Round The States
New Delhi, 22 August 2007
Snap Poll Alert
CONGRESS CHURNING
IN STATES
By Insaf
With the possibility
of the country being pushed into a mid-term poll, the Congress has suddenly become conscious about getting its
act together. Party units are now on the alert as the Congress High Command starts turning its attention towards
revamping its organizations in the States.
Accordingly, some Pradesh Congress
Committee (PCC) Chiefs may be replaced in the reshuffle and PCCs reconstituted or
constituted where they are non-existent. Prominent among the States likely to
witness changes include Madhya
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, the PCC chief Subhash
Yadav, whose stint has been marked by infighting, is likely to be replaced, and
a PCC constituted. Incredibly enough, the State has been without a PCC for more
than two years.
Those vying for the post are Leader of Opposition in the
State Assembly Jamuna Devi, Gwalior scion and MP Jyotiraditya
Scindia and Union Minister Suresh Pachauri as former Chief Minister Digvijay
Singh, presently AICC General Secretary, is not interested in going back to the
State. In UP, where the Congress had
to bite dust in the Assembly poll,
PCC Chief Salman Khursheed is likely to shift to Delhi. In Rajasthan, notwithstanding former
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s keenness
to become PCC Chief, chances are that a fresh face may replace BD Kalla as PCC
Chief. In the reckoning are former Chief Minister Jaganath Pahadia, PCC
spokesperson Param Navdeep Singh and Harinder Mirdha. Ultimately, caste
equations would be the deciding factor.
* * * * *
Kerala Adds to
Congress’s Problems
The UPA’s tie-up with the Left is causing more trouble than
it had anticipated. Grappling with the CPMs threat over the nuclear deal at the
Centre, the Union Government is now forced to cope with a turnaround by the
CPM-led Government in Kerala. The latter has refused to go along with the
toll-based Build Operate Transfer model for the construction of the national
highway in the State and has asked the Union Transport & Highways Ministry
to foot the bill for the 70-km stretch. With the Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh’s talks with Chief Minister Achutanandan making no headway, the Centre is
being left with no choice but to cough up Rs 400 crore! Consequently, all
remaining road projects in the State have been put on hold till the issue is resolved.
* * * *
Naga Encroachment In Assam
Assam’s cup of woes seems to be
over-flowing. On the one hand, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s Congress Government is busy grappling with the violence unleashed
by the outlawed ULFA to rid the State of Bihari
labourers. On the other hand, Assam’s border
dispute with neigbouring Nagaland has assumed
sinister proportions. So far, armed Naga depredations were limited to creating
havoc in Assam’s border
villages. But now they have the tacit support of their State Government in
surreptiously encroaching on Assamese
land through the rebels in “well coordinated and planned moves.” Not only that.
Schools, churches and police stations have allegedly been set-up in Assam’s
territory by the Government in Kohima.
Recall, Nagaland has been making calculated and persistent
attempts to acquire Assamese
territory in pursuance of its grand design of greater Nagalim --- comprising
major chunks of Assam and
Manipur’s territory. The Nagas continue to be goaded by the belief that Nagaland
got a raw deal when it was carved out of the then undivided Assam.
Kohima even cites ‘historical facts’ to buttress
its claim. Forgetting that the areas demanded by it were earlier hubs of the
Ahom kingdom of which the Nagas were never the inhabitants. Sadly, the laxity
by successive Assam
governments has resulted in Nagaland now controlling a sizeable area of Assam
as part of its territory.
* * * *
Punjab’s New Deal For
Farmers
The Punjab Chief Minister, Prakash Singh Badal, has unveiled
a new deal for the State’s poor. Whereby low-priced atta and daal will be provided to over 14 lakh families,
including eight lakh Scheduled Castes households, with an annual income of less than Rs 30,000. The scheme aims to provide wheat
at Rs 4 a kilo and daal at Rs 20
through fair-price shops. Even as the Opposition dismissed
this measure as a “stunt” and “unsustainable”, given Punjab’s
precarious fiscal health, an unstoppable Chief Minister went a step further. He
has also relaxed the Rs 7,200 per year national criterion to define families
living below the poverty line. It remains to be seen whether these measure will
decrease the indebtedness of 65 per
cent farmers in the State.
* * * *
Army To Blame For J&K
Ammo Fire?
Is the Army to blame for the biggest-ever fire at the
ammunition depot in J&K? Has the military’s callousness
also cost the country 23 precious lives --- of 18 Army personnel and 13 firemen?
It may well be so. Given the complaints by a fireman and a few others. The fire
at the 21 Field Ammunition Depot at Khundroo, in Kashmir
on 11 August last, has made Harjeet Singh, brother of one of the personnel
killed, recall his letters written in October 2005. Addressed
to the Chief of Army Staff, he had warned that inappropriate enrolment of
civilians at the depot was resulting in militants drafting their own men.
Shockingly, no action was taken. Had it been taken, the army may not have lost
its men and property and Singh his brother.
* * * * *
Tata Brews Another
Storm In TN
On the heels of the ruckus it created in Singrur West
Bengal, the Tatas have brewed up another storm in sleepy Tirunelveli in Tamil
Nadu. Teams from various political parties are crisscrossing Tirunelveli, venue of the Tata titanium
dioxide project, eliciting views from the public following a furore over the
company’s proposal to acquire 12,000 acres for its project. Worried about its
fallout on his Government, Chief Minister Karunanidhi has put the project on
hold, after giving his blessing to
the Rs 2,500 crore venture. The Tata’s are keeping their fingers crossed amidst the war of words between Karunanidhi and
his bete noire Jayalalitha. Both are accusing the other of ‘selling the farmers
interest’, as mute farmers watch the unseemly spectacle.
* * * *
Himachal Apple
Growers Woes
There seems no end to the miseries of the Himachal apple
growers. On the heels of the intemperate weather, the orchardists are faced
with an acute shortage of ‘specialised’ fruit pluckers – the fleet-footed and
determined Gurkhas. The apple belt is
dotted with ‘Wanted Gurkhas’
signboards. It isn’t as if there is a dearth of local labour, but plucking
apples requires mountaineering specialists, as orchards are located on great
heights. Gurkhas have the natural
ability to carry heavy loads on their backs and simultaneously maneouvre tricky
hill terrain. So desperate is the situation at ground zero that orchardists are
sponsoring tours to Nepal to get labour from there. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
|