Tomichan Matheikal's blog

The present Lok Sabha has the highest number of MPs with criminal cases against them.   One-third of the MPs face serious criminal charges.   All the MPs of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD – Bihar), 15 out of the 18 MPs of Shiv Sena (Maharashtra), and 4 out of the 5 MPs of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP – Maharashtra) are people with criminal records.   More than one-third of the BJP’s new MPs face criminal charges most of which are very serious.   The Congress Party fares better with 7% of its MPs facing serious charges while there are minor charges against 18%.   Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have contributed most of these criminals to the 16 th Lok Sabha. Courtesy: Here These MPs are very wealthy too.   82% of all the present MPs had assets worth over ₹1 crore each in 2014 (when they were elected).   Wealth does play a significant role in making politics criminal.   Criminals enter politics precisely because they bring wealth ...

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to gain any significant political clout in Kerala.   Yet the party is already mired in charges of corruption.   In order to save its image the party has been forced to expel R S Vinod, the party’s cooperative cell convener in the state.   Vinod was accused of having accepted a bribe of no less than ₹5.60 crore from R Shaji, chairman of an educational trust who paid the amount for securing Medical Council of India’s (MCI) clearance for his medical college.   According to reports, the amount was routed through Delhi as a hawala transaction.   The report also mentions M T Ramesh, general secretary of Kerala BJP, as a recipient of bribe from another medical college.   Ramesh has denied his involvement in the scam and the party has chosen to stand behind him since it cannot afford to oust too many leaders.   It is a question of waiting and watching before more names of BJP leaders come up in connection with...

Success in politics is directly proportional to your ability to manipulate people and systems.   No one on earth can match Mr Narendra Modi in that skill.   From the time he assumed the highest position in the country, there have been multifarious attacks on people belonging to minority communities as well as the Dalits.   The attacks have been both overt and covert.   They keep happening.   Some noise is made by certain people and the event is forgotten.   This is the height of Modi’s success. Courtesy Indiatimes.com Most important positions have been handed over on a platter to the Sangh loyalists.   The latest is the President’s post.   The new man in that post is a typical illustration of what historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto said eloquently, “Heroes do not make history; history makes heroes.”   Ram Nath Kovind would not have been known beyond the circle of his friends and colleagues had it not been for the twists and tu...