lokayat january 2012

VOL 1 ISSUE 11 JANUARY, 2012

SHREE MAA PRAKASHAN PVT. LTD.

INSIDE

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UP TO DECIDE RAHUL'S FATE LOKPAL TUSSLE CONTINUES

Group Editor M.K. Tiwari Editor Vinod Varshney Executive Editor Dr. Bhagya Rajeshwari Ratana

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Consulting Editor Balram

CONGRESS GIVES QUOTA TO MINORITIES

Assistant Editor Anjalika Rajlakshmi Campus Editor Javed Usmani Cine Editor Meera Singh

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Special Correspondent A.K. Chaturvedi Regional Editor M.P. Aaditya Tewari

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Regional Editor C.G. Gopal Thawait

11 UTTARAKHAND: WILL KHANDURI SUCCEED POLL TEST ?

13 PUNJAB: LITMUS TEST FOR CONTENDERS 15 MANIPUR: NCP'S ALLIANCE AGAINST CONGRESS

Senior Graphic Designer A.N. Sahani

16 GOA: HIGH TURNOUT EXPECTED

Graphic Designer Ashi Sinha Adithi Sonali

22 NATION: CPM DOES NOT TELL THE TRUTH OF CHINA

Regional Office Office Incharge Tamanna Faridi U.P.: B-121, 1st Floor, Prince Complex, Hazratganj, Lucknow-226001 Ph.: 0522-4003911 E-mail: lokayatlucknow@gmail.com

32 MADHYAPRADESH: NO TO BUNDELKHAND

27 INTERNATIONAL: THREAT TO JAPAN-INDIA FROM CHINA 38 ANDHRA PRADESH: VICTORY AT A COST 50 MAHARASHTRA: NCP-CONGRESS RIVALRY

RAMAN SINGH SURVIVES 'NO TRUST'

52 WEST BENGAL: BLAME GAME BEGINS 54 CAMPUS: NOTICE TO CHHATTISGARH LOK AYOG 69 SPORT: VIRENDRA SEHWAG-WHAT A PLAYER !

M.P. : Paraspar Colony, Chunabhatti, Kolar Road, Bhopal-462003 Ph.: 0755-4030162 E-mail : bhopal@lokayat.in

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C.G. : Thawait Bhawan, Kankali Talab, Main Road, Raipur Ph.: 0771-4221188 E-mail: lokayat_rpr@yahoo.com Sub Office Ram Bhawan, Manohar Cinema Parisar, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh Ph.: 07752-428835 E-mail: lokayat_bsp@yahoo.com Head Office A-133, Pocket-B, Mayur Vihar PhaseII, Delhi-110091 Ph.: 011-22723900, 32550442, 43062417, 43082859 Fax No.: 011-22723906 E-mail: lokayat01@gmail.com

Website:

www.lokayat.co.in

TIME NOT RIPE FOR LALU YET

CPM DROPS THREE TERM BOMB

JAYALALITHAA'S DOUBLE STANDARD

58 HEALTH IS WEALTH 62 BOLLYWOOD 65 REGIONAL FILMS

66 HOLLYWOOD 74 BUSINESS & ECONOMY 76 BOOKS

REGULARS 05 WITH CANDOUR 06 PUB TALK 54 CAMPUS

Published, printed, edited & owned by M.K. Tiwari Published from A-133, Pocket-B, Mayur Vihar Phase-II, Delhi-91 Printed at Vrindaban Graphic, E-34, Sector-7, Noida (U.P.)

LOKAYAT

LETTERS

PRESS FREEDOM SHOULD NOT BE MISUSED n the December 2011 issue of Lokayat I found two extreme stances bearing on the 'freedom of speech and expression' as enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution. On the one hand is Biman Basu, chairperson of the Left Front, who misuses his 'freedom' guaranteed to him by the Constitution by passing uncalled for innuendoes against the West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. On the other hand, Justice Markandey Katju, who won lots of accolades and admiration for many of his landmark judgements, seems to be inclined towards curbing the 'freedom' of the Press by passing uncanny and ill-conceived remarks on the media persons at large. Curbing the freedom of the Press (and also the individuals) was an attempt made only during the emergency.

Perhaps Justice Katju wants to take us back to the 'black days' of emergency.

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There is no gainsaying the fact that the Press constitutes the fourth pillar of democracy. Without this pillar, and a vital one at that, the democratic structure might come under the danger of crumbling down. However, this 'freedom' needs to be exercised by the Press with extreme caution, in a balanced and reasonable manner only. It should be exercised keeping largely the public interest in view.

DR.P.K.MUKHERJEE, NEW DELHI

WHY SPLIT UP? EATING EGGS DAILY

RAMAN SINGH'S ACHIEVEMENTS

t is good information on eggs. Please publish such articles regularly so that Indians develop good eating habits. I myself have seen my colleagues in the hostel who do not prefer to eat omelette of one egg, they need at least four eggs at a time. What foolishness! Today they boast of it, but I believe, they would pay heavily when they enter the age of forty. They would not be able to run even half of a kilometer. They would be suffering from high blood pressure as their arteries would become narrow if my friends continue to eat omelettes like this.

ead the story on the achievements of Chhattisgarh in Lokayat (December issue). It made my heart inflate with pride, but at the same time I was a bit surprised at the good certificate given to Dr Raman Singh Ji. I can't believe whatever opposition is saying is just 'bakwas'. My personal feeling is there should be some truth in their version after all they are also educated people. Even if they are a little wrong in their assertion, it is good they raise some issues, no matter in a highly exaggerated manner, as this alerts the government. And it is hoped the government takes steps to improve its functioning. So the other day I was not convinced with the statement of Home Minister Nanki Ram Kanwar that Congress is creating disharmony. In fact they are raising issues.

here was not such a big demand for smaller states in UP from the people yet Mayawati got the resolution passed in the Assembly. I fully agree with the article published in Lokayat in the December issue that it was her political stunt.

However I am amused at the political developments now. Ajit Singh had also been raising the demand of separate Harit Pradesh.

Now he has allied with the Congress, may be by the time you publish my letter he becomes a minister in the Manmohan Singh government. But Congress is not inclined to support the demand of separate Harit Pradesh. Will Ajit Singh put pressure on the Centre to make Harit Pradesh? Was demand of Harit Pradesh not his political stunt?

ANIL RAJPUT, BHOPAL

ER. ROBIN KOTADIA, RAIPUR

S.K. SINGH, MEERUT

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YES, ADVANI AND MODI NEED EACH OTHER!

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es the article on Advani's yatra was interesting. I fully agree with the writer Pramod Pagedar that both these stalwarts of BJP need each other. But one thing I do not understand why Advani is not allowing younger leaders to emerge.

ANURADHA SAHU, RAIPUR

E-mail your letters at lokayat01@gmail.com / vinodvarshney@hotmail.com

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JANUARY, 2012

WITH CANDOUR

LOKAYAT

LET THE NEW YEAR BE OF CONSTRUCTIVE POLITICS! year of gloom with economic decline, high price rise and political strife over so many issues including corruption and Lokpal is gone. Indeed the year 2011 remained the worst of the Seven and half year rule of Manmohan Singh. The ruling party's top leader Sonia Gandhi's health also remained a cause of concern for the oldest and biggest political party of the country. And security threat from China emerged as a new cause of worry. But we cannot afford to live with such negatives for long since we cannot surrender our national goal of emerging as a sane super power, which this country of 1.2 billion rightly deserves.

There is pressing need to start the New Year with hope and confidence. There is need that political parties do their sincere bit, both the ruling as well as the opposition, leaving aside their cynical self-defeating competition among themselves and devote fully to the cause of striving Indians. There is need to reverse the trend of declining growth and the weakening rupee though the problems in Europe would continue to threaten 2012 to remain yet another year of economic challenges.

To increase the efficiency in all fields including the enterprises, eliminating corruption from all walks of life is of paramount importance. For that Lokpal and Lokayukta alone might not be sufficient, nor the Whistle Blowers Act; there is great need to introduce electoral reforms. Staggering high electoral expense, one has to incur to get elected, is one of the greatest reasons of the increasing political corruption in the country.

Another national need is the elimination of hunger and malnutrition from the country and improvement in the quality of education with excess to all if we have to register high growth rate for the next 2-3 decades. Also there is need to focus more on employment generation rather than continue with the jobless growth.

Government has enacted Right to Education and Food Security legislations, but the implementation is more important than passing the Bills. The Lokpal legislation could not be passed because of the all evident insincerity of the political class. But the good declarations are visible all round including in the New Year message of the prime minister. His personal promise to ensure efficiency and honesty in governance is endearing but it shouldn't remain only a prime ministerial rhetoric.

Amidst numerous challenges, politicians need to make 2012 a year of constructive democracy. I on behalf of the Lokayat family extend my heartiest greetings to all the readers, who belong to the class of opinion makers and politicians. We shall continue to give new insights into the Indian politics with the same vigour and try to do our bit to improve it.

Happy New Year!

A

JANUARY, 2012

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LOKAYAT

PUB-TALK

Sibal makes gaffes and smiles he most vocal spin doctor of the Congress inside the government is Kapil Sibal just as outside it is Digvijay Singh. Like Diggy, Sibal too is in the habit of uttering uncalled-for comments.

Sometimes he would spout pure pearls of wisdom which even Lalu would hesitate.

A few months ago he wore the mantle of Don Quixote to defend the shaky UPA regime from the strident bombardment of Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare; instead of succeeding in his comic efforts he generated a tsunami of public anger at the engulfing corruption in the government.

He held out the insane threat that the government would extend to Anna the same 'hospitality' that it gave to Baba Ramdev at Ram Lila Maidan.

A little earlier he brazenly tried to defend the indefensible A. Raja and said, with tongue-in-cheek, that the government had suffered absolute no loss-not a single paisa-on account of the 2G spectrum deals, while actually the damage was a whopping 76,000 crore.

He reels out bizarre arguments thinking that he is saving our young democracy. He realised his folly when he was shouted down by the very same constituents in Chandni Chowk who had sent him to Parliament.

But, habits die hard. Once again he gallantly took the cudgel to save the fair name of his leader Sonia from the unflattering jokes going on in the social media. He threatened to censor all networks including the Facebook, Twitter and Google.

However, he faced a global, torrid censure himself. Hastily he beat a retreat.

Sibal forgot that social media is the only space where people can give free vent to their candid opinions, that this freedom is the bulwark of democracy.

Even fascist China could not successfully curb it.

Or, was Sibal simply trying, by his antics , to curry favour with the queen?.

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Ajit Singh: Son of his father ith just five MPs he has become the Civil Aviation Minister of India.

That is Ajit Singh! He has that peculiar ethics and bargaining skill which make him an unbeatable winner. He has proved this rare ability several times. No matter which party is in power Ajit Singh will be there to share the spoils.

Flash back to 1989. Ajit Singh became Industry Minister in the V.P. Singh cabinet for the first time. People hoped the US educated person to be an asset to our juvenile democracy. But before long they were disappointed-- found him as degenerate as most other Indian politicians.

He changed sides without any fear of being labeled a 'dal-badloo'. The 'honorific' stuck when he joined the Congress government of Narasimha Rao and became Food and Civil Supplies Minister in 1995. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the BJP became the Prime Minister he switched the side again and haggled for the Agriculture Ministry in 2001.

He kept on exploring and allied with any party to remain in the reckoning, sometimes with the BJP, at other times its bete noire the Samajwadi Party. Now he is an ally of the Congress once again.

Ajit Singh is truly the 'worthy heir' of the late Choudhary Charan Singh, who finetuned the art of changing sides if power was within grabbing distance. This ability enabled him not only to become the first Jat Prime Minister of India, but also the first Jat Chief Minister of UP in the sixties.

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JANUARY, 2012

COVER STORY

LOKAYAT

UP TO DECIDE RAHUL'S FATE

By Kusum Varshney

's forthcoming elections would decide the fate of Rahul Gandhi who has been actively campaigning in UP for the last four years with a mission to raise fortune of Congress which has been out of power in this largest and politically most important state for the last 22 years.

His campaign acquired a feverish pitch since the violent incidents in BhattaParsaul. He has been moving to the length and breadth of the state and claimed to have suggested a constitutional Lokpal and ensured 4.5

UP

percent reservation for minorities from among the OBC quota of 27 percent.

He has been highly aggressive with barbed comments like Maya's elephant eats money sent lavishly from the centre for development. He tried to electrify the Congress campaign by focussing on unemployment with comments like people of UP have to go to other states begging for jobs because of lack of development in UP. Not only this the Congress has also got the company of Ajit Singh and Beni Prasad Verma to get caste votes also though Rahul himself has earned a reputation of a young leader of 21st

century who does not believe in any caste and community.

Quite aware of the real politik he knocked the door of Nadwa and Deoband seminaries and agreed to their demand that madarsas should be kept out of the Right to Education and got this implemented also. He has tried to woo farmers by supporting the FDI in multibrand retail echoing the corporate sentiments.

More than anything it is his popularity among the youth which may benefit the party maximum. Out of more than 11 crore voters in UP, around 25 per cent are young in the age group of 18 to

JANUARY, 2012

7

LOKAYAT

COVER STORY

30 years. Some 53 lakh voters are of 18 years of age and will be casting their vote for the first time. This section may turn out a plus point which may work in favour of Rahul Gandhi.

Distribution of the tickets may be full of headache. It is assumed Rahul would pay attention to the merit. Though again the demands of real politik might not be ignored and adequate number of tickets would be given to Muslims and Dalits as has been evident in the first list.

Congress is hopeful because in the Lok

Mayawati

Sabha elections of the 2009, it was leading in around 100 constituencies though various surveys conducted so far indicate it would be not that easy for the Congress this time in spite of Rahul Gandhi's charisma to achieve the score of 100 in spite of tremendous antiincumbency factor against Mayawati.

Do or die case for Samajwadi Party Samajwadi Party claims that it alone can replace Mayawati as it has been constantly agitating against the BSP misrule. SP supremo 73 year old Mulayam Singh Yadav has handed over the baton of mobilisation to his son

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JANUARY, 2012

Akhilesh Yadav who has been successful in striking a cord with the youth very much like Rahul Gandhi.

All consider the next UP elections will be a do or die battle for this party which has tasted power several times. In 2007 elections it was the second largest party with 97 seats and 25.43 percent vote share. A few surveys done so far say that the SP's vote share has neither increased nor decreased.

The main problem of the SP is that Congress too is emerging as a big claimant of Muslim vote, a large section of which has been voting for Samajwadi Party. This apart smaller Muslim parties under the leadership of Dr Ayub's Peace Party have formed an alliance and this may take away a share of Muslim votes along with some most backward votes. It may be recalled that Peace Party last year in by-election of Dumaria Ganj and Lakhimpur had sent the SP far behind and had emerged at number two.

The announcement of 4.5 percent quota for minorities from the OBC quota has angered the OBC community and this may consolidate Mulayam Singh Yadav's position a little more. On the Lokpal issue it walked out in Lok Sabha and helped Congress to pass the weak Lokpal Bill, but 2 days later it changed it strategy and opposed the Bill in Rajya Sabha.

There is widespread speculation in UP that after the elections Congress and Samajwadi party may join hands to form a new government. Even otherwise since the time of Indo-US nuclear deal days SP supported the UPA government from the outside. It is speculated that the Congress may give outside support to SP in case it gets good numbers. So, no wonder Mulayam Singh has advised his cadres not to raise tempers beyond a limit against Rahul Gandhi.

Kalraj Mishra

SP has also received a shot in its arm with BSP MP Naresh Agarwal along with his legislator son Nitin Agarwal rejoining the party. Nitin has been given ticket from Hardoi which his father had vacated after quitting the SP. SP is also upbeat with the prospect of RLD's Muslim face Shahid Siddiqui joining the party, which he left in 2008 and joined BSP (later expelled by Mayawati).

Media has written off Mayawati Majority of the media has written off Mayawati, the same way it was done in 2007, but she surprised everybody after securing clear majority. Today entire opposition is speaking in one voice against her, but she has taken several actions to boost up her image and thwarted the opposition onslaught. She gave reservation to Jats in UP and supported the demand to include them in the central list of OBCs. Thus she has tried to make inroads in the Jat-Muslim combination of votes in west UP. She has been criticised for rampant corruption in the state, but she has stunned almost everybody by making a kind of record of sacking her own ministers within no time when indictment comes from any quarter including the Lokayukta. She has sacked some 21 ministers so far giving an impression that she does not shelter corruption.

COVER STORY

Sacking of 21 ministers: A dubious distinction a time when entire country is talking about corruption and probity in public life, Mayawati with the coming of elections, has embarked upon a unique 'operation clean-up', which has resulted in the sacking of 15 ministers after the election dates were announced, taking the toll to 21 in 2011. The ministers got the boot for crimes ranging from murder, rape, kidnapping to corruption.

The ministers sacked this time, included Forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh, Education minister Sadal Prasad, Minority welfare minister Anees Ahmed Khan and Sajil Islam Ansari.

With such acts which are drawing public attention, the chief minister hopes to better her public image thinking such actions may go down well with the people fed up with corruption and political high handedness. But in a state rocked by NRHM and MNREGA scams, regaining peoples trust is not an easy task.

Termed as a pre-poll drama by Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi, these actions have prompted opposition parties to question the timing of the sacking. Opposition says that the CM allowed these ministers of dubious character continuing in the office for four to five years and when elections are just a month away, she has started displaying herself as the votary of righteousness.

It is interesting to note here that many more ministers are under the scanner of Lokayukta on charges of corruption including her right hand man Naseemuddin Siddiqui. She has also dropped 80 incumbent MLAs from the list of candidates. All this may fuel a sort of undercurrent of rebellion.

At

Much heat was generated by farmers on the issue of land acquisition, but she has put forth the best land acquisition compensation available anywhere in India and the centre in spite of a lot of hype by Rahul Gandhi has not given any law so far. Her mania for erecting monuments also has drawn severe criticism, but for sure it has consolidated her Dalit vote bank.

BSP in the elections of 2007 had contested 403

LOKAYAT

Kalyan Singh, Nitin Gadkari the national president has brought in Uma Bharati to campaign. Kalraj Mishra has been given charge of the electioneering, who has been able to bring back upper caste votes.

Re-introduction of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in BJP posters is also helping in this. High caste votes had gravitated towards the BSP in 2007, now feel disenchanted and wondering where to cast their votes. BJP is wooing them with all kinds of promises including good governance and speedy

UTTAR PRADESH 2007 RESULTS BSP

206

SP

97

BJP CONG

51 22 1st phase: 60 seats : 04 Feb, 2012

RLD

10

Seats

403

2nd phase: 55 seats : 08 Feb, 2012 3rd phase: 59 seats : 11 Feb, 2012 4th phase: 56 seats : 15 Feb, 2012

seats and won 206 with 30.43 percent votes. But two years later in the Lok Sabha elections her vote share dipped substantially. Many interpret this that the issue was the government at the centre and not UP. To maintain her vote share she has organised big caste rallies recently and has also got assembly resolution sent on the division of UP into four states. By opposing the UPA's Lokpal Bill, she has skillfully avoided any direct attack from Team Anna and Baba Ramdev.

BJP hopes the return of upper caste votes The Bhartiya Janata Party is also trying very hard to revive its fortune. To make good the loss caused by heavy weight

5th phase: 56 seats : 19 Feb, 2012 6th phase: 49 seats : 23 Feb, 2012 7th phase: 68 seats : 28 Feb, 2012 development. The 4.5 percent quota to minorities is also being used by it to consolidate its traditional vote bank. Yet there is no indication so far that it would be in direct contest to the BSP however a few party insiders claim the situation is changing very fast in favour of BJP. Party is expected to encash the issue of Lokpal fiasco. BJP has already announced the launch of 'Loktantra Bachao, Congress Hatao' campaign at district level from January 3.

