangalore mail and other trains from madras to bangalore is full {98% on a very conservative estimate) of software engineers travelling to and forth. If you want this situation to change and get more companies to madras, firstly we need to carry forward the situation of the past year, that is a situation wherein atleast 5 to 6 startups open shop everyday. We need a powerful and authoritative government to foster the industrial climate. Please note that her guts and daring in dismissing 45,000 employees for striking had none less that Supreme Court appreciating her.

What we do not need is a government whose leader balks and making decisions coz it might land him in some soup. What we also do not need is a government whose head might pass away at any time and some nameless sucessor coming up in his place and making mess of the current situation. I think i need not disguise the fact that i am indeed talking about Karunanidhi and DMK's coalition. We all have seen what happened with the congress coalition in bangalore. While bangalore had every advantage (it still might have, but with the government dithering on infrastructure improvement, we all know that the traffic mess by itself might lead to lot of high profile company exits) we all are aware of the kind of problems a spineless government lead to.
So please think about this issue before you cast your vote.

Now that the first point has been dealt with, let me now move on to the next ones. Madras as we all know received an unprecedented 30cms of rainfall. Now i request you to travel on the main roads and to a major extent the suburbs to see the kind of repair work that has been undertaken to mitigate the damage done. I speak of just madras as i have not had time to do my south tamilnadu tour which i would have liked to do, but i welcome readers from south tamilnadu and other parts to contribute their experiences. Please do understand that there will be glitches etc but by and large it has been acknowledged that with very little central government help things have been managed pretty well. Now dear reader do you want to know who was behind this ? A proactive government lead by an able leader. Now please do not bring in the point of stampede during the distrubution of welfare. In case you did not know, the rumour was spread by a member of the opposition. Please do note the swiftness with which the police acted to apprehend the criminal.

December 26, 2004 was when the killer waves smashed across the entire southern parts of the state. While i am not going to politicise this as it is a humanity issue and any government would have acted to save the lives, please do note the following. There was little or no central aid, the state government had to act on its own and it did precisely that. I do remember reading in the newspapers about the collectors of those districts commending the state government machinery for the swift manner in which they acted to make sure aid reached all those needy people.

Now if you note the previous two issues by and large i have tried to highlight the ineffective central government. Why ? With 39 MP's in his kitty, Karunanidhi has done little to help the government. Now this is an important issue. When we have a federal sutructure in many issues, it is important that the central and state governments co-operate. For example, when the central government wanted land for the golden quadrlateral, the acquisition process was swift and done smoothly. However when the state government wants to set up a desalination plant for madras, the central government blocks it saying environmental issues, and tries to set it up on its own !
When the state government tries to acquire central government land to provide a six lane IT corridor, the central government blocks it, but constructs flyovers in different parts of the state ! Why this double game ? Think about it dear reader.

While most of us remain enconsed in our air conditioned cabins, there are the lot of the farmers who do toil hard in their fields. Now let us see what happened to them. Firstly we cannot blame "Amma" for the dwindling profit margins of the farmers. "Amma" is at best helping them out by intrest free loans and sometimes intrest waivers and free power supply. Also please note that while there have been rampant suicides in states like Karnataka and Andhra pradesh, it has relatively not been there here in our state. This i think should put "Amma's" efforts in the right perspective.

Now perhaps the most important charge that comes out against "Amma" is the corrpution point. I think she has served her time for that. As noted political observer "Cho" Ramaswamy, Editor of Thuqlaq magazine pointed out, both "Amma" and Karunanidhi are equally corrupt. In fact Karunanidhi is more corrput that "Amma". It is extent to which they display it matters. "Amma" being the more flamboyant and daring showed it off more.

If you dear reader will rewind a bit in time to 1980 and aftermath, when M.G.Ramachandran conceived the Veeranam project of bringing water to madras, the sucessive government lead by Karunanidhi blocked it. Now we all know the great danger that was looming ahead of Madras in terms of sever water shortage during the summer of 2004. With a single minded focus, "Amma" managed to get the project completed which saved Madras the blushes and some terrible times. Now dear reader you do know that water scarcity in madras is a thing of past with piped corporation water supply everyday.

When Madras had 30cms of rainfall, most experts agree that the groundwater levels have been replenished substantially, so much that in some places upto 100% increase. How did this all happen ? A simple rule that unless a complex constructs rain water harvesting facility, its registration will be cancelled. Did not the people do it ? Aren't they thanking themselves and "Amma" for forcing them to do it ?

It is indeed true that is most times "Amma" remains close to a dictator. But then again in hindsight the same people agree that being a dictator helps in many an circumstance !

While i could go on and on comparing and highlighting the various aspects of "Amma's" rule, i think i shall stop with these few points. I would invite you reader, if you have travelled down south and interior parts of TamilNadu, to send across your views and i would gladly collate it.

