This interview reflects his acumen, clarity of thoughts and candid approach to politics. A no-nonsense leader, he says a lot.
KERALA POLITICS and BJP's Role.
For those who are interested in Kerala politics, specifically BJP's stance and chances, I am transcribing a Youtube Q&A with @surendranbjp BJP president, Kerala.
A vibrant and savvy politician, KS is the leader Kerala BJP supporters asked for.
This interview reflects his acumen, clarity of thoughts and candid approach to politics. A no-nonsense leader, he says a lot.
BJP and RSS relationship is that of ideology and political outfit (I have discussed this in detail in a previous thread and KS's view supports my points) and is strong currently.
Covid relief work has brought us even closer.
But BJP doesn't do this. Why?
But we are open to minority support as well. Hindu movement is stronger, not sure how far UDF have understood this.
In 2019, UDF got this support, but lost two sitting assembly constituencies in the bye elections, because they couldn't retain this support.
But UDF doesn't seem to notice the change in wind.
About 15 years ago, Shabarimala wouldn't have been an issue. So, the social psyche is changing in Kerala.
LDF is trying to be pro-Hindu, which shows they have realised what they are losing.
No, I don't think so. Its relevant only when BJP has about 25% vote base. At present we are at 16.5%. In 4 LS constituencies, we got 30% vote, 25% in another.
We want this to reach out to all assembly constituencies.
There are 80 of the 140 assembly constituencies which are Hindu majority. Hindus should believe in winnability, then they will consolidate
(This point I have raised in the past)
Things have changed here. Local elections will show the difference.
BJP will have better support than UDF and LDF.
Both fronts cannot win central Kerala and central Travancore without minority votes.
In 4 districts, most important party is BJP.
There are constituencies were Congress wouldn't get more than a few thousands. Without ML and Xs outfits, Congress is a non-entity there.
That is the base that they are losing now.
The ideological defeat through smuggling and corruption have broken this strong cadre.
This base is slowly shifting to BJP now.
(Shashikala teacher is a main factor here)
Hindu vote. We will also need support of minorities. We may have won a few constituencies with an extra percentage.
I don't believe Ms will vote for BJP all of a sudden.
I do have hope due to the community's fear of Ms extremism and L0v3 J!h4t. They also know that Congress is not going to form a govt at the centre.
This is the state's unique issue and we are strong on this. At first, we should build on the trust of our people that we are a winnable force in the state.
Minority commission is for minorities, so Hindus cannot hold positions there. But BJP Kerala will not bend any of its outlook.
Money flow is affected for Semitic religious conversions after Modi govt has come.
Because of demonetisation, hawala is affected.
Conversion is also affected.
But these are at the top level, Xs as community think differently.
They are now supporting BJP
(There is a pro-nationalistic voluntary rise of Xs support for BJP in Kerala)
Kerala is in a dangerous situation. J!h4tists have come together with communists. There is nexus.
All Sangh parivar voices have raised a lot of spiritual awareness.
This is why PV tried Police Act amendment.
MSM can be bought, which is what they did. MSM received 2 - 3 cr so that they write in support of the govt.
8. LDF is able to succeed in teasing BJP leaders, and create an image of BJP as a laughing stock. How do you fight that?
I don't believe all communists do that.
They do an organised attack against BJP leaders and Hinduism. Their purpose is to develop and consolidate M vote bank in compensation for the losing Hindu vote base.
Now we are doing offensive defence.
Media is against us. I told media that if they don't give support, we will get our own support.
So, we don't go just by the media. We try to maintain good relationship, but don't rely only on it them.
We have gone issue based now after I have taken charge.
This helps in managing media relationship.
No prejudice. We are candid. Even DD has refused to show PM's programme live.
Cont'd
10. Can you say BJP has a place in the mainstream politics today?
Take govt - one MLA, and we are invited as the 11th party in important meetings - although we are governing at the centre.
But we are the main party on issues. Ordinary public looks for BJP's stance. We have grown to be the main opposition and they follow our take on issues.