JANUARY, 2012

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LOKAYAT

COVER STORY

By Tamanna Faridi

ith UP assembly elections taking place early, the elections for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh would depend on the shape of the new assembly. This has made the UP assembly elections even more important for the Congress which is desperate to increase its seat in Rajya Sabha where it is in minority.

The Election Commission is expected to finalise the RS election plan by March. If the elections to the state were to take place in April, the BSP would have been in advantage as it has 221 MLAs in the 403-member Assembly, followed by the SP with 88, the BJP with 48, the Congress with 20 and the RLD with 10. Eight MLAs have been disqualified recently under the anti-defection law.

But now elections to the state assembly may change the situation drastically. This was cited as the reason Congress and other parties wanted assembly elections to take place before the Rajya Sabha elections. Whereas the BSP wanted to have the UP elections done in April so that it could have taken benefit of the existing good number of MLAs. As per its present strength, the BSP could have won at least five Rajya Sabha seats provided all its MLAs gave their first preference votes to the official candidates, but this was unlikely with the ruling party denying tickets to over 50 sitting MLAs owing to different reasons, their loyalty would have been suspect. Many of them have not only openly protested against the party's decision, some of them were even cozying up with opposition parties.

Now the Rajya Sabha poll will take place after the new Assembly is constituted. Among the Rajya Sabha members retiring on April 2 are many stalwarts.

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RS poll may cause political tremors in UP

BJP Rajya Sabha Member Kalraj Mishra

BJP Rajya Sabha Member Vinay Katiyar

BSP Rajya Sabha Member Naresh Agrawal

BSP Rajya Sabha Member Munquad Ali

BSP Rajya Sabha Member Ganga Charan

BSP Rajya Sabha Member Pramod Kureel

UTTARAKHAND

By Dr Kailash Chandra Papnai

he Uttarakhand Assembly elections for 70 seats on January 30 are expected to be fiercely fought. Congress has much hope here but the BJP's installation of B C Khanduri as the chief minister in September, 2011, in place of Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank might to some extent salvage the situation for the BJP. But he has a mountain to climb in this hilly state.

Though Bhartiya Janata Party had emerged victorious with 35 seats in a house of 70 last time in 2007, the difference between the vote percentage of BJP and Congress was not much, with the BJP gaining 31.90 percent and the Congress 29.50 percent. So Congress leaders feel the incumbency factor would ensure Congress coming back to power.

Last time also BJP could not get clear majority, but 3members of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and all the 3 Independents extended their support to form the government. Congress had won only 21 seats last time.

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LOKAYAT

Will Khanduri succeed the poll test? permanent capital in Gairsain seem to have taken a backseat.

If Rahul Gandhi's impressive rally just a day before the announcement of the poll dates, is anything to go by, it appears the Congress has bolstered its prospect, as it has been described by the media as the biggest in recent years. In comparison to this rally, the November show of BJP leader L K Advani during his nationwide rath Yatra was a damp squib in the same ground.

The leader of the BJP is known to all, but who would be the chief minister in case Congress wins is not yet decided.

Names like union state Minister Harish Rawat, Satpal Maharaj and state Congress president Yashpal Arya are doing rounds for the top post.

Change of leadership a few months

passed. Uttarakhand's Lokpal Act was praised by even Team Anna. This is in sharp contrast to the failure of UPA government in the Centre which could not get even a weak Bill passed in Parliament.

One of the major problems facing Khanduri now is under-spending of the funds earmarked for developmental activities. Usually for faster execution of various schemes huge budget allocations are demanded but often proper advance planning does not precede them.

There have been allegations of misrule and corruption during Nishank's tenure, now the visible efforts are being made by Khanduri to erase this impression.

After the announcement of the poll dates both Congress and the ruling BJP demanded the election be held in the later part of February, seeing the extreme wintry conditions and snow falls in the state, but Election Commission did not oblige, saying the date has been decided considering various factors including weather conditions.

In the run up to the elections BJP is harping on developmental issues and Anna Factor while the Congress is targeting the BJP regime with its share of scams in the state. Giving a fitting reply to the developmental plank of the BJP, the Congress has promised to bring a rail line to the hills.

Surprisingly emotive issues like a

before the elections has its own disadvantage as it has promoted factionalism in the party.

Luckily, in a very short span of time Khanduri has justified the faith reposed in him by the party.

His major achievement is getting the Jan Lokpal Bill

JANUARY, 2012

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UTTARAKHAND

LOKAYAT

This causes needless delay and many a time the allotted money remains unspent and targets are not met. The Chief Minister has reviewed the situation on a priority basis and initiated corrective steps.

To begin with repair and maintenance of the roads damaged by heavy rains and water-logging have been given the full attention they deserved.

This has received kudos from the commuting public who were facing enormous difficulties daily on account of the bad road conditions. Next, the Chief Minister has drafted a youth welfare policy which would benefit this growing section of the population with high hopes and grand dreams about the future.

dominated by money and muscle power and candidates are handpicked on the basis of loyalties to one or the other faction. The big question now is will the BJP rise above these anomalous political compulsions and select people with proven efficiency and will serve the people with dedication?

It seems each of the political parties has its own share of problems. This time the Congress is treading with great caution in the selection of candidates.

The party had a two-day meeting in New Delhi early last month for screening eligible candidates and deciding the criterion to select the candidates.

Emergence of third front

Khanduri is now a changed 'faujee' Khanduri this time is behaving like a seasoned politician and not as an ex-

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

UTTARAKHAND Poll: Jan 30 Electrorate 5.7m 2007 RESULTS BJP

34

Cong

21

BSP

8

Oth No Polls

6

Seats

70

1

Army General. He is able to establish a better rapport with the people and has been reassuring them about providing better governance. Addressing a meeting at Haldwani, the gateway of the Kumaon region, where developmental programmes worth Rs.32.69 crore were

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JANUARY, 2012

inaugurated, he asked people to send good representatives to the assembly.

But, the million dollar question is where can they find good candidates who also have to be competent enough.

It is a known fact that the basic problem lies with the political parties

Factionalism has been a perennial problem with the Congress party. This time some decisive interventions by general secretary Rahul Gandhi have had a sobering effect on the ranks. But with the announcement of candidates, the infighting can resurface. On many counts the Congress and the BJP are considered alike by the public, but eventuallythe quality of candidates, election strategy and dissident activities would make the difference at the hustings.

So far, the third front in Uttarakhand has been completely inactive but things are changing.

Some semblance of cohesiveness is emerging amongst the few parties which have been advocating a viable alternative to the Congress and the BJP. Raksha Morcha and Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Pawar) have come closer and are likely to forge some sort of partnership with the three left parties-the CPI, the CPM and the CPM (ML). If these parties do not overestimate their strength and form a sensible alliance with a common minimum programme, they may find some support among the masses and be in a position to win a spot in the post- election scenario.

PUNJAB

LOKAYAT

Litmus test for contenders January 30 election would be a litmus test not just for the ruling SAD-BJP combine, but also for the Congress and the newly formed Sanjha Morcha comprising CPI, CPI (M) & Akali Dal (Longowal). While Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at 84 has a tough task before him to beat the anti-incumbency factor, the Captain of the Congress-Amarinder Singh has to prove his political management skill even after having gone through Former Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh

By M.R. Dua

he biggest challenge posed before the Akalis is the history itself, which has never allowed the same government to rule the state for two consecutive terms. In this light, the SAD-BJP will have to defy history, as the Congress is trying hard to cash in on the wrongs made by the ruling combine during last five years.

Manpreet Badal, the former finance minister and chief of the People's Party of Punjab (PPP) has also dented his image. But his Sanjha Morcha could not rope in BSP and without this the Sanjha Morcha might not cut much ice as the ground level support is meagre with alliance partners. CPI and CPI in 2007 had secured only 0.76 and 0.28 percent votes.

There was a buzz around that Senior Badal would give way to his son Sukhbir Badal and install him as the next CM, once his alliance came to power, but he is taking pains to discount this. Indian National Lok Dal president Om Prakash Chautala and his sons Ajay Singh and Abhay Singh have announced that they will be campaigning for the SAD candidates. This has brought cheer to the SAD. The BJP which had scored well in 2007, winning 19 of the 23 seats allotted to it, may also find it difficult to repeat the performance. Selection of candidates

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many controversies recently.

PUNJAB Poll: Jan 30 Seats

Electrorate 17.4m

117

2007 RESULTS SAD

48

BJP

19

Cong Oth

“

44 5

The EC on its part is conducting vulnerability mapping of Punjab Assembly constituencies in order to take a call on the hyper sensitive or sensitive constituencies for the poll. Even the criteria for sensitive booths has been changed and made stringent. Cash limit on has been put Rs 1 lakh by the EC and police has started seizing cash. Toll-free number 230900 has become functional to report any complaint related to electioneering.

�

JANUARY, 2012

13

LOKAYAT

PUNJAB

Projects inauguration spree in Punjab s is the wont of ruling outfits of poll-bound states everywhere, Punjab too was in the grip of inaugurations of new development projects and foundation-stone laying ceremonies on the eve of poll date announcement. It is tempting recall that this rather unethical precedent was started by the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi first in U.P. in 1960 prior to a by-election there.

As the 2012 assembly election drew near in Punjab, the ruling BJP-SAD (Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal) coalition could not be faulted in following the same hoary tradition.

Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal and his son and deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, were extremely busy in November and December opening and ushering in new schemes and projects in all nooks and corners of the state. The father-son pair have laid foundation-stones of around one dozen new projects including memorials of the Sikh Panth such as Khalsa Heritage Centre, four educational and sports institutions in Bathinda, Guru Nanak Dev University College in Narot and a power station in Mehraj village in Bathinda. In Amritsar, a mammoth Golden Temple entrance plaza -- a totally new idea --will be built at a cost of Rs. 82 crore.

The fact is that the Punjab government has of late been in a tearing hurry to dish out new schemes in rural, and semi-urban areas which have remained neglected and forgotten during the last four and half years of Badal rule. In an effort to inflate achievements even semi-finished projects have been counted as inaugurated by Sukhbir Singh. Ludhiana's city bus service project is a case in point.

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Rs 2,500 crore set aside for sops s is the wont of ruling outfits of ith a view to enchant the electorate and ensure their votes the Badal government also set aside about Rs.2,500 crore for providing sops like enhanced old-age pension and family pension far above the amount recommended by the fifth pay commission, free power to farmers ( while several industrial units are facing closure due to lack of electricity), regularisation of all temporary staff in academic and nonacademic institutions and amelioration in the working conditions in government-aided programmes such as the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan across the state.

With the announcement of poll date campaigns have picked up momentum.

Meetings, nit-picking on burning issues like price-rise and corruption, and fierce poster wars between the two main contenders-the BJP-SAD combine and the Congress-- for power are in full swing in all main towns of the state.

Big hoardings listing works completed, under completion, or planned, have been put up all over the state. Glitzy advertisements have been appearing daily in almost all newspapers highlighting the pithy theme 'Raj Nahin, Sewa'-service, not rule--with illustrations and statistics enumerating the achievements of the Badal government.

Former Congress Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's newspaper ads also appeared, but refuting the Badal government's claims. His paper put stress on poor and tardy governance of the Badal government, negative bias or lack of development works in Congress-majority areas, failures on the industrial front, inadequate attention to rural development and flight of capital from the state.

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Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal

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Badal government is highlighting the pithy theme 'Raj Nahin, Sewa'–service, not rule–with illustrations and statistics enumerating its achievements.

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is proving difficult as the National president Nitin Gadkari has made it clear that state leader's recommendation alone would not be accepted in toto. Party would make its own assessment as was done in Bihar.

BSP contested 115 seats last time, won none and got only 4.13 percent votes in a state where twenty five percent seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste category. It is slated to contest 90 seats this time.

So far as announcement of candidates is concerned SAD was ahead of Congress as it could announce its candidates on 63 seats of the 93 within a week of announcement of elections. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal is fighting from Jalalabad, putting to rest speculations that he would change his constituency. And Senior Badal is fighting from Lambi against his younger brother.

Punjab Congress could not decide its list by the deadline first announced as it has put a lengthy process in place to select candidates. According to sources there was wide gap between the recommendations of the scrutiny committee and the surveys conducted by the Pradesh Congress.

MANIPUR

LOKAYAT

NCP forged alliance against the Congress During the last assembly elections in Manipur the Congress scored a stunning victory, thanks to Sonia's hard campaigning. This time she may not be able to do so.

Will the Congress romp home even without her help?

By Lokayat Correspondent

anipur, which faced an economic blockade for more than three months causing immense hardships to the common man, will go for the assembly elections on January 28. The poll comes at a time when the state is beset with mounting problems, besides those caused by the blockade, like large- scale corruption, hate campaigns, communal politics and abysmal backwardness in services such as transport, power, health and human resources development. Lack of employment opportunities is another major handicap it suffers from: it leaves people with no option except seek government jobs and for which they may have to shell out lakhs of rupees as bribe.

And if some development project is undertaken, it is confined to Imphal, the state capital. The hinterland of Manipur is literally a neglected economic wilderness.

Even so, the politics here is not different from other parts of the country in the use of money and muscle power. Voters are usually assessed and purchased according to a scale ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 1000, or with appropriate number of liquor bottles, during election time. The Election Commission ought to look into these malpractices and put in place a mechanism to monitor and prevent them rigorously.

In 2007 the Congress had surprised everybody with a stunning win of 30 seats out of 59 it contested in an Assembly of 60. These were ten more

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than the previous time. At that time Sonia had worked real hard and visited the state thrice to solicit votes for the Congress. This time owing to her poor health she may not be able to exert that much.

That being so, in January the Congress faces a far bigger uphill task because three political opponents-the Manipur People's Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and

Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh may find it tough this time in the elections scheduled to take place on January 28.

highways which are the lifelines that bring everyday supplies to this remote North-Eastern state.

As always the Maoist Communist Party has issued a call to boycott the polls. This would most likely be rejected by the people of Manipur as was done last time by turning out in large numbers to exercise their vote, taking the tally to

MANIPUR Poll: Jan 28 Electrorate 1.7m 2007 RESULTS Cong

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NCP

5 Seats

CPI Oth

the Janata Dal (United)-- have joined hands to fight the election. It is against this formidable triple alliance that the Congress is entering the fray.

The NCP Manipur unit president Radhabinod Koijam, a former chief minister, is not making the job any easier for the Congress. He indicts the Ibobi Singh government for its inept handling of the long blockade of the two major

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86.73 percent. So far the Bharatiya Janta Party has not been able to make its presence felt even modestly. In the last assembly elections BJP candidates forfeited its deposits in 13 out of 14 seats it contested and secured just 0.85 percent votes. The Communist Party of India has a comparatively better record here. It contested last time 24 seats and won four securing overall 5.79 percent votes.

JANUARY, 2012

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GOA

LOKAYAT

Goa would witness high turnout this time too

By Lokayat Correspondent

oa will be the last of the five states going to the poll: elections to its assembly are to be held on March 3. The results will be declared the next day unlike in the other states where the voters would have to wait longer to know the outcome. The political atmosphere in Goa now is highly charged which will ensure high turnout like the last time when a record 72 percent votes were cast.

The election schedule has been welcomed by all parties, though many of them have yet to finalise candidates and

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Chief Minister Digambar Kamat

GOA Poll: Mar 3 Electrorate 1m 2007 RESULTS Cong

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BJP NCP Oth

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Seats

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prepare campaign schedule. Even the coalition understanding between the Congress and the NCP has not been formalised. It is a dire necessity though because of the challenging situation existing in Goa. Whether the Congress

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would accommodate the NCP which has demanded 12 seats is to be seen. The NCP state president Surendra Sirsat has made his intention known: his party is prepared to fight the elections alone, should the alliance move falls through.

Meanwhile the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party called an emergency meeting of the MGP central committee on December 27 to consider its election strategy. It is not sure how many seats it would demand-and get. The State Congress President Shirodkar is in touch with the MGP about details of alliance with it. Chief minister Digambar Kamat had discussed the political situation in the state with Sonia Gandhi recently in the presence of Oscar Fernandes, political advisor to the Congress chief, Ahmad Patel, and the general secretary in-charge of Goa, Jagmeet Singh Brar.

The major challenge to the Congress is from the BJP which had won 14 seats last time as against 16 of the Congress in the 40- member assembly. If the BJP is able to take advantage of the incumbency factor and gather just one or two percent votes more than the last time it can hope to form the next government.

The BJP came to power in Goa the first time in 2000 with Manohar Parrikar as the Chief Minister. (He was the first IITian to become the Chief Minister of any state.) With the news of Anna Hazare's declaration that he would go to educate masses about the realities of the Lokpal Bill, there is a big possibility that Parrikar might again become a rallying point for the civil society which craves for a clean administration in the state, especially in the context of the grave charges against the Digambar Kamat government. Such a formation may get the backing of the powerful Catholic Church, which has been vehemently opposing the Kamat-led government.

It is a sad thing that several political big guns in the state are deeply involved in murky deals. For instance, Home minister Ravi Naik's son is alleged to have links with the drug mafia, PWD minister Churchill Alemao is said to be involved in the infamous water tank scam, and Education Minister Atanasio Monserrate has been caught at the Mumbai airport carrying bag-full of foreign currency. These are just the tip of an iceberg of scandals.

SPECIAL STORY

Congress gives quota to minorities in jobs

The latest hot potato is the reservation for Muslims in government jobs and educational institutions.

Though four south Indian states have already implemented this, the issue has acquired new heat as it has been announced just before the announcement of elections in UP. Interestingly Islam does not believe in any caste system; yet sizeable section of Indian Muslims has been demanding it.

By Anjalika Rajlakshmi

anvassing for Muslim votes has begun in right earnest.

Congress chose to announce 4.5 reservation to minorities a day before the Election Commission announced the 7-phase schedule for the UP poll. BJP in order to take advantage of the situation has decided to oppose the move and demonstrated at district headquarters across the country. The party described the move as divisive and against national interest.

The quantum of reservation is less than what Salman Khursheed, Union Minister for Law and Minority Affairs had announced last month. He had spoken of 8.4 percent sub-quota for minorities, of which 6 percent was likely to be for Muslims within the 27 percent OBC quota. He had mentioned that it was in line with the recommendations made by the Ranganath Mishra commission in 2007. He added that the model for this reservation would be the same as that in place in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

However, many Muslims fear that putting Muslims in the group of minorities would not help them since 'more developed minorities' would elbow them out. They want an exclusive quota for Muslims. But they are also aware that the Constitution does not permit reservation on the basis of religion.

So they demand

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constitutional amendment to provide this privilege legally. BJP is totally against this. It has said that giving reservation to Muslims on religious grounds would be like dividing the nation.

Muslims argue that with the existing mechanism we are able to get 3 percent reservation from the OBC quota. Since now a sub-quota of 4.5 percent has been fixed for the minorities which include Muslims, Christians, Jains, and Sikhs etc, the success rate of Muslims would go down as now they will be pitched against the educationally advanced religious minorities such as Christians, Sikhs and Jains. A new political entity Peace Party and the Pasmanda Samaj, an outfit of backward Muslims have said the new arrangement would harm Muslims.

Many parties including the BJP say that even the existing arrangement of giving reservation to the backward sections within the Muslim community is not final. The Supreme Court has only passed an interim order upholding the validity of four percent reservation to the backward members of the Muslim

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati

JANUARY, 2012

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LOKAYAT

SPECIAL STORY

Muslims are already enjoying reservation he Holy Quran and the Prophet's words are crystal clear that all human beings are equal; thus Islam does not recognise social stratification based on castes or wealth; yet Indian Muslims have developed a hierarchical structure by creating numerous Biradaries.

Some Muslims claim for themselves superior status like Ashraf or 'noble', while some indigenous converts are commonly referred as Ajlaf or 'lowly'. Some Islamic jurists too, deviating from Quranic teachings have approved this change.

It is only natural that many Muslims react to this situation with mixed feelings. So they say the government should consider reservation for the entire community rather than for the backward classes among them Zafaryab Jilani of Muslim Reservation Movement alone, as the government is well aware that Muslims are under-represented in government jobs and educational institutions.

