Round The State
New Delhi, 27 November 2021
West
Bengal Shenanigans
AMBITION VERSUS
UNITY
By Insaf
West Bengal Chief
Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is on a roll. Having tasted a
spectacular victory in the Assembly elections, her eyes are now set on playing
the national turf, a potential Opposition leader. And in the process, if its’ upstaging
the Congress, so be it, seems the mantra. The latest hit for the grand old
party being Meghalaya, where she got 12 of its 17 Congress MLAs to merge with TMC,
becoming the main opposition party there. Rebel MLA and former CM, Mukul Sangma
had a telling comment on why the decision: “There’s a need for a strong pan
India alternative political party.. the INC is failing to respond to its call
of duty as the main Opposition party…” Indeed, the writing is on the wall. TMC
is making strident forays into Goa, Tripura and Assam with units there and has some
understanding in UPwith SP’s chief Akhilesh Yadav. Plus, senior leaders being
weaned: Congress’ Kirti Azad, former Haryana Congress President Ashok Tanwar
and former JD(U) MP Pavan Varma being the latest entrants after Congress’
Sushmita Deb joined from Assam. Predictably, more will follow and even though
Mamata says her aim is not to weaken the fight against the BJP, the
question doing the rounds is whose side is she on? Ties with the Congress and
opposition unity at the national level may well become a casualty of didi’s ambition!
* * * * * * *
North East Pitch
Winds of change are
blowing in the North East? “Please look at it with a different view once. It’s
right time to invest there.” An appeal made by the ome Minister Amit Shah
Thursday last to the industry chiefs, with statistics of how peace has been
established (land boundary pact with Bangladesh, Manipur blockades ended, Bru
refugee problem solved, Bodo peace agreement etc) and political stability
ensured (BJP-led NEDA is heading all 8 governments there); the region was known
for violence, extremism, controversies, floods, corruption and narcotics but
today it’s talking about connectivity (airports, railways, national highways),
employment, power generation, increasing forest cover and ending floods;
Between 2007-2014, 385 citizens died every year but in 2019-2021, the average
has been two citizens a year; before 2014, attempts were made to create ‘a
division of hearts’ between the NE and rest of India, but the gap stands
bridged today, etc. Sounds familiar? Kashmir comes to mind instantly. Recall,
Modi speaking of bridging Kashmir’s ‘dil ki duri’ with Delhi and Shah
appealing to industry to invest there. Sadly, little has moved there. Doubts
may linger given recent Assam-Mizoram boundary issue erupting, Manipur having a
deadly militant ambush, peaceful settlement to Naga political issue remaining,
etc. Will industry oblige here?
* * * * * * *
AP Rethink
‘To be or not to be’,
is no longer a question finally for the Andhra Pradesh government. On Monday
last, its Assembly withdrew the controversial three-capital bill, and young Chief
Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy assured of a “comprehensive, complete and better”
Bill. His justification: government’s intention of a decentralised development
has been twisted, distorted and misinformation launched; court cases filed.
Thus, the repeal is to ‘protect larger interests of people’. Recall,2020 Bill
was meant to trifurcate the State’s capital into three --executive at Vizag,
legislative at Amaravati and judicial at Kurnool. However, many saw it as
upstaging predecessor Chandra Babu’s
Amaravati project as Capital. But legal hurdles and farmers’long drawn stir against
the Bill eventually led to a rethink. There’s another backtrack. A day later, the
Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to withdraw an earlier one of January
2020 seeking abolishment of the Legislative Council.The reasoning being ‘prevailing
ambiguity and dilemma over House functioning’as the Centre has failed to
respond. But remember the resolution then moved was to ‘remove intentional and
avoidable delays in passing of Bills,’ given the then dominating TDP in Council
refused to pass the 3 capital Bill. Whatever be the explanation and
interpretation, its better to be late than sorry.
* * * * * * *
Chhattisgarh Punished?
Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh
has run into rough weather with the Centre. The BhupeshBaghel government will
lose out on development work worth over Rs 11,000 crore annually, as Ministry
of Rural Development has withdrawn the State from PMAYG on grounds it hasn’t paid
its share of expenditure on 60:10 ratio and performed poorly. The State, which
is the first to face such action, has in response said it was due to
pandemic-related expenditure and it seeks more time. But, the Ministry is unwilling
to heed, knowing well that if the target to build 7,81,999 houses in rural
areas in 2021-22 is withdrawn the aam admmi will be deprived of a roof
over his head. Is it a price a non-BJP pays? For incidentally only last month, Baghel
was declared as ‘best performing Chief Minister’, by an IANS-C Voter governance
index, with 94% of his people happy with his performance and various welfare
schemes introduced, including Mahatari Dular Yojana, which offers free
education to kids studying in private schools, who lost their guardian/parents
to Covid-19. Centre ensures it’s short lived glory!
* * * * * * *
Jewar Airport Boon
Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath’s ambitious flight for a second term, amidst nagging
uncertainty, had a well-timed take off on Thursday last. Prime Minister Modi
laid the foundation stone for Noida International airport at Jewar, slated to
be the 4th largest in world. It was a perfect tarmac to take the
usual dig at the Opposition before the ensuing Assembly polls. UP, said Modi
‘was kept in deprivation and darkness earlier but it’s now getting what it
always deserved and is making its mark internationally under a
double-engine BJP rule’. Not only shall it provide new job opportunities
to thousands in the region, benefit crores of people of Delhi-NCR and western
UP, but added the State is now a focal point for investments by MNCs. But what
caught attention was the farmers getting a special mention. The BJP, it was
said takes its decisions ‘on famers’ betterment’ and unlike others, had paid
due compensation to them for their lands. Yogi too thanked over 7,000 farmers
for giving consent for the acquisition without any dispute and went a step
further saying the country needs to decide ‘if the sweetness of sugarcane will
grow’ or followers of Pakistan founder Jinnah (read Samajwadi Party) will cause
mischief in the state? Guess, the farmers, a key vote bank will need to take
that call--whether Yogi’s flight should have a smooth landing after all.
* * * * * * *
Railways New Track
The Indian Railways
gets a brand new track. Bharat Gaurav, a scheme was launched on Tuesday
last, for tourists to partake the country’s rich cultural heritage. It entails
private tour operators taking trains on lease and run these on any circuit of
their choice--with a free hand to decide routes, fares and quality of services’
under the scheme. Anyone, be it societies, trusts, consortia and State
governments can apply online by registering with a one-time payment fee of Rs 1
lakh, for these trains. Tourism circuits based on a theme, say as Guru Kripa
which goes to places related to Guru Nanak or a Ramayan-themed train related to
Lord Ram, appear to be a thrust. The railways has earmarked 3,033 ICF coaches
i.e. 150-odd trains, to be given out from 2-10 years. Operators need to give Rs
1 crore security deposit per rake and offer a complete package: food,
sightseeing, local transport (taxi etc), hotels at stopover places, onboard
entertainment among others. Time will tell how many join the bandwagon. ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
|