ROUND THE STATES

New Delhi, 14 March 2006

Rajya Sabha Biennial Poll

CONGRESS, BJP FIELD “NON-RESIDENTS”

By Insaf

 
Political attention is now focused on the Rajya Sabha biennial elections on March 28 for 58 seats from 15 States.  Ten so-called “elders” are to be elected by the legislators in U.P., six each in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra, five each in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, four each in Gujarat and Karnataka, three each in Orissa and Rajasthan, two in Jharkhand and one each in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal. The outcome of these elections is generally known before hand by the respective strength of the political parties in the State legislatures.  However, lot of interest is generated prior to the polls since the political parties largely continue to field their nominees on considerations other than merit, often favouring those with money power.

One of the most controversial amendments in 2003 did away with the requirement that candidates seeking election to the Rajya Sabha from a State had to be “ordinarily resident” of that State. Both the Congress and the BJP leaders have taken full advantage of the amendment to nominate “outsiders” for their political convenience, despite the knowledge that the Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on two petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the amendments. The Court has ruled that the results of these elections and those of  2004 will be subject to its final orders on the matter.  Among the four Union Ministers which the Congress has fielded are Arjun Singh and H.R. Bhardwaj. Since the party can bring only one from Madhya Pradesh, the Law Minister has been shifted to Haryana for re-election to the Council of States for the fifth six-year term.

The BJP too is not lagging behind. Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley have been allotted Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat respectively. Swaraj has been shifted from Uttaranchal to Madhya Pradesh this time, since the lone seat from the hill State has been given to the Congress nominee Rajiv Shukla who cannot be fielded from U.P. this time as the party has only 17 MLAs in the State Assembly.  Arun Jaitley has again been fielded from Gujarat which can easily bring him back to the Council of States. The concerned States have no doubt accepted the nominations. But much will depend eventually on the Supreme Court decision whether the amendments have destroyed the basic feature of India’s Parliament, which provided for a House of the People and a Council of States, comprising genuine residents of the States, not outsiders.

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Third Front In Assam

A third front is emerging in Assam, where the first phase of the Assembly elections is scheduled for April 3.  The Left parties have tied up its electoral understanding with the non-Congress Opposition parties in the State. The Left has worked out tie-ups with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Asom United Democratic Front of Minority organizations, Samajwadi Party and some regional groups. The poll arrangement is aimed at an attempt to pose an alternative to the ruling Congress and the BJP in the State. The NCP of Sharad Pawar has already finalized an arrangement with the Left in Assam.  According to the seat-sharing arrangement, the AGP has given eight seats to the CPI and seven to the CPM.  The CPM has, however, made it clear that it would join hands with the Congress to keep the BJP out of power in the event of a fractured mandate, as it has done at the Centre.

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Opposition Is Confused: Buddhadeb

West Bengal’s Chief Minister Budhadeb Bhattacharjee is confident that the CPM-led Left Front would return to power in the State for the sixth time in succession. The CM’s confidence is based on the presumption that the Opposition parties are presently in a “confused” state.  Moreover, Bhattacharjee explained in a Meet the Media programme at the National Press Club in New Delhi that unlike the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ruling at the Centre and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Left Front was a product of years of struggle of the anti-Congress forces that came to power for the first time in 1977 and has continued in office since then.  The CM has claimed that the Left Front does not have to tackle anti-incumbency factor and that the people who have benefited from the Front’s land reforms programme would “never vote against us”.  So also the teachers and Government employees. 

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Bonanza For DMK Allies

The MDMK and its supremo Vaiko’s sudden exit from the DMK-led Front has proved a bonanza for the allies to get more seats than decided upon earlier for the Assembly poll on May 8.  As per the latest deal offered to the allies by DMK supremo Karunanidhi, the Congress has been allotted 48 seats (two more than in 2001) in the 234-member Assembly.  The CPM will now contest 13 seats and the CPI 10. Both the Left parties got ten seats each in 2001. That would effectively leave the DMK with 132 seats.  Of these, the Muslim League will contest from three constituencies with the DMK symbol.  This arrangement has been made following Vaiko’s turnaround.  Karunanidhi did not want to risk any other ally deserting it because of a few seats, as Vaiko did.  In fact, the Congress had initially demanded 60 seats.  The party which is sharing power with the DMK at the Centre was hoping for a similar arrangement in Tamil Nadu.

