Round
The States
New Delhi, 18 August
2018
J&K Panchayat Polls
WILL IT BEAT SEVEN-YEAR ITCH?
By Insaf
As the
nation mourns the passing away of its last statesman Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will
his vision for Jammu & Kashmir be consigned to history? The path he
envisioned --“insaniyat (humanity), jamhooriyat (democracy) and Kashmiriyat (inclusive Kashmiri
culture), is spoken of no doubt, as did Prime Minister Modi on Independence
Day, but deeds haven’t matched words. Normalcy has played truant, ruling BJP’s
alliance with PDP failed and worse panchayat polls not been held for past seven
years, since 2011! Governor Vohra proposes to take his chances this tenure and make
amends. He has announced elections --to municipalities in September-October and
panchayat polls in October-December and wants people to see reason. The
‘prolonged delay in establishing democratically-elected self-governing bodies’,
he says has led to ‘loss of considerable funds, which would have been available
if elections had been held.’ Further, he has reached out to all political
parties to support his administration to improve ‘efficiency and accountability’
and in building an environment for ‘a positive outcome.’ While both NC and
Congress are apprehensive of conditions not being conducive for polls, the PDP is
on board, as of now. Predictably, the separatists will give a boycott call. But
there is time. Will autumn in the troubled State see jamhooriyat be given a chance?
* * * *
Bengal
Shocker
Talking of panchayat
polls, West Bengal politics stumps even the Supreme Court. The violence-marred
panchayat elections in May saw ‘thousands’ of seats remaining uncontested, making
the court observe ‘grass root-level
democracy was not working.’ Of the 58,692 posts for gram panchayat village,
zilla parishad and panchayat samiti, 20,159 had no contest. Provide us exact
statistics it directed the State Election Commission (SEC), as what was further
puzzling was that of 48,650 panchayat seats 16,000 posts faced similar
situation. Obviously the SEC was a hard rap and reminded it was “the guardian
of law.” The fact there were litigations only means that everyone was aware of
the fact that something was missing. But, the apex court was stumped with the
response of all three—the government, the ruling TMC and SEC that “if
candidates do not contest, what can we do!” To buttress its case the TMC
government reeled out statistics from other States and said: In Sikkim over 60%
of seats saw no contest, in UP 57.6%, in Uttarakhand 22 % and in Haryana 51 %
and in UP 57.6 %. Pity, they all forget that two wrongs don’t make a
right.
* * * *
Rain
God’s Fury in Kerala
God’s Own Country is
ravaged. The rain god has played havoc in Kerala, with 100 lives lost so far in
the worst floods in State’s history and over 150,000 people shifted to relief
camps. Villages and cities are submerged by flood waters and road, rail and air
traffic crippled. Chief Minister Vijayan has appealed to people to shift to
safer places and not worry about belongings as ‘life is supreme’. Fortunately,
the message goes beyond to the Centre. New Delhi is heeding to every request of
the Left government, be it men and material --Army, NDRF & Army Engineering
Corps, boats, rescue material etc and Vijayan has no complaints. However,
neighbouring State, Tamil Nadu is being cussed. It chose not to oblige to the
request to draw more water from Mullaperiyar dam and bring levels down. So
Supreme Court had to order it. This is no time to play politics, and least of
all in the midst of a tragedy.
* * * *
Odisha
Beats Centre
Odisha’s Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik does one better than Prime Minister Modi! Not only has he
said a ‘no thank you’ to Centre’s Ayushman
Bharat (National health protection mission) as it will short change his
people (nine lakh less would be covered) but believes in an early start. While
Modi announced from ramparts of Red Fort the scheme will start from 25
September, Naveen has already started posting letters to 70 lakh intended
beneficiaries of his scheme. It reads: “In 2014, I promised that no poor family
in Odisha will be denied medical treatment because of financial constraints. To
them, I dedicate Biju Swasthya Kalyan
Yojana”, which covers insurance up to Rs 5 lakh per eligible family and an
additional Rs 2 lakh to women members. Besides other schemes like Niramaya for free medicines, Nidan for free diagnostics, and Sahay, which equips all districts with dialysis,
chemotherapy services are enlisted. Collectors have been told to set up and
chair committees in districts to review letter distribution. Being true to his
word, may perhaps be another message to Modi.
* * * *
TN’s
Leadership Rumbling
The succession row in
the DMK erupts even before the dust settles down. Within days of patriarch
Karunanidhi passing away, the brothers’ bitter rivalry is out in the open.
Expected, but so soon? Obviously, the younger of the siblings, Stalin, who was
anointed ‘working President’ by his father is keen to waste no time to take
over the reins. Older brother Alagiri has predictably questioned his leadership,
claimed old DMK loyalists are with him and worse accused the party of misusing
funds. The row is bound to get murky as Karunanidhi did keep the succession
rather vague. However, Stalin is confident of having an edge given that Alagiri
was expelled from the party. But it will be no smooth sailing as his adversaries
will seek their pound of flesh. Politics as is known is a game of uncertainties
and it’s too early to predict an outcome. What is certain is that with Karunanidhi’s
death and earlier of AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa there will remain a vacuum in
Tamil politics. New entrants are eyeing the space.
* * * *
Cows
Legal Guardian
Imagine being a legal
guardian of cows. Absurd to say the least, but in today’s Uttarakhand it is not
so. On Monday last, the High Court pronounced itself as the legal guardian of gau mata and other stray cattle in the
hilly State. By invoking the Latin doctrine of ‘parens patriae’ it has now total
authority to issue ‘mandatory’ directions for cow welfare/protection. ‘Parens
patriae’, translated means “parent of his or her country” and is power which can
be invoked by a State, regarded as a sovereign, to “provide protection to those
who are unable to take care of themselves.” Cows thus have a new entity. Instructions
to safeguard them include: all Circle Officers must patrol rural areas once in
24 hours to ensure no cow is slaughtered, as it is banned; owners be prosecuted
if their cattle is found on streets, roads, public places; State functionaries
must show utmost compassion and no unnecessary pain and suffering is inflicted
on the cattle; ban on sale of beef, its products across the State, guashalas be constructed, et al. Holy
Cow! ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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