Round The States

New Delhi, 2 September 2009

Polls In Three States

MAJOR TEST FOR CONG, BJP

By Insaf

Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh are now in the election mode. And with it the ruling Congress and a shaken BJP will face their first major test, six months after the General Election. On Monday last, the Election Commission announced a one-day poll, October 13, for all the three State Assemblies. Most eyes will be on Maharashtra, where the contest is between the Congress-NCP alliance, which has ruled the State since a decade, and the BJP-Shiv Sena combine. While the former may have smooth sailing, given that it bagged 26 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, it first has to sort out the tricky seat-sharing arrangement. The NCP wants to repeat the 2004 formula wherein it contested 122 seats and the Congress 166. However, the Congress wants many more seats on the strength of its performance in the Lok Sabha, where it won 17 as against NCP’s eight.    Besides this hurdle, the Cong-NCP needs to worry about the emergence of the Third Front, comprising 15 Parties, led by the RPI which could eat into its secular vote in the 288-member Assembly.   

As for the BJP-SS alliance, it appears to be tough going given that both face dissidence. The BJP has to not only contend with the drubbing it got in the Lok Sabha poll but also the intense in-fighting. Likewise, its partner the Shiv Sena too is hit by the rebellion of Raj Thackeray’s MNS, which garnered 8% votes in the Lok Sabha poll. Add to this, the MNS could dent the Sena’s urban base in the 288-member Assembly. In Haryana, the Congress has been in power since 2005 and appears to be confident of retaining power, given that the Opposition – the BJP, INLD and the Haryana Janhit Congress -- is both demoralized and divided. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had calculatedly advanced the Assembly polls and managed to launch a publicity blitz offering sops to farmers, traders, Government employees, pensioners et all before the model code of conduct came into force. The ruling Congress in Arunachal Pradesh is in a comfortable position with 45 of the 60 seats in the present Assembly and both the Lok Sabha seats in its kitty. All eyes will be on October 22, when the results shall be declared.

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New Era In Rajasthan

A new era has begun in Rajasthan and with it the country has achieved another economic milestone. On Saturday last, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dedicated the Mangala oil field to the nation in the Barmer Basin. A joint venture between the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd and Cairn Energy the oil production is expected to peak at 1,75,000 barrels a day in the next two years and will account for 20% of the country’s domestic production. Apparently, Mangala is the largest of the 25 discoveries made by Cairn Energy, which has invested Rs 10,000 crore in the area so far. Its discovery in January 2004 is said to be the largest onshore find in the country over two decades. “This is a very big day and hereafter you can visualize the emergence of Rajasthan,” said an elated Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Chipped in the Union Petroleum Minister, Murli Deora, “Mangala would save 7% of the country’s spending on crude oil import.” Clearly, the Great Indian Desert has a lot more to offer than just tourism!   

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IIMs In Seven States

There’s good news for seven States. The Union Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal has given the requisite push for higher education. On Thursday last, he got the Cabinet’s approval for setting up seven new IIMs. While four of these in Tamil Nadu (Tiruchirappalli), Jharkhand (Ranchi), Chhattisgarh (Raipur) and Haryana (Rohtak) will be set up this year and be functional from the 2010-2011 academic session, the remaining three in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan will come up only in 2010-11. A whopping Rs 451 crore outlay for each IIM has been approved in the 11^th and 12^th Plan. Sibal has something to offer to the North-East as well. Quota benefit to OBC students which was not applicable to the Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council, would now apply to the State’s National Institute of Technology. The ball is now in the court of the seven States to provide the HRD Ministry the requisite 200 acres of land for setting up each of these IIMs.

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Drought Worsens in 11 States

Even as the rain gods have shown mercy on parts of Central India and the southern peninsula during the past week, the drought situation across the country has deteriorated in 11 States. Of the 337 districts, 278 have been declared drought-affected, a whopping 82%. As such over 45% of the total districts in the country are facing drought-like conditions. The 11 States affected are: Uttar Pradesh (58 districts), Madhya Pradesh (37) Assam (27), Rajasthan (26), Bihar 26, Jharkhand (24), Himachal Pradesh (12), Nagaland (11) and Manipur (9). The Union Agriculture Ministry is therefore clearly worried as the shortfall in the paddy sowing has further widened from 57 hectares to over 68 hectares. It can barely derive solace from the fact that the standing kharif crop may have got some relief from the recent rains.

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CPM Woes In Bengal

The CPM’s worries in West Bengal seem unending. At a mammoth rally in Kolkata to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the “Food Movement” in the State on Monday last, veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu more or less conceded the inroads made by rival Trinamool Congress in its vote bank. “There is a need to bring back into the Left’s fold those who went against us in the recent Lok Sabha elections,” he said in a written statement. Clearly, the signs were there once again for the CPM and others to see. The rally had half the strength of supporters --3 lakhs as against the TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s six lakhs show of strength at Esplanade last month. This apart, Basu stressed the need to “correct our mistakes”. His advice to the Party: “Keep reaching out to the people, work to further the interests of the poor and common man and win over their affection.” Isn’t it too late?  

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No Birthday Collections In UP

People in Uttar Pradesh can heave a sigh of relief. Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati has decided there will be no more fund collection for her birthday on January 15. The announcement was made by her at her Party’s national convention held in Lucknow on Thursday last. The collections called “economic cooperation” had invited strong criticism from the Opposition as well as some eminent citizens. In fact, her birthday celebrations under “Arthik Sahyog Diwas” had hit the headlines last year after the murder of a PWD engineer, who had refused to pay the amount demanded. Will Behenji ensure that her diktat is followed? We need to wait another five months! ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)