Delhi Election Results

To,
Shri Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India
7, Race Course Road,
New Delhi – 110 001

Dear Shri Narendra Modiji,

Sub.: Delhi Election Results

I am your big fan. I have listened to all your election speeches and subsequent addresses made by you on various occasions in India as well as abroad.  I have always enjoyed listening to you.

But I am too much disappointed and hurt by the results of the Delhi elections. The media is abuzz with endless discussions on the topic. I have also applied my mind to understand the reasons for such a humiliating defeat.

First of all, you won the Lok Sabha elections with a mandate for bringing back black money stashed in foreign banks as well as unearthing the black money in the country.  Secondly, you declared your intention to eradicate corruption from the government and from other public bodies. Thirdly, you promised all-inclusive all-round development of the country with the objective of welfare of the common man.

But over the last eight months, nothing has happened at the ground level.  As the Editor of Dalal Street Investment Journal, I very well know that you and your team have been busy addressing various problems created by the previous government on the economic front, but apparently nothing is seen to be happening at the ground level by the poor common man as well as the lower and upper middle classes.

There is huge hoard of black money of corrupt politicians and babus in India. Greedy businessmen, advocates, doctors, professionals, industrialist also generate huge amount of black money. Your government must do something quickly to flush out this black money from the underground economy and channelize it into the main economy.
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Corruption is rampant as usual in all government offices. For example, no work is done in the revenue department of Maharashtra without paying money. There is no fear of punishment among the junior and senior government officers for taking bribes. There are no changes at the ground level for the common man, which is a poor reflection onthe government. When I talk about the new Modi government making a difference; nobody pays any heed nowadays. The mafia-raj created by the Congress-NCP regime still continues to extract money for any work to be done by any government officer.

There are two main reasons people are feeling disillusioned and hurt.

I have seen a circular issued by the Central Board of Income Tax regarding good behavior expected from Income Tax officers with the assesses in all respect. The circular directs IT officers to dispose off cases quickly and not harass any assessee or give him any trouble and not keep people waiting outside their chambers.  In this case, some message has been driven home.  At least people are getting their refund quickly.

In the same manner, the Home Ministry can issue a circular to all the government departments Central as well as state stating that demanding any money as a bribe from the public is punishable as a serious offence. You may think this is already in force, but any such fresh circular which can be made available to the public may help the people for the time being.

The main reason for public dissatisfaction is that you appear to have forgotten your promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad and eradicating corruption from public life. Any action done by your government must be seen at the ground level. The above issues are causing great disappointment to the people at large.

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So far as my knowledge goes, I feel the single reason for the defeat started from the day Dr. Harsh Vardhan was shunted out from Ministry of Health to Ministry of Science and Technology.

I will like to state that Mr. J P Nadda, the present Union Health Minister, played a political move when he convinced you to shift Dr. Harsh Vardhan from his Health portfolio to the current Minister of Science and Technology. The issue is related to one Mr. Sanjiv Chaturvedi, an IFS officer working as a Chief Vigilance Officer at the AIIMS, New Delhi. He was appointed by the previous government and was doing excellent job of rooting out corruption and this is well-known to the people at AIIMS. Suddenly, there was a move to shift Sanjiv Chaturvedi on the ground that he was not supposed to do the work of a vigilance officer.  It was a matter of discussion in the press that he was removed at the behest of the ‘heavyweight’ BJP leader Mr. J P Nadda who had written a letter to Dr. Harsh Vardhan for his removal. Media reports suggest that Chaturvedi had initiated probe against a top official of AIIMS who was close to Mr. Nadda.  Interestingly, this was the first case of corruption to be acted upon by the new Modi regime in Delhi. But, shockingly enough, instead of dousing the fire on this controversy, Harsh Vardhan was removed from the Health Ministry and J P Nadda was elevated as Union Health Minister during the November 2014 cabinet reshuffle. If you recollect, even up to November 2014, the Delhi Election surveys were very much in favour of BJP, but after 20th November 2014 the popularity of BJP started going down as per subsequent surveys. This incident may be trivial, but you know the result. Unnecessary old style of political reshuffle insisted by J P Nadda resulted in the BJP loosing Delhi election, causing a great harm to the party. This issue was used by Kejriwal in his election campaign. Please bear in mind that you may be free from the pressure of your relatives or friends, but you cannot guarantee that for others.

Dr. Harsha Vardhan’s transfer left him demoralized. He was well-known to the Delhi people as the most honest person and a very helpful doctor. He had fought election as BJP’s chief ministerial candidate and the BJP got 34 seats in the 2013 election. From the same seat, he had won three times. He was also accepted by all the BJP workers of Delhi. Actually, Dr.  Harsh Vardhan was the only suitable candidate for the post of CM who could have got great support from the workers of the BJP in Delhi at all levels.

Secondly, the election could have been held 4-5 months earlier when AAP was badly mauled and Kejriwal was demoralized by the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. But your party took this matter very casually and no serious efforts were made like those during the time of the Lok Sabha election. For Delhi elections, you needed much more efforts but the entire cadre of party workers was demoralized due to the new arrival of Kiran Bedi who was totally unfit for the job and was not acceptable to the citizens of Delhi.
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My friends, their families and myself are very much disappointed and hurt by the Delhi election results. However, to think positively, the Delhi defeat should boost the chances of the BJP in other states as the BJP leaders would now be very well aware of the mood of the people who want results and not just promises and assurances.

The Delhi election results should be considered as aberration, as happens sometimes when the cricket team of Zimbabwe defeats Australia.

I am glad to inform you that our forthcoming book “Making and Unmaking of Prime Minster of India (1947-2015)” critically examines the tenures of all Prime Ministers since Independence. The aim of the book is to inform the people at large about the performances of all our past Prime Ministers, starting from Pandit Nehru right up to Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The book also examines your three terms as Chief Minister of Gujarat and highlights the commendable initiatives taken by you since you took over as the Prime Minister of India. The book is slated to be published shortly.

I hope this letter reaches you and you will be kind enough to respond after reading it.

If this letter inadvertently causes you any hurt, please accept my sincere apologies.

With profound regards,

Yours sincerely,

Vijaysingh B Padode
Editor-in-Chief

Copy to: Mr. Amit Shah
President of BJP
11, Ashok Road, New Delhi – 110001