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Political Diary
Fifth CM In Six Years:CHRONIC INSTABILITY IN JHARKHAND, by Insaf,20 September 2006 |
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ROUND THE STATES
New Delhi, 20 September 2006
Fifth CM In Six
Years
CHRONIC INSTABILITY
IN JHARKHAND
By Insaf
Jharkhand has its fifth Chief Minister since the
tribal-dominated State was carved out of Bihar
six years ago, on December 20, 2000.
This time he is an Independent, first-ever in India to get the CM’s chair. Thirtyfive-year-old Madhu Koda was sworn-in
on Monday last, along with three others (two Independents and one NCP MLA) who
had revolted against the BJP-led Arjun Munda Government. Nevertheless,
the big question remains: How long will his Government last in the new State’s
chronic political instability. Koda may
have tactically won the confidence vote 41-1 in the 81-member Assembly on
Wednesday as he did not name his full Ministry before the floor test. Interestingly,
the NDA did not participate in the voting and the lone CPI (ML) MLA voted
against him. Given the composition of the Assembly
and the fact that he has to restrict his Ministry to 12 Ministers, including
himself, Koda’s problems will remain unending.
Bickerings in the Koda camp, comprising eight parties---JMM
17 MLAs, Congress 9, RJD 7, Forward
Block 2, UGDPR 2, CPI-ML, NCP and Jharkhand Party one each and two Independents---began
even before the new CM was sworn-in.
While the Congress took a measured
step by deciding to support the Koda Ministry from outside, the JMM and the RJD
decided on extracting the maximum. Both demanded Dy. Chief Ministership for
their party. Moreover, almost all the
RJD MLAs are keen on a Cabinet berth.
One of them was quoted as stating after the swearing-in ceremony: “I
will take the extreme step if I am not offered a Cabinet post”. Another wanted
due place for dalits and minorities.
Against this background, stability of the Koda Government is doubtful,
giving credence to the CPM Chief Prakash Karat’s solution: fresh election for
the Assembly.
* * * *
NCP Spreads
Political Clout
Uttar Pradesh and its erstwhile hilly region, now a separate
State of Uttaranchal
will have one more serious player in the Assembly
poll early next year: the Nationalist Congress
Party (NCP) of Sharad Pawar. The party,
which is an important ally of the Congress-led
UPA at the Centre and is sharing power with the Congress
in Maharashtra, has resolved to spread its
clout in all the States and work out anti-BJP and anti-Congress alliances with like-minded smaller regional
parties in the States. It has started
its political mission from the
poll-bound States of UP and Uttaranchal.
The first step in this direction was to hold its National Convention in the
new hilly State’s capital Dehradun last week.
It has decided to field candidates of its own in Uttaranchal and to
negotiate electoral arrangements with V.P. Singh’s Jana Morcha and Ajit Singh’s
RLD in U.P..
* * * *
Setback To NCP In
Kerala
Meanwhile, the NCP’s effort to find a stronger foothold in
Kerala has run into difficulty. Presently supporting the ruling Left Democratic
Front (LDF) in the State, the party Chief Sharad Pawar has been trying to work
out a merger of the former Congress
veteran and ex-Chief Minister Karunakaran’s new Democratic Indira Congress (DIC) with the NCP. But the negotiations, which
had reached an advanced stage, seem to be failing. Some of the senior members
of the DIC have vehemently opposed the move and threatened to leave the party and
rejoin the Congress in case the
merger takes place. Even the Left parties have threatened to break their
understanding with the NCP in the event of the proposed merger. Some of the
members of the DIC have even favoured the merger of their new party with the
parent organisation, that is the Indian National Congress.
* * * *
Ludhiana City Scam?
Charges and counter-charges between the ruling Congress and the Akali Opposition have become the order of
the day in the run-up to the Assembly
elections in Punjab early next year. The Akali
Dal (Badal)-BJP combine is going all out to exploit the so-called Ludhiana City
Centre scam to attack the Congress
Government, led by Amarinder Singh, for its alleged involvement in the scam. Arun Jaitley of the BJP and Sukhdev Singh
Badal have filed a 17-page complaint against the Chief Minister, Local
Government Minister Jagbir Singh and others allegedly involved in the scam with
the Sarabha police, seeking registration of an FIR against them. Amarinder
Singh has rubbished the complaint, describing it as politically motivated. But he has announced that the police would first
examine the complaint legally. The State Government has also ordered a Vigilance
Bureau probe into the multi-crore real estate scam, involving the sale of prime
plots at the Ludhiana City Centre.