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Himachal Towards Progress

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh can look back with great satisfaction their three years in office which they completed on March 6.  During the last three years, a new era of socio-economic development has ushered in the State. High priority has been given to employment generation and rural development schemes to maintain the pace of development. Virbhadra Singh has described this period as an era of economic development. The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), estimated at Rs.16,075 crore in 2002-03 (revised estimates) increased to Rs.17,983 crore in 2003-04 and is now likely to attain a level of Rs.19,712 crore which is an increase of ten per cent. The agriculture sector, including horticulture and animal husbandry has contributed 21.71 per cent to the State’s economy.  New programmes for farm reforms, organic farming and crop insurance have been undertaken.

Godhra Fire A Conspiracy

Gujarat’s Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah has issued a strongly-worded explanation in the State Assembly against the finding of the Justice Banerjee Committee which, he believed, had “created a major confusion in the minds of the people of Gujarat”.  He has reiterated with facts and figures that the fire in which 59 people were burnt was a part of a “larger conspiracy which was hatched outside the Godhra Railway Station”, and not an “accident” as described by the Banerjee Committee. He has explained that the theory of an accident  could result only from a short circuit. That was investigated by the State police and was found impossible.  The Minister has also wondered why the Banerjee Committee was appointed when the Government has appointed a high-level Commission and the Chief Minister’s role has been included in the scope of the Commission.

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Unusual Weather Hits Crops

“Summer in February”, they say, and “winter in March” this year have caused heavy damage to the rabi crops in northern India. The unusual rains and hailstorm lashed last week Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and some parts of U.P.  In M.P. heavy damage to crops has been caused in about 46,000 acres in 15 villages of 30 districts of the State.  The unusual hailstorm caused at least 50 deaths.  More than 200 heads of cattle perished and about 2,000 houses damaged.  Rajasthan too has reported extensive damage to the crops. Wheat and other crops cut and lying on the fields are totally damaged.  Harvested crops like mustard, coriander, zeera have also been badly damaged by the hailstorm.

Intermittent rains which have continued to lash parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh for more than a week revived cold conditions in the region and affected power supply in certain areas.  This hit the farmers and their agriculture produce most.  However, the rains have brought cheer to Uttaranchal farmers.  The showers came as a boon to the standing wheat and sugarcane crops which had earlier been starving for water in view of the dry spell in February.   The late rains have also benefited the mango and lichi orchards in the hilly State.  In fact, the entire forest area in the State will benefit from the late rains.  But if they are followed by hailstorm, then the standing crops will suffer damage, as is happening in several adjoining areas.---INFA.

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

ROUND THE STATES

New Delhi, 8 March 2006

Five-Week Long Schedule

TOWARDS FAIR POLL IN FIVE STATES

By Insaf

Political activity is now in full swing with the Election Commission announcing the schedule for the Assembly-poll in five States: West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.  The ballot is to be held in phases, spread over as long as five weeks, from April 3 to May 8.  For the first time, a five-phase polling is being held in West Bengal, keeping in mind the past record of electoral malpractices in the State, ruled by the Left Front for the last 29 years.  Kerala, another State where the Left Front is hoping to regain power, polling has been staggered in three phases – April 22, 29 and May 5.  Assam and Pondicherry will have two-phase polling, the Congress-ruled north-eastern State on April 3 and 10 and the Pondicherry on May 3 and 8.  Tamil Nadu will have a one-day poll on May 8. 

