Round The States

New Delhi, 22 October 2009

Fight For Chief Ministership

CONGRESS WINS ASSEMBLY POLLS

By Insaf

What was widely expected in the Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh has come to pass, barring a couple of surprises. The Congress has won in all the three States. It is now confidently poised to form Governments in Maharashtra and Arunachal and, hopefully, even in Haryana, where it has failed to get a clear majority. Haryana’s Chief Minister B S Hooda, has not done as well as he was “hundred per cent” sure of doing. Additionally O P Chautala’s INLD has bagged 32 of the 90 seats as against 40 of the Congress. In fact, he is talking of forming the Government. The BJP has fared poorly, it is clearly down, if not wholly out. Raj Thackeray’s MNS once again crucially helped the Cong-NCP alliance. It played havoc with the Shiv Sena-BJP combine by cutting into its support base, as in 2004. The post-poll focus is now on the Chief Ministerships. Maharashtra has at least four claimants. Ultimately, the Congress High Command or, more specifically, Sonia Gandhi will decide.

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War Against Naxals 

Come November, the Naxalites will find the going tough, at least for starters in three States. The Centre, in consultation with the States, is all set to launch its armed operation by paramilitary forces against them. However, it also has two options for the rebels: if they call a halt to violence, it is willing to hold talks or they could opt for the revised surrender policies being offered by State governments. Time, however, is running out as the deployment of forces in six districts along the border of naxal-infested Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra and another tri-junction of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa will be complete by next week. Other than the CRPF, which has been leading the fight against the Naxalites alongwith the State police, the BSF and ITBP are to be involved in these operations. While five battalions of the BSF and two from the ITBP have already reached ground zero in Chhattisgarh, the CRPF has been pulling out some men from Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East to reinforce its strength in the naxal-affected regions for this long-drawn battle.     

Meanwhile, some State Governments are busy revising their surrender policies to entice the rebels to give up arms, which so far was not very encouraging. For example, in Bihar which has 30 of its 38 districts affected by Naxal violence, the State government proposes to follow the Jharkhand pattern. It is expected to raise the maximum one-time financial aid at the point of surrender from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakhs. For laying down of arms, the Naxals shall be offered Rs 3 lakh instead of Rs 25,000. This apart, the Naxals could get other benefits such as bank loans, housing, insurance cover etc. Interestingly, these incentives are over and above the money provided by the Centre for the policies as part of its Security Related Expenditure scheme for the States affected by insurgencies. Nevertheless, one fact stands out. The Jharkhand model has brought limited success so far. Only 18 rebels surrendered between 2006 and February 2009.

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Bombshell In Himachal Cong

Himachal Pradesh is still reeling under the impact of the bombshell tossed by the Congress High Command. Shockingly, Sonia Gandhi and her advisers have denied Union Steel Minister and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s wife the party ticket for the Assembly byelection from Rohru, due on November 7. This when former MP and ‘Rani Sahiba’ Pratibha Singh was the only name proposed at the block level and, importantly, recommended by the district Congress committee. Instead, 10 Janpath has given its blessings to the Chairman of the Block Samiti and estranged Virbhadra loyalist Manjit Singh, who had applied directly to the PCC chief! Indeed, the Singhs, who were already into campaigning and their supporters are shocked by this rebuff. Not only was the choice not made public at the block level, but the apparent reason for the denial appears absurd. On a recent visit, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had raised many eyebrows by urging that family rule was a bad trend for organizational growth and should be ended. Leading Virbhadra Singh’s loyalists to remark angrily: “Look who’s talking”.

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Nagaland Solution In Limbo

Nagaland continues to add to the Centre’s woes. Last week the Union Home Ministry was confident that it had worked out an ‘honorable and acceptable’ proposal to end the decade-old political conflict in the north-eastern State. The political package would offer greater autonomy by way of some more financial powers and additional control over socio-cultural issues. Instead, before it could even put it across the table, the militant outfit, Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) has out rightly rejected any such package. Dubbing it as “another political gimmick,” the Council in a statement last week reiterated its three demands: carrying on unconditional talks, at the highest (Prime Minister’s) level and in a third neutral country. More importantly, it is adamant that there could be no compromise on its demand for Nagalim (Greater Nagaland) and the “unquestionable sovereign right of the Naga people.” Regrettably, the ball is virtually back in New Delhi’s court. 

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Gujjar Trouble In Rajasthan

Rajasthan is heading for big trouble. The Gujjar community has threatened to launch a state-wide agitation for its long-pending demand of being declared as a Scheduled Tribe and accorded reservation. A decision to this effect was taken on Friday last by the All-India Gujjar Sangharsh Samiti, following the Rajasthan High Court staying the five per cent quota given to it and the EBCs (Economically Backward Classes) by the previous Vasundhara Raje BJP Government. The Samiti has realized the Raje Government’s folly-- any quota given to the Gujjars as a special category was unconstitutional. Only a ST status would pass the legality test and that is what the Samiti insists the Government must do. Soon a Maha Panchayat will decide the course of action the Gujjars will take. Recall that last June the Gujjar agitation had lasted 27 days and played havoc with the State’s economy.

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Sunderbans, Yaks Threatened

Imagine no Sunderbans, in the delta of Ganga in West Bengal, and no yaks in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Sikkim and Himachal. An absurd proposition one would say. But no, it could happen. The warning signals are all there. The ice in the Arctic and the Himalayas is melting, thanks to global warming. The water in the seas from colder regions moves to warmer areas like India, causing the sea to rise. As it is, several islands in Sunderbans have already gone under water because of these rising sea levels. Half more of these would go under by 2050, warn studies by Jadhavpur University. As for the yaks, the animals are no longer able to bear the rising temperature in altitudes that were “comfort zones for centuries”. They are being pushed up the Himalayas and scientists at the National Research Centre for Yaks fear that the time is not far when there will be no more comfort zones left for them. Where will the animals go after 30 to 40 years? Your guess is as good as mine! ---INFA

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