Sharmila Ravinder
25 June 2013, 02:10 PM IST
The scenes from Uttarakhand have been nothing short of horrific. The mighty Ganges has literally swallowed everything in her path. Dark swirling waters ferociously gorged the innocent, those lucky to survive have received kind grace. The Ganges, probably India’s most contaminated and polluted rivers is now livid, we have never seen her this resentful. Hell knows no fury like the one that Mother Nature can unleash upon us. Even as premature estimates of the deceased are coming forth, the extent of the tragedy can never be fully comprehended. Even as the sound of the roaring river puts our current Prime Minister completely on mute mode, for almost ten days, another potential Prime Minister was nowhere to be seen.
As the floodwaters ravaged townships that came in its path and as the media (despite a nice long time lag) relayed to India and to the rest of the world the horrific scenes, potential Prime Ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi allegedly celebrated his birthday in exotic Spain. Of course there is absolutely no harm in celebrating your birthday in Spain or Switzerland, but if you are projecting yourself as a potential leader of this country, you need to be present in the country at the time of crisis. More importantly, you need to take a leadership role in handling a crisis that engulfs the country. But, what does potential Prime Ministerial candidate do instead? He does what he does best, a disappearing act.
And what do the governing party’s loyals do? Again they do what they do best, bicker over relief operations that were conducted skillfully by another potential Prime Ministerial candidate. I am absolutely amazed at how Modi’s rather efficient operation has been dissected in the most callous manner. Modi is currently a head of state, his primary responsibility as of now remains with his state. Also, it is foolish to believe media reports that Modi saved only Gujaratis. Wrong. The relief operations enabled non-Gujarati lives to be saved as well. Rediff had reported how the disaster management team on the ground conducting the relief operations were highly motivated by the presence of Modi. Here is the link for how the relief operations were conducted in greater detail. There is no ‘saffron spin’ to this, as many like to believe.
We many never accurately get an estimate as to how many lives were saved due to Modi’s sensible planning in the disaster management efforts, but one thing is for sure, the Gujarat state machinery indeed is crackerjack at handling a crisis, something alien to the Central Government and needless to say to the Uttarakhand Government. Lets not forget that while Modi was working like a horse, another potential Prime Ministerial candidate was probably enjoying the nightlife in Barcelona. Actions speak louder than words. If I were a potential Prime Ministerial candidate of my country, I have no other business but to be in my country at the time of crisis and take on a leadership role. And now, after the last of the birthday balloons have floated to nowhere land, Rahul Gandhi is rushing to Uttarakhand. Rahul’s loyals may have ‘advised’ him in doing so, that is why it has taken him so long to react. A true leader works on instinct when it comes to a crisis that grips the country or even a part of a country thereof. One need not be ‘advised’ to react. And worse, this is not a time for slanging matches nor is it a time for a media circus. A life is a life, no matter which state you belong to. Are people from Gujarat not Indians? Why is such a furor being created? Is it because an efficient leader who is responsible for their wellbeing has saved them? Modi is adept at ‘micro management’, a term most politicians have never heard of whilst waltzing 30,000 feet in the air. Times of India had reported that “As if that was not enough to thumb his nose at a government accused of large-scale mismanagement in handling the crisis, Modi later in the day even offered to "completely rebuild" the temple at Kedarnath using "the latest technology available" in such a way that no natural calamity would ever shake it again. The Uttarakhand CM is believed to have dismissed the statement.” Nothing new, incapable leaders do not offer sensible counter arguments, they usually dismiss sensible suggestions.
The icing on the cake of mismanagement galore by the Centre is demonstrated in this picture below.
( Picture courtesy - Growing India, Growing ourselves and making India a better place to live in).
On June 24th, the potential Prime Ministerial candidate, young Rahul Gandhi, who made his first public appearance ever since Uttarakhand has been inundated, flagged off relief materials for the victims of the flash floods. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sheila Dixit, PC Chidambaram, and Oscar Fernandez besides many more were in full view for a media tamasha. However, the trucks carrying relief materials were lined up outside 24, Akbar Road, the Congress headquarters from 21st June waiting for young Rahul Gandhi to return from his holidays. This my dear friends is India for you, where relief supplies are delayed for a media circus even as potential Prime Minister takes his own sweet time to return for the event. Lives are not important, time is not of the essence, and everything revolves around those who take the centre stage. And yet we bear cynicism for another potential Prime Minister who has yet again demonstrated that he can efficiently put a system in place anywhere, anytime, from Gujarat to Uttarakhand.