Backward Muslims have been enjoying reservation under the OBC category ever since the Mandal Commission recommendations were implemented. The Commission had notified 32 Muslim castes within the OBCs including Ansaris, Saifies, Mansooris, Salmanis, Idreesis and others. The Commission's classification decided more than half of the Muslim population as backward. Many states have adopted this formula. In Kerala 12 percent quota is fixed for Muslims but confined to those with an income ceiling of Rs 2.5 lakh. In Karnataka it is 4 percent with an income limit of Rs 2 lakh. The reservation is also extended to those who own less than a certain amount of land and whose parents are not gazetted officers. Tamilnadu also has a fixed share for Muslims in the 30 percent for the OBCs. In Andhra Pradesh it is 4 percent.

The demand on reservation was spearheaded by Zafaryab Jilani, convener of the Muslim Reservation Movement, which started its agitation in 2004. Thus his movement was a forerunner to the Justice Sachar report. Jilani demanded amendment of the Article 341 of the Constitution which barred any non-Hindu from seeking reservation in government jobs.

Dr. S.Q.R. Ilyas, General Secretary of the Welfare Party of India has made similar demands. He contends that Muslims' demand is only for their share from the general kit, not from others' bowl. He has accused the Congress of trying to ignite social conflict and unrest among backward communities and pitch them against the Muslims.

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community in Andhra Pradesh. The matter is now before the Constitution bench for examination of its validity.

SP describes it anti-OBC move Union Minister for Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid

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So far as reservation for Muslims in UP is concerned they are already getting it

to some extent as certain sections of the community figure in the OBC list. But due to educational backwardness among them, most of the opportunities are grabbed by those who are comparatively better off among the OBCs, like the Yadavs. Thus fixing a quota for minorities within the quota for OBCs

SPECIAL STORY

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi

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would ensure that opportunities for advanced OBCs would get reduced.

That is why the quota within quota move alarms the Samajwadi Party which has described it as an antiOBC step. It has glibly demanded that reservation should be given to Muslims in proportion to their population in an attempt to show they were not opposing the Congress proposal, but want improvement in it.

Justice Rajinder Sachar who had examined the socio-economic condition of Muslims feels the government should create a "most backward category" which would automatically bring almost 80 per cent of the Muslims under the quota.

However, the ultra Hindu groups like Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have announced a nation-wide agitation on the issue.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi

Muslims are in substantial number in UP–around 18 percent of the total population–the fourth largest group in any state after Assam, West Bengal and Kerala. Since a majority of Muslims vote strategically, they possess the power to make or break the political fortunes of any party. They can influence at least 100 assembly seats in UP.

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BSP too is a major claimants for the Muslim vote The BSP along with SP and Congress is a major claimant of Muslim votes.

But it has acted smart and wants to take credit of raising this issue without doing much on this front except writing to the Prime Minister. Her last missive on this issue was sent on September 14 demanding reservation for the Muslims in proportion to their population.

JANUARY, 2012

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LOKAYAT

SPECIAL STORY

Praveen Togadia of Vishwa Hindu Parishad

The reaction of the Hindu hardliners itting out at the Congress move Vishwa Hindu Parishad has threatened to launch a nationwide agitation against the Centre's proposed reservation for the Muslims. VHP's International General Secretary Praveen Togadia declared that the proposal was unacceptable at all costs because our Constitution didn't allow religion-based reservation.

Bajrang Dal has also opposed the move.

Criticising it the national chief Subhash Chouhan said the Hindu interests were being targeted. He argued that this unwarranted move might spur the momentum of conversion which was already rampant in remote areas. He threatened widespread agitation if the Centre went ahead implementing the proposal.

Ashok Singhal, VHP international president said Congress knows well that the Supreme Court will not allow such a sub-quota for the Muslims, which is against the spirit of the Constitution. But it is doing so to gain political advantage in the forthcoming elections in five states.

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BJP national president Nitin Gadkari

She also wrote that if needed an amendment to the Constitution could be considered. The PM thanked her for the gratuitous advice and said she could, if she so desired, follow the examples of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala which had given reservation to the Muslims on their own by including them in the OBC list.

To this Mayawati replied that an arrangement for giving caste certificates to backward people among Muslim communities existed under the present system to avail of jobs in public services and it was in place right from the day she formed her first government in 1995. As many as 38 castes and sub-castes of Muslims are included in the state list of OBCs.

Congress eyeing to get Muslim Support

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress General Secretary, had been making special efforts to refurbish his image among Muslims during his visits to UP. In the first week of December several Muslim leaders from UP met Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and impressed on him that if something solid was not done after the big hype, it might adversely affect Congress prospects. Rahul is learnt to have assured them that the Central government would make every possible effort in this regard. Congress President Sonia Gandhi too had given the same assurance.

The Congress thinks that by announcing the 4.5 percent quota it would be able to pull the carpet from under Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav, who keep harping on the issue of marginalisation of Muslims and demanding that

SPECIAL STORY

Sachar Committee did not recommend reservation o prepare a report on the latest social, economic and educational conditions of the Muslim community in India, Sachar Committee was appointed in 2005. The committee of seven was headed by the former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Rajendra Sachar. The report, the first of its kind, made eye-opening revelations on the status of the Indian Muslims.

According to the 403- page report, they came below the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The overall percentage of Muslims in bureaucracy in India was just 2.5 percent, whereas they constituted above 14 percent of the total population.

Less than four percent Muslims completed matriculation. The drop-out rate of Muslim children was much higher compared to other communities. The Muslim share in government employment was found 4.9 percent, among Security Agencies, namely, CRPF, CISF, BSF, SSB etc., it was 3.2 percent, and among District Judges 2.7 percent.

On the existence of castes among Indian Muslims the Sachar Committee Report said: "Based on the arguments and data presented, it is logical to suggest that Muslims in India, in terms of their social structure, consist of three groups- Ashrafs, Ajlafs and Arzals. The three groups require different types of affirmative action. The second group, Ajlafs/OBCs, needs additional attention which could be similar to that of Hindu-OBCs." However, Sachar Committee did not recommend any reservation for Muslims, but suggested that 15 percent of all government funds be allocated for Muslim welfare and development under all Central Government schemes, and an Equal Opportunity Commission be constituted to ensure that backward Muslims be extended the same benefits that are available to their counterparts among the Hindus .

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Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav

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Ranganath commission recommended 10 percent reservation fter the Sachar committee, the Government of India formed a commission under the chairmanship of Justice Ranganath Mishra which recommended reservation for linguistic and religious minorities of which 10 percent to be set aside for Muslims.

The report was submitted in 2007. It also recommended inclusion of certain deserving Muslim and Christian sections as Dalits in the list of Scheduled Castes.

It may be pertinent to note that there was a Presidential Order of 1950 which removed non-Hindus from the purview of reservation for Dalits. The argument was that only Hinduism sanctioned castes, so technically converts did not have the stigma of casteism.

Sikh Dalits protested and they were then included in the reservation list in 1956.

Similarly, neo-Buddhists protested and they too were included in 1990. However, Muslim and Christian Dalits are still not counted among the Scheduled Caste category. But, several Dalit Muslims and Christian sects are counted among the OBCs and they get the benefit of reservation.

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recommendations of the Sachar committee be implemented in toto.

JANUARY, 2012

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NATION

LOKAYAT

CPM fails to tell its cadre China is no more a socialist China is the biggest ideological embarrassment for the CPI (M) whose leaders do the reality that it has not remained any more a socialist country. Today it has 115 Ironically there are still blinkered members in the Polit Bureau who tire not of praising

By VSP Kurup

s China still a socialist country, or has it turned capitalist? The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is in a dilemma to decide. It knows the unpleasant answer but does not want to pronounce it openly for fear of 'confusing the people'. That is to say, Indian communists do not want to acknowledge a fact already known to the whole world, because they think the people will find it difficult to accept that the one and only Socialist China they knew has become capitalist before their own eyes. So the CPI (M) in its wisdom decided to postpone revelation of the truth to a later date, to be done slowly and painlessly.

This is not the first time that Indian communists had problem seeing a patent fact straight and clear because if they did it would turn topsy-turvy things they had been propagating for years. Seventy-five years ago when this country got independence the communists refused to 'believe' it, insisting that it was fake-- an illusion. After several years they modified their view slightly and said the real, economic independence was yet to come. They have the same type of blurred vision in the case of China today also; the trouble is their ideological blinkers: they refuse to remove them even long after their theoretical inspiration vanished!

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The topic of China came up before the Central Committee (CC) of the CPI (M) through a draft paper prepared by the Polit Bureau (PB) to contemporise the party's ideological approach on various affairs. Along with CC's comments the draft will go before the 20th Party Congress in Kozhikode (Kerala) in April 2012 for approval. The last such ideological review was undertaken by the party way back in 1992 in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since then the world has undergone tremendous transformation, what with the global financial crisis, America's shrinking stature in world affairs, birth and teething troubles of the European Union, the upheaval in West Asia and the constantly evolving new political and military equations in many parts of the world. These have impacted India too, in many ways. The CPI (M) needs to take note of all these developments and adjust to the new realities.

The changing political character of China began to attract world attention when it started applying capitalist management principles to revive its sagging economy. Ideas about personal property and private profit, import of foreign capital, market savvy business enterprises, etc. were no more taboo there. It opened its industry for foreign

investments and actively canvassed for them. But what became a sensation was the revelation in the Forbes list of 2011 that there were 115 billionaires in China ensuring it a coveted seat at the high table. These billionaires could not have germinated there overnight. How could a country be socialist if it bred billionaires like mushrooms? The CPI (M) had to take China out of the roster of socialist countries-there will not be any left except some Latin American stragglersand place it elsewhere. Where else but

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The Polit Bureau has prepared a draft on China to contemporise party's ideological approach on various matters. This draft would go for approval before the 20th Party Congress in Kozhikode (Kerala) April next year.

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NATION

that country not know how to tell its cadre billionaires in the country.

China for its socialist path.

under the same column as the U.S.?

For the communists any where it is a hard nut to swallow.

There is the rub. The 22 CC members assembled to discuss the draft were split on the issue. Even as several of them were unhappy about the alacrity with which China was rushing on the capitalist road, few wanted to call a spade a spade.

Some did not find any need to be

LOKAYAT

hesitant about acknowledging it: how could one hide behind a reality as bright as daylight, they asked.

But the moderate section carried the day. They wanted the CC to think of the people who would be thunderstruck by the news that China had taken, and relished, the forbidden route.

It would be difficult to explain to the people the sudden metamorphosis of China. Only recently some PB members, after a visit to that 'fraternal' country, had eulogised the Chinese model of socialism.

How could CC pronounce, so soon after, that there was no socialism in China, that it had gone the American way? So they should be cautious in making such an earthshaking announcement.

They would do well to go slow, and in bits. The CC conceded the point and concluded that they needed more time to study the matter.

After all, it took centuries for the world to accept the fact that the earth was roundnot flat!

CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat, a symbol of blinkered leadership.

JANUARY, 2012

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NATION

LOKAYAT

The Lokpal Tussle Continues That was the most shocking performance by the political class in our august Parliament. It was happening for the 9th time , since the Lokpal bill was introduced initially 43 years ago.

By Deepak Razdan

t was a clear case of mismanagement. And it was probably deliberate, too. The passage of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas

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Sonia Gandhi

Bill, 2011 in the Lok Sabha on 27th December was historic, as eight earlier attempts to do so by Parliament had failed. Despite massive opposition and debatable amendments insisted on by an uncertain ally, the Trinamool Congress, the Lok Sabha's approval for the overarching anti-corruption law was good achievement for the Government.

But the Rajya Sabha presented a picture of unclear intentions, and a lack of determined effort by the UPA managers to overcome the challenge, that was always

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known to be bigger as the Government did not enjoy majority in the 243-member House. As events unfolded, Parliament House corridors were abuzz with rumours that the Government had not walked the extra step for the necessary numbers on

Manmohan Singh

Thursday, the last day of the Winter Session. What to talk of taking on board the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, even the main ally of the Congress, the Trinamool Congress had turned enemy, demanding the dropping of an entire chapter on Lokayuktas.

The passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha also had not been easy. The House approved the Bill with a voice vote, keeping the actual numbers for and against shrouded in doubt. The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party

Lokpal Bill Passed in Lok Sabha with amendments Key amendments made in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill in the Lok Sabha: Lokayuktas in the states will not be notified without the consent of state assemblies.

Instead of three-fourths of the nine-member Lokpal needing to approve an inquiry against PM, approval of only two- thirds will be enough. The process of approval was made less stringent.

Armed Forces and other defence wings were excluded from the purview of Lokpal.

Parts of section 24, giving presiding officers of legislatures the power to act against its members on the basis of a Lokpal or Lokayukta report for corruption were deleted. It means action can't be taken against MLAs and MPs before trial.

Few major demands which were not met: Bringing the CBI under the ambit of the Lokpal.

Annulling the clauses completely which infringed upon the federal nature of any constitutional machinery.

NATION staged a walk out so that opposition to the bill would seem reduced and to that extent Congress strength greater. Before the voice-vote, the Government itself moved several major amendments on the insistence of several parties. The Armed Forces were taken out of the purview of the bill. The exemption time for former MPs was raised from five to seven years.

In a significant concession to the Trinamool Congress, a proviso was added to Chapter III on the Lokayuktas, giving the States the option to implement the law or not.

The Government was thrown into confusion in the Lok Sabha when the Constitution Amendment Bill to give a Constitutional status to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas was defeated.

The Constitutional status talk had started after the party General Secretary, Rahul Gandhi, had made an off-the-cuff suggestion. The Government's weakness was exposed when the bill was taken up clause by clause. Soon after its defeat, the Opposition, particularly the BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, promptly demanded the resignation of the Government. He said the Government could not even muster the simple majority of 273 votes in favour--it could manage only 250. Seeing the dismal result Sinha commented that the Prime Minister had made his "farewell" speech in advance.

LOKAYAT

Constitutional status legislation defeated he government suffered a huge embarrassment when the legislation to give the Lokpal a constitutional status, the dream of Rahul Gandhi, was defeated in the Lok Sabha for lack of two-third majority and presence of fifty percent members in the house as required. The shameful situation arose because of the absence of some MPs belonging to the ruling alliance including the Congress, and the opposition of BJP, SP, BSP and RJD. Was it a well planned conspiracy?

In 1989 Rajeev Gandhi suffered the same kind of humiliation in the Rajya Sabha when the Opposition combined to defeat the statute amendment bill to confer constitutional status to Panchayat Raj institutions.

Soon after the defeat, the late PM dissolved the Lok Sabha and went for the elections which he lost.

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Mamata Banerjee

Sushma Swaraj

Absence of the prime minister was shocking In the Rajya Sabha, the Government had obviously not done its home work. It was Wednesday afternoon when the Constitutional Amendment Bill on cooperatives was passed. The Opposition wanted the Lokpal debate taken up, while the Parliamentary Affairs Minister P. K. Bansal suggested the House could discuss the Whistleblowers Bill first. The supplementary agenda too was not circulated. The Government failed to get the situation resolved in its favour. The House was adjourned for the day almost at 5 pm, an early hour considering the heavy work that lay before it. Thursday, the last day, also exposed the utter lack of

Mulayam Singh Yadav

Yashwant Sinha

JANUARY, 2012

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Political stance of the Opposition made it even more difficult The BJP: The biggest opposition party BJP, right from the very beginning was opposed to the present form of the Lokpal bill and vigorously insisted on bringing several amendments to make the legislation stronger and effective. Its main contention was that the new Lokpal bill tabled by the Congress neither brought the CBI under the Lokpal's ambit nor made the investigating agency an autonomous body. It also said that the bill violated the principles of federalism as enshrined in the Constitution.

The Trinamool Congress: Though the Congress has blamed the opposition for creating hurdles in passing the Lokpal bill, in reality it was the UPA's own ally Mamta Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) which caused maximum damage to Congress strategy when the bill reached the Rajya Sabha. Only two days earlier the TMC was ready to help the Congress, but it took a U-turn when it found that the Bill definitely curtailed the rights of the states.

The Samajwadi Party: The Samajwadi Party opposed the Bill saying it was weak, but on the other hand it displayed its true fears by arguing that any MP could be arrested by a 'Daroga' if this Lokpal came into being. It walked out from the Lok Sabha while voting on the Bill was to take place helping the UPA government to pass it if it could. But in the Rajya Sabha it changed its strategy and decided to move a few amendments and vote with the Opposition.

Unfortunately the government itself lost the courage to present the bill and beat a retreat.

The Rashtriya Janta Dal: The RJD's Lalu Prasad Yadav assumed the main part in ridiculing and opposing the Lokpal Bill. He termed it as the death warrant of all MPs, MLAs, MLCs and government employees. He did not want an ombudsman of such nature which could encroach upon the rights of the elected representatives. He also wanted that there should be reservation for SC, ST, OBC and minorities in the 9-member Lokpal body. He opposed the Bill but helped passing it in the Lok Sabha by walking out during the voting.

Bahujan Samaj Party: Bahujan Samaj Party was categorically against the Lokpal and Lokayukta bill, accusing it of destroying the country's federal structure by introducing central laws to intervene in state's jurisdiction. It also wanted the CBI under the ambit of the Lokpal and accused the government of manipulating it for political gains. The BSP might not have forgotten how CBI acted in the Taj corridor case. However BSP members too walked out from the Lok Sabha during the vote and helped it pass.

Left Parties: Left parties including the CPI-M and the CPI wanted corporate bodies and the foreign-funded NGOs brought within the purview of the proposed Lokpal, no infringement upon the federal structure of the polity, procedure of the appointment and removal of the Lokpal made broadbased and more representative by including the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and an eminent jurist in the selection panel, and finally the CBI freed from the government control.

The JD-U: The JD-U termed the bill weak and demanded its withdrawal. It said the bill was an assault on the country's federal structure and the government should have kept in mind the directive principle of the Constitution while framing the Lokpal Bill.

26

JANUARY, 2012

Lalu Yadav

management. After the initial formalities, the Personnel Minister V. Narayanasamy gave such a long introduction to the Bill that the Opposition urged him to conclude so that the Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley could initiate the debate.

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, was however not present, and the Opposition could not tolerate the absence of the Leader of the House when such an important Bill was before the House. The Prime Minister had spoken emotionally a day earlier on the need to pass it. The House had to be adjourned for 10 minutes on account of this.

The events later in the day showed no better floor management by the Government. Apart from the large number of amendments--as many as 187- to be moved, the Government's ally the Trinamool Congress demanded a bigger price for its support. The West Bengal party wanted the entire Chapter III on the State Lokayuktas dropped. There was little time for negotiations. The RJD's Rajniti Prasad added to the chaos by tearing up officials papers. The Government took the plea that the House could not sit beyond midnight. The Chairman Hamid Ansari declared the House adjourned sine die, leaving everybody wondering whether the whole sequence of events was orchestrated by the ruling coalition.

There were so many amendments moved by different parties in the Rajya Sabha that Parliament Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said the government needed time to study them as many were of similar nature.

INTERNATIONAL

LOKAYAT

Japan,India face same security challenges Trade between China and Japan stands at $ 293 billion whereas it is a paltry $ 13 billion between Japan and India. With the comprehensive economic partnership agreement between New Delhi and Tokyo becoming functional now, the situation may mark a change for the better. India should also try to raise its ties with Japan to a higher trajectory in defence matters to meet the growing threat to both countries from China.

By Vinod Varshney

he consistently aggressive posture of China in recent years has created new security challenges for India. Apart from countless transgressions on the border, China has increased pressure on India by seeking military bases in Pakoccupied Kashmir and Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. Chinese arrogance is evident from the way it told India to cancel the International Buddhist meet in Delhi. When New Delhi refused to oblige, Beijing cancelled a scheduled border talks. Now China is again at it, warning India not to proceed with the oil exploration off the Vietnam shore.

All these are expressions of growing Chinese muscle that make security environment uncomfortable not only for India but to many countries in the Asia-Pacific region including Japan with which China had a face-off recently.

