Round The States
New Delhi, 18 November 2010
Telecom Disconnect
UPA HANGS-UP ON DMK
By Insaf
In the season of scandalous exposures,
the Congress-led UPA has disconnected its phone lines with ally DMK. By getting
the scam-tainted Union Telecom Minister A Raja to resign over the 2G Spectrum
scam. This follows strictures by the Supreme Court and shocking revelations by
the CAG report accusing the DMK Minister of causing a net loss of Rs.1.76 lakh
crore to the national exchequer. By playing favourites on the factitious plea
that he was only following rules laid down in 2001 (of first-come-first basis)
and adhered to by his predecessor. This, however, was not all. The Congress has
dealt a double whammy by giving the prized ministerial berth to one of its own
Ministers, HRD’s Kapil Sibal. Putting paid to DMK’s patriarch, Karunanidhi,
anointing his poet daughter Kanimozhy as the new Minister. Adding insult to
injury, Karunanidhi’s bete noir, AIDMK’s Jayalalitha, has suo motto offered
unstinted support to the UPA. That Sonia means business is clear from the fact that
she has refused to participate in the grand wedding celebrations in the DMK’s
patriarch family.
Clearly, the Congress’ success in
forcing A Raja to resign, has not only changed political equations within the
UPA but is certain to make a major impact on the Congress-DMK’s seat-sharing
formula for the next State Assembly polls early next year. Sonia Gandhi on her visit to the State last
month sounded the bugle for strengthening her cadres in Tamil Nadu and is busy
holding her cards close to her chest. For
the wily Karunanidhi, the scam could not have come at a more inopportunate time
when he is busy warding off a fresh challenge
from rival Jayalalitha as also trying to cobble together a rainbow coalition to
consolidate various social groups. Given that the Congress forms a key part of
non-Dravidian outfits if it gets enough votes, could make or mar his chances. Topping
this, the DMK Chief has to negotiate his family minefield wherein his sons
Alagiri and Stalin are busy crossing swords to take over the Party reins
post-Karunanidhi. Call it poetic justice or what you may, but ‘wrong number’ is
now writ large on Congress-DMK ties!
* * * *
Karnataka’s Adarsh Scam
The BJP which is sounded the
bugle over the 2G Spectrum/CWG and Maharashtra’s
Adarsh scam is itself engulfed in a corruption inferno in Karnataka. Whereby
its first Southern Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has been accused of
allotting prime land in Bangalore and Shimoga to
his kith and kin besides other Ministers and party functionaries by violating
all land guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court and High Court. Worse, the
Saffron Sangh is now caught in a quagmire: how to defend its Chief Minister and
Government in the State even as it ups the corruption ante at the Centre.
Complicating matters further, the former Chief Minister JD(U)s Kumaraswamy has
threatened to carry his protest to Parliament. All eyes are now on what Party
President Gadkari handles the Karnataka land blaze.
* * * *
Chhattisgarh’s Land Scam
Not only in Karnataka, in
Chhattisgarh too, serious differences have cropped up within the Raman
Singh-led BJP Government over a controversial mega town development scheme.
Senior Ministers and other leaders have questioned various aspects including
land acquisitions of the Rs.815.38 crore Kamal Vihar project to come up on
14,000 acres around State Capital Raipur. Instead, many senior ministers
advocate that before any allocation of land is made, the Government should come
forward with a legislation to protect farm land from being diverted for
industrial use and other purposes. Particulalry as the owners would only get
back 35 to 51 per cent of the total land that had been taken over. Making
matter worse for the Chief Minister the Congress too has joined the anti-
development plan chorus.
* * * *
Bihar’s Poll History
Phew, the last vote for the battle
for the 217 Bihar State Assembly seats will be cast today. But even prior to the
declaration of who sits on Patna’s rajgaddi, the six-phase polling has
recorded a first of sorts in India’s
electoral history. Whereby the voter turnout in the State touched an all time
high of 53%, a jump of 8.61% compared to
the 2005 November State Assembly elections and over 9% since the 2009 Lok Sabha
poll. It matters little as to which political combine will benefit from the
higher voter turnout. Is it a traditional anti-incumbency wave? Is it a vote
for development? All in all, the huge voter turnout has ensured that it would
not be a hung verdict. Clearly, this could spell bad news for the RJD-LJP
combine, prove to be Lalu’s waterloo and have JD(U) Nitish Kumar laughing all the way to the bank.
* * * *
Rajasthan’s Legal Tangle
The RSS has decided to go hammer
and tongs against the Rajasthan Government with its senior leader Indresh Kumar
accused in the 2007 Ajmer
bomb blast sending a legal notice to the Rajasthan Home Minister Shanti
Dhariwal for defamation. Whereby he has charged Dhariwal for “deliberately mis-stating
and distorting” the charge sheet to coerce the investigating agency to toe the
State Government’s line. On its part, an unperturbed Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot made plain that
Kumar would soon be summoned for investigation. A clearly worried RSS which
launched a political campaign on the issue, is now in a fix over finding ways
to legally challenge Kumar’s mention in the charge sheet. It remains to be seen
who wins the legal battle?
* * * *
Church Plays ‘Tourist God’
In God’s own country, it is now
the turn of the servants of God to play God to tourists visiting the State.
Kerala’s Church of South India, a prominent non-Catholic
Christian segment, last week made a debut in ‘home stay’ tourism. Whereby it
plans to tap the tourist potential of various church properties in the lush
green southern tip of India.
Billed as healthy value based tourism,
the church has given a thumbs down to sex tourism which presently takes place
under the guise of home stay. Instead, the Church intends giving tourists
counseling and prayer assistance by the priests to promote inter-action of
different people and cultures to have a calming effect on society as a whole.
Needless to say, a God sent opportunity! ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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