After the local body elections, BJP will become an unavoidable force.
Yes. Look at Karnataka - had 4% vote share and 2MLAs, then 9 MLAs, then govt. Today, we have 16% vote share and 1 MLA.
16 to 35% isn't impossible.
We have intervened in every issue and have emerged the actual opposition.
Mainly women's support. It shows Kerala public especially women trust only BJP.
All cases cannot be investigated by CBI. All state agencies are under the govt. Their efforts are easily thwarted by the govt.
There is no internal conflicts inside the party. It's not a leader based party.
Such things won't affect the party as it is built of people who have come for the ideology. Election is priority for all.
Our aim is to form govt in the state. After Dec 2020, people in Kerala will have the confidence that BJP will form a govt. this will be the game changer.
It's for history to say what I have left behind. But I am not working to leave any mark behind. My term is short - just 3 years.
END>
Notes: I thank the interviewer for asking the right questions and getting the best value for time.
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Please watch the actual video here.
https://t.co/wFXU3JG3Bk
More from Sreevidya Balasubramaniam
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THREAD:
Good afternoon, followers of frivolous election litigation. There's a last-minute entry in the competition for dumbest pre-inauguration lawsuit - a totally loony effort to apparently leave the entire USA without a government.
We'll start with the complaint in a minute.
But first, I want to give you a quick explanation for why I'm going to keep talking about these cases even after the inauguration.
They're part of an ongoing effort - one that's not well-coordinated but is widespread - to discredit our fundamental system of government.
It's a direct descendent, in more ways than one, of birtherism. And here's the thing about birtherism. It might have been a joke to a lot of people, but it was extremely pernicious. It obviously validated the racist "not good enough to be President" crowd. But that wasn't all.
Don't get me wrong, that was bad enough. Validating racism helped put the kind of shitbird who would tweet this from an official government account into power. But it didn't stop
(Also, if you agree with Pompeo about multiculturalism - the legendary melting pot - not being what this country is all about, you need to stop following me now. And maybe go somewhere and think about your life choices and what made you such a tool.)
Good afternoon, followers of frivolous election litigation. There's a last-minute entry in the competition for dumbest pre-inauguration lawsuit - a totally loony effort to apparently leave the entire USA without a government.
We'll start with the complaint in a minute.
But first, I want to give you a quick explanation for why I'm going to keep talking about these cases even after the inauguration.
They're part of an ongoing effort - one that's not well-coordinated but is widespread - to discredit our fundamental system of government.
It's a direct descendent, in more ways than one, of birtherism. And here's the thing about birtherism. It might have been a joke to a lot of people, but it was extremely pernicious. It obviously validated the racist "not good enough to be President" crowd. But that wasn't all.
Don't get me wrong, that was bad enough. Validating racism helped put the kind of shitbird who would tweet this from an official government account into power. But it didn't stop
Woke-ism, multiculturalism, all the -isms \u2014 they're not who America is. They distort our glorious founding and what this country is all about. Our enemies stoke these divisions because they know they make us weaker. pic.twitter.com/Mu97xCgxfS
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 19, 2021
(Also, if you agree with Pompeo about multiculturalism - the legendary melting pot - not being what this country is all about, you need to stop following me now. And maybe go somewhere and think about your life choices and what made you such a tool.)
"3 million people are estimated not to have official photo ID, with ethnic minorities more at risk". They will "have to contact their council to confirm their ID if they want to vote"
This is shameful legislation, that does nothing to tackle the problems with UK elections.THREAD
There is no evidence in-person voter fraud is a problem, and it wd be near-impossible to organise on an effective scale. Campaign finance violations, digital disinformation & manipulation of postal voting are bigger issues, but these are crimes of the powerful, not the powerless.
In a democracy, anything that makes it harder to vote - in particular, anything that disadvantages one group of voters - should face an extremely high bar. Compulsory voter ID takes a hammer to 3 million legitimate voters (disproportionately poor & BAME) to crack an imaginary nut
If the government is concerned about the purity of elections, it should reflect on its own conduct. In 2019 it circulated doctored news footage of an opponent, disguised its twitter feed as a fake fact-checking site, and ran adverts so dishonest that even Facebook took them down.