There is little doubt that within a decade China would be the biggest economic power in the world with very high outlay on defence. With China not agreeing to settle the border disputes, India has no option but to improve its defence set up not only in border areas but also in the Indian Ocean because some 97 percent of its international trade

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happens to be through the sea. Our energy security also depends on sea lanes.

Even if India raises its defence expenditure in terms of GDP, it cannot match China's as its GDP is more than thrice that of India. So the challenge before India is not only to raise its economic might but also to design a new security architecture through partnerships with friendly countries. We have not so far tapped the full potential of friendship with Japan which is a massive repository of high technology.

While our trade with China has crossed $63 billion, most of which, ironically, favours China and helps its economy, that with Japan is a measly $13 billion.

China made better use of Japan's technological and economic strength during the last three decades while we failed to do so. Today Japan-China trade is worth a whopping $297 billion.

Now that we have woken up to the new reality in our security environs and taken steps to improve trade and strategic relationship with Japan, Chinese media has started criticising India. The comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with Japan made functional three months ago is bound to take the trade between the

two countries to a higher trajectory but that may also correspondingly increase the worrisome pressure from an intolerant China.

Prior to the visit of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to New Delhi recently, Japan had removed its ban on defence exports. This can be used by India to develop an effective defence against potential missile attack on Indian cities within the range of Chinese warheads stationed in Tibet. India is lagging in modern defence technology, a consequence of the embargoes imposed by the west following our nuclear test.

So much so, our critical defence requirements like fighter aircraft, nuclear submarines and aircraft carrier are being met by imports. This situation can and must change quickly because critical items may again become unavailable in times of crisis. India should try for more and more joint ventures with Japan for making not just defence items. They must cover the entire gamut of economic activities from which both countries will benefit. Since both have identity of interests on most matters and have the same security threat perception the road ahead for IndiaJapan partnership is long and well-lit indeed.

JANUARY, 2012

27

LOKAYAT

DELHI

Trifurcation of MCD brings Sheila's smile back!

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has a chequered history. Nearly a century and a quarter ago it came into being as a small body with just 21 members–6 Hindus, 6 Muslims, 3 Britons and 6 nominated officials. The numbers went up to 25 in 1912, 36 in 1921 and 80 in 1958 when the civic body was upgraded through an Act of Parliament and given a host of responsibilities–of running services like water supply, sewerage, electricity, sanitation, firefighting, transport, health, primary education, slum and house tax collection.

But the MCD never had an easy relationship with the political masters who always tended to curtail its rights and jurisdictions. For instance, the civic body was dissolved arbitrarily three times. First, it was in 1975 during the emergency. Even after 1980 the state of dissolution continued with as many as six extensions. It was reconstituted in 1983. It faced another dissolution in 1990.

The present MCD came into existence in 1997 after elections when the BJP secured majority in the 134member body even as the state was being ruled by the Congress. But soon sewerage, water and electricity were taken away from its purview apparently to cut its importance. And now it has been trifurcated with many of its functions usurped by the state government.

Trifurcation of Delhi brings back smile on the face of Sheila Dixit, the Chief Minister of Delhi

By Vinod Harsh

he Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has a chequered history. Nearly a century and a quarter ago it came into being as a small body with just 21 members-6 Hindus, 6 Muslims, 3 Britons and 6 nominated officials.

The numbers went up to 25 in 1912, 36 in 1921 and 80 in 1958 when the civic body was upgraded through an Act of Parliament and given a host of responsibilities-of running services like water supply, sewerage, electricity, sanitation, fire-fighting, transport, health, primary education, slum and house tax collection.

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Poster boy of Delhi Metro E Sreedharan questions the utility of trifurcation of MCD. He says government should take it over

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JANUARY, 2012

But the MCD never had an easy relationship with the political masters who always tended to curtail its rights and jurisdictions.

For instance, the civic body was dissolved arbitrarily three times.

First, it was in 1975 during the emergency. Even after 1980 the state of dissolution continued with as many as six extensions. It was reconstituted in 1983. It faced another dissolution in 1990.

The present MCD came into existence in 1997 after elections when the BJP secured majority in the 134-member body even as the state was being ruled by the Congress.

But soon sewerage, water and electricity were taken away from its

DELHI purview apparently to cut its importance.

And now it has been trifurcated with many of its functions usurped by the state government.

The flurry of arguments and counterarguments have now been put to rest finally. Trifurcation of the MCD has been given the seal of approval by the Delhi Assembly. Surprisingly, the BJP refrained from censoring the move although its leaders have been making a hue and cry on the issue for months.

The behaviour of BJP councillors cannot be faulted as unethical because division of the MCD was one of the promises made in their election manifesto. However, the party, especially president Vijendra Gupta, remained unreconciled. So it looks a clear case of double-speak–the party following one line and its legislators singing a different tune.

Splitting the MCD had been top on the agenda of Sheila Dixit for long. She made herculean efforts to accomplish it, like making several trips to Sonia Gandhi to get her approval. She formed many committees during the last ten years- but none of them helped.

Undaunted, she constituted yet another committee under the chairmanship of Dr A. K. Walia with BJP ministers-Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Dr. Jagdish Mukhi-- as members; the latter duo, however, resigned under pressure from the party. The Walia Committee recommended to divide the MCD into five entities, but the Home Ministry okayed only three. Now the situation is, three different corporations are to come into existence and election to be held for them in 2012. In the coming poll reservation for women has been increased to 50 percent from the existing 33 percent as had been done in Bihar.

Even though trifurcation of the MCD is an accomplished fact, many practical problems remain fuelling the argument that the decision was a hasty one. Sheila Dixit maintains that the trifurcation could have been done earlier; she chose to wait because she

wanted to avoid the charge of not allowing the BJP to run its full term. She said the step was overdue in view of the burgeoning population which now stood at one crore seventy lakh. It was getting impossible for a single civic body to do justice to its citizens.

The BJP, however, is trying to salvage its position by saying that splitting the MCD without getting

LOKAYAT

government, BJP leaders ask.

But this is an old story of pointless feud between the MCD and the government of Delhi. Whosoever rules Delhi wants to reduce the rights of the MCD, while those who are in charge of the MCD want all the rights reserved for themselves.

Undoubtedly the trifurcation of the MCD is a big personal victory for Sheila

Metro Man wanted MCD dismantled rather than trifurcated E. Sreedharan, the poster boy of Delhi Metro, known for his uncanny ideas and who translated them into concrete shape without much ado, has questioned the wisdom of MCD trifurcation. He said in an interview that if Delhi citizens had to be served properly, then the MCD should be dismantled. He would not buy the argument that Delhi was so big that the MCD could not manage it. Its area was indeed small; the state government should take over and hand it over to professionals.

One of his arguments against the trifurcation is that expenditure of running three municipalities would go up three times, which would increase the burden of the state government already under financial strain.

He questions the raison d'etre of three small entities in a little city state like Delhi where a state government already exists with a full complement of ministers.

This comment has shocked the ruling BJP in the MCD. It has denounced it as utterly unwarranted, saying the Metro Man does not understand the importance and functions of civic bodies.

statehood for Delhi was a mistake. The BJP was agreeable to the idea but wanted full statehood first. It is a pity, despite there was a Congress government at the Centre, Sheila Dixit did not even try. On the other hand when there was the NDA government at the Centre, Sheila had led a march on Parliament demanding full statehood for Delhi. Again, before splitting the MCD why did she not bring the DDA, Delhi Police and the Land and Building Department under the Delhi

Dixit. She has been under attack for long: she is facing charges from the Shunglu committee and the CAG for the Commonwealth Games imbroglio. Once it appeared that Sheila Dixit would be asked to go, but this victory over her detractors has brought back cheer to her face. However, it is too early to say; much depends on how the trifurcation will help the people of Delhi. If her experiment fails she would be hauled up, say BJP leaders.

JANUARY, 2012

29

LOKAYAT

HARYANA

Hooda's magic worked in Ratia Suave and sophisticated, Bhupinder Singh Hooda has proved his charisma again and fully restored the sagging morale of the Congress ahead of the five Assembly elections early next year.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda proved his mettle again in Ratia

By Lokayat Correspondent

ooda has proved he can still spread his magical spell on the Haryana electorate and he has done it with consummate skill to win the crucial Ratia seat for the Congress. Who could have thought that within three months of the humiliating defeat, with forfeiture of the security deposit of his hand-picked candidate Jaiprakash in the Hisar Lok Sabha by-election when the Anna factor had reportedly swung the

H

popular mood against the Congress, Hooda would achieve the impossible feat of winning a seat that had eluded the Congress for the last 29 years?

Undoubtedly it has raised the stock of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his image in the pantheon of the party. Many would wonder what had turned within these three months to make the fortunes of the demoralised party.

Needless to say, it is a major boost for the beleaguered party which has to face five Assembly elections, including the crucial

POST-POLL PARTY POSITION

Former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala's hopes to revive INLD dashed.

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JANUARY, 2012

CONGRESS

: 46

INLD

: 30

BJP

:4

HJC

:1

BSP

:1

SHIROMANI AKALI DAL

:1

INDEPENDENTS

:7

one in Uttar Pradesh early next year.

The party's performance even in the case of the Adampur seat in Haryana has shown improvement disproving the prophets of doom who had said farewell to Hooda and forecast the re-emergence of Om Prakash Chautala. Jubilant Congress leaders and workers in Haryana are now celebrating the claim that Ratia is just the 'trailer' of what is in store in the February elections.

The decisive victory in the Ratia reserved seat in Fatehabad district which had been in the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) pocket for the past three decades gives special reason for the Congress to celebrate as it gives the party simple majority in the 90- member Assembly, with a strength going up to 46. The loss of Ratia is bad omen for Om Prakash Chautala, the INLD supremo, whose entire family had campaigned to save the seat, which was with Gian Chand Odh, whose death had necessitated the byelection. The INLD candidate was Sarfi Devi, wife of the deceased MLA who had hoped to cash in on the sympathy wave, but it proved vain.

Even in Adampur, the traditional bastion of Haryana Janhit Congress

HARYANA

Allegations of misuse of govt machinery ather than accepting defeat with humility, INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala blustered that the Congress victory was achieved on the basis of votes 'bought' at Rs 4,000 each with the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police acting as "agents" of the government.

It has also alleged that the Congress pressured sarpanches to back its candidate. While levelling allegations he said the HJC supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi too had helped the Congress garner votes through his workers. This was done in return for secret Congress help in Hisar, he said.

While Hooda claims that his pro-farmer policies should be given credit for the victory, Chautala contests it. He reels out statistics to show that when he was the chief minister he gave the highest price for sugarcane in the country, but now it is UP which pays more. In Haryana farmers get just Rs 231, Rs 226 and Rs 215 in comparison to Rs 250, Rs 240 and Rs 235 per quintal respectively for the same quality in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier UP farmers used to bring their sugarcane to Haryana mills; now Haryana farmers are going to UP to do the same.

Congress leaders have rubbished Chautala's allegations as "borne out of frustration". They say the main reason of INLD defeat was corruption charges which Chautala's sons were facing in the court. They demand Chautala's apology for saying that Haryana voters are a purchasable commodity.

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Renuka Bishnoi, the winner in Adampur

(HJC), the Congress Party managed to come second and INLD a poor third.

Renuka Bishnoi, Kuldeep Bishnoi's wife, won the seat with a margin of 22,669 votes defeating her nearest rival and former MLA Kulbir Singh Beniwal of the Congress who polled 27,607 votes against 50,276 polled by the former. The INLD candidate Ram Singh Baswana could poll just 21,811 votes. However, Renuka polled about 1,400 votes less than her husband, Kuldeep, who contested from Adampur during the recent by–election to the Hisar Lok Sabha seat.

Though, the Congress recovered well to poll 27,607 votes this time, the tally was still way behind the 42,209 votes polled by its nominee, Jai Prakash, in the 2009 assembly poll. In the recent by–election to the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, the Congress had polled only 15,472 votes in this Assembly segment. In that respect this record is a big jump for the Congress.

Sarfi Bai fainted at the news of her defeat t was an unbearable defeat for Sarfi Bai who fainted and fell down on hearing the bad news.

She was coming out of a counting centre. The wild jubilations in the Congress camp nearby made the blow even more severe. Her son, Raj Kumar, rushed her to a hospital with the help of a security staff.

I

LOKAYAT

The victory of Renuka Bishnoi was a foregone conclusion right from the time the by-election was announced. The Bhajan Lal clan has never lost an election from Adampur since 1968. The late Bhajan Lal had won from here eight consecutive times except in 1987 when his wife Jasma had contested and won.

In Ratia, Jarnail Singh of the Congress bagged 65,071 votes against 52,368 votes polled by Sarfi Devi of the INLD and 18,142 polled by the BJP's Mahavir Prasad, which meant forfeiture of the security deposit by Prasad. This result virtually deflated the ego of the BJP, which had been boasting after the Hisar rout of the Congress that, along with the JHC, it was sure to emerge as the viable third force in Haryana. In 2009 as well, Jarnail Singh had contested on a Congress ticket from Ratia, but lost to the INLD candidate Gian Chand Odh (now deceased) - Sarfi Devi's husband - by 3,382 votes.

The Hisar Lok Sabha by–poll results were explained by many political analysts as a strong come back of Chautala's INLD--the HJC chief Bishnoi could win the election only by 6,323 votes against Ajay Singh Chautala, indicating that Jat votes had started rallying round Om Prakash Chautala.

It may be remembered that in the last assembly election held in October 2009, the Congress had won just 40 seats on its own. Later five MLAs of the HJC had joined the party taking its tally to 45. The Congress also enjoys the support of independent MLAs besides a lone BSP member in the house.

Buoyed by the win Hooda said his party would return to power the third time in the next Assembly elections. He termed the Ratia result as “exceptional”.

Many analysts now believe, on the basis of the results of the three byelections, that the Congress had fared badly in Hisar because of a sharp division of the electorate on anti-Bishnoi and antiChautala lines. For a change, the Congress this time contested the Ratia seat like a well-organised team.

JANUARY, 2012

31

LOKAYAT

MADHYA PRADESH

Madhya Pradesh says a firm 'No' to separate Bundelkhand Separate Bundelkhand would not be viable any people entertain genuine fears about the viability of a Bundelkhand State. First, there are not enough natural resources to support a separate entity. Most of the areas coming under the proposed state are neither agriculturally fertile nor industrially developed. Some cement and other factories do exist there, but to be workable, a state needs a lot more. So, if a Bundelkhand State comes into being, it would certainly require continuous, generous central assistance.

On the other hand these may prove to be needless fears.

When in 2000 Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh, for instance, there were apprehensions of MP facing acute power crisis because the majority of the generating plants happened to be in Chhattisgarh. Eventually the prophets of doom proved wrong. With the passage of time every problem was sorted out.

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Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Political sparks from Mayawati's proposal to split UP have reached Bhopal. But Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has poured cold water on the inflammable idea, giving cause to some to raise a wrangle over the matter.

By Umanath

overty, backwardness and drought seem to be the inescapable fate of Bundelkhand, whether its part falls in Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh. Only because it is a victim of crass political indifference. But how long can it be neglected? One sensible suggestion to lift the area out of the pitiable mess is to make the region a separate state by carving out some districts from both Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. This is what Mayawati has

P

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JANUARY, 2012

proposed, though her reason for doing so, now is suspect. Not surprisingly, it has started a ruckus with most parties in Uttar Pradesh calling it a political stunt.

The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has rejected Maya's proposal outright, terming it impractical, although his party (BJP) had for long been advocating the virtues of smaller states. The BJP had acted on this very principle when it created Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand in 2000. But on the issue of Bundelkhand it is not convinced that it

MADHYA PRADESH

Rahul Gandhi has been raising the issue of under-development of Bundelkhand

would be a right step for the development of the neglected region.

The Congress, which is chary on the demand for Telangana, but anticipating the inevitable, has supported the idea for a separate Bundelkhand, even if it ironically disapproved Mayawati's plan to divide UP into four smaller states. The BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh accuse each other of political opportunism in their respective stand on the UP development.

During the state reorganisation of 1956, Bundelkhand was bifurcated with the area comprising seven districts, viz.

Jhansi, Banda, Jalaun, Chitrakoot, Mahoba, Hamirpur and Lalitpur going to Uttar Pradesh and six districts--Datia, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Panna, Sagar and Damoh -- joining Madhya Pradesh.

Now, after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi authored the Bundelkhand package comes the thought of re-uniting the region as a remedy for all its ills.

But most communities and political parties in Bundelkhand seem to be averse to the proposal at this juncture as the credit may go to Mayawati. That the politics of Bundelkhand is controlled by high caste people, will explain this stance. The only community which solidly supports the proposal for a separate Bundelkhand state is the Ahirwars, the largest community of dalits

LOKAYAT

Activists of Bundelkhand Ekikrit Party who last year raised the issue of separate Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh

Nature has been unkind to Bundelkhand undelkhand has been a victim of capricious weather especially during the last five years. It is predominantly a farming region, largely dependent on the monsoon. It received only scanty rainfall during the last five years. Besides, the productivity of the land is not high. Even at the best of times it does not produce enough for its people.

To make matters worse, farmlands are concentrated in the hands of landlords belonging to upper castes.

Lower caste people are dependent on subsistence agriculture. Farm employment is available only for 3 to 4 months a year, hence a large number of labourers migrate to other regions. In fact, many labour families have shifted permanently to the UP part of Bundelkhand.

B

in Madhya Pradesh and who constitute the majority population in the area.

Interestingly the Bundelkhand Mitra Parishad, a social organisation operating from Sagar, the divisional headquarters of MP's Bundelkhand region, has already begun a campaign against the proposed new state. According to the Convenor of the Parishad, Rajendra Silwani, a Bundelkhand state will not do well because of complex political and economic reasons; if a new state is formed against all odds, it could survive only with constant support of the Centre, he says.

But, Raja Bundela, a scion of the Bundela dynasty and small-time film producer, has vociferously supported the move saying this was a long-pending demand of the people of the area and a new state alone will bring prosperity to the region known for its extreme backwardness.

The Congress is thinking of establishing a second State Reorganisation Commission on the lines of the one set up by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1953. This may give the party some breathing time, especially on the issue of Telangana. But this move may prove disastrous as it would open a floodgate of regional demands, many of them illogical, unwarranted and even frivolous.

JANUARY, 2012

33

LOKAYAT

CHHATTISGARH

No Trust Motion against Raman Singh The State Congress president Nand Kumar Patel probably thought that many BJP legislators were unhappy and it was the right time to take on the government.

By Mani Kishore

he defeat of the no-confidence motion against Dr Raman Singh government of Chhattisgarh by 4837 has disappointed the Congress while it has galvanised and unified the BJP. The setback may dissipate efforts to revive the state Congress which had fared badly in

T 34

JANUARY, 2012

the last three by-elections. The Congress strategy was to mount attack on the Raman Singh government in the same fashion the BJP has been doing against the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre.

But the charges made in the assembly against the government turned out to be

CHHATTISGARH

LOKAYAT

defeated by huge margin more of a sensational nature which might be good for rabble-rousing, but they lacked substance to help the treasury bench improve governance.

Since the charges were not buttressed by concrete facts they were easily rebutted.

This was the first censure otion against Dr Raman Singh during his second tenure. But overall it appeared the motion was moved in haste without proper preparation.

The State Congress president Nand Kumar Patel probably thought that many BJP legislators were unhappy and it was the right time to take on the government. He calculated that many BJP MLAs would be absent during the division, and if the government survived, it would be by just one or two votes.

BJP rebutted the charges point by point But the BJP displayed a united front, and exposed the intent of the opposition in trotting out false charges. Not a single BJP legislator absented or abstained from voting.

Only both the BSP and two Congress MLAs abstained. Two important members of the Congress, former chief minister Ajit Jogi and his wife Renu Jogi, were conspicuous by their absence during the debate and voting on the motion.

