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Modi’s Solemn Promise:GOOD GOVERNANCE & DEVELOPMENT, by Insaf, 27 December 2007 Print E-mail

Round The States

New Delhi, 27 December 2007

Modi’s Solemn Promise

GOOD GOVERNANCE & DEVELOPMENT

By Insaf

All eyes continue to be on Narendra Modi and his Gujarat. True, he singlehandedly took on the Congress, its supremo, Sonia Gandhi and all the rebels and critics --- and created history by winning hands down with a final tally of 117 seats in a 182-member Assembly. The Congress had to be content with barely 62 seats even though 11 up from its 51 in 2002. But that was yesterday. Today, Modi is being watched closely as he begins his third term as the Chief Minister. And Modi has not disappointed so far. He has made all the right gestures and the correct noises. Displaying magnanimity, he has reached out to all his detractors, including Keshubhai Patel, within the BJP and the Congress. More importantly, he has declared that development and giving Gujarat good governance are paramount. As he put it: “The people have not just given us power. They have also handed over a responsibility”.

Modi’s message for his third term is loud and clear. He has promised a sustained growth of 12.5 per cent and vowed to turn former President Kalam’s 2020 vision of India into reality much before that. Importantly, he has challenged all those who continue to accuse him of having pursued his communal agenda during the poll campaign. He has offered to step down if his critics can show him even one instance of having made a communal pitch. Even as Modi embarks on his Gujarati dream, it remains to be seen whether the Congress will carry out a truly Gandhian introspection and learn its Gujarat lesson. It has to face facts. Neither Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul carried any great conviction with the voters. True, they attracted big crowds. But as the late Congress President, Kamraj, once stated, most people come for tamasha. Every public meeting by a top leader is a mela for them.  Ultimately, the people vote on the basis of their own judgment and fancy!

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Rajasthan Cabinet Expands

Emboldened by her Party’s historic triumph in Gujarat, Rajasthan’s Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, sprung a surprise on her Party earlier this week by expanding her Cabinet. She inducted four new Cabinet Ministers and one Minister of State while dropping two Ministers and accepting the resignation of another. Even as Raje asserted that her expansion was to ‘bring efficiency’ to her Administration, the induction of new Meena and a Gujjar faces is perceived as an attempt to mollify the agitated Gujjar community, which has threatened to launch a major agitation after being denied Scheduled Tribe status in the State. Moreover, coming on the heels of Modi’s landslide victory in Gujarat, the ministerial induction is a sharp rap on the knuckles of the RSS-backed dissidents in the State. With Assembly elections slated for December 2008 the message to the dissidents is clear: Fall in line or quit.

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Nagaland Government To Stay

The controversy over the Nagaland Government’s longevity has blown over. The Centre has wisely decided against dismissing the NPF-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland, as the State is slated to go to the polls within the next three months. Notwithstanding, the persistent demand raised by the Congress MLAs that they had won the no-confidence motion against the Neiphiu Rio Government by 31-23 votes and had the requisite majority to form the Government. In doing so, New Delhi has overlooked a “constitutional impropriety” committed by the Speaker in ruling that the NPF-led Government had survived the no-confidence motion last week. Astonishingly, the Speaker barred three Independent MLAs from voting on the ground that they had earlier supported the NPF Government. Moreover, he declared the vote of nine dissident MLAs against the Government invalid for having defied the Party whip. Raising a moot point: the Government may have survived, but was the Speaker’s unprecedented ruling justified?

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Mayawati Breaks Fresh Ground

Queen Bee of social engineering, Mayawati has unveiled a nouvelle Economic Policy. At its core is the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model wherein the quota system would be introduced, albeit voluntarily, in the areas and projects to be developed under this model. The reservation policy would be similar to the on-going policy in the Government service and envisages 10 per cent reservation for the Scheduled Castes, 10 per cent for the OBCs and religious minorities and another 10 per cent for the economically poor among the Upper Castes. Unfolding her Middle Path holistic policy, the UP Chief Minister vowed   that the benefits would accrue to the deprived and downtrodden sections of the poor. Conveniently, brushing under the carpet the ugly reality of rising unemployment, increasing crime graph and pathetic infrastructure. All cannot be waved off merely with her “sarv samaj” wand! Development is a hard task master.

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Delhi’s Scandalous Record!

Delhi now has the dubious distinction of having shortest Assembly sessions. Shockingly, the Assembly met only for 18 sittings this year. The established norm is around 60 sittings, as decided at a meeting of the Speakers of all Assemblies convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee recently. Pertinently, the three-day winter session from 26 to 29 December has a litany of over 224 questions admitted for reply, besides five bills and three private members resolutions. Ironically, a BJP MLA’s resolution demands that the Assembly should have a minimum of 50 sittings in a year and each session should be at least of two weeks. No matter that the Delhi Assembly Speaker, Prem Singh, summarily dismissed the issue earlier this week by asserting that it was the Delhi Government’s prerogative to decide on the sittings. Questionably, is this fair to the system and the tax payer?

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Power For Arunachal Villages

Arunachal Pradesh has reason to feel ‘alight’. Gone before very long will be days when sunset was synonymous with darkness for hundreds of villages in the border areas of the State and the twinkling Chinese lights from across the border cast an envious glow. Happily, the State Government has decided to end the India-China “divide” by preparing the “Border Villages Illumination Programme” to develop infrastructure in 842 villages. The 61-crore project envisages setting up of plants of a capacity ranging from 10 KV to 200 KV to bring minimum domestic lighting facility to these villages. Even the remote 170 villages which are not connected by motorable roads will be aglow with independent hydel power! However, a lot more will still remain to be done. Almost 45 per cent of the villages in the State, home to over 31,000 households, would continue to grope in darkness, thanks to funds constraint. Time for the Centre to be generous!

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Bird Watching MP’s Latest Fad

Madhya Pradesh has earned a ‘bird’ feather for its cap. Bird watching has become the flavour of the winter season in the State with more and more people, including children, joining various bird camps in Bhopal. The movement for birds and nature started in the State two years ago in 2005 and has come a long way. It has not only led to the creation of an NGO, “Bhopal Birds,” devoted to the cause of nature conservation but the State Forest Department, the Academy of Administration, the State Tourism Development Corporation and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature have joined hands to conduct various bird camps in Bhopal, specially in the Upper Lake, home to many bird species from Europe and Central Asia. Happily, resulting in the formation of a “Green Brigade” (Environmentally Aware Citizens) in support of environmental conservation. This should indeed, be music to India’s bird watchers led by legendry Salim Ali. ---- INFA

(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)

 

 

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