The BUDS Act, Delivers Quicker Refund and Punishes Crooks & Crones!

How BUDS will help IMA Victims get more Money, Faster!

The Social Media is abuzz with BUDS Act and how IMA Victims will get more money in shorter time. Being a new Act, everyone including Senior Lawyers are confused, especially in the context of the IMA Fiasco.

The Central Government enacted "Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes" Act (BUDS), for benefit of Ponzi Victims. First introduced in 2015, it became an Ordinance in Feb '19 and an Act after Lok-Sabha & Rajya-Sabha passed it on 24 & 29 July. Hon'ble President gave his assent, on 31 July 2019 and the Act is deemed to be in force since 21 Feb 2019.

Currently, most scamsters are booked under "Karnataka Protection of Interests of Depositors in Financial Establishments", Act 2004 (KPID). The act is good enough for punishing Crooks and Refunding depositors, but has a major loophole of letting the middlemen off the hook. The agents & community leaders, who influence Victims into Ponzi-Deposits, go Scot-free under KPID act, but get punished under BUDS.

In continuation of our 8 months old, "Politico-Legal" battle for Ponzi Victims, the most challenging effort was to make the "Corrupt Politician controlled Officials" discharge their Legal Obligation in time. As the duration & outcome of Court  Cases depend on inputs of these Officials, we kept looking for Legal Frameworks to make them work for quicker & better Refund. That got us to compare BUDS with KPID and derive Similarities, Differences and Advantages of the Acts and compiling them for best benefits of Ponzi Victims, especially IMA Depositors.

We had already informed the SIT, Senior Govt Officials including Chief Secretary, Revenue / Law / Home Secretaries about BUDS, but we are yet to see results.

We have tabulated them for quicker reference:

BUDS is improvised by lessons learnt from various State PID Acts, with hope that those implementing it will do it sincerely.The BUDS Act may not apply for Ponzi Companies who defaulted to pay before  21 February 2019 and hence Victims of Ambidant, Ajmera and many other Ponzi Companies may not be as lucky. 

However, looking into the future, a lot of Ponzi Companies, who are currently in business, will go bust sooner than later, so the Investors of such companies should take care not to lose their money.

As far as IMA Victims are concerned, they are sure to get more money due to Priority over other Dues clause and get it faster due to 180 days trial deadline. They may get some more money, if the Authorities attach properties from those who were bribed to influenced Victims to deposit in IMA.

The IMA Chief Mansur Khan has already named quiet a few Ministers, Builders and Bureaucrats, in his Videos. If the Govt Authorities book them, their cache of land banks & properties, can fetch enough money to clear entire dues of IMA Victims.

Hope Almighty gives strength to all IMA Victims to fight unitedly till they get their money and wisdom to Govt Authorities to identity and book few undetected Ponzi Companies through BUDS Act.

Here is a Video, that explains what we do & how Victims of all Ponzi Companies can benefit by uniting under one Umbrella.

RajaKeeya Vs PrajaaKeeya

RajaKeeya Vs PrajaaKeeya

First thing First, even though it is about Citizens, Social Work can be classified into two Groups: RajaKeeya (Rajaneeti) & PrajaaKeeya (Prajatantra).

While RajaKeeya was more about dealing with other Kings or Governments, it slowly turned into overpowering fellow Social Workers to reach the most powerful position. Unfortunately today, meaning of the word RajaKeeya implies fooling Citizens to gain Power.

Just the opposite of RajaKeeya is PrajaaKeeya, that focuses on Citizen's Benefits. It is a newly coined word from Mr. Upendra, who wants us to get out of filthy Red Ocean and create a New Blue Ocean, where Citizens plan and monitor developmental works.

Crooks get Elected, when honest don't Vote!

RajaKeeya

There may be multiple ways to reach Voters, but most widely it's through the middle-men. They are part of the so called "Election Machinery", who shout slogans, Erect & protect Cut-outs, Participates in Rallies and Intimidates people from gathering against their leaders.

They may be small in numbers, but highly visible at Street-corners, giving an impression of being trend-setters. These Electoral Re-sellers are controlled by small time Dealers, who are found in every locality. These dealers are invisible when people need help, but surface during elections. Few (not all) ambitious RWA office Bearers and Community leaders too act like Electoral Dealers and try to influence Voters in favor of their candidates.

Above all are the Political Distributors, who promote Candidates for maximizing benefits. As it happens in normal Sales Channels, the Political Distributors focus only on their profits, ignoring benefits to the citizens (end user). Typically, they are party leaders closest to High-Command and in-charge of distributing Assembly tickets for Cash or Political Rewards; either for themselves, their Gang or the Party, in that order.

Candidates get selected either for the benefit of Party Leaders or the Party, with focus on grabbing maximum votes, by whatever means (येन-केन-प्रकारेण). The Candidate pays to the Political Machinery twice; once to get the ticket and then to influence voters.

To understand the whole process better, we also need to understand that even the payments are done in two formats, Cash or Equity; sometimes both. Here Equity means power of taking decisions (of supporting / keeping silent) during corruption / land grabbing cases. Equity (power share), as it means is a continuous income of getting profit share (from corruption), as and when it happens. 

