Round The States

New Delhi, 11 April 2007

Justice Delivery System

STATES URGED TO REFORM AND MODERNISE

By Insaf

Strengthening and modernization of the justice delivery system in the States appears to be on the fast track, going by the deliberations last Sunday of a joint conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts. The Union Ministry of Law and Justice, which initiated a similar conference in March last year, has now taken a further step for expansion of the infrastructure of the Courts, such as buildings, equipment, software knowledge, resources and human resources facility.  The Ministry has reviewed the existing Centrally-sponsored scheme for the development of infrastructure in the judiciary covering the High Courts and subordinate courts. The expenditure on the scheme is shared between the Centre and the States on a 50-50 basis. Nevertheless, all the States are doing precious little for the subordinate judiciary. Shockingly, they are providing less than one per cent of their budgets for it.

In fact, most of the States find the Tenth Plan (2002-07) allocation of Rs.700 crore for judiciary infrastructure wholly inadequate. As per the latest statistics, there are about 2.85 crore pending cases in High Courts and district courts across the country. Consequently, the conference saw the CMs and the CJs demand a speedy improvement in the Judge-Population ratio along with introduction of new technology. Several suggestions were considered for easing the backlog of mounting cases. Of special interest was one favouring introduction of two shifts in the functioning in the existing courts so as to  reduce the burden on resources. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi impressed all with his latest initiative: His State has already established 50 Evening Courts. What is more, he has finalized plans to establish Technology Courts with facilities for electronic filing system, service of documents and information services.

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Judicial Roadmaps For Relief

Mercifully, most other Chief Ministers have also worked out their respective judicial roadmaps. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, for example, plans to start 50 Fast Track Courts for judicial magistrates in the districts. West Bengal’s Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee proposes to increase the Kolkata High Court’s strength from 50 judges to 58 and establish 200 more magisterial courts. Bhupinder Hooda of Haryana has prepared a ten-year perspective plan to strengthen the judicial system.  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for his part, welcomed the theme of the Conference, “Administration of Justice on a Fast Track”, as he feels deeply concerned “over the huge pendency and backlog of cases in the courts.” In fact, he hoped that “new initiatives will be taken to provide relief to the litigants”. He was glad that the Chief Justice of India, Justice Balakrishna, who was present, was himself committed to the reform and modernization of the judiciary.

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Splintered Politics In U.P.

The first round of the seven-phase U.P. Assembly poll last week and subsequent political developments clearly provide three main indications. One, that the polity in the State is increasingly getting splintered. Two, the caste-based poll seems to be going in favour of Mayawati-led BSP, even though the exit polls at the end of the first phase for 62 Assembly seats in 13 districts in Bundelkhand and south-west regions have predicted improved performance by the ruling Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh. But this cannot be considered as a trend for the future rounds since the areas where the first phase poll was held are known to be Yadav stronghold. Three, the low turnout in the first phase shows the people, especially in the urban areas, are increasingly getting disinterested in the elections as these have boiled down to choose between different sets of scoundrels. Only 45 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in the first phase.

An additional factor for the low voter turnout is that all the three leaders, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Kalyan Singh, being projected as the Chief Ministerial candidates by their parties, the Samajwadi Party, BSP and the BJP respectively are facing CBI probes for their alleged misdeeds during their earlier stints.  Even though the election is expected to throw up a hung Assembly, it looks as if the country’s most populous and politically crucial State would be left with little choice but to be ruled by one of these three aspirants. Mayawati is likely to improve her position as indicated by the BSP’s recent performances in Uttarakhand, Punjab and Delhi. Meanwhile, the Congress continues to cut a sorry figure, notwithstanding Rahul Gandhi’s heavily-hyped road shows and Sonia Gandhi’s limited forays. It has reaffirmed that it is fighting the poll only to play a post-election role in Ministry-making. It hopes to win more than 50 seats in the 403-member Assembly.

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Jolt To Congress In Delhi Too

The Congress party has received another electoral jolt within weeks. Its string of reverses, which started with the Maharashtra civic poll and went on to defeats in the  Punjab and Uttarakhand Assembly polls, has now ended with a jolt in the elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).  Clearly, the party is losing its grip even on the Union Capital, leading to jitters over the next year’s Assembly poll.  On the other hand, the BJP is on the ascend once more. It wrested the MCD from the Congress with a thumping majority, winning 164 of the 272 ward.s. The Congress, which had annexed three-fourths of the seats in the last MCD poll in 2002, just managed a tally of 67. Mayawati’s BSP has recorded an incredible improvement over its performance in the last election. The party has won 17 seats with a big bang, as against 5 last time.  This is bound to help her in the UP poll where she is likely to get the Congress support if her BSP turns out to be the single largest party.