* * * *
W. Bengal Bypoll Outcome
The results of the four byelections, three for the Lok Sabha and one for the Assembly,
in West Bengal have gone on expected
lines. The ruling Left Front has
retained the Katwa and Purulia Lok Sabha seats, the Congress the Malda seat and the Trinamool Congress the Bongaon Assembly
seat. The outcome is politically significant for both the Congress and Trinamool Congress
of Mamata Banerjee. Both had agreed not
to put up candidates against the other in Malda and Bongaon. Consequently, the
late Ghani Khan Choudhury’s younger brother, Abu Ashem Khan Choudhury won Malda
and Saugot Roy Bongoan. The poll has strengthened the prospects of future
cooperation between the two parties, thanks to Union Information &
Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, who worked out the electoral understanding with
Mamata Banerjee. Much will, however, depend upon Mamata’s willingness to snap links with the NDA and its BJP
* * * *
M.P. Bill On
Religious Conversions
An amendment to the Freedom of Religion Act which the Madhya
Pradesh Assembly passed recently has run into difficulty. The Governor, Balram Jakhar has withheld his
assent to the Bill and sought
information from the Government on the need for the amendment. He has asked for
details of religious conversions district-wise over the last four decades. The
Congress MLAs had earlier complained
to the Governor that the Bill was passed
without any discussion in the Assembly. It
is intended to curb religious conversions through force, pressure and allurement. The amendment makes prior
permission from competent authorities
mandatory and provides for jail terms and penalty for both the priest and the
convert.
* * * *
Stalemate In
Centre-ULFA Talks
The United Liberation Forum of Asom (ULFA) has now put the
ball in New Delhi’s court for the delay in peace talks between the Centre and
the dreaded underground outfit. It has urged the Centre to create a level
playing field for talks by releasing the outfit’s top five jailed leaders. The outfit has communicated through its
People’s Consultative Group (PCG) that the “Government of India must create an
air of trust and show eagerness for
talks where the issue of sovereignty
of Asom would be discussed.” The Centre, on its part, has made two things
clear. First, the talks will be held within the framework of the Constitution
of India and, secondly, the leaders will be released only after the ULFA cadres
stop violence and other activities.
* * * *
Rajasthan Congress In Disarray
The Rajasthan Congress,
the main Opposition in the State, seems to be in poor health. Increasing cases of the party cadres
indulging in anti-party activities have been reported in the recent past. Several of them have been expelled from the
party. The latest is the expulsion of partymen from Bharatpur and Alwar
districts for anti-party activities. The immediate provocation for action was
the attempts by a group to disturb a meeting at Kaman, called to offer tribute
to those killed in a water tank collapse last month. The public meeting was being addressed, among others, by the AICC General Secretaries,
Mukul Wasnik and Ashok Gehlot and the PCC Presidents of U.P. and Rajasthan,
Salman Khurshid and B.D. Kalla. Stones were thrown at the dias, resulting in
commotion and abrupt ending of the rally.---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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U.P. Main Attraction:PARTIES READYING FOR ASSEMBLY POLLS, by Insaf, 13 September 2006 |
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ROUND THE STATES
New Delhi, 13 September 2006
U.P. Main
Attraction
PARTIES READYING
FOR ASSEMBLY POLLS
By Insaf
All political parties have girded up their loins for the
upcoming Assembly elections less than six months away in four States: U.P.,
Uttaranchal, Punjab and Manipur. The BJP has held its National Executive
meeting in Dehradun last week and worked out a detailed strategy for the poll
campaign. So also the Congress, the
Samajwadi Party (SP) of Mulayam Singh and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) of
Mayawati. These four parties are mainly concentrating on U.P., the most
politically significant State at the national level. The ruling SP and BSP seem to be running
neck-and-neck in the race for power, while the BJP and the Congress are trailing behind as of now. In the present Assembly
of 403, the BJP has only 88 MLAs and the Congress
just 16 against the SP’s 187. The BSP
too is far behind with its 65 MLAs, but has gone up in popularity chart
considerably during the last three years.