The Commission has prepared the prolonged schedule keeping in view factors like school examinations, regional festivals and law and order situation.  But real emphasis this time, like in the last Bihar election, is on ensuring a poll which is free, fair, transparent and without fear.  The Commission is of the view that staggered polling would check bogus voting, particularly in West Bengal. Nevertheless, close scrutiny of the electoral rolls indicates that some parties might still succeed in bogus voting.  The Commission has therefore, decided to deploy special observers in sensitive districts, which include those bordering Bangladesh. The Commission will, however, miss the “Bihar hero”, Advisor K.J. Rao, who has refused to continue after his extended tenure of two years which expired on February 28.  He was offered further extension of four months, which he has rejected for “personal reasons”.  There seems to be something more to it than meets the eye!

The upcoming Assembly elections are crucial for all the major parties, which are leaving nothing to chance. So much so that even the schedule of the on-going budget session of Parliament has been changed to facilitate MPs and Union Ministers to tour extensively their States. The Left Front has sealed an alliance for West Bengal with two significant constituents of the UPA at the Centre, the NCP of Sharad Pawar and RJD of Lalu Yadav, both of whom have been given two seats each.  In fact, the move gels with the larger NCP design against the Congress.  The party is with the Left wherever the Congress is the key rival.  It has been with the CPM-led Left Democratic Front in Kerala.  In Assam too, the NCP has entered into an understanding with the Left and a 14-party United Democratic Front (UDF), representing various minority and ethnic interests.  This alliance is expected to cut mainly into the Congress vote.

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Gogoi Brims With Confidence

Despite the odds against the ruling Congress in Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is confident of retaining power in the State.  Contrary to his critics who feel that the Congress would lose because of the anti-incumbency factor, the party is sure of retaining power purely on political arithmetic. While the non-Congress vote would be divided among the AGP, Mahanta-led faction of the AGP, the BJP and the 14-party UDF, the Congress leadership is hoping to retain its committed votes. Gogoi is confident that Congress will get support from the Muslims since the party has already undertaken a damage-control exercise after the Supreme Court’s verdict scrapping the controversial IM(DT) Act.  A move has already been initiated to amend the Foreigners’ Act. Gogoi believes that the amendment will permanently resolve the issue. Gogoi has also claimed that what his Government has achieved in the last five years is unprecedented.

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Vaiko Joins Jayalalitha

In Tamil Nadu, the MDMK Chief Vaiko has proved once again that in politics, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies.  He has again joined the ruling AIADMK. After committing alliance with Karunanidhi’s DMK only a week earlier, Vaiko called on Chief Minister Jayalalitha and the two together announced a pre-poll alliance and a decision that the MDMK will contest 35 seats in the Assembly poll.  Strangely, while the Vaiko party will be a partner of the AIDMK in the State, it will continue to be an ally of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre, of which the DMK is a part. Vaiko has joined hands with the AIADMK mainly for more seats. This has now prompted other parties in the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA), like the Congress, PMK, CPM and CPI to demand more seats than initially offered.  This has created more problems for Karunanidhi. 

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Serial Blasts In Varanasi

The serial blasts in Varanasi on Tuesday, which killed more than 20 people and injured more than 50 (unofficial figure is much more) has caused the Centre to issue a red alert for several States.  It has added more problems for Chief Minister Mulayam Singh.  Already politics in U.P. continues to be fluid with BSP supremo and former Chief Minister Mayawati and Mulayam Singh playing the numbers game with a vengeance. After the Allahabad High Court set aside last year’s recognition of 40 breakaway BSP MLAs by the Speaker, Kesri Nath Tripathi, Mayawati has urged Governor T.V. Rajeswar to dismiss the Mulayam Singh Government by invoking Article 356 of the Constitution on the ground that it had been reduced to a minority and was being run in an unconstitutional manner.  Mayawati has also claimed that most of the rebel MLAs who had later joined the Samajwati Party, have since started returning to the party. Three of them who were made Ministers have already resigned.

