Round The States

New Delhi, 22 November 2007

West Bengal In Flames

CENTRE AWAITS CPM GREEN SIGNAL

By Insaf

West Bengal is in flames over the festering Nandigram issue. The violence spread to the State capital Kolkata on Wednesday last, leading to six army columns staging a flag march. A night-to-dawn curfew was imposed in the plush Muslim-dominated areas of Central Kolkata district including posh Park Street and Ripon Street. Trouble started when activists of the All India Minority Forum clashed with the police, pelted stones and set buses aflame. Unfortunately, the situation went out of hand when the Rapid Action Force was unable to control the violent mob. The AIMF also resorted to road blocks in Howrah, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas. Worse, train services too were affected. The issue also exploded in both Houses of Parliament wherein L.K. Advani demanded that the Centre issue directions to the State Government under Article 355 of the Constitution and Home Minister Shivraj Patil disclosed that this had already been done.

A circumspect Congress, dependent as it is on the Left support, made sure it played safe.  Member after member merely termed the Nandigram turmoil as a national tragedy and asked the Centre and West Bengal to work together to provide compensation to victims. Meanwhile, 15 days after violence-rocked Nandigram, the supporters of the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee are preparing to pay back with renewed force. Their confidence stems from two factors: One, neither the Central Reserve Police Force nor the CPM cadres will stay there for ever. “Who will then protect the people who have made us suffer? We will pay them back in their own coin three times over," stated the BUPC Treasurer, S K Asrafultulla. Two, the people are already organising themselves for another mass movement against the State Government, for trying to uproot the people in the name of industrialisation.

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Karnataka Betrayed Twice Over

Karnataka today resembles the theatre of absurd. Call it a comedy of errors or a farce, but the BJP’s first Southern Chief Minister B.S. Yedyurappa’s tryst with power ended before it actually began. He was forced to resign in less than seven days, that too just minutes before the motion of confidence was put to vote in the Assembly. Thanks to the betrayal, the second time over, in less than a month, by the JD (S) father-son Gowda duo. Worse, if the second honeymoon between Yedyurappa and Kumaraswamy was not bad enough the JD(S) supremo, wily Deve Gowda, tried to play smarter by half. He rushed to New Delhi in the hope of convincing the Congress to ally with him and anoint his favourite son, Revanna, as the Chief Minister. Only to earn a sharp rebuff and suffer the ignominy of being called the “most unethical politician”. Needless to say, the Gowdas' bit off a lot more than they can chew!

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Keen Contest In Gujarat Polls

Gujarat is set to witness a keen contest in next month’s State Assembly polls. Both the principal parties, the BJP and Congress are busy poaching each other’s disgruntled MLAs. The Congress has nominated six BJP rebels among the candidates for the first phase of the Assembly polls on December 11. Not only that. The Party has entered a seat-sharing arrangement with the NCP and CPM by giving them four and one seat respectively, adding to Modi’s discomfiture. However, a confidant Arun Jaitley, BJP in-charge of Gujarat is upbeat about Narendra Modi’s victory the third time over. He told Insaf in a chat that even as the media went looking for anti-Modi stories, the people of Gujarat, specially the women, were busy hooting for Modi as “the only incorruptible, tall mard leader the State had produced in the last 25 to 30 years”. No matter that Partymen who failed to get tickets are putting impediments in the way of their respective parties.

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BJP Dilemma In MP

The ruling Saffron Sangh is in deep trouble in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP is on the horns of a dilemma whether to retain or sack its Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan. The demand for the CM’s resignation is fast reaching a crescendo in the wake of an FIR being filed against him and his wife for alleged corruption by the Special Police Establishment of the Lokayukta under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The BJP can ill-afford to change the CM a fourth time (after Uma Bharti and Babulal Gaur) in the last leg of the Assembly election race. But at the same time it cannot have a stigmatised Chief Minister. Notwithstanding, Chounan’s charge that the FIR has little basis in fact and has been maneuvered by the erstwhile Congress CM. Digvijay Singh to embarrass the party. It remains to be seen who will have the last laugh: the Lokayukta or Chouhan?

