Round The States

New Delhi, 16 June 2011

Mayawati’s New Headache

CBI FOR RAPE, COURT ON SUICIDES

By Insaf

The murder of a 14-year old minor girl in UP’s Lakhimpur district is causing Chief Minister Mayawati a severe headache. This follows the controversy over two autopsy reports of the teenager. While the first report termed the death as “suicide”, the second post-mortem confirmed “rape” followed by “strangulation” as also the local police’s blatant attempts to cover up the case. Notwithstanding, the transfer of the district police chief, the State’s Opposition parties have pounced on this issue and demanded a CBI probe in to the killing. With elections to the State Assembly due next year, the Congress has upped its anti-Mayawati offensive reviving prospects of a shrill political engagement between the rivals.  The Congress plans to corner the BSP supremo on the declining law and order situation in the State, farmers’ suicide in Bundelkhand and the furor over land acquisition in Greater Noida. On her part, Mayawati is riled by Congress Union Ministers taking pot shots at her and is busy formulating her acerbic response. 

Adding to Mayawati’s woes the Allahabad High Court has asked the State Government to submit a status report on the alarming spurt in farmers’ suicide in Bundelkhand. Shockingly, over 520 farmers have committed suicide in the last five months, a distressing rise over the previous two years when around 600 farmers lost their lives in a year. Upset with these findings, the Court has further directed the Government not to take coercive steps to recover farm loans, provide details on the causes of the deaths and steps initiated to provide debt relief to the farmers. The Chief Minister in turn has asked her officials to prepare a detail account on measures taken for the development of the area, irrigation facilities, status of the public distribution system and other welfare schemes. Undoubtedly, the Dalit Czarina has a busy ‘hot’ political season ahead of her!

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Darjeeling Model For Telangana?

Telangana, the hot potato which has split the polity in Andhra Pradesh wide open is all set to be resolved soon, if the Congress has it’s way. The Party’s latest ‘peace offering’ for the bifurcation of the State is the Gorkhaland model of autonomy. Recall, the Darjeeling model includes formation of a Council with wide-ranging powers and a big financial package. In fact, this was the sixth option recommended by the Srikrishna Committee report on the division of Andhra to the Centre in December last. The Committee had suggested statutory safeguards including a regional council, strengthening of Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1956, and provision for an annual report card on implementation of provisions guaranteed under the pact. However, this has not found many takers among vociferous MPs and MLAs from the region who continue to hoot for Telangana. Instead, it has once again heated-up the issue.

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NC Gets Governance Tutorial

The Omar Abdullah NC Government in J&K was given a tutorial in good governance by the Centre. Whereby, the Chief Minister has been clearly told to immediately act on his promise of transferring power to the newly-elected Panchayats. This follows a record voter turnout translating in to high expectations and rising aspirations. Given that these polls took place after over a decade. The heightened worry stems from two other factors. One, Hurriyat leader Geelani threatening another mass movement. Two, intelligence inputs of even the slightest provocation being used to mobilize popular support, akin to the Peoples’ revolution in Egypt and Tunisia. Pertinently, unlike, the rest of the country the State has its own Panchayati Act which makes the local MLA the powerful arbitrator of finances at the district and village levels. Already, the winners are busy enquiring about their privileges and the responsibilities it entails. The Centre’s fears that in the event the representatives are not given the benefit of devolution of powers then there could be a strong anti-Government backlash.

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Jobless Jharkhand

Jharkhand’s unemployed youth in Maoists-affected Garhwa district have found a novel way of demanding work. Albeit, by digging up roads and arm-twisting contractors for the repair jobs. Making matter worse, the young men have not spared even the national highway, the lifeline from Padwa Mod to three States, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. Predictably, this has not only affected vehicular movement on the highway but also led to a rise in accidents. This is not all. The logjam has led to a halt in production at industrial units thus rendering jobless another 1000 locals and 2000 families. Shockingly, the State’s Youth Policy report states that nearly 12.5% youth do not get two square meals a day, 46% are below the poverty line and around 37% of them are unemployed. The State Government has its fingers crossed that the matter is resolved soon as once monsoon sets in Garhwa would be cut off from the rest of the country.

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Political Turmoil In Orissa

Politics in Orissa is in turmoil, courtesy allegations of horse trading against all the three principal parties in the State, ruling BJD, Congress and BJP. This follows an Oriya TV channel releasing audio tapes of how a Congress MLA took money to abstain from voting against BJD members in last years Rajya Sabha elections. While the Congress has suspended one MLA and promised action against another, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik averred that he would look into the charges against two of his State Ministers. Not to be left behind the BJP too has suspended its legislator who negotiated to vote in favour of an independent candidate in lieu of Rs.60 lakh to be paid to another Party legislator. Recall, these abstentions’ had resulted in the BJD winning three Rajya Sabha seats. What’s new?

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Open Jails For Delhi

In the season of jail bharo with many MPs and business executives languishing in Delhi’s Tihar jail, the State Government is contemplating setting up of open jails. This would allow first-time convicts with little risk of absconding to go out of jail during the day to work in the city and return for the evening head-count. Presently, there are 32 open prisons in the country of which Himachal’s Bilaspur district is famed for allowing 78 murder convicts to work from 9 am to 5 pm in the city. The reason behind letting only murder convicts out and not rapists, pick pockets, thieves and burglars is that unlike the others, the murder was committed in the “heat of the moment.” For women prisoners, the obverse holds true. They are allowed to leave in the evening to be with their families and return to prison in the morning. Already on the anvil is a semi-open jail whereby a group of convicts would be placed together outside the regular prison but in the jail complex. It remains to be seen whether jails will be treated as an open and shut case! ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)