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The New Troika Delhi: There was grand bonhomie
in the Lok Sabha after the BJP-led Government won the confidence vote. Several members,
cutting across party lines, walked up to congratulate the BJP and its allies. Yet, some
rivalries remained. After the vote, as leaders trooped out of the House, there was an
interesting line-up in the Parliament foyer. Waiting for their cars were Uttar Pradesh's
awesome threesome: Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Kalyan Singh. While Mulayam broke the
ice with Mayawati -- his mild namaste (greeting) was duly reciprocated -- the duo
studiously ignored Kalyan, who chose to do the same. Then emerged Laloo Yadav to lend some
comic relief. As Mulayam's car drove in, Laloo turned to Mayawati, saying, "Agar
gaadi nahin aa rahi to teenon Mulayamji ki gaadi mein chaltein hain (If you're getting
delayed, then the three of us can go in Mulayam's car)." Mayawati, of course,
refused. But the hint of an anti-BJP alliance in the offing couldn't have been lost on an
uneasy Kalyan.
Trivial Pursuits
Lucknow: Chief
Minister Kalyan Singh may have won the trust vote in the state Assembly, but his woes are
far from over. Demanding their pounds of flesh are the Jantantrik BSP and the Loktantrik
Congress Party (LCP) members who don't seem to be satisfied with mere ministerial berths.
Last week, for instance, Kalyan was sitting on his lawns when a Cabinet-rank minister
belonging to the JBSP told him in a demanding manner, "Hamein gai-bhains palne ki
aadat hai." He wanted the chief minister to sanction the construction of a cattle
shed for his cows and buffaloes. The minister had barely finished when another came up to
Kalyan and pleaded, "Sir, hamare bangle mein purda nahin hai, sofa toota hai aur
gaadi badalwa dijiye (There are no curtains in my bungalow, the sofa is broken and I want
my car replaced)." Kalyan, in fact, is flooded with such trivial demands. As a state
bureaucrat put it, "This makes two things clear: one, the LCP and JBSP ministers do
not wield any authority over the bureaucracy and, secondly, Kalyan's permission is
necessary for even the most minor things."
New Peg to Power
Chandigarh:
Having cut a sorry figure after reversing his much-touted prohibition policy from April 1,
Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal is now singing a new tune to woo the electorate. A week
before the state turned wet again, Bansi Lal launched a publicity blitz in major dailies,
bragging about his Government's achievements on the power generation front. It's a
different matter that most of the power projects are still on the drawing boards.
Hoardings extolling prohibition, which dotted the state highways, were removed much before
April 1. Apparently, Bansi Lal now wants these billboards to project Haryana as a
power-surplus state. At least for those people, who are yet to overcome the heady hangover
of a floundered prohibition, this should be a cause for cheer.
Wielding Clout
Delhi: If Sonia
Gandhi is sending signals to Mamata Banerjee by inviting her for tea and snubbing Pranab
Mukherjee by downgrading him to the Congress' chief whip in the Rajya Sabha -- he was
after all leader of the House during Indira's time -- Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
is not far behind. After Mamata returned from a tour of the cyclone-affected areas in West
Bengal, the first call she received the next morning was from the prime minister. "Is
it correct that you did not get even a glass of water?" was Vajpayee's query. When
told that this was indeed the case and that she did not care for the CPI(M)'s callousness,
Vajpayee became sentimental. That the firebrand lady -- with seven MPs on her side --
wields as much clout as the "Amma" from Tamil Nadu is evident from the attempts
to keep her in good humour.
The Past Catches Up
Chennai: It's
not the best of times for Union Minister for Surface Transport Sedapatti R. Muthiah. And
it has nothing to do with his new office. The former speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly
has been summoned by a special court in Chennai in connection with a corruption case
against him and his family members. Exempting Muthiah "only in the case of an
emergency", the court has warned that an arrest warrant would be issued if he failed
to honour the summons. Muthiah -- along with his wife, two sons and a daughter -- has been
accused of acquiring wealth and properties worth Rs 45.74 lakh through illegal means.
These include a 12-apartment block in Madurai Thirumangalam, 48.3 acres of land in
Malayagounderpatti and a commercial plot in Chennai.
Muthiah says the case is "politically motivated".
The properties, he claims, were acquired by his father Ramaswamy Thevar with income from
agriculture. This, however, has been rubbished by the Directorate of Vigilance and
Anti-Corruption, which claims to have a well-documented case against him. Besides, two
public-interest petitions have also been filed against Muthiah, questioning his inclusion
in the Union ministry in view of the corruption charges. The past, it seems, has a way of
catching up at odd times.
Security-weary
Bangalore: Some
things are just not politically correct -- especially when the going gets a little tough.
And former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda seems to know this only too well. Barely making
it to the Lok Sabha this time -- he won by a narrow margin, while his Janata Dal won just
three of the 28 seats in Karnataka -- Deve Gowda has decided to get rid of the 20-odd SPG
personnel assigned to him and his family. The idea is to "get closer to the
people", he says.