The ruling Samajwadi Party is slowly losing its popularity
and allies, notwithstanding all the sops Chief Minister Mulayam Singh is offering
to the voters one after the other. His
latest is the financial assistance
to MISA and DIR detenus during the Emergency days from 1975 to 1977. The CM
distributed cheques of Rs.2,500 each to 5,642 detenus whom he called “Loktantra
Senanis”. It is against this political
scenario that the BJP has planned to stage a comeback to power in the
State. The National Executive meet at
Dehradun has decided to organize countrywide demonstrations to highlight the
dismal state of affairs on three fronts: price rise, increasing farmers’
suicides and faulty farm policies of the UPA Government at the Centre and the
deteriorating security scenario. The
party has accused the Centre and the Congress-ruled States
of playing vote-bank politics recklessly and pushing the country towards divisiveness.
* * * *
Congress Strategy
The Congress’
main strategy is to spearhead its poll campaign with its “young brigade”, led
by Rahul Gandhi. The decision is expected to help the party considerably since about
57 per cent of the electorate is under the age of 35. The Congress
leadership has planned to use Sachin Pilot, a Gujjar in Western U.P., Jatin
Prasad for the Bareilly Division and greater Lucknow (Sitapur, Lakhimpur and Shahajahanpur),
Sandeep Dikshit for the Brahmin-dominated Unnao and Kannauj, Jyotiraditya
Scindia for the Bundelkhand region bordering Madhya Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi will
campaign all over the State, while sister Priyanka will extensively work in the
Lok Sabha constituencies of Sultanpur, Rae Bareilli and Amethi.
* * * *
Malegaon’s Rebuff To Politicians
Terrorist-scarred Malegaon in
Maharashtra has given a much-needed rebuff to
politicians eager to somehow exploit tragic happenings to feather their vote
bank nests. Congress President Sonia
Gandhi was at the receiving end when she visited the town following the blasts,
which took 38 lives and seriously injured 200 persons. The people, mainly
Muslims, angrily threw cheques of Rs. 1 lakh at her and other Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Vilas Rao,
shouting: “We don’t want your bheekh (charity). Give us development and we will
give you Rs. 10 lakh!. Malegaon,
they yelled, does not figure in your development
map and now we have been marked on the terror map”, They pointed out that following
the riots in 2001, Malegaon
was promised a 60-bed hospital. But there was still no sign of it. What is
more, the town is languishing and crying
out for development.
* * * *
Significant Bypolls
In W. Bengal
Four byelections in West Bengal---three
for the Lok Sabha and one for the Assembly---
on September 16 have acquired greater political significance than bypolls normally
do. The Congress and the Trinamool
Congress of Mamata Banerjee have
joined hands to fight the CPM candidates for the Malda Lok Sabha and Bangaon Assembly seats.
The Malda seat, which fell vacant following veteran ABA Ghani Khan
Choudhury’s demise, is to be contested by his brother Abu Hasrat G.K. Choudhury
and the Bangaon seat by Trinamool’s Sougata Roy. This contest is significant
for the Trinamool. If the party wins (counting is on September 19), its
strength in the 294-member Assembly
will go up to 30. This would entitle it to be recognized as the main Opposition
party. Easy victory is predicted for the
CPM and its ally Forward Block for the Katwa and Purulia seats respectively.
* * * *
Deadly Weapons For
Naxalites
Andhra Pradesh has now become a major centre for storage and
distribution of arms and ammunition to the terrorists and Left wing extremists.
A consignment of as many as 875 rocket launchers, 50 gelatin sticks, spares and
ammunition stuffed in 53 gunny bags has been seized by the Special State Police
in Mahabubnagar and Prakasam districts.
The rocket launchers can be mounted on any vehicle and rockets fired to
cover an area of upto 10 kms. According
to the Director General of Police, the deadly consignment was loaded in trucks
at Vijayawada and was meant to be delivered in four different places. The local person, who was handling the
largest-ever haul seized, was reportedly hired by the top Maoist leaders of
Mahabubnagar. It is intended to be delivered to their hide-out in Nallamalla
forest area, where the Naxalite camp in large numbers and train.
* * * *
Tamil Nadu Towards
Prosperity
Tamil Nadu’s DMK Government, led by M. Karunanidhi, has
drawn up a five-year plan (2006-2011) to convert the State from “poverty to
prosperity”. The plan includes the “All
Villages Anna Renaissance Scheme”,
the biggest-ever rural development programme that will cover all the 12,618
village panchayats in the State over the next five years with an allocation of
Rs.2,500 crore. Special promotion schemes have also been worked out for
information technology, energy development, and social welfare and nutrition
programmes. Meanwhile, the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group has offered a
Rs.12,000-crore package to the State Government to develop a multi-product
Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the State. The offer is to be studied by the
Government and details worked out. The
proposed SEZ will include a 1,000 MW power plant, a desalination plant and an
IT park.
