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Round The States
New Delhi, 13 March
2021
TMC Vs ECI
Bengal Poll Gets
Murkier
By Insaf
In West Bengal’s big
battle, the focus has shifted from TMC versus BJP to Nirvachan Sadan instead. An
injured Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her team have trained their guns on
the Election Commission, which has returned the ammunition with equal, if not
more gusto. On Thursday last, it rubbished Didi’s
charge that the ‘attack’ on her in Nandigram on Wednesday was because of the sudden
removal of the DGP from CM’s security cover, at BJP’s behest. The TMC’s charge,
it said was “full of insinuations and aversions” which questions the “very
basis of creation and functioning of Election Commission, adding “This
virtually tantamounts to undermine the very foundation of Constitution of
India,” It also defended its decision to remove the DGP on grounds of recommendation
of special observers and said it has sought a report on the incident from Chief
Secretary and Special Observers, within 48 hours. Clearly, the TMC is building
ground of any losses it suffers in its main battle with the BJP to a tainted ECI
again, as it had done in 2019 elections. However, the BJP has alleged that the attack
on Didi was “tactics to gain
sympathy” as her days of misrule were numbered. Predictably, the contest is
close, but all sides must stick to the rules of the game. With a month-long
poll in the State, all sides would do well to deal with issues concerning the
people. Hitting below the belt serves no purpose. And the ECI must ensure it’s
a ‘free and fair poll’.
* * * *
Uttarakhand’s
New Chief
The change in guard
in the hilly State of Uttarakhand with less than a year for Assembly elections
has sent clear signals that the rumblings within the party couldn’t be avoided
any further. If the party wants to retain power, which is obvious, then
corrections were necessary. Thus on Wednesday last, Tirath Singh Rawat, an MP
and pracharak, was elected leader of the legislature party and took oath as
Chief Minister, upstaging Trivendra Singh Rawat, who was asked to resign by the
high command. While there is no denying that his four-year rule was turbulent
and most of his flock of MLAs were baying for his blood, Tirath’s candidature
took many by surprise. Tirath, apparently played his cards well, as he was seen
to be in the race for the hot seat. He managed to win the trust of MLAs and BJP
leaders and even had Trivendra propose his name as his successor. The smooth
beginning, as of now looks encouraging for the cadres, but whether he would be
able to maintain coordination between the party organisation and government
remains to be seen. His predecessor had lost out on this front and didn’t pay heed
to the adage ‘a stitch in time saves nine’.
* * * *
Haryana
Govt Intact
Haryana’s Manohar Lal
Khattar-led BJP-JJP alliance government stays put much to the chagrin of the
Congress. The grand old party had moved and pushed for a no-confidence motion,
in the hope and claim that some of the JJP MLAs would cross the fence, in the
background of Centre’s ‘mis-handling’ of the farmers’ protest. But it wasn’t
the case, as Khattar government sailed through the floor test on Wednesday last
rather comfortably. After six-hours of debate, 55 MLAs voted against the motion,
while 32 supported it in the 88-member House. Leader of Opposition and former Chief
Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, demand for secret voting wasn’t accepted by the
Speaker, who instead did a headcount. Those who voted against the motion
included 39 of 40 BJP members, all 10 of ally JJP, five Independents and a member
of HLP. The Congress managed only two Independents, who had earlier withdrawn their
support, other than its 30 MLAs. The two JPP MLAs, who Hooda was counting on,
apparently didn’t deliver. They had been threatening to resign and even take
some others with them. But when it came to the crux, they chickened out and eventually
voted with their leader Dushyant Chautala. Clearly, Khattar not only had the
last laugh but rubbed salt on Congress’ wound saying no-confidence is its old
culture, “They express no-confidence too quickly and easily. Everybody knows
about their no-confidence among each other within their party...”
* * * *
J&K
Rumblings
All is not well in
the District Development Councils across J&K, as envisaged by New Delhi. Its
members are peeved over the shoddy treatment being meted out by the
administration and have even threatened to resign en masse if their demands are
not met within a week. Though they had boycotted their training-cum-workshop to
press demand for better status and facilities, the members did call off their
agitation on Wednesday last, saying they would knock on the doors of Raj Bhavan
for redressal of their grievances. These include, the government relegating the
DDC’s chairpersons position below the Secretary, IGP and Divisional
Commissioner, not making any provision for their office, mobility and ensuing
requisite staff. In a statement, a DDC member said the government has made them
‘a laughing stock before people who visit them in large numbers with the hope
of justice and development.’ The 40-member DDC forum including chairpersons of
all 20 districts across the UT, are adamant and Lt Governor Manoj Sinha will
need to assuage their angst. If not then the Forum has decided to take up the
matter with 7 Race Course Road. The UT administration must remember the saying
‘well begun is half done’, and act promptly, lest the optimism evoked by DDCs in
place completely vanishes. Winds of change need to blow.
* * * *
Maharashtra
Vs Centre
The tussle between
the Centre and Maharashtra has the got dream project of Prime Minister Modi off
track. While railway Minister Piyush Goyal is clearly peeved as he sees the red
signal from Maharashtra, he has something to cheer about. Gujarat is
compensating and Rail Bhavan has already acquired 99 per cent of land required
for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project. In Lok Sabha on Wednesday last
he sought to draw a distinction between the two States and said that in
Maharashtra it has acquired only 24 per of the land. He took the opportunity
provided by Question Hour to hit at the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance, saying
the government was halting the project and that whatever land was acquired was
during the previous regime. Guess the strategy didn’t go well with the Sena
MPs, who obviously objected to his allegations, saying he wasn’t telling the
truth. Be that as it may, it is unlikely that the old ally will oblige as from
the look of it, there were no takers for Goyal’s plea that if Maharashtra cooperates,
then the high-speed rail network can be expedited. But, at least he could take
some consolation from the fact that he has a readymade excuse for the project’s
derailment. Should the ball be now in the PMO’s court?
* * * *
Rajasthan’s
Cow Funding
Better to be a cow
than a human being, may well be a thought in Rajasthan amongst the poor. The
State finance department data shows that during the past five years, cow
shelters in the State have received over Rs 1,500 crore as government aid! The funds were collected from the surcharge
on stamp duty imposed and liquor sale ‘for the propagation and protection of
cows.’ In all, the State received Rs 2259,64 since 2015 i.e. Rs 1,242.56 crore
between 2015-16 and January 2020-21 from cow protection surcharge levied on
stamp duty and between 2018-19 and January 2020-21, it cashed in revenue worth
Rs 1017.8 crore from liquor sale surcharge. What is of particular interest is
that it was the previous BJP government which had levied these surcharges and
Congress’ Ashok Gehlot government chose not to discontinue with it, since it
came to power in December 2018. In fact, during the pandemic last year, Gehlot
also passed The Rajasthan Stamp (Amendment) Bill, 2020, to add to the kitty for
conservation of cow and its progeny. Cow shelters in these past five years have
been doled out Rs 1.511.31 crore under various heads. The moot question that
begs an answer is how many crores of rupees were earmarked or spent on shelter
homes for the needy, dispelling the notion that human life is cheap in India.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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