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General Election 2014: BEGINNING OF TIES & BREAK-UPS, By Insaf, 16 Jan, 2014 Print E-mail

Round The States

New Delhi, 16 January 2013

General Election 2014

BEGINNING OF TIES & BREAK-UPS

By Insaf

 

The season for alliances and break-ups has begun. With election 2014 a little over three months away, political parties from north to south are working out the mathematics of how they would fare with or without partners. The biggest ‘game-changer State’, Uttar Pradesh with 80 seats has heard the first of opinions to be voiced. On Wednesday last, former Chief Minister and BSP chief Mayawati kicked off her party campaign on her birthday in capital, Lucknow saying she would go it alone and will have no tuck with either the Congress, the BJP or any other party, both at the State and national level. While, she rubbished media reports that BSP was trying to enter into a poll alliance with the Congress, to up its chances against the ruling SP, her announcement is being taken with a pinch of salt. It is being seen more as behenji trying to raise the stakes for an alliance, with the grand old party, which is yet to make up its mind. This, apart the ruling SP too is unsure where it stands with not just the Congress but other parties, barring the BJP.  With its minority vote bank clearly miffed over the Muzzafarnagar riots, chief Mulayam Singh is looking at a ‘third front’ option, making fresh alliances.  

 

On the other hand, in Jammu & Kashmir, the ruling NC-Congress combine is hitting choppy waters. The two partners are contemplating parting ways, if the NC Additional General Secretary Mustafa Kamal is to be believed. In Srinagar, he ruled out a pre-poll alliance with the Congress and said the party would run for all six parliamentary seats on its own. But there was more. Mustafa claimed that the Congress was “eager” for an alliance, but with the NC workers against it, his party wouldn’t want to ‘deceit them and play with their emotions.’ However, the reason may well lie elsewhere for insiders. Apparently, the NC is peeved with the Congress resisting its move to set up new administrative units at blocks, tehsils and sub-divisions. Worse, its partner has joined the opposition BJP and the PDP chorus against it. But with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah dead keen on setting these up, NC’s threat of no truck may well be pressure tactics to get the Congress to toe line. After all, Abdullah is quoted as having said he “knows what resources to use at which time to fulfil my mission.” Down south, ruling AIADMK has too said it will chart its future sans the Congress and the BJP, both ‘undependable’! While the winter cold fails to ebb, the election scene in States is sure hotting up.

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Incredible India Unwelcome For Tourists

So much for India’s ad campaign ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ welcoming tourists to incredible India. Sadly, this dictum was turned on its head when a 51-year-old Danish national was gang-raped by over eight men in broad daylight at knife point for over five hours near New Delhi Railway Station on Tuesday when she was returning to her hotel in the vicinity. Worse, the men took away all her money and valuables. So far 15 people have been arrested as suspects. If this is bad news, more appalling was another incident down South, wherein an 18-year-old German tourist was molested in a moving train from Mangalore to Chennai. The perpetrator was a 22-year-old Bihari. Happily, her perpetrator has been arrested. Underscoring as never before that notwithstanding the Nirbhaya case and stringent laws against rape accused, Indian men still have to learn how to treat women fairly.

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Nitish’s Bribery Sting AAP Style!

The Aam Aadmi Party’s sting against corruption seems to have bitten Bihar’s Nitish Kumar too. He too has decided to wage a war sleaze, and already 576 officers have been booked and hooked in less than two months. Pertinently, despite his break-up with BJP over its Prime Ministerial candidate Modi, Bihar Chief Minister has also taken a leaf of his Gujarat counterpart’s book by beginning video conferencing with DMs and SPs in the presence of top officials. Reiterating zero tolerance against bribery he emphasized that he could not revoke suspension of corrupt officers who are contesting their cases in court with government money. Add to this, the DMs have been given more powers to deal with corruption cases whereby they would no longer require Government sanction to prosecute. Alongside the State Government plans to post more police and civil personnel at district levels as also strengthening the vigilance department on the lines of the CBI. Will Nitish in his neo-AAP-Modi avtaar succeed?

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Maharashtra Big & Small Cases

The Maharashtra Government has found a novel way to soften public opinion in the State if former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, involved in the Adarsh scam is kept off the hook. With Governor K Sankaranarayanan denying sanction to prosecute Chavan, the CBI has filed an application in the special court to remove his name from the list of accused. It had, however, in 2012 charged him of approving additional floor space in lieu of two flats for his relatives. While Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan will be pleased with CBI’s application, he still needs to take the final call.  But before that, he has decided that 1.46-odd lakh old cases, some claimed to be “minor” against people shall be withdrawn, according to CrPC provisions. Interestingly, majority of the cases are said to be involving charges emanating from participation in social and political agitations, and the punishment at best would not have exceeded more than three months. Thus, the courts would save precious time, is the justification. While there is no denying that those affected would heave a sigh of relief, will it help shift the focus from the big players, is a question likely to be on the Government’s mind. The next few weeks should provide an answer.

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Cherapunji Falls On Dry Days

El Nino has dislodged Cherapunji, the world’s wettest place into a dry area. Notably, the rains story over the last year, underscores that the area received scant rain fall, its driest run in 34 years leaving weatherman worried. The last time, Cherapunji recorded less rainfall was in 1979. Today, nearby Mawsynran holds the wettest place title. While environmentalist pin the blame on large scale felling of trees for limestone mining resulting in many cement plants docking the region, meteorologists disagree and attribute the lack of monsoon to a shift of rain fall from the Bay of Bengal to Central India and the Northern peninsula. In fact, the lack of moisture supply to the North-East has not only resulted in dry Cherapunji but also other wet north-eastern areas. Will lord Indra take heat?----INFA

 

(Copyright, India News and Feature  Alliance)

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