Payments for tickets (commission) are given not only to the Distributor, but also to competing candidates (for tickets) to vacate the place, with promise not to play spoilsport or become a rebel candidate.

The Candidate also has to Pay (Cash/Equity) to influence Voters. This ranges from Political Dealers to Re-sellers and even Competing Colleagues, for support from Dealers / Re-sellers in their Control. The Payments (Cash/Liquor/Silver/Fan/Mixie/TV) are also done to Voters directly, few days or hours before Voting.

As you may be aware by now, they need Crores in Cash to get tickets & Influence Voters, for becoming our representative and serve us for 5 years. The Political Equity too gets decided before elections, just like a Don allocates areas under his influence, for Hafta-Vasooli to his favorite goons.

Beimani ka Dhandha, Imandaari se Karte Hai

This is what causes rampant corruption everywhere. RajaKeeya has become a business, where money is invested during elections, to grab our Votes (and Power) and then to loot our money, for investing in next election. This cycle of looting continues. The Irony is,

Our Money is used to Grab Our Votes

This must stop, as most candidates & political parties indulge in rampant corruption, only to stay in power, using this Money-for-Votes-for-Money cycle. The outfall is yet another vicious cycle, of only moneybags getting elected and honest social workers denied opportunity to contest fairly.

The only Solution is, to Remove Money from the Electoral Process.

PrajaaKeeya

As already mentioned, PrajaaKeeya is the opposite of RajaKeeya, where Focus is not on Party or its Leaders, but on Benefits to the Citizen. Here Party or Candidate is not important, whoever serves the people best, is their representative. As in PrajaPrabhutva, it's the people who decide what they need and who represents them.

It is the Citizen who identify their representative or at-least select from those who come forward. The Citizen gets to select Ideology of the party, matching their aspirations, along with the candidate most likely to fulfill promises made. The

Candidate should Inform Voters, not Influence them.

The Election Commissioner, has set an upper limit of Rs 28 Lakhs, as expenditure to inform Voters. The sum is sufficient to reach most voters in any of the 224 Constituencies of Karnataka, without using expensive Political Machinery.

With Middle-men out of the way, honest citizen can afford to contest. All that a candidate needs to do is make a list of Issues and Aspirations of Voters in his constituency and figure out how to address them.

Any Candidate will be relieved to know that he wont have to compete for Political Dealers & Re-sellers, he wont need to spend on Liquor / Biriyani, need not gather thousands of paid workers for rallies, won't need to hire muscle men and most importantly he wont have to cheat to win.

All that a candidate needs to do is Convince the Voter with confidence that, given a chance he will fulfill all promises he & his party is making.

PrajaaKeeya, no doubt will be a dream come true for citizens, provided every Voter supports us to realize it. The Voters have to be explained, how we plan to transfer developmental funds directly to every Village or Ward. How citizen will be informed through TV/Internet about release of funds along with Pics & Videos of works done.

The Prajaa 

Convincing Prajaa may not be easy, but certainly not impossible, if sincere efforts are made to reach all Voters. We need parallel channels to reach voters, if we want to bypass the Political Machinery.

We have two works at hand, one is to reach every citizen and then to convince them that PrajaaKeeya is indeed possible. It may be easier to reach urban Voters using social media, but reaching rural voters may become challenging.

The candidate should engage both Rural & Urban citizens at public places like Markets, Bus Stops, Community gatherings, Temple/Mosque/Church and at street corners. They can talk to various associations seeking their support to inform their members about PrajaaKeeya. Apart from sharing Audio/Video message through Social Media, candidates can distribute Pamphlets to Voters and honest social workers to spread the good word.

Wherever there is a chain of Crooks influencing Voters, there also exists a network of honest Social Workers. If you find Party Workers in rural or urban dwellings, family, friends and neighbors are also found in equal numbers. If the Political Machinery works for Cash/Power, personal connections work for love & affection of their society.

Trust always Travels through Word of Mouth

If a candidate honestly makes a list of Issues and aspirations, takes feedback from citizens, figures out how to address them, in realistic time frame & stages, it wont be difficult to convince Voters. They are anyway fed up of getting fleeced by run of the mill politicians.

Political Machinery

Unfortunately, they exist in the minds of both Politicians and Citizen. Care has to be taken to convince people, that leaders who wake up during elections, shouldn't be taken seriously. 

Electioneering using Political Machinery has gone into psyche of Citizen, which may not go away soon. While it may take a while for citizen to react to subtle campaigning in PrajaaKeeya Style, it will surely work if our messages are credible & touch their heart.


Common man may expect Cutouts & Rallies with Liquor & Biriyani, but will surely appreciate honest attempts of convincing them about their right to self-governance.

The Conclusion

PrajaaKeeya is the truth, as whole democratic process was created for it. Citizen too understand that it has been hijacked by few vested interests. All we need to do is seek support from citizen to shift the power of governance from Politicians to the People.

The time has come when voters themselves, will elect honest candidates, without getting influenced by Crooked Political Machinery.

So guys, lets reach out to people and ask them to support PrajaKeeya!

