Round The States

New Delhi, 24 December 2009

Jharkhand Elections

HUNG HOUSE , INSTABILITY AGAIN

By Insaf

History repeats itself in Jharkhand. A political merry-go-round has begun in the State, wallowing under corruption and instability, yet again. The election results in the State have tragically thrown up a hung Assembly. In the three-cornered contest between the Congress, the BJP and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) none of the parties have managed to reach the magical figure of 41 seats in the 81-member House. While the BJP has taken a beating by winning only 18 seats, as against 30 last time, plus two of ally  JD(U), the Congress is upbeat with its performance of becoming the single-largest block — 25 seats, 14 of its own and another 11 of  its alliance partner Babulal Marandi’s JVM(P). However, former chief minister Shibhu Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has done exceeding well by defying all predictions and bouncing back with 18 seats in its kitty.

In all this poll arithmetic, both the Congress and the BJP are vying for the JMM’s support to form the government. In effect, giving Soren the pleasure of either being the kingmaker, or even the king, fulfilling his aspirations of becoming CM for the fourth time. So far, however, the Congress is in no mood to oblige and instead is considering Marandi for the top post. If this happens the BJP would have no one but itself to blame. It turned away Marandi, reducing itself to half its earlier alliance tally of 36 to 20. Marandi had left the BJP in 2006 following differences and was instrumental in boosting Congress’ performance. Among the other players who will have a say are Lalu Yadav’s RJD with five seats and 13 others, including scam-tainted Madhu Koda’s groupies and wife, Geeta and the All Jharkhand Students Union. Given the scenario, a stable government appears to elude Jharkhand once again.  

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Andhra Continues To Simmer

Andhra Pradesh continues to simmer and boil over the Telangana issue. More so, after the Centre’s “betrayal” on Wednesday last, wherein Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram said: “The situation in Andhra has altered….Political parties are divided on the issue. There is need to hold wide-ranging talks…” A clear turn around from his December 9 statement of Delhi’s decision to initiate the process for a separate Telangana. A furious TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao alongwith Osmania Students Union forthwith called for a 48-hour bandh in the region, already witnessing violence. Simultaneously, Rao resigned from the Lok Sabha with 10 party legislators quitting the Assembly. The pressure on the Congress is doubled as pro-Telangana MPs within its own divided house have threatened to resign and join the statehood movement. How it proposes to come out of the mess is anybody’s guess.  The Congress stands to lose either way.

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Gorkhaland Talks Inconclusive

Peace in the picturesque Darjeeling Hills appears to be short lived. The much-publicised tripartite talks between the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), the West Bengal Government and the Centre in Darjeeling made little headway on Monday last. While both the Centre and the State governments are willing to offer the belligerent GJM a Council “more autonomy and powers”, the Morcha refuses to budge from its demand—for a separate state of Gorkhaland. But, this can happen “only if there is a political consensus,” said Union Home Secretary GK Pillai after the talks. Indication enough that an imminent solution is nowhere in sight. Worse, the GJM will resume its indefinite hunger strike and ensure all government offices are closed. It is now insisting that the next round of talks (the fifth) should be at the “political level.” The West Bengal government is non-committal so far.   

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Bonanza For Four States

The hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, along with Bihar and Orissa are in for a bonanza in the New Year. In the Centre’s plan to convert single-lane national highways into double lanes, the four States will be major beneficiaries. The Union Road and Transport Ministry is awaiting a $ 3-billion loan from the World Bank for the project, under which it has already finalized 3,769 km to be taken up for double-laning. While it has identified an additional 2,600-km under the project, the Ministry has decided to double seven stretches covering 807 km of single-lane highways in Bihar and about 638 km of single lane NH in Himachal. Orissa and Uttarakhand will see 558 km and 448 km of stretches being upgraded respectively. With the WB officials expected to arrive in Delhi this January, many a finger would be crossed for a bumpy-free visit. 

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UP Boils On Sugarcane

The sugarcane price issue has once again spilled over to the streets of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, after it was presumably resolved in Parliament last month. The Congress supported by the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (RKMS) has locked horns with the Mayawati Government and has demanded a cane purchase price of Rs.280/- per quintal apart from a uniform pattern of cane development incentive being given to the farmers by the sugar mills. On Wednesday last, hundreds of farmers from abut 20 districts in the State descended in the capital and staged a dharna at the Cane Commissioner’s office. They have threatened to intensify the agitation if the issue is not resolved. In fact, the show of strength turned out to be a platform for Mayawati bashing as also attacking the Rashtriya Lok Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the BJP for “politicizing” and diluting the cane price agitation.

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No Heavy School bags In Haryana

Heavy school bags would be passé for Class I to Class III students in Haryana if all goes well this coming New Year. In fact, the state government proposes to be among the first few States to take the burden off their kids’ shoulders. The proposal comes under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan programme in Government schools and Haryana will start a pilot project in 40 such schools-- two from each district. Once the model is successful it will be extended to all government primary schools in the State, according to the State project Director of SSA, P K Das. The initiative, he explains includes learning outside the four walls of classrooms, with more fun-filled activities, which will help the child gain knowledge. Classroom activities would be so designed that the students complete all their study-related activities in the school itself and don’t take any work back home. Parents are expected to be roped in to ensure the scheme’s success. ---INFA

(Copyright India News and Feature Alliance)