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Congress Revolt In Arunachal

The Congress has suffered yet another setback after a series of electoral defeats: revolt in Arunachal Pradesh. The party’s long-time Chief Minister who had been at the helm for 23 years, Gegong Apang was forced to resign to be replaced by Dorjee Khandu on Monday.  Apang was leading the party with a comfortable majority of 33 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly. In a quiet and well-organised move Khandu upstaged the veteran leader. He rushed to New Delhi with 23 to 25 Congress MLAs, who threatened the High Command that if Apang was not changed they would leave the party and join hands with the BJP to form a Government under Khandu. AICC General Secretary-incharge of the State, Oscar Fernandes rushed to Itanagar alongwith Dasmunshi, and found that only five to six MLAs supported Apang.

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Gas Cracker Project In Assam

Better late than never. Thanks to the patient perseverance of Assam’s Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, the State will at long last get the massive gas cracker project promised to it at the time of the historic Assam Accord in 1985. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone of the Rs.5460-crore project at a new site in Lapetkota near Dibrugarh. Earlier in November 1995, the foundation stone for the project was laid by the then Prime Minister,  Narasimha Rao at Tenghakhat. However, the project could not take off in view of objections by the IAF which has a base nearby. It is now a joint venture project between the Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL), Oil India and the State Government. Gogoi has now promised to have the project completed on a “superfast speed”.  Once complete it would provide massive employment opportunities and improve the State’s economy to a great extent. Importantly, Gogoi has the full backing of Manmohan Singh, who himself represents the State in the Rajya Sabha.

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Quota For Minorities

Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister Karunanidhi has implemented yet another commitment he made in his DMK’s poll manifesto and thereafter in this year’s budget proposals: “Exclusive reservation” for Muslims and Christians in Government services and educational institutions.  The quota distribution in the State out of the 69 per cent reservations the State already has will now be as follows: 30 per cent for the OBCs, 30 per cent for the Minorities Backward Classes (MBCs), 8 per cent for SCs and 1 per cent for STs. The decision has come close on the heels of the Supreme Court’s interim order staying 27 per cent reservation for the OBC students in elite educational institution. Karunanidhi now wants the Centre to muster courage and do whatever it takes to make OBC reservations both legal and constitutional.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 4 April 2007 

U.P. Assembly Poll

HINDUTVA IS BACK IN POWER RACE

By Insaf

The BJP’s Hindutva plank is back on the eve of the crucial Assembly elections in U.P., as the voting for the first round of the seven-phase poll takes place today, April 7.  In its election manifesto, the BJP has made it clear to the voters that the party remains committed to its core ideological concerns and has clarified that these had merely been put on hold because of coalition compulsions. It has reaffirmed its commitment to the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya and declared that if voted to power, the party would make the singing of Vande Matram and the performance of Surya Namaskar compulsory in schools to imbibe a feeling of nationalism among the children.  The party has also stepped up its efforts to reclaim its traditional support base among the upper castes by advocating reservations in Government jobs for the poorer among these sections.

Pre-poll surveys have confirmed broad assessments: the race for power is between the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP), the BJP and the BSP of Mayawati.  In the last Assembly poll in 2002, the SP had won 143 seats in the 403-member House, while the BSP secured 93, the BJP 88, the Congress 25 and others 49.  The Congress itself is not hoping to go beyond 50 seats.  But it is making all-out efforts to ensure the defeat of Mulayam Singh’s SP and is hoping to increase its tally at the cost of the SP. In its poll manifesto, the Congress has clearly stated that its main aim is to strive for a change in the Government.  It has claimed that during the last 17 years of non-Congress rule, the State has come to be known for criminalization of politics, corruption, unemployment, hunger and absence of development.

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OBC Quota Issue Hots Up

The controversy over 27 per cent reservations for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Government-controlled educational institutions of higher learning continues unabated in most States, following the Supreme Court’s interim order. Even some of the UPA partners at the Centre are agitated about the Congress-led Union Government’s failure to have the case argued properly about the quota legislation passed by Parliament. Dismay is not limited only to the Opposition BJP or the Left parties. Important allies like the RJD of Lalu Yadav and the Lok Janshakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan have reacted sharply about the concerned Ministries’ failure. Both the Ministries involved are headed by Congress leaders: Arjun Singh (HRD) and Hansraj Bhardwaj (Law). The pro-reservation leaders are now pressuring the Government to move a review petition and get the stay vacated before the admissions start.

