Round The States

New Delhi, 10 January 2013

Jharkhand IN TURMOIL

Musical Chairs or President’s Rule

By Insaf

Musical chairs or President’s Rule in Jharkhand? A question hotly debated in Ranchi and New Delhi. Predictably, the State has once again plunged into political turmoil. The BJP-JMM Arjun Munda coalition Government, the eighth in 12 years of the nascent State has fallen with  JMM’s Shibu Soren pulling the plug. The reason? Soren wanted rotation of the Chief Minister’s kursi occupied by Munda for the last 28 months. For reasons known to it the BJP declined and recommended dissolution of the Assembly to Governor Syed Ahmed thereby spelling another round of uncertainty in the State gripped by frequent crises. Recall, post elections in 2009 no Party had a majority in the 81-member Assembly. But the BJP and JMM with 18 MLAs each, sewed an alliance along-with the AJSU’s five MLAs’, JD(U) 2 and one Independents totaling 44 MLAs, three above the required 41. Notwithstanding, Munda and Soren have been dethroned from the Chief Ministership thrice by each other with Soren never managing to retain power for more than six months and Munda 30 months. As things stands, the BJP and Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) want fresh polls which has also seen two stints of President rule.. The longest serving Government lasted two-and-half years and the shortest 11 days.

Undoubtedly, this has put arch rival Congress in an advantageous position given that the Party has never formed a Government in the State since it was carved out of Bihar in 2000.  Yet it is in a quandary, should it form the Government with the JMM or recommend President’s rule, even as it holds talks with Soren who is camping in Delhi. While a section of the Party finds the idea of joining hands with RJD and the wife of the former Chief Minister, Madhu Koda, who is in jail over corruption charges, fraught with political risks. Another, believes imposition of President's rule, would allow the Congress to ‘remote-control’ affairs of the State from Delhi. Pertinently, with the Party laying premium on implementation of Central schemes to swell its electoral kitty in the next Lok Sabha polls, a friendly arrangement in Jharkhand could come in handy. All eyes are now on Governor Ahmed on what happens next! Clearly the time has come to rethink the creation of small States with an Assembly of less than a 100 which leads to instability. No new State should be formed without a minimum 150 Assembly to avoid volatility!

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Andhra’s Hate Monger Arrested

In a first of its kind, hate mongrer Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) 42-year old MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi was arrested for making speeches to fan hatred among the Muslims and Hindus. Not once but twice in speeches  in Andhra Pradesh. Most scandalously, he questioned the hanging of Pakistan terrorist Ajmal Kasab for Mumbai’s 26/11 while Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi continues to go scot free for the 2002 carnage. Adding, “if the police was removed for 15 minutes, the 25 crore Muslims would finish the 100 crore Hindus.” Clearly his arrest has put the likes of rabid Hindutva fundamentalists like Bajrang Dal leader Togadia, Lok Sabha MP Adityanath, VHP leaders Ashok Singhal, Sadhvi Ritambhara, Shiv Sena’s Udhav Thackeray, and his cousin MNS’s Raj et al on notice. Alas Owaisi like his ilk, underscores cut throat communalism which has become the hallmark of secular India.

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States For Tough Rape Laws

Finally a ray of hope! States are willing to give a make over to rape and sexual harassment laws as also amending the juvenile Act to 16 instead of 18 years. This follows the brutal gang rape in Delhi which shocked the national conscious. This was the outcome of a meeting of Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of all States by the Union Home Ministry last week. All agreed that they should be higher punishment for gangrape whereby the CRPC and Section 509 of IPC must be amended for speedy trials and the discretion of granting bail should be eliminated. Pertinently, the participants underscored that crime prevention was most important and there should be zero tolerance for such heinous acts. Simultaneously there was need to increase the number of response vehicles and women PCRs should be started after dark. This is not all. There should be a single toll free women helpline. Significantly the Home Ministry emphasized the need to ensure police accountability. All this is very well but the question remains: When will the long pending police reforms see the daylight and how soon will our politicians take to amend the law?

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Thackray’s Bihari Angst Wrong

So much for MNS’ Raj Thackray’s ire against Bihari in Maharashtra. Against the backdrop of Delhi’s gruesome rape which Thackray alleged was a result of Bihari influx in the Union Capital given that Delhi tops the list among cities for increasing crime against women. Worse, even when it comes to his State, he has put the onus on Biharis for various crimes.  However, he is way of the mark. Bihar ranks low in crimes against women compared to other States. According to the National Crime Record Bureau, Bihar accounts for a mere 4.5 per cent, a ninth position in the country of the total women related cases. West Bengal, Andhra and UP are the three top offenders followed by Maharashtra. Clearly MNS Raj Thackrey either does not understand statistics or he needs to eat his words.

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New Guidelines For Tribals

Tribals in nine States Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Himachal have much to cheer about. The Centre has decided to issue guidelines to make the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA) which deals to empower the tribals uniformly applicable. Importantly, the new procedure would allow tribals to control community resources, representation in management of natural resources granting licences for mining lease and ownership of minor forest produce and to get involved in consultations relating to land acquisitions. Besides these PESA guidelines would serve as a precursor to implementation of the Forest Rights Act. What about tackling Maoists terror which is spreading very fast in the States? ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)