Round The States

New Delhi, 13 August 2017

                                                                               Gujarat Drama

POLITICAL MORALITY A NO-GO

By Insaf

The high-decibel drama in Gujarat has again put a big question mark on political morality. Undeniably, ethical standards governing the conduct of political competition have taken another severe beating. While Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel can have the last laugh having managed to retain his precious seat in the Rajya Sabha polls, the party must see the writing on the wall. It needs to put its house in order and do more than just expel the rebel MLAs, who were easy prey to the BJP. No longer can it be dismissive of the rumblings within and must do away with the nauseating High Command culture, which is driving it to near extinction. More so, as the BJP has shown a steady pattern of its ruthless President Amit Shah going to any extent to win—by hook or by crook. The rebel Congress MLAs and horse-trading, one becoming BJP’s third candidate, the timing of the IT raids on the Congressman in Karnataka who hosted the 44-MLA flock and how the BJP formed governments in Goa, Manipur and Bihar, are fresh signs of the collapse of democratic values and principles.   

At the same time, parties can no longer trust allies as ‘money and muscle power’ is more entrenched. Mystery shrouds whose MLA —NCP or the JD(U)-- helped Ahmed taste ‘victory’. But Congress is certain that its partner, the NCP ditched. It chose to go with the ruling party and it was JD(U) MLA, whose party recently switched sides in Bihar, which upset Shah’s calculations.  Like the two Congress MLAs, who showed their ballot paper to the BJP representative to confirm they delivered! Or was it another double cross? Undoubtedly, a post mortem is underway. Not for reform but presumably to plug the loopholes for the next battle, which isn’t too far. Will the State’s Assembly elections see a further degeneration of politics? Need we ask?

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Kerala’s Blame Game

Kerala’s war of words between the BJP and CPM over political killings has reached a crescendo. Top brass of both parties rather than trying to quell the violence are sadly engulfed in a blame game. An investigation by a national daily reveals that both sides don’t have a leg to stand on when they choose to pass on the blame. The recent case of a BJP worker hacked to death allegedly by the CPM cadre is only the tip of the iceberg. It comes to light that since 1995, of 96 political killings recorded 42 were victims belonging to the BJP-RSS camp and 40 CPM’s. Additionally, Kannur, which happens to be Chief Minister Vijayan’s constituency, could be termed as the killing fields with 41 of the 80 murders since 2006 reported from this district. Unfortunately, both sides largely use poor young men and caste links to pull the trigger, while leaders stay behind the scenes. While the BJP claims the rise in violence is witnessed when the LDF comes to power in the State, the latter counters it saying this happens only when the saffron brigade rules the Centre. In this tu-tu-mein-mein, it is the families of the victims who suffer, as delay in trials and investigation denies them justice. Predictably, with the BJP struggling to make inroads into God’s own country, this diatribe will see no end.  

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Maharashtra Buys Peace

The Maratha community tastes victory in Maharashtra. Unnerved by lakhs converging for the silent march in Mumbai on Wednesday last, called by the Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh demanding reservation in jobs and education, the BJP-SS government simply yielded. Chief Minister Fadnavis preferred to offer sops rather than face more anger, which could spill over to the ensuing civic and zilla parishad polls. He announced fee concession and a reimbursement scheme for students belonging to the Economically Backward Classes (EBC). This in effect means that the Marathas would now too enjoy educational benefits as the OBCs. Well, that was the best he could do, given that the reservation issue is pending in courts and he could stick his neck out by dealing with quota in jobs. However, the big question is whether the government has taken into account the financial implications of its decision. Fadnavis and team would need to cough up an additional Rs 1,000 crore to keep the promise. This is in addition to last week’s announcement of Rs 49000 crore package for the Marathwada region. Has it bitten more than it can chew?

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Haryana’s Girl Child

Haryana has made BJP top brass see red. The Centre’s much-touted “Beti bachao, beti padhao” scheme, which was launched by Modi in this State two years ago, has come under question by activists following the high-profile stalking case in Chandigarh. While the State party chief’s son Vikas Barala has finally been remanded to police custody, along with his friend, on charges of trying to kidnap an IAS officer’s daughter, the brazen attempts to shield him earlier have rightly done damage to the party. His getting instant bail against watered down charges, had triggered an outrage. More so, after some of its party leaders were seen on TV making controversial remarks questioning why the girl was out so late or it was only a case of a drunken boy chasing a girl (on social media). While the demand that the party chief and culprit’s father must resign to ensure a fair trial what shot down by Chief Minister Khattar, the party could at least concede it needs to change mind sets. Sooner the better, lest its commitment to women empowerment remains a mere slogan!    

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BJP States’ Reverence   

BJP States are vying with each other to do one better! Not in good governance but the centenary celebrations of Jan Sangh’s revered leader Deendayal Upadhyaya. It’s the usual renaming of railways stations or ports or institutions and schemes to influence young minds. The list is growing: In UP, Adityanath has renamed Mughalsarai railway station to Deendayal Upadhyaya St., directed schools, colleges, prisons to offer crash courses on the ideologue and buy complete set of volumes on his life; Uttrakhand has his photograph on walls of Ministers’ offices along with President and PM, shall rename Satpuli town, Pauri after him as it has done in some schemes; In Rajasthan, MLAs have are to use a logo featuring his photo on all letterheads; Haryana has installed his statue at Raj Bhavan, to follow with another one at a tourist complex, set up a park after him in Faridabad and Pandit Upadhyay Yuva Vikas Kendras across the State; Madhya Pradesh offers meals at Rs 5 under subsidised Deendayal kitchen scheme, directed all government ads to carry his photograph; Gujarat should name the port after him; BJP’s new governed State, Assam proposes to start five model colleges named after him come September, and so on. Any fresh ideas to offer?—INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)