Round The States

New Delhi, 22 May 2014

Nitish-Maya-Akhilesh

HIGH DRAMA OF QUITTING, SACKING

By Insaf

Reeling from their defeat in the recent Lok Sabha polls, heads have begun to roll in the Hindu heartland: Bihar & Uttar Pradesh. The first of the block was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who ostensibly resigned owning moral responsibility for the poll debacle anointing his confidant maha Dalit Jeetan Ram Manjhi. But not many were fooled by his political manoeuvre namely to avoid a split within the JD(U) with many of his MLAs eying greener pastures by crossing over to the victorious BJP. Indeed, Nitish must have skipped many a heartbeat when BJP’ Bihar Unit Chief Sushil Modi made plain that they could well rule the State. The BJP is only short of 32 MLAs in the 239-member Assembly to dethrone the JD(U) Government. Also, the third triangle in Bihar’s rajneetik (political) tangle RJD’s Lalu Yadav, who too faced a double whammy with both his wife Rabri & daughter Misa loosing the former to old rival, the latter to Lalu’s former trusted Lieutenant Ram Kripal Yadav. BJP’s It remains to be seen whether Nitish Chanakya style master stroke will halt his MLAs from deserting the JD(U) ship. More so, in the backdrop that Nitish’s former buddy and now bête noire Lalu Yadav has extended an olive branch by supporting the Manjhi Government.

Refusing to take the electoral hard knock on the chin, the regional satraps in Ulta-Pulta Pradesh (UP) BSP’s Mayawati and Samajwadi’s Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sacking played out their usual card: foisting blame on all and sundry. Predictably, while Akhilesh gave the marching orders to 36 SP leaders including 32 who enjoyed Minister of State rank in his Government, the BSP supremo dissolved her party’s frontal organization chiefs, zonal and district units’ heads right down to the booth level after posting a zero. Even as Mulayam Singh rued that while laadla (favourite) could only ensure victory of the parivar (family) (five seats) he as CM had sent 20 MPs. Interestingly, both made in India leaders parroted that they would recycle their old caste-creed vote bank politics. Mayawati, focusing on SC/ST & OBCs as also trying to reach out to the upper caste and Mulayam continuing to hoot for the Muslim-Yadav jugalbandi (duet). But in Modi’s development tsunami is this enough to woo the electorate?

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TN Small Skit 

In the season of resignations, AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha too decides to tango notwithstanding that she swept the elections in Tamil Nadu. The temperamental Chief Minister, for reasons best known to her, sacked a Minister within an hour of inducting him in to her cabinet. Certainly not for any indiscipline or that he had ensured victory for his Lok Sabha colleague from his region. But he can take solace in the fact that he was not the only one, three others too were given the marching orders. On the obverse, a Dravidian resignation drama was played out in the South’s first family, wherein DMK supremo Karunanidhi’s son and heir Stalin resigned to take blame for the electoral drubbing, of scoring a big zero.  Predictably, it played out as per norm. The doting father asked his younger son to withdraw it --dashing hopes of his elder sibling Alagiri, who would have been all set to rub salt in the Party’s wounds.  

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Odisha, Sikkim Break Records

As against the sordid stories of resignations, there is jubilation and glorification for two Chief Ministers breaking records. Both Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik and Sikkim’s Pawan Kumar Chamling were sworn in for the fourth and fifth term consecutively. Father Biju Patnaik would be pleased in heaven to see his non-political son Naveen breaking his record of two terms, as well as arch rival congress’ JB Patnaik’s three terms. Getting a thumping majority was cake walk for both Naveen and Chamling and importantly the Modi juggernaut could not stop them in their tracks. The BJD won 117 of the 147-member Assembly and Chamling’s SDF 22 of the 32 seats, elections for which were held simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls. In fact, Chamling is all set to break CPM’s demagogue Jyoti Basu’s record of over four terms in West Bengal, who ruled the State unhindered for 23 years. Guess, both will now vie with each other to make history of becoming the longest serving Chief Ministers as one of their rivals, Modi is now to be firmly ensconced in 7 Race Course Road as India’s Prime Minister and no longer in the reckoning.

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Anandiben Given Baton

The baton has successfully been passed over in Gujarat. After a marathon of 13 long years, Modi, now Prime Minister-designate, made way for the State to have its first woman Chief Minister. Anandiben Patel, his ablest senior-most colleague, responsible for changing the complex structure of the revenue department, as Revenue Minister was sworn in on Thursday last, by Governor Kamala Beniwal. In her acceptance speech, crediting Modi as her mentor and moulding her as a politician, Anandiben has promised to carry forward the work of progress initiated by Modi. While that by all standards is going to be a tall order, she needn’t worry. Modi may have given a fond farewell to the Gujarat Assembly on way to Parliament, his home State will remain close to heart. There would be good reason to believe if one hears of New Delhi having a hotline with Gujarat. 

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Kejriwal’s Delhi Soap Opera

“I will form the Government? I will not?” “I don’t want elections? I want elections?” Sounds familiar, who else but nautankibaaz (dramatist) Arvind Kejriwal, who clearly doesn’t know his feet from the elbow. After eating a humble pie in the Lok Sabha polls the Aam Admi Party chief first called on Lt Governor Najib Jung demanding re-election of the Delhi Assembly. With his pleas falling on deaf ears he again sent desperate sms’s to senior Congress leaders to form the Government. With the latter refusing to bite, he then apologised to the people for his resignation drama post 49 days as Delhi’s Chief Minister. But this is not the end. At another level, to get back on the front pages of newspapers he engineered his arrest by refusing to pay a bail bond of a mere Rs 10,000 in the defamation case against him by former BJP President Nitin Gadkari, notwithstanding that it went against the tenets of law. But alas not many are buying his ‘martyrdom’ of the two-day judicial custody in Tihar Jail. Kejriwal conotates a classic case of cutting the nose to spite the face.--INFA   

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