CHAPTER 1- The First Impression

1

THE FIRST IMPRESSION

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress (I) party, led her alliance to victory in the 2004 Indian General Election to the Parliament. Her alliance - called United Progressive Alliance (UPA) - won 222 seats. The Left Front (LF) with 59 Members of Parliament (MPs), Samajwadi Party (SP) of Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav with 39 MPs, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of Miss. Mayawathi with 19 MPs and some small parties extended out side support to it. Thus she had the support of 335 MPs in a House of 543.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Mr. A.B. Vajpayee won 169 seats.

But Mrs. Sonia Gandhi refused to accept Prime Minister-ship as the top Corporate Houses wanted Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The important criterion to become the Prime Minister of India is that aspirant must have good rapport with the industrialists. Dr. Manmohan Singh knew this. No right thinking man would exploit this to the disadvantage of the nation. But he considered this as a merit. Naturally, he was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India on 22 May 2004.

Mr. P. Chithambaram was the Minister for Finance.

Evidently, the composition of the Council of Ministers showed that the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister owed their positions to the services they rendered to the top industrialists during their previous stints as Finance Ministers in the Congress and the United Front (UF) Governments respectively.

Many other members of the Union Cabinet were also representatives of the industrialists. This showed that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi won the election not based on her strength. It was only a gratis given by the industrialists. Therefore, her FREEDOM appeared as a limited one. In fact, she chose to rule or pretend to rule the nation in bad faith.

As soon as assuming power, Mr. P.Chithambaram said that the verdict of the people was not against the so-called reform process but against the sectarian, exclusivist and narrow-minded communal agenda of the NDA. Further, he said that the assurance of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to protect the profit making Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) was limited to those entities capable of making profits in a sustained manner in a globally competitive environment. Apparently, he was echoing the views of the industrialists. It appeared that they were supplying written policy statements to him.

In this connection, it must be pointed out that Mr. P. Chithambaram on 31 -12- 2002 exhorted Mr. A. B. Vajpayee to privatize at least two dozen PSUs before the year 2003.

Further, the utterances of the Finance Minister were reminiscent of his previous stint as the Finance Minister of India in the UF Government.

It must be recalled that the industrialists had demanded the UF Government led by Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda to invest the so-called surplus money of the PSUs in the Unit Trust of India (UTI). The role played by Mr. P. Chithambaram - at that time - in this matter was not known although people thought that he had diverted the money into the UTI.

Therefore, the nature of the Union Cabinet conveyed the impression of a leader ship acting in bad faith. But, it must be proved experimentally.

Further, it was clear that a long fight would be needed to retrieve the nation from the hand of the top industrial houses.

As a first step, the present writer wanted to prove the conclusion that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi acted in bad faith while constituting the Council of Ministers.

Therefore, four questions were asked in the next letter. It was the letter No.1 for the UPA Government and overall it was the letter No.32. The letter sought answers for four questions regarding the fate of the “cash rich enterprises”.

Any Government, acting in good faith, would give the answers through any competent authority.

Similarly, any Government acting in bad faith would never give any reply.

Dr. Manmohan Singh –as expected –did not give any reply.

As the sale of the shares of the PSUs was attributed to fiscal deficits, the suggestion given to the NDA Government was explained in detail to garner huge income. Further, a few concrete suggestions also were given for the good. The letter follows.

Vellicode, 31 May 2004

From

V.SABARIMUTHU

Thattankonam,Vellicode, Mulagumoodu PO PIN: 629167

To

His Excellency the President of India

Presidential Palace, New Delhi

Your Excellency

                       Kindly consider a few problems confronting the Nation.

1.All men and women above 60 years, all widows, all unmarried women above 40 years and all the handicapped could be given a monthly pension through village offices, ration shops or nearby shops provided their individual income is below-say-Rs.10,000/- per year. The amount is not very important. What is important is the commitment of the Nation to mitigate human suffering. It could be as low as Re. 100/- per month. The previous Government - for strange reasons - chose to ignore this suggestion even when the people became restless. Besides, a saree may be given throughout India in the Tamil Nadu state pattern to commemorate the death of 22 women and children. 

2. The various State Governments have not merged the D.A. with the basic pay. Some state Governments are giving part of the pension benefits as bonds besides affecting a cut in pension benefits. Many badly needed posts remain vacant. The Supreme Court and the Union Government could very easily solve this problem immediately. Thousands of factories and mills in the private sector that remain closed could be opened by establishing a special Ministry called Ministry of Investments. The Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the UPA is somewhat silent in these matters.

3. The Government needs money. There is no harm in adopting some unconventional methods to increase the revenue. The condition is that it should not give any pain to anyone. All payments in all financial institutions other than loan repayments must yield an income to the Government. For every -say –Re.1000/- paid to the bank, as deposit or money transfer, the Government must get an income of Re.1/-. Thus, for a deposit or payment of Re. 100,000/- the Government would get Re. 100/-. In this way, the Government could garner huge income. The Government need not hesitate to accept the suggestion because it comes from a citizen of India. The previous Government ignored this suggestion to its peril although consistent with the suggestions; service charges were imposed on certain items and interest rates lowered.