Demonetization - Real and Fake Opinions

Demonetization - Real & Fake Opinions

Opinions about Demonetization are formed by two types of people: those with Real reasons & those with Fake ones. There are two types of real reasoners and two more using fake reasoning. 

All 4 have different views of the same fact!

DeMon(etization) might have been done with good intention, but it was horribly executed, causing lots of pain and agony. On its First Anniversary, it turned out to be a futile exercise, without any penalization or arrests. Where did the Black Money go?

The Real-Citizen

I belong to the first of the 4 types, part of 124+ Crore Indians, who didn't have black money. We were forced to stand in ques for exchanging Notes, that were rationed to certain amount per week. The amount was gradually increased, till they believed all black money was out or destroyed.

Most were angry due to painful process of exchanging notes, even for their daily needs. Those with Credit/Debit cards managed, but real poor did face hell, especially the daily wagers. They were crushed from two sides.

Many daily workers lost jobs, as cash dried up. Some jobs were postponed that lead to slowdown. Even those with cash savings, split working days between visiting banks for exchanging notes and going to work for earning. Many died in the bank ques, some due to hunger others due to health issues.

Every small traders & genuine businessmen faced cash shortage and suffered losses due to loss of business or opportunity.These were the same people who declined jobs to daily workers due to cash shortage

Economies are well oiled machines, demonetization drained the oil.

This was the story of real India, the 99% who suffered!


The Rich-Citizen

They are the Maharajas of their Industry or Constituency, or their Chamchas.

Despite being less than 1% of Indian population, they cause maximum agony to the rest 99%. They own more of India, than the rest of us and then exploit us to own some more. 

DeMon was aimed at them, but most escaped through Shell companies or using their servant's bank accounts. Expert in organized looting, they used the same tricks: organized money exchange through Bank Babus and Goons, who stood in ques.

Not all rich are bad, but the people whom DeMon was aimed at, didn't get caught so far.


The Social Minority

These either belong to minority community or support them for political or ideological reasons.

Instead of finding real flaws of DeMon, they abused Modi and the BJP/RSS combine. They did get their logic right sometimes, but mostly ended up abusing Modi & called him names. 

Their real pain was not DeMon, but insecurity for being at the receiving end of Hindutva forces. As religious sentiments were used to judge DeMon, real pains didn't get addressed.

It may be true that many small traders do belong to minority communities, but Jains and Sikhs didn't complain as much. Pain of DeMon can be addressed only when focus is on real pain points, not religious bias.

DeMon effects are yet to get over, but some businesses have become nonviable due to cash limits.


The Political Opponents

They are the most Vocal in misguiding Indians, as they were the most affected!

Politicians believe Demon was done to snuff out election cash from Political parties, before UP & Punjab elections. That may have some merit, as most vocal parties were those who were contesting there, like SP, BSP, Congress & even AAP. 

Strangely NDA partners were totally silent on Demon, barring a few leaders. Unfortunately for India, most elected representatives, speak only for their party and not for the people who elect them. 

Predictably, apart from arming us with some information (& misinformation), their opinions mattered only as much as their intention to serve the voters.

Being Maharajas of their constituency, most got away by exchanging through known bankers or paid goons. Heard that some "Hawala Traders ki Hawa nikal gayii". 


Overall Effect

The economy did suffer, as entire machinery got effected due to cash shortage. 

The businesses that were run mostly on cash faced the brunt. While the owners suffered monetary losses, workers lost their livelihood. DeMon did help increase cashless transactions, but due to lack of proper infrastructure (internet / Bank a/c), the poor went through maximum pain.

While most industry are back to business, few may never recover, like Jewellery and Real-estate. Thankfully, that is a good news to common man, as it would make them feel richer, when prices of Gold & Land goes down. Unfortunately, both have people with deep pockets, who may take some time to relent.

Real-estate being mostly Bank-loan dependent, can trigger a Mortgage Crisis leading to unpredictable consequences. The Bullion is much more robust and will come out mostly unscathed.

Overall, the economy has been affected, but like any long term investment, DeMon did have some good results, especially increasing bank account holders and tax payees.



The Loose Ends


DeMon may be an ongoing project, but questions gets raised in terms of achievements, after so much brouhaha of recovering black money.

Why no Black Money was unearthed? Why none got punished so far?

Here are a few questions that went unanswered:

1. What did Demon achieve, after making 125 Crore Indians suffer.
2. If 99% of notes got exchanged, where is the Black Money?
3. Where are the Fake Notes, which were circulated by neighboring enemies of India?
4. Why did the Govt ban old notes, without having enough supplies of new ones?
5. Why was no action taken against Shell Company owners, who exchanged thousands of Crores through benami accounts?
6. Why didn't Govt disclose names of culprits to Indian Public, who suffered the most?
7. Is it possible to get 99% of notes back, without Bank Employees helping influential people? How many of them were punished ?

Conclusion


While everyone may have their own opinion about DeMonetization, most agree that it was done with good intention to weed out black money. But the way it was implemented, it  defeated the whole purpose. It could be an issue with improper planning or bad execution. 

As they say "A great plan is only as good as its execution!"

