Round The States
New Delhi, 13 October 2010
Karnataka’s Shocking
Politics
GOVERNOR’S
QUESTIONABLE ROLE
By Insaf
Shocking, scandalous and shameful. Strong words. But these
best describe the unprecedented happenings in Karnataka during the past week. Tragically,
all norms have been thrown to the winds. Saddest of all has been the conduct of
the Governor, Bhardwaj. He has virtually converted the Raj Bhawan into the
Congress Bhawan and gone all out to topple the BJP Government by the foulest of
means, ignoring his Constitutional position as the State’s first citizen. Total
loyalty to the Congress bosses in Delhi
seems to be his only concern. His direction to the Speaker initially was wholly
wrong that no MLA should be disqualified before the trust vote. Subsequently,
he tried to prove to be more loyal than the king and hastily recommended President’s
rule causing great embarrassment to the Congress party. He was directed to
retrieve the situation by calling for a second trust vote.
The Speaker, for his part, went to the other extreme by
disqualifying 11 BJP and 5 independent MLAs without following the norms and
procedures of giving a week’s notice to the legislators. That is not all.
Worse, the verbatim record of the first trust vote on Tuesday shows that he did
not put the motion of confidence to the House. Even the procedure of the motion
to vote was not followed. The House was adjourned sine die in utter chaos. The
entire proceedings took 10 minutes flat. A cock and bull canard was
subsequently put across to the media to claim that everything had gone off
smoothly and all was well. Despicable stories meanwhile hang over the
unacceptable conduct of the politicians --- Chief Minister Yediyurappa, Leader
of Opposition and the MLAs. The CM may have eventually won the unprecedented
second trust vote. Nevertheless, all that has come to tragic pass in Bangalore calls for deep
nationwide introspection. Wither Indian democracy? Enough is enough.
* * * *
Bihar’s Criminal
Polls
Criminals continue to rule the roost in politics. Bihar is no exception. In the forthcoming Assembly
elections later this month over 35 per cent candidates in the first phase alone
(21 October) have criminal cases pending against them. These include murder,
attempt to murder, kidnap, extortion, dacoit et al. Worse, all parties have
brazenly chosen candidates whose main credentials are dadagiri and muscle power. The BJP leads with 67 per cent of such
contestants, followed by Paswan’s LJP 63 per cent, JD(U) 46 per cent, Congress
43 per cent, RJD 39 per cent and BSP 38 per cent. This is only in relation to
the first phase of polls. Shockingly, candidates who are behind bars and cannot
contest have got party tickets for their better halves. Not just this. The
RJD-LJP combine has offered 15 per cent reservation to Muslims in Government
jobs and 10 per cent to the poor among the upper castes. A total of 299
candidates, of 622 contesting for 47 seats for first phase have not declared their
PAN card details. Clearly, politics is all about winning the game, by hook or
by crook.
* * * *
Sonia Impact In TN
The Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s assertion of her
Party’s intention “to recapture its distinct identity” on a visit to Tamil Nadu
last weekend has created a flutter in political circles. Making plain that the
time had come to get out of the shadow of its regional ally, the DMK, she
underscored that only the Congress was the party of the future. After helping
the DMK run the Government for nearly a full term, the regional Congress satraps want a change in equation. To
ensure she did not ruffle ally DMK’s feathers, Sonia sugar-coated the Congress
revival by adding “we respect our alliance”. Ostensibly, her rally in Tiruchi
was to celebrate the 125th year of Congress formation and observe
her late husband Rajiv’s birth anniversary but it was clearly a show of
strength and flexing of muscle. The new confidence stems from the fact that the
Party is the most sought ally ahead of the State elections next year and is being
wooed by DMK’s arch rival Jayalalitha’s AIADMK. But it remains to be seen what the
wily DMK patriarch Karunanidhi has to say about this.
* * * *
Tripura’s Women
Power
Women power just got a leg-up in the North East. When
Tripura became the first State out of the eight in the region to reserve 50 per
cent instead of 33 per cent of the seats for women in the urban local bodies.
Tripura is the fifth State in India
after Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and
Himachal Pradesh to provide for 50 per cent reservation for women in local
urban and rural bodies. The elections to the 15 "nagar panchayats"
are politically important for the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist
(CPI-M) led Left Front in the State. The CPM leaders feel that a win would go a
long way in boosting the moral of Marxist cadres in neighbouring West Bengal which is facing tough competition from
Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee.
* * * *
Modi Sweeps Civic
Poll
Hindutva’s ‘poster boy’ Gujarat’s
Chief Minister Narendra Modi has done it again. He swept the civic polls in all six major cities
by securing over 80 per cent of the votes. That too, for the second consecutive
five- year mandate. Proving his detractors wrong, Modi has shown that communal
polarization still works ‘poll numbers’ in the State. His victory is all the
more significant as it comes in the face of charges of the State Government’s
involvement in the infamous Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. Already his
erstwhile Home Minister Amit Shah is behind bars. The results are clearly a big
set back for principal Opposition party Congress who has consistently played
the minority card to regain its lost ground in the State. Needless to say, Modi
continues to be the BJP’s one man army to demolish its rivals.
* * * *
Delhi’s Incredible India
After the brick bats, come the bouquets. Delhi Chief
Minister Sheila Dikshit cannot stop preening over the completion of a
successful Commonwealth Games. Proving all the soothsayers and cynics wrong, New Delhi not only put up
a highly creditable show but more important the Games were terror free.
Notwithstanding the bad press over filthy games village, incomplete stadias,
empty stands sans spectators, glitch in getting tickets sales, sullen citizens
over restriction on movement et al. But by the time, the games went into the
second week, all this was history. India’s medal tally overshot its
record of 30 Golds in the Melbourne 2006 CWG games. The spectacular opening and
closing ceremonies indeed underscored Incredible India. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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