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Hooda Pledges Progress For Haryana

The Congress Government in Haryana, led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda has reason to celebrate its one year in office in the course of which it concentrated on the State’s speedy development and initiated programmes promised in the party’s poll manifesto last year.  It has launched a number of development schemes for agriculture, industry, infrastructure, service sector and social sector. The manner in which the schemes have been undertaken reflects the Government’s pro-people thinking. The intention clearly is to make Haryana truly a “welfare state” in consonance with the spirit of the Constitution of India.  In declaring his resolve to make Haryana “a world class State comparable to the best both in style and substance”, Hooda has sought the peoples’ cooperation: Aapka Saath-Hamara Prayas-Hoga Vikas.

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No Stopping Maoists

There is no stopping the destruction and killings by Maoists in several States.  The latest among the 13 States where they are violently active is Chhattisgarh. The new State is almost under siege for the last five weeks, since January 30 when they struck first in a big way.  Since then they have struck as many as nine times. On March 5, they attacked a Railway Station at Bhansi and blew up an engine. The next day, they blew up a bus and later attacked a village in Baster, killing eight people and injuring over 20.  Both the incidents took place near Awapalli on the Andhra Pradesh border.  Chief Minister Raman Singh has appealed to the Centre for more para-military forces.

The Maoists are well-armed and, as their attacks in Chhattisgarh show, they have been using landmines and sophisticated explosives. In Andhra Pradesh, where they were called Naxalites before their merger with the Maoists, they have taken complete control of some key districts in the State.  As a demonstration of their power and influence, they made people in several villages to boycott the use of salt in protest against what they describe as the Government’s anti-people policies. The absence of the Government was so visible that the villagers were left with no choice but to follow the Naxalites’ command.  The people of rural areas have now demanded strong Central intervention in view of the dismal counter measures by the State.

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Tiwari To Quit As CM

The ruling Congress in Uttaranchal is in big difficulty, barely 12 months before the next Assembly election.  Chief Minister Narain Datt Tiwari has faxed to the party Chief Sonia Gandhi his desire to quit Chief Ministership.  He had offered it before also.  But this time he seems to be serious, as he wants to be relieved within a month.  The veteran Congress leader has cited old age for his decision. He is 81.  With more than five decades of electoral experience he feels tired of polls.  He does not want to contest further elections and wants somebody else to lead the party in the next Assembly poll.  Tiwari has also been unhappy with the manner in which the party has treated him lately.  He was not even nominated to the present Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest policy-making body. Nor was he invited to the recent AICC session at Hyderabad.---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

ROUND THE STATES

New Delhi, 1 March 2006

Mulayam Faces Crisis

POLITICAL SCENE IN U.P. HOTS UP

By Insaf

A shrewd political move by Mulayam Singh Yadav has helped the Chief Minister to save his Government in U.P., at least for now.  Soon after the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court set aside the recognition of 40 breakaway BSP MLAs by the, then, Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi of the BJP, Mulayam Singh moved a confidence motion in the Assembly which luckily for him is in session. He won the motion with the support of the 40 rebel MLAs.  The BJP and the BSP staged a walk-out, while the Congress abstained.  Mulayam Singh and his Samajwadi Party have undoubtedly won a respite, but political scene is hotting up in Lucknow.  Former Chief Minister and the BSP supremo Mayawati has claimed that her rebel MLAs were willing to return back to the party.

The Congress too has questioned the validity of the trust motion and demanded Mulayam Singh’s resignation.  The BJP Chief, Rajnath Singh has also demanded dissolution of the Assembly and imposition of President’s rule.  Ajit Singh and his Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the partners in the coalition Government, too are unhappy with Mulayam Singh’s style of functioning.  Their support is now crucial for the survival of the Government.  The ball is now in the court of the present Speaker, Mata Prasad Pandey of the Samajwadi Party.  Pandey has reportedly stated that the case of rebel BSP MLAs “would be decided as per the law”.  With the future of the 40 MLAs still in balance and Mayawati dangling carrots before them, Mulayam Singh is certain to spend the next few days counting his supporters.