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Chinese Intrusion In Arunachal

All is not well in the border States of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. A Congress MP, Nabam Rebia, created a stir in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday last by asserting that both the border States were victims of Chinese incursions. Worse, the Chinese army had demolished a Buddha statue in the Tawang district last month. Not only that. The Chinese disinclination to recognize the Mcmohan Line as the international border had led to a sense of insecurity among the Arunachali people. The matter has since been referred to the Defence Ministry which has been directed to ensure clear demarcation of the Line of Actual Control and tighten its vigil on the border. Resulting in Defence Minister Antony clarifying that the mechanism to address these intrusions were well-established and that he hoped at arriving at a common perception of the LAC so that peace and tranquility would be maintained on the border.

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Hurriyat Leader’s New Demands

The travails of Kashmir continue. Yet another spanner has been added to the long list of spanners on the road to peace. Leader of a breakaway faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has added a new dimension to finding a solution to the Kashmir problem. First, he has grandiosely mooted the proposal for a complete devolution of powers by the Centre to the State Government and that appointment of an independent President and Prime Minister as until 1953. However, Farooq did a somersault within 24 hours when accused of a ‘sell out’ to India and following in the footsteps of Sheikh Abdullah. He then asserted that there could be “no solution within the framework of the Indian Constitution is acceptable.” Shockingly, he then went on to eulogize Gen. Musharraf’s formula providing for demilitarization, open borders, joint management and self-governance “as the best possible solution for the Kashmir issue”. It remains to be seen whether his jarring notes match the emerging new peace realities on the ground.

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The BJP has outdone the Election Commission by coming out with a long list of do’s and don’ts for aspirants for the Assembly poll in Himachal Pradesh. The candidates will have to submit a detailed bio-data on their qualifications, experience, vision, and even specify whether they face any legal case. Not only that. The Saffron Brigade, hoping to wrest power from the Congress, has come out with a four-page nomination form for hopefuls. Talking to Insaf, the BJP General Secretary in-charge of the State, Satpal Jain, asserted: “This will show whether a candidate has the vision and concept." On its part, the ruling Congress too is confidant of winning a comfortable margin. Notwithstanding the deluge of ticket seekers who are making life hell for PCC Chief Vipala Sharma and General Secretary in-charge RK Dhawan. In a first of sorts, veteran State leader and Minister Satpal Mahajan has declined to contest. He told Insaf: “It is time for young leaders to carry the baton forward”.---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 15 November 2007

Nandigram Festering Violence

CPM Reveals Stalinist Streak

By Insaf

West Bengal’s showcase of liberalization with its SEZ, started ten months ago in Nandigram, today resembles a war-ravaged graveyard. It has become a tussle for might and power between the ruling CPM, Congress, Mamata’s Trinamool and the Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Samiti. With one and all, accusing the other of inciting violence. While Mamata, who resigned her Lok Sabha seat in protest, denounced the Stalinist streak of the CPM cadres “capturing” and preventing the CRPF from entering the area, the Left parties accused the State’ s stormy petrel of taking the help of the armed Maoists squads to create lawlessness. For the Congress licking its nuclear deal wounds, Nandigram spells sweet revenge for having put the red brigade in the dock. Not to be left behind, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, L.K. Advani, has demanded President’s rule or imposition of Article 355 in the State. 

Significantly, Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma, showed uncommon courage to publicly indict the State Government for the “unlawful and unacceptable” manner in which the CPM cadres had laid siege and recaptured the villages, turning the district into a “war zone”. He also called upon CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu to help restore peace, confidence and security in the State. Even as the CPM supremo Prakash Karat defends his cadres for their action and justifies “recapture” of the area, the farmers have vowed afresh to drive out the CPM “mercenaries”. No matter that a besieged Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has asked the police to apologize for assaulting intellectuals and artisans led by Medha Patkar and Aparna Sen. At another level, the continuing strife in Nandigram has caused the first crack in the Left Front. The CPM’s partners --- RSP, Forward Block and CPI --- have expressed their unhappiness over their ally’s version of “restoration of peace”, aptly described by I&B Minister P.R. Dasmunshi as “politics of annihilation and revenge”.

