Round The States
New Delhi, 31 October 2007
Governance
Paralysed
KARNATAKA MESS
CONTINUES
By Insaf
Karnataka continues to bleed and suffer --- politically
Governance in the State has been virtually paralysed for the past many weeks,
thanks to the shenanigans of the politicians, especially the highly discredited
Gowda duo of father and son. Imposition of President’s rule on the State on
October 9 brought a glimmer of hope for the common people. Yet the mess has continued, this time thanks to the Governor,
Rameshwar Thakur, and the powers that be --- the UPA Government and its Congress bosses.
Both have been calculatedly dragging their feet in gross
violation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution and the judgments of the
Supreme Court. Otherwise, a BJP-JD(S) Government should have been sworn-in by
now, ending the impasse and the
administrative paralysis.
Governor Thakur should have clinched matters once the BJP
and JD(S) paraded 129 MLAs in support of Yedyurappa as Chief Minister. But he
chose not to do so. Surprisingly, he spoke of “consultations” with the Centre,
which were not required. He also spoke about stability and horse-trading. In
doing so, he ignored the Supreme Court’s land mark ruling in regard to
President’s rule. In the case of S.R. Bommai, a former Karnataka CM, it ruled
that whether a Government enjoyed a majority or not was to be decided only on
the floor of the House. Not so long ago,
the Supreme Court ruled in the Bihar Assembly
dissolution case that the shifting
stand of the political parties could not be a ground for dissolution of House.
Basically, the Congress has
had one clear strategy. Somehow keep the BJP out and ensure a Congress Government. Or, dissolve
the House and order a fresh poll.
* * * *
Jharkhand Booms To Naxal Terror
Naxal terror struck Jharkhand last week with ghoulish
vengeance. Killing 18 people including former Chief Minister Babu Lal Marandi’s
youngest son Anup. Dressed in CRPF
khakis, they opened fire at the end of a football tournament in Chilkhari
village in Giridih district. Not only did they cock a snook at the joint
operations being conducted by the Bihar and
Jharkhand Governments to flush them out but this is the first time that the Red
Brigade has targeted main line politicians. Specially against the backdrop that
the local polity have accepted Naxalites as an inseparable part of the system
at the grassroots. So much so that
poll-time boycott calls by the extremists are often “bought off” by candidates,
whatever their party affiliation.
Clearly, this holds ominous portends for the polity as Marandi was the
only leading politician in the forefront of the anti-Maoist campaign in the
State.
* * * *
Nandigram Erupts
Again
After a lull of a few months
Nandigram once again erupted in violence last week and turned in to a war zone
with battle lines drawn between the Trinamool Congress
and the Left parties. Four CPM supporters were killed in a bomb blast and gun
shots were reportedly fired at the convoy of the Trinamool Chief, mercurial
Mamata Banerjee. Predictably, this sparked off fresh trouble all over the
State. With accusations and counter-accusations flung against each other by CPM
leaders and Mamata. Trinamool activists retaliated by blocking roads and railway
tracks in large parts of Hubli and also gave a bandh call, which paralysed the whole State. Making most of the war
of words between the two political rivals, the Bhumi Uchchhed Prattirodh
Committee paralysed large parts of East Midnapore
by calling a bandh.
* * * *
Nitish Hits Laloo’s
Come Back Plan
Bihar once again resonated to the
sounds of ‘Jab tak samose mein aaloo, tab
tak Bihar mein Laloo’ as the former Chief Minister of Bihar
and the Railway Minister and RJD Chief held a massive
Chetna Rally in the State. This was Laloo Yadav’s first trip to his home State
after his defeat in the 2004 Assembly
polls. A worried Laloo left no stone unturned to make this rally a resounding
success to mark his arrival back in the
State politics. Many special trains ferried people from all over the State and the
neighbouring areas for the rally held in the Capital, Patna. The NDA Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
didn’t take things lying down either. He announced his Government’s decision to
reserve 50 per cent seats in the three layers of the panchayati raj system for
the most backward castes’ and thereby not only consolidated his socio-political
base but also hit Laloo’s comeback plan hard.
* * * *
UNPA To Mulayam’s
Defence
The newly-formed UNPA has come to the defence of beleaguered
Samajwadi Chief Mulayam Singh in his controversial disproportionate assets case. Calling it a “politics of revenge,” the
TDP Chief and Convener of the anti-Congress
front Chandrababu Naidu accused the Congress
of being vengeful and victimizing the Samajwadi supremo and his kin.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Supreme Court has issued
notice to Mulayam and his family in the assets
case after the CBI reportedly found evidence of huge property acquisitions.
Needless to say, the action of the
premier investigation agency is bound to further widen the Mulayam-Congress rift. Even as the CPI (M) Chief Prakash Karat met
with SP leaders to enlist their support for the Left’s opposition to the
nuclear deal.
* * * *
Unprecedented March
Of Landless
New Delhi was besieged last Monday when
25,000 landless people barged into
the Union Capital to demand land rights for the displaced and the landless. Under the banner of Ekta Parishad, they marched on
foot from Gwalior to Delhi, taking 30 days. Significantly, the
marchers included 250 foreigners from 29 countries. Over Rs. 3 crore to 4 crore
was spent to feed, shelter and march the landless
poor to Delhi
to register their angst with the top powers that be. An anxious Prime Minister responded
promptly and successfully prevented
the marchers from reaching Parliament
Street, the normal venue for rallies and
demonstrations. Two committees were grandiosely announced at Ram Lila ground on
behalf of Manmohan Singh. One, the National Land Reform Council, headed by the
PM himself and two a committee on State Agrarian Relations & Unfinished
Land Reforms. With the “solemn promise” that these panels would look into all
land-related issues and make appropriate
recommendations. It is a moot point whether these committee lollypops will
sweeten the bitter lives of the landless!
* * * *
Sting Creates Tehelka For Modi
The Tehelka sting has indeed created tehelka for Narender Modi, who is seeking a third term as Gujarat’s Chief Minister. Notwithstanding Modi’s decision
to brazen out all exposures with the response: “I will not comment.” The sting
operation purportedly quotes the 2002 Godhra riot foot soldiers (Bajrang Dal,
VHP and Shiv Sena men) disgustingly boasting about having carried out the
killings with State support and having been sheltered by the Administration
against the subsequent judicial onslaught.
As the Congress, various
regional parties and human rights activist up the ante for Modi’s removal,
following the Ahmedabad District Collector “blacking out” the TV coverage, the
sting threatens to boomerang on the Congress.
Reportedly, it has triggered the polorisation of voters in favour of the
beleaguered Chief Minister. Will the polls be ‘hai hai Modi’ or ‘jai jai’
Modi’? Time will tell before too long.---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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