It was known that Ajit Jogi and Renu Jogi would be busy with their son's marriage, yet the opposition leader in the house Ravindra Chaube pushed the motion on the very first day. Was this done because of some internal rivalry within the party as mentioned by members of the treasury benches?

Or was it because the successful agitations during the last four months had led the state party leadership to believe

Opposition Leader Ravindra Choubey

“

It was known that Ajit Jogi and Renu Jogi would be busy with their son's marriage, yet the opposition leader in the house Ravindra Chaube pushed the motion on the very first day.

�

that the time was propitious to move against the government?

From the very first day of the assembly session there were embarrassing moments for the Congress. When Speaker Dharam Pal Kaushik proposed to take up the motion immediately for discussion, Congress leaders opposed it vigorously. The opposition leader Ravindra Chaube wanted the debate fixed for some other day. This left an impression that the party was illprepared. In the early phase of the debate the attack was listless; it acquired momentum only on the second day.

The BJP assessed the situation as challenging since the street protests by the Congress had been successful.

They were keen to revive the party machinery before the next elections.

BJP speakers reminded the Congress that it had lost all the three byelections and it was now struggling to survive. There was absolutely no pressing issue to bring the noconfidence motion now.

Nand Kumar Patel made sensational charges The debate was initiated by state Congress president Nand Kumar Patel instead of the opposition leader Ravindra Chaube, who had moved the motion. Congress speakers made a flurry of charges about corruption and mis-governance. They said tribal population in the state had come down by over three percent, 700 forested villages were uprooted , 10,000 farmers had committed suicide, 700 girls were missing owing to unchecked human trafficking and there were corruption cases totalling Rs.20,000 crore. Most of these charges were described as wild and

JANUARY, 2012

35

LOKAYAT

CHHATTISGARH

unsubstantiated by members of the treasury benches.

Nand Kumar Patel said the BJP government had not fulfilled the promises made to farmers. Talking of the recent floods he charged the government for not providing any relief to people in the affected 22 villages. He also accused the government of phone tapping.

Dr Raman Singh painted a rosy picture These charges were forcefully countered by BJP members who mentioned numerous megacorruption cases of the Congress government at the Centre.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brij Mohan Agrawal who opened the defence said most of the allegations were baseless. He rebutted the charges point by point and challenged Patel to prove that 'even 10 farmers had committed suicide in the state during the tenure of the BJP government.'

Dr Raman Singh utilised the opportunity to highlight the achievements of his government during the past eight years. In his usual style he countered most of the allegations with facts and figures and painted a rosy picture of the state's growth and development. Ravindra Chaube had attacked him for selling mining resources of the state indiscriminately. Dr Raman put the record straight saying that 94 percent of the mines in the state were controlled by NMDC, a Public Sector Unit of the Centre, and only 6 percent was done by private companies. Not using the mineral resources of the state would be a national crime, he stressed.

On the controversial mining by BALCO, he said the 626-hectare area was leased to it by the Congress government in 1996 and not by him; and they had not stipulated that the company should not export the ore out of Chhattisgarh. However, the

36

JANUARY, 2012

State Congress President Nand Kumar Patel

“

In 2000 the state's per capita

consumption was 300 units, now it is more than five times – 1547 units. Is this not a sign of development?

�

factual situation was that some 51 percent of its requirement of ore was being imported from other states as Chhattisgarh was unable to meet it.

He defended the industrial development efforts of his government which had generated plenty of job opportunities.

Agriculture had not been ignored either as was alleged, he said, and quoted Planning Commission documents to show that Chhattisgarh was second only to Gujarat in making investments in this sector. 'Our average growth rate has been 10 percent, this year it is 11.57 percent. Electricity generating capacity has gone up to 2,100 MW from 1,600 MW. Earlier, farming and household sectors consumed only 40 percent of the total, but this ratio has now gone up to 50 percent.

In per capita electricity consumption only two states-Gujarat and Goa-are ahead of us. In 2000 the state's per capita consumption was 300 units, now it is more than five times -- 1547 units. Is this not a sign of development? Within the next two years Chhattisgarh would be generating 1,500 MW more. And in the next ten years we shall be exporting surplus electricity to the tune of 5,000-6,000 MW to other states,' the Chief Minister said.

Painting a rosy picture of the industrial development he said that within the next few years Chhattisgarh would have one-third share in the national production of aluminium, steel and cement. He also mentioned that public service guarantee in 20 departments covering 100 services has reduced problems of common man in getting things done in time. In the field of education the state had made great strides. From the 12 engineering colleges, the number now has gone up to 50. He assured the house that much more was in the pipeline in this sector.

BIHAR

LOKAYAT

Time not ripe for Lalu yet

By Lokayat Correspondent

f by-polls are any indication, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is constantly improving and consolidating his position in the state, going far ahead of his once formidable political rivals Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan. With his agenda of development with social justice, he along with his alliance partner BJP is scoring political and electoral victories one after another.

Political victory is in terms of bringing back former political heavyweights from other parties to his party's fold.

Winning Laukaha assembly seat is nothing exceptional for the alliance, which virtually seems to be heading towards a single party or a coalition rule overwhelmingly dominating the entire political spectrum in the state and leaving no space for others, at least for now. Retaining the seat, JD-U candidate Sanjay Kumar Sah gave a crushing blow to his nearest rival and RJD candidate Mokhtar Ahmed by a margin of 22,763 votes. Sanjay, son of the former Panchayat Raj, BC and MBC Welfare Minister Hari Prasad Sah, whose sudden death due to brain haemorrhage in New Delhi in September necessitated the by-poll, polled 64,425 votes against Ahmed's 41,662. Samajwadi Janata Dal (Democratic) candidate Talmul

I

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Political mood does not change just by political rhetoric.

People want work on the ground and Nitish has been able to prove once again through a keenly contested byelection that he cares for development and people trust him.

�

Hussain polled 6,425 votes and Congress Ram Sunder Tarait got 4,664 votes to stand in third and fourth positions respectively. As many as 13 candidates including some independents were in the fray.

With the latest victory, the ruling JD (U)'s tally in the state assembly has risen to 117 in the 243- member house. The JD-U's ally BJP has 92 MLAs, followed by the RJD's 22, the LJP's 1, the Congress' 4 and others 7.

The drive against malpractices at all levels by the state government by bringing several anti-corruption laws including a Lokpal on the lines of the one suggested by Team Anna and placing the Chief Minister under its purview appears to have bolstered people's faith in the present dispensation.

The RJD may have attributed the debacle of his party to division of secular votes, but the resounding victory from Laukaha, once a pocket borough of the Congress and the CPI, makes it abundantly clear that even if there was no division of secular forces as Lalu Prasad said , a win from the seat was a distant possibility for his candidate. Instead, the election has once again proved that the time has not come for Lalu Prasad, a Lok Sabha MP from Chhapra, to return to the state politics.

JANUARY, 2012

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LOKAYAT

ANDHRA PRADESH

VICTORY AT A COST Chiranjeevi saved the government but he had to face angry outburst of his supporters

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JANUARY, 2012

ANDHRA PRADESH

By Lokayat Correspondent

he one-year-old Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh received a breather when a no-confidence motion tabled by the Telugu Desam Party and backed by the entire opposition was defeated by a wide margin. The voting was, 160 for and 122 against. The debate on the censure motion over the plight of farmers in the state lasted a marathon 16 hours.

While Kiran Kumar can claim credit in cutting down the number of Congress MLAs in the Jagan Mohan Reddy camp from 26 to 16, Chandrababu Naidu could measure support to the Congress and expose the divisions in its legislature party. However, it was Jagan Mohan Reddy who had had the last laugh because his flock, mostly Congress MLAs, followed his directive to vote against the government.

As many as 17 MLAs-16 Congress and one Praja Rajyam Party (PRP)-are facing disqualification for defying their parties' whip. In winning, the Congress had to pay a heavy price as 16 of its former adherents and now following Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy defied its whip and voted in favour of the notrust motion.

The Congress High Command has reportedly told the state chief minister that he should crack the whip against the rebels, no matter if there have to be byelections for so many seats. The High Command thus wants to send a strong message that indiscipline would not be tolerated at any cost. The Congress leaders feel that since Jagan dares the Congress to disqualify the ruling party MLAs who went against the whip, action should be taken without any delay.

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By-polls could expose the Congress weakness While the defiant MLAs are now sure to face disqualification, the Andhra Pradesh Congress fears that the by-polls would expose the party's weaknesses.

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There was never any doubt that the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh would win the vote of confidence in the Assembly. But the cards fell in such a way as to allow each of the three main disputants–the ruling Congress, the Telugu Desam and the YSR Congress–to gain something from it. This was the ninth time that a no-confidence motion was moved against different governments in Andhra Pradesh's history.

For the record, all of them were defeated.

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They are, therefore, for a more nuanced approach to neutralise the rebels in the assembly.

The decision of the Jagan Reddy loyalists to defy the whip showed their deliberate political move. The Congress feels uneasy about the development particularly because the next course of action-the disqualification proceedingcomes immediately after the government

LOKAYAT

won the vote of confidence. But the Jagan camp leaves no option-it is pressing for disqualification of the rebels and immediate by-polls.

Even as the Congress mulls about the whole matter, it is simultaneously gearing up to take Jagan Mohan on hereafter. The enmity between Jagan and Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu had made the Congress think that they would not collaborate to topple the state government. The no-confidence motion belied all that.

Chiranjeevi's flock is unhappy Meanwhile it does not look good for the ruling Congress that Chiranjeevi followers' support came after an open expression of dissatisfaction by them.

While the PRP is apparently merged with the Congress, its MLAs have complained of neglect. There was much sabre-rattling on the eve of the vote on no-confidence.

The Congress will have to work on two fronts now: placate Chiranjeevi and check Jagan Mohan's influence. A sign of vulnerability could encourage disgruntled groups like the party's Telangana bloc, which is angry over the statehood imbroglio.

The Praja Rajyam Party, which had merged with the Congress outside the Assembly, would take action against two of its MLAs for cross-voting as the party was still considered a separate group in the state assembly. If the 16 MLAs get disqualified, the government's strength in the House will be reduced to 137, way below the halfway mark in the 294-member Assembly.

The Congress Party will have to fall back on the Praja Rajyam (17 MLAs) and the Majlis-e-Muslimeen (MIM) which has seven members, for support and survival.

If all the rebel MLAs are disqualified, by-polls will have to be held in 24 assembly seats, including the seven that are already vacant (6 of them had resigned on the issue of separate Telangana).

JANUARY, 2012

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ORISSA

Orissa by-poll: Naveen's charisma prevails

Inspite of growing political challenge Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik retains his charisma

In spite of Dr Raman Singh's canvassing BJP candidate could not win a crucial by-election in Orissa on the border of Chhattisgarh.

LOKAYAT

By Lokayat Correspondent

iewed as a precursor to the important threetier panchayat polls slated for February 2012, the Umerkote Assembly win with a large margin has come as a big relief to the Naveen Patnaik government, especially in the backdrop of a series of corruption charges ranging from allotment of land and houses to VIPs to irregularities in supply of dal in the midday meal programme and malfeasance in MNREGA and mining operations.

In the much hyped by-election in the Maoistsaffected Nabarangpur district, the state's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate Subhash Gond defeated his nearest rival, BJP's Dharmu Gond by 21, 061 votes. Subhash polled 54,713 votes, while Dharmu got 33,652. Congress candidate Jitendra Gond finished third securing 32,877 votes.

The by-poll was necessitated by the death of BJD MLA Jagabandhu Majhi who was gunned down by suspected Maoists on September 24. A wheelchairbound Majhi and his personal security officer were killed at a public meeting while he was distributing land pattas in a village in his Assembly constituency.

Though, there were allegations by the local Congress MP Pradeep Majhi that there were largescale rigging and misuse of government machinery the fact remains that despite its best efforts the Congress could secure only the third position. And it was evident from the popularity of the BJD in the area from day one that the BJP and the Congress were nowhere in contention.

The ruling party had taken the election seriously and at least half a dozen ministers camped in the constituency doing hard campaigning especially since panchayat elections are just round the corner.

The BJP on its part fielded the same person who had been defeated in the last assembly election. It had brought Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh as a star campaigner - this constituency borders Chhattisgarh state.

The great efforts put in by Chief Minister Patnaik, especially launching a series of welfare schemes much before the election carried the day for his party. The state government which had earlier conducted panchayat polls with 33 percent reservation for women, this time raised it to 50 percent. The Patnaik government has been wooing women by many other exclusive schemes too, like Janani Sisu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK), free bicycle for tenth standard girl students in government and government- aided schools etc., which certainly paid handsome dividends in the election.

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JANUARY, 2012

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LOKAYAT

KERALA

CPI (M) DROPS THE THREE-TERM BOMB

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The proposal, which seeks to ensure that here after all secretaries of committees, including Party General Secretary Prakash Karat will get only a maximum of three terms in office, may prove to be a bolt from the blue for Vijayan.

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Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly VS Achuthanandan wants the Kerala state party of the CPM to implement the Central Committee decision related to the limitation of 3 terms with sincerity.

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JANUARY, 2012

KERALA

LOKAYAT

By Lokayat Correspondent

well-meaning proposal made by the Central Committee (CC) of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to help induct fresh blood into the leadership cadre of the party, to strengthen collective functioning and streamlining the organisation has become a contentious matter in Kerala between two rival factions--one headed

by Pinarai Vijayan, secretary of the state unit, and the other led by veteran V.S. Achuthanandan, Vijayan bĂŞte noire and present leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly. The proposal seeks to ensure that hereafter all secretaries of committees including Prakash Karat, General Secretary will get only a maximum of three terms in office. The rule, if approved by the party congress being convened in Kerala in April next, will not have any retrospective effect and will not apply to elected members.

The same suggestion to restrict holding of party office to a fixed term had been made once before, but its reception in general was not enthusiastic and hence not pursued. This time, however, the reaction was sharp and fast, but its nature depended on which side of the divide one stood. The V.S camp followers who have been trying hard to wrest control of the party from Vijayan are happy that the wind has started blowing their way. They are particularly excited about the prospect of the party machinery falling into their hands without a fight because Vijayan is long past the three-term limit and hence he should vacate as secretary immediately.

In fact it was Achuthanandan who broke the news first with an air of triumph.

The rival faction received the report not with any undue tremor and gave the impression that Vijayan was in no mood to leave. They seemed to contend that it was only a proposal with no retrospective effect and it needed to be approved by the party congress four months away. Besides, anything could happen at the congress itself. There was the precedent of the congress modifying

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Kerala CPM Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan who may be the worst victim of the 3-T bomb of the party

or overturning CC suggestions. There was also the possibility of making exceptions in exceptional circumstances.

Indeed Karat, while briefing the press on the CC meeting, indicated such a contingency, but the party constitution lays down that a resolution to make exception would require two-thirds majority votes to carry it.

Without worrying about the contraindications the V.S. camp has started clamouring for Vijayan's exit. They are sure that the Central Committee move is aimed pointedly at Vijayan and others like him who have monopolised the party offices far too long and misused them for their own ends. There are at least 50 area committee secretaries in Kerala alone who have to be axed under the proposed criterion.

But, Vijayan's camp still holds the trump, it seems. His removal will bring up the question of his successor. He may

name his own man to the post. He has the strength of his followers to do that. In the normal course it could be his confidant and PB member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

There is a problem, however. Kodiyeri is the Deputy Leader of the Opposition; in case he assumes the reins of the party, he may have to quit the assembly seat.

This scenario can lead to two possibilities. One, Vijayan can contest for the seat Kodiyeri may vacate and enter the assembly to make Achuthanandan's position highly uncomfortable.

Second, S. Ramachandran Pillai, another Polit Bureau member and close friend of Vijayan returning to Kerala politics and assuming the party secretaryship. In any case there is nothing much for the Achuthanandan faction to crow about.

One thing is sure-one era is ending. For good or ill of the party, only time will tell.

JANUARY, 2012

43

LOKAYAT

KERALA

Haggling Over Plums of Office Oommen Chandy in Kerala has still not been able to make many important appointments because of the continued bickering among the coalition constituents.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy faces an unenviable task of satisfying inflated demands of his coalition partners.

By Lokayat Correspondent

ot everybody in a political party elected to legislative assembly can hope to become a minister.

The leader has to factor in various considerations, like stability of the government, experience and capability of persons to handle subjects concerned, regional, caste and community interests, and so on. After this difficult exercise of ministry formation, there will still be left many who deserve to be accommodated or who may claim seats in the cabinet on the strength of the cliques they represent.

Such claims cannot be ignored without rocking the boat. The problems could be manifold if one is heading a coalition and they could be nightmarish in case the functioning majority of the government is paper-thin.

Generally, those troublesome elements who are denied a berth in the cabinet are placated by offering

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JANUARY, 2012

Almost all PSUs, corporations and boards remain headless. sinecure offices of comparable status and perks as a minister to keep him away from any mischief. There are many such positions in the numerous public sector undertakings (PSUs), corporations and boards for the government to hand out. They are plum jobs with little onerous responsibility, the kind many a politician are after.

But there are difficulties in Kerala because, these entities are of diverse levels of standards and perks depending on their assets and activities. So, one will not be happy with the chairmanship of any PSU. All of them want only the plum cake. This insistence invariably results in bitter haggling over the allotment of these bounties. Coalition partners nursing various grievances usually demand several top jobs to keep their flock in control.

Not surprisingly Oomen Chandy's UDF coalition government which assumed office seven months ago has still not been able to share these spoils of

office because of the continued bickering among the constituents. So much so, almost all PSUs, corporations and boards still remain headless.

(Because of disputes even cabinet formation is incomplete, if rumours issuing from Muslim League quarters are any indication.) The squabbles are getting worse because the number of positions available is shrinking.

Initially it was said that there were nearly 100 posts, and they would not have to face much pulls and pressures.

But last month when some attempts were made to sort out things, the available vacancy was found to be only 68. This was because some parties had made unilateral appointments, and in some cases the incumbents refused to vacate seats before the expiry of their tenure. In the case of some welfare funds, the difficulties were technical.

Whatever the reasons, the decreasing number of posts tends to spoil Oommen Chandy's sleep.

JANUARY, 2012

45

LOKAYAT

KARNATAKA

Sriramulu's sledgehammer

Red alert for BJP

blow to the BJP will force its leadership to learn several new lessons.

Although there are no immediate signs of Sriramulu trying to destablise the present Karnataka government, the BJP leaders are wary of his mischief value. Therefore, a damage-control exercise has been launched with vigour to stop Sriramulu from taking any major step to upset the government.

Sadananda Gowda, the shaky Chief Minister of Karnataka

esieged by corruption scandals and nepotism, the Bharatiya Janta Party received another serious jolt recently. The voters this time rejected the party's candidate in the

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By S Santhanam

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JANUARY, 2012

Bellary Rural by–election.

B. Sriramulu’s sledgehammer blow rattled the ruling party. He won the election standing as an Independent, by a huge margin of over 46,000 votes

KARNATAKA while the BJP could salvage only 17,366 votes for its candidate Gadilingappa, who eventually lost his deposit. It is a numbing low for the ruling party.

There are several lessons to be learnt for the BJP in Karnataka, post this by-election result. They include: Bellary is firmly in the pocket of mining barons, the Reddys; the Reddys can wreck the ruling party by tying up with other political entities.

Voters' antipathy for a crisis-ridden party is very strong. It is up to the party to pick up the signals and act accordingly.

It is a fact (although the ruling party may vehemently deny it) that the Bellary storm has left the BJP leadership dazed. The defeat is a reality that the ruling party counts for nothing without the support of the Reddys and Sriramulu, especially in Bellary. The BJP's defeat when the party is at the helm portends first signals of the ground under its feet slowly giving way.

The result is a morale-booster for the Reddy brothers, who are facing problems. The result shows the Reddys still have people's support and they are a force to reckon with in state politics.