Tamil Nadu and its DMK Government led the revolt among the States. But Chennai allowed its anger to run away its good sense and constitutional responsibility of ensuring law and order by calling for a day-long bandh to protest against the Apex Court’s stay. The bandh called by the State Government, paralysed life in the State simply because it was organized by the ruling party and no one could dare oppose it. Expectedly most of the faculties and students in the various IITs and IIMs have, however, welcomed the Court’s order. Like many educationalists, they too feel that the reservation policy would dilute the standard of higher technical education and compromise India’s best long-term interest.

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Another Bouquet For Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has earned for himself yet another bouquet, this time in giving the women of his State a better deal. Bhopal has become the first State capital to reserve 50 per cent seats for women in the local bodies. The State Assembly has amended the concerned legislations---the Municipal Corporation Act, Municipalities Act and Panchayati Raj Act--- to increase the women’s quota in all the civic bodies from the present 33 per cent to 50 per cent.  The historic amendment would not only provide the women increasing opportunity to participate in governance at the grassroots but also make them to grow faster politically and become stronger. Chouhan has already taken several steps to promote the interests of women. These include the gender-based budgeting, establishment of Mahila Panchayats and deletion of the two-child norm as one of the yardsticks for holding Panchayat posts.

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Orissa is quietly and confidently forging ahead on the industrial and agricultural fronts under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik.  In fact, it is heralding a new era, particularly in the steel sector. The State Government has signed as many as 45 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) during the last three years with leading steel giants at home and abroad. These projects involve a total investment of Rs.1,95,540 crore for an estimated production of 74.65 million tonnes of steel. In a bid to ensure quality manpower for those and other industrial projects, an institute for information technology is being set up at Bhubaneshwar. On the agricultural front, several schemes are being implemented or worked out to ensure adequate irrigation facilities to the farmers. Various steps have also been taken to promote tourism and improve infrastructure in the State.

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Bouquet For Narendra Modi

Political opponents of the BJP may continue to deplore the Narendra Modi Government in Gujarat and leave no stone unturned to paint him as a devil incarnate. However, top economic experts and planners think otherwise. The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, is the latest to compliment Modi. He has appreciated the State’s revenue surplus budget for 2007-08, which has shown a growth rate of 10.2 per cent in the agriculture sector and an overall growth of 12.17 per cent during the 2006-07. The Commission has also praised the State’s water management programme. Importantly, the State’s governance was praised last year for its social sector development schemes by none other than the experts of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. These performances have led the Planning Commission to fix the State’s Annual Plan for the current fiscal year at Rs.16,000 crore. This is 25 per cent more than the last year’s plan.

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Buddhadeb Gets Party Pat

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee can now breathe a sigh of relief from the countrywide criticism against his industrial policy, particularly after the mayhem in Nandigram on March 14. His policy now got not only the party’s stamp but also full support of its Left Front allies, the CPI, RSP and the Forward Block.  These partners had earlier threatened to quit the alliance if the State Government did not change its farmland acquisition policy. Some of his colleagues too were unhappy with the Chief Minister. Importantly, Bhattacharjee has also received full support for his industrial policy at the CPM’s Central Committee meeting in New Delhi on Monday.  The top policy-making body of the party has authorized Bhattacharjee to go ahead with his industrialization plans for the State’s progress.

Meanwhile, farmers in some States have been quick to take cue from the Nandigram episode. Consequently, Maharashtra and Haryana Governments are now facing mounting trouble in the matter. In fact, Mumbai is facing a dilemma, following intense protests by the farmers of Raigad district against the Reliance Group’s 10,000-hectare SEZ project. The ruling Congress constituted a three-member Committee to interact with the farmers. This Committee has warned the Government of a possible repeat of Nandigram in case it chooses to go ahead with the Reliance project. The Haryana Government too is facing a similar threat against Reliance’s SEZ project near Gurgaon. Farmers from five villages in the district are dead set against the plant transfer of 1395 acres of land to the Reliance Industries by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation (HSIIC).---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 29 March 2007

