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. .
* * * *
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.
* * * *
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.
* * * *
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. .
* * * *
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.
* * * *
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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