Do not vote for Capt. Gopinath

It was in the newspapers that Capt. Gopinath of the Air Deccan fame is also going to contest the Lok Sabha Elections 2009 from Bangalore. I would urge Capt. Gopinath not to contest the elections as he is not suitable for the job. Also, I will beg people in Bangalore not to vote for him. My reasons for the above are as follows:

(a) The past experience of electing celebreties like Govinda, Hema Malini and Dharmender as well as big time business people like Vijay Mallya clearly shows that they have interest in working to improve the country. They just don’t have the time. They are so busy running their business empires that they do not have the time to even attend the Lok Sabha sessions. Also, their interest is more in getting the perks of being a MP rather than working to improve the life of the citizens of the country.

(b) Capt. Gopinath did a lousy job of managing his airline. I have nothing against an entreprenuer who fails but I certainly feel that the entrepreneur cannot take his customers for a ride. There are a lot of dissatisfied customers of Air Deccan who suffered financially. To me this amounts to cheating, that is, taking the customer’s money and not providing him what you promised.

We want to elect who will devote a substantial amount of their time in managing the country and not manage bu remote control.

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March 26th, 2009 in Lok Sabha Election 2009 | tags: Air Deccan, Capt. Gopinath, Dharmender, Elections 2009, Govinda, Hema Malini, Vijay Mallya

Comments (34)

janamMarch 27th, 2009 at 5:49 am

It is great to hear that business leaders like captain gopinath are taking participation in active politics

KCMarch 30th, 2009 at 8:20 am

Capt. Gopinath stands for CHANGE! Do we want the same old tired faces or do we want someone dynamic and enthusiastic with years of innovation and sucess? We have to believe that electing him will make a difference! Let’s start a new era in Indian politics by electing him and others like him who will revolutionise politics with their new ideas and lead India into a brighter future!

KalpeshMarch 30th, 2009 at 1:51 pm

Hey, how can you compare Capt. Gopinath with Govinda and Hemamalini or Vijay Malya?

For your kind information, Capt. Gopinath is not just a business man, he is ex-army personnel, great farmer and the best example of success of a common man of India.

He participated in 1971 war against Bangladesh, He won world renowned rolex international award for his innovation in silk farming and he rewarded with the highest citizen award by the government of France.

KalpeshMarch 30th, 2009 at 2:40 pm

Hey, how can you compare Capt. Gopinath with Govinda, Hema Malini or Vijay Malya?

Gopinath is not just a business man, he is ex-defence personnel, world renowned agriculturist, innovator and an example of common man’s success story.

For details visit see his detailed profile: http://votecaptgopi.blogspot.com

SudharsanMarch 31st, 2009 at 3:23 am

Hi, Captain Gopinath was part of the growth engine of India, who made common man fly by which several industry vertical grew. He should be given a chance to enter the parliament and am confident that he will be able to contribute positively towards the society and needy people. It is unfair to compare him with the others mentioned above as Captain is simple and brave person contesting as an Independent which shows is courage and good intentions.

Avinash Narula Reply:
March 31st, 2009 at 4:47 am

This comment is for all you guys who are fans of Capt. Gopinath. I think you should read the comments I have made and not just respond with standard responses as part of your campaign to get a positive word about Capt. Gopinath. I have made the following two points based on which I think Capt. Gopinath should not be elected and that people should not vote for him:

(a) Capt. Gopinath is busy building his cargo airline and is also a part of the Kingfisher Airline. I was not aware that he was an agriculturist also which also puts pressure on his time. He is a known businessman and as such cannot devote time to the management of the country. I would give this argument for every big time industrialist trying to contest elections.

(b) Capt. Gopinath of course was a pioneer in introducing a low cost airline and hats off to him. However, there is an important issue of the customers he left hanging dry. There are customers who are owed money. I know one of them. Also, the service provided to the customers by Air Deccan left a lot to be desired. So if I was in Capt. Gopinath’s shoes, I would have made sure that the dissatisfied customers of Air Deccan before he sold the airline were compensated. If necessary, even from his own money. He did make money from Air Deccan so if some it was used to make the customers whole, he should have done it. If he cannot respect his customers because of whom he made a lot of money by selling his company, then how will he respect the citizens of the country that voted for him.

I would have understood his actions if he had lost all his money and didn’t have any funds to take care of the customer. He actually made money from Air Deccan but left his dissatisfied customers hanging dry.