Note to all those who are going to comment:
1. Please do not put some arbit crap as comment saying there is IIT'ans party etc and i am a fool not to be canvassing for them etc. This is my blog and this is my verbal diarrhea. You dont want it dont read it. If you have anything intresting to say, say so in a proper manner without flaming me and i might listen and discuss/argue.

K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 10:32 AM

7 Comments

  1. Anonymous Anonymous posted at Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 2:57:00 PM GMT+5:30  
    hey you anonymous jerk;
    if you have the balls first reveal your name !
    and i think your singular idea is to pick up a fight here.yes there are typos.tell it to him and he will correct it.what's your problem here ?
    i think this is a fairly decent post
    shyam: there are some typos here and there.do correct it up.
    and you anonymous looser, he says if you are in bangalore or hyd. did he anything about say elections in assam ? why can't it be for people belonging to kerala and tamilnadu ? i think your reply smacks of an intent to just pick up a fight.
    and yes punishment even against ruling party has been swift.if you didnt know finance minister ponniyan was stripped of all his posts following his involvement in the siruseri land issue.so know your facts you anonymous idiot before you talk ok ? otherwise you are coming up as a big ass here.
    there is a saying in tamil "pattu yezhudi per vanguvar silar, kuttram kandupidithu per vangubavar palar" "there are people who compose songs and get fame, there are people whose only aim is to find mistakes in that song and get fame."
    if you want to contradict or make a point learn the netiquette first.

    he obviously cannot post about things like farmer's plight and unemployment ratios and GDP improvements and stuff to software guys.so i think this is a well aimed post where he knows and understands his target audience.

    and then again he is actually welcoming others views.all he has said is not to extoll him to campaign for others.fair enough.it is his blog and his wish.
    i think you need to see this post not through your jaundiced eyes you anon jerk.
    - rajesh
    PS: now dont come back and post saying im anonymous too.i have atleast the guts to tell out my name which you didnt have !
  2. Anonymous Anonymous posted at Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 4:04:00 PM GMT+5:30  
    PS: now dont come back and post saying im anonymous too.i have atleast the guts to tell out my name which you didnt have !

    now who is picking a fight!!! my name is govind ( with help from "others")..now do wtf u want to do..
  3. Anonymous Anonymous posted at Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 4:21:00 PM GMT+5:30  
    Anonymous,

    I guess "shyam bashing" happens to be one of your meaningless & favcourite interests...

    Shyam's support for 'amma's 100% justified; which you would also agree if you have something called as " brains "... & also the
    "intelligence " to appreciate good things around you...

    If you are a Chenaite, it needs no telling abt all the development that has happened over the past 5 years... std of living has improved dramatically with even the below avg grads getting a job for a min. cool 10k...
    in general, the flow ofmoney is extremely good during all the periods of amma's rule. & the need of the hour is only such able, educated & strong personality for a leader & not no- goods whose only intentions are to amass wealth for him & his family..

    But if you are not a Chennaite by birth or by living, it is better to just keep ur mouth shut, & not worry abt amma, elections, or amma's campaigns... just stop trying to read between the lines & try to understand the import of what is being said. Pl. behave like someone who has seen some good education in life & who can apply his mind to understanding things around you & not like an uneducated idiot!!!

    It is always better to talk sense & better stop trying to act smart!!!! It is no good for you!!!
  4. Anonymous Anonymous posted at Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 6:25:00 PM GMT+5:30  
    I guess "shyam bashing" happens to be one of your meaningless & favcourite interests...

    yes

    Shyam's support for 'amma's 100% justified; which you would also agree if you have something called as " brains "... & also the
    "intelligence " to appreciate good things around you...

    Shyam's support may be justified, he has all the rights to support whomsoever he wants, but i have different opinions.

    According to the blog, the following points can be raised in favour of amma

    1. Amma is corrupt, but kalaignar is more corrupt.

    2. Amma can provide a stable govt, even lalu can provide a stable govt

    3. Karunanidhi has a nameless sucessor, stalin. At least he has one, who is the successor of amma- Paneerselvam or her foster son

    4. Amma has done some good work for madras. I agree 100% to that, but the blog never mentions the impact of amma policies on southern tamil nadu, other than some dollies being dished out to farmers. These subsidies benefits only the so called rich farmers. Tamil Nadu has a large proportion of not so rich farmers ( farmers who own less than 5 acres of land). Wht has been the impact of her policies on these farmers?

    5. DMK has tried to stall any developments being carried out by amma. Now this is true, but just rewind 5-6 years back, DMK was ruling TN and amma had 29 MPs in the LS. Didnt she also do the same thing. An excellent example is the way the cauvery water crisis was handled.