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Relief On Rural Debt

The States have much to smile over the Centre’s decision to urgently rework the Rs.17,000 crore relief package on rural debt. This follows the findings of the Radhakrishna Committee on rural indebtedness which has criticized tardy implementation of the Prime Minister’s package for 31 farmer suicide-hit districts in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala. Towards that end, the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister is scheduled to meet shortly to take up specific tangible action points for implementation and finalize a coordinated approach. It would also look into the setting up of the agriculture development fund to finance special agricultural development programmes in 100 agriculturally-distressed districts based on the Radhakrishna report. Also, on the anvil is the creation of a Rs.100 crore fund as a one time measure of providing long-term bank loans to farmers to enable them to repay their debts. All are keeping their fingers crossed in the hope that this will put an end to the agony of the farmers.

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Naga Peace Talks Log Jammed

Nagaland peace talks continue to surprise the nationalists across India and tire out their patience. Aimed at ending the decades-long insurgency in the Naga Hills, the dragging talks with the NSCN-IM General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah do not seem to be making much headway. The Naga rebels are now talking in terms of a “federal” relationship between the federation of Nagaland and India. Rejecting New Delhi’s formula under Article 371-A of giving a special status to Nagaland, Muivah has asserted in an interview to a national daily that his outfit is looking at the Indian Constitution in the area of defence and external affairs to see what parts could be acceptable to them. Muivah’s latest thoughts are disturbing against the backdrop of one major development in the State which has not received the attention it deserves. The NSCN-IM is in de facto power in Nagaland today. As a former CM told Insaf, the rebels are in total control over all matters --- political, economic and financial!

No Third Party In Gujarat Polls

Gujarat never stops surprising. Incredibly enough, the State is poised to emerge as a classic example of a bi-polar polity. Unlike all the other States, it has only two parties in the overall sense of the term. In fact, the polorisation in the society is so complete that the State’s electoral landscape comprises only the Congress and the BJP. The 2002 Assembly elections bear this out. The BJP polled 49.85 per cent of the votes, with 127 seats and the Congress 39.28 per cent of the total votes cast, which gave it a tally of 51 seats in the 182-member assembly. Significantly, there are hardly any “others”. The JD (U) won two seats and the Independents two despite 344 in the poll fray. The other parties including the NCP, Samajwadi Party, BSP, CPM & CPI all drew a blank. Proving beyond doubt that there is little space for a third party.

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UP Congress Breath Of Fresh Air

The Congress in Uttar Pradesh is all set for a make over if its newly appointed General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has his way. For the first time, an AICC leader has acknowledged that the party is in shambles in India’s most populous State which accounts for 80 Lok Sabha seats and where it ruled the roost for over two decades. Moreover, the Gandhi scion, while rejecting both the Samajwadi and the BSP as rivals, stated that the challenge lay within the State party machinery. Shockingly, even the record keeping and membership drive was in total disarray. He voiced serious concern over the inability of the grand dame of Indian politics not only to attract the youth to its fold but also its failure to “connect and represent” the aam aadmi and the poor. It remains to be seen whether this candid breath of fresh air can provide the much-needed aphrodisiac to the comatose UP Congress unit.

Bihar Amidst ‘Development’ War

Bihar is in the throes of a political war on development. What with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his bete noir Union Railway Minister Laloo Yadav firing salvoes at each other to underscore their commitment to progress in the State. While the RJD supremo has accused the State of not providing land for a host of Railway projects, the Chief Minister has countered it by asserting that the State would have to review its commitment for land and water for the proposed mega thermal power plant at Nabinagar in Aurangabad district, a joint venture between the NTPC and the Railways, unless Bihar got at least 10 per cent of the power produced by the plant. Worse, the State Government has red signalled the Railways pet Laloo-Rabri rail link connecting the Railway Minister’s native village with that of his wife. The war continues.

