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Not
To Be Published Before 17 June 2017
Round The States
New Delhi, 17 June,
2017
Constitutional Authorities
MORE CORRUPT THAN POLITICIANS?
By Insaf
Has Goa stirred a
hornet’s nest? On Tuesday last, Chief Minister Parrikar proposed an audit of State
electoral officers’ reimbursement claim of Rs 16.86 crore incurred during the
February poll. To Mr Clean, it was “seemingly exorbitant”, as according to him,
the officials had hired vehicles other than those already made available from
various departments for election duty. While this would pass, his observation
at a function two days later should ruffle feathers. He said that for those
two-and-half-months of the poll process, the Election Commission has given this
bill and ‘they were going around in the vehicles”. And then there was a bigger
punch at Nirvachan Sadan. He said: “I don’t like to criticise constitutional
authorities, but when constitutional authorities attain absolute power, they
can become more corrupt than politicians.” And, to buttress his point he stated
that while politicians have to come before people every five years and are
answerable to the media 24/7, “this kind of accountability has to be there
everywhere.”
The Chief Minister
was obviously peeved at the delay in holding of elections in some panchayat
wards after a court order and sought to know who should be held responsible for
the delay? Sadly, to him “there is no accountability of the State Election
Commission. If politicians were responsible for the delay, they would have been
criticised. It is very easy to target a politician,” he went on to make his
point. The remarks would get a lot of cheer from the common man, but then two
wrongs don’t make a right. His run-in with the EC is not new. Last February,
the poll body issued a notice to him (then Defence Minister) over his purported
remarks suggesting bribery for votes during the election campaign. While he
claimed his speech was wrongly translated, the Sadan had rejected it. With his
latest utterances, has Parrikar put his foot in mouth or should he get kudos
for speaking where others would tread to fear. The pow-wow is certainly worth a
watch.
* * * * * *
Tripura State Demand
Tripura too seems to
be heading towards trouble, like the Darjeeling Hills. With elections to the
State due in February, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), on
Wednesday last again raised its demand
for a separate State. It has threatened to block NH 8, (connecting the
land-locked State and the rest of India through Assam) and rail tracks
indefintely from 10th July. The CPM government of Manik Sarkar
smells a rat and warned it will not tolerate a Manipur-like conspiracy. It
claims that just months before the polls, the BJP instigated the Naga group to
block Manipur’s National Highway to embarrass the ruling Congress and come to
power. The plot was successful, and within days the BJP got the months’long road blockade withdrawn! The IPFT
however insists its demand is long-pending and the Tripura Tribal Areas
Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) area, which constitutes 2/3rd
nof the State’s are and has a population of 37 lakhs be upgraded to a State.
Though all parties are against it, all eyes would be on New Delhi. Will the BJP
be able to extract its pound of flesh?
* * * * * *
TN MLAs’ ‘Auction’
Tamil Nadu politics
continues to be bogged down by corruption. A sting operation has opened a can of worms and given the opposition DMK a
handle to mock their counterparts in the Assembly with placards of “MLAsFor Sale”
and putting them up for ‘auction’. The high decibel drama on Wednesday last,
saw leader Stalin demanding dissolution of the House, as he said the February
vote trust was “fixed and bought over”. This, on the basis of the sting
operation carried out by a news channel showing two MLAs openly ‘talking’ of
taking money and gold for votes offered by middlemen of both the Panneerselvam
and Palaniswami camps! While the authenticity of the sting is being questioned
with the MLAs in denial mode, the DMK is set to up the ante. With Congress and
IUML MLAs joining its protest, Stalin has warned it will not let go as the
Government has “lost moral and legal right to continue in office.” Is it a
classic case of the kettle calling the pot black?
* * * * * *
Rajasthan Inefficiency
Rajasthan housing has
a shaky foundation. In fact, a recent case reveals its not only private
builders but government agencies too take the citizens for a ride. The National
Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission came down hard on the Rajasthan Housing
Board as a complainant had his allocation of property cancelled twice in
schemes floated in 1979 and 2007. This forced the Commission to observe: “government
agencies have no right to accept money from the public unless they are ready
with a housing scheme for which allotment can be made within a reasonable time.”
While the Board admitted the 2nd allotment letter was a ‘mistake’,
the Commission viewed it as ‘height of inefficiency.” The Board has now to
allot a flat to the complainant at 2008 previling prices! Worse, the Commission
noted that the Board hasn’t been able to maintain its own record properly, nor
look after the interest of the gullible public, which deposit their hard-earned
money in hope of getting a residential property and keep on waiting for the
same for decades together…” Other Housing Boards please take note.
* * * * * *
Punjab Divergence
The ghost of Punjab
militancy resurfaced bringing differences between alliance partners. On
Wednesday last, when the Punjab Assembly had an obituary reference for “super
cop’ KPS Gill, all 14 MLAs of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) staged a walkout.
But its partner, the BJP wasn’t on the same page and three of its MLAs stayed
put. SAD said ‘Gill killed thousands of of innocent youth and his name must be
deleted from the list’. The BJP felt difference of opinion over the former
DGP’s style of functioning could be there, but there was no denying he brought
peace to the State. Likewise, AAP MLAs refused to join their ally, the Lok
Insaf Party’s two MLAs who too walked out shouting anti-Gill and government
slogans. Understandbly, the Congress Government justified its decision to pay
tributes to Gill, and chose to remind SAD that Badal remained CM for 15 years
‘because of Gill.” Would the allies at least agree on this?
---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
New
Delhi
15
June 2017
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