|
Round The States
West Bengal In Flames
CENTRE AWAITS CPM GREEN SIGNAL
By Insaf
New Delhi, November 24, 2007
West Bengal is in flames over the festering
Nandigram issue. The violence spread to the State capital
Kolkata on Wednesday last, leading to six army columns staging
a flag march. A night-to-dawn curfew was imposed in the plush
Muslim-dominated areas of Central Kolkata district including
posh Park Street and Ripon Street. Trouble started when
activists of the All India Minority Forum clashed with the
police, pelted stones and set buses aflame. Unfortunately, the
situation went out of hand when the Rapid Action Force was
unable to control the violent mob. The AIMF also resorted to
road blocks in Howrah, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas.
Worse, train services too were affected. The issue also
exploded in both Houses of Parliament wherein L.K. Advani
demanded that the Centre issue directions to the State
Government under Article 355 of the Constitution and Home
Minister Shivraj Patil disclosed that this had already been
done.
A circumspect Congress, dependent as it is on the Left
support, made sure it played safe. Member after member merely
termed the Nandigram turmoil as a national tragedy and asked
the Centre and West Bengal to work together to provide
compensation to victims. Meanwhile, 15 days after
violence-rocked Nandigram, the supporters of the Bhumi Ucched
Pratirodh Committee are preparing to pay back with renewed
force. Their confidence stems from two factors: One, neither
the Central Reserve Police Force nor the CPM cadres will stay
there for ever. “Who will then protect the people who have
made us suffer? We will pay them back in their own coin three
times over," stated the BUPC Treasurer, S K Asrafultulla. Two,
the people are already organising themselves for another mass
movement against the State Government, for trying to uproot
the people in the name of industrialisation.
* * * *
Karnataka Betrayed Twice Over
Karnataka today resembles the theatre of absurd. Call it a
comedy of errors or a farce, but the BJP’s first Southern
Chief Minister B.S. Yedyurappa’s tryst with power ended before
it actually began. He was forced to resign in less than seven
days, that too just minutes before the motion of confidence
was put to vote in the Assembly. Thanks to the betrayal, the
second time over, in less than a month, by the JD (S)
father-son Gowda duo. Worse, if the second honeymoon between
Yedyurappa and Kumaraswamy was not bad enough the JD(S)
supremo, wily Deve Gowda, tried to play smarter by half. He
rushed to New Delhi in the hope of convincing the Congress to
ally with him and anoint his favourite son, Revanna, as the
Chief Minister. Only to earn a sharp rebuff and suffer the
ignominy of being called the “most unethical politician”.
Needless to say, the Gowdas' bit off a lot more than they can
chew!
* * * *
Keen Contest In Gujarat Polls
Gujarat is set to witness a keen contest in next month’s State
Assembly polls. Both the principal parties, the BJP and
Congress are busy poaching each other’s disgruntled MLAs. The
Congress has nominated six BJP rebels among the candidates for
the first phase of the Assembly polls on December 11. Not only
that. The Party has entered a seat-sharing arrangement with
the NCP and CPM by giving them four and one seat respectively,
adding to Modi’s discomfiture. However, a confidant Arun
Jaitley, BJP in-charge of Gujarat is upbeat about Narendra
Modi’s victory the third time over. He told Insaf in a chat
that even as the media went looking for anti-Modi stories, the
people of Gujarat, specially the women, were busy hooting for
Modi as “the only incorruptible, tall mard leader the State
had produced in the last 25 to 30 years”. No matter that
Partymen who failed to get tickets are putting impediments in
the way of their respective parties.
* * * *
BJP Dilemma In MP
The ruling Saffron Sangh is in deep trouble in Madhya Pradesh.
The BJP is on the horns of a dilemma whether to retain or sack
its Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan. The demand for the CM’s
resignation is fast reaching a crescendo in the wake of an FIR
being filed against him and his wife for alleged corruption by
the Special Police Establishment of the Lokayukta under the
Prevention of Corruption Act. The BJP can ill-afford to change
the CM a fourth time (after Uma Bharti and Babulal Gaur) in
the last leg of the Assembly election race. But at the same
time it cannot have a stigmatised Chief Minister.
Notwithstanding, Chounan’s charge that the FIR has little
basis in fact and has been maneuvered by the erstwhile
Congress CM. Digvijay Singh to embarrass the party. It remains
to be seen who will have the last laugh: the Lokayukta or
Chouhan?
* * * *
Chinese Intrusion In Arunachal
All is not well in the border States of Arunachal Pradesh and
Sikkim. A Congress MP, Nabam Rebia, created a stir in the
Rajya Sabha on Wednesday last by asserting that both the
border States were victims of Chinese incursions. Worse, the
Chinese army had demolished a Buddha statue in the Tawang
district last month. Not only that. The Chinese disinclination
to recognize the Mcmohan Line as the international border had
led to a sense of insecurity among the Arunachali people. The
matter has since been referred to the Defence Ministry which
has been directed to ensure clear demarcation of the Line of
Actual Control and tighten its vigil on the border. Resulting
in Defence Minister Antony clarifying that the mechanism to
address these intrusions were well-established and that he
hoped at arriving at a common perception of the LAC so that
peace and tranquility would be maintained on the border.
* * * *
Hurriyat Leader’s New Demands
The travails of Kashmir continue. Yet another spanner has been
added to the long list of spanners on the road to peace.
Leader of a breakaway faction of the Hurriyat Conference,
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has added a new dimension to finding a
solution to the Kashmir problem. First, he has grandiosely
mooted the proposal for a complete devolution of powers by the
Centre to the State Government and that appointment of an
independent President and Prime Minister as until 1953.
However, Farooq did a somersault within 24 hours when accused
of a ‘sell out’ to India and following in the footsteps of
Sheikh Abdullah. He then asserted that there could be “no
solution within the framework of the Indian Constitution is
acceptable.” Shockingly, he then went on to eulogize Gen.
Musharraf’s formula providing for demilitarization, open
borders, joint management and self-governance “as the best
possible solution for the Kashmir issue”. It remains to be
seen whether his jarring notes match the emerging new peace
realities on the ground.
* * * *
Hopefuls Slug In Himachal
The BJP has outdone the Election Commission by coming out with
a long list of do’s and don’ts for aspirants for the Assembly
poll in Himachal Pradesh. The candidates will have to submit a
detailed bio-data on their qualifications, experience, vision,
and even specify whether they face any legal case. Not only
that. The Saffron Brigade, hoping to wrest power from the
Congress, has come out with a four-page nomination form for
hopefuls. Talking to Insaf, the BJP General Secretary
in-charge of the State, Satpal Jain, asserted: “This will show
whether a candidate has the vision and concept." On its part,
the ruling Congress too is confidant of winning a comfortable
margin. Notwithstanding the deluge of ticket seekers who are
making life hell for PCC Chief Vipala Sharma and General
Secretary in-charge RK Dhawan. In a first of sorts, veteran
State leader and Minister Satpal Mahajan has declined to
contest. He told Insaf: “It is time for young leaders to carry
the baton forward”.---INFA
(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)
E-Mail :
newseditor@sarkaritel.com |