* * * *
New Rail Line In
Haryana
The under-developed, water-starved Rohtak-Rewari region is
all set to get a broad gauge railway line. The Railway Construction Division
has finalized the plan. The demarcation
work has already been completed and the Haryana Government has released last
week the first instalment of Rs. 15 crore for laying the line. An equal amount
has been released by the Centre for the project, estimated to cost Rs.194 crore
--- Rs.97 crore by the State and the rest by the Centre. The project is proposed
to be completed in three years.
Construction work on the 73-km line would start by the end of the month
and the ground work and construction of bridges on canals and channels would be
complete in one year-and-a-half. The new
line would start from Asthal Bohar and five stations would be constructed
between Rohtak and Rewari via Jhajjar.
* * * *
Bhagidari scheme
For Slums In Delhi
Slum dwellers in the Union Capital region of Delhi would
soon be able to have their say and also get a platform to interact with
Government functionaries for resolving their problems. Sheila Dikshit-led
Congress Government has decided to
extend its popular “Bhagidari” Scheme to the slums. Under this programme, over
1700 Resident Welfare Associations have
been formed under the Societies Act, 1986. They are bound to its legal
provisions. But over eight lakh people living in 200 slums in the Union
Capital, as well as 50 resettlement colonies and 15,000 unauthorised colonies,
have hardly any say in the functioning of the Government. Their representatives will now be recognized
by the administration and their problems will be resolved by the concerned
officials, as is being presently done in the case of recognized RWAs.---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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CMs Review Security Scenario:TERRORISM SPREADS, INFILTRATION UP, by Insaf,7 September 2006 |
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ROUND THE STATES
New Delhi, 7 September 2006
CMs Review Security
Scenario
TERRORISM SPREADS,
INFILTRATION UP
By Insaf
The security scenario in the States has been reviewed at the
highest level. At a conference of Chief Ministers in New Delhi on Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh has alerted the States once more to the threat of terrorists who have set
up bases in some urban areas to target important installations, religious
places and army camps. Intelligence reports have revealed that the “extremely inspired
and directed” terrorist outfits are being assisted
in some States by the local insurgent groups and Naxalites help them create
terrorist modules and “sleeper cells” in urban areas. At the end of the
day-long meeting, attended by 27 Chief Ministers (other five CMs were
represented by their senior Ministers), arrived at a consensus that a Group of
Ministers, headed by the Home Minister and comprising some selected CMs, be
constituted to check the spread of terror and Naxal menace.
While most Chief Ministers talked of financial constraints,
they unanimously supported the Prime Minister’s proposal for decentralization
of intelligence gathering at the “thana”
level and to bring the “beat constable” into the vortex of counter-terrorist
activity. A massive
expansion of the police forces in the States has also been proposed. The present police-population ratio is very
low. For nearly 8.5 lakh villages in the
country, there are only about 12,000 police posts. In this context, the Centre has asked the States
to fully utilize the funds meant for police expansion and modernization. Regarding the issue
of coastline security, raised by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Home
Ministry has worked out a special Rs.500-crore package for the purpose. Another
scheme for 17 States having international borders is also being prepared.
* * * *
Orissa A Naxal Citadal
Orissa has now
become a Naxal citadel. Several forest and tribal areas of the State have
turned into safe hideouts for the Naxalites on the run from Andhra Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh. The rebels, previously confined to southern Orissa bordering Andhra Pradesh, are now fanning into
several districts like Sambalpur, Deogarh, Mayurbhanj, Angul and Jajpur, the
State’s new industrial hub. In fact, out
of 30 districts in the State, 14 are Naxal-affected. Most worrisome is that the
rebel group has as many as 30 zonal Dalams (battalions) in Orissa with an estimated cadre strength of about 600. Women
constitute about 25 per cent of the total strength. Each Dalam is equipped with an AK-47 rifle,
two to three self-loading rifles (SLRs) and several .303 rifles. They also have
a few experts to carry out IED blasts.
* * * *
Jharkhand Crisis
The BJP-led NDA Government appears to be on its way out in
Jharkhand. Four Independent Ministers
had put in their papers to Governor Syed Sibte Razi at the time of writing. The
revolt has reduced the Munda Government to a minority, leaving with him 39 MLAs
in the 82-member Assembly. However, unlike Razi’s controversial action
last year in inviting JMM Chief Shibu Soren to form the Government, despite a
fractured mandate the Assembly, the
Governor has been careful not to fault this time. He has asked Munda to prove his majority on
the floor of the Assembly by
September 15. With the UPA allies
backing the Independent MLAs (JMM-17, Congress-9
and RJD-7), it would be difficult for Munda and his BJP to drum up the required
strength within a week. Nevertheless,
the stability of the new Government would also have to be watched, given the
politics of the State and the composition of the Assembly.
