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.
* * * *
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.
* * * *
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?
* * * *
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.
* * * *
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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