Round The States

New Delhi, 23 December 2010

West Bengal Polls

MAMATA FLEXES MUSCLES

By Insaf

With West Bengal Assembly polls only five months away, the Trinamool chief and Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee bluntly told ally Congress that she will call it quits, “if I can’t prove that Central forces are being misused in the State”. Making plain her angst, Mamata accused the UPA of supporting the Left Front. The Prime Minister had failed to heed her 20 complaints against the CPM Government’s misuse of the forces to kill her party cadres. This is not all. To underscore her seriousness the stormy petrel also sounded the bugle of going it alone in the Assembly elections. Towards that end, she flexed her muscle by refusing to hold a joint rally with the Congress against the current spate of violence across the State. The cracks seem to be widening as Mamta feels that the Congress is trying to use her mass support for electoral gain.

The TMC chief is confident of taking on the CPM independently. Her decision seems to be based on her experience of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections earlier this year which allies TMC and Congress fought independently. While the TMC managed to wrest the KMC from CPM's control, the Congress lost even the few seats which it had won in the 2005 civic polls. On its part, the Congress too is not losing any sleep over a possible break-up even as talks of a poll pact are hotly debated. This was evident at last week’s Congress plenary session in New Delhi where many Bengal leaders urged Sonia Gandhi that tie-ups with regional parties should not be at the expense of the Congress. “Alliances with self-respect” seems to be the Congress theme song in West Bengal.

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Rajasthan Under Siege

The genie of reservation reared its ugly head again in Rajasthan. The Gujjars have renewed their demand for a five per cent quota in Government jobs and educational institutions. The cause célèbre is the community’s dissatisfaction with the one per cent reservation ceded by the State Government last year. With the Rajasthan High Court rejecting their claim Wednesday last, the Gujjars made plain their intent to continue their fight till its demand is met. To reiterate their determined resolve they continue to “sit-in” on the rail tracks and the Delhi-Mumbai National Highway in Bharatpur district, disrupting both road and rail traffic. Forcing the authorities to divert several trains and stop bus services for the last few days. Recall, two years ago too, the Gujjars led by Kirori Singh Bainsla blocked traffic from Jaipur to Delhi when they first raised the reservation bogie. A helpless Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has yet again invited Bainsla for talks to find a way out acceptable to all. Will the Gujjars bite?

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DMK Woos Delhi

The cynics can bite dust. The Congress-DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu is intact. Notwithstanding the swirling 2G corruption eddy involving DMK’s former Union Telecom Minister Raja. After keeping his ally Congress on tender hooks, Tamil Nadu Chief Minster Karunanidhi finally broke his silence and asserted: “Our alliance is strong and you cannot break it.” Calling the ongoing CBI probe against Raja and people close to his MP daughter Kanimozhi as “routine affair,” a nonchalant DMK supremo dismissed all talk of the scam having tarnished the Party’s image. A relieved Raja too continued to strike a defiant note. But the AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa remained unimpressed with her bête noire’s rhetoric, and demanded Raja’s arrest. Clearly, with Assembly elections due next year both the DMK and AIADMK chiefs are loosing no opportunity to play to the gallery. Who will have the last laugh?

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Congress’  Andhra Woes

Andhra Pradesh continues to spell bad news for the Congress, twice over. Even as it grapples with erstwhile ‘problem child’ Jaganmohan Reddy’s maneouvers to dent the Party and gain an upper-hand, arch-rival TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu’s fast-unto-death demanding relief package for farmers has added to its woes. Taking no chances the authorities forcibly shifted Naidu to the hospital. But this ignited Party protests in the State’s 23 districts. Seizing the opportunity, Jaganmohan too undertook a 48-hour fast along with 18 Congress MLAs, two Praja Rajyam Party and TDP MLAs. Setting alarm bell in the ruling Congress and raising fresh doubts about the stability of its State Government. As it stands, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has a wafer thin majority in the House of 294 with a total strength of 156 MLAs. A much-harried Reddy enhanced the input subsidy from Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,000 per hectare to farmers and the Centre announced a Rs 400 crore aid. But is this enough to calm the State’s political choppy waters?

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Bihar Adds To Cong Misery

If Andhra is bad, Bihar is worse. The unease and the anger among Congressmen following the Party’s humiliating rout in the State Assembly polls burst open at the Congress plenary session in Delhi last week. Delegates from the State not only raised slogans but also distributed leaflets accusing General Secretary in-charge Mukul Wasnik of sale of tickets, favouritism and nepotism to prop candidates in the polls, all which contributed to the Party’s debacle. True, the Party top brass managed to bring situation under control, but the developments betrayed the feeling of the ordinary Bihar Congressman. Their angst clearly epitomizes that the aam aadmi’s Party still has a long way to go before showing traces of revival in the Hindi heartland.

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North East Eyes Tourists

Nagaland, Manipur & Arunachal notorious for insurgency and violence, are now set to make their mark on India’s tourist map. Nagaland has discovered a Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose link, in an obscure village called Chesezu. Where Netaji stayed and addressed a public meeting as he passed through during word war-II. Interestingly, the place has a peak name after Netaji. Neighbouring Manipur is organising an annual orange festival to entice buyers for nearly 44000 tonnes of oranges which the State produces. It intends being a rival to Maharashtra’s Nagpur which today enjoys the numero uno status of India’s orange capital. Not to be left behind five villages of Arunachal have decided to protect the highly endangered Red Panda by imposing a ban on hunting or capturing of the imperiled Himalayan animal. All three are keeping their fingers crossed and hope to see an influx of tourists. ---INFA

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