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Round The States
New
Delhi, 10 September 2015
Left Tango In Bihar
BATTLE ROYALE BEGINS
By Insaf
As the countdown for 2015 biggest political election fight in
Bihar mid-October begins national and state parties are leaving no stone
unturned to win the Vidhan Sabha. The State’s over 6.68 crore voters are having
a field day being vigorously wooed with goodies of cash and kind, all promising
a better tomorrow. The Election Commission is busy making arrangements airtight
in the five-phase poll in 243 constituencies in 38 districts of which 47 in 29
districts are affected by Left wing extremism. Predictably, in this battle
royale already a clash has ensued between allies of the two main groupings
BJP-led NDA and JD(U)-RJD-Congress combine over seat sharing and constituencies.
All busy in maximizing their slice of electoral cake. It remains to be seen
Namo’s jaadu will mesmerize or will Nitish play his third innings?
In this melee, another group has jumped into the fray, six diminutive
Left parties who are trying to project themselves as yet another alternative.
Perhaps, they think the grouping could cash in on a split in votes between the
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-Laloo Yadav-Sonia grand Kurmi-Yadav-Brahmin
alliance and the Amit Shah-Paswan-Manjhi coalition. Moreso, after the founder
of the larger Janata Parivar Samajwadi supremo Mulayam Singh pulled out of partnership.
Notwithstanding, that the Left vote bank has being steadily decreasing, the new
Marxist block might still nibble in to non-NDA votes in some parts of the State
which are expected to witness a close contest. It’s another matter the Left
parties can only boost of lone CPI MLA. A toss between BJP-led NDA’s Janashan (people’s rule) vs JD(U)-RJD-Congress
Dushashan (bad rule).
* * * *
Congress-BJP Tiff Over Floods
The battle lines between the
ruling Congress and fledgling Opposition BJP are hotting up in Assam with
elections looming large next year. The latest tu-tu-mein mein is over release
of Central funds for the flood ravaged North-eastern State
which has affected more than 17 lakh people and destroyed over 2 lakh acres of
farmland across 21 districts. While a hassled Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi
accuses Prime Minister Modi of not remitting relief funds, the BJP in a show of
one upmanship plans to publish a white paper on the monies doled to Assam,
reportedly Rs. 1,425.45 crore under the SDRF. Who is shedding crocodile tears
for political game?
* * * *
Karnataka’s Paper Target
Prime Minister Modi’s pet
project, Swachcha Bharat Abhiyan has got an ardent follower in Karnataka’s
Chief Minister Siddharamaiah. Notably, it is the first State to meet its target
of building one lakh separate toilets for girls and boys in 45000 Government
schools. No matter that over 5344 toilets lying dysfunctional tell another
woeful story: They exist only on paper or teachers use toilets meant for
students resulting in them dropping out of school. Add to this, no attempt is
made to verify their usage. Yet
officials continue to fob queries by citing acute lack of water and a “cultural
mindset of doing their morning constitution in an open field”. This is in sharp
contrast to poor Odisha which has built 6000 functional toilets. A classic case
of ASwachcha Abhiyan!
* * * *
J&K
Leads in Death Penalty
The recent hanging of terrorist Yakoob Menon has
once again ignited the debate over the death penalty with various jurists and
activists voicing their opposition to this ‘inhuman’ action in the 21st
century. In fact, in latest report has suggested the abolishment of death
sentence by quoting the National Crime Records Bureau study which is an eye
opener: the death penalty is highest in Delhi
and Jammu & Kashmir compared to other States. In Kashmir the likelihood of
a murderer being put on the death row is 6.8 times, in Delhi six times followed
by Karnataka and Gujarat with 5.8 times. Shockingly, ulta-pulta Pradesh
sentences the most number to death in absolute terms. Last year, 129 people
were hanged roughly one every third day in the country while 2007 was the
bloodiest year with the most number of death sentences. Deadly figures which
paint a ghastly picture.
* * * *
Meat Ban Ruffles Minorities
The Hindutva brigade is back to
its favourite pass time: minority bashing and protection of the cow. Two
Western BJP-ruled States Gujarat and Maharashtra
have raised the ante of the Muslims. In Ahmedabad, hoardings showing Chief
Minister Anandiben Patel and the Islamic crescent moon and star symbol cite a
Quran verse which exhorts eating beef is bad for health and cows should be
respected as they provide milk & ghee which have therapeutic properties.
Mumbai too has raked up a fresh controversy over the Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation suspending meat sale and shutting slaughter houses for four days in
deference to the Jain’s Paryushan festival during which the community shuns all
root vegetables. What surprises one is that Fadnavis Government is only
following in the footsteps of the erstwhile Congress predecessor who had first
banned meat products in 1964 for two days which was later increased to four
days by the NCP-Congress Government in 2003. Making one wonder whether the
angst is due to the Hindutva party ruling the State. ----INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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