Despite being an ongoing project, DeMon can be summed up in just one line:

Lake was emptied to catch Crocodiles, they fled to land, but all fishes died.

Swaraj through Ward Committeess

Swaraj through Ward Committees

We all have come across exorbitantly expensive projects that we know are just excuses to transfer Tax payer's money into Swiss-Bank accounts of politicians. All we end up doing is cursing our system for corruption & move on.

We can stop that now, at-least in Bengaluru!

While Indian Constitution gave us Ward level Swaraj via 74th Amendment 25 years back, Govt of Karnataka amended KMC act in 2011. The act mandates BBMP to form Ward Committees (WC) comprising of 10 Voters, who can Decide Developmental works and Funds utilization in their wards.

As expected, the Political class is resisting, especially the Corporators, as their freedom to splurge our money at their whims and fancies, will be curbed.

The High Court Order:

Hon'ble High court has ordered BBMP to form Ward Committees. 

However, BBMP was unable to complete the task in all 198 wards and had asked for 2 more weeks. It has to do the needful before the next hearing that is on June 28 2017.

Mrs. Kathyayini Chamraj, who has been fighting for it for almost 2 decades, had alerted the Court, about Corporators naming their own cronies & party workers in WCs, defeating the very purpose of Self-Governance.

High Court has ordered BBMP to Consider Names of Applicants for WC Memberships.

The Role of BBMP:

A team of Civic & Bribe-Free Karnataka members met the Mayor on May 16 2017 with 
list of Honest Applicants and were promised to be considered.

We also spoke to BBMP commissioner and met Zonal Joint Commissioners, most of whom promised us their co-operation in forming Ward Committees comprising of Honest Socials workers.The top Brass including many JCs are convinced that it is good for BBMP also.

They were informed that it is the BBMP who forms the Ward Committees and Corporators can only suggest names.

While some were happy that they can now curb some powers of Corporators, most were worried about reluctance of Corporators in co-operating. Some also talked about the political pressures that will be used to thwart or influence the whole exercise.

Apathy of some officials:

A Joint Commissioner directed an Applicant to the Corporator, for WC membership.

That was because some officials, especially the Nodal officers at ward levels, are either not aware of their powers of forming WCs or are sure to follow the local Corporator's diktat fearing transfers.

Some find it convenient in maintaining status quo as they too are in cahoots with politicians.

Regardless of the outcome, it is sure that things won't be the same at Ward Levels, especially on developmental activities.

The Public Pressure:

The only way to break this "Neta-Babu Nexus" is to apply public pressure!

As more and more people get to know about their constitutional rights of being part of decision making process at ward level, more the pressure they can exert on Crooked Politicians and Corrupt Officials in forcing them to abide by rules.

Lack of awareness was evident when only 250 applications were received for 1980 posts of WCs. This was brought to the notice of Hon'ble High Court at the hearing on June 1st.

Generating Awareness:

Leaders of Civic & Bribe-Free Karnataka, held a Press Meet, requesting the media in spreading awareness, inviting people to apply for WC membership.

FM Radio Channels too were contacted by BFK team requesting them for awareness generation to their listeners. Press Articles were published in Kannada, English, Hindi and Urdu dailies making readers aware about their rights. A Few FM Radio Channels also supported by airing it on their shows.

Announcements were made at a few Churches & Mosques making community members aware about the opportunity of Participatory Democracy, also asking them to spread awareness among their Friends and Family too.

Few more citizen groups like Citizens for Bengaluru & CAFWA too have pitched in with their support. BPac too has asked its Civic leader to apply also generate awareness.

While all these may sound a lot, we still need to reach out to thousands of Honest Social Workers and invite them to participate in making ward level decisions.
 
The Legal Options:

We have filed RTIs for List of Names that Corporators propose and also the list that BBMP submits to the HC.

We shall analyze the Lists for each Ward & inform the Court about wrong doings if any. This has been informed to all the JCs with request for them to select candidates with honest background.

All we can do now is to await for BBMP actions and hope they will ensure a clean & corruption free Ward Committees for better Bengaluru.

Helping you Apply:

We have created a Facebook group "BBMP-Ward-Committee", with Application forms and various Information related to WCs.

All you need to do is follow these steps:

1. Download application Form by at bit.ly/wcapply
2. Fill the form (2 Copies) with your Name, Address, Ward No details and Submit it at BBMP Commissioner's office. Don't forget to take Acknowledgement on one of them.
3. Send us above details for us to follow through the BBMP or submit them to the HC court if the need be.

We are also have a WhatsApp Group, that you can become part of, for quick resolution of doubts. Please send a message to 95133 87205 to be added.


Conclusion:


Time has come when instead of cursing the Corrupt, we did our bit in ensuring WCs comprising of Honest Citizens get constituted, where it's we the residents who decided how much money is going be to spent on what developmental Works!

Please do share this document to your friends and family for them to spread the word of Swaraj everywhere. There are 10 more Cities in Karnataka that can Get Swaraj through WCs..