Follow Sharmila on Twitter @supershamz
Source: http://author.toiblogs.com/tiger-trail/entry/rahul-modi-chalk-cheese-during-crisis
25 June 2013, 02:10 PM IST
The scenes from Uttarakhand have been nothing short of horrific. The mighty Ganges has literally swallowed everything in her path. Dark swirling waters ferociously gorged the innocent, those lucky to survive have received kind grace. The Ganges, probably India’s most contaminated and polluted rivers is now livid, we have never seen her this resentful. Hell knows no fury like the one that Mother Nature can unleash upon us. Even as premature estimates of the deceased are coming forth, the extent of the tragedy can never be fully comprehended. Even as the sound of the roaring river puts our current Prime Minister completely on mute mode, for almost ten days, another potential Prime Minister was nowhere to be seen.
As the floodwaters ravaged townships that came in its path and as the media (despite a nice long time lag) relayed to India and to the rest of the world the horrific scenes, potential Prime Ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi allegedly celebrated his birthday in exotic Spain. Of course there is absolutely no harm in celebrating your birthday in Spain or Switzerland, but if you are projecting yourself as a potential leader of this country, you need to be present in the country at the time of crisis. More importantly, you need to take a leadership role in handling a crisis that engulfs the country. But, what does potential Prime Ministerial candidate do instead? He does what he does best, a disappearing act.
And what do the governing party’s loyals do? Again they do what they do best, bicker over relief operations that were conducted skillfully by another potential Prime Ministerial candidate. I am absolutely amazed at how Modi’s rather efficient operation has been dissected in the most callous manner. Modi is currently a head of state, his primary responsibility as of now remains with his state. Also, it is foolish to believe media reports that Modi saved only Gujaratis. Wrong. The relief operations enabled non-Gujarati lives to be saved as well. Rediff had reported how the disaster management team on the ground conducting the relief operations were highly motivated by the presence of Modi. Here is the link for how the relief operations were conducted in greater detail. There is no ‘saffron spin’ to this, as many like to believe.
We many never accurately get an estimate as to how many lives were saved due to Modi’s sensible planning in the disaster management efforts, but one thing is for sure, the Gujarat state machinery indeed is crackerjack at handling a crisis, something alien to the Central Government and needless to say to the Uttarakhand Government. Lets not forget that while Modi was working like a horse, another potential Prime Ministerial candidate was probably enjoying the nightlife in Barcelona. Actions speak louder than words. If I were a potential Prime Ministerial candidate of my country, I have no other business but to be in my country at the time of crisis and take on a leadership role. And now, after the last of the birthday balloons have floated to nowhere land, Rahul Gandhi is rushing to Uttarakhand. Rahul’s loyals may have ‘advised’ him in doing so, that is why it has taken him so long to react. A true leader works on instinct when it comes to a crisis that grips the country or even a part of a country thereof. One need not be ‘advised’ to react. And worse, this is not a time for slanging matches nor is it a time for a media circus. A life is a life, no matter which state you belong to. Are people from Gujarat not Indians? Why is such a furor being created? Is it because an efficient leader who is responsible for their wellbeing has saved them? Modi is adept at ‘micro management’, a term most politicians have never heard of whilst waltzing 30,000 feet in the air. Times of India had reported that “As if that was not enough to thumb his nose at a government accused of large-scale mismanagement in handling the crisis, Modi later in the day even offered to "completely rebuild" the temple at Kedarnath using "the latest technology available" in such a way that no natural calamity would ever shake it again. The Uttarakhand CM is believed to have dismissed the statement.” Nothing new, incapable leaders do not offer sensible counter arguments, they usually dismiss sensible suggestions.
The icing on the cake of mismanagement galore by the Centre is demonstrated in this picture below.
( Picture courtesy - Growing India, Growing ourselves and making India a better place to live in).
On June 24th, the potential Prime Ministerial candidate, young Rahul Gandhi, who made his first public appearance ever since Uttarakhand has been inundated, flagged off relief materials for the victims of the flash floods. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sheila Dixit, PC Chidambaram, and Oscar Fernandez besides many more were in full view for a media tamasha. However, the trucks carrying relief materials were lined up outside 24, Akbar Road, the Congress headquarters from 21st June waiting for young Rahul Gandhi to return from his holidays. This my dear friends is India for you, where relief supplies are delayed for a media circus even as potential Prime Minister takes his own sweet time to return for the event. Lives are not important, time is not of the essence, and everything revolves around those who take the centre stage. And yet we bear cynicism for another potential Prime Minister who has yet again demonstrated that he can efficiently put a system in place anywhere, anytime, from Gujarat to Uttarakhand.
Follow Sharmila on Twitter @supershamz
Source: http://author.toiblogs.com/tiger-trail/entry/rahul-modi-chalk-cheese-during-crisis
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