Underdog INDIA Vs BJP is like an Olympic hockey match. And Rahul has found an opening

Summary

The script explores the shifting dynamics in Indian politics, comparing the current situation to a counterattack in a sports game. It discusses how the opposition, led by Rahul Gandhi, has regained momentum, forcing the ruling BJP to adopt some of its ideas, such as addressing unemployment and providing subsidies. The script also highlights the BJP's struggle with caste issues and its reliance on religious narratives. The narrative suggests that the BJP, although still in power, is on the defensive, while the opposition is setting the agenda.

Takeaways

• 🚫 Avoid practicing nunchucks in crowded rooms and taking calls near swimming pools.
• 🤔 Saving is not the same as investing; be careful with mutual fund investments.
• 🏑 The analogy of a hockey game is used to explain the current political landscape, highlighting how the opposition is staging a strong counterattack.
• 📉 The opposition, after being on the defensive for a decade, has found an opening to challenge the ruling party effectively.
• 💼 The 2024 general election has shifted the political dynamics, with the ruling party now adopting some ideas initially proposed by the opposition.
• 🧑‍🏫 Employment and economic issues are now being addressed by the government, which had previously dismissed them.
• 🍚 The ruling party has started implementing various welfare schemes similar to those proposed by the opposition, such as subsidies and cash giveaways.
• 🗳️ The BJP is facing challenges in addressing caste-based issues, while the Congress party is pushing for a caste census.
• 📊 The government's delay in conducting the 2021 census and addressing caste subcategorization is becoming a significant political issue.
• 📈 The opposition's focus on caste issues is causing the ruling party to double down on religious rhetoric, indicating a struggle for new ideas.

Q & A

What is the central metaphor used in the script to explain the political situation?

The script uses the metaphor of a hockey or football game to explain the current political situation, comparing the opposition's counterattack to India's counterattack in a hockey quarterfinal against Great Britain.

How does the script describe the political shift in India after the 2024 general election?

The script describes a rebalancing of national politics, where the opposition, after being on the defensive for a decade, has found an opportunity for a strong counterattack, forcing the ruling party, BJP, to alter its strategies.

What were some of the key campaign points raised by the Congress during the election?

Key campaign points included joblessness among the youth, subsidies for employment creation, a nationwide internship plan, cash giveaways to the poor and farmers, a legal guarantee for MSP, questioning the Agnipath scheme, and advocating for a nationwide caste census.

How did the BJP initially respond to the Congress's campaign points?

The BJP initially dismissed the Congress's campaign points as falsehoods and unworkable ideas, often countering them with claims of economic success and strong appeals to Hindu opinion.

What significant changes did the BJP make following the 2024 general election?

The BJP began implementing several ideas previously dismissed, such as addressing unemployment through cash incentives for companies and expanding agricultural MSP in states like Haryana.

How does the script characterize the BJP's recent actions regarding social welfare programs?

The script suggests that the BJP, once critical of such programs as 'RAV' (election freebies), has now embraced similar strategies, offering various subsidies and welfare programs in states like Haryana and Maharashtra.

What is the significance of the caste issue in the current political context, according to the script?

The caste issue is seen as a major challenge for the BJP, which has struggled to find a coherent response to the Congress's push for a caste census and subcategorization of backward classes.

How has the BJP's approach to caste issues evolved over time?

The BJP initially avoided the caste issue, focusing instead on unifying the Hindu vote. However, recent pressures, including a Supreme Court judgment on subcategorization, have forced the BJP to reconsider its stance.

What potential political risk does the BJP face regarding the caste census?

If the BJP proceeds with subcategorization, it may be seen as conceding to the opposition's agenda, potentially redividing the Hindu vote along caste lines. If it does not, it risks appearing out of touch with the caste-based concerns of voters.

How does the script conclude regarding the current political landscape in India?

The script concludes that while the BJP remains in the lead, it is now on the defensive, searching for new ideas to counter the opposition's strong and unexpected resurgence.