For the BJP which so far had been taking pride that its strong base in northern Karnataka with Bellary and Gadag forming the core, the latest result threatens to bring BJP to its knees. Sriramulu has threatened to launch his own party. He already has the support of many BJP MLAs. In fact, he claims the loyalty of at least 20 BJP MLAs, though it may not be convincing. However, his ability to rock the BJP boat with support from JD(S) and his mentors Janardhana Reddy and Karunakara Reddy cannot be ruled out.

Congress still not showing any sign of recovery Sriramulu's immediate plan seems to be to fire up the imagination of

backward communities, Dalits and minorities in northern Karnataka with regional aspirations. With the Congress showing no signs of recovery despite a slew of corruption cases against the ruling party in the state, it has only made the task that much easier for Sriramulu.

The not so enthusiastic

LOKAYAT

vigour to stop Sriramulu from taking any major step to upset the government.

Meanwhile, Sriramulu's big win has made the JD(S) smile. With assembly elections about 14 months away, it is time for strategising, social engineering and expansion.

Sriramulu's victory is heartening news

V Sriramulu, the former BJP minister, who turned rebel and contested as an independent in Karnataka's Bellary by-election and defeated the BJP candidate with a record margin.

participation in the election campaign by former Chief Minister Yeddyurappa and the reluctance to allow him to hog the limelight within the party have fuelled fears of the former CM charting his own course.

He is annoyed with the party high command which has been trying to marginalise him further.

Although there are no immediate signs of Sriramulu trying to destablise the present Karnataka government, the BJP leaders are wary of his mischief value. Therefore, a damage-control exercise has been launched with

for Deve Gowda and his supporters.

The party, knowing fully well its limitations, did not field a candidate but supported Sriramulu in the by–election. The party plans to play a decisive role in future elections. The Gowda party dreams of a fractured mandate in the next elections and has set a goal for itself to emerge 'kingmaker' with at least 40 seats.

Sriramulu is also keeping his options open of aligning with other parties. His objective is to explore possibilities of reviving the JD (U) instead of floating a new party.

JANUARY, 2012

47

LOKAYAT

TAMILNADU

This is a peculiar case of intransigence of a Chief Minister of a state towards the fervid demand of the people of the neighbouring state.

People in large part of Kerala live amidst fear of devastation due to leaking Mullaperiyar dam. People

Mullaperiyar Dam: Jayalalithaa's Double Standard

do a round the clock vigil as the warning time is less than 45 minutes, yet she is not willing to lower the water level. She says she would listen only to the Supreme Court.

By Lokayat Correspondent

he Tamilnadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa is setting new standard in statecraft and, unfortunately, it is a double standard. She had no qualms in joining an instigated crowd of villagers agitating against the Kudankulam nuclear plant in which the Central Government had already sunk over Rs 20,000 crore.

Jaya knew the dark forces behind the foul propaganda and their aim, but she decided to ignore it for it suited in her war with the Central Government. So she announced with a straight face that she was with 'her people' who demanded complete rollback of the project and shot off a letter to the Prime Minister to that effect.

The same Jaya is now stonewalling a fervid demand by the entire people and the Government of Kerala to lower water level in the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam on the verge of collapse. If the

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Cracks in the Mullaperiyar dam which has snatched the sleep of several million people in a 108-km stretch up to coastal city Kochi

tottering dam now full to the brim collapses there will be a virtual tsunami downstream destroying everything on its way for hundreds of kilometers. Vast areas in thickly populated four districts below will be under eight to ten feet of water endangering close to 35 lakh people.

People have forgotten political enmity; whether they support LDF or UDF, on the issue of Mullaperiyar dam entire Kerala has bonded into one.

Kerala's demand to reduce water in the dam to a safe level, say, at 120 ft. from the present 136 ft. to minimise the damage, or better still, to replace the existing one with a new dam goes back some years when cracks as well as leaks in the wall beyond tolerable limit were first detected.

Now there is an added urgency to the thickening crisis: apart from substantial inflow due to torrential rains taking the water to overflowing level and threatening the dam there has been a frightening rise in the frequency of quakes in the area keeping the people downstream on tenterhooks.

The worried people along the 108km stretch up to the coastal city of Kochi and adjoining areas who could not sleep with death and destruction hanging over them appealed to the government to save them from certain catastrophe by reducing the level of water in the dam immediately or even decommissioning it.

As a long-term measure there could be a

TAMILNADU new dam below the present one. The S.O.S from the people of the area has found instant echo throughout the state and there is a full-throated demand for a new dam without further delay.

But political parties in Tamilnadu would not hear any of it. They would not allow a new dam; they would not even allow any lowering of the water level. Rather, they wanted the water level to be raised to 142 feet. Jaya rubbished the talk of dam failure and said the structure was as good as new following its retrofitting some years ago. She dismissed the fears about earthquakes affecting the dam's safety as media creation.

This insensitivity of Jaya to Kerala people's angst about their life and property was too much for them to ignore. Contrast her unsympathetic attitude towards people of Kerala with her concern for her people in their perceived danger from the Kudankulam nuclear plant, despite experts' assurance to the contrary. It incensed Kerala people as nothing before. They rose as one man demanding a new dam. Rallies and hunger strikes in support of the demand sprouted everywhere.

Surprisingly the UDF and the LDF parties -bitter enemies otherwisejoined hands in the singular demand.

They met the Prime Minister and staged hunger strikes and massive rallies in this regard. They took the agitation to Parliament also. Kerala has not witnessed such unity of purpose ever before-- along with political differences, caste, communal and cultural distinctions also vanished on the dam issue.

The matter is finally in the Supreme Court. It appointed an empowered committee to find the facts. When it called both sides for talks, Tamilnadu would not cooperate.

It refused to attend the meeting. It even disallowed the technical team to inspect the dam's galleries. They are probably afraid the true -dreadful-state of the dam, so far hidden from the

LOKAYAT

Chief Minister of Tamilnadu J Jayalalithaa

public, would be exposed and Kerala's stand would be vindicated.

It may seem improbable, but true.

The Mullaperiyar dam and the river on which it is built are inside Kerala; the river itself is a tributary of Periyar which flows entirely through the state to the Arabian sea. And the dam was built by the Travancore government 116 years ago. Much before the dam was built the then government through a 999-year lease agreed to provide water to the Madras Province to irrigate its parched farmlands in four southern districts. The dam was built to increase the quantum of flow and to generate power for Tamilnadu. Since Tamilnadu enjoyed

the full benefit of the dam the maintenance and protection of the structure was also entrusted to that state.

This benevolence act on the part of Kerala has now become a deadly stone around its neck. Even to inspect Kerala's own dam in its own soil it has to seek Tamilnadu's permission. It is akin to the invited guest becoming the host!

Jaya says she will abide only by the Supreme Court verdict. What about the people in Kerala who keep vigil round the clock because the warning time in case of an emergency is less than 45 minutes. Jaya cannot care less-they are not her people. That is Jaya's intransigence at its worst.

JANUARY, 2012

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LOKAYAT

MAHARASHTRA

Civic Poll win intensifies Congress-NCP rivalry in Maharashtra

By Pramod Pagedar

hen results in the first round of elections to 168 small town municipal councils across Maharashtra started trickling in on December 12, they stunned the victors as much as the vanquished. By late evening it became clear that the ruling coalition partners, Congress and NCP had defied the strong anti-incumbency factor and swept the polls in 132 towns for which clear election figures were available. The main Opposition-Shiv Sena- BJP-RPI (A) alliance was badly mauled.

What surprised many was the fact that it was NCP which raced ahead of its senior coalition partner Congress in terms of seats won in the polls. The NCP garnered 1,114 seats against 936 bagged by the Congress. There couldn't have been a better birthday gift for NCP chief Sharad Pawar who turned 71 on December 12 when the results started coming in. The party-wise break up of town councils won in the first round was: NCP-44, Congress-35, NCP-Congress alliance-8, BJP-9, Shiv Sena-6, saffron alliance-7.

By December end as the subsequent rounds of polling got concluded, the Congress and NCP, which had fought the elections separately (except in 15 places), had claimed over two thirds of the 196 small town municipal councils that went to poll. Each of them is likely to add over dozen councils more to its kitty, having emerged as single largest group in a hung house in several cases.

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The negatives were so many, still‌.

The voters seemed to have stood the

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'Only one slap' comment of Anna Hazare seems to have ironically created a sympathy wave in favour of Sharad Pawar's fortunes as witnessed in the recent Maharashtra's local body elections.

There could not have been a better birth day gift to Sharad Pawar than this sudden surprising victory for his party NCP in the first phase of local body elections in spite of so many speculated negatives against him‌.

MAHARASHTRA common electoral logic on its head. For, Maharashtra had witnessed a series of events in a run up to the poll that most observers thought would go against the ruling Democratic Front when it faced the municipal polls. Bitter public feuds between top Congress and NCP leaders over the state government's directionless drift on the development front;

Republican Party of India (RPI-A) leader Ramadas Athavle had joined hands to defeat the ruling Front. This newfound union of Shiv Shakti and Bhim Shakti was touted as the surefire strategy to put the crisis-ridden UPA partners, Congress and NCP on the mat.

The strategy obviously failed as the next four rounds of the municipal polls

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, whose shrewd strategies, tight control over cadres and free use of money and muscle power helped the party to down its rivals.

prolonged public protests against a nuclear power project in Konkan; continuing farmers' suicides; two major farmers' agitations for remunerative prices for sugarcane and raw cotton; price-rise; wide-spread neglect of civic amenities in small towns; and above all nation-wide anti-corruption campaign led by social activist Anna Hazare who hails from Maharashtra had dogged the Congress-NCP government in the state even as the campaign for the municipal polls was heating up. A debt-ridden cotton grower in backward Vidarbha had even tried to commit suicide at a campaign meeting of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan!

For the first time in Maharashtra's electoral history two hitherto opposing forces, the Shiv Sena-BJP saffron alliance and the followers of the late Babasaheb (Bhimrao) Ambedkar led by

showed the Congress-NCP juggernaut rolling unchecked. Instead of the larger political scene prevailing in the state, the voters in these semi-urban areas seemed to have been swayed more by intense local political rivalries that often defied party lines, clout of individual candidates and of course caste and sub-caste calculations.

To go beyond party line became a compulsion The criss-cross nature of voter-loyalties forced many leading politicians, including CM Chavan, to go beyond the party lines and float their own "aghadis"-local electoral fronts of influential candidates to either retain their spheres of influence or grab new territories in the civic bodies. Skirmishes among rival groups were a common feature, often resulting in intervention by police.

LOKAYAT

The unpredictable voters gave a shock treatment to several big guns who had floated their own local panels in the polls. Those whose panels or nominees suffered humiliating defeat included CM Chavan (Karad), Industries Minister Narayan Rane (Sindhudurg), Civil Supplies Minister Anil Deshmukh (Katol), Minister of State for Urban Development Bhaskar Jadhav (Chiplun) and prominent Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam (Khed). This also helped the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to open its account by bagging Khed and Wani municipal councils.

In contrast, NCP not only retained its hold on home turf western Maharashtra but also made heavy inroads into the ally Congress' territories in Vidarbha and Marathwada. It owed its impressive win to the aggressive stewardship of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar (senior Pawar's nephew) whose shrewd strategies, tight control over cadres and free use of money and muscle power helped the party to down its rivals. Buoyed by this dazzling success, NCP is sure to drive a hard bargain with Congress for the elections to crucial 11 municipal corporations in big cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad scheduled in February 2012.

Apart from Congress, the Sena-BJP alliance too feels threatened by the outcome of the latest polls. They fear that if voters continued their pro-ruling Front mood, it could lose its two-decade long control over money-spinning Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Without the control of BMC whose whopping annual budget of Rs 21,000 crore equals the combined budgets of five smaller states, the saffron alliance would be left with no resources to fight the State Assembly polls in 2014.

However, the saffron combine's battle for survival could be wrecked by Raj Thackeray whose sole aim is to have his cousin and bĂŞte noire the Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray bite the dust. Watch out for bigger battle ahead.

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WEST BENGAL

BLAME GAME BEGINS

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It is eight months since Mamata has come to power, but there is no perceptible change in the quality of governance in West Bengal. The same system of political patronage continues, only the masters have changed.

Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee

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WEST BENGAL

By Lokayat Correspondent

est Bengal has been facing troubles of various kind from different quarters for the past few months. If it was the Maoist insurgency that the Mamata Banerjeegovernment was forced to take on ever since it assumed office, two calamities struck the state in the last few weeks, claiming nearly 270 lives. In the first incident in early December, 93 people perished in a Kolkata hospital fire. A week later nearly 170 people died after consuming toxic liquor in South 24 Parganas.

The two incidents have raised serious questions about the administrative capability of Mamata and the party she leads– Trinamool Congress. While six directors of the AMRI Hospital were arrested on the day of the fire, the main accused in the hooch tragedy - Khora Badshah - is still on the run. The reason behind the delay on the part of the administration is alleged to be Badshah's political proximity to the Trinamool Congress.

These two tragedies could well have been avoided, if the administration had been diligent. The fire in the AMRI hospital could have been averted, or the human toll reduced substantially, had there been regular checks of hospitals by the health department. Similarly, strong policing and good health-care facilities would have prevented free flow of spurious liquor and saved many lives.

Police and excise authorities cannot claim to have been caught napping by the disaster. It is as clear as daylight that the authorities concerned had been turning a blind eye to the racket carrying on in the area, possibly because they were a party to it.

The liquor tragedy victims in Sangrampur in the South 24 Parganas district were mostly rickshaw pullers, labourers and hawkers who regularly drank illicit liquor for relaxation after a hard day's work. The spurious stuff came cheap-- Rs.10 a glass or Rs.20 a plastic pouch. According to reports, many

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Hooch kingpin Khora Badshah

teenaged boys were among the victims.

The irony of the hooch tragedy is that it could not have happened if the Trinamool Congress had kept its word.

During its days in the Opposition it had often accused the Left Front government of promoting hooch industry and promised to curb it if it ever came to power.

LOKAYAT

change in the mindset of people who implement government programmes is equally, if not more, important.

It is high time the chief minister realised this fact and took immediate measures to change the lackadaisical attitude of the government staff. She must understand the hard realities–poor work ethics, and clean up the administration with a firm hand. She cannot continue to blame the previous Left Front government for all the ills and mishaps. She cannot get away from her responsibilities by merely handing out cash compensation to the kin of the dead.

In the aftermath of the AMRI Hospital fire, parties across the entire political spectrum in West Bengal had put up a united face, but in less than a Firemen trying to douse the AMRI hospital fire

Clearly things have not changed much, even though Trinamool has been in the saddle since May.

When will she act to change the work culture?

Ever since taking over the reins of government Mamata has been seeking more funds from the Centre for the state's welfare programmes. But more than the funds, it is the attitude of government servants towards work that is important to ensure the safety and welfare of the people. To achieve this goal, funding alone is not enough, a

week the hooch tragedy triggered recriminations between the archrivals– the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Left Front.

Hurt by the severe criticisms of the opposition parties as well as local citizens about the administrative lapses, especially the sluggishness of the health department, the Mamata government put the entire blame for the two tragedies on the Marxists and their supporters. The Left Front was quick to retort and challenged the government to prove the charge.

Well, the blame game has just begun!

JANUARY, 2012

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LOKAYAT

CAMPUS

Notices issued to Lok Ayog by Chhattisgarh High Court The case of Vice Chancellor Dr Lakshman Chaturvedi, 65, a nuclear physicist, exposes how various systems work in our governance system and a mistake once made goes on unexamined endlessly wasting a lot of productive time of so many people.

By Sumer Singh

fter admitting a writ petition of Dr Lakshman Chaturvedi, current Vice Chancellor of Guru Ghasidas University, the Chhattisgarh High Court has issued notices to the state Lok Ayog, the Union Ministry of HRD, the Department of Higher Education of Chhattisgarh and Governor Shekhar Dutt seeking to file their replies within five weeks. The writ petition challenges the order of the Chhattisgarh Lok Ayog and actions of other respondents in the matter. The impugned recommendation-cum-order dated 29th Sept, 2010 of the

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Chhattisgarh Lok Ayog was issued on the complaint filed against Dr Chaturvedi in 2008 by late Mr Victor Ekka, Deputy Registrar. Dr Chaturvedi was Vice Chancellor of Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla University at that time.

Dr Lakshman Chaturvedi cites the case as an example of how one has to waste useful time and energy on nonissues. 'There were several stages when a wrong could have been undone, but things were pursued without following right procedures. The case exposes how various systems work in our governance ‌.. and a mistake once made goes on

unexamined endlessly wasting a lot of productive time of so many people. As a last resort I went before the Chhattisgarh High Court with a writ petition.'

Nine complaints were made by late Victor Ekka against Dr Lakshman Chaturvedi. Seven of them were rejected as baseless by the Lok Ayog, but in two it found him prima facie guilty and issued a memo-report to Governor Shekhar Dutt, Chancellor of the University, and also to the Higher Education Department of the Chhattisgarh government to take action.

By that time Dr Lakshman Chaturvedi

CAMPUS

LOKAYAT

Vice Chancellor Lakshman Chaturvedi

had become the Vice Chancellor of Guru Ghasidas University which is under the Central Government. The matter, therefore, was referred to the Union Ministry of HRD for action, which issued a letter to Dr Chaturvedi on 22nd September last year seeking his comments.

No proper opportunity to file reply The bizarre part of 'this justice delivery saga' according to Dr Lakshman Chaturvedi is that he was never provided with the documents on the basis of which he was prima facie found guilty, thus denying him the opportunity to file proper reply.

The issues according to him are quite simple but the peculiar handling of the complaint made it 'suspiciously' complicated. One issue on which Dr Lakshman Chaturvedi's conduct was found questionable was why he appointed faculty on the recommendation of the Selection Committee which did not have any SC/ST nominee in it ignoring the government instruction.

Dr Chaturvedi fumes at this and asks why facts are not looked into. There was of course the government instruction to have an SC/ST nominee in the selection committee, but the university statute had no such provision. To remove the confusion a letter was written to the Higher Education Department of the

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CAMPUS

Shekhar Dutt

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Chhattisgarh government seeking clarification on what was binding-section 49 (2) of the Madhya Pradesh University Act, 1973 or the government instruction. The letter seeking advice was written on 21.09.2009. The Higher Education Department wrote back saying that the government order will not have precedence over the Chhattisgarh University Act, 1973.

The Lok Ayog has found him guilty for not following the government instruction in this matter, and the Governor allegedly without examining legal niceties forwarded the case for action to the Higher Education Department. The Department in its turn referred the matter to the Union HRD Ministry to take action. This is how the bureaucracy works.

The other issue is related to engagement of private security guards in the university campus without floating tenders. But it was the decision of the Executive Council, not of the Vice Chancellor. Curiously Registrar K.K. Chandrakar who was also indicted for the same 'misconduct' by the Lok Ayog was allowed relief when the matter later reached the Governor who reduced his guilt to why he did not voice his reservation on the issue and kept mum. The order of the Governor dated 1st June, 2011 mentions that Lok Ayog had not found him prima facie guilty. It further says: the matter relates to the period before the indicted Registrar Chandrakar assumed charge and the decision in question was taken by the erstwhile registrar B.P. Chandra for which Chandrakar could not be held responsible.

The letter further says, 'The allegations ( are about )‌ not following proper procedures;‌ there was no malevolence and intention to seek personal benefit'.

But the Governor did not put his

CAMPUS point of view on this controversial issue explicitly. Chandrakar was merely cautioned to be careful in the future and the case was closed against him.

But this enlightened attitude was not shown towards Dr Lakshman Chaturvedi raising his doubts if there was some bias against him. He says, 'this attitude has forced me to take legal action to protect my honour.'

The Executive Council was seized of the matter of security guards for long.

There was complaint against the earlier agency, 'Sainik Kalyan Board', that it was not taking any interest in providing ex-servicemen for the security arrangement as expected, so the Executive Council on a trial basis had put a private agency for security duties. This issue had been closed by the erstwhile Vice Chancellor on 10th April, 2004 much before Dr Lakshman Chaturvedi took over as Vice Chancellor on 14th May, 2005.