PM, Sonia Calm Mufti

CONGRESS-PDP COALITION STAYS

By Insaf

Sharp and simmering differences between the ruling allies in Jammu & Kashmir, the Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have been sorted out and the threat to the coalition averted for the time being. After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh applied balm to the alliance that had shown signs of collapsing, Congress President Sonia Gandhi in her two meetings with the PDP supremo Mufti Mohammad Sayeed revived the initial political warmth and tried to resolve the growing problems between the two parties to the satisfaction of the Mufti. After his second meeting with Sonia Gandhi, the Mufti stated: “she has taken a lot of interest in solving our problems. I am satisfied…” A much-needed coordination Committee comprising equal number of MLAs from both the parties would be constituted soon in consultation with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for the smooth running of the coalition Government.

In regard to the PDP’s demands for reduction of troops and repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. (AFSPA), the Prime Minister conciliated by promising to set up a Committee of experts, (possibly headed by the National Security Adviser, M.K. Narayanan) to study the security situation in the State and report back within two months. The Army’s inputs would obviously carry weight with the Committee in view of the continuing infiltration. The Army considers deployment in the border districts of the State necessary. However, deployment or replacement by the para-military forces or the State Police in other areas could be left to the civil authorities. The Mufti was told that the question of the repeal or amendment of the AFSP Act was already under consideration of the Centre in the context of Manipur’s demand.

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Caste-Based Poll In U.P.

Uttar Pradesh’s already fragmented politics along the forward, backward and dalit camps is further poised to get divided on caste basis in the run up to the Assembly poll from April 7 to May 8. Several smaller parties have cropped up on caste basis and started talking big in terms for pre-poll or post-poll alliances for power. These parties or groups have given identity to individual castes as represented by Apna Dal, Bharat Vikas Party and Samajwadi Kranti Dal and even Muslim parties. In fact, the floating of the Samajwadi Kranti Dal by Beni Prasad Verma has given a big jolt to the ruling Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh. Himself an MP of the Samajwadi Party, Verma has decided to field 14 candidates on behalf of his new outfit comprising Kurmis who dominate in Bara Banki and Baharaich districts.

Chief Minister Mulayam Singh is leaving no trick untried to woo whichever community he can, now that the Kurmi leader Verma and Jat Ajit Singh have parted company with him.. He has now turned his attention to the Prajapati community, presently a lowly-placed OBC and sought for its recognition as a Dalit community from the Union Ministry of Social Justice. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Mayawati and her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have turned their attention to the upper caste and Muslim votes. Mayawati’s decision to give more tickets to the upper castes and Muslims than to the Dalits, whom the party essentially represented until recently, has considerably improved her chances for grabbing power in the State. In fact, the BSP’s improved position in the race for power has triggered a rush for party tickets and prompted the leader to put her party’s nominations on sale at high prices.

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Bizarre Situation In Punjab

A bizarre situation has developed in Punjab, following the recent formation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Government, led by Parkash Singh Badal. Charges of alleged corruption against the Chief Minister and some of his family members have been framed by a Ropar court for corruption during his earlier stint as the Chief Minister. Several Opposition leaders called for Badal’s resignation, but the Chief Minister described the charges as mere political vendetta. History repeated itself within days. Punjab’s Vigilance Bureau has now registered corruption cases against former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, his Local Bodies Minister Chaudhury Jagjit Singh, former PCC Chief H.S. Hanspal and 16 others in connection with Ludhiana City Centre land scam case. Amarinder Singh has described this a case of political vendetta. Badal has refused to comment.

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Controversial Relief Package

The upcoming poll in UP has proved to be a blessing in disguise for the 1992 Gujarat riot victims. The Centre has suddenly decided out of the blue to grant an ex-gratia payment of Rs.3.5 lakh to the next-of-kin of those killed and Rs.1.25 lakh to those injured. Expectedly, New Delhi’s decision has triggered a controversy. The BJP, which is presently ruling the State, has trashed it as “politically motivated” and brazenly designed to woo the Muslims in the forthcoming poll. The State’s Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, has come forward with a counter demand. He wants a bigger, countrywide package to cover the victims of all Hindu-Muslim riots in the country after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The Union Home Ministry has clarified that relief to all riot victims would be worked out after the Communal Harmony Bill is passed by Parliament, hopefully in the second half of the current budget session

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Rajasthan Bill On Police Reforms

Rajasthan’s BJP Government, led by Vasundhara Raje, has shown some welcome initiative. It has become the first State Government to draft a comprehensive Bill on Police reforms, as directed by the Supreme Court.  Entitled, “A Police Act for 21^st Century”, the Bill is likely to be introduced in the current session of the Rajasthan Assembly. Described as “model bill for like-minded States”, the Rajasthan Government has taken pains to discuss its draft Bill in depth with the representatives (Home Ministers or Chief Secretaries) of the States presently ruled by the BJP or it allies of the NDA, that is Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Orissa and Gujarat. The draft Bill is based on the apex Court’s direction to the State Governments to amend the Police Act of the British times to suit public aspirations in a democratic society.

