Round The States

New Delhi, 24 October 2013

New North-East Front

SPELLS TROUBLE FOR CENTRE

By Insaf

Winds of change are sweeping across salubrious North-East. In an unprecedented move, regional parties in the seven-sister States comprising Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram have floated the North East Regional Political Front (NERPF). The prime movers, the Asom Gana Parishad’s Prafulla Mahanta and Nagaland’s United Democratic Party Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio roped in Meghalaya’s Hills State Peoples Democratic Party, Manipur’s three parties -  People’s Party, Manipur Democratic People’s Front, Manipur State Congress Party. In the loop are Mizoram’s Mizo National Front, Arunachal’s People’s Party and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura. Even as the fledgling front adopted 17 resolutions including the land swap deal with Bangladesh, scrapping of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the burning issue of Centre-State ties in India’s federal structure, it remains to be seen how the front will deal with contentious boundary issues between warring Nagaland, Manipur and Assam with the rebel Naga outfits demanding Greater Nagalim. For the Centre, it could lead to fresh headache as its various special north-east packages have failed to assuage the feeling of alienation among the North-Easterners. In the event the Front decides to fight the forthcoming general elections collectively, the 24 Lok Sabha seats, though miniscule could still be crucial specially for the Congress as it hopes to win at least 20 seats. Either which way the bandying together of these ten parties heralds nouvelle exercise whereby cleverly used they could have their say and way in extracting their pound of flesh.

*                                               *                                               *                                               *

Punjab’s SAD Eyes Delhi

Punjab’s Shiromani Akali Dal is eyeing Delhi polls to enlarge its base, much to the chagrin of its alliance partner, the BJP. The party has decided to field candidates in 16 seats and is open to the idea of a post-poll alliance. On Tuesday, it made it amply clear that its alliance with the BJP is very much intact and any decision would be taken by the party high command.  While this is bound to impact BJP’s votes, the party has itself to blame. Its house so far had been in utter disarray. After much dithering it announced its chief ministerial candidate, Dr Harsh Vardhan over aspirant Vijay Goel, State party chief. And, claims that there is no heart burn. However, the move has come rather late. The SAD certainly doesn’t want to take chances and wants to test waters. This apart, it hopes that if it manages a seat or two it would suffice for it to negotiate better with the BJP. As of now the SAD has a presence in Haryana and Uttarakhand as well. A win in the national capital could be a stepping stone to national politics.

*                                               *                                               *                                               *

Chhattisgarh Cong Can’t Change

Chhattisgarh election has the Congress in a bind. With opinion polls predicting a third term for Chief Minister Raman Singh, the grand old party has put on hold its Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s desire to bring in the youth and put an end to family and patronage in ticket distribution. The party has, it looks, little option but to rely heavily on its trusted octogenarian member and party treasurer Motilal Vora’s experience given that he was appointed chief of the election campaign committee, on Tuesday last. This is also being seen as a way to placate its former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, who has been having a running battle with State party chief Charan Das Mahant. Not only has Jogi been made its convenor and Mahant only a member, the former’s son and wife have been given tickets. But it doesn’t end here. Vora and Shyama Charan Shukla’s sons and Arvind Netam’s daughter too have been given the party ticket. While fingers will be crossed that Vora keeps the flock together, developments in the BJP give signs of some extra hope. With 10 MLAs denied ticket in the first list, the party is facing major protests. Raman Singh is confident his house is in order, but is it?

*                                               *                                               *                                               *

TN Relieved

Tamil Nadu has finally overcome the long initial hiccups, much to the relief of both the State and Central government. On auspicious Tuesday, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant got rolling and commenced commercial production. The first unit generated 160 MW, which will gradually be raised to 1000 MW in stages. However, reports of the plant tripping less than two hours of the operation have subdued the celebrations as it fell short of generating maximum power target of 350 MW. The incident has given handle to the protestors, who argue that the claim of the plant starting is only to please the Russians and hoodwink the people. Recall that the National Power Corporation of India Ltd’s project, over two decades in the making, has been jinxed with delays with NGOs and the locals being vociferous over safety concerns. The AIADMK government, however, has been hell bent on getting it operational. The southern State has been reeling under severe power shortage forcing long major power cuts, raising tempers both among domestic and commercial users. There is renewed hope that these shall cool down gradually.

*                                               *                                               *                                               *

Bihar’s Alliance Mystery  

Bihar is giving a big ego boost to the Congress. Both the Lok Janshakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal are on their knees urging Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi to have an alliance for elections 2014. Guess the two parties have little choice. Over the years both the RLD and LJP are becoming more or less passé in the State. On Tuesday last, their leaders Ram Vilas Paswan and Rabri Devi (with Lalu in jail) with sons in tow met and made a renewed call for a secular alliance. They were, however, upset that their repeated requests were making no headway and the Congress continued to be in a denial mode. More so, as the two parties look visibly worried about the JD (U), which after parting ways with the BJP, has been quietly trying to work out an alliance with the Congress. It is no secret that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been making overtures to 10 Janpath and the Centre has been blowing hot and cold. It is anybody’s guess who will succeed. The merry-go-round will keep revolving for a long time.  

*                                               *                                               *                                               *

Odisha Plea To Centre

Will the Centre oblige Odisha, is the question doing the rounds in the BJD circles. With the State reeling under cyclone devastation, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has sought Central relief to the tune of Rs 4,242 crore. While the administration has calculated that its major loss has been in the energy department and thus sought Rs 1,048 crore, it has added Rs 855 crore for the panchayati department. This apart, Patnaik has already pleaded for Rs 1000 over and above Rs 523 crore available under the State Disaster Response Fund. With non-Congress State governments always complaining of Centre’s step-motherly treatment towards them, Patnaik would do well in not pinning his hopes on New Delhi. The CM and the State machinery did extremely well in preparing for the cyclone and saving thousands of lives. Perhaps, it can set another trend by managing on its own if the Centre plays politics with the funds.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)