Round The States
New Delhi, 26 November 2016
SP Bonhomie
Shortlived
RLD-JD(U) JOIN
FORCES IN UP
By Insaf
The dust on the ongoing Samajwadi family soap opera seemed
to have settled for the first time since the feud between Chacha-Bhatija Shivpal and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav broke out
two months ago on Tuesday on Monday when the duo shared a public platform for
the IAF spell binding fighter jets landing on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. That
too in the presence of Parivar
supremo Mulayam Singh along-with re-inducted General Secretary Ramgopal Yadav
showcasing unity in poll-bound Ulta-Pulta
Pradesh. It’s another matter that cousins Shivpal and Ramgopal avoided eye
contact all through the function. But it seems this unity was just an eyewash
as on Wednesday at a Party rally in Ghazipur, the bastion of Quami Ekta Chief
criminal Mukhtar Ansari now languishing in jail the Chief Minister was absent.
Instead, it saw the debut of Shivpal’s son Aditya. Recall, the genesis of the
feud was the merger of the Quami Ekta with the Samajwadi, strongly opposed by
Akhilesh.
Meanwhile, an unperturbed Mulayam has rejected talks of
forming a Maha Gathbandhan for the
forthcoming State polls notwithstanding the fissures in the parivar which has
dented the party’s image, more so, after Party Chief Shivpal Yadav intends giving tickets to Ansari and jailed
Amarmani Tripathi’s progenies. Indeed,
BSP’s Mayawati is watching these developments closely specially in the backdrop
of Ajit Singh’s RLD, Nitish’s Janta Dal (U) and BS-4 no option joining hands.
The trio is also busy trying to rope in other local players against the BJP, SP
and Mayawati’s BSP. Clearly, UP is all set to witness a Mahayudh.
* * * *
Lalu-Nitish
Tension?
The demonetisation has resulted in frayed
relations between the ruling JD(U)-RJD in Bihar.
Pertinently, both Nitish and Lalu till yesterday were on the same page on every
issue be it the liquor ban or the formation of an anti-BJP alliance at the Centre,
today have divergent views resulting in tension. The bone of contention are
visible vis-à-vis scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and Lalu opposing the
JD(U)-RLD alliance in UP alongwith projecting a Prime Ministerial face against
Modi in the 2019 elections. While Nitish wants to showcase himself as a
committed leader, Lalu is focusing on emerging as a strong muscular man who
alone can take on the Prime Minister. The ties seem to have hit such a low that
many of the duo’s well wishers have their fingers crossed that the alliance
does not fall apart prior to the State Assembly elections. The Congress is
watching these developments closely and holding its cards close to its chest.
* * * *
Migrants Workers Go
Jobless
Prime Minister Modi’s surgical strike against corruption and
demonetization has hit the migrant labourers hard and left them cashless. Over
15 lakh agriculture workers in Uttarakhand have returned home to UP and Bihar as work has come to a grinding halt. Earning
Rs.9000 per month (Rs.300 per day) the daily wage labourers left home and
hearth in search for better opportunities but thanks to demonitisation they are
returning with empty pockets. Primarily because not only do they have no bank
accounts or identity proofs but worse their employers do not have enough cash to
pay their dues thereby making their future bleak. Nearer Capital Delhi, many
daily wage earners either sit idle at Gurgaon’s Labour Chowk or have to
reconcile to accepting old currency from contractors. To keep body and soul
together not a few eat langer at gurudwaras
and temples. As workers head back to their respective States, their plight
underscores a classic case of moving from the frying pan into the fire!
* * * *
Nagas Turns Black
Into White
In far away Nagaland, the National Socialist Council of
Nagaland-IM insurgents too are busy in saving their old cash which runs into mind
boggling crores. While the IM faction has begun depositing old currency which it
had earned from contractors, Government officials and local businessmen in
banks, the Myanmar-based NSCN-Khaplang is physically shipping its annual income
of over Rs.100 crores to a welter of bank accounts held by businessmen and
other proxies across the border. Recently, the CISF seized over Rs.3.5 crores
cash from a Hisar person in Nagaland’s Dimapur district. Even as former Chief
Minister son-in-law claimed that this was his agricultural income. Primarily,
as tribes living in Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and the Assam hills are
exempt from paying tax on income earned, hence the large sums cannot be
interpreted as black money. Consequently, insurgent outfits are using this tax
loophole thereby adding to the Government’s woes. Scandalously, according to
sources, the NSCN-IM made a budgetary projection of Rs 170 crores for the year
2016-17, notwithstanding the IB pegging the sum at nearly Rs.600 crores. So
much for demonitisation in the North-East.
* * * *
Punjab’s ‘Towering’
Protest
Protesters in Punjab have
hit upon a nouvelle way to get themselves heard – by climbing cellphone towers.
This is a common sight in the poll-bound State Capital Chandigarh, Gurdaspur
and Bhatinda areas where young men who have passed the Teachers Eligibility Test
want the State Government to hire them as teachers. Over the last ten days not
a few are staying, eating, sleeping and performing other bodily functions from
hundred feet above. Till date the Badal Government seems to have turned a deaf
ear leaving the youngsters with no recourse but to go on a hunger strike from
their perch. Taking a cue recently, the
President of the State Nurses and Ancillary Staff Union had to be rescued from
the Bhakhra Canal
in Patiala as
her pleas for regularization of jobs went unheard. Yet in poll season an
unfazzled polity continues to dish out promises of jobs galore. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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