Round The States

New Delhi, 26 January 2018

Republic Day

STATES EMBARRASS NATION

By Insaf

The nation needs to hang its head in shame. Even as it celebrated Republic Day with much pomp and show, four States, all ruled by the BJP, played spoilsport, making the ordinary citizen wonder and squirm whether the rule of law exists at all. The fact that a mere film release can hold the country to ransom, with some State Chief Ministers twiddling their thumbs and choosing to abdicate their responsibility, speaks volumes of how caste politics has taken over institutions. Yes, this is what Padmaavat’s release has sadly reaffirmed, with protests and vandalism witnessed on Thursday last. Worse, Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana have said a big boo to the Supreme Court, which specifically ordered they “must prevent any untoward incident during its screening.” They did precious little and failed to give the confidence to cinema hall and multiplex owners that their properties would be protected from hooligans. Their excuse that it was the owners’ call whether to screen the film or not, is lame and clearly a no go, as other States had got their act together. On Monday, the apex court is to hear ‘contempt of court’ petitions against the States as well as the Shri Rajput Karni Sena for violating its orders. Will it give a terse lesson or two in upholding the Republic’s Constitution?    

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Maharashtra Divorce?

Maharashtra may not lose sleep over a looming divorce. Early this week, Shiv Sena announced it will go alone in the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls as its long-term partner the BJP was ignoring it. A resolution to this affect at the Sena’s National Executive meet, however, does not deal with the present. If indeed it is being sidelined, why does the Sena continue in the Government, is the big question. Guess, as is known Chief Uddhav Thackeray wants to have his cake and eat it too! The BJP by now is quite immune to the Sena’s bantering and will take the fresh threat with a pinch of salt. It, however, should be thankful that Thackeray has given it ample time to get its poll strategy in place, rather than make amends. That would be wishful thinking. And while it does so, two other players – the Congress and NCP-- would be keenly the developments as the break will be to their advantage. Unfortunately, it’s a year-long wait to see who will have the last laugh.   

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Delhi In Poll Mode?

Delhi is in the throes of a political storm. Kejriwal’s AAP government has suffered a major hit with 20 of its MLAs designated as Parliamentary Secretaries disqualified by the Election Commission for holding ‘office of profit.’ Reason enough for the party to cry foul again and accuse the BJP for indulging in ‘dirty politics’. Its charge being there is “gross violation of the principles of natural justice”, as Nirvachan Sadan didn’t give the MLAs a chance to be heard. Additionally, though the EC got a nod from President Kovind within hours, the approval should have come from the Lt Governor, as per the Constitution. While the end result would not have been any different, the issue dealt with MLAs and not MPs! Be that as it may, the big question is how soon the national capital will plunge into a “mini election” as by-polls for the 20 seats are being viewed. Fortunately, for Kejriwal the Delhi High Court has restrained the EC from announcing any fresh by-polls till it examines its decision on Monday. It may even conduct day-to-day hearings, raising hopes of at least the MLAs. And while Kejriwal still has its majority government with 46 MLAs, which way the wind will blow is anybody’s guess.   

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Chhattisgarh & Aadhaar

Chhattisgarh gives an interesting twist to the Aadhaar card being made mandatory. Its High Court’s order asking trial courts in the State to make it compulsory to accept copies of the card for releasing an accused on bail, has added to their headache. Apparently, a large number of accused are unable to walk out of jails despite getting bail as there is delay in the verification of the Aadhaar and surety along with revenue papers for issuing a release warrant. The issue came to light when a Bilaspur district judge drew the attention of the HC about how difficult it had become to grant bail even to those who are accused for petty offences! This, as the verification process to verify credentials was cumbersome in the Naxal-affected State. An advocate petitioned the Supreme Court, which disposed the matter only after asking the Chhattisgarh High Court to modify its order in 10 days. While that should hopefully happen, eyes would also be on the Raman Singh government to see how soon it gets its act together to expedite the verification system.

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Odisha Political Churnings

Odisha is hit by political churnings. On Wednesday last, the ruling BJD finally suspended its Lok Sabha MP Baijayant Panda from primary membership. The charges: his actions were laced with ‘conflict of interest’ and he was indulging in ‘anti-party activities.’ Oddly, the first charge dates back to 2014, when Panda sought to chair the Standing Committee on Finance in the House and was confident that lobbying would see him. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik didn’t favour it as Panda was vice-chairman of IMFA, involved in mining, ferro alloys and power in the State; drawing an annual salary and allowance of Rs 1.5 crore-odd, and there was a huge loan waiver running into thousands of crores for the firm! The big question is why rake it up now? Guess he has ruffled feathers by “not campaigning for the rural polls, supporting Opposition candidates, criticising the BJP and eulogising the Opposition etc, aimed at weakening BJD”. Denying charges, Panda tweeted ‘Patnaik didn’t see through the conspiracy against him led by an IAS officer now controlling the party,” and he would “pray to Jagannath for guidance”. Be that as it may, there’s more than meets the eye.

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Naga Poaching

Nagaland lends a hand to the BJP to gloat over Congress misfortune. It has got Rahul Gandhi’s hand-picked man, former Chief Minister and veteran party leader KL Chishi to its camp. Chisti was part of the eight-member coordination committee for the forthcoming Assembly polls and the Congress now scoffs at his “new found love for the BJP-RSS.” But he is not alone. The saffron party has managed to wean away a former minister from its partner, Naga People’s Front (NPF) and wooed a former MLA with 11 other leaders so far. Obviously, its assurance to bring a resolution to the long-drawn-out Naga peace talks, seem to have takers, notwithstanding that even after two years the much-touted Naga accord remains a mystery. While the BJP can be merrily pleased with the inroads it’s making, it shouldn’t go overboard. Recall, the demand for “Greater Nagalim’ is still on the table and any concession could upset the applecart in Assam and Manipur. It must not bite off more than it can chew. ---INFA

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