I have nothing personal against Capt. Gopinath. I am giving you a logical reasoning for saying what I am saying. Customers are King and so are the Citizens.

So I hope we can have a logical discussion even if we do not agree with each other.

Avinash Narula

Yogi Reply:
August 4th, 2010 at 4:04 am

Dear Friends,

I request you all to kindly read his book – Simply Fly and then judge him.
I consider him to be the man of steel and my Guru.

Simply Fly is the best book I have read in the recent times. This is a first person account from someone who built the first chopper service company and a low cost airliner in India. This is the first person account of a humble middle class Indian
who grew in a village,became an army officer, built a farm, ventured in auto business, politics and eventually Deccan Aviation the chopper service company and Deccan Airways the airline of the “Common man” of India.

They say – “Eye on the sky and feet on the ground”. Gopinath has lived it upto it. “Feet on the ground” denotes his love of Nature, Farms and earth. Eye on the sky is literally his love of flying and aircrafts.

Former President Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam has mentioned tha this book should become a text book in all management institutions.
True! Some chapters should be used in high schools too.

Avinash Narula Reply:
August 26th, 2010 at 5:11 am

yogesh hi!

You are right. Capt Gopinath did a lot of good things. However, there were a number of customers who his company cheated. For your information, there is a blog written on Air Deccan by a guy and you will not imagine the kind of response he received. Starting new businesses are fine. But you cannot take money from customers and not provide them what you promised. I feel that before he sold Air Deccan to Vijay mallaya, he should have settled the claims of the customers.

As far as accolades any person has received, I can give you examples of many people who were honoured by the industry and the government and they turned out to be not what we thought they were. Raju of Satyam is a glaring example. Enron is another example.

I am a customer/consumer advocate. So I hope you will understand where I am coming from.

Thanks

avinash narula

VinitMarch 31st, 2009 at 8:09 am

Hey Avinash,

Your arguments are all valid.
Luckily for us, capt. Gopinath is not proclaiming as the one-stop-shop to solve all your problems.
However, by standing as an independent, he is atleast giving the Indian voter a choice.

You may not want to vote for him. No one expects a 100% majority!
However, there are numerous people who are happy that someone with a clean (non-political, non-criminal) background is atleast taking a serious route and standing for elections.

With your arguments:
(a) They don’t have the time?
Well, the current politicians have the time to do something good besides their in-party fighting?

(b) Don’t assume that everyone had a terrible flying experience with Deccan.

Again, I don’t expect him to get a 100% majority, but atleast I now *have a better choice* as a voter.

Vivek JoisMarch 31st, 2009 at 1:17 pm

I don’t know who wrote this blog but as a proud bangalorean let me tell you a thing or 2 about what are our issues.
1. We need safety from nutjobs who in the name of religion destroy our peace and way of life. ( And I am not just talking about the Taliban).
2. We are losing jobs by the thousands in Bangalore. Something that a businessman would know a thing or 2 about.
3. We need to help our farmers who die by the dozen thanks to their loans.

Now I would rather vote for a man who has served our country with honor, Actually farmed in his life so well that he got an international award and actually built one of the biggest aviation companies in Indian History. How can a customer yell out for service when he only paid 1 rupee for his ticket? He promised to bring aviation to the common man and guess what he did it. Without any rich father and with a kannada medium education guess what he actually got people flying and helped this country grow till of course the oil price hiked combined with the greedy govt actually taxing the customer more than the cost of the ticket.

Now if you think that this is a lousy resume and that he is not qualified to be the MP of Bangalore South then I don’t know what is. Compare this resume to an Ananth Kumar who is a 4 time MP of Bangalore South but has only asked questions on the parliement floor this last year only 4 or 5 times I don’t know. If you are not a Bangalore South voter don’t tell us what to do. He is a very wise man and if only you met him will you know what he stands for.

Pradeep ShekharApril 1st, 2009 at 1:52 am

I had great flying experience with Air Deccan. I fly between Hyderabad and Bangalore every weekend and before Air Deccan got acquired by Kingfisher, i must have flown hundered times by Air Deccan since they had flights at very convinient times. Only twice was my flight delayed. Going by my experiences with Jet and Kingfisher whose punctuality is not more than 60%, I consider Air Deccan as a great success. Of Air Deccan had initial challenges and I hear that at one time, Air Deccan was known for delayed flights, but Jan 2006 onwards they were pretty good.

We need people who have already made enough money through regular business to come into politics and not people who come to politics to make money. I would prefer professionals and business men like Capt Gopi to career politicians anyday. None of career politicians can show the sources of income for their current standard of living.

