Round The States

New Delhi, 13 October 2011

UP In Poll Mode

BSP, CONG GEAR UP FOR BIG FIGHT

By Insaf

Uttar Pradesh is rolling into the election mode with great gusto. The ruling BSP, and waiting in the wings, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party are all gearing for the roller coaster ride, Assembly polls due next April. In fact, taking the lead is Chief Minister Mayawati, who has been on the fast track to cleanse her image. Last week, she added two more ministers to her list of sacked BSP leaders. Paying heed to the Lokayukta’s report she removed Higher Education Minister Rangnath Mishra for allegedly acquiring assets disproportionate to his known source of income. In the other case, the BSP supremo did not wait for any report and dismissed Labour Minister Badshah Singh found guilty of land grab. This apart, she has suspended a number of MLAs for their reported involvement either in crime or for anti-party activities. Obviously, this is her way of silencing her opponents who have been targeting her government for corruption and criminalizing of politics from day one. Some, however, see this entire exercise as an  Anna effect. 

As a counter to her strategy, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has sounded the battle bugle. He is all set to launch the Party campaign from November 1, with road shows and mass-contact programme. Other than Rahul, the Congress has asked its Union Ministers to descend on UP to hold media briefings to reel out details of Central funds going waste in the State. This time, however, the young scion has been asked to target the BSP and the BJP in the hope that there could be a post-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party. Meanwhile, the SP MP Akhilesh Yadav, has thrown a challenge to Rahul asserting that the Congress leader is way behind him in the campaign by 1,500 km and 51 Assembly seats. How? The young Yadav claims to have covered the above trail in the four phases of his Kranti Rath campaign! The SP leader, however, claims that the “Congress is no rival” and the main battle is against Mayawati. Does one hear a similar strategy between the Congress and the SP? Of a post-poll alliance. The BSP supremo is bound to throw some light soon.   

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TN  No To PM

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha is unwilling to play ball with the Centre. On Wednesday last, she chose to play to the gallery rather than pay heed to none other than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s request on “continuing support” to the 2000 MW Kudankulam nuclear power project, coming up at Tirunelveli. Jayalalitha has so far maintained that the AIADMK Government would “act respecting the local people’s sentiments.” The project had run into run weather last month with the locals launching an agitation against its commissioning on grounds that the UPA Government has not addressed the crucial safety and livelihood issues. However, even as the PM has sought to ally the fears in his letter to Jayalalitha, the latter has assured her people that she is “one among them on the issue.” The big question is will this stance impact the State’s development and industrialization plans, as warned by the PM. Who will prove right? 

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J&K On Centre’s Platter

Resolution of the Kashmir problem is back on the Centre’s platter, freshly hot. On Wednesday last, the three interlocutors on J&K handed their report to Union Home Ministry. Its recommendations include setting up of autonomous councils in the three regions, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act. While these are said to be an “outcome of interface with over 600 delegations, mass meetings in all 22 districts of the State, and three roundtable conferences of women and cultural activists, scholars”, a crucial input from the real troublemakers, the Separatists has drawn a big zero. The two factions of the Hurriyat had boycotted the team, putting a big question mark on its mandate—of finding a political settlement to the J&K problem. The Centre is expected to take up the report at an all-party meeting to find the elusive consensus. However, all eyes shall be on the Omar Abdullah Government. Will it accept the report, given the fact that its advice for reverting back to the pre-1953 status, wherein the Centre had jurisdiction only over three subjects—Foreign Affairs, Defence and Communications—had not been recommended and was not on the agenda? 

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Punjab Withdraws Bills

The Punjab Government has sought to play safe rather than be sorry. Last week, its Home department under Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, withdrew two controversial and “draconian” bills: One, the Punjab Prevention of Damage at Public and Private Property Bill, 2010 which made peaceful protests a non-bailable offence if these were without permission. Two, the Punjab Special Security Group Bill, 2010, which gave sweeping powers and immunity to members of this special police force, set up to combat anti-national forces and provide security to high-risk persons. The Bills had evoked strong protests from human rights groups and the Opposition, on grounds that in a democratic country no one could be above the law and that strikes and agitations was a right guaranteed under the Constitution.   

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Telangana Stir Taking Toll

Power supply and school education is sadly becoming victim of the ongoing agitation for a separate Telangana State. With the Centre refusing to yield, pressure is on the Telangana Political Joint Action Committee (JAC) to review its general strike call, which has been ongoing for over a month. Apparently, six southern States, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Puducherry and of course Andhra Pradesh are slowly heading for a major power crisis. This is so because the power generation at the NTPC Ramagundem plant has decreased drastically as coal production in Andhra has hit an all-time low thanks to the strike. This apart, with schools shut down in Telangana since September 13, children studies have been badly disrupted. While the JAC may be willing to consider reviewing its call viz the schools, it should also consider that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy’s appeal to end the agitation, as it was costing Rs 200 crore revenue loss daily!           

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)