Salvaging AAP from Modi, Media & Madness

Salvaging AAP from Modi, Media & Madness

AAP got yet another blow, this time from voters of Delhi. Despite predictions, it was shocking to see a party that Wiped off two National Parties in Assembly Elections, struggling to win even as many Seats in MCD.

The defeat might have come now, but its seeds were sown much earlier. There are three main reasons for this Modi, Media and Madness.
 

All these factors are result of a churn that India is going through, as far as aspirations of Voters is concerned.

Modi Factor:

No point standing in front of a speeding train was my advised to the State Leaders in 2014.

After huge success of Anna Movement, everyone thought AAP would benefit from it, but it was Modi who swept LokSabha elections. Voters Trusted Modi for Talking about his track record, while AAP could show only Promises.

As a smart political start-up, AAP created its own “Blue Ocean” by reaching out to voters directly with promises of corruption free governance. They swept Delhi with 67/70, thanks to thousands of Volunteers who could win voters trust.

Now, instead of working on delivering promises, they started dreaming of winning more states. To get support of Minority communities and also to bring themselves on par with BJP, they started attacking Modi.

That backfired, as by now Modi had accumulated considerable amount of mind share of Indian Voters, despite his promises turning out to be Jhoomlas.

Emerging as the most popular Indian PM across the globe, he went on to win many more state elections. Whatever may be the reason for his popularity, attacking him invited ire of millions of Voters, who retaliated on social media, breaking state boundaries.

That created negative sentiments against AAP, which was too difficult to overcome.
 

War of Perceptions, can never be won by cutting opponents short, but by growing yourself.

Course Correction:

Contrary to popular belief, Modi wave that swept 2014 elections was created by frustrations of Voters. People were furious with Minority appeasement, Caste base agendas, lack of development and above all highly corrupt practices. Modi didn’t create the wave; he just rode it to victory (regardless of Jhoomla or not).

All that AAP needs to do is focus on delivering promises in Delhi and showcase that as their achievements. AAP should learn lesson from 2014 debacle; it just doesn’t have the bandwidth.

Instead of bad mouthing Modi & his policies, they should focus on adding more bandwidth by finding & developing new leaders, across India. That is the only way to fight brand Modi.

Media Flip-Flop:

Those who live by the Media; Die by it.

Here we are talking about two types of Media: Traditional (Print / TV) & Social (Facebook / WhatsApp). While the traditional Media has boundaries like Editions & Channels, the Social media is universal with global impact.

AAP was born after hugely successful Anna Hazare Campaign at Ramlila Maidan. It got overnight success thanks to huge media coverage that sensationalized its promises of providing a Corruption Free Governance. Delhi Voters elected them, expecting reduction in pain & prices of essential services like Power & Water. But, with success, Arrogance & Ambitions set in.

The governance of AAP in Delhi was not as spectacular as splashed by the Media before elections. They did fulfil promises, but Media wanted more Sensational Actions for its TRP.
Instead of showing actions taken, Media was showing AAP’s Jung with Lt. Governor & Central Govt. A lot of negativity was broadcasted by national news Channels, which slowly reflected on Social Media too.

But, that is just one part of the story!

Prestitutes?

Due to its capacity to influence voters, all political parties try to control TV & Print Media. In India too news channels belonging to Marans, Roys, Ambani & Adani have shown biased programs, benefiting their political masters, rightly earning the name Presstitutes!
 

This got verified with Indian Media Ranked 136 off 180 Nations, on Freedom Index. Media in an African country (Zimbabwe) run by a dictator gets more freedom than India. Uganda & Afghanistan rank higher than India in the media freedom index.

Social Media!

Social Media came as great relief to counter false propaganda created by biased Media Houses. Anyone can post countering Audio/Video/Pictures evidences and reduce impact of false propaganda. Having come from known sources, they are perceived as more trustworthy.

It was AAP, a party of intellectuals that gained substantial ground thanks to Social Media. This was made possible by its large army of online Volunteers, across India, especially Bangalore.

BJP however, hired substantial number of trollers to attack its opponents on Social Media. The attacks were so ferocious, that one of the victims (Swati) authored a book explaining their modus operandi and names of attackers. In her book, “I am a Troll”, she lists out Trollers who target and abuse Journalists opposing Modi. Some of these Tweeters are followed by Modi.

Course Correction:

Despite BJP’s digital army, AAP had a very positive image on Social Media thanks to dedicated Volunteers who countered every instance of false propaganda, till frustration with AAP set in.

While most Bhakts in BJP’s digital army just add up as soldiers taking orders, most AAP Volunteers are more effective as logical warriors. It was just the numbers on AAP’s side that has been dwindling due to lack of enthusiasm, thanks to infighting & volunteer apathy.

All that AAP Needs to do to win Social Media War is setup a decent Grievance Redressal Mechanism and provide Sincere Volunteers some pride to fight for. That will help lots of Volunteers to return, at least virtually and fight from its side.

Like Modi countered hostile media in Gujrat with on the Ground Supporters & Digital Army, AAP too can Win Traditional & Social Media battles provided its Army of Volunteers fight .
 

Unless AAP sorts out its internal Squabble and provides a decent Judiciary to its Volunteers, fighting any battle with BJP either physically or virtually is impossible.