J&K Coalition
Gets Breather
The Congress-People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) coalition Government in Jammu & Kashmir has got a
breather, with the controversial Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig finally resigning. He had earlier triggered a rift between the
coalition partners, when Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad decided to retain Baig
as the Finance Minister in his reshuffled Cabinet, ignoring a request by PDP Chief
Mehbooba Mufti to take away the Finance portfolio from him. Mehbooba accused the State Congress leaders of meddling in the internal affairs of
the PDP and trying to break the coalition partner. Nevertheless, CM Azad was quick to act and convinced both
Mehbooba and his predecessor, Mufti
Mohammed Sayeed, that nobody wanted to break the PDP. Baig sensed the mood of Azad and promptly
resigned. But the seeds of intra-party
differences in the PDP have been sown, as Baig has threatened to quit the Assembly and the PDP.
* * * *
Centre-ULFA Talks
Impasse
Uncertainty continues to prevail over the direct talks
between the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Centre, despite the
latter’s decision to extend suspension of the army action against the underground
outfit until September 15. After discussing the issue
with the Peoples’ Consultative Group (PCG), which has been talking to the
Centre on behalf of the ULFA, on Tuesday last, Home Secretary V.K. Duggal said
that the “rough edges are yet to be smoothened”. He warned that the suspension of the army
action would be reviewed if the ULFA indulged in extortion, killing or
violence. The Government wants this assurance in writing, while the ULFA leaders want
release of their top leaders. The
Government is hoping that the ULFA would communicate before September 15, so
that the process of releasing them
is started.
* * * *
Bonanza For
Amarinder
The Congress-Government
in Punjab and its Chief Minister Amarinder
Singh have got a bonanza in the run-up to the Assembly
elections around mid-March. The State
has been adjudged as the “Overall No.1 State” in the country, following a survey
on governance in the States by a leading media group. The award was presented to the Chief Minister
by President Abdul Kalam in New Delhi
last week. The State has also been chosen as “Number One” in agriculture,
infrastructure, budget planning, prosperity and consumer market planning. The
Amarinder Government has been especially complimented for its agriculture and
infrastructure development performances during the last five years. These two have considerably helped the
industries to progress in the State.
* * * *
MP Fastest Moving
State
Madhya Pradesh, until recent known as one of the “BEMARU” (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and U.P.) States for its
backwardness and poverty, has been adjudged
as the “fastest moving State” in the fields of agriculture, infrastructure,
overall development, with its maximum growth rate. The State has also been
placed second in “good governance”, third in “law and order” and fifth in terms
of “physical potentials”. The media
group study had made comparison of the progress
made in all the States from 1991 onwards.
The progress of Madhya
Pradesh has been found to be much faster during 2002-06, when the State
Government gave top priority to the roads, electricity and agricultural
sectors.
* * * *
Opposition To
Delimitation Proposals
As the exercise for the delimitation of constituencies for
the State Assemblies and the Lok
Sabha continues, protests from various political parties and Governments mount.
The latest to oppose the proposals are Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. As per the Delimitation Commission’s proposal, the Telangana region of Andhra would
get an additional 12 Assembly and
one Lok Sabha seats. The number will go up to 119 in the 294-member Assembly, while the number in the Andhra region will
fall to 123 from 134. The proposal has
been opposed by the ruling Congress.
Likewise, in Jharkhand, the Commission
has proposed the reduction of reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes in the
81-member Assembly from 28 to 21
seats. The ST leaders have warned of a
social unrest in the State, if the ST seats are reduced. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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March Poll In 4 States:NEW POLITICAL REALIGNMENTS, by Insaf,29 August 2006 |
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ROUND THE STATES
New Delhi, 29 August 2006
March Poll In 4 States
NEW POLITICAL REALIGNMENTS
By Insaf
Political realignments are once
again on the cards in U.P., Uttaranchal, Punjab
and Manipur, now that the Chief Election Commissioner
has announced Assembly elections in the
four States by mid-March next year. The
BJP-led NDA faces a major threat. Its main constituent, the Janata Dal-United
(JD-U) has advised its units in the poll-bound States to work out their own
electoral alliances and not necessarily
be bound to the BJP. In fact, the JD-U clearly
distinguished itself from the BJP in New
Delhi over the week-end. by asserting
its secular credentials at a meeting of National Executive It declared that it
was opposed to the BJP-led Arjun Munda Government’s move to ban religious
conversions in Jharkhand. Fissures
have been developing between the BJP and the JD-U since George Fernandes handed
over the latter’s presidentship to Sharad Yadav.