Already, credibility crisis looms over UP’s most powerful political duo, Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh. The disclosure of tapes reportedly quoting their conservations spells trouble for them, notwithstanding Amar Singh getting a Supreme Court order against the publication of the contents in the CDs.  More explosive is Amar Singh’s alleged conversation with Mulayam Singh on 40 BSP MLAs’ disqualification case. The duo had reportedly talked in terms of getting the verdict of the High Court in the rebel BSP case “fixed”.  Such alleged conversations have the potential to invite political reactions.  Already, the Samajwadi Party has been shocked by internal dissensions. Amar Singh’s woes have only served to add to the party’s problems.

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Roundtable On Kashmir

The much-hyped Prime Minister’s roundtable on Kashmir, without participation of almost all the separatist groups, in New Delhi over the week-end has received a mixed reaction in political circles. If Manmohan Singh termed the “mahapanchayat” as the beginning of a larger process aimed at evolving a consensus among different sections of the society, the main Opposition at the Centre, the BJP has called it a “big blunder”.  The party leaders, led by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee have vehemently opposed the idea of self-rule and autonomy for the State, thrown up at the meeting by the PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti and the National Conference President Omar Abdullah.  In fact, the BJP Chief Rajnath Singh has written to the Prime Minister that decentralization of powers for quicker decisions must not be confused with autonomy and self-rule. 

The Prime Minister, on his part, considers the first roundtable as the beginning of a process to resolve the Kashmir imbroglio and hopes to get the separatist leaders to the next meet scheduled at Srinagar in May.  The PM is keen for the separatist leaders’ participation in the next round, even though former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed dismissed them as “minuscule opinion”. At last week’s roundtable, the Prime Minister stressed that the J&K autonomy and self-rule can be achieved within the “vast flexibilities” of the Constitution of India.  In fact, as the Centre’s interlocutor in Kashmir, N.N. Vohra, stated at the meeting: “Self-rule is embedded in Article 370”.  However, the Centre’s strong articulation of a Kashmir solution within the Constitutional framework, while co-opting the secessionist demand of self-rule, is a clear indicator of New Delhi’s disdain of Pakistan President Musharraf’s “self-governance” proposal which has so far remained unexplained.

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Naxal Terror in Chhattisgarh

The Naxalite terror is fast picking up in Chhattisgarh, despite Chief Minister Raman Singh’s several initiatives to tackle the menace.  His effort to support a retaliation “Salva Judum” campaign against the Left Wing extremist organization took a direct hit on Tuesday last when the militants used a landmine to blast a convoy of trucks carrying the Judum activists. Twentyfive people were killed on the spot and 40 injured, according to official figures.  Unofficial figures are much higher.  More than one hundred people are believed to have been killed and about the same number injured.  This is the first time that the Judum campaign was attacked by the Naxalites.

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Jayalalitha Strikes

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha has taken a major political step to disturb the Dravidian groupings in the run-up to the Assembly elections.  She has finalized an electoral alliance between her AIADMK and the Dalit Panthers of India (DPI).  The latter has been allotted nine seats.  The arrangement would be a major setback to the DMK of Karunanidhi.  With the DPI joining the AIADMK and the PMK remaining with the DMK, the two smaller parties are likely to fight it out between themselves.  Both have a sizeable support base in atleast eight districts of the State.  The DPI’s move to fight nine seats in alliance with the ruling AIADMK is sure to cause some discomfiture to the PMK, whose founder, S. Ramdoss was keen to have on board the DPI in the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA).

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Kumaraswamy’s Target

Karnataka’s new Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has set for himself a target of three months to bring about a qualitative change in the infrastructure of Bangalore which has been neglected for long.  A special task force is being constituted for the purpose.  The force will comprise retired senior officials known for their integrity and representatives of various agencies and major industries.  The force will be empowered to monitor the implementation of all projects. To start with, the condition of roads will be improved and traffic congestion eased.  High priority has been given to the improvement of infrastructure because major industries of the country, such a Siemens and SemIndia, were hesitating to initiate their new projects in Bangalore because of what they called the “crumbling infrastructure” in the city.