Outlines

00:00

🚨 Legendary Advice and Mutual Fund Investments

This paragraph starts with humorous advice on various life situations and pivots to the importance of distinguishing between saving and investing, particularly in mutual funds. The speaker emphasizes the need for careful consideration when investing in mutual funds due to market risks.

05:02

⚽ Political Metaphor from Sports: India's Counterattack in Politics

The speaker draws a parallel between sports and Indian politics, using the example of a hockey match where India, despite being on the defensive, made a surprising counterattack. This is likened to the Indian political landscape, where the opposition, after a long period of defensiveness, has launched an unexpected and strong counter, reshaping the dynamics of the upcoming elections.

10:04

📈 Congress's Election Campaign and BJP's Strategic Shift

This section discusses the Congress party's campaign points, such as job creation, subsidies, and a nationwide caste census. Initially dismissed by the BJP, these ideas have now been partially adopted by the ruling party, indicating a shift in strategy. The BJP has implemented similar measures, like increasing MSP and offering various subsidies, suggesting that the opposition's agenda is influencing the government's policies.

🎯 Opposition Gains Momentum with BJP Adapting Strategies

The BJP's adaptation of policies previously mocked as 'ravy' by the opposition is highlighted, particularly in states like Haryana and Maharashtra, where extensive social welfare schemes have been rolled out. The speaker argues that the BJP, once dismissive of such strategies, is now adopting them to maintain political relevance, indicating the opposition's growing influence.

🔍 Caste Census and BJP's Defensive Stance

The focus shifts to the BJP's struggle with the caste issue, especially regarding the caste census. The Congress's push for a caste census has put the BJP on the defensive, with the ruling party resorting to religious appeals to counter the opposition's caste-based strategies. The BJP's reluctance to conduct the normal decennial census, coupled with its silence on the sub-categorization report, reflects its uncertain stance on caste-related issues.

🏛️ Supreme Court Ruling and BJP's Constitutional Dilemma

This final section discusses the Supreme Court's ruling on sub-categorization among backward and scheduled castes and tribes, which complicates the BJP's position. The ruling gives the government the power to create sub-categories, but the BJP is hesitant to act due to potential political repercussions. The speaker suggests that the BJP is like a team in the lead but struggling to maintain its position against a resurgent opposition.

Keywords

💡Counterattack

In the context of the video, 'counterattack' refers to the strategic move by the opposition in Indian politics to regain ground after being on the defensive for a long period. The term is used metaphorically, comparing political maneuvers to a sports match, where the underdog finds an opportunity to strike back effectively after a period of disadvantage.

💡Mutual Fund

A mutual fund is an investment vehicle made up of a pool of funds collected from many investors to invest in securities like stocks, bonds, and other assets. In the video, it's highlighted as an important concept in financial literacy, emphasizing the difference between saving and investing, with a caution to read all scheme-related documents carefully before investing.

💡Cricket Metaphor

The use of a 'cricket metaphor' refers to the speaker's method of simplifying complex political situations by comparing them to cricket, a sport widely followed in India. Although the speaker notes that football and hockey metaphors are more appropriate during the Olympic and Euro seasons, the concept of using sports metaphors is central to explaining political dynamics.

💡2024 General Election

The '2024 General Election' refers to the upcoming major political event in India, which is portrayed as a pivotal moment for the country's political landscape. The script discusses how the opposition, after a decade of being out of power, is now repositioning itself to challenge the ruling party, leading to significant shifts in political strategies.

💡MSP (Minimum Support Price)

MSP or Minimum Support Price is a government-set price at which it purchases crops from farmers, intended to safeguard them against any sharp fall in farm prices. The concept is crucial in the political discourse around agricultural policies, with debates on whether it should be legally guaranteed, as proposed by the opposition in the video.

💡Caste Census

A 'Caste Census' refers to the enumeration of various caste groups within the population, which can influence the allocation of government resources and political power. In the video, the demand for a caste census is a significant point of contention, particularly in the context of the opposition's strategy to challenge the ruling party's policies and approach to social justice.