The relevant meeting of the Executive Council was held on 17th June, 2005, which decided that Proctor Dr. M. A. Khan, member of the Executive Council would prepare the work-plan and submit to the next Executive Council meeting. The next EC meeting was held on 10th November, 2005 in which the security arrangement was discussed. It decided that the security arrangement which had been started on a trial basis should continue. Further in the EC meeting held on 23rd June, 2006, the Vice Chancellor gave detailed report about the security arrangement in the campus and the EC decided that the security arrangement made on the Collector-rate basis should continue till the other arrangement was finalised. The Executive Council in its next meeting on 6th October, 2007 decided that the registered security agencies, which were providing services, be paid at the Collector-rate basis and for the subsequent work tender be called. Thus, it was a collective decision of the Executive Council for which the Vice Chancellor could not be held responsible, the petition has mentioned.

LOKAYAT

The Vice Chancellor goes to court because‌..

Dr Lakshman Chaturvedi, Vice Chancellor, felt aggrieved because several illegalities and improprieties were allegedly done while dealing with a 'malafide' complaint of the Deputy Registrar, late Mr Victor Ekka, who had been suspended by him on the complaint of Registrar Mrs Indu Anant. Dr Chaturvedi is known as very strict by his peers and colleagues against any type of corruption.

Ironically he has been indicted by the Lok Ayog for his alleged misconduct while discharging his duties as the Vice Chancellor of Pt Ravi Shankar Shukla University.

He feels a lot of time and energy of so many people is wasted because certain mistakes are made at the initial level. The outcome of the writ petition filed by him before the Chhattisgarh High Court will be watched by the academic community with interest. For the benefit of the readers we list below some of the salient points he has raised in the petition before the court: * Should not the Vice Chancellor have implemented the decisions of the Executive Council which is the apex body, higher in authority than the Vice Chancellor? * Should the Vice Chancellor ignore the written clarification of the government that the Chhattisgarh University Act, 1973 would override the government instructions in the matter of having an SC/ST member in the selection committee? * Can the Vice Chancellor be held guilty without giving him a chance to file proper reply on the basis of documents which prima facie make him guilty? * Should not the Lok Ayog have supplied him on request the documents that 'found' him guilty? * Is it not illegal for the Chhattisgarh government to write to the Union Ministry to take appropriate action in a matter which relates to a university which is under the jurisdiction of the state government? * Can the Governor take two different views in the same matter and adopt different procedures to deal with it?

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HEALTH IS WEALTH

EATING FOR TWO What you eat affects your unborn child far more than you think.

Here's how to care for your health and that of your baby during those nine months...

By Dr Bhagya Rajeshwari Ratana

romas from food not only whet an expecting mother's appetite and activate her salivary glands, but also influence the foetus. Surprising but true, researchers have found that by the third trimester of pregnancy, the foetal taste buds respond to chemicals present in the amniotic fluid.

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HEALTH IS WEALTH

LOKAYAT

FOOD FOR THE FOETUS If the mother is undernourished or malnourished, the brain development of the foetus is affected, influencing the behaviour and intellect of the child.

The intellectual ability of a child depends on, besides other factors, the severity and time duration for which the foetus has been deprived of nutrition.

The crucial period, during which a brain grows and matures rapidly, is from the second trimester of pregnancy until the baby reaches the age of two.

Malnourished children have fewer brain cells and the damage could become irreversible. However, in cases where a child is deprived of proper nutrition at a later stage, it is the cell size that is reduced and the damage is reversible.

In the earlier stages, the health of mother and child is correlated.

For instance, a vitamin-deficient mother passes on her deficiency to her unborn child. Minerals like iodine, zinc and manganese play a vital role in brain development. If these are missing, they cause a lower learning ability, lethargy and even mental retardation.

FOR THE MOTHER AND CHILD COMMON CAUSES OF BRAIN DAMAGE Alcohol: Studies show that babies born to mothers who have indulged in alcohol during pregnancy have problems with the functioning of their liver. The part of the brain that controls movement and speech is also affected. Such children experience difficulty in motor coordination, language and thinking. Even a little alcohol is known to have an adverse effect on the growth of an unborn baby.

Liquid medications: Most liquid medications, especially decongestants and cough syrups, contain a certain percentage of alcohol. Ethanol affects children faster than it affects an adult, so make sure you read the instructions on the bottle very carefully.

Caffeine: A common ingredient of soft drinks, chocolates, coffee and even medicines, caffeine goes straight to the head of an unborn baby. This results in learning disabilities.

It is imperative for a pregnant woman to monitor her diet and pay heed to crucial body requirements like calcium, iron and iodine.

ne of the chief apparent difficulties of the present day mother is that of organising her diet so as to obtain adequate supply of those foods vital to herself and her growing child. The chart below will help.

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Breakfast: A glass of cow's milk with five to eight almonds.

Mid-morning: A glass of fruit juice or a mixed fruit platter; one egg sandwich or cottage cheese sandwich.

Lunch: Two chapatis for more as required; a bowl of sprouts (three tablespoons of 'moong', 'chana' or 'matki'); 250 ml curd; one cup of leafy vegetables; one cup of any other vegetable; and one fruit.

Evening snacks: You could snack on dry fruits like dates, cashew nuts, prunes, pistachios or groundnuts.

Take along with a glass of vegetable/fruit juice (you could mix any three of the following - beetroot, apple, pumpkin, carrot, tomato, spinach, pomegranate).

Dinner: A small bowl of rice/pasta/noodles or two chapatis; two cups of any vegetable; 100 to 150 gm 'paneer'/'dal'/chicken; one fruit salad or vegetable salad dressed with rich yoghurt.

Bedtime: A glass of milk.

DIETARY TIPS If the demand for additional calcium is not met by the diet, calcium stores in the mother's bones may be depleted. So make sure you have two glasses of milk daily. A cup of cold milk or a scoop of plain milk ice cream is an ideal antidote to acidity, a common ailment during the last trimester of pregnancy. This should be complemented with plenty of curd. Good iron sources are green leafy vegetables and fruits. Besides this, take iron supplements too, as the need for iron increases during pregnancy.

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ENVIRONMENT

Help the cause of conservation t is necessary to maintain the health of the natural world, our forests, rivers, flora and fauna. So come this festive season, think of conservation and WWF (World Wide Fund of Nature) which is an international organisation.

WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE in India has greeting cards (right), calendars, planners and diaries to bring in the New Year.

Also there are organisers, telephone indexes, pencils, clocks, clips, badges, jute bags, sleeping bags.

Each item you buy helps the conservation cause and contributes towards strengthening national ecological security.

You can also support WWF by subscribing to WWF-India, gifting someone a subscription, sponsoring a specific project or activity or making a donation.

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LOKAYAT

JANUARY, 2012

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INTERVIEW

What is the relevance of the title The Dirty Picture?

The title is apt because the idea is to blast the prevailing myth about dancing stars in the industry and the way they are often looked down upon. It is about our perception of the dancing stars. It is about the double standards that we have. We like to see porn in private but in public we often choose to say that we all do not at all like to see such stuff.

Do you believe that women today can openly revel in their sexuality?

You should be able to live your life on your own terms and conditions, whether you are a sex symbol or not. Society is made up of you and me, whether a male or a female and rules and regulations change from time to time and it is we who decide what is good and what is bad at a point of time. I'd say that women had better status 40 years ago and we had actresses like Nutan and Meena Kumari playing substantial roles in films.

Today the situation has definitely deteriorated, though I should confess that we are not isolated as stars and are not relegated to just a few friends since we have our own lives.

What was your reaction when you were offered the role by Ekta Kapoor?

To tell you the truth, when Milan Lutharia came to me with the offer and told me that I was to play a role inspired by the late Silk Smita, I was initially flabbergasted and wondered why I was selected for the role.

Milan told me that he would tell me why I was selected for the role only at the time of the release of the film. Milan also told me that he could not see any one else in my shows as far as the role was concerned.

How was the experience of working with Naseeruddin Shah for the second time in Dirty Pictures after Ishqia?

Naseer Sir is one of the veteran living legends and I knew that I would be very comfortable with him because he would make me comfortable.

Naseer Sir can even make you believe that he is a flower vase. Being part of the song Oolaalaala was a wonderful experience for both, me and Naseer Sir. Naseer Sir told me that it was after a long time after Oye Oye in Tridev that he has been able to do a song and dance sequence like Ooolaalaala in The Dirty Picture. After rolling down the slopes on oranges, I now have great respect for actors who have done such songs, like Jeetendra and Sridevi. I have worn some 130 costumes for the film and what's more have also gone through seven to eight changes every day.

What is your role in Kahani?

I play a woman who is six months pregnant in the film. The body language came easy to me because I had observed my own sister at close quarters before she delivered twins - a baby daughter called Ira and a son called Ruhaan recently. It is a thriller about a pregnant woman who comes to Mumbai in search of her husband from London.

What kind of a man do you get turned on? Is marriage with Sidharth Roy Kapoor on the cards?

I like clean shaved men. All that I can say at this point of time is that I am not ready for marriage though I believe in the institution of marriage.

I like clean shaved me n An interview by Jyothi Venkatesh

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BOLLYWOOD

LOKAYAT

Columbian film porfirio bags golden peacock

By Film Correspondent

he Columbian film 'Porfirio' won the prestigious Golden Peacock at the 42nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) for its ingenious blend of fiction and reality. The award to the film has been described as the celebration of human spirit. This documentary film is the story of Porfirio Ramirez, a middle-aged man, who is confined to a wheelchair after police shoot him in the back. In order to raise his demand for compensation he hijacked a plane in 2005 with two live grenades he had hidden in his diaper.

Suriya, the mega star of Tamil films, who was the chief guest at the closing ceremony, presented the Golden Peacock, certificate and cash prize of Rs 40 lakh to the director Alejandro Landes, which was shared with the producer Francisco Aljure.

Suriya said, 'Movies are all about the desire to tell a story and make a statement.'

The Award for the Best Actor (Female) went to Nadezhda Markina, 52, for her subtle and restrained performance in the Russian Film Elena. The Award for the Best Actor (Male) went to Sasson Gabai for his remarkable performance in the lead role of Yakob Fidelman in the Israeli Film Restoration. The Award for the Best Director went to Asghar Farhadi for the deft handling of a deeply complex human situation and the intensity of performances he elicited from his actors in the Iranian film Nader & Simin–A Separation.

The Special Jury Award went to Salim Ahamad, the director of the Indian film Adaminte Makan Abu, (Malayalam) for its purity of vision encompassing religion, nature and humanity.

IFFI endeavours to bring in the best of cinematic talents from across the world.

The festival concluded with the screening of the English film The Lady.

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CULTURE

LOKAYAT

THRILLING KUCHIPUDI RECITAL

By Shruti Gupta

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n globalised India the GenNext is largely west-oriented–aloof and disinterested in Indian culture and values; yet exceptions are there. One such is danseuse Sree Veena Mani, 19, a student of History in Miranda House, Delhi University, who had her Kuchipudi rangapravesam on 18th December.

Kuchipudi is one of the ancient classical dance forms of South India which had its origin in Andhra Pradesh. It being a vigorous art form combining music, choreography, drama and dance, a devoted artiste has to endeavour hard to acquire proficiency in numerous mudras ( portrayal of ideas with hand signs and symbols), swift foot-work and facial expressions of emotions (bhavas) to evoke the nine rasas (like love, fear, compassion, anger and so on) as laid down by Bharata, the ancient Indian grammarian of dance.

Veena in 'Krishna Sabdam' displayed her superb talent in all these with her spell-binding portrayal of Vassakasajjika Nayika trying to please Krishna in various ways. There was romance, grace and elegance in full measure.

From the shy, benevolent and feminine role in 'Krishna Sabdam', the audience then found the dansuse transform into a fierce Durga in the item 'Mahishasura Mardini' where the hideous goddess kills the demon Mahishasura. The thrilling recital was a piece choreographed by her gurus for the special occasion.

Tarangam is a unique item in Kuchipudi dance and Veena's fast and intricate recital on a brass plate while balancing a pot filled with water on her head drew tremendous applause from the audience. It was titled 'Govardhan Giridhari' which depicted Krishna humiliating Indra and punishing him for his arrogance.

Veena received her training from wellknown Kuchipudi gurus Seetha Nagajothy and Shree Nagajothy.

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REGIONAL

LOKAYAT

WORLD’S FIRST CRICKET TEMPLE SOON IN BIHAR ou may not need to visit a cricket stadium or switch on the tube for catching your favorite cricketers any more. You could soon be queuing up for the world’s first Cricket Mandir that will house idols of the world’s leading cricketers according to the Bhojpuri Superstar, Manoj Tiwari, who will build the temple in Bihar.

Love for cricket & being a good friend comes naturally to Bhojpuri icon, Manoj Tiwari. How else could one explain his presence at the Amdar Chasak a Cricket tournament sponsored by his close buddy, Akhilesh Chaubey. The program was inaugurated by the head of legal cell Parag Pradhan.Tiwari & Chaubey were seen in close animated conversation all through. Manoj beat the dense Banaras fog & time to zoom into the Mumbai suburb of Kandivali to grace the occasion as the chief guest. Tiwari an Ex Ranji Trophy cricketer himself who counts the Indian Captain, Dhoni, amongst his friends also belted out two songs for enthusiastic crowds at the venue, where he shared the dais with a beaming Akhilesh Chaubey.

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SHAHID TO STAR IN HINDI REMAKE OF MARATHI HIT MUMBAI PUNE MUMBAI is father Pankaj Kapoor's directorial debut Mausam has bombed,but Shahid Kapoor has started reading scripts for his next.

The actor, who has only committed to Kunal Kohli's upcoming movie so far, is believed to have given a nod to the Hindi remake of the Marathi film Mumbai Pune Mumbai. Satish Rajwade, who helmed the Marathi movie, is keen to remake it in Hindi.

He has even begun working on the script. However, this time the storyline is set against the backdrop of Mumbai and Delhi to reach out to a wider audience. Satish is calling his Hindi film Mumbai Delhi Mumbai.The Marathi filmmaker has discussed the idea with Shahid. Satish narrated the concept to Shahid when they last met, and he liked what he heard. So while the young Kapoor has approved of the idea, he'll take the final call only after Satish meets him again with the complete script.

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LOKAYAT

HOLLYWOOD

LINDSAY TO RESHOOT PLAYBOY PICS indsay Lohan has been asked to reshoot her nude pictures for the famous men's magazine, Playboy.

The bosses of the magazine came to this decision because they were not satisfied with the first set of shots, where she stripped.

The Mean Girls are paid a whopping $ 1 million to bare it all for the magazine.

According to sources, Lindsay was called by the executives of the Playboy because they thought that the previous shoot didn't work the way they wanted. Now, they will reshoot it with a new theme.

The source further added: "There is no guarantee that everyone will like the photos or that they will be of high enough quality to use for the cover but playboy wanted to make sure that Lindsay's pictures were exactly the way they wanted."

The 25-year-old actress will be adorning the cover page of the magazine in the January 2012 edition.

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JESSICA CHAISTAIN TO PLAY PRINCESS DIANA ctress Jessica Chaistain is all set to play the role of the late Princess Diana in an upcoming biopic.

The movie is about to start the production in March 2012. The biopic will be directed by German Director Olicer Hirschbiegel, who is known for his sci-fi thriller–The Invasion.

The movie based on Princess Diana's life will paint her in an unflattering light and will picturise her as an adulteress who tore apart her family. The controversial flick will be shot in Pakistan, Angola and the south of France and Paris, where Diana died in a fatal car accident with Dodi Al Fayed in 1997.

"Caught in Flight will follow Diana's secret romance with heart surgeon Dr Hasnat Kahn, who reportedly was the love of her life. The pair met in 1995 at the Royal Brompton Hospital, where Diana was visiting her friend who was recovering from heart surgery," a source said.

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HOLLYWOOD

LOKAYAT

BRAD PITT AND ANGELINA JOLIE TO ADOPT AGAIN? rad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who currently have three adopted kids, are all set to look for the fourth. The lovey-dovey pair, known for their philanthropic cause is planning to adopt a child from Ethiopia.

The "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" stars have three adopted kids presently. Maddox, 10, Pax, 7 and 6-year old Zahara make their family. Now, the couple has promised Zahara that they would adopt another child from Ethiopia.

"They are really excited about it. Brad and Angie made a promise to Zahara years ago that they would adopt another child from the region so she could have a sibling to relate to," a website quoted a source as saying.

It seems that the awesome couple is planning to make a big family.

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OLIVIA WILDE AND JASON SUDEIKIS AN ITEM? EFRON FINDS KISSING MICHELLE PFEIFFER DIFFICULT or actor Zac Efron, doing a lip lock with "New Year's Eve" costar Michelle Pfeiffer on screen wasn't easy.

The 24-year-old actor said that kissing the 53-year-old actress didn't go the way as he expected.

'Those things are best to do spontaneously. Have fun and be in the moment. I definitely thought about how it was going to go down. In my mind, the way I pictured it, it was going to be perfect, very romantic, very leading man,' a Hollywood website quoted him saying.

'Then of course, as we went to film it, right when I went to dip her, a huge piece of confetti went straight into my mouth. I didn't want to finish the kiss like that, so I spit and went for it. That's actually in the movie,' he added.

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rapevine has it that Actor Olivia Wilde is dating "Saturday Night Live" funnyman, Jason Sudeikis. The 27-year-old starlet was spotted holding hands with Sudeikis at a recent party at New York's Loi Venue.

"They walked in holding hands," a source told the US magazine. "She's come to the (SNL) studio at Rockefeller Center, and they've gone out to dinner after rehearsals."

Olivia is rumoured to have dated the heart–throbs of Hollywood which includes Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake and Ryan Reynolds. Now, Jason Sudeikis is the new man in her list.

Ever since the "TronLegacy" actress parted ways with her ex-husband Tao Ruspoli, a real life prince, she has been hooked with many biggies.

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SPORT

LOKAYAT

One does not praise his technique. He believes in the simple process of hitting the ball whenever it comes to him.

And by this he created an unbelievable feat.

Virender Sehwag: What A Name!

What A Player!

By Ramu Sharma

irender Sehwag–what a name!

What a player!! He simply rains runs and when the mood is on him he seeks out records and replaces them. He is world cricket's number one entertainer and an Indian. After the fourth ODI against the West Indies at Indore he sits on top of the world with the highest score of 219 runs to his credit. An unbelievable feat nevertheless true!

Limited over cricket is made for the likes of Sehwag and it was also in the cards that he would be the man who would first mount the 200 mark. His

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penchant for scoring the maximum runs in the minimum number of deliveries was fully tuned to the demands of limited overs cricket and it was only a question of time as to when he would conjure up an innings to surpass all the defined borders.

Sehwag had only himself to race for the honours at stake. It was thus a bit of a surprise, if not altogether unexpected when Sachin Tendulkar went on to hit the chord at 200 runs in the match against South Africa in Gwalior last year.

The world's biggest accumulator of runs, arguably among the greatest of all time batsmen, Tendulkar holds records

galore: the maximum number of centuries in both, Tests and One Dayers, the maximum number of runs in both formats of the game, the two most important marks are destined to stay in the books a long time but he was not the one visualised as the first man to reach 200 runs in 50 overs cricket.

Such was the reputation that he had earned. But then when Sachin Tendulkar scored those runs before him it was as if he had almost usurped Sehwag's rights.

The record stood for less than two years before Sehwag overtook and firmly planted a much higher score and etched his name on it. The 219 runs in

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SPORT

149 balls was a landmark innings, the double hundred had come in just 140 deliveries, the fastest ever in any format.

And adding to the statistical figures was the fact that 142 of the runs had come in fours and sixes, second only to Shane Watson of Australia who got 150 in boundaries in his knock of 185.

