Round The States

New Delhi, 22 November 2007

West Bengal In Flames

CENTRE AWAITS CPM GREEN SIGNAL

By Insaf

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.

*                                    *                                   *                                                  *

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 and Feature Alliance)