Avinash Narula Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 7:44 am

Pradeep hi!

I am happy to hear you had a good flying experience. Just to give you an idea how fed up people were with Air Deccan just read this blog. One of the dissatisfied customers even changed the name of the airline to Air Dhakkan.

I think Ramakrishnan comment is very appropriate. If we take the kind of politicians we have managing the country, I would say Capt. Gopinath would be a better choice. But our country will not get anywhere if are going to be satisfied with just a minute incremental change. We need to think 180 degree change as I talk on my website.

I seriously doubt if Capt. Gopinath is going to have the time to devote to management of the country. With all his money invested in the cargo airline and warehouses that he is trying to build, he won’t have the time to scratch his head. But he will have a tremendous advantage as an elected MP to overcome the hurdles that he is going face while establishing his cargo airline.

The other point that I want to make is that an established industrialist can still adopt a hands off approach to his business and spend time as an MP to manage the country. Some of these guys who get elected as presidents of industry organizations like CII and FICCI do take out the time to devote to their new responsibilities. But a businessman who has just started his cargo airline where he putting a lot of his own money and which has not even taken off the ground, it will be very difficult for him to devote time to country management.

In addition, let me add here how private equity funds operate as I am quite sure that either Capt. Gopinath has already Private equity fund (PE) or venture fund invested in his new cargo or he is looking for one. PE or venture funds demand fast scaling up and they will not invest the money if Capt. Gopinath cannot devote the time. I will let you decide what Captain Gopinath will consider important – obtaining funds for his airline or management of the country.

If Captain Gopinath is so interested in serving the country, let him divest from the cargo airline. In such a case, I will be the first one to vote for him. I am not suggesting that every MP should leave his occupation but what I am saying is that the person should have the time to devote to his responsibilities as an MP.

Wasting another 4 years is not an option. I would again like to say that I have nothing personal against Captain Gopinath. I have not met him or even seen him live. I am just being logical and upfront which is what you get on my blog.

Avinash Narula

kannadathi Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:26 pm

Only someone who is completely out of touch with reality can expect a 180 degree change in politics in India, that too overnight! It is only in incremental steps and sustained effort over a period of time will there be change. I am sorry Avinash, but you come across as one of those idealists who can only proport and blog in length about how a given choice or solution is not going to make the cut (as per your very high standards) but who does not have a clue on getting anything actually implemented. Unless you can propose a candidate who is better than Capt. Gopinath for South Bangalore and who is actually willing to get his/her hands dirty in politics, don’t make disparaging comments on people who are willing to at least give it a try. Let me be the first to tell you that we need change and we need change now! If Capt. Gopinath is going to be a change from Mr. Ananth Kumar’s style of governing I am willing to give it a try.

Avinash Narula Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:41 pm

kannadathi hi!

Thanks for your comments.

Maybe you are right that I am being an idealist. I think if you will read what I am writing about, you may have given me more credit than what you have given me. I have stated that for every lok sabha seat, there are a lot more candidates than we think. When I voted last year for the Delhi local elections, I saw a list posted on the door of every room at the voting center which suggested that there are were at least 10-15 candidates. I believe that we need to look at all the candidates before we make a choice. Usually, the condidates that we are aware of are the ones who are famous like Capt. Gopinath, Hema Malini and Sanjay Dutt or those that are representing major national and regional political parties like Ananth Kumar. Once you have looked at all, then make the best choice. Just don’t get dazzled with the celebrety status of businessmen and film stars.

I still maintain that prima facie, Captain Gopinath does not look like to a good choice to me for reasons expressed earlier. Now this is my view. You have your views. We live in a democratic country. I have given a number of reasons for why I say so. Let me give another. You will have to name one celebrety or businessman who has stuck in politics long enough and done something for the citizens of this country or who has made real difference. All the business people want is to get their work done.

Whether he will be better than Ananth Kumar. Certainly. Reasons for the same are simple. He will not be corrupt as a regular politician is. Even a no-doer politician will be better than a corrupt power hungry politician. But I think we need to look for something more than that. Our comparison needs to go far beyond the current politicians.

You know I do feel that in reality, rich business people can become good country managers. They have run and managed big organizations and as such have the management skills. They should be more honest as they already have more money they can spend. They know how businesses works because it the economy and job creation that makes a country great. Unfortunately, very few industrialists have been elected and their performance has been such that one does even remember their names. The only story I remember is about Mallya give rides to his political freinds in his private plane. Most have found their way into politics through Rajya Sabha which is more for as a status symbol than anything else.

