Does one see a pattern?

Am going slightly back in time........

The year is 2019 and it's time for the General Elections in India. Every opposition party worth its name - with completely opposing and divergent ideology - combine to form a 'mahagathbandhan' with only one agenda which is to prevent Narendra Modi from returning to power. As usual, what happens during the run up to the elections and at the hustings, many charges of corruption were hurled at him, the notable being - the Rafael deal, along with the sobriquet "Chowkidar chor hai".

Thankfully, the Supreme Court had intervened and put a stop to that charade.

The results of the elections was spectacular in that Modi won a huge victory, so much so, that his party won an absolute majority on its own! The 'mahagathbandhan' disintegrated soon after!!

And now we hear that the PFI had secret talks with a terrorist group based in Turkey about six months before the elections. What was the agenda of their discussions?

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The Modi government removed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, by revoking Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution and carved three union territories of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Close on the heels of this legislation, it passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) towards the benefit of the religious minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

What followed was a systematic method of organised violence in the form of the JNU students' campus agitation, the Delhi riots, the Bangalore riots and the "Shaheen Bagh' protests by women against the legislation. These disturbances were brought under control by the respective Polices of the concerned states. In the meantime, the elections to the Delhi Assembly took place and soon after, the pandemic had struck. The last of the protests - the peaceful (The jury is still out on as to how one could call it peaceful when it disrupted the lives of many, many ordinary people due to blockage of the main arterial road ) Shaheen Bagh protests just fizzled away, days after!

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Then came the Bihar Assembly elections. The entire lot of the opposition formed a 'mahagathbandhan', with Tejashwi Yadav (son of Lalu Prasad Yadav) projected as the chief minister. They derided incumbent CM, Nitish Kumar saying that he was aged and the opposition leaders like Sharad Pawar, Mehbooba Mufti declaring that the hope of Bihar was now, this dynamic youth leader. The funniest part was that the media went to town, celebrating all the exit polls that gave a distinct edge to the ragtag coalition! Arnab Goswami, meanwhile, was in a jail in Maharashtra on trumped up charges or his channel might have given us a different story! 

But even after 15 years of Nitish Kumar's rule, the average Bihari had not forgotten the 'jungle raj' of Lalu Prasad Yadav. They hadn't forgotten the mass looting of brand new vehicles from the showrooms on the occasion of his daughter, Misa's wedding which were never returned and the fodder scam - just citing two of a large list of his goondaism. 

It was also sickening to note the excessive and 'we-told-you-so glee' on the part of a few news anchors during the initial surge of the votes in favour of the mahagathbandhan! Their angst was written all over their faces towards the end 

When the results came, it was a body blow to the carefully played up personality of Tejashwi Yadav, who promptly blamed the Congress for his debacle and churlishly, kept himself and his brood away from the swearing in ceremony of Nitish Kumar!

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And I am now going miles across to the United States, where the results of the Presidential elections have not been accepted by President Donald Trump, saying that the election has been stolen from him. There, too, the media seemed to go ga ga over a Biden-Harris massive win towards the run up to the elections. 

The massive margins of win never came about and despite painting Trump as a racist, he has got a substantial share of votes from the African Americans, Hispanics and the minorities. And doubts linger as to how most of the postal ballots have gone to Biden. The media seems to be angry and the latest observation is that the Covid-19 cases are rising to alarming numbers that would worsen if President Trump delays the transition - the rising numbers of the pandemic cases is yet to be substantiated with documentary evidence, though.

My take.

Is there a method by which smooth, existing practices are being tampered by unscrupulous and wicked minds in many parts of the world? If affirmative, they need to be identified and sorted out forthwith.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by a half past 9. It was a quiet Tuesday. 

The highlight of the day was Mohita Sharma, IPS winning Rs.1crore on the KBC. She was the perfect blend of knowledge, composure and dignity. Congratulations, young lady!