ROUND THE STATES

New Delhi, 2 November 2006

ISI Hand Clearly Seen

TERROR PLOT TO TARGET SOUTH INDIA

By Insaf

 
All the twenty-two border and coastal States of the Union are today on red alert, thanks to the spreading tentacles of the terrorists, sponsored and assisted mainly by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and some other foreign-based militant organizations. Only last week, Insaf highlighted the security agencies’ concern about the ISI and how the latter were trying to smuggle their agents into India through the West Coast States and across the Punjab-Rajasthan border. The ISI now seems eager to spread its terrorist activities to the southern States of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.  On Friday last week, two Pakistani terrorists were intercepted in Mysore, while they were planning to blow up two main seats of power in Bangalore---Karnataka’s magnificent Vidhan Soudha and its annexe Vikas Soudha. 

On the same day the Kerala Police went into a tizzy when emails threatened assassination of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Kalam in case any harm came to Afzal, who has been sentenced to death for the attack on India’s sovereign Parliament.  Importantly, however, the catch in Mysore clearly indicated that terrorists are beginning to turn their attention to the southern States.  Worse, investigating agencies have discovered an ISI-LTTE nexus to target south India. The Pakistani terrorists arrested in Mysore have been found by intelligence agencies to have links with Colombo, from where the ISI is now planning and monitoring subversive activity in South India. Another anti-terrorist agency has found that the ISI-LTTE combine has taken over a place in Bangalore which had so far been used by the narcotics circuit that linked Karachi with Colombo.

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BJP Panics In UP?

Civic polls in UP are receiving from the BJP much greater significance than these have ever received from a national political party in the State or elsewhere in the country. The reason is not far to seek. Secret surveys by the State party have shown that its already poor representation in the State Assembly is likely to be reduced by at least half early next year.  The party has no more than 83 MLAs in the present 403-member Assembly.  But this is likely to get slashed to barely 40.  Some Central BJP leaders  no doubt claim that extra-attention is being paid to the civic polls since the outcome of these elections is bound to have its fallout in the Assembly poll. Yet the fact remains that the party leadership has felt constrained to persuade Atal Behari Vajpayee to campaign for the party’s candidate for the Lucknow Mayor’s election.  Interestingly, Vajpayee has never before campaigned for local polls. Some panic.

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Congress-NCP Battle For Civic Polls

Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi too has done a Vajpayee, so to say. Like the former PM, she has also jumped into the local body poll fray. The Congress President flew into Maharashtra over the week-end virtually to launch the Congress campaign for the local elections in the State in January. What is more, she will be addressing five rallies in different parts of the State as part of the party’s battle for supremacy vis a vis the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of Sharad Pawar within the coalition Government. The latest struggle between the two parties in the local body elections is bound to have long- term repercussions on the relationship of the two UPA allies who share power at the Centre and also in Maharashtra and Goa.  It could even help the Shiv Sena indirectly to retain the politically-important Mumbai Corporation, which goes to the polls in February.

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Farmers On Centre-Stage In Punjab

Farming and farmers have catapulted to the centre-stage of Punjab’s electoral politics. In the run-up to the Assembly poll early next year, increasing rural indebtedness has become the hottest topic of the poll scene.  Farmers, who constitute about 66 per cent of the State’s population have come into such a sharp focus following a mammoth rally of at least one lakh farmers organised by the Akalis recently at the Matka Chowk, Chandigarh’s Hyde Park, to seek a loan-waiver and protest against the shabby treatment meted out to them by the Centre.  The ruling Congress, too, is going all out to woo the farmers.  The State Government is buying electricity for as high as Rs.8 per unit to ensure that the farmers, who get it free, have enough in the run-up to the polls.  Its Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, recently announced a hike of Rs.50 per quintal in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat to the joy of Punjab’s unrivalled farmers.

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Vidarbha Demand Revived

Three leaders of Vidarbha region in Maharashtra have joined hands across party affiliations to revive in a big way the Vidarbha Statehood demand.  They are Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra BJP President, NCP leader Datta Megha and the Vidarbha Rajya Party (VRP) President Banwari Lal Purohit. The three have joined hands to “seek justice for Vidarbha” amid a growing perception that the Democratic Front Government of Maharashtra continues to ignore the development of the region.  Their main grudge? Mounting suicides by the farmers.  Even as this column is being written, reports have come of suicides by another seven farmers.  The new bonding between the three top leaders of the region may have its fall-out in Maharashtra and hurt the BJP’s relationship with Shiv Sena, which is totally opposed to the creation of a separate State of Vidarbha.

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Modi Supreme In Gujarat BJP

Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s hold over the ruling Gujarat BJP is complete.  His nominee, Purshottam Rupala has become the next president of the State BJP, while the dissident leader, his bete noire and former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel virtually boycotted the election process. He stayed away when Rupala filed his nomination in the presence of the Central Observer Ram Naik. Patel’s group had earlier complained to the High Command that the Chief Minister had packed all the district and taluka level committees with his supporters and therefore the election process had no relevance.  With the High Command ignoring the dissidents’ plea and Modi’s nominee taking over the State party presidentship, Keshubhai’s political future may slip into wilderness once more.

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Mufti’s Formula For Kashmir

Former Chief Minister and founder of the People’s Democratic Party, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has now advocated self-rule for Kashmir “which the kingdom enjoyed 400 years ago.” Before leaving for New York as a member of the Indian delegation to the U.N. General Assembly, Mufti told his party workers last week that he would use his visit to strive for the resolution of the Kashmir issue during his stay in the US.  His formula: No imposition of Article 356 of the Constitution of India on the people of Kashmir, an elected Governor who is a State subject, provincial Assemblies for all the three regions as a part of the regional federation, local administrative and police services and economic free trade zone.  Mufti wants the same formula for the Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK), with facility to the people from both sides for free movement of trade and services. He has sought cooperation of all political parties to adopt his formula to resolve the Kashmir problem.

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Foreigners For Goa Comfort

Believe it or not, some 500 foreigners have made huge real estate investment in Goa.  Most of them are Russians, followed by Germans and Britons. They have taken advantage of India’s liberalized foreign direct investment (FDI) regime and pumped in huge money into the coastal State.  They have cornered huge tracts of land, to build large estates and attract international tourists to what they describe as Goa’s “coastal comfort”.  This development has caught the eye of the National Security Council (NSC), as also the Union Home Ministry and the State Government.  The NSC considers it as a “potential threat to national security via FDI”.   The State Government too has instituted an enquiry into the whole issue. Its finding are eagerly awaited---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)