💡Distributive Socialism

'Distributive Socialism' in the video refers to the economic policies advocated by the opposition, which focus on redistributing resources to marginalized groups through measures like subsidies, cash handouts, and support prices. The ruling party dismisses these policies as mere election promises or 'free candy,' but later adopts similar measures, indicating a shift in political strategy.

💡Religious Polarization

'Religious Polarization' refers to the strategy of uniting voters based on religious identity, particularly through the use of Hindutva or Hindu nationalism. The video highlights how this approach has been a key strategy for the ruling party, especially in countering caste-based divisions, and how it is being reemphasized in response to the opposition's renewed focus on caste issues.

💡Electoral Ravy

'Electoral Ravy' is a term used in the video to describe political strategies that involve offering widespread benefits or subsidies to win votes, often criticized as short-term populism. The video discusses how both the ruling party and the opposition are engaging in this practice, with a focus on schemes that provide financial incentives to various groups.

💡Supreme Court Judgment

The 'Supreme Court Judgment' mentioned in the video refers to a legal ruling that gives the government the authority to create subcategories within the backward classes, scheduled castes, and tribes for more targeted distribution of benefits. This judgment complicates the political landscape by raising questions about whether the ruling party will support or resist further caste-based categorization.

Highlights

Legends know never to practice nunchucks in a crowded room or take a call near a swimming pool.

Saving is not the same as investing; Legends invest in mutual funds.

The season of the Olympics and Euro 2024 makes football and hockey more relevant for metaphors.

Amit Rohidas was sent off with a red card, leaving India to play with 10 against Great Britain for 42 minutes.

India, though on the defensive, managed a counterattack and scored a goal against Great Britain in the hockey quarterfinal.

The 2024 general election has rebalanced national politics, giving the opposition a chance for a strong counterattack.

Rahul Gandhi, once mocked, is now seen in a different light in national politics.

The Congress party's election campaign focused on joblessness, cash giveaways, legal guarantees for MSP, and more.

The BJP, which initially dismissed Congress's ideas, is now implementing similar schemes, like expanding MSP and offering cash incentives.

Haryana's government has extended MSP to 24 major crops, offering cheap LPG cylinders and free milk schemes.

Maharashtra has rolled out schemes costing nearly ₹96,000 crores annually, including cash handouts and free LPG cylinders.

The BJP, once critical of such schemes, has become a party offering 'RAV' (freebies) for votes.

The rise of the BJP in 2014 unified the Hindu vote, but the Congress's caste census slogan challenges this unity.

The BJP is doubling down on religion as it struggles with the caste issue, as seen in moves like the proposed law against 'Love Jihad.'

The Supreme Court's judgment on subcategorization among backward classes complicates the BJP's position on the caste issue.