Sehwag has indeed been a phenomenon unlike any other Indian cricketer. He was a middle order batsman to start with and a century while in partnership with Sachin Tendulkar on the tour of South Africa established his credentials. It was, however, as an opener that he found his niche and blossomed out while on the tour of Pakistan where he scored a monumental 300 plus on his India's first visit after a long time. He has not looked back since then and has gained in reputation as one of the most attacking as also the most feared batsman in the world.

Opposition teams consider Virender Sehwag as the most dangerous player among the Indian team. And that is ironical when the team comprises Tendulkar, arguably the greatest player of the day, Rahul Dravid and V.V. Laxman, both giants of immense stature among others. Sehwag in fact overshadows all of them by his mere presence. And that speaks volumes of player and the respect the other have for him.

Expectedly the entire world reacted to Sehwag' double century plus performance against the West Indies and almost all the present and past greats spoke in one voice of the greatness of the innings. But words do not always do apt justice to a performance like the one in Indore. One has to look at not one act but many acts put together for an overall perception. For this one must read the Old Batsman in the Guardian where he dwells rather intrusively on Sehwag.

"This blog has long seen Sehwag as an avatar, a vision of the future, an outlier. But perhaps he is something else too; mentor, leader, philosopher king. In the modern age, there have always been attacking opening batsman. Gordon

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'Yet none are Sehwag. Jayasuriya, Hayden and Gayle have Test match triple hundreds but Sehwag has two, and came within seven runs of a third. They are power players, yet Sehwag strikes at 20 runs per hundred balls better than any of them. Only Hayden can really claim to be in his class – the others all average about 10 less – and yet Hayden cannot be called a genius; the adjective effortless does not attach itself easily to his game.

Viru doesn't have Gayle's shoulders or Jayasuriya's forearms or Hayden's pecs. He has none of the nervous intensity of Slater or the cross-eyed desire of Hayden. He doesn't really have the insouciance of Gayle or Barry Richards. He is instead an almost implacable little Buddha, soft-edged, calmly accepting of the fates, whether they swing for him or against.

If there is one player, most likely it is Lara, in that he can hit unstoppably not just for hours but for days. It is they who have built monolithic scores most

Greenidge, no slouch himself, recalled his partnership with Barry Richards at Hampshire: "It was not unusual for applause to be ringing round the ground for his fifty while I still had single figures." Richards once made 325 in a day at Perth against Dennis Lillee amongst others. Then came Jayasuriya, Slater, Hayden, Gayle, and McCullum.

regularly. Yet Lara didn't open, and he often gave the first hour or so of his innings to the bowler. That has not been Sehwag's way.'"

Yes. Sehwag has his own special way. He has patented it. He hits from the very first ball. That's the way he has been taught to do so. He is indeed a very special cricketer.

SPORT

LOKAYAT

Rising stock of tennis in Chhattisgarh

The tournament acquired glamour on the opening day with the presence of Leander Paes, the winner of six doubles and six mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, a bronze medal for India in 1996 Atlanta Olympics

By Aaditya Tewari

t was an historic occasion for sport in Chattisgarh and tennis in particular when after a two hour long match, Abhijit Tiwari, its twenty one year old son of the soil, lifted the men's singles title for the Gondwana Cup. What made Abhijit's win all the more pleasing was the unexpectedness since he was not the favourite. In fact he was a total outsider even to start with, ranked as lowly as 70th in the national hierarchy. The hot favourite was Vijay Prashant of Tamil Nadu, ranked fourth nationally.

The event itself had a somewhat historic perspective. The Gondwana Cup tournament was a revival show after a four decade lapse. And the man who won the tournament last had been Afex Santiago. That had been in 1962-63. And what made the revival lively was an element of unexpectedness. The scoreline of 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 unfolds its own story.

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Initially Abhijeet looked subdued and was noticeably sluggish. He was virtually overawed by his opponent's superior ranking.

But with the enthusiastic support of the local crowd he clawed back, found his rhythm and restored parity by claiming the set at 64.

Now the match entered into a phase of suspense and excitement. Every shot

by Abhijeet found its mark and egged on by a crowd of some 1500 people, went on to clinch the issue at 6-4. It was a great effort and certainly the crowd contributed considerably to the players effort.

Prashant, who had been playing international tennis since 2005 and possessed enough experience and confidence, put up a remarkable show, but clearly the day was not his but destined to be in favour of Abhijeet and Chhattisgarh.

Dr Raman Singh has been highly supportive Thanks to Dr Raman Singh sport has got encouragement in Chhattisgarh like never before. He not only came to inaugurate the All India Gondwana Cup Tournament in Raipur, but sat through the entire exhibition match. He is the President of the Chhattisgarh Olympic Association and wants to promote sport in the young generation. Now many tournaments are organised at different levels in Chhattisgarh and Gondwana Cup is just one of them. He has given the responsibility to various industrial houses to help organise sport events in the state.

Tennis has been a popular sport in India since around 1880s when British officers brought it to India. But it remained an elitist game limited to urban centre. But now it has started gaining real

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ABHIJEET STARTED PLAYING TENNIS AT THE AGE OF 9

When did you start playing Tennis?

Started in 1999; I was 9 years old then.

Who inspired you initially?

My father Alok Tiwari, and then Sanjay Shukla and Vivek Dhand. Shukla sir was then the commissioner of Urban Development and Vivek sir was the commissioner of Jagdalpur at that time.

Why didn't you get drawn to other sports like football and cricket?

I tried all other sports, but found tennis most interesting.

Did you seek any formal training to improve your play?

For the last 2 years Aditya Sachadev is my coach; he has his private academy Team Tennis.

This apart I also sought training from Paul Dale of New Zealand, who has his academy in Bangkok. But I have been able to get training at Paul's academy only for fifteen days.

What about your studies?

Abhijeet Tiwari, 21, displayed promise and enthusiasm after he lifted the Gondwana Cup. He has, become instantly popular in the tennis circle of Chhattisgarh.

Lokayat congratulated him at his spectacular win.

Here is a brief interview with him:

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I did my 12th from open school; after that I could not pursue my studies as most of my time goes into tennis.

In pursuing tennis how much do you have to spend?

My expenditure is on an average 15 lakh rupees a year.

What is the situation of this sport in Chhattisgarh?

It is gaining popularity, a lot of activities and tournaments are now organised. Mr Sisodia the president of the Chhattisgarh Tennis Association is very active; he gives financial support also for prize money etc‌then we have a very encouraging sport loving Chief Minister (Dr Raman Singh) and Governor (Mr Shekhar Dutt). The Chief Minister sat through the entire exhibition match on the opening day and so also the Governor saw the final match fully.

What is your next plan?

To play in Chennai Open Qualifying tournament‌.This will start on January 1. If I succeed there, it would definitely open new vistas for me.

popularity. Chhattisgarh started its foray in Tennis with the introduction of Gondwana Cup tournament in 1937. But two years after its start it was discontinued. It re-started after twenty two years in 1959 but again discontinued after a few years. Mr Shekhar Datt, the incumbent Governor of Chhattisgarh started it again in 1987. But same old story followed; it did not continue beyond 1990.

It has been revived this year thanks to the unflinching support of the Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh and the sports lover Governor Shekhar Dutt who had once been the Director General of Sports Authority of India. Active involvement of the President of the Chhattisgarh Tennis Association Vikram Sisodia's is no less important. The Association has been organising 2-3 all India tennis tournaments for the last two years. It also organised national coaching camps to promote the game.

India has produced a number of tennis players of international recognition. No wonder Chhattisgarh would also be able to create national and international heroes in the coming years if the current tempo continues. A good beginning has been made with Abhijeet.

India's star player of international and Olympic repute Leander Pace, who was present during the exhibition match, said that dedication is needed to emerge as a good player.

Abhijeet has won many All India Tennis Association Juniors, Singles and Doubles. He has also played Indian Tennis Federation tournaments around the world. However, Gondwana Cup is the first men's title he has won.

Abhijeet apart, another boy of promise in Chhattisgarh is Tushar Mandlekar. He was the runner-up in doubles of this tournament. Aayushi Chouhan who has won several AITA Junior tournaments has done wonders in the girls section.

And so far as funds are concerned there are now a couple of industrial houses who are willing to support sport in Chhattisgarh.

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LOKAYAT

PARENTS SHOULD ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO SEE MATCHES : SHEKHAR DUTT Shekhar Dutt, the Governor of Chhattisgarh has played an important role in reviving the Gondwana Cup Tennis Tournament. He was the Divisional Commissioner of Raipur Revenue Division in 1985-89 when he brought back the tournament in 1987. It is yet another matter that it did not continue beyond 1990. A few excerpts of a brief telephonic interview done by Lokayat representative: Governor of Chhattisgarh Shekhar Dutt

Why Gondwana Cup Tournament fell through?

Because sponsors were not available‌. money is needed to organise events and for the prize etc.

Will now the All India Gondwana Cup Tournament continue?

I hope so. I see there is now increased interest in sport in Chhattisgarh. On this basis I can say, yes the Cup would continue, and through this tournament we would be able to produce a few seeded players.

How do you think, this elite game would flourish in Chhattisgarh?

It is not an elite game. There is nothing elitist about Tennis. Is Cricket not the elitist, but it has become so popular that it has replaced even gulli-danda. Do you find gulli-danda anywhere now?

What is needed to make tennis even more popular in Chhattisgarh?

If a sport does not grow and succeed, it is basically because of lack of

spectators. If you do not have spectators then you would not get sponsors. If you do not have sponsors the tournaments would not continue. Sport needs support of parents; they should allow their children to see matches and play. If the fields are full, then sponsors come automatically.

Why parents should spoil the career of their children by driving them to sport?

There is a lot of money in sports. Don't you see what Sachin Tendulkar is earning today? Sports icons have no less glamour than film icons. See Sachin Tendulkar. Cricket apart, he is earning by advertisement also. Tennis is even more lucrative. In India you can get a lot of money from cricket, but tennis gives money all over the world. Even athletics has lot of money. So has boxing and basketball. People think only Cricket is important, it is not so. Moreover, sport should also be seen as a career. Media should give sufficient coverage to sport rather than just politics. Remember only those countries are politically

strong who are strong in sports. See China, Europe, America‌ What is the future of sport in Chhattisgarh?

Next two three years would witness some good sport in Chhattisgarh as it would be organising national games.

Chhattisgarh has enormous potential to produce good sport persons. When Manipur and Kerala, much smaller than Bastar, only a district of Chhattisgarh, can produce such a large number of good sport-persons, why Chhattisgarh cannot.

Does lack of training facilities hinder development of Tennis?

Training is not a problem. What good training facilities Africa has? Even Ethiopia has the training facilities, a country badly mired in civil war. If they have training facilities and producing good sport persons, how can we blame lack of training facilities in India?

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BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Slowdown means worsening job situation in India Price rise has been the worst failure of the UPA government, but now the slow-down has created a spectre of joblessness in a country where the number of job-seekers is increasing each month. Against the promise of 9 percent growth, the country is going to grow only 7.5 percent this year.

Business Desk

he recessionary trend, which India had escaped two years ago when the whole world was grueling under its squeeze, has now taken into its grip the Indian economy too.

Against the claims made by the Finance Minister that the current financial year would show even a better growth rate of 9 percent, has turned out a mirage and the GDP growth during the second quarter of the year has slumped to its lowest in the last two years. He admitted in the Parliament that the slow-down is the reality and the country may show a growth rate of only 7.5 percent.

Who can be blamed for this? There are several factors, the most hurting among them had been the price rise. In order to control the price rise the method deployed by the RBI had been to tighten the monetary policy, which has resulted in the poor performance of manufacturing and other infrastructure

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Finance Ministry, Dr Kaushik Basu have termed it as a temporary phenomenon and continue to paint a rosy picture of India's long term growth story. But many believe the situation would only be bad to worse in immediate future.

Five enemies of Indian economy this year High inflation punishing most house-holds Poor job creation amidst rising job seekers sectors, with the eight core Spectre of poor increase in salaries in the industries recording only 0.1 private sector per cent growth in October, Sluggish demand of Indian goods from the lowest in the last five developed world years. The RBI increased Making money costly by the Reserve policy rates by 3.75 Bank of India percent since March, Weakening of the rupee against dollar 2010. and other currencies The slowdown in the manufacturing sector, decline in mining output, fall in foreign investment, The two giants of Asia depreciating rupee against China India dollar, coupled with intense Expected GDP: $ 7209 b $ 1859 b economic uncertainty in Expected Growth: 9.3% 7.5 % Europe and the USA has Last year's growth: 10.4% 8.6% squeezed the GDP growth to just 6.9 percent in the second quarter ending in September, 2011, compared with 8.4 percent in the In October, output growth in eight corresponding period last year. core industries, including steel, cement While the manufacturing sector grew and coal dropped to near zero, a sharp just 2.7 percent in the second quarter decline from 7.2 percent a year ago, compared to 7.8 percent in the signalling the possibility of a sharp corresponding quarter last year, the deceleration in industrial growth, given mining output declined by 2.9 percent their more than one-third weight in the against 8 percent. Agriculture growth also Index of Industrial Production. slowed to 3.2 percent from 5.4 percent in Adding to the gloom, the fiscal the same quarter last year. This has deficit for the first seven months of the resulted into the cumulative GDP growth year has reached 75 percent of the full of 7.3 percent for the first half of current year estimate, forcing the economists to fiscal from 8.6 percent of the comparable warn about a further slowdown in period last year. economic activities. However, the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, slowdown is not just limited to India, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory China, the biggest economy of Asia has Council Chairman, Dr. C. Rangarajan, also shown mild slowdown. The estimate the Planning Commission Deputy is China would grow only 9.3 percent Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and compared to the 10.4 percent growth the Chief Economic Advisor to the shown by it the last year.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

LOKAYAT

Sahara Sri Honoured in London

Business Desk

aharasri Subrata Roy Sahara, Managing Worker and Chairman of Sahara India Pariwar has been conferred with 'Indian Business lcon of the Year Award' at Powerbrands Hall of Fame Awards function at London. The award was jointly presented to him by Ms. Priti Patel, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom, Ms. Ruby Dhalla, Member of Parliament of Canada, and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri, in the gala ceremony studded with Lords and Members of Parliament from United Kingdom, business tycoons and celebrities from all walks of life including Bollywood. The POWERBRANDS Corporate Leaders and Corporate Icon Awards honour the leaders who have carved a niche for themselves with their remarkable strategies that have channelised growth and been instrumental in taking their organisation ahead.

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BOOKS

By Raja Shree Bharadwaj

nglish fiction as written these days largely caters to the upwardly mobile youngsters who are focused on high consumption and new fads. Highbrow authors of these novels ignore rural masses and their struggle to eke out a living, their seemingly archaic beliefs and value system.

Surendra Kumar, a physicist by education, bureaucrat by calling and writer by choice is different in this respect. He may be included in a new club of short story writers, whose works may not fit easily in any of the prevailing 'ism' of literary movement, but definitely they carry the sight and sound of rural India where Surendra Kumar was born and brought up. Being an Indian Forest Service officer his daily routines took him to areas which fortified his creative instincts, untrammeled by the hurly-burly of plush city life.

His characters, naturally, are earthy common folks from interior India as well as the urban bureaucracy with which he is familiar; both have been depicted beautifully because he is able to delve deep into their psyche. For example, in the story Hakim Singh, he writes: "Mr. Gulati was one of those who considered that drivers are meant for waiting more, than for driving. A driver, waiting at the house, is a matter of pride. It adds to the aura of the officer and his family.

It also gratifies the self-worth of the officer greatly, Mr. Gulati believed."

One more example from the same story will illustrate the rural flavour of the author's writing. His debut story "Once Upon A Time" contains: "Thinking that bullocks

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STORIES FROM RURAL INDIA Once Upon A Time Author: Publisher: Price:

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Surendra Kumar Nayee Kitab Rs 200

may have better intelligence than a human being sitting in a car, the village man, reluctantly, went back to his bullocks that were chewing cuds incessantly, dropping white froth on the dusty ground. He took out the leather whip, and holding the tip of the cart on his shoulders, he started to push the bullocks backward, hurling the whip with one hand and persuading, encouraging, scolding and loving the bullocks with his words. Bullocks first resented and then started moving back haltingly‌.."

'Once Upon a Time' is a collection of 16 short stories, written in a span of seven years. In simple yet crisp English, they take the reader through the author's growing up years in rural Bihar, as also through his myriad journeys in the course of his official duty as a Forest Service officer. All the stories display a profound understanding of human behaviour and emotions both in the rural settings and official circles.

'The Pole Star' is a sweet tweet of college life replete with heartbreaking romance. 'Hakim Singh' is the story of a devoted driver who was unjustly discharged from his job. 'Invisible Wall' is all about social inequality told in an unpretentious manner, without being didactic. '31st March' is a dossier of workings of any government office but it touches some sensitive chord.

All stories are simple and poignant as they deal with the complex emotions of ordinary people. Some of the stories seem to end abruptly after building up a lot of possibilities, yet they are readable.

BOOKS

LOKAYAT

How our politicians are abandoning the middle class and betraying the American dream enerally regarded as the wealthiest and most powerful nation on the earth, the United States of America is currently in the throes of a multi-faceted crisis never before confronted by it. The paradox is despite an unprecedented financial meltdown, the USA still commands enough clout. This statement about its clout is, however, hotly contested by the author of this book who is a noted media person as well.

Ms. Arianna Huffington says in no uncertain terms that America's heydays of international hegemony are over. It is now struggling to grapple with the worst recession in memory, sharp fall in industrial production and deteriorating education system.

It is no more the dream destination of immigrants from all over the world.

In support of her contention, the author reels out figures to show staggering economic collapse, corporate deceits, and political scandals.

The perennial and overwhelming presence of foreign operators in every field of America's economic and financial activity is a cause for immense worry for its citizens.

In short, the U.S. is fast sliding into the deplorable status of a "Third World Country".

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THIRD WORLD AMERICA

THIRD WORLD AMERICA Author: Published by: Price: Pages:

Arianna Huffington Crown, New York $26.99; 276

Huffington quotes numerous financial and political gurus of the USA to buttress her point. She also refers to millions of native Blacks and Whites, stark poor immigrants, and thousands of people who decline to accept American nationality any more but want to return to their homelands.

As the 2012 presidential election draws closer (in November next), millions of Americans are experiencing the down-sizing pangs of the Wall Street, America's Dalal Street.

The greatest threat to American economy, however, is increasing its public debt burden which has now touched its GDP. The dismal outlook can have a profound and disastrous impact on the American psyche. The situation needs immediate attention of the powers that be.

The author, though of foreign origin, has been living in the US since long as a naturalised citizen. She suggests the nation's leaders should think hard and endeavour to 'reinvent' the resources of the country to rebuild it. Sincere, earnest and urgent efforts alone can prevent it from further slide.

The book offers a wealth of data and valuable lessons for Indians, to put our house in order. – MRD

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EARTHY DREAM

New Year will be different and decisive!

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orrupt politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen must be smirking secretly that the bill to install an ombudsman to bring all shady people to justice has been buried, even if temporarily. They must toast the Congress for the

help.

The history of democratic struggles is replete with instances of diabolical men winning some battles, but the war is ultimately won by people. That, of course, implies tireless strivings and sacrifices. For realizing the dream of a corruption-free society we cannot avoid these imperatives.

Indeed it was a sad day for our parliamentary democracy when the exercise spanning several months of diligent drafting of the Lok Pal bill and presenting it before Parliament for passing was sought to be subverted by vested interests on the penultimate moment by pressing non-issues like federalism and reservation, both extraneous to the core and unconstitutional. Should we not resist such obstructionist tactics, or better still, penalize those who choreographed the unfortunate denouement?

The fact that the lackluster effort was thwarted the 9th time in Parliament makes, on hindsight, Anna Hazare right in going on fast again. Unfortunately people got confused by the government propaganda against the civil society and failed to congregate in large numbers at the fast venue.

The Bombay fiasco raises doubts about the real purpose of the twitter- and facebook- addicted new middle class which 'joined' Anna's fast earlier at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. Did they take