The Madness:

Someone asked Lord Vishnu, “What do you eat?” He said my food is “Ahankaar”.

It’s shear madness, that a party so popular, growing at such scorching speed, doing the right things, making the right promises, giving enormous hopes to Indian Voters, went down as fast as it rose.

Most crucial reason for AAP to lose its momentum is not Modi or Media; it’s their inability to manage growth of popularity & people.

Enough has been written about their madness along with advises, both on Traditional & Social Media. But for all those to work they have to do just One most important correction!

Stop fooling Yourself, Volunteers & Voters! In that order.

Course Correction:

AK may be feeling like on a “Sher Ki Sawari”, fearing for his life as soon as he gets down. But, things are not as bad as they look from there. Political Opponents are not for his life, they want to see him defeated not killed. Common sense will prevail as soon as Paranoia is gone.

Barring a few Crooks, they are a smart & dedicated team of people. They have got the party so far and can take it to much more heights. All they need to do is get Honest and avoid brushing things under the carpet.

Once serious about salvaging their future, the first thing they need to do is set up a working Grievance redressal system. No organization survives without internal Judiciary. Volunteers are your eyes & ears, without their inputs, you will lose direction. Don’t take them for granted.

Reluctance of AK in talking to anyone with Grievance is the weakest link of his leadership. There were numerous instances of State Leaders being thrown out, without giving a hearing by AK. He can’t wash off his hands off unpleasant situations, as most people have joined AAP for Arvind and none else. It’s the Volunteers who can complete the crucial Feedback loop.

Volunteers:

Can you run an organization without people? If not, shouldn’t you create an environment, for people to stay, more so when they work for free.

Wasn’t it madness to let arrogant leaders chase away sincere volunteers and replace them with their Chamchas? Why didn’t AAP allow those with grievances to reach out to Delhi?

Why does a leader tell unhappy Volunteers that he owns the place because he is a founder member of the party? How do such leaders manage to appoint their Chamchas as heads of Disciplinary Cell? What solutions do such judicial bodies provide? Unless all this stops, 

Volunteers won’t return.

Teams of Maharashtra & Karnataka were chased away by an arrogant leader from Delhi, without any hearing from the National Grievance Cell. What do thousands of Volunteers tell the new recruits about such occurrences? Will they sacrifice their time & money to be 

dropped at whims & fancies of an arrogant leader?

AAP needs Volunteers more than otherwise. It’s they who can counter Modi on Street and Media on Internet. Unless Volunteers are given respect, slide of AAP will continue.

Voters:

Social Media revolution has caused a churn in global political system, thanks to a more informed and well connected Voter. Arab spring has brought down many dictators and voter polarization in many countries (including India & US) has given shocking lessons to the entire political class.

It was people associated with AAP who raised Voter’s expectation at Ramlila Maidan along with Anna Hazare. They promised to provide a Non-Corrupt Governance to people of India and were given overwhelming majority in Delhi. All they had to do is perform & showcase that to people.

Instead of commoditizing of Vote Banks, by insisting on fighting only winnable elections, they abandoned a golden opportunity of organic growth. Despite getting donations from across India they didn’t realize that the same Volunteers can help them fight Modi & Media via Social Media.

Dreaming Big is good, but winning small battles does help in a prolonged war in Indian Politics. Had they approached Voters for Municipal Elections across Indian Cities, they would have grown despite defeats.

They should focus on “Changing the Political System”, instead of “winning elections”, as promised.

Conclusion:

Instead of fighting Modi & Blaming Media, they should focus on Satisfying Voters and Respecting Volunteers. AAP needs Volunteers to convince Voters about their ability to provide Corruption Free Development.

As for fighting the False Propaganda, that won’t be needed if Voters & Volunteers are with you.

Why Modi Lost Bihar !
 
Why AAP Lost Punjab & Goa !
 

Earning Political Currency !
 
Political Currency! MLM Vs Ponzi !
 

Why AAP Lost Punjab & Goa

Why AAP lost Punjab & Goa

Aapians are a disappointed lot today, loss of Punjab has shocked all Current & Ex Volunteers. Not much was expected from Goa, with kind of leaders involved, but loss of Punjab was shocking indeed.

There are two main reasons for this. Not living up to our Brand Perception & Ignored Local Sentiments.

Sometime in mid 2016, a posse of 20 AAP Karnataka Volunteers met Most Senior leaders in Delhi, barring Kejriwal. Apart from returning disappointed, they felt insulted for being taken for a ride. That was their last try, as Karnataka leader had already refused to sort their issues. Hundreds of Volunteers left AAP & formed Lancha-Mukta-Karnataka along with Mr. Ravi Krishna Reddy.

A major Trust Barrier got broken, AAP didn't deliver what they promised. Most Volunteers got attracted to AAP ideology of Swaraj & Corruption-Free India. They spend a lot of time & energy in convincing people around them, but mostly Moneybags or celebrities get tickets. The Candidates do not look like those who can live up to the Brand that the Volunteers create around their neighborhood. The plan for Failure gets completed when Volunteers refuse to campaign such candidates.

