Today is the bandh called by all the major parties including the BJP and Communists. The mentioned parties consider themselves mutually exclusive, that they have come together on this issue, only heightens the seriousness.
Another three rupees per litre increase in petrol (now Rs. 55) actually means the common man has become poorer by Rs.3 for every 50 rupees he earns or 6%. This is indirectly seen in the purchasing power of even the middle class. Earlier, they were buying “exotic” fruits like apples, or oranges at least once in a while. Now they have to be content with bananas dished out by Manmohan Singh and his council of ministers.
Instead of an ordinary educated leader, we have a London School of Economics educated person for a PM. Proportionately our woes only have increased. Manmohan Singh does not have to answer to any family member of the common man but only that of Sonia Gandhi for his non- performance. How can anyone expect him to do any good to the people of India, considering the company he keeps like a spectrum raja. The way they win an election is only a chidambara rahasya.
We were seeing industrialists and rich coming out and speaking on every issue under the sun, but not now. Why should they, for those are the people who are really benefited by this fuel hike. It will be interesting if someone studies the parallel rise of the fuel prices and the rich in India in the Forbes list during the last 2 decades. If only the government exiles the top 100 of loan defaulters of public sector banks to some tsunami and reptile prone island off Andamans (Not Andamans because it will mean desecrating our freedom fighters’ jail memorial). The government will get several 1000s crores. What happened to Mr. Singh’s election promise of unearthing “swiss” bank money illegally stashed by the rich and famous. These make the acts of people like Dawood Ibrahim small, for these money bags are very much staying in India and very much drinking poor man’s blood 24 x 7 all 365 days in a year.
At national security level the widening gap between the poor and the rich, is fomenting groups like the Maoists. Again, the victims are only the poor CRPF jawans. Mostly they will be the first generation of the rural poor who live in remote villages. Their families would have been the happiest to see some one from their family get a “government” job. But their happiness is only till the jawans are ambushed and killed by insurgents. The jawans cannot expect their officers or ministers to protect them. Many of their officers are money bags. The ministers are worried about the money they have earned or lost in buying the election result. They have to make it up in this tenure of 5 years. They are least worried about the safety of the CRPF jawans. The jawans do not have clear cut instructions. They are asked to use their rifles only as lathis and lay down their own lives. That will only make the human rights activists happy.
Will the change of government from Congress to BJP remove our woes? That will be another episode.

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