Narendra Modi never makes a single move without his eye on at least two targets.
Now, this is a sight for sore eyes.
The first target was the rising dissatisfaction among BJP workers (and RSS workers), cadres, supporters about the BJP’s ruling core in Delhi seemingly negligent to the wanton loss of life of party members in political murders in Kerala. Granted that law and order is a state subject, but when you have muscular “Modi sarkar” in the Center and 13 Chief Ministers in state capitals, pretending to be helpless doesn’t go down well with the workers on the ground.
I have been saying this for months : all it takes is one high profile visit to Kerala to put the Communists’ murder culture on the national map. I would have liked it to be Amit Shah or even Modi himself.
But the choice of Arun Jaitley is very very interesting.
It means that Narendra Modi wanted to hit a second target. This was the irritation in right wing ranks against the “Lutyens culture” of Arun Jaitely, a man who is so close to the Prime Minister that he holds both Finance and Defense portfolios.
Clearly, the leadership picked up the voices of disapproval on the ground.
I suggest you to look once again at the tweet quoted above. Arun Jaitley almost looks out of place in the photo. The statement attributed to him even seems fake, because it does not sound like something Arun Jaitley would say.
That’s when you realize that it’s been a long time since Arun Jaitley did something that made him look like a BJP leader. We almost forgot that he is supposed to be a BJP leader, one with roots in the RSS’ student organization ABVP.
He seemed more like a member of the St. Stephens’ debate club, comfortable matching his wits against Shashi Tharoor and Mani Shankar Aiyar in a competition to see who has the biggest English vocabulary. A competition moderated by Karan Thapar perhaps?
Jaitley speaking the language of the worker on the ground? Now that’s refreshing.
I can bet he wasn’t comfortable coming to Kerala on this mission. Somebody sent him because that somebody knew that the BJP’s base was getting increasingly unhappy about his conduct. And that’s a good sign. They are listening.
dynastycrooks 
Dear Chaiwallah,
I agree with you on both counts.
First, BJP supporters have become quite disgusted by the fact that no one within the BJP top brass did anything about the brutal killings in Kerala, other than Mr. “kadi ninda” trotting out his tired act. In fact Ravinar wrote that the Congress will stand by its most criminal elements, while the BJP will ditch its most loyal followers. I must admit that I too felt the same way. So sending a senior leader to meet the family of Rajesh sent out a good message. Having said that, I would like to add two points. First, this should become the standard operating procedure from now onwards. Every time that a BJP/RSS worker is killed, someone from the top — if not from the centre at least from the state — should pay a visit. Second, most of these killed karyakartas were desperately poor people. The person killed in Karnataka (whose name I am remembering as Poojary though I could be wrong) used to sell flowers for a living, and now his aged father has re-opened the shop to support the family. So the party should have announced a grant of Rupees fifty lakhs FROM ITS OWN (NOT GOVERNMENT) funds. Just a token visit won’t support the families of the murdered karyakartas.
Regarding your second point on Jaitley, he now comes across as the stock character from Indian movies, namely the son from a poor family who marries a wealthy girl and begins to look down on his old family. You are quite right in pointing out that Jaitley looks quite uncomfortable and out of place in that setting, probably because he WAS quite uncomfortable. As of now, I doubt he could win a Lok Sabha seat anywhere, despite the overwhelming popularity of the BJP at the ground level. It is vital for Jaitley to reinvent himself and rediscover his roots — or be chucked out.
Now I would like to add a third point. Almost on cue, the Lutyens media has begun to trot out stories about “beef” and slaughter houses in Bihar. Modi must NOT, repeat, must NOT, make the mistake of condemning “gau rakshaks” without acknowledging that there is a serious law and order problem with the cattle of poor farmers being stolen. If he repeats his earlier mistake of one-sided condemnation, much of the goodwill he now has will evaporate.
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CW…good observation!
AJ for the first time has been brought out of his high and mighty chair to contribute!
He he he…. nice to see this guy for a change doing something other than talking.
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Kerala has more RSS shakhas than Gujarat. Hence it was natural that the RSS would take a tough stand on the murder and dismemberment of its cadre. After Dattatrey Hosabale took a tough stand, it was imperative for the BJP to act.I feel Jaitley was sent not just to reinvent himself but also because he is the defense minister. Just to let the CPM know that others carry bigger sticks that can be used if required.
Being a RSS karyakarta in Kerala these days is a matter of life and death. It is imperative that the families of the murdered karyakartas are well compensated for their sacrifices. But it is even more important to send a stern message to the Kerala CM – if one more RSS person is killed then the BJP will both dismiss the government and send armed forces to disarm the CPM cadre. The CPM cadre has to be warned in clear terms that they will have to face the full might of Hindustan if they carry on with these killings.And once the Indian armed forces reach the CPM doorstep, it wont be pretty.
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Incidentally here is a shocking video of CPM goons marching and threatening to murder RSS workers.
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Frankly,i think most of the hate that AJ gets is stupid and unwarranted,and is also often fueled by people like swamy who want to bring him down because of their personal ambitions.
