Round  The States

New Delhi, 5 December 2006

Law & Order Problems

SEVERAL STATES IN TURMOIL

By Insaf

The States dominated the headlines this past week, hit as these were by political developments and law and order problems.  On the one hand, erstwhile Union Coal Minister and the creator of Jharkhand State, Shibu Soren, was convicted to life imprisonment for murder and former UP Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati found herself pushed into the dock on corruption charges in regard to the Taj Corridor Project. On the other, Maharashtra virtually went up in flames following violent State-wide Dalit protests against desecration of Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s statue in distant UP’s industrial hub of Kanpur.  Ongoing protests in West Bengal against Tata’s controversial car project at Singur hotted up with the BJP actively backing Trinamool’s Mamata Banerjee and the latter undertaking to go on a fast unto death.

For the first time in West Bengal’s political history, the State Assembly turned into a battlefield last week when Trinamool Congress legislators and some outsiders ransacked the premises, destroying several documents and damaging the heritage furniture. At least 13 people, including nine MLAs, were injured. The protest was against the Government’s decision to bar Mamata Banerjee from holding a rally in Singur in support of the farmers who were refusing to part with their multi-crop productive land for the Tata project.  The farmland acquisition issue has now taken a major political turn. Mamata Banerjee has demanded withdrawal of the decision to transfer the farmland to the Tatas. The BJP Chief Rajnath Singh has also extended full support to Mamata. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee continues to be adamant about acquiring the land for the Tata project and has offered to talk to the protestors and consider reviewing compensation to the farmers. But Mamata has rejected the offer.

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President’s Rule In U.P.?

Uttar Pradesh appears to be drifting towards the Central rule before the State goes to its crucial Assembly poll next year, possibly in March-April. The UPA Government’s mind seems made and, according to some, it is only a matter of time. Congress President Sonia Gandhi has indicated this twice in the last fortnight.  First after Governor Rajeshwar reported to the Union Home Ministry last month that the civic body elections were marred by poll violence and rigging by the Government machinery.  She observed that “fair and free elections are not possible under Mulayam Singh’s Government.” On Monday last she took a more aggressive stand, stating that “law and order was virtually non-existent in U.P.”  The BSP and the BJP too have demanded the Assembly elections under the President’s rule.  The Governor’s visit to the Union Capital over the week-end has also sparked speculation.

The Chief Minister has described all this as a “conspiracy” against him and threatened dissolution of the Assembly to ensure that the poll is held under his caretaker Government.  Some senior leaders of the Samajwadi Party are however confident that the UPA Government dare not invoke Article 356 for various reasons. Even a section of the Congress leaders feels it would not be in the interest of the party to have the Mulayam regime dismissed for two reasons.  First, it will only make Mulayam a martyr at a time when his popularity is low. They want the present situation exploited to project the Mulayam Government as “incompetent and deserving the sack.” Second, the UPA partners at the Centre, especially the Left parties and the DMK, are historically averse to the use of Article 356 to dismiss a State Government.

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Dalit Rage In Maharashtra

The violent reaction by the dalits in Maharashtra against the desecration of the Ambedkar statue in faraway Kanpur, which caused injuries to several persons and damage to public property worth crores of rupees, only reflected their pent-up anger against “social injustice.” The Kanpur incident merely lighted the fuse in Maharashtra. In fact, after Shiv Sena, the dalit groups have a history of violence in the State. Most recently there were violent protests against the gruesome killing of a dalit family of four at Khairlanji in Bhandara district. Clashes between the dalits and upper castes, especially the Shiv Sena, were common in the 1980s and early 90s in various parts of central Maharashtra. The dalits now react sharply at the slightest provocation even though their population in Maharashtra is 10.2 per cent of the total, as against 16.2 national average, according to the 2001 Census.

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Manipur’s Anti-AFSPA Agitation Continues

Manipur’s long-standing demand for scrapping the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act will continue, notwithstanding Prime Minister’s offer during his visit to Imphal on Saturday last that the Act would be amended and made humane.  Apumba Lup, the umbrella organization spearheading the campaign against the 1958 Act has announced that it would not settle for modifications of the “draconian law”, and would keep the agitation going until the legislation was “scrapped in toto”. It has described the PM’s promise as a “gimmick and hogwash for Manipur”, which is scheduled to go for the Assembly poll early next year. The Act is based on the British model wherein even a non-commissioned officer of the Indian Army is empowered to declare an area as “disturbed”, apply the Act, and enter any building and search without warrant. This provision is hugely resented by the Manipurians.

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Dispute Over Mullaperiar Dam

The ongoing controversy between the Tamil Nadu and Kerala Governments over the 111-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam has become a headache for the Union Government and its Water Resources Minister, Saifuddin Soz.  Both the ruling parties in the two States are the UPA allies--the DMK in Tamil Nadu and the Left parties in Kerala. Both the Chief Ministers, Karunanidhi and Achuthanandan are sticking to their respective stands.  The former wants the height of the Dam raised from the present 136 ft. to 142 ft. Soz got both the Chief Ministers to Delhi and tried to resolve the dispute amicably.  But the effort failed.  Achuthanandan’s point is that the height cannot be raised without agreement with the Kerala Government since the land for the Dam was leased by it for the purpose.  Additionally, raising of the height is also a threat to about 35 lakh citizens of Kerala, living in the downstream areas of the Dam.

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Karnataka Ruling Alliance In Difficulty

The ruling Janata Dal (Secular)-BJP alliance in Karnataka is facing problems again, thanks to a revolt within the JD(S) of Deve Gowda. The leader of the Parliamentary Party, M.P. Veerendra Kumar and former Minister P.G. Sindia are eager to get the party Chief, Deve Gowda, expelled for breaching the fundamental principles and ideology of the party, especially those that compromised on its secular values. The two leaders are expected to move a resolution for Deve Gowda’s expulsion under Clause 4 of Article 21 of the Party’s Constitution in the Executive meeting towards the end of the month.  The charge against Gowda is that he joined hands with the communal BJP for power and made his son Kumaraswamy the Chief Minister.  They are hoping to get the resolution passed, break the party, cause the fall of the JD(S)-BJP Government and join the Congress to bring it back to power.

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Unique Power Plant In Alwar

The Rajasthan Government, led by Vasundhara Raje, is constructing a unique non-conventional  power plant in Alwar, based on mustard crop residue (MCR).  The 7.5 MW plant with an installed capacity of 150 metric tonnes of MCR per day is being built at a cost of Rs.37 crore. All the necessary clearances for the project have been obtained.  The vast hinterland of Rajasthan will provide the agriculture waste which would be fuel for the plant. The State has got immense potential for biomass-based power plants. The agricultural waste for such plants in the State is estimated to the tune of 50 lakh tonnes, which the farmers are constrained to burn before the new crop season. ---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)