Round The States
New Delhi, 14 January 2023
Presiding Officers’ Meet
BATTLE OF ‘ONE-UPMANSHIP’
By Insaf
Deliberations at the All-India
Presiding Officers’ Conference in Jaipur, Rajasthan has many an eyebrow raised,
to put it mildly. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar virtually censured the
judiciary on Wednesday last, saying ‘one-upmanship and public posturing’ from
judicial platforms is not good and ‘these institutions must know how to conduct
themselves.’ The obvious reference was to Supreme Court’s remarks on collegium
system. Criticising the scrapping of NJAC Act in 2015 and questioning
Kesavananda Bharati case verdict, he said it set a wrong precedent and
disagreed with the ruling that Parliament can amend the Constitution but not
its basic structure. “We can’t have an Ostrich-like stance” on
judiciary-legislature relations, he urged upon legislature officers and said
parliamentary sovereignty can’t be permitted to be diluted or compromised by
executive or judiciary. “If any organisation strikes down a law by Parliament,
then it is not good for democracy. And it would be difficult to say we are a
democratic nation…”
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was on
same page, saying “Legislatures in our country have always respected powers of
judiciary. The judiciary is also expected to follow the principle of separation
and balance of powers conferred by the Constitution.” However, Rajasthan
Assembly Speaker C P Joshi had another take. He called for the need to increase
the accountability of the executive, while lamenting the ‘unfortunate condition’
of Speakers being reduced to ‘referees’. He said: “If we have to keep democracy
strong, then we have to keep the executive accountable, otherwise we are
governed by executive dictatorship.” He sought financial autonomy to the State Assembly,
as Speakers were “helpless” as neither could they call for a sitting of the
House, as the Government and Governor were responsible for that, nor decide on
the proceedings, which were decided by the Business Advisory Committee. Different
takes alright, but what should be of major concern is the Executive-Judiciary
showdown.High constitutional offices taking partisan stance will muddy the
waters further. Uncalled for?
* * * * * * *
Sinking Town
Only a miracle can save
Uttarakhand’s sinking town of Joshimath. ISRO’s satellite images show the
Himalayan town sank at a rapid pace of 5.4 cm in a matter of just 12 days!The
gateway to renowned pilgrimage sites such as Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib is
facing a major challenge due to land subsidence.Huge cracks on roads, houses and ground are staring
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his administration in the face. It has
finally woken up from its slumber as the number of houses affected has risen to
over 700. The administration on Monday last,directed demolition drive against unstable
structures starting with two hotels and evacuating people from unsafe zones.
However, there are vociferous protests from people, raising legitimate
questions such as: what’s the compensation, one-time settlement plan, will
there be an assurance in writing; what’s relocation plans and where shall we go
with all our belongings, our children and the elderly, etc. Dhami has assured a
committee would decide the market rate for compensation by keeping interests of
stakeholders in mind.Enough? Clearly not for rightly Union Home Ministry has
stepped in. A realistic assessment is being made and so far,169-odd families consisting of 589
members have so far been shifted to relief centres; 835 rooms are serving as
relief centres to accommodate 3,630 people; an interim
assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh has been paid so far to 42 affected families. More
needs to be done and fast as time is essence. Sooner the better.
* * * * * * *
TN Big Tussle
The slugfest in Tamil Nadu between
Governor and ruling DMK is reaching boiling point. Chief Minister Stalin sent a delegation to
Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday last with his ‘letter’ to President Murmu,
contents of which were not disclosed, but obviously over the ongoing issues
concerning Governor Ravi’s departure from traditions. The team urged President
to take appropriate action on the memorandum. Clearly, tempers are flying high
in the State with “#GetoutRavi” posters, featuring Stalin surfacing in some
parts of Chennai. The hashtag was trending on Twitter on Monday last following
Ravi’s face-off with the government in Assembly where Stalin had piloted a
resolution against him deviating from his customary address and the former
staging a walkout. Saying that it was an “unprecedented event” in the history
of the House, Stalin’s son and Minister Udhayanidhi hit below the belt saying
normally our leader makes Opposition run with his replies “but this time he
made the Governor run!” The big question is whether Murmu will be able to douse
the fire, or will it engulf constitutional proprietary?
* * * * * * *
Tripura Poll Alliance
Better sense or rather compulsion of
sheer survival is playing out in Tripura’s opposition camp. On Wednesday last,
the CPM, which had a 25-year reign in the State before BJP came to power five
years ago, announced it would tie up with the Congress for the Assembly polls,
a month away. A turn in its political history indeed, as two bitter rivals
start working out an arrangement, putting end to any further speculation. The
seats, announced CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, would be shared between them based
on ‘ground reality’ and to ensure ‘broadest mobilisation of secular forces’, to
defeat the saffron brigade. The party is also reaching out to the tribal TIPRA
Motha party for a pre-poll alliance, which it views as critical in ‘context of
the Northeast, development and for national politics.’ However, it is not going
to be easy. Remember, the tribal party has been demanding ‘Greater Tipraland’,
or a separate state for tribals living in different parts of Tripura, Assam,
Mizoram, and bordering areas of Bangladesh. In the 60-member Assembly, there
are 20 ST seats, which for crucial for unseating the BJP. All eyes should now be on the nitty-gritty
thrashed out for all must be aware of the idiom there can be many a slip
between the cup and the lip.
* * * * * * *
Meghalaya’s 3 In 1 Scheme
Meghalaya is on the right track. Its
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has launched ‘shared school bus system, prime
tourism vehicles and agriculture response vehicle scheme’ in the tiny north-eastern
State.On Wednesday last, he flagged off the school bus system saying it would
lead to a mode shift from private four-wheelers to school buses, part of
Sustainable Transport & Efficient Mobility Society (STEMS) programme, focussed
on mobility and overall transportation to decongest capital city Shillong. The prime
tourist vehicles are being viewed as a step to improve overall tourism sector
and to provide better transportation services to tourists as well as job
opportunities to the entrepreneurs, being given financial aid. The Prime
Agriculture Response Vehicles are being given to farmers’ associations and
groups to help farmers have a strong transportation network and mitigate money spent
on transportation of agriculture produce. A good beginning alright -- on the
road to development. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature
Alliance)
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