As someone said on twitter,sushma and jaitley are BJP’s biggest assets in RS.His argumentative skill are probably the best.And i disagree with you,CW where you hink his oratary skills are not needed.the fact is it is very much an asset.You can’t fight all your battles with Modi-style oratary.
BTW,people should see the recent speech By Sushma on the issue of china.The congress and left are kicked left,right and centre
coming to the performance of Jaitley,i don’t see any need for hate.Be it Mudra yojana,Jan Dhan, Aadhar,GST,controlling inflation,or divesting Govt stake in bloated state owned corporations,he has done well.
Fact is someone like Jaitley is required in the Govt,someone with connections,who knows the art of deals and negotiation.You can’t have only aggressive folks like amit shah in your team,soft and diplomatic folks like Jaitley are also needed.
Take the case of nitishwa’s ghar wapsi. Although shah gets all the credit,but it was undoubtedly Jaitley who actually was instrumental in it.
http://www.news18.com/news/politics/nitish-kumar-call-to-lawyer-friend-and-news-of-lalu-prasad-betrayal-that-sealed-fate-of-bihar-1477371.html
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also,another thing.I think Jaitley went to Kerala,instead of any other person because he is a media darling.It is also no secret that he has a lot of connections in media.So when someone like Jaitley says,”if this had happened in BJP ruled states,awards would be returned
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the media can’t ignore it.I am guessing even NDTV would find it hard to hide this bit of info.
sorry for the multiple breaks,i had some problems with the web
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Its not a question of whether Jaitley is good at oratory skills or not. We all know that being a lawyer he has good oratory skills. If he has risen high its because of the collective hard work put in by the thousands of ordinary party worker who did the ground work for the party to emerge victorious. If the party doesn’t win then Jaitley cannot be a minister to start with. So no one in the Government whether he or she is a Defence minister or Home minister is above the party. All are answerable to the party and should put in the effort to ensure that the life of the ordinary party worker is valued and that the party has not forgotten them. Its because Vajpayee Govt. ignored the party during the years in office that it was ousted in the polls. So yes, Jaitley must and he will be required to show up time to time to shore up his support for ordinary worker in the party. He is after all not doing any favours to anyone as he is a minister only because of these common workers who have sacrificed their time, energy and sometimes their livelihood to make the lotus bloom.
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Modi need Jaitley till he get good numbers in RS and now BJP become Largest Party. Jaitley is not doubt traditional BJP man but he is like 60 %BJP + 20 % Congress+20 % Lyutean Man..a Mixer of all Political culture In Lyutean Delhi and Modi and Shah need this kind of man when UPA slashed many cases to Modi and Shah to put them behind Bars. At that time Modi and Shah got most of his legal help and only contact person in Delhi who can deal with Lyutean delhi Advocates Judegs ,Burocates and even some friends in UPA. I remember when UPA put many BJP ministers from Gujarat and Rajasthan along with Amit Saha in fake encounters at that time Jaitley was only providing legal help from his Legal team to protect BJP minister and AMit shah and Jaitly used to go in Jails to meet BJP ministers in Jaipur Jails. When Amit shah got orders from Court to run away from Gujarat then Modi send Amit Shah to Jaitley house in delhi as Jaitly was only man in BJP with Modi and Shah. At one interview or article Amit saha said that he used to get meal with jaitly at his house everyevening when election of 2014 was near around one year in corner and all strategy elevate Modi and win 2014 was done with Saha Modi and Jaitly . ..So .. Jaitly is that kind of man and Modi and Shah know how to and when to use Jaitly… it is like for example. Jaitely was a darbari whithout its King and Senapati in Lyutean Delhi and now he got his King and Senapati as Modi and Saha in lyutean Delhi to rule Lyutean Delhi
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very nicely put.
” Jaitely was a darbari whithout its King and Senapati in Lyutean Delhi and now he got his King and Senapati as Modi and Saha in lyutean Delhi to rule Lyutean Delhi”
in fact,recently an article about Ahmed Patel disclosed some very important things.herehttp://www.openthemagazine.com/article/cover-story/ahmed-patel-man-on-the-brink:
“Consider this incident from the UPA period. The opposition BJP’s top leaders, including LK Advani, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Yashwant Sinha used to meet every day when Parliament was in session to discuss their party’s strategy in the Lok Sabha. In one instance, Jaitley raised the issue of a large land bank that Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra had managed to acquire in Haryana and insisted that it be raised in the House. To Jaitley’s consternation, however, most of his audience was hesitant. One even said that the children of politicians should not be targeted.
After the meeting held in Advani’s room was over and Jaitley was walking towards the House, he was accosted by Ahmed Bhai. The Congressman knew exactly what had transpired and made no bones about it. He then requested Jaitley not to raise the issue in the House. The incident illustrated just how deep Patel’s connections ran even within the ”
this should shut up all those who think Jaitley is the mole and start to make them think who is the real mole.LOL
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More than the person, the stature of the portfolio he is holding must be the reason to send Mr. Jaitley. If Ms. Irani was sent, yes she would be much better orator, but when the country’s Defense Minister visits, people would start thinking what will be next move?
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