In a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deve
Gowda has sought the withdrawal of the SPG cover, saying he was "safe and secure in
the midst of my own people". And added: "I believe in God and in my destiny as
ordained by him." Not to mention political gimmicks, of course.
Model Town
Lucknow: Wedged
between state capital Lucknow and industrial hub Kanpur is Unnao, a town desperately in
need of a facelift. Dubbed "ummidon ka shahr" (city of expectations) by cynics,
Unnao, with its teeming population of 20 lakh, has for decades borne the brunt of
administrative neglect. It has become a dumping ground for industrial effluents and
tannery toxins. Worse, the mushrooming of hundreds of illicit liquor vends on the banks of
the Ganges has sent the crime rate spiralling.
Things, however, are set to change, according to a
multi-pronged strategy drawn up by the administration. As a first step, District
Magistrate Arun Arya has identified and shifted 500 destitute and homeless people to
Lodhanhar village, now renamed "ummidon ka shahr", where small houses are being
built for the new residents. "Not only this, we have also developed a park and a
school for their children," says Arya. The good work seems to be having a snowballing
effect. The Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary is being spruced up and tree plantation and
anti-pollution drives launched. Villagers, specially those in dacoity-prone areas, are
being provided with arms and training to defend themselves. And to revive people's
flagging interest in Unnao's past, parks and gardens are being named after renowned people
like poet Nirala whose name is linked with the town. Well begun, as they say, is half
done.
Blame it on Bruised Ego
Jaipur: Having
done exceptionally well in Rajasthan, it was only natural for the Congress to felicitate
its newly elected MPs. But instead of celebrating, the meeting held in Jaipur on March 29
turned into a violent display of factionalism. In the ensuing fracas, supporters of Hari
Singh, former MP from Sikar and a surgeon, beat up two supporters of senior leader Balram
Jakhar -- MLA Paras Ram Mordia and Dinesh Joshi, a block president currently under
suspension. Joshi later lodged an fir with the police.
During ticket distribution, Singh had done everything to
ensure that Jakhar, who had twice represented the constituency, was denied the Sikar seat.
So Jakhar was shifted to Bikaner, where he pulled off a surprise and impressive win.
Singh, on the other hand, lost from Sikar and has since been blaming Jakhar's manoeuvrings
for his defeat. PCC chief Ashok Gehlot has set up a three-member committee to submit a
report on not just the violence, but also on the alleged role of party leaders in opposing
official candidates. That, however, is unlikely to end the bickering in the state unit.
Land Trouble
Thiruvananthapuram:
Ever since the Kerala Land Reforms Act (KLA) was piloted in 1964, the state's communists
had prided themselves on being the authors of a comprehensive legislation. Now, the red
champions are learning to their consternation that political expediency can alter even
their best intentions. Last week, under pressure from various parties and the Roman
Catholic Church, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government was forced to amend the
act slightly.
Trouble started for the LDF in January when the Kerala High
Court ordered the Kannur district collector to take over about 1,100 acres of land at
Vadakkekalam which was found to be "surplus" by the Land Board. When the
collector tried to seize the land, owned by a private party, he realised that it had been
divided into smaller plots and sold to 660 subsistence farmers between 1969 and 1986.
According to the kla, transactions of surplus land after 1964 are invalid. Expectedly, the
farmers who would have been affected by the takeover soon started an agitation backed by
political parties and the powerful Roman Catholic Church to which they belong.
The LDF Government was caught in a strange dilemma. Evicting
the farmers would have meant antagonising a section of its voters, while ignoring the
court's order would lead to contempt as the judge had even fixed a deadline for the
eviction. Finally, the Government found a way out with the Kerala Stay of Eviction
Proceedings Bill, which would provide protection to small land holders and tenants for a
year. However, the bill, passed in the state Assembly last week, was supported by all
parties except one -- the Janadhipatya Samrakshana Samithi of the opposition United
Democratic Front represented by its lone member in the Assembly K.R. Gowriamma. "The
Bill runs counter to the spirit of the original Act," she felt. The expelled CPI(M)
leader had reasons to object: after all, it was she who had initiated the KLA as revenue
minister in the nation's first communist government of 1957.
Ominous Start
Agartala: Manik
Sarkar, the state's young and new chief minister, had probably spoken a bit too soon. Less
than a week after he announced that an all-party initiative would be launched to end
insurgency in Tripura, militants allegedly belonging to the National Liberation Front of
Tripura (NLFT) gunned down the state's health minister Bimal Sinha along with his brother
Bidyut. The militants targeted the two just as they were leaving a forest in the Kamalpur
subdivision after negotiating the release of their elder brother Bikram, who is said to
have been abducted by the insurgents.
The killings are just two of the 300 carried out by militants
over the past two years -- the presence of the Army in the state notwithstanding. In
Sinha's case, though, it is said to point to a nexus between various political parties and
militant groups in the state. For one, Sinha is believed to have been instrumental in
creating the state's dreaded insurgent group, the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), in the
early 1990s. The outfit was to act as a bulwark against the NLFT, whose predecessor the
Tripura National Volunteers is said to have had the tacit backing of a section of the
Congress. For Sarkar, though, this could just be a baptism by fire. |
