North-of-Caroni Bharath does not stand a chance

THE EDITOR: The decision of Vasant Bharath to cross swords with former prime minister, now Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar for leadership of the UNC has a foregone conclusion.

Anyone north of the Caroni who tries to lead the Indian-based party will be decimated with the vengeance of moko. The core base of the UNC resides in the heart of the lagoon and no one who is non-resident of the swampland will prevail.

Ask Winston Dookeran. His mantra of “getting the politics right” fell abysmally short of the expectations of people of the UNC heartland. His “Mr Clean” image did not resonate with the psyche of the worshippers of “channa and aloo” politics.

The culture of south chelas are quite the opposite of practitioners of “knife and fork Indians.”

So Bharath coo-coo cook already, long before he starts. No north Indian will ever see the light of day should they try to take the throne from their guru, who must come from amongst one of them from south of the Caroni.

Their leaders must be of their “world view.” They must walk the trenches, they must join the rum shop crowd and choosay dahru if ever they want to lead. They must have a history of being “one of them” to prevail. They have to be a Basdeo Panday, who walked amongst the poor and downtrodden, who identified with their cause.

Winston Dookeran could not cut it, and neither will Bharath, as he faces his political Waterloo. They have never identified with the culture of the heartland Indians.

Dookeran at the height of his political career had won the admiration of the third force, and with the support of the UNC would have destroyed the PNM, but the heartland did not identify with a “knife and fork Indian” coming from the north of the Caroni.

Patrick Manning and the PNM won as a minority government as the UNC was prepared to surrender office in order to prevent one of its own taking power, but who resides north of the Caroni.

When Carlos John was endorsed by the then prime minister, Basdeo Panday, for deputy leader of the UNC, he was severely trashed by then AG Ramesh L Maharaj. This was seen as an affront on the beleaguered Panday, who was facing his own legal battle. The supporters saw this as an attempt to foist a non-Indian, who also comes from the bosom of the parasitic oligarchy and, most importantly, north of the Caroni.

John was seen as an heir apparent to his guru Panday, but the heartland would have none of that and he was severely trounced.

If even Ian Alleyne should compete against Persad-Bissessar and Bharath, he will give Persad-Bissessar a run for her money. He meets the criteria but lacks the intellectual capacity.

And as for Bharath ... he also ran.

NB: Jack Warner almost made it, as he somewhat qualified with the above criteria, but fell short as he lacked the main ingredient.

ROBERT RAMSAMOOJ via e-mail