Round The States
New Delhi, 29 May 2014
Article
370 Row
WAR OF
WORDS IN J&K
By Insaf
A war -- of words is going on in
Jammu & Kashmir. The controversial Article 370 is back in the news with a
bang. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has gone into an aggressive mode by taking
on Minister of State in the PMO Jitender Singh’s statement saying that the
process of abrogating the article, which grants special status to the State,
has already begun! “Either J&K won’t be a part of India or Art 370 will still exist… it is the ONLY
constitutional link between J&K & rest of India..” he warned in his
tweet. The Centre, rightly and most seriously should take cognisance of the
choice of words used. Surely, it cannot let it pass because J&K is an
integral part of the country and not a mere constitutional link with “rest of India”. Singh’s
retracting and saying he was misquoted doesn’t help matters’ either. It has
ignited passions both in the Valley and in New Delhi. While Omar’s bête noire Mehbooba
Mufti has joined him by tweeting “…we condemn the statement as there were
apprehensions that the BJP Government will be divisive..”, the RSS has joined
the row, by asking Omar whether the State was his “parental estate”! The
provocation on either side doesn’t appear to be innocuous. There is good reason
for both to hammer it out. The BJP manifesto clearly states that the party
“will discuss this with all stakeholders and remains committed to the
abrogation of the Article.” Has the time come? A debate is a must—sooner the
better.
* * * *
Punjab’s
Special Package?
The bonhomie between the BJP and the
Shiromani Akali Dal over the past decade in Punjab shall be put to test. How soon is the big
question? With its NDA Government at the Centre and its MP Hasmirat Kaur Badal
now Cabinet Minister for Food Processing, the SAD leadership of Parkash Singh
Badal and son Sukhbir is seeing a ray hope of getting that elusive special
economic package for the State. The two ensured they called on Finance Minister
Arun Jaitely and may well have put across their case. The BJP-SAD government had
last year demanded at least a Rs 5,000 crore comprehensive economic package from
the Centre to increase investments to help give a push to the stagnating farm
economy. In addition, it had also sought a special package for the border
areas, to restore industrialists’ confidence in the State. Given that six
districts of the State share the border with Pakistan, the Government sought
that the areas be made special tax free zone. Will the Green Revolution State
be able to extract its pound of flesh finally? New Delhi
will need to tread cautiously as there are many other States, such as Bihar,
west Bengal and Odisha who too are in the
queue.
* * * *
Rumblings In Bengal CPM
Rumblings in West Bengal’s
CPM are growing. With its worst ever rout in General Elections, winning just
two seats, the same as newcomer BJP, the shrill for a change in the party
leadership is indeed louder. According to reports from Kolkata, a rally was
held outside the party’s headquarters with party members, present and expelled
voicing their concern that it faces the danger of getting wiped out from State
politics if it doesn’t get its act together. The Party General Secretary and
Rajya Sabha MP Prakash Karat and State level secretary Biman Bose and former
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee have been at the receiving end. Worse,
other than the rally being against its own leadership, it’s said to be the
first in the history of the CPM, since it was set up in 1964! Instead of taking
stock of the situation, the top brass appears to be shielding itself in the
name of discipline. Speak within the party and not outside, is its answer to
those demanding a change and shown the door. Will the leadership have to go
through more failures to see the writing on the wall or will it yield before it
is really too late?
* * * *
Andhra-Telangana Pow-Wow
The fight between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as feared has
already begun. Even before the two States formally come into being! New Delhi, says TRS
president and Chief Minister-designate K Chandrasekhar Rao, is to blame. On the
other hand, TDP supremo and Chief Minister-designate of Andhra Pradesh accuses
his counterpart of politricking. The bone of contention is New
Delhi’s issuance of an Ordinance asking Telangana to hand over 200
villages to Andhra for the Polavaram irrigation project, across Godavari river, which would submerge the villages and
therefore should be merged with AP. But Rao is clearly unwilling and ensured
that a State-wide bandh in the 10 districts, including Hyderabad brought life to a halt on Thursday
last. Rao insists the Ordinance was ‘unconstitutional’ and that New Delhi should have
consulted the two States at least. He smells mischief as TDP is an ally of the
NDA at the Centre. However, Naidu rubbishes this charge and wonders why Rao
chose to remain silent when the UPA-II took the decision. Surely, this tu-tu mein-mein doesn’t augur well for
the two States. Cooperation rather than confrontation should be their aim.
* * * *
Haryana Gears Up for
Polls
There is no rest for the ruling Congress in Haryana. It can
ill-afford to take a breather after its poor performance in the
recently-concluded General elections. The State Assembly polls, slated for
October, are staring it in the face. Thus, planning for a third consecutive
victory for Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda against odds is on a war
footing. In a recent Cabinet meeting, his team decided it’s best to reach out to
the electorate and give them number of concessions. These include, exempting
families from paying stamp-duty on property transfers, the pension for
ex-servicemen be raised and women who seek loan under self-help groups be
spared duty. Additionally, contractual employees can look forward to
regularisation with a new policy in place. The Opposition may cry hoarse, but
Hooda is confident that these concessions will make the people see his
government’s “good intentions and vote for progress and policies”. And, the
massage has to be sent across the State. Thus Hooda and team have decided to
hold meetings with the party cadres to enthuse them as well as review
development work with officials. Will an early start help?
* * * *
‘Racist’ Delhi
Heartless and racist Delhi—this
is how students and activists from the North-East would describe the nation’s
capital. Harsh but not wrong, one could say, as hundreds gathered outside the
lower courts, Tiz Hazari to protest against the lawyers there who had
reportedly assaulted some youth from the region and their woman lawyer, who is
said to have been molested by a lawyer. The protestors also reached out to the
Bar Council asking that the accused lawyers be revoked. The incident sadly
again highlights how the people from the North-East are seen and treated –
different from the rest of the country! And, just because they have “mongoloid
features”. Recall that in the past, young people from the region have been
harassed and made fun of for their looks, the way they speak and dress up. In
one such incident, an MLA’s son was beaten to death. Did one hear someone say Delhi is a cosmopolitan
city? ----INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
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