These developments are also
beginning to affect the pre-poll scenario in U.P. Even as Chief Minister
Mulayam Singh Yadav highlighted with “great satisfaction” on Tuesday last his Government’s achievements during the past three
years, his main pre-poll worry is the changing mood of his alliance partners
and opponents within his own Samajwadi Party.
Especially, one of his main allies, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Ajit
Singh. The latter has once again hinted at his desire to leave the alliance. In
fact, some Congress leaders have
already initiated moves to work out an electoral understanding with the RLD.
However, Mayawati, who was re-elected last week as the BSP President, continues
to be the main challenger to the Lucknow
gaddi. The Jan Morcha of former Prime
Minister V.P. Singh and Raj Babbar has also been causing worry to the SP. What is more, SP MLAs like Haji Yaqoob
Qureshi, who has emerged as a prominent Muslim leader, are said to be on the
verge of leaving the ruling party for greener pastures.
* * * *
Uttaranchal To Be Uttarakhand
Chief Minister Narain Datt Tiwari
and the ruling Congress in
Uttaranchal have at long last succeeded in getting the name of their new State
changed to Uttarakhand before the upcoming Assembly
polls. Tiwari had strongly advised the
Central leadership to do so before the elections and thereby “respect the
sentiment” of the people who had sacrificed much for the creation of the hill
State. They had specifically fought for
“Uttarakhand” as these hills are called in the ancient Puranas. Most people were upset by the BJP-led NDA Government’s
decision to call the State “Uttaranchal”. The Congress-led
UPA Government at the Centre has now okayed the change under Article 3 of the
Constitution. A Bill, Uttaranchal
(Alteration of Name) Bill 2006 will be sent to the President for referring it
to the State legislature for its consent.
It will then be redirected to Parliament for final approval. The
exercise is expected to be completed by December.
* * * *
PM’s New Deal For Orissa
Orissa,
one of the most backward States in the country, can now look forward to speedier
progress. It has now received the personal attention of
the Prime Minister, thanks to his first ever visit to the State as the PM earlier
this week. Although heavy rains forced him to cut down his visit by a day, Manmohan
Singh has concernedly noted that over 4,500 villages in the State (sasural of his second daughter) are
still not connected by road, over 9,000 habitations are not electrified and
almost 5,000 villages do not have a telephone.
He has promised the State that this “development deficit” will be
overcome and that the Centre will make massive
investment in Orissa (details to be
worked out later) for its development. It will help the State Government to
provide road and telephone connectivity and electrification in each village.
Efforts will also be made to develop all sources of energy, including oil, gas,
coal, biogas and nuclear to ensure accelerated development of the State.
* * * *
Tackling Debt Crisis In States
The States have finally succeeded
in pressuring the Centre to take a
fresh look at their mounting problems in the agricultural sector, tragically
reflected in increasing suicides by farmers. The issue
was raised in various forms in both the Houses of Parliament during the recent monsoon
session. Union Agriculture Minister,
Sharad Pawar patiently replied to several questions and also took serious note
of the special mentions time and again, culminating in a full-fledged debate in
the Rajya Sabha on the penultimate day. Prominent
among the issues that got highlighted
during the debate were rural indebtedness
in totality, relief measures for farmers across
the country and inadequate minimum support price for the foodgrains. Members
from both sides of the House strongly criticized the manner in which the
serious problem was being handled by the Government.
This prompted Sharad Pawar to
announce a series of measures had worked out by the Centre for the States. Hardest
hit States like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Kerala have been promised special packages. Beside, an expert committee has been
constituted to recommend by November 30 ways and means to control rural
indebtedness and provide one-time
relief measures for the farmers and the families of those who have committed
suicides. Earlier, an expert committee, known as the Vaidyanathan Committee had
recommended a Rs.14,000-crore revival package, of which the Centre has decided
to sanction Rs.12,000 crore. In fact,
Sharad Pawar shared with the House an important piece of information. The agricultural
sector would need about Rs. 5 lakh crore of investment if it is to achieve 4
per cent growth, as recommended by the Planning Commission
in its Approach Paper for the Eleventh Plan 2007-12.
