Showing posts with label prashant kishor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prashant kishor. Show all posts

Thursday, December 23, 2021

December 23: Prashant Kishor, MCC, Milan Pandey, Ranju Darshana



To MCC or not to MCC I wish I could say this has been a civil discourse about legitimate concerns over hegemony, but unfortunately, it has been an embarrassing display of political fraud with wilful mischaracterizations for short-term political gain. ............ Conspiracy theories propounded by political hacks have been given free air time on national television, and reproduced wholesale in print without so much as a rejoinder. Legitimate voices, even while raising relevant concerns, have too easily succumbed to personal attacks and mischaracterizations in their arguments. .......... the people have gotten more and more radicalized by blatant disinformation circulated by political actors with vested interests ........... Death threats have even been issued against government officials. A taxi driver casually remarked to me recently that politicians were preparing to “sell the country”.

In every chiya pasal, chautara and bhatti, the conversations appears to be that the MCC will allow American troops to build a base in Nepal and will turn Nepalis into American slaves.

............... an alternative to USAID’s largely bureaucratic and ‘soft development’ focused approach. The MCC would provide time-bound grants that would be administered by the grant-receiving country itself through an independent agency (as opposed to a USAID country office) and focus largely on physical infrastructure ............ Countries who wish to receive the grant also have to apply for themselves, as opposed to being chosen by the US. They have to present their priority areas for investment and ‘compete’ for funding. So far, 25 countries have signed and completed their MCC compacts; eight are currently in development; seven are being implemented; two have been terminated by the MCC itself, and one (Sri Lanka) has been discontinued. ..........

Multiple governments, including that of the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML, and the Maoists, all worked and negotiated with the MCC in order to present Nepal’s proposal.

............ Nepal will receive $500 million as a grant for two projects — an Electricity Transmission Project that will “build around 315 kilometers of double circuit high capacity 400 kV transmission lines and three new electricity substations”, and a Road Maintenance Project that will work on over 70 kilometers of road on the East-West Highway in Dang district. The electricity project will receive $398.2 million while the road maintenance project will receive $52.2 million. Nepal itself will also have to chip in $130 million of its own for administrative, logistical, and other costs. ............ The MCC requires Parliamentary approval in any country that it operates in. The US has argued that Parliamentary ratification will allow “transparency and an opportunity for Nepalis to understand the project.” .......... Frequent changes in government tend to land large-scale infrastructure projects in limbo (see Melamchi) and as the MCC Compact is a five-year contract, the projects need to be completed in time.


Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Prashant Kishor: 2024



From Pawar to Gandhis: How to read Prashant Kishor's meetings Prashant Kishor has met leaders such as veteran NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh and the powerful siblings Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The buzz is that

Prashant Kishor could be looking for a formula to defeat the BJP in 2024 polls

....... Prashant Kishor met Rahul Gandhi at his residence in New Delhi on Tuesday setting off the buzz in the political circles. The meeting was attended by Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal and Harish Rawat. Though Prashant Kishor refused to divulge any meaning information saying it was just a “courtesy meeting” and that nothing more should be read into it. But that courtesy call lasted about four hours. ........ Sources said Prashant Kishor gave a detailed presentation to the Gandhis of his plan, in which Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal leader Naveen Patnaik emerged as a key figure. ......... Prashant Kishor is to play a big role in reviving the Congress party to prop it up as a real challenger to the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha election. ....... a day after that meeting, Sharad Pawar hosted a meeting of the leaders from eight Opposition parties. Those invited included leaders from the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Left Front. They met at Sharad Pawar’s residence in Delhi. ....... Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) has begun collecting data for the Punjab poll campaign for next year’s assembly election. Prashant Kishor was recently appointed as the principal advisor by Captain Amarinder Singh. ........

With Mamata Banerjee taking the TMC to a bigger than the past electoral victories in West Bengal elections, Prashant Kishor saw his reputation surge to a new level.

......... Prashant Kishor emerged on the national scene as a poll strategist in 2014, when he was hailed as the man who built the Narendra Modi wave.


Saturday, July 10, 2021

बात बिहार के बहार की



आज दुनिया में वो पॉलिटिशियन जिसमें मेरी सबसे ज्यादा रूचि हो, वो हैं प्रशांत किशोर। अब क्या करेंगे, अगला कदम क्या लेंगे, कौतुहल सी रहती है। मेरे गुगल न्युज पेज पर मैंने उनके नाम से एक सेक्शन दर्ज किया है, कि गुगल भैया समाचार मिलते रहने चाहिए। 

मैं पैदा हुवा बिहार में। दरभंगा। मिथिला वासी। मिथिला की राजधानी मेरा गृहनगर। अंग्रेजो ने बंगाल, पंजाब और काश्मीर के तरह मिथिला के भो दो टुकड़े कर दिए। मेरा मानना है युरोपियन युनियन के तर्ज पर नेपाल और भारत का भी एकीकरण हो जाए और मिथिला फिर से एक हो जाए। 

बिहार एक चुनौती भी है और एक मौका भी। १८९० में ब्रिटेन और अमेरिका को १०% आर्थिक वृद्धि दर उपलब्ध नहीं था जो चीन को १९९० में उपलब्ध हुवा। आज बिहार को २०% आर्थिक वृद्धि दर उपलब्ध है जो चीन में संभव नहीं। कर सके तो मिशाल बन जाएगी। प्रशांत को नई पार्टी खोलनी होगी। जो कि कर तो रहे हैं। स्वीप कर देंगे ये। 

बिहार मेरे लिए न पहले कभी विदेश था और न आज है। 


पार्टी का नाम हम सुझाव देना चाहेंगे: नयी दिशा। और बाद में राष्ट्रिय स्तर पर निर्माण करिए अपने नेतृत्व में नया मोर्चा। लेकिन उससे पहले नयी दिशा को कमसेकम तीन चार राज्यों में सत्ता में पहुंचाइए। बिहार, झारखण्ड, उत्तर प्रदेश कमसेकम। पहली चुनाव में बिहार स्वीप कर सके वही बहुत है। उसके बाद के चुनाव से पसरना शुरू किजिए। 

बिहार में २०% आर्थिक वृद्धि दर देने का फोर्मुला ढूंढ़िए। उसके बाद उसको और जगह भी ले जाइए।