Shekhar Gupta in the Indian Express:
...as a member of a small and motley group of journalists, TV anchors, psephologists and economists — the self-proclaimed Limousine Liberals in an election — I search for the message of change (or the lack of it) from what is written on the walls...
...Chandrababu Naidu: “I got so obsessed with praise from all of you, that I lost contact with people ... I became a nationalist, a statesman, and got obsessed with that image. I forgot my villages, the voters, and I will never make that mistake again. Five years out of power have been terrible. I have really suffered and struggled.” He then unveils his modified “reform” thinking. Pro-market reforms, he says, must continue, but you can’t wait for trickle-down as “I did the last time.” Reform will create wealth, he says, but the state must distribute it immediately. His solution, however, is more immediate than you would have imagined: he carries an ATM machine with him and tells voters how he will give cards to all the poor so, once a month, all they need to do is push the card into the machine, and Rs 2,000 will come out, and this is how...
Reform economists would love the idea, but he also has some ideas that come straight from hell...Read all about them and another encounter with Chiranjeevi and the fascinating “Mother Teresa Dance Academy” here: On the wall, off the road - 1
Incidentally, if we are to believe the NDTV exit poll, Chandrababu Naidu is not likely to be in a position to be implementing any of his new ideas...
Anil Arora, Mr. Bookworm, R.I.P.
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