Gandhigiri Gets Divine Touch

Gandhigiri has been given a “divine touch” in a village in Tamil Nadu. Senthapalayam village, close to the infamous Veerappan territory, is perhaps the only village in India that has a temple of the Mahatma. For the last 11 years, the villagers have been praying at this temple where the main ‘deity’ is the two-foot tall idol of Gandhiji and in another enclosure that of his spouse Kasturba. The Mahatma may not have approved of this. Yet, there is no protest from the devout when the local Poossari (priest) performs the sudhangam pooja in which you can hear the name Gandhi instead of a God. Importantly, on Gandhi Jayanti and the Mahatma’s death anniversary special abhishekhams are performed with holy water and even milk. Gandhiji’s angavastramas and towels are changed every day. Gandhigiri indeed! --- INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 8 November 2007

Vigil Against Jehadis

WESTERN BORDER ON HIGH ALERT

By Insaf

Bad news continues to plague Kashmir. If Pakistan’s proxy war in the strife-torn State is ghastly, the declaration of emergency and the ongoing Musharraf-militant tussle for power has led New Delhi to step up vigil in Kashmir to stall the jehadis from sneaking in. Significantly, the entire Western border has also been put on a high alert and additional troops deployed in Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Defence establishment is working on two scenarios. One, that President Musharraf may play both ends against the middle by balancing his crackdown on fundamentalists by increasing support to the anti-India lobby. Two, the jehadis, after falling out of favour with Musharraf, may try to infiltrate into India across the border. Either way, this has added to New Delhi’s Kashmir woes.

Meanwhile, New Delhi has chosen to be realistic in its response to proclamation of Emergency by President Musharraf and imposition of de facto martial law. As a top official source put it candidly: “India is OK with the General so long as he keeps a check on the jehadis.” In effect, it will have no problem living with a General-led Pakistan so long as the authorities there crackdown not only against the militants within Pakistan but also the anti-India groups. The General is known to be targeting Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi and the Taliban. India wants him also to go for Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Both organizations are known to have close links with Al-Qaida and Taliban. However, they also focus their activities against India.

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The BJP couldn’t get a better Diwali gift as it is all set to form its first Government in South India. Political activity is in full gear following Union Cabinet’s decision to revoke President’s rule in Karnataka on Thursday last. Even the former Chief Minister Kumaraswamy’s brother and former JD Minister Revanna and three others withdrawing support has not been able to dampen the high spirits of BJP and JD(S) MLAs. No matter that a weirdly unpredictable sulking Deve Gowda is unhappy with the Centre’s decision and has summoned Kumaraswamy. All eyes are now on the Speaker. What will his verdict be on November 17^th on Deve Gowda’s petition seeking the dismal of Kumarswamy and 38 MLAs for disobeying the party’s whip and forming the Govt with the BJP. That is a million dollar question.

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More Suicides In Vidarbha

More Courts Bring Smiles to States

The States have much to be pleased about. This follows the Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan’s announcement that as many as 7,000 subordinate courts would be set up in the country. Reportedly, this proposal, favourrd by the Centre, would help reduce the increasing backlog of cases. Speaking at the inauguration at the Kerala High Court Day  in Kochi, the Chief Justice disclosed that the accumulation of the cases all over the country till date was 2.56 crore. Thanks to the dearth of courts and not because of delay in the adjudication of cases. The Chief Justice also suggested the need for all judges, including those from the Supreme Court and High Courts to be trained at the National or State Judicial Academy. Clearly, this spells good news for the long list of litigations awaiting justice for years and years, even decades in some cases.

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Elephant Rules The Roost In UP

Trust the UP Chief Minister, Mayawati to make sure that her party symbol --- Elephant -- leaves its jumbo imprint on the State for all times. By conceptualising Project Elephant to counter the much-hailed Project Tiger, she is all set to establish an Elephant Reserve in the State, which has a fairly large elephant population with the tuskers numbering 254. Already, 744 square kilometers area in the “Elephant Corridor” of Saharanpur and Bijnore districts of western UP is to be notified as the Elephant Reserve area. The Reserve plans to focus on protecting the habitat of the tuskers through a close watch, ensuring their mobility and damage control related to man-animal conflict. If nobody else cheers for Mayawati, at least animal activist Maneka Gandhi will hoot for her!
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President’s Rule In Jharkhand?