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Plea For Higher MSP For Wheat

Punjab and Haryana have struck a blow for a better deal for their farmers. Both have asked the Centre for a higher Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat this season. The Centre has fixed the MSP at Rs.750 per quintal. But Punjab wants it raised to Rs.900 per quintal and Haryana to Rs.850. Both the Chief Ministers, Parkash Singh Badal and Bhupinder Singh Hooda have written to the Prime Minister to direct his Minister of Agriculture, Sharad Pawar, to review the MSP fixed recently. Both the CMs have also demanded that the bonus of Rs.100 which the Centre has announced on procurement of every quintal of wheat this season should be merged with the MSP.  Badal has also sought the Centre’s assistance to bail out the State’s farming community which is burdened with enormous debt, reportedly accumulated to about Rs.2,400 crore.

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Science Village In Assam

Distant and largely-neglected Assam will soon have India’s first Science Village, a unique experiment for popularisation of Science in the strife-torn countryside of the State. The village is being set up soon in Jamunagurihat village, about 250 km from Guwahati over an area of 75 acres and at a cost of about Rs.10 crore by an NGO Gramya Jana Bigyan Mancha (GJBM). The village will have a planetarium, botanical garden, heritage park, a wetland project, bird sanctuary, aquarium, science museum, library, auditorium, children’s park and a laboratory. The land has already been bought and the village is scheduled to open by the end of this year, when the first phase gets completed. ---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 22 March 2007

Farm Versus Factories

STATES FOR CHANGE IN SEZ POLICY

By Insaf

West Bengal’s Nandigram, a little known village until recently, has cast a long shadow on the industrialization plans of various States through the establishments of Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Even though the Centre has already cleared more than 400 SEZs across the country, the State Governments are increasingly under pressure from the farmers to reconsider their decisions to acquire farm lands for factories. In the light of the horrendous toll inflicted by police firing on farmers and their families protesting against the acquisition of agricultural land, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has announced not only his Government’s decision to shift the chemical SEZ project site from Nandigram but also to put on hold other projects.  In fact, the CPM partners in the Left Front, presently ruling in Kerala and Tripura and supporting the UPA Government at the Centre, are publicly pressing for a change in the land acquisition policy.

Farmers in Orissa, Maharashtra and Haryana have already taken up cudgels against the decision to acquire farm lands for setting up SEZs. In Orissa, confrontation between the villagers to be displaced and the State Government is growing what with the opposition taking cue from the violence in West Bengal.  They have taken a hard stance against the Tata Steel project to be set up at Gopalpur and also protested against the Aluminium project in Rayagada district. Up in the North, a farmers’ lobby, headed by former Chief Ministers Om Prakash Chautala and Bhajan Lal, has taken up cudgels against Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda for his Government’s decision to acquire farm lands for several SEZ proposals. Similar lobbies have also cropped up in Punjab and Maharashtra, even as trouble is brewing in the other States. Lending strong support is the statement of the IT Czar, Narayana Murthy, from Bangalore opposing farmland for SEZs.

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Rahul’s Road Show In U.P.

Poll activity is picking up feverishly in U.P. for the seven-phase Assembly poll from April 7 to May 8, with MPs from the State and their Central leaders anxiously moving in as Parliament recessed on Tuesday until April 26. While the Central Election Committees of the major parties in quest of power are busy finalizing their lists of candidates, the Congress High Command has finally deployed its “Crown Prince,” Rahul Gandhi to lead the party’s campaign and take charge of the overall strategy. He is all set to hold a series of road shows across the State, starting from the Delhi-UP border. On his first day, he covered the districts of Ghaziabad, Meerut, Muzzaffarnagar and Saharanpur. Many more are on his list as the tempo builds up and other youthful Congress MPs, notably Jyotiraditya Scindia, pitch in. Also on the cards is campaigning by Priyanka Wadra in Rae Bareli and Amethi, Parliamentary constituencies of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission is taking all possible steps to ensure a free and fair poll. Several senior officers, including the Chief Secretary, have been replaced and more transfers are expected to follow. Even district level officers, whose proximity to the ruling Samajwadi Party has been established, are in the Commission’s list for marching orders. According to the EC sources, the transfer list so far has been prepared only for regions which will go to the polls in the first two phases. The new Chief Secretary, Shambu Nath is touring different parts of the State extensively to review the poll arrangements. He has already held a meeting at the headquarters with all the Principal Secretaries. The Commission, on its part, is leaving nothing to chance and is monitoring the security situation in the State closely. It has also decided to appoint for the first time Special Observers, each of whom will be in charge of specified districts