Britain's electoral law largely predates the internet. There is little serious regulation of online campaigning or the cash that pays for it. That allows unscrupulous campaigners to ignore much of the legal framework erected since the C19th to guard against electoral misconduct.
This is shameful legislation, that does nothing to tackle the problems with UK elections.THREAD
Millions of people do not have photo ID. By forcing through mandatory voter-ID the government risk disenfranchising millions of legitimate voters. https://t.co/y0Upzof2FI
— Electoral Reform Society (@electoralreform) February 17, 2021
There is no evidence in-person voter fraud is a problem, and it wd be near-impossible to organise on an effective scale. Campaign finance violations, digital disinformation & manipulation of postal voting are bigger issues, but these are crimes of the powerful, not the powerless.
In a democracy, anything that makes it harder to vote - in particular, anything that disadvantages one group of voters - should face an extremely high bar. Compulsory voter ID takes a hammer to 3 million legitimate voters (disproportionately poor & BAME) to crack an imaginary nut
If the government is concerned about the purity of elections, it should reflect on its own conduct. In 2019 it circulated doctored news footage of an opponent, disguised its twitter feed as a fake fact-checking site, and ran adverts so dishonest that even Facebook took them down.
Britain's electoral law largely predates the internet. There is little serious regulation of online campaigning or the cash that pays for it. That allows unscrupulous campaigners to ignore much of the legal framework erected since the C19th to guard against electoral misconduct.
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Duration: 24/10/2018-23 /10/2019
Funding: $71,500
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https://t.co/680CdD8uug
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Duration: 24/10/2018-23 /10/2019
Funding: $71,500
@dgaytandzhieva
https://t.co/680CdD8uug
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Access to the database is limited only to those scientists participating in our ‘Bats and Coronaviruses’ project
Our intention is to eventually open up this database to the larger scientific community
https://t.co/mPn7b9HM48
3. EcoHealth Alliance & DTRA Asking for Trouble
One Health research project focused on characterizing bat diversity, bat coronavirus diversity and the risk of bat-borne zoonotic disease emergence in the region.
https://t.co/u6aUeWBGEN
4. Phelps, Olival, Epstein, Karesh - EcoHealth/DTRA
5, Methods and Expected Outcomes
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The first area to focus on is diversity. This has become a dogma in the tech world, and despite the fact that tech is one of the most meritocratic industries in the world, there are constant efforts to promote diversity at the expense of fairness, merit and competency. Examples:
USC's Interactive Media & Games Division cancels all-star panel that included top-tier game developers who were invited to share their experiences with students. Why? Because there were no women on the
ElectronConf is a conf which chooses presenters based on blind auditions; the identity, gender, and race of the speaker is not known to the selection team. The results of that merit-based approach was an all-male panel. So they cancelled the conference.
Apple's head of diversity (a black woman) got in trouble for promoting a vision of diversity that is at odds with contemporary progressive dogma. (She left the company shortly after this
Also in the name of diversity, there is unabashed discrimination against men (especially white men) in tech, in both hiring policies and in other arenas. One such example is this, a developer workshop that specifically excluded men: https://t.co/N0SkH4hR35
USC's Interactive Media & Games Division cancels all-star panel that included top-tier game developers who were invited to share their experiences with students. Why? Because there were no women on the
ElectronConf is a conf which chooses presenters based on blind auditions; the identity, gender, and race of the speaker is not known to the selection team. The results of that merit-based approach was an all-male panel. So they cancelled the conference.
Apple's head of diversity (a black woman) got in trouble for promoting a vision of diversity that is at odds with contemporary progressive dogma. (She left the company shortly after this
Also in the name of diversity, there is unabashed discrimination against men (especially white men) in tech, in both hiring policies and in other arenas. One such example is this, a developer workshop that specifically excluded men: https://t.co/N0SkH4hR35