Demand for the proclamation of President’s rule in Jharkhand is mounting. The Saffron Sangh and the CPI(M) want the “much-maligned” Central rule imposed on the State without further delay. Thanks to the escalating incidents of violence and the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation. Significantly, the Congress, which supports the Koda Government from outside, too is unhappy with the Chief Minister’s inability to curb Maoists and criminal activities. Last month alone, the Maoists killed over 19 villagers in Chilkaridih district, in one of the worst massacres in the State.  Leading to a situation where business and commercial enterprises are finding it difficult to survive. If this continues, Jharkhand may well-replace notorious Bihar as the crime capital of India.

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Karunakaran Makes Congress Wary

Congress old warhorse and Kerala NCP chieftan Karunakaran continues to make his erstwhile parent party, the Congress, wary. The Congress State leadership is busy pulling in all directions and is yet to get its act together on whether or not to allow the leader back in the Party. The KPCC is split is down the middle with one faction led by the Opposition leader Ooman Chandy and its President Ramesh Chennithala opposing the nonagenarian leader’s return. On the other, the Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s confidants are busy holding talks with Karunakaran for his return. Recall, during the State elections, the K-factor played spoilsport for the Congress. Crafty Karunakaran has clearly set the cat among the Congress pigeons.

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Opium Exposes BJP Rivalry

Not only the Congress but its arch rival BJP too is bitten by the jealousy bug. In bibulous Rajasthan, dissidence between the Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh has embraced a new level of intoxication. The Chief Minister’s camp appears to have dragged Jaswant Singh into an unprecedented legal battle. The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Court in Jodhpur last Tuesday ordered the State police to register a case against Singh for allegedly serving milk laced with opium at his lunch last week attended among others by nine rebels, including three Cabinet ministers, two MPs, two MLAs and a former BJP State President. While Singh’s family denies the charge, the BJP is embarrassed with this opium controversy between what is right and lawful and what is traditional.--- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 31 October 2007

Governance Paralysed

KARNATAKA MESS CONTINUES

                         By Insaf                          

Karnataka continues to bleed and suffer --- politically Governance in the State has been virtually paralysed for the past many weeks, thanks to the shenanigans of the politicians, especially the highly discredited Gowda duo of father and son. Imposition of President’s rule on the State on October 9 brought a glimmer of hope for the common people. Yet the mess has continued, this time thanks to the Governor, Rameshwar Thakur, and the powers that be --- the UPA Government and its Congress bosses. Both have been calculatedly dragging their feet in gross violation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution and the judgments of the Supreme Court. Otherwise, a BJP-JD(S) Government should have been sworn-in by now, ending the impasse and the administrative paralysis.

Governor Thakur should have clinched matters once the BJP and JD(S) paraded 129 MLAs in support of Yedyurappa as Chief Minister. But he chose not to do so. Surprisingly, he spoke of “consultations” with the Centre, which were not required. He also spoke about stability and horse-trading. In doing so, he ignored the Supreme Court’s land mark ruling in regard to President’s rule. In the case of S.R. Bommai, a former Karnataka CM, it ruled that whether a Government enjoyed a majority or not was to be decided only on the floor of the House.  Not so long ago, the Supreme Court ruled in the Bihar Assembly dissolution case that the shifting stand of the political parties could not be a ground for dissolution of House.  Basically, the Congress has had one clear strategy. Somehow keep the BJP out and ensure a Congress Government. Or, dissolve the House and order a fresh poll.

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Jharkhand Booms To Naxal Terror

Naxal terror struck Jharkhand last week with ghoulish vengeance. Killing 18 people including former Chief Minister Babu Lal Marandi’s youngest son Anup. Dressed in CRPF khakis, they opened fire at the end of a football tournament in Chilkhari village in Giridih district. Not only did they cock a snook at the joint operations being conducted by the Bihar and Jharkhand Governments to flush them out but this is the first time that the Red Brigade has targeted main line politicians. Specially against the backdrop that the local polity have accepted Naxalites as an inseparable part of the system at the grassroots. So much so that poll-time boycott calls by the extremists are often “bought off” by candidates, whatever their party affiliation.  Clearly, this holds ominous portends for the polity as Marandi was the only leading politician in the forefront of the anti-Maoist campaign in the State.

