Round The States

New Delhi, 17 November 2011

Of UP Split & OBC List

ELECTION FEVER RISING

By Insaf

It is a season of election stunts. While Uttar Pradesh is hotting with yatras, accusations and grand plans for its division, the Centre too is warming up. Other than sizing up its prospects in the biggest State, the Congress-led Government has its eyes fixed on the Assembly polls in Uttarakhand and Goa next year.  On Wednesday last, it got the Cabinet’s nod to help woo the Other Backward Classes in about 20 States and Union Territories. Over 70 more castes will be included in the Central list, which will give the people access to benefits of reservation in jobs and education. This apart, it has raised the existing ceiling by including those with an annual income of Rs 12 lakh in metros and in non-metros to Rs 9 lakh—an increase from the  annual income of 4.5 lakh. While it seeks to play ‘messiah’ and promises social advancement to a large section of its vote bank, the Congress is also trying hard to checkmate Chief Minister Mayawati’s master stroke i.e. her Cabinet approving the division of UP into four small States of Poorvanchal (eastern-UP), Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh (central-UP), and Paschim Pradesh (western-UP).

One of the options the Congress is contemplating is proposing the setting up of a second States Reorganisation Commission on grounds that it would help better allocation of Central resources to States. How good will this hold, is anybody’s guess. But, one thing is certain that the Centre has to tread carefully. It is in a catch-22 situation where it will find it difficult to elucidate its stand on the creation of new States. It can neither agree nor reject Mayawati’s proposal. More so, when the demand for Telangana is hanging fire, a resolution by a party leader for carving out Bundelkhand is pending, and its poll ally, the Rashtriya Lok Dal is seeking creation of Harit Pradesh! Can General secretary Rahul Gandhi bail it out? A tall order indeed. But one thing is certain, the coming weeks may see a change in the political debate and aggressive campaigning in UP. Inn round one, Mayawati may just succeed in fending off the focus on misgovernance, much to the chagrin of her opponents.

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Odisha-Centre Row

A tit-for tat battle is brewing between the Odisha Government and the Centre. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said a big no to the Defence Ministry’s request for carrying out various types of ammunition test at its Balasore firing range. This is because the Ministry denied clearance to the  four private port projects on grounds that these were close to Wheeler Island missile testing centre in the State’s Bhadrak and Balasore districts. While Patnaik administration admits that providing permission to Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Proof & Experimental Establishment is important as it is serves the national interest, the Ministry must also look into the State’s interest. Apparently, the DRDO facility, used for over 200 days in a year, has a notified range of 50 km along the coast and another 50 km extending into the sea and seeks permission every three years to use the Balasore range. Patnaik has not only refused to renew the permission but has turned down the Centre’s request to shift the site to two other locations. Will Odisha be able to arm-twist the Ministry and get the port projects approved in exchange?  

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Rajasthan Reshuffle

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is trying to put his house in order.  Plagued by unsavoury controversies, he reshuffled his Cabinet on Wednesday last and inducted six new ministers.  However, the big question is whether these changes will usher in good governance and help him retrieve lost ground. Importantly, the Chief Minister will need to ensure that his new team of ministers, some fresh faces and appointed to appease the Muslim community, provide a vision of development, which has taken a beating since he took over. In the 90s, Rajasthan’s economy was overcoming the label of being one of India’s most backward and sick States —its growth had accelerated with poverty rate reduced and the social sector was making progress. However, the State seems to have slipped into a laid-back approach, putting the spotlight on Congress government for the wrong reasons. The missing nurse Bhanwari Devi’s case, the Gopalgarh police firing, his Forest Minister’s alleged involvement in mysterious death of a woman in Bhilwara etc had the Congress High Command worried. Gehlot is said to have at least three meetings with Party President Sonia Gandhi. Guess, he would have to pull up his socks or else his job may well be on the line.

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Bengal CM’s U-Turn

Maoists in West Bengal have made Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee eat her own words! With the Naxals announcing withdrawal of the month-long ceasefire, the CM has not only had to resume the joint forces operations but do a U turn on her statements. Soon after taking oath as CM, Mamata had shunted out senior police officer Manoj Verma as a “CPM agent” and put him on “compulsory waiting.” However, Verma is back as SP, Counter-Insurgency Force, with the mandate to lead operations in Maoists dominated districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura. This apart, she is keen to hand over the Jangalmahal operations to the very team she had criticised and dismantled. Worse, she has for the first time now admitted that Maoists were behind the Jnaneshwari train disaster in May 2010, in which 160 people had died. Recall, then the Union Railway Minister, Mamata had alleged sabotage and indirectly blamed the CPM for it.  While the administration has been ordered to be on the offensive, it is time that the CM realises that critical time has been lost in trying to score brownie points with the previous CPM regime and going soft on the Maoists. Considerable good work was undone and the Maoists, now described as “worse than terrorists” have fanned out to newer areas!

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Justice In Maharashtra?

Is the saying “Justice delayed is justice denied” apt in the acquittal of the accused in the serial bomb blasts in Malegoan, Maharashtra? There is no ready answer.  While seven of the nine accused were released from jail on Wednesday last and finally got justice, freedom came after five long gruelling years in jail.  They had claimed they were innocent, but the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad had picked up the nine Muslim men within days saying they were SIMI members and had plotted the blasts.  Recall that 37 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the September 2006 blasts in and around the mosque in Malegoan.  The seven were granted bail earlier this month by a special MCOCA court after the National Investigation Agency decided not to contest their fresh applications. The reason is obvious: there was not enough evidence against them. Perhaps, it is time to have a fresh look at the system. For as the legal cell of the Jamiat-Ulama-e-Maharashtra claimed: “The release will send a clear message, No innocent Muslim can be falsely implicated in any case, ever again”!

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)