Round The States

New Delhi, 31 December 2008

Historic Poll In J&K

OMAR TO HEAD NC-CONG GOVT

By Insaf

The Jammu & Kashmir election clearly marks a watershed in India’s democracy. The seven-phase and 73-day free and fair poll exercise has brought the anti-secessionist party, the National Conference back to the helm of affairs. Its President, third generation Abdullah and the youngest Chief Minister today, Omar is all set to form a coalition Government with the Congress, a tie-up first witnessed 20 years ago. NC patriarch Farooq Abdullah will strengthen the party at both the local and national levels.  Former Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed and his pro-separatists People’s Democratic Party, will now sit in the opposition. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which increased its tally from one to 11 seats, is expected to take up grievances of the Jammu region, starting with removing a strong sense of alienation amongst its people viz the Valley. Be that as it may, all political parties in the State need to respect the poll verdict. The people mainly yearn for peace, good governance and all-round development.

The message to the newly-elected people’s representatives couldn’t have been more loud and clear. The high voter turnout, a record 62 per cent despite the biting cold, was a big rebuff to the separatists and their call for poll boycott. Hurriyat leaders such as Syed Gilani, Sajjad Lone and Mirwaiz Farooq have openly admitted that they would need to “rethink strategy”. At the same time, Pakistan too should realize that the Kashmiri has said a big no to gun culture and the cry of ‘azadi’ has been drowned by that for  pani, sadak and bijli.    However, the verdict has a darker side too. There has been a clear polarization of J&K along communal lines. Jammu voters have pitched in for the BJP, instead of the Congress against the backdrop of the violent Amarnath shrine land controversy. Jammu refuses to be taken for granted by the Valley and its leaders any more. The NC and Congress coalition will need to tread carefully.

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NDA CMs To Meet

Chief Ministers and Home Ministers of NDA-ruled States are gathering in New Delhi on January 5, a day before the meeting convened by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, to discuss steps to fight the battle against terror. BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani has convened the meeting not only to formulate a thorough response to the steps taken so far, but to fine tune a common NDA stance. It may be recalled that some CMs had taken exception to the tone of Chidambaram’s letter directing them to do this and that. However, BJP leaders, in consonance with their core constituency, want to be seen ready to do whatever is expected of them to improve national security. Thus, it’s a challenge for the BJP to take along its alliance Chief Ministers, Parkash Singh Badal of Punjab and Naveen Patnaik of Orissa, who are wary like some others of any attempt by the Centre to impinge on the autonomy of the States under the garb of national security. Advani hopes to keep his flock of nine States together at Chidambaram’s meet.

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Peaceful Xmas In Orissa

Christmas in Orissa and importantly in Kandhmal district was calm and peaceful, amidst tight security arrangements. The celebrations were sober in the 60-odd churches and four relief camps in Kandhamal, which had witnessed the worst-ever communal carnage in August-September last year. While it would still take time for complete normalcy to return, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik not only kept his word to the European community of a safe Xmas in the State, but successfully persuaded the Sangh Parivar to call off its bandh that day. This follows investigations zeroing in on Congress Rajya Sabha member and former bureaucrat, Radhakanta Nayak for his alleged role in the conspiracy to kill 84-year-old Swami Lakshamananda Saraswati. The CID is learnt to be preparing a case against Nayak and may even arrest him, notwithstanding his strong denial. Nayak is considered to be the most high-profile Christian political leader in the State. In 2004 he was close to becoming Union Cabinet Secretary during the Deve Gowda regime.

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Mayawati’s Extortion Terror

Birthday celebrations of BSP supremo and UP Chief Minister Mayawati have come under a shameful and scandalous cloud, following the brutal murder of PWD engineer MK Gupta in Auraiya District allegedly by her MLA and his henchmen. The engineer is said to have refused to cough up “Rs 50 lakh” for the party coffers for Mayawati’s birthday, which is celebrated as “arthik sahyog divas” on January 15. Given the popular outrage, the Chief Minister failed miserably to palm off the ghastly act as a case of “departmental rivalry between two engineers.” Eventually she was forced to order the arrest of MLA Shekhar Tiwari and four others. Another MLA and Auraiya district’s BSP President is also accused in the incident, which has provided both the Samajwadi Party and Congress enough ammunition against Mayawati. The two are busy working on a strategy to sharpen the accusation that for the BSP maverick governance is all paise ka khel.  Both have announced their decision to observe Mayawati’s birthday as a “Day of Shame.”

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Massive Loot in Arunachal

Arunachal Pradesh is increasingly facing the challenge of stopping its residents from crossing over to the Chinese side in search of livelihood. While State officials deny any such movement, they admit to cases of ‘crossing sides.” The reason? The Chinese have developed good infrastructure across the Line of Actual Control, whereas border areas in India still lack development and income-generating activities. Of late, the Centre has no doubt woken up to the challenge and a special package has been announced by the Prime Minister. Some 513 habitations along the 1080-km India-China border have been identified for infrastructure development. Roads are to be laid in 22 of 30 border blocks of 10 districts bordering China at a cost of Rs 550 crores. However, the UPA Government at the Centre will need to ensure that funds are not pocketed by those in power. Itanagar and other towns are buzzing with talk of massive loot. Not just that. Rice disbursed under the PM’s relief scheme is, for example, being sold in the open market to the highest bidder. Worse hefty commissions are being brazenly charged.        

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Stalin Will lead DMK

Feudalism continues to flourish in Tamil Nadu. Its ruling party, the DMK zeroed in last week on the successor to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. In fact India’s south is no different from the north. Like the Gandhi family, Karunanidhi is keen to pass on the mantle to his son M K Stalin. Recently, Stalin was elected as the Party’s Treasurer, which makes him number three in the hierarchy after his father, who was re-elected President, and General Secretary K Anbazhagan. It may be recalled that Karunanidhi held the post of Treasurer before becoming President in 1969, following the death of DMK founder C N Annadurai. While Stalin is seen as the heir apparent, he could well lead the party when the time comes. He came into limelight way back in 1976 when he was imprisoned under MISA for a year. Barring 1980 elections, Stalin has had successive wins since 1984. He was instrumental in forming the youth wing in 1980 and was Chennai’s mayor in 1996.---INFA

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