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J&K Crisis Averted

The crisis in the Congress-PDP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir seems to have blown off, at least for the time being, thanks to the Prime Minister’s intervention. Manmohan Singh’s painstaking efforts to convince the PDP supremo Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of the futility of demanding at this stage reduction in troop deployment and withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act seem to have succeeded and the threat of a break-up of the coalition averted, thanks to some face-saving formulae. The PDP top leadership is due to consider the issue finally at its meeting in Srinagar on March 25. Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, on his part, has hardened his stand and ruled out troop reduction which, he believes, would jeopardize peace in the State and so also endanger the lives of its innocent people. Governor S.K. Sinha has trashed the PDP’s diabolical demand as “obnoxious”.

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Naxalite Terror Again

The Naxalite terror is fast picking up again, after about a year’s relative lull, especially in the newly-carved out, tribal-dominated States of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Barely a week after the killing of Jharkhand MP Sunil Mahato and two others, the Naxals gave a deadly twist in Chhattisgarh last week to the ongoing battle between the rebels and the security forces, aided by a local tribal militia, Salva Judum. Surprisingly, they  slaughtered in sleep 55 police personnel in a pre-dawn operation in Dantewada district. The massacre took place in a region where the Government’s writ barely runs, a situation that prompted the Prime Minister to equate the Naxalite threat with terrorism. One wonders how the Naxals managed to enter Dantewada police headquarters, a heavily fortified camp.

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Terror From The Sea

Growing terrorism in the country has taken a new turn. Defence Minister A.K. Antony apprised the Lok Sabha last week of the Jehadis using sea routes for infiltration into the southern States, starting from Kerala. He has identified that marine terrorism, gun-running, drug trafficking and piracy were major threats for the sea boarders. Earlier, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Southern Command, had stressed the need for maintaining a strict vigil in the wake of the threat posed by the extremist elements, aided and abetted by the ISI of Pakistan. Intelligence agencies believe that the sealing of the land borders in the north and the west has forced the terrorists to search out new infiltration routes. Fortunately, the Coast Guard is up and about. It is said to have prepared a coastal security scheme to improve its effectiveness all along the coastal areas.

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Cauvery Rocks Parliament

The Cauvery water dispute continues to bedevil relations between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Mounting bitterness between the two States even spilled over into Parliament earlier this week, constraining the Speaker to adjourn the Lok Sabha for the budgetary session one day ahead of the schedule.  Karnataka Chief Minister Kumaraswamy made a welcome move for a one-to-one talk with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi for hammering out an amicable solution. But the latter has refused to entertain the suggestion, asserting: There is no scope for thought. It may be recalled that the Tribunal’s final award last month had allocated 270 tmc ft of waters to Karnataka and asked the State, from where the Cauvery originates, to release 192 tmc ft of water annually to Tamil Nadu. This led to large-scale violent protests by farmers and several other groups in the Cauvery basin districts of Mandya and Mysore.

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Delhi Civic Body Poll

The election for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on April 5 has attracted greater political interest than ever before. Traditionally, civic polls in the Union Capital have been seeing straights fight between the Congress and the BJP.  But this year’s poll has broken the tradition. Multi-corner contests in almost all the 272 Wards will be taking place. All major regional and other national parties have put up their candidates. Surprisingly even Sharad Pawar’s NCP, which did not send even one Councillor to the MCD House in the 2002 poll, has fielded candidates in 139 Wards and the BSP is contesting 230 Wards. Likewise, the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh has fielded 28 candidates, Janata Dal (U) 17, Janata Dal (S) 7 and the CPI 16. Over 300 candidates from regional parties are also in the fray, which is a record according to the State Election Commission.---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)