* * * *
Desert Into A Sea
Of Disaster
An unprecedented downpour
continuously for six days last week turned a part of Rajasthan’s sprawling
desert, into a sea of disaster, 15 ft deep at several places. Ironically, the flash
floods of the magnitude unheard of in at least 200 years, which claimed nearly
300 lives, came after six years of severe draught. The toll is estimated to be
much higher as rescue workers and Naval divers are searching for bodies in
flooded towns and villages. Most affected were districts of Barmer, Dungarpur,
Banswara and Udaipur.
The situation in Barmer continued to be critical till the time of writing. Hundreds of villagers were missing in the five worst-hit villages in the Barmer
district which remained under 15-20 ft. water for several days. Preliminary loss
from the tragedy has been estimated at Rs.1500 crore. And the State Government
has demanded an immediate package of Rs.400 crore.
* * * *
Gujarat Faces Epidemic
Gujarat
too is hard hit by the unpredictable monsoon misery in three instalments since May
last. After handling the disaster caused by the rainfall, the State Government
is now facing a major health problem.
Water-borne diseases and the latest disease Chikungunya, first
discovered among the birds, has now spread in an epidemic form in several parts
of the flood-hit State. Rough estimate
put the number of people suffering from Chikungunya since May last at
30,000. In Maninagar, Chief Minister
Narendra Modi’s constituency, nearly 5,000 suspected cases have been
reported. The Medical Superintendent of
a hospital in Makwana has been quoted as stating that 50 per cent of the total
cases in the hospital are of Chikungunya, which is now a widespread epidemic.
* * * *
Nathu La & W. Bengal Concern
West Bengal is beginning to feel gravely
concerned over one possible fallout of
the recent opening of the Nathu La for trade with China,
even as the event has brought much joy to the people of Sikkim. The W. Bengal Government now fears that China
may use the Nathu La route to dump large quantities of its cheap products,
posing a threat to the State’s traditional cottage and other industries. This
problem was once faced by West Bengal when Chinese products were dumped in Nepal
and these then found their way into the State.
An alarmed Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee warned a workshop in
Kolkata last week of this possibility
and advised it to undertake programmes for development of micro and small
industries. The threat is greatest to West Bengal’s silk industry. Silk production in China
is highly mechanized and, therefore, cheap.---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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Delimitation Of Constituencies:REDRAWING POLITICAL MAPS OF STATES, by Insaf,23 August 2006 |
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ROUND THE STATES
New Delhi, 23 August 2006
Delimitation Of
Constituencies
REDRAWING POLITICAL
MAPS OF STATES
By Insaf
Several States have mounted protests against the proposals
of the Delimitation Commission for
redrawing their Assembly
constituencies and reviewing seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes. U.P., Uttaranchal, Maharashtra and Haryana have so far loudly taken up
cudgels against the Commission. Several political parties in these States
have challenged the Commission’s criteria
for redrawing the boundaries on the ground of massive
migration of population from the rural areas to the cities. So also the
population criteria for determining the reserved seats for the SC/ST candidates. In U.P., for example, if the seats are to be
reserved on the basis of the population of the Dalits then the entire western
region of the State would be without any reserved constituency.
The Commission’s decision
to ensure that all constituencies for the Assembly
and the Lok Sabha have equal or near equal number of voters has also come in
for sharp criticism by the political leadership. (The total number of seats in
the Assemblies and the Lok Sabha can
be altered only after the 2026 Census because of two Constitutional
amendments). In Mumbai, for example, this criteria for delimitation, has led to
the change of names and areas of all the seven existing Parliamentary
constituencies. Haryana politicians, especially some Congress leaders like the firebrand MLA Karan Dalan, feel
that the present criteria of the Commission
goes against the public interest. Most
constituencies are in a zig-zag manner and proper guidelines need to be framed
for their delimitation according to the population.
* * * *
SC Status To Rai
Sikhs
Rai Sikhs may soon get de jure status of Scheduled Castes,
thanks to the tiring efforts of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, backed by his
wife Preneet Kaur, a prominent member of the Lok Sabha. The Chief Minister made it a poll issue in the recent Ajnala byelection and subsequently
followed it up with the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Both have approved the proposal and forwarded
it to the Ministry of Social Justice, which is expected to take the issue to the Union Cabinet for its nod before a Bill
is moved in Parliament under Article 341(2) of the Constitution. Preneet Kaur is following it up vigorously
with the concerned authorities at the highest level and the MPs in New Delhi. The SC status is overdue to the impoverished
community which needs benefits due to the Scheduled Castes legally.