4. The Ministry of Disinvestments has been abolished. This is consistent with the letter No. 5 dated 3-1-2001 submitted to Mr. A.B. Vajpayee and the demands of the Left parties. Now all the privatized PSUs could be restored to fulfill the demands of the Constitution. The CMP of the UPA is conspicuously silent in this matter. This could be achieved through the aid of the Supreme Court. (It must be noted that the privatization case could not be heard by the bench formed by the Chief Justice V.N.Khare because of the letters of this writer.) The banking service recruitment commission also could be revived immediately ensuring reservation of seats to all states.

5. The Constitution could be strengthened to prevent its destruction by the judges. The petrol pump case and some other cases are visible and tangible outcome of a false and wicked doctrine. Such judgments could be annulled. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also could be strengthened. The reason for not taking any action against the people like Mr. Ram, Mr. Sekhar Gupta also could be known. The threat to the life of this writer has increased tremendously after the elections. All right thinking people would tell that it is the duty of the state to protect the individuals when there is a grave threat to their lives. 

6. The letters saved the public sector banks, Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), Air India (AI),Indian Airlines (IA), National Aluminium Company (NALCO), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and several other PSUs from  ex-pro-pri-ation. The President of India knows this. Therefore, all PSUs or their shares could be split and reserved to various State Governments to prevent them from going into their hands. The LIC could be split immediately. Further, the letters saved all Government plantations inclusive of those in Assam. Now, they could also be given to the workers as quickly as possible lest they would go into the hands of the stakes (stake = unethical manipulators). The business of petroleum products could be left to the State Governments rather than to private parties. A TV and Radio channels may be given to the State Governments to compete with private parties. This is not for a socialist seizing but to prevent concentration of capital through manipulations and commissions and to augment the income of the States. Further, this will empower the people. When the people are empowered, the Government is empowered. In such a scenario, the Union Ministers would have to be contented themselves with controlling the business of the Governments rather than doing business. Even otherwise, why does a Union Minister do business? Who is there to supervise him? In this way, the youngsters in the Cabinet could make all acts of corruption, commission and manipulation impossible and unimaginable for their own successors.

7. The Union Government on 2 April 2002 -due to the letters of this writer- stopped the PSUs form importing anything above Re. 5 crore. At that time Mr. Mr. S.P.Puruvar,  Finance Director of the BSNL, had to quit the BSNL. Yet, the BSNL has been permitted to import cell phones worth 5000 crore! In this connection, it may be noted that now there may be about 500 commission agents at Delhi earning Re. several crore everyday. If the buying were in the State level, the commission would go to about 5000 people. If it were delegated to the District level, it would go to 500,000 people because density is inversely proportional to volume.

8. Recently, some learned judges of the Supreme Court referred to the people circulating letters. The message was not a clear one. However, it must be noted that all coalition partners of the NDA deserted their lucrative positions only after receiving letters from this writer. They acted as per the dictates of their better selves in this matter to ensure a wonderful future to the Nation. Thus, the letters led to the resurrection of India. In this matter, all leaders deserve a Nobel Prize for Peace because their Unity prevented a social unrest in India. Therefore, it is logical that all these forces come together and remain together to see equitable distribution of “seats and assets”. (Later developments showed that the industrialists were behind the UPA too)

 9. According to a theory in political science, there exists a “Divine Spirit or Reason” and this Divine Spirit is constantly pushing forward to its goal. Otherwise, why did 22 women and children die in the constituency of the former Prime Minister in the most crucial time? Why did the leaders pay very serious attention to the letters of this writer and act as per the dictates of their better selves in the most crucial time? It is heartening to note that many leaders have incorporated several points of this writer in their election manifestoes. If all the leaders go through all the letters, India will see a momentous renaissance.

10. 31 letters were sent during the period of the NDA Government. This writer wanted to stop sending letters after its fall. However, it is possible only in selfish interest. Thus, this is letter No.32. This writer mentioned the fate of the “cash rich enterprises” on 8 January 2003. The President might have transmitted all the letters to the new Prime Minister. Did the PSUs deposit the money in the UTI? If so,  how much? Who utilized it? Why did the JPC suppress it?  “Some philosophers would be found to whitewash anything”. However, it is not like the act of charge-sheeting of a leader with the intention of tarnishing his image by a Police Officer  but a question of unfaithful manipulation of the highest order. Besides, it is an act of suppression of truth.  The President of India or the new Government could reveal the truth in all these matters after publishing the letters in the interest of the whole so that some one in some place would save the Nation from the ex-pro-pri-ation in future.

Yours faithfully

V.SABARIMUTHU

The copies of the previous 31 letters had been sent to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi by post.  This practice is now discontinued partly because; 1. The 31 letters sent to her failed to change her perception. This could be discerned from the fact that she had constituted the ministry in bad faith and 2. The Prime Minister would hand over the copies of the letters to her. Alternatively, having received 31 letters from this writer, she would ask Dr. Manmohan Singh to hand over the copy of the letter to her. Later developments, in fact, indicated that he had been transmitting the letters to her.

Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, President of India, apparently, handed over the above letter to the Prime Minister immediately. This could be discerned from the fact that the Finance Minister had an unscheduled closed door meeting with the Prime Minister on that day. The media concocted a story and described this as a meeting to discuss the prices of petroleum products.