Transcripts

here's the 30second lesson on what

Legends know never practice nunchucks in

a crowded room never eat choli before a

road

trip always take your shirt off before

you IR

it don't take a call near a swimming

pool and don't forget saving is not

investing Legends don't just say they

invest in mutual funds mutual fund

Investments are subject to Market risks

read old scheme related documents

carefully

I often use situations and metaphors

from cricket to explain political

complexities or to simplify them you

know that weakness of mind this however

is the season of the Olympics and Euro

2024 so football and hockey would be

more

contextual therefore let's let's go

ahead and see how a typical turn in a

hockey or football game applies to the

way National politics has moved as

indicate at the end of this Monsoon SL

budget session of parliament take your

mind back to the hockey quarterfinal in

which India played with 10 against Great

Britain for 42 minutes this is after

Amit rohidas was sent away with a red

card taking advantage of numbers Great

Britain attacked relentlessly as India

struggled to put many in front because

you needed everybody back in defense it

was rare that that you could put men in

front in attack but on the odd occasion

that they did the game seemed

dramatically altered like that one

occasion soon after the red card when

India managed the attack and actually

scored a goal that is called a counter

after having been on the defensive for a

very long time pushed to the ball okay

in this case the wall was the

Magnificent PR F this is precisely what

is playing out in National politics

right now let me try and explain that

the 2024 general election has rebalanced

National politics has been known since

4th of June the entire opposition pushed

to the wall and hopeless for a decade as

India was for more most of those 42

minutes it has now found a well-earned

opening for a counter it's just that it

wasn't widely expected that the counter

would be so strong and effective as to

Force the winner to alter their own

plans and strategy because after all BJP

still won this election BJP and its

allies in the process Rahul Gandhi the

politician more mocked and ridiculed

than any other in our history is now

seen in an entirely different light see

objectively however what is happening

now here is a list of ideas and campaign

points that came up in the election

campaign from the Congress number one

joblessness among the youth subsidies to

create more employment and a nationwide

internship plan two cash giveaways to

the poor the jobless in the farmers

three a legal guarantee for MSP minimum

support price for all major crops and

loan wers for Farmers next questions

over the agnipath scheme and also also

the threat to roll it back or withdraw

it if they came to power next in

Nationwide cast census and then

reallocation of government benefits and

spoils according to each section's

numerical strength and social

socioeconomic status many of these were

simply dismissed by the BJP as

falsehoods in fact it was a talk of so

many crores of jobs have having been

created under the two terms of Modi

government India India being the fastest

growing major economy in the world on

way to becoming the third largest

economy so on and so forth all cast

issues were ducked and generally

countered with even stronger appeals to

Hindu opinion in fact the congress's

approach to distributive socialism

following a cast census was dismissed

contemptuously as ravies in simpler

English the argument was that the

Congress wanted to buy votes by

Distributing free candy free maai now we

also need to list what's been happening

lately the third Modi government is

quickly moved away from its dismissal of

all the Rahul slash Congress ideas as

unimaginative and useless jokes it is

now implementing several of the same

take for example number one this budget

makes sizable allocations and Promises

to directly address the unemployment

challenge so there is an unemployment

challenge that's been accepted

politically there are incentives for

companies to hire more and cash

incentives by the way and a plan for 10

million 1 CR internships over 5 years

BJP state governments especially those

heading for elections are already

expanding agricultural MSP the harana

government for example has extended MSP

to all 24 major crops in the state from

the previous 14 if you check out the

full page advertisements in your

newspapers these days you also see a

plethora of other freebies in harana LPG

cylinders adj just rupees 500 to 46 lakh

families imagine harana the last census

was in 2011 as for the rest of the

country so you would estimate today the

population would be about no more than 3

and a half crores if that much take five

to a family 46 lakh families it means

more than 2/3 of the families will get

these cheap LPG cylinders in a state

which B from one year to the other ranks

between 1 to three among the richest in

the country based on per capita income

in addition a free milk scheme for

school girls and the waving of canal

water SES or what's called as

abana and you know what next point there

is there is free bus travel for all

members of families with annual incomes

up to rupees 1 lakh for up to 1,000

kilometers a month right Karnataka is

only was only giving it to women the BJP

had been ridiculing similar schemes in

Delhi Karnataka and Telangana those were

for just women now it's for the entire

family this was this was in fact the

very definition of political ravy or

electoral ravy the state has also raised

harana has also raised the creamy layer