    Now, the points that are being raised by the annon4

    While her "strong" policies against the general strike is a good, that has not always been the case. An excellent example is the dillay dallying on the religious conversion bill.

    But if you are not a Chennaite by birth or by living, it is better to just keep ur mouth shut, & not worry abt amma, elections, or amma's campaigns... just stop trying to read between the lines & try to understand the import of what is being said.

    I thought the election was for the whole of TN, her governance




    In short the post is a manifesto of AIADMK. While it is the prerogative of shyam to post it, this does not make sense to me.

    He could have at least mentioned the excellent handling in the veerappan case, the manner is which amma aggressively got the golden quadrilateral project from kerala. The way she proactively campaigned with the earlier NDA regime to get things done. Rather, the post looks like a 24 carat election gimmick by some hard core supporter of amma.



    The way the sankaracharya case was handled is a shame on the entire TN govt. Note, It is more than a year since the investigation was started, wht has been the end result? Why was there a need to arrest the swami on a holy day. Wht has she gained in doing that.


    It is also very disheartening to note the total disrespect shown to some other party (some IITian party). We have seen in the past the performance of DMK and AIADMK, why not give a chance to these people
  5. Anonymous Anonymous posted at Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 6:48:00 PM GMT+5:30  
    @rajesh:
    "And before i start i would request all readers to make sure they vote on the respective date of election in their states"
    One of us who read it is from Assam. Assam is going to elections and I just echoed his view.

    "if you want to contradict or make a point learn the netiquette first."
    I never knew netiquette is indulging in personal slander and calling names.

    @s1:
    "if you have something called as " brains "... & also the
    "intelligence " to appreciate good things around you..."
    Everyone is entitled to their own views and if someone contradicts you it doesn't mean they don't have intelligence. You are not the supreme god whose views are the indelible truth and neither am I. I realise and accept the fact and I don't care as to whether you think I am intelligent or not.

    "But if you are not a Chennaite by birth or by living, it is better to just keep ur mouth shut, & not worry abt amma, elections, or amma's campaigns."
    Did you intend to mean anyone from TamilNadu rather than chennai? If so ignore the following comment. I am from TamilNadu (not from Chennai). I have also lived in chennai. Does this election matter only for chennaite?

    @rajesh,s1:
    "i think you need to see this post not through your jaundiced eyes you anon jerk."
    "Pl. behave like someone who has seen some good education in life & who can apply his mind to understanding things around you & not like an uneducated idiot!!!"

    Let me reiterate what I said earlier. I respect others views and as far as I am concerned it is pointless to call yourself super smart or educated if you cannot accept the fact that others might have views contradicting your viewpoint.

    @s1:
    You mean to say that anyone who is going to vote for DMK in the coming election is an uneducated idiot isnt it? Or did you mean that anyone who doesn't believe in the same things as you is an idiot isnt it?


    I made it clear that I didn't find Shyam's arguments (or lack of them) convincing. If you are going to campaign for someone there are going to be counter views. The proper response should be a logical counter rather than intolerance or personal slander.

    --Others
    (I guess this is as good as posting my name is rajesh)
  6. Anonymous Anonymous posted at Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 9:02:00 PM GMT+5:30  
    I am with "others" in his thoughts !

    s1,

    Ever heard of this?

    "Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity !!!"
    So revel in your so called educational levels !!!

    And moreover sometimes you are better off without names or facts and figures coming out. Dont wish for that day to come when they would be out!!

    (I have left the digital footprints)
  7. Blogger Unknown posted at Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 9:39:00 AM GMT+5:30  
    as i said in some other post what we seem to be missing here is the notion of constructive criticism.
    anon1 : nothing wrong in contradicting, but everything wrong in flaming.and i will definitely reply to your comments and arguments.not to your flames.
    now to the points that you raised
    1. cauvery issue ? now do a rewind back and check your facts. you will know all about it
    2. i said very clearly i am not going to give a chance to some IITan's party.if you want to do it you are free to do so.i think i also said very clearly that dont force me or say im a fool if i dont give.its my wish bozo.
    3. impact of policies on farmers : the lack of farmer suicides and a bumper kuruvai crop even when rains wrecked havoc are clear enough examples i think.
    4. religious conversion bill : yes you have raised a point no doubt in that.
    5. yes the elections are for whole of TN.however since i have not been anywhere apart from madras, i have potrayed what happened there.now if you have some data give it.else cork up
    6. if the whole post does not make sense to you wtf cares ? i care a damn. if it makes sense fine.
    7. golden quadrilateral from kerala ? i think you are in some serious jaundice man.check your facts again.

    i think the only intention here is to start a flame war and nothing else.so comments off.if anyone has anything constructive to say you will know where to find me
    K.Shyam

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