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Farmers’ Friend In High Court

The impoverished farmers of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra have found a valuable friend in the State High Court.  After a spate of suicides, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has taken exception to the “casual” approach of the State Government in handling the Vidarbha debt crisis and slapped notices on the concerned officials in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by some NGOs.  The petition alleged that the Government has “systematically” encouraged the cultivation of Bt. cotton whose expensive seeds sunk the farmers because of successive crop failure. The Bt seeds were allegedly promoted under pressure from multinationals.  To add to the farmers’ woes, banks and money-lenders too did not spare them. They went on recovering debts by force, leading to suicides by several farmers.

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Soil Health Cards in Rajasthan

Rajasthan’s Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje of the BJP, has initiated a welcome farmers’ welfare plan: “Agriculture renewal and renaissance”.  The State Government will distribute about ten lakh “soil health cards” to small and marginal farmers. These are intended to provide them with vital information on the presence of biological elements in the sands and the requirement for fertilizers and micronutrients in their land to get a good crop yield. The Government has also decided to establish six working groups for different agro-climatic zones in the State. Independent experts will head each of these groups.  The experts would examine various aspects of land and soil health improvement and water management. ---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

ROUND THE STATES

New Delhi, 22 February, 2006

Poll Scene in West Bengal

LEFT FRONT READIES TO RETAIN POWER

By Insaf

The Left Front has completed its fool-proof preparations to retain power in West Bengal for the seventh time in succession.  It has finalized its list of candidates for the Assembly poll in April, even before the announcement of the election schedule.  The Front’s election manifesto has also been released and its campaign has taken off in earnest, not only in West Bengal, where it has been ruling for the last 29 years, but also in Kerala where it is hoping to wrest power from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).  The Left leaders have announced their intentions to fight tooth and nail in these two poll-bound States against the Congress and its allies in the UPA they are presently supporting at the Centre from outside.

The CPM, main constituent of the Left Front, which would be contesting 209 seats in the 294-member Assembly, has made an effort to field only winning candidates. In the exercise for the selection of candidates, the party has dropped seven Ministers and 52 sitting MLAs.  This has been done to induct young and dynamic comrades and ensure more effective governance.  The Forward Bloc, the second-largest constituent of the Front, has also dropped one Minister.  It would field 34 candidates, while the RSP and the CPI would put up 23 and 13 candidates respectively.  The Front has offered two seats each to Lalu Yadav’s RJD and the Nationalist Congress of Sharad Pawar.  Pawar is yet to decide.

Meanwhile, the Congress leadership is making another effort to get Mamata Banerjee and her Trimanool Congress to join hands with the party to end the Left hegemony in the State.  The AICC General Secretary incharge of West Bengal, Margaret Alva has approached Mamata to work out an electoral understanding.  Mamata is, however, unwilling so far to break with the BJP.  This would mean three or four-corner contests to the advantage of the ruling Left Front which has made several promises to the voters in its manifesto. These include development of infrastructure, boost to the on-going industrialization and increased power generation.

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LDF Problem In Kerala

It is not going to be easy for the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). The CPM politburo’s decision to overrule the State party’s move for a pre-poll alliance with Karunakaran’s Democratic Indira Congress (DIC) has deepened the factional feud in the State unit.  A majority in the State unit had favoured a tactical alliance between the LDF and the DIC.  The LDF sweep of the recent Kerala civic polls and the Thiruvananthapuram byelection had given credence to the benefits of aligning with Karunakaran. But another view, espoused by V.S. Achutanandan, prevailed that any association with Karunakaran’s party would tarnish the Left Front’s image.  Karunakaran has now decided to fight the election on his own, leading to triangular contests.

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DMK Gets Stronger In Tamil Nadu

In Tamil Nadu, another poll-bound State in the South, Karunanidhi and his DMK appear to be getting stronger against the ruling Anna-DMK. Smaller Dravidian parties, including the MDMK of Vaiko, have finally promised support to the DMK, a constituent of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre.  After dithering for the last few weeks, Vaiko publicly declared in Chennai on Monday last that not only would the MDMK continue in the DMK-led front but would work towards strengthening the bloc to help it win the Assembly elections. Vaiko’s decision was influenced by his octogenarian mother’s “No” to joining Jayalalitha who had kept him in jail for 19 months. The Congress, moreover, refused to allow Vaiko to do a Ramvilas Paswan: fight election against an UPA constituent.