income limit for its obeses to rupees 8

lakhs per year from 6 lakhs harana done

it's even more worthwhile now to look at

Maharashtra it has already rolled out

ravies that will cost it at least 96,000

crores per year 96,000 crores per year

that's almost a trillion rupes per year

some highlights for you number one women

youths senior citizens below an income

level as well as the unique set of

varkaris the Costless bti cult followers

about 16 lakh in number will all get

cash handouts and subsidies the work

caries will get subsidies for their

annual pandharpur pilgrimage as well

wait till Yogi unveils something similar

for the codas before his State elections

in utar Pradesh in

20127 next a monthly stipend of rupees

1500 for women in the 21 to 65 age group

with an annual income below rupees 2.5

lakhs just the cost of this scheme alone

is 46,000

cres next six month stiens for Class 12

pass that is a

6,000 diploma holders rupees 8,000 and

graduates rupees 10,000 to help them

train and res skill please stay with me

as I come to the next Point each family

of five in Maharashtra will get three

free LPG cylinders per year I would

think that all of this adds up to

sufficient evidence that it's the

opposition which had cowed in defense

for a decade that's Now setting the

agenda at this point from mocking such

distribution the BJP itself has become a

RAV for votes party the underdog is

repositioning the top dog just in case

you are inclined to dismiss all of this

as

election

election we can then move on to a more

substantive durable in fact eternally so

an eternal ideological issue in our

politics see if the same logic the

dominant team falling back on on the

defensive and and the one that's been on

the defensive for a decade suddenly

discovering the panach or the Mojo or

the or the where withal to Counterattack

see if that applies here since 1989

we've maintained one binary has

determined who will rule India can you

employ cast to divide what religion

United which means can you employ cast

to divide the Hindu V or can you use

religion Hinduism or hindutva to reunite

what cast divided we've often said that

for the first 25 years cast won that's

why 1989 to 2014 cast based parties the

Congress and alliance with them when

that happened they they ruled the

country most of the time the rise of

Narendra Modi in 2014 saw the saw the

unification of the larger Hindu vote

cutting across the cast divides this is

when the epoch of religion or hinda

began this was challenged Again by Rahul

Gandhi with his cast sensus slogan this

time he has brought it up again in

Parliament and asserted that his party

will ensure a cast census from this

Parliament as he said the BJP has

struggled to find an answer it is

because of a poity of ideas on the cast

issue that the BJP is doubling down on

religion the the new wak Bill Assam

chief minister him bis sharma's talk of

land Jihad Yogi adan's proposed

legislative amendment to bring in life

imprisonment for love Jihad and

Rajasthan chief minister bhajanlal

Sharma accusing one community of not

controlling its population and the need

for measures to counter that these are

all instinctive defensive moves I also

call it confusion because the same

approach was used by the BJP in the

general elections but did not work but

when you're short of ideas what do you

do you you Hunker down and you use once

again you employ the only tricks of the

trade that you know the BJP in fact is

struggling with the cast issue again

forget a cast census it isn't even

talking of holding the normal desial

census a census every 10 years delayed

since 2021 meanwhile Delhi has seen the

the rise of a beautiful janana bav a

census B you can see it if you come come

to Delhi or if you live in Delhi or come

to Delhi go to Taj Taj Mahal hotel at

mansingh road you can see right across

the street there is this beautiful new

building called Jan garana bavan so the

B has been built but there is no talk of

the 2021 census the BJP itself talked of

subcategorization of the backward

classes and set up a commission under

retired Delhi High Court chief justice G

rohin to examine it but it is sitting on

the report in fact the report was to be

submitted in 3 months kept on getting

extensions the commission took about six

years the report was submitted in July

last year 2023 and since then the

government has kept it under the wraps

although it was its own idea if the

government moves towards

subcategorization a cast census will

become imperative handing another

Victory to Rahul Gandhi if it doesn't

the redivision of the Hindu vote along

cast lines will gather Pace on this

issue the opposition does not have to do

very much it can sit back and watch

because it does not rule any Hindi State

this situation is now further

Complicated by the Supreme Court with

its latest judgment which gives the

government constitutional and legal

powers to create

subcategorization among the backward and

scheduled cast and even scheduled tribe

groups does the central government now

and also the BJP run states do they

completely ignore this what position do

they take on it I I see I I see quite a

bit of Buzz that maybe the BJP should

amend the Constitution to to set aside

the impact of this supreme court

judgment but the BJP cannot even whisper

the thought of amending the Constitution

given how big an issue it was in the

latest election campaign that's why with

the BJP is like a team in the lead they

are still in the lead but thrown on the

defensive and searching for ideas to

break out with the Challenger in full

press

[Music]

[Applause]

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