Nandigram Erupts Again

After a lull of a few months Nandigram once again erupted in violence last week and turned in to a war zone with battle lines drawn between the Trinamool Congress and the Left parties. Four CPM supporters were killed in a bomb blast and gun shots were reportedly fired at the convoy of the Trinamool Chief, mercurial Mamata Banerjee. Predictably, this sparked off fresh trouble all over the State. With accusations and counter-accusations flung against each other by CPM leaders and Mamata. Trinamool activists retaliated by blocking roads and railway tracks in large parts of Hubli and also gave a bandh call, which paralysed the whole State. Making most of the war of words between the two political rivals, the Bhumi Uchchhed Prattirodh Committee paralysed large parts of East Midnapore by calling a bandh.

Nitish Hits Laloo’s Come Back Plan

Bihar once again resonated to the sounds of ‘Jab tak samose mein aaloo, tab tak Bihar mein Laloo’ as the former Chief Minister of Bihar and the Railway Minister and RJD Chief held a massive Chetna Rally in the State. This was Laloo Yadav’s first trip to his home State after his defeat in the 2004 Assembly polls. A worried Laloo left no stone unturned to make this rally a resounding success to mark his arrival back in the State politics. Many special trains ferried people from all over the State and the neighbouring areas for the rally held in the Capital, Patna. The NDA Chief Minister Nitish Kumar didn’t take things lying down either. He announced his Government’s decision to reserve 50 per cent seats in the three layers of the panchayati raj system for the most backward castes’ and thereby not only consolidated his socio-political base but also hit Laloo’s comeback plan hard.

UNPA To Mulayam’s Defence

The newly-formed UNPA has come to the defence of beleaguered Samajwadi Chief Mulayam Singh in his controversial disproportionate assets case. Calling it a “politics of revenge,” the TDP Chief and Convener of the anti-Congress front Chandrababu Naidu accused the Congress of being vengeful and victimizing the Samajwadi supremo and his kin. Notwithstanding the fact that the Supreme Court has issued notice to Mulayam and his family in the assets case after the CBI reportedly found evidence of huge property acquisitions. Needless to say, the action of the premier investigation agency is bound to further widen the Mulayam-Congress rift. Even as the CPI (M) Chief Prakash Karat met with SP leaders to enlist their support for the Left’s opposition to the nuclear deal.

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New Delhi was besieged last Monday when 25,000 landless people barged into the Union Capital to demand land rights for the displaced and the landless. Under the banner of Ekta Parishad, they marched on foot from Gwalior to Delhi, taking 30 days. Significantly, the marchers included 250 foreigners from 29 countries. Over Rs. 3 crore to 4 crore was spent to feed, shelter and march the landless poor to Delhi to register their angst with the top powers that be. An anxious Prime Minister responded promptly and successfully prevented the marchers from reaching Parliament Street, the normal venue for rallies and demonstrations. Two committees were grandiosely announced at Ram Lila ground on behalf of Manmohan Singh. One, the National Land Reform Council, headed by the PM himself and two a committee on State Agrarian Relations & Unfinished Land Reforms. With the “solemn promise” that these panels would look into all land-related issues and make appropriate recommendations. It is a moot point whether these committee lollypops will sweeten the bitter lives of the landless!

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Sting Creates Tehelka For Modi

The Tehelka sting has indeed created tehelka for Narender Modi, who is seeking a third term as Gujarat’s Chief Minister. Notwithstanding Modi’s decision to brazen out all exposures with the response: “I will not comment.” The sting operation purportedly quotes the 2002 Godhra riot foot soldiers (Bajrang Dal, VHP and Shiv Sena men) disgustingly boasting about having carried out the killings with State support and having been sheltered by the Administration against the subsequent judicial onslaught.  As the Congress, various regional parties and human rights activist up the ante for Modi’s removal, following the Ahmedabad District Collector “blacking out” the TV coverage, the sting threatens to boomerang on the Congress. Reportedly, it has triggered the polorisation of voters in favour of the beleaguered Chief Minister. Will the polls be ‘hai hai Modi’ or ‘jai jai’ Modi’? Time will tell before too long.---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)