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Sangma Keeps His Pocket Borough

Former Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Purno Sangma continues to keep his firm hold over his Tura Lok Sabha constituency in Meghalaya, even after leaving the Congress which first sent him to Parliament.  He won his Tura pocket borough in a byelection for the ninth time in a row.  Purno defeat his Congress rival Mukul Sangma, by over one lakh votes.  The Congress candidate had resigned from the State Cabinet in the wake of police firing on student protesters in Garo Hills. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena has suffered a setback in two byelections to the Maharashtra Assembly.  It lost the Naigong constituency to the Congress.  This constituency was known to be the Sena’s stronghold. It was held by Kalidas Kalambhkar, who had quit the Sena and joined the Congress with Narayan Rane.

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Mulayam’s Problems

UP’s Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party Supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav is presently facing several political problems. At a time when the party’s important leader Raj Babbar was expelled for revolting against General Secretary Amar Singh, Ajit Singh, Chief of the RLD, a coalition partner in the Mulayam Government, has threatened to withdraw support. Even though Ajit’s RLD has only 13 MLAs in the 403-member State Assembly, the SP with 187 MLAs may face difficulty since the BJP, BSP of Mayawati and the Congress have stepped up thier campaigns against the Government on various issues. Ajit Singh also dissociated his party from the Samajwadi Party’s No-Confidence Motion in the Lok Sabha against the UPA Government.  In fact, if the group of 16 independent MLAs also takes anti-Mulayam stance, the Government may lose its majority.

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JD(S) Action To Have No Impact

The Janata Dal (Secular) of former Prime Minister Deve Gowda is slowly and surely losing its hold over Karnataka.  The party high command’s decision to suspend the State Chief Minister and Gowda’s eldest son, H.D. Kumaraswamy, and 39 other MLAs for their coup against the party supremo is unlikely to have any impact.  Kumaraswamy and others were suspended last week for pulling out of the coalition arrangement with the Congress and forming the Government at Bangalore with the support of the BJP.  Coming almost a month after the dramatic developments that altered the political equations in the State, the action has actually weakened the party considerably. The suspension of the 40 MLAs after Kumaraswamy had flouted the party policies and formed a government with the bjp has effectively left the Gowda with barely eight MLAs.

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Uma Bharti Backers Suspended

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has got a shot in the arm and former CM Uma Bharti a big setback.  The BJP high command has suspended four of its MLAs, all known supporters of expelled Uma Bharti. The charge against them? Recently, when a Bharti supporter, Prahlad Singh Patel was sitting on a hunger strike in Bhopal, protesting against the working of the Chauhan Government, the four MLAs were seen sitting by his side. Earlier they backed Bharti and supported her campaign for leadership change that ultimately led to Shivraj Singh Chauhan replacing Babulal Gaur as the Chief Minister.  Earlier, several other BJP MLAs were expelled, following a violent protest outside the State BJP Legislative Party meeting which elected Chauhan as the CM. The action sends a strong message to the State BJP.

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Cartoon Fury Erupts

The cartoon fury currently lashing the world singed several Indian cities, especially Hyderabad and Lucknow over the week-end. Hyderabad was worst affected when a mob protesting the publication of the images of Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper went on the rampage in the old city last week. Nearly a dozen vehicles and several shops were damaged. Soon after the Friday prayers at the Mecca Masjid, thousands of protestors spilled on to the streets, trampling on Danish flags and shouting “death to Denmark”. Protest marches have also been held in Calcutta, Bangalore, Muzaffarnagar in U.P. and several other parts of the country.  In Lucknow, some clerics reportedly close to the ruling Samajwadi Party took out a massive rally over the week-end. ---INFA

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