Blast from the past!

Some quotable political quotes from the not-so-distant past that I can recollect:

"I will not cross the borders of Karnataka" - H D Devegowda, then CM of Karnataka, the day before he was chosen to be the PM of the United front government.

"What does communalism mean? You should refer to a dictionary and find out its meaning." - Kumaraswamy, when he formed the coalition government with the BJP in Karnataka.

"You will be voting for the future Dy. PM of India" - Kumaraswamy again, appealing to the voters of Bangalore Rural constituency while campaigning for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

"I'll make the roads of Bihar as smooth as Hemamalini's cheeks!" - Lalu Yadav, when he was the CM of Bihar.

"Jab tak rahega samose me aloo, tab tak rahega Bihar me Lalu!" - Lalu Yadav again during one of his earlier campaign speeches.

The Politician with a sense of humour

Politicians come in all hues and colours. Some are inspiring speakers, others can put you to sleep before you can yawn, some just need to read from their written speech even if it is only a couple of lines, but the most popular ones are those who intersperse their speech with a generous dose of humour.  

Venkaiah Naidu belongs to the last category. He couldn't have put it more aptly when he called the "Third front" a parking lot, a few weeks back.

That reminded me of a BJP rally that I had attended during the 1999 elections at the National College ground in Bangalore. 

Sonia Gandhi was deciding where to take the electoral plunge from and was filing her nominations from every backward constituency in India. Speaking at the rally, Naidu said: "Sonia Gandhi is learning the A, B, C of politics; A for Amethi, B for Bellary, C for Cuddapah. But what she'll ultimately get is D for defeat", sending the huge crowd into peals of laughter. 

Some of his more recent comments can be found here.

BJP Manifesto

The BJP manifesto was released today.

Following are some of the highlights:

• BPL families to get rice at Rs.2/kg.
• Existing agricultural loans to be waived
• Loans at 4% to poor urban vendors
• River linking project to be launched
• POTA-like law to be introduced
• Special pay structure for the armed forces
• Bicycles to every school going girl child from BPL families
• 1.2 million IT enabled jobs in Rural areas

The middle class will especially love this:

• Income tax exemption to be raised to 3 lakh
• FBT to be abolished
• Housing loans to be made cheaper

Others:

• Ram temple to be constructed
• Ram Sethu to be preserved
• Article 370 to be scrapped
• Protection of cows

A more comprehensive highlight can be found at the Friends of BJP site

The full manifesto can be downloaded from the BJP web-site

Vote India. Vote BJP.

The choice is yours. Mazboot neta or Majboor neta.

Stumped?

South Africa would be holding its general elections on the 22nd. of April, whereas IPL starts from the 18th.!!!!

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