Volunteers who raise their voice are silenced, suspended or expelled. That creates a Rebel force seen across States, Delhi, Punjab, Maharashtra, Goa or Karnataka. These very rebels cause loss of enthusiasm among existing Volunteers & stop new ones from joining.

The story has been repeated time & again in many states many times. One Senior Delhi leader has single-handedly wiped off Volunteer base from Maharashtra, Karnataka & Goa. Meritocracy is ignored, Chamchas get all the Power & Responsibility. Leaders do bet on wrong horses, but his one was betting on donkeys.

As written in one of my blogs, even Hundred Donkeys can never win a horse-race !

Ignoring Local Sentiments was the main reason why Modi lost Bihar, but AAP didn't seem to learn this important lessons. Loss of Punjab was predicted by few knowledgeable ones when few Delhi Leaders tried bossing-over Locals in Punjab. It was supposedly sorted out, but looks like it killed the enthusiasm of most Sincere Volunteers, resulting in the shocking loss of a lifetime opportunity of forming AAP Govt in Punjab.

The Rebels have also affected results for SP in UP & BJP in Goa, but maximum loss has been in Punjab.

We are not that much disappointed with loss of Punjab, but because people will now question sustainability of Clean Politics that AAP was an icon for. We all still believe in Clean Politics, but saddened by the fact that a gang of Crooks hijacked our agenda for their vested interests.

We still hope Arvind will get rid of his coterie and start interacting with genuine Volunteers across States, that was long time due.

However surprising results are, from what politicians have been projecting, the voters have refused to be taken for a ride. They have rejected those who gave false promises and elected those who looked trustworthy.

Cheers for Intelligent Indian Voters!
  
Why Modi Lost Bihar !

Earning Political Currency ! MLM vs Ponzi

Earning Political Currency! MLM vs Ponzi

Word of Mouth Marketing is not only the oldest method of Concept Selling, but also the most effective even today, despite digital revolution. People get the info, but trust is transferred only after their peers approve it. May be digitally. Multi-Level-Marketing has been the most widely tool used and hence, highly improvised through time.

Brand Building doesn't happen without Word of Mouth Marketing !

Multi Level Marketing (MLM)

In MLM a Product, Concept or Service is sold to few people, who in turn sell it to few more people each. The Commission is earned by sellers all the way to the top. It is also known as Network Marketing, Pyramid Sales or Referral Marketing.

It takes Max 7 levels of Contacts to reach anyone on this Planet !

As shown, the Guy in Red convinces 3 people in Blue to buy a particular product or a service. The Blue Guys in turn convince 3 people each, resulting in 9 Grey people. As per the concept, for every sale done by a Grey guy, the rewards are given to the Blue guy who sold it to him and also to the Red Guy. Meaning the Red guy gets a small commission every time any of the 9 Grey sell & also from sales of any Blue guy.

Deploying MLM in Politics

Most political parties are born through Word of Mouth Marketing using MLM. They may sell different Concepts like Congress sold Independence, BJP - Hindutva / Nationalism / Ram-Mandir, AAP sells concept of Swaraj through Anti-Corruption plank. The methodology remains the same, Broadcasting Promises using Word of Mouth Publicity.

As in MLM, few  Volunteers convince more Volunteers to join in spreading their ideology, who in turn add many more Volunteers, till they reach every Voter in that Region.They Get Paid as discussed in my earlier Blog Political Currency.

There may be layers of volunteers, who eventually reach Voters and convince them to elect leaders from their party. The Volunteers may be rewarded as District - Taluk - Panchayat - Village - Community Leaders. Each enjoying appropriate power and respect from the people of their region.

Conditions for MLM to work

As in every Sales Cycle, here too there are Two Components, Sellers & Consumers.

Sellers are the Leaders & Volunteers who Propagate Party Ideology & its Promises till consumers. The Chain of command follows from top leadership till the Volunteer who interacts with Voters. There should be No communication gap between them, either in terms of following commands (top - bottom) or transfer of voter feed-backs (bottom - top).

Consumers are the Voters who benefit from Party Ideology & its Promises. They seek Trust of Leaders & Volunteers before lending their support. Breach of Trust in Ideology or Promises leads to Cascading Negative Effects.

Strength of a Chain is equal to strength of its Weakest Link !

An Extremely important point to note here is that MLM is a Double Edged Sword. As in a Pipe, both good & bad info flows in either direction. Any Blockage or Leakage breaks the MLM cycle.

Advantages of MLM

If executed sincerely, it is an extremely effective tool for propagating a Concept to millions of people in shortest Possible time. Almost All Revolutions have spread using MLM model of Word of Mouth Propagation.

Few Notable Advantages :

• Fastest method of reaching out to maximum people, through Existing Contacts.
• Convincing becomes easy, as it rides on already established relationships.
• Once accepted, Customer Loyalty is unbreakable by competitors.
• Volunteers remain Loyal, as rewards flow without much efforts.
• New Promises get Broadcasted at Lightning Speed, within Established Chain.

Clinks in the Armour

As in the Animal Kingdom, there are two types of people in any organization, Predators & Parasites.

