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Round The States
New Delhi,
29 December 2018
Ticket To Ride 2019
OPPORTUNE TIME TO BULLY BJP
By Insaf
The ruling BJP at the
Centre is under heavy pressure. Having lost three States, its friends in the
NDA see a window of opportunity to extract their pound of flesh. No longer are they
willing to accept dole or be treated as the underdog. The rumblings are growing
louder as battle 2019 nears with Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh no
longer BJP’s fiefdom and it’s an opportune time to demand seat-sharing formula.
Like, it has happened in Bihar with NDA partners, the JD(U) and the LJP
arm-twisting the BJP and getting it to accede to their wishes, more than they could,
but for the recent losses. Neighbouring Uttar Pradesh has been quick to take a
cue and junior partners, the Apna Dal (S) and Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party
(SBSP) are now heard criticising the central BJP leadership for ignoring them. They
thus too demand sitting across the table or else the largest State may no
longer give it the rich haul as it did in 2014.
Plus given that the
Congress is not on the agenda as of now for the BSP and SP, the smaller parties
have additional options to explore. Among others, the next big State to be
watched is Maharashtra. While partner Shiv Sena has announced long ago it will
go alone, nothing is certain, but there is no denying it is playing hard ball
with the BJP. Predictably, the junior partner will try to make best of the
timing. On the other hand, rival Congress seems to be gaining allies what with
DMK, TDP and Janata Dal (S) going hand-in-hand. The big question is whether the
Modi-Amit Shah team can continue to instil the confidence they enjoyed these
four and a half years. A change in style may help or better they should
remember a stitch in time saves nine.
* * * * * * *
Hope
For Bastar?
Well begun is half
done! The adage appears to find takers in Chhattisgarh. In Chief Minister
Bhupesh Baghel’s first Cabinet meet on Tuesday last, it was agreed in principle
to return over 1,700 hectares of land to tribals and farmers in Maoist-ridden
Bastar, of the 2,042 hectare, including private, government and forest,
acquired by his predecessor Raman Singh for greenfield integrated Tata steel
plant. The project simply couldn’t take off due to fierce protests in Lohandiguda,
similar to the Singur land deal in West Bengal, and the project got shelved
after a decade-long battle. Obviously, the intention to generate jobs and bring
economic development in the Maoist-hit region, did not find favour with the
farmers across 10 villages as ‘land to them is the only source of income’,
explain the Leftist, fighting their battle. And, while the Congress government
is pleased it has kept its poll promise, it will need to deal with the Rs
42-crore compensation already paid out. Can it afford to take back the money or
will it need to make another goodwill gesture in the hope that winds of change
may start to blow?
* * * * * * *
Bridging
the Gap
Christmas rang in an
extra cheer and brought a heartening gift to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. After
over two decades of the foundation being laid, Tuesday last saw the Bogibeel
Bridge in Dibrugarh being finally inaugurated. Not only will connectivity
between the two States be enhanced but would lead to a long-pending connect between
the north-east and rest of the country, as oft spoken of by New Delhi. Plus,
the bridge is an engineering feat -- the nation’s longest railroad bridge and the
second largest bridge in Asia with three-lane roads on top and a double-line
railway track below. The 4.94 km bridge, costing Rs 5,900 crore will reduce
travel time from Assam to Arunachal Pradesh to four hours, cut down train
travel between Delhi to Dibrugarh by three hours, improve trade and boost
economy. However, what is important to the Centre is that the bridge will facilitate
faster movement of troops and supplies to Arunachal, the eastern-most State which
shares border with troublesome China. The people of the State will be rest
assured, Assam will get a ‘lifeline’ and so will New Delhi be more confident.
All in all, it’s killing two birds with one stone!
* * * * * * *
Delhi
Alert
Alarm bells are
ringing in the nation’s capital Delhi. A high alert has been sounded as the NIA
unearths a new Islamic State (IS)-inspired terror module which had planned to
carry out series of suicide or ‘fidayeen’ attacks in Delhi and northern India,
targeting top political leaders, important personalities and vital security
installations. Following raids in 17 locations in Delhi and UP, on Wednesday
last, the NIA arrested 10 persons in the age group of 20-30 years and recovered
cash worth Rs 7.5 lakh plus 100 mobile phones, 112 alarm clocks, 135 SIM cards,
several laptops and memory cards. The group, which includes a student pursuing
civil engineering, welder, undergraduate and auto-rickshaw driver, was under
surveillance for past three months, and is said to have been led by an Islamic
preacher, Mufti Suhail, from Amroha who recently shifted to Seelampur in Delhi.
However, his family members and so also those of other accused deny links to
any terror activity. Predictably a hue and cry is expected within the
community, and some politicians may even question the arrests. Be that as it
may, the court has remanded the accused to 12-day NIA custody and the agency
must prove its case, specially in this election season.
* * * * * * *
Fudging
Manual Scavenging
Trust State
governments not to come out clean. In a survey by the Centre on the number of
people still involved in the de-humanising and banned practice of manual
scavenging, States have not given the true picture and worse it still exists. In
survey’s stage one started in November 2017, States were asked to validate 54,929
manual scavengers identified in 170-odd select districts. In the final
verifications stage, the figures reveal the number is down to half—25,015
people. Of these Telangana, Bihar and Haryana deny the numbers in the 1st
stage i.e. 288, 1221, 846 respectively and none are engaged. While some other States
confirm now only a fraction of numbers enrolled remain such as Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, Punjab, UP (of 18,913 only 7,052), MP (of 8275 only 1447), others such as
Maharashtra (5638 people) Jharkhand, Karnataka and AP are honest to say these
numbers remain. Those under-reporting say many persons were pretending to be manual
scavengers to get one-time rehabilitation amount of 40,000! The Socio Economic
Caste Census (2011) of rural India revealed existence of at least one person
each from 1.8 lakh households engaged in manually cleaning excreta from dry
latrines, open drains, and single pit toilets. Truth needs to be dug out.
---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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