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Karnata Assembly Poll:MONEYBAGS FOR POLITICAL POWER, by Insaf, 7 May 2008 Print E-mail

Round The States

New Delhi, 7 May 2008

Karnata Assembly Poll

MONEYBAGS FOR POLITICAL POWER

By Insaf

The forthcoming Assembly poll in Karnataka has thrown up a new trend in Indian politics, which is at once ugly and dangerous. More and more moneybags are actively showing interest in what is being called the “business of politics”. It’s now no longer the industrialists and liquor barons, but real estate moguls and mine owners eager to control the levers of political power. Worse, political parties are welcoming them with open arms. A quick glance at some such candidates is not only revealing but knocks out former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, worth about Rs 50 crore, as a match. The BJP’s kitty includes G Prasad Reddy, a real estate magnate with assets worth Rs 313 crore, Hemachnadra Sagar, Rs 71 crore, Karunakara Reddy and Somashekar Reddy, both Rs 30 crore each. The Congress has Kupendra Reddy with assets worth Rs 180 crore, Anil H Lad, Rs 170 crore, H R Gaviappa, a mine owner, Rs 89 crore. Obviously, money is no constraint. Rs 10 crore in cash was seized in Bellary and sarees worth Rs 20 lakhs in Davanagere.

Clearly, the Election Commission faces a tough task in ensuring a free and fair poll. However, it has already embroiled itself over its code of conduct. Surprisingly, it has asked the BJP to delete all references to the Centre and the Congress in its three short films spotlighting rising prices and the agony of the aam aadmi. This has given the BJP a new plank in addition to the “great betrayal” by Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular). The BJP is now understandably campaigning against the EC playing the censor and violating its constitutional right of freedom of speech and thereby denying a “legitimate political debate”. On its part, the Congress is going all out to woo the voters with promises of waiver of loans, reservation for women, stipend for unemployed youth, Rs 50,000 crore investment for infrastructure development et all. The voters shall make their choice with the first phase of polling beginning today. .   

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Deshmukh Gets Reprieve

Meanwhile, the Karnataka poll has given a breather to Maharashtra’s Congress Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh. His head is no longer on the chopping block, as was the case last month, when Sonia Gandhi had sought an assessment of his Government. Instead, he has been asked by the Congress High Command to campaign for the second phase of polls on May 22 in Bijapur, Gulbarga and Bidar areas, which have a sizeable Marathi-speaking population. At home, Deshmukh has to decide what to do with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray, who is back with his tirade against north Indians. Though the Congress-led coalition Government is keen to help build the MNS as a counter to Bala Saheb’s Shiv Sena, how long can it look the other way? In a massive rally on Saturday last at Shivaji Park, Mumbai, Raj reiterated that he would not allow the outsiders to destroy Maharashtra’s culture. He even dared the Government to arrest him.

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Centre Seeks Meghalaya’s Help

Meghalaya has assumed great importance for the UPA government—at least in one core area of nuclear power. The Centre is running short of 50 per cent of nuclear fuel, which according to Union Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh could severely affect power projects. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has estimated that it can extract about 3,75,000 tonnes of high-grade uranium ore from Domasiat in West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. However, it has stiff opposition from some NGOs and political parties for the past decade and more. Jairam Ramesh termed on Friday last in Shillong the shortage as a “life and death issue for India”, and appealed to the anti-uranium mining lobby to allow the mining of the precious ore. Those opposed believe that mining of uranium would endanger the locals’ health by exposing them to radiation. The Prime Minister too has personally conveyed the Centre’s wish to Meghalaya Chief Minister Donkupar Roy. Much now depends upon Meghalaya and its people.

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Manipur Villagers To Be Armed

Manipur has decided to follow in the footsteps of Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir to fight militancy. With the State having the largest casualties in the troubled North-East, the Okram Ibobi Singh government has decided to arm inhabitants of two villages—Heirok in Thoubal district and Lilong Chajing in Imphal West District to protect themselves from militants. On Friday last, his Cabinet also agreed to train and recruit 500 villagers as ‘special police officers’ as in militancy-ridden J&K. The SPOs will get a salary of Rs 3,000 per month and will be armed with .303 rifles. The decision comes in the wake of the Centre mounting concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the State and the villagers’ demand for arms from the Government following the killing of three persons by militants in March. Manipur’s move is on the lines of the Chhattisgarh Government’s decision to set up Salwa Judum, a vigilante force, to fight the Naxalites. Ironically, the Supreme Court recently expressed itself strongly against the concept of Salwa Judum and even denounced it as violation of human rights. .  

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States Overdrawing Power

With temperatures already soaring high this summer, the demand for electricity from various States has increased. Worse, most States have started resorting to heavy overdrawal from the power grid, ignoring mandatory safety measures. The Union Power Ministry is concerned. Instead of load shedding, the States are overdrawing power thus risking a complete power collapse in the country.  In April, the States which were issued overdrawal warning include, Uttar Pradesh, 137 notices, Rajasthan, 104 such warning, Gujarat 78, Punjab 71 and Haryana 30. The demand for electricity is learnt to have increased on an average by 12 per cent and in some cases even by 20 per cent. And, is bound to go up further. The Ministry has done well in issuing the following advisory to the State governments: give priority to drinking water supply, public utility and other essential services if and when supply is less than demand.  

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CBI To Probe Rhino Poaching

Last week, the Camel made news in more ways than one. This time around it is the rhinoceros. None less than the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been  approached by the Assam Government to look into the recent spate of poaching of rhinos in the Kaziranga National Park and Orang and Pobitora parks. So far, six rhinos have been killed this year, while 21 rhinos were poached last year. The tally adds up to 78 since 2001. The decision to involve the CBI follows allegations of involvement of international agencies in poaching incidents. The reason?  The rhino horn is in big demand as its powder is widely believed to be an aphrodisiac. It is five times more valuable than gold and fetches around $ 45,000 per kg in the international market! Kaziranga is said to have the largest number of rhinos in the world—2,000, about 80 per cent of the global population! --INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

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