Predators are the go-getters who use their own strength (Kinetic Energy) to get things done. They are the Currency Earners for the Party who motivate fellow Volunteers to perform.

Parasites typically live on others achievements. They survive on work done by their Colleagues or Team mates and live on Currency Distributed by the Party. They boast about Past Performance (dubious) & Position (Potential Energy) for their existence. Like Parasites, their Excretion hurts the party more than their Consumption.

Survival of any Party depends on how Quickly it Finds & Flushes Parasites !

Ponzi Schemes

Charles Ponzi ran a MLM scam in 1920 by duping Investors using fraudulent methods. Schemes are called Ponzi, when people are lured to invest in a concept that doesn't have proper profitability mechanism. Such organization run out of currency sooner than later & investors get duped.

Most Multi-Level Marketing turn Ponzi, when Parasites out-number Predators !

When MLM turns Ponzi

When the number of Currency Earners get out numbered by non-performing Leaders, the party gets defunct. Most Non-Performers promote like minded people to hide their wrong doings, adding to the speed of decline.

Symptoms of MLM turning Ponzi

As in the case of Automobiles, Hiccups during normal running is the time to examine the Selling Machine. When Excuses start pouring, time for a thorough checkup !

Sensing Trouble :

• The Earning of Political Currency Declines or Stops growing
• Number of Volunteers or Supporters or both start Shrinking
• Hiccups or Resistance in following Chain of Commands
• Customer (Voter) response declines or feedback stops coming
• In-fighting, Blame-Game, Groupism are signs of unrest among Volunteers

Recognizing Parasites

As is normally the case, Parasites stay dormant, typically blending with their surroundings. However, they can be easily spotted by their passiveness. Some times we do find active parasites, but their activity is limited to camouflage their non-performance.

Spotting Parasites :

• Normally Silent in the meetings, or Yes Men
• Asking queries that are beneficial to Individuals than the party, is a sure give away
• Normally Hang around with other Parasites, exchanging latest blood sucking mechanisms
• Giving Excuses or Promises than Reporting Performances
• Defending or Promoting other Parasites, sometimes even Attacking Performers

Effects of MLM turning Ponzi

The most damaging effect of MLM turning Ponzi is Loss of Credibility. When Voters stop respecting Volunteers or Volunteers resist following Commands, the decline of the Party Begins. MLM to Ponzi is like an Aircraft in Tail-spin, extremely difficult to salvage even by experienced Pilots !

Effects of Ponzi :

• Goodwill Harvesting campaigns start Failing due to Poor Response
• Consumers (Voters) start Questing the Motive, instead of Supporting
• Performers get discouraged, Parasites start Panicking
• Volunteer Response reduces Drastically, Excuses get Creative
• Morale of the Organization takes a beating, Innovations & Initiatives Stop

After-Effects of Ponzi

As the news of Predators getting out-numbered spreads, Parasites get panicked. Instead of working to save the organization, they rush to Protect Themselves. They typically Gang-up against Performers to Plunder whatever Currency that remains. They perform like the Looters as explained there.

After Effects of Ponzi :

• The First & Foremost after-effect is Party gets Split into two or more Groups
• Parasites start Operation Cover-up, with High Visibility Activities, mostly Non-Productive
• Performers Stop Working, as they do not see any Rewards coming their way
• Consumers (Voters) get Vary after seeing change in Attitude or Leaders with Dubious Characters
• An MLM Starts Among Voters, Spreading Negative Information about the Party

Bad News Travels Faster than Good News !

The After-effects devastate Morale of Volunteers & Leaders in the Party and Destroys Credibility of the Party amongst People. While the Leaders get into the Blame-Game, the Volunteers start playing Pahle-Aap to correct themselves. Turn-around Looks Bleak from all Angles !

Turning Ponzi into MLM again

Every M&A expert looks for Companies / Products gone Ponzi with possibility of a Profitable Turn-Around. It is possible, has been done umpteen times, but the timing has to be perfect. Delay reduces chances of Turn-Aound.

Painful but Possible :

• First thing First, Change of Management. New Team with Fresh Start
• Parasites should be neutralized, at-least stripped of Leadership Positions
• Take Performers in to confidence, Reward them with Challenging Responsibilities & Realistic Targets
• Inform Voters about the change in Management, with Realistic Reasoning and Clear Short-Term Deliverables
• Start a new MLM Cycle, taking Leaders, Volunteers and Voters along for Quick Recovery

It may look too cumbersome to go through the pains, but it is easier to salvage an existing Party than build a new one from scratch, unless Top Leaders have spent too much time Twiddling their Thumbs.

As Hitler Says in "Main Kampf", there are three types of people in every Struggle. The Fighters, the Hedgers and Traitors. In the Struggle to keep the Party Growing, all you need to do is Empower the Fighters, Convince the Hedgers about Victory and Ensure Traitors Cross the Border.

The Situation need not always be about the Whole Party, this can be used to Salvage individual Units across a Region.

Disclaimer : I have been an Active Karyakarta of AAP Bengaluru for past 2 years. The Views mentioned above are my personal and should be treated so. More about me at www.nashwall.com/About-Us.html