* * * *
Political Battle In Karnataka
The ongoing political battle in Karnataka is now being
fought in the courts of law. A judicial
magistrate of Bellary
has summoned Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, Home Minister M.P. Prakash and Forest
Minister Chennigappa to personally appear in the court in a defamation case
filed by the BJP MLA and mine owner G. Janardhan Reddy. The charge? The Ministers allegedly called
Reddy “mentally unstable” when he accused of the CM and his colleagues of accepting
bribe of Rs. 150 crore from some Bellary
miners. While Reddy and some other MLAs
of the BJP, a coalition partner in the JD(S)-ruled Government in the State,
have announced they would produce evidence for the bribe on September 7, the
Ministers have filed defamation cases against Reddy in other courts. The court battles are increasingly
threatening to bring down the coalition Government at Bangalore.
* * * *
Insurance For BPL
Families In Rajasthan
Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has initiated yet
another scheme for the welfare of BPL (below poverty line) families. Called
“Panna Dhai Jeevan Amrit Yojana”, the scheme will provide life insurance cover
to nearly 23 lakh BPL families in the State.
The Chief Minister has already given a cheque of Rs.22.23 crore to the
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India as the State Government’s
share to implement the scheme, first of its kind in the country. It provides for assistance
to BPL families on the death or permanent disability of the head of the
family. The insurance policy will pay
Rs.20,000 to the next-of-kin in case of natural death of the insured and
Rs.50,000 on an accident death.
* * * *
Developing Orissa’s Backward Region
Orissa’s Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik is determined to uplift the perpetually backward
Kalahandi-Belangir-Koraput region of the State. He has worked out two schemes
in quick succession after extensively
touring the eleven districts of the region.
The first scheme will cover the districts entitled to additional assistance under the Central Government’s Backward
Region Grant Fund (BRGF) from the current financial year. The second scheme, “Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana”,
is aimed at providing additional funds to critical infrastructure,
electrification, roads and water supply.
A sum of Rs. 600 crore has been earmarked for this project during the
current financial year. The progress of these schemes would be monitored on regular
basis and more funds would be provided, if required, assured
the Chief Minister during his visit to the region.
* * * *
Dry Spell In
Rain-Heavy Meghalaya
This year’s monsoon continues to be incredibly whimsical.
While it has been raining mercilessly
in spells in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra
Pradesh, creating havoc for the populace and property, some other parts of the
country’s south-west areas are in the grip of dry and debilitating spells. The
rain-heavy Meghalaya normally boasts of Cherrapunjee and Mawsyuram as the world’s
wettest places and Guinness record
holders in regard to the rainfall in the world. But this monsoon, Cherrapunjee
has till the time of writing received only one-eighth of the normal
rainfall---only 21 mm as against the average rainfall of 1839 mm during the
month of August. In fact, this has saved
Assam, Tripura and the foothills of
Arunachal Pradesh their annual flood fury!
* * * *
Bihar Prepares For
Drought
Bihar too is presently facing the possibility
of drought this year, since the depression
over the Bay of Bengal has diverted its course bypassing
Bihar. It is shifting to the north-west
direction. Apprehending a grim drought
situation, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has earmarked Rs. 50 crore for the
farmers. He has also announced Rs. 10 per
litre subsidy on diesel purchased for
irrigation. He has advised the farmers
to “save the crops as much as you can”.
In view of the depleted rainfall, paddy had been sown only in 22 lakh
hectares against the target of 37 lakh hectares. In fact, the RJD Chief and Railway Minister
Lalu Prasad Yadav has pleaded for an all-party meet to work out a strategy in
view of inadequate rains this month with the drought conditions already
prevailing.
* * * *
Mumbai’s Dream
Project
Maharashtra capital Mumbai may hopefully turn into a
world-class city like Shanghai by
2020, if the seriousness of Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh about it is any indication. The PMO has taken steps
last week to turn the “dream project” into reality. In a communication to all the Central
Ministries and the State Government it has sought reports on the projects
either in the process or on drawing
board for the transformation of the country’s financial capital. The focus in
the first stage of development will be on redeveloping slums, easing traffic in
the rail system and roads, rationalization of environment clearances,
modernization of sea links and development of the eastern sea front. According to a presentation in the PMO, the
Centre would pump in Rs. 120,000 crore via the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal
Mission (NURM) in the Rs.228,000 project. The amount would be raised through private
equity and public sector enterprises. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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