One of the ideas that I have proposed is that lets vote for non-politicians and give a shock to the current group of politicians. From this point of view, I am happy that you are going to vote for Captain Gopinath as he fits the definition of non-politician.

Avinash Narula

RAMAKRISHNANApril 1st, 2009 at 6:16 am

In one way “Not to Vote” is correct. Majority of Industrialists/Businessmen contest elections only to get their business mileage. Once elected they will use their good offices to get all benefits from the Govt. This is what majority of business community is doing. If Cap. Gopi is really service oriented, let him leave all his business (any how he would have got lot money to leave after (Partly) exiting out of Deccan) and start his public service. Then we can welcome. Other view is we are fed up with all politician, who are equally defunct. This man atleast would understand as MP his responsibilities better than our existing politicians. If this is a game plan for splitting the Vote, then we are all Fools to watch all these. No other go.

Like the other Comment…What Mr.Ananthkumar did for Bangalore South? Let us try for a Change. Any how we lost 3 x 5 years No use from the existing MP. Let us loose one more 5 year by giving chance to Mr.Gopi.

OR WE SHOULD OPT 49(O).

mandar Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 2:36 am

dear ramakrishna,

Once we decide not to vote we loose the power of making a change which the indian constitution gives us. Form an opinion about a candidate after knowing him thorouhly. You already know the Congress, JDS and BJP candidates and the kind of (dis) service they have done to this constituency. I request you to please know Capt. Gopi first. And one more thing, is running a profitable bussiness a crime. why is not one suppposed to make money if he running for the parliament. please note that if the MP is already prosperous he will have no interest to gain from his power.

PLEASE VOTE FOR CHANGE..THATS A REQUEST..VOTE U MUST.

DevApril 1st, 2009 at 12:38 pm

After seeing Ananth Kumar,s performance in the last 4 terms. Its time we saw something better.

Sree Prasad ShettyApril 3rd, 2009 at 9:43 pm

We only have hodlums and criminals in our political system…some one who is decent doesnot fit the bill? after your article i am definetly going to vote for him…

SCApril 4th, 2009 at 1:17 am

Avinash – If you are not from Bangalore or have not spent the last 20 years under Ananth Kumar then I dont think you need to be writing this very useless blog!

As for your constant refrain that businessmen do not have the time – what do you have to say about Rahul Bajaj or Rajeev Chandrashekar – both prominent businessmen in their own fields who still spare time to serve thier constituencies! Its another matter that Rajeev endorses Ananth – but lets not get into that debate here! Do you really think most of our current lot of politicians are bekaar?? You’ll be surprised at how a lot many of them run multiple profit making businesses and still have enough & more time available to dabble in politics! Why dont you spend some of your energies on locating them instead of maligning someone who stands for change?

Your singular notion that because Capt. Gopi is kicking off with a new venture he wouldnt have the time to spare is a bit way off! Companies are run by management teams – not singularily by the entrepreneur! Capt. Gopi still owns & runs Deccan Aviation’s air charter service whose profits are only soaring. I have flown on Air Deccan myself a few times – pls note I am 6′ 3″ in height & weigh almost 140 kilos – I may have had difficulty in fiting into a cramped non-reclining seat but I couldnt complain much when I was only paying Rs.500!!! I’m sure there must be plenty of disgruntled Air Deccan customers, but then there are 100 times as many disgruntled customres who fly Indian Airlines or Jet for that matter! Please dont get carried away if your friend/s did not get a refund of a couple of hundred bucks! There are airlines that lose baggage worth a lot more & still dont do a damn thing about it!

Capt. Gopinath stands for change – something which we as South Bangaloreans desperately need & welcome. We are not ardent fans of his. We dont think he can singularily change that ugly face of Indian politics. He himself doesnt think he can win – not when other political parties claim the fight is only between the Congress & the BJP. Not when guys like you have nothing else to do but malign a tryst for change!

Are you from South Bangalore? Do you really want to see Ananth Kumar (have you even heard him speak??) or a ‘nobody’ from the Congress get elected to represent you??!! Do us South Bangaloreans some good – help us bring in the change we need. Shut down your tirading & maligning blog today!

Can you do that?

Avinash Narula Reply:
April 7th, 2009 at 3:56 am

Hi!

I think we are living in a democratic country. We have been promised freedom of speech by the constitution. We have a diverse society. As these suggest that we should respect the views of the others and not try to kill or stamp out dissent. We can disagree with each other and at the same time respect each other. Tolerance of dissent is the very basic quality that a leader should have otherwise it becomes a dictatorship. I am not sure that you are doing any good to Capt. Gopinath by asking me to shut my blog. I have given you my reasoning but if you still want to vote for Capt. Gopinath you are most welcome. I can’t stop you forcefully and and even if I could, I will not do it. We are living in a free society and I would like to continue to do so.

avinash

mandar Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 2:42 am

Well said SC, i completely agree with you. Avinash it seems stays in Delhi and he is commenting about a Bangalore South Candidate , about which he knows nothing.

SudhirApril 6th, 2009 at 12:28 am

Well ! I will vote Him !!

If you Guys want to waste you vote on Criminals ! its your wish!
at least by casting vote for Mr.Gopinath, your vote is in safe hands, not wasted !
Mr Gopinath has various business! but others business is Politics, makes money from your votes !!
we have more reason to vote Mr.Gopinath!!

benApril 6th, 2009 at 2:41 am

unfortunately when it comes to candiates of the big parties BJP, Cong, JD
we are in the dilema to choose the less evil among them…

Pupinder kaur Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 6:17 am

Yes you are right ben. there is no single party who can stand for the people every one is for power and money the independent candidate are better option. We can hope some ethics in there work.

Avinash Narula Reply:
April 7th, 2009 at 3:47 am

pupinder hi!

Thanks for your comment.

I think today there is no one party that is honest and can take where we want to go. We need to start with the independents. I think once a few independents are elected, they will hopefully come together to achieve their common objective. Electing independents will have two advantages. One, such a move will provide competition to the current politicians. Also, election of independents will encourage other independents to contest election.

avinash narula

Avinash Narula Reply:
April 7th, 2009 at 3:48 am

ben hi!

In my blog and website, I have given my logic to vote for independents. Hope you agree with the logic.

avinash narula

kumarApril 7th, 2009 at 2:58 am

lets think for change, not with the person.

Avinash Narula Reply:
April 7th, 2009 at 3:30 am

kumar hi!

Thanks for your comment.

I think you are partly right. We need to focus on our objective and not get personal. However, the views and the background of a person will suggest in some ways to us whether he or she is going to even think of the change we are talking about. We need people with new thinking. We need people who will be able to think out of the box.

avinash narula

Praveen PaulApril 13th, 2009 at 1:48 am

Gentlemen, I am amused at all the comments about the capabilities and qualifications of Capt. Gopinath to stand for elections…. however I think we are missing one fact….. Capt. Gopinath chose to stand….. because people like you and I did nt.

I am part of the founding team that worked with Capt gopinath to create Air Deccan. A year later I moved on to set up my own aviaition business, being disillusioned about the way Air Deccan was moving away from a regional “low cost” concept to a National loss making and inefficient airline. But never once did I have any issues on the integrity, passion and vision with which Gopi addresses problems and people. At the end of the day, he is a man who puts into actions, what others only talk about…. he put the common man into the casbin of an aircraft, he gave Jet ahd Sahara a scare for their lives….. so much so they lowered airfares below his, he opened out “formerly non functional” airports in remote towns like bhuj, Hospet, Assensol and above all he taught Indian youth to dream…. that they did not have to have rich fathers to become professional pilots or cabin crew. I have worked with Gopi from sun up to sun down, have seen him lose health and sleep for the good of the airline and his people…. and even when he sold out, it was with the full support of his employees and stakeholders to whom he delivered value.

Gopi is not standing from my constituency, but I wish he did. Concerns about his investments in Deccan Express and his time commitments are inconsequential as the company is run by a seasoned team of international logistics industry professionals. What Gopi brings to the table is his horse-sense for the common man’s problems and his unerring ability to do something to fix that. Whether he succeeds or not is a different issue…. but the fact is he tries.

And gentlement…. that’s a whole lot better than you and me munching bytes on this blog

Avinash Narula Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 7:44 am

Praveen hi!

Thanks for your comment.

What is with Gopinath’s supporters? They are not able to handle dissent or a different point of view. One of his supporters wanted me to shut down the blog. And you are suggesting that we do not work as hard as Captain Gopinath and we keep munching bytes on this blog. What makes you think that all us just earn our bread and butter just sitting on our back side?

Previously I had not really raised the question of integrity but since you are talking in such glowing terms, let me give my views. I have a friend who is owed roughly Rs. 50-60,000 by Air Deccan when Captain Gopinath was in control of the airline. Now if Captain Gopinath is such high integrity, I suggest he return the money out of the crores that he made by selling Air Deccan. Let me know whenever Captain Gopinath wants to return the money owed by his company and I gather a large number of such people.

Lets take your words to explain the business acumen of Captain Gopinath. You yourself have suggested in your comment that you left Air Deccan because Gopinath wanted to change the business model and go national. Maybe this what landed him in trouble. A good businessman would not have run down an airline based on a concept which was already profitable abroad. He was losing money so fast that he was desperate for funds and sold out to Vijay Mallya. He even supported Vijay Mallya all through Mallya’s charade that he would run Air Deccan seperately. He also accepted a figure head position of the Chairman of the airline. So please don’t expect us to get carried away blindly.

I have mentioned earlier in one of my blogs that when compared to a regular politician, maybe Captain Gopinath is a better choice but I think we need to raise our bar. The primary reason that I have given for suggesting not to elect Captain Gopinath is that he has got his handsful with his new airline business. As mentioned by you, he was working day and night to get Air Deccan going, so what makes you think he will not have to do the same. Or are you suggesting that he didn’t have professional people working for him before but he has now.

Lastly, I would like to suggest that I do not understand Captain Gopinath’s agenda which he has stated as “social and communal harmony and participative government.” I don’t know whether these are the problems facing our country? I also don’t how he is going to bring about social and communal harmony? Maybe he know Deepak Chopra.

So, Praveen I suggest that let everybody express their views and you can counter them with logic and reason. You should not try to kill dissent or be disrespectful of their views. After all, what I have read is that Captain Gopinath wants to promote participative government. I am not sure he has been able to convince his fans otherwise they would try to kill dissent.

Avinash Narula

Praveen Paul Reply:
April 14th, 2009 at 12:19 am

Avinash, Your blog is typical of a person who loves munching bytes….. bulk of what you are saying is only posturing from your end…. because at the end of the day you do have a personal agenda…. yyou do not want Capt Gopinath to be voted for as you feel one of your friends is still owed monies by Deccan. Its a classic case of an aberration being bent to an individual’s will.

I may not have agreed as an individual with Gopi on what went on at Deccan, but the fact of the matter is he did deliver on his promise of taking the common man to the sky. In your case your anger and bias against him is driven by one example of an individual to whom the company may or may not own money…..

Ha Ha Ha!!!!! Its the reason why guys like you spend time on blogs…. instead of actually doing something on the ground. Its also probably why we see your blog for hat it is… a personal agenda against a man who has tasted and delivered success.

Incidentally Gopi also promotes a Trust called Children Love Castle which has for over 7 years been organizing mid day meals in schools and books for underprivileged kids.Its professionally managed and has never failed an audit.He could have chest thumped about it during his election run…. but chose nor to.

As for what is his election manifesto…. do people really read these things…. coz if we did, then we should have chosen to go off a democratic system of government a long time ago.

I think what counts to us Bengaluru boys is to have someone representing us who is accessible, not corrupt and above all willing to do something, and while you talk about mystical issues like the country etc… let me tell you that for a man on the ground…. its my family, my street and my city that comes first…. the country comes later… and gopi fits the bill.

mandar Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 2:24 am

Mr. Avinash,

You seems to be a recovery agent with a vested interest. Grow up man. U cant expect a chairman of a company to be aware of Rs. 50K outstanding to some person. If you have any knowledge of industry you will know that outsnadings are way of company. If your friend runs a business himself let us please knohow much he ows his suppliers. thats besides the point. What i mean to say is just because Airdeccan Owed someone (if thats true) for 50K , the chairman of the company become not eligible to run for the parliament. you are absolutely kiddish.

Also your point that since he is an bussiness man he cant devote time to his constituency. that way mr. Mukesh ambani, Mr. Tata, Mr. Mittal need not have multiple companies as they cant devote time to all of them. My dear Mr. Gopinath is not blessed with your size of brain and he can definately multitask. Have you met him by the way. if not you are invited to meet him anytime during the ongoing campaign. He is completely approachable unlike our other leaders who want to serve the general public from their exhalted ivory towers. I suggest you relook in to your view points (and stop harping on the same tune of your friend who has to receive rs. 50-60K)

mandar Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 2:28 am

Mr. Avinash,

And one more thing..Do you have a voter ID and do you vote?? If not please get one and make sure that you vote this time.