Round The States

New Delhi, 10 November 2011

Gujarat Verdict

WILL MODI BE ITS VICTIM?

By Insaf

Gujarat has hit both national and international headlines. The timing, however, may have gone completely wrong for Chief Minister Narendra Modi. On Wednesday last, as he wooed top business executives in Beijing by selling his State as very different from the rest of India, a court in his home State pronounced a damaging judgement. Of the nine cases being probed post-2002 Godhra riots by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation team, the Mehsana court sentenced a record 31 persons to life in the Sardarpura massacre case on charges of  “murder, rioting and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion…” and fined them Rs.50,000 each. The verdict is being hailed by activists and Opposition as a major breakthrough in terms of justice and an indictment of the Modi Government. In fact, this is the first case in which a large number of people have been convicted for communal violence post Independence. All eyes, rather one expects guns to be trained at Modi after his return from China. The big question is will the verdict be a spoke in the wheel for his grand plans for drawing global investors. Or will he be able to carry the day with his impassioned appeal: “Gujarat offers one of the best locations in the world for investments…it has created an aura of vibrancy in both social and economic life…” Modi, for one, will be praying for the latter.

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Bengal CM Rebuffed

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee’s clout at the Centre is clearly weaning. Her threat of pulling out of the UPA government, its largest ally, was viewed as yet another of her “populist histrionics”. A delegation of TMC MPs’ who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday last, demanding a rollback on petrol and diesel price hike got a royal rebuff. Apparently, New Delhi’s stance came in the backdrop of Mamata’s demand finding no takers amongst the other allies, the DMK, the NCP and the National Conference.   Leaders of these parties clearly distanced themselves from TMC’s criticism that the Congress was not consulting the allies. And, publicly supported the Centre’s contention that global prices determined fuel prices. Worse, the Chief Minister’s plea for a special financial package to help the State tide over acute cash crunch, made little headway with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.  With no assurances coming her way, it would be worth a watch what would be a “disappointed” Mamata’s next move.  

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BJP’s Karnataka Mess

There is both good and bad news for the BJP in Karnataka. The party’s sense of relief over former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa getting bail after spending 25 days in jail would sadly be short lived. For its former Health Minister and ST leader B Sriramalu quit the party and filed papers as an Independent for the 30 November key bypoll in Bellary. Sriramalu, close aide of Bellary baron, G Janardhan Reddy also in jail, has been smarting under the party’s rebuff of dropping him from the Cabinet. The ST leader is expected to give the BJP a run for its money in Bellary. He claims to have the support of the MPs and MLAs from the region, spoiling BJP’s chances.  However, there is a silver lining: the rebel candidate insists he wants the Government to complete its full term and will not try toppling it. Is this in his hands? 

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Uttarakhand Tragedy

The temple town of Haridwar, in Uttarakhand has yet again put the spotlight on the shoddy approach of administration towards crowd management. On Tuesday last, 16 pilgrims were crushed to death and another four succumbed to injuries in a stampede during a ceremony to mark the 100th birth centenary of Ram Sharma Acharya.  While it is still unclear what led to the stampede, (whether a woman tripped and triggered chaos or some pilgrims fainted due to suffocation) shockingly both the district administration and the police were ‘unaware’, leave aside geared to handle the five lakh-odd gathering, said to be the second largest after the Kumbh mela.  Even as they conveniently chose to put the blame on the Ashram authorities for not involving them, they cannot absolve themselves of failing miserably in disaster management—there was no such team on site and that a 10-bedded hospital was incapable of handling the crisis. So far nearly 1,000 people have died in stampede in the past decade. The question is: How many more tragedies will make the authorities get their act together?

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Centre-Orissa Row

The Centre and Orissa government may well be at loggerheads.  The two apparently don’t see eye-to-eye on the handling of the Maoist problem. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is particularly peeved with the recent visit of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and his comment on the “unexpectedly high” civilian and police casualties in the State’s naxal-areas. On Wednesday last, Chidmabaram claimed that the casualties stood at 48 by October-end and could go beyond 50 by the end of the year. Further he advised that Orissa should learn a little more from other States and the Centre and that its administration should gain mastery over the situation. The sermon obviously has upset Patnaik, who promptly claimed that Naxal violence in the State was considerably less compared to last year. “The Centre and other States should learn from Orissa… we are always open to learn if it is beneficial for the people of the State,” was his curt response. While, it will be difficult to predict who is right, one thing is certain: one-upmanship is no solution to the Naxal problem.

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Delhi Lives King Size

Delhi, the Capital city of the country lives life king size!  In 2010 it has added one crore mobile connections, consumed over 1.63 crore cases of liquor and beer and got 5 lakh new vehicles registered. This apart, the ‘Delhi Statistical Handbook 2011’ reveals that the number of cinema halls and multiplexes has increased from 55 in 2001-07 to 129, which host over 90,000 moviegoers and 450 shows every day. Importantly, not only has the rural population declined by 55 per cent in the past decade, the per capita income is up by Rs 13,466 and stood at Rs 1,116,886 during 2009-10. It ranks third with Goa with the highest per capita income of Rs 1,32,719 followed by Chandigarh at Rs 1,20,912.  Interestingly, Delhiites don’t just live it up and blow up money. They also have a sound economic sense as suggests the handbook. Till March 2011, Rs 6,40,993 crore was deposited in 2,608 branches of various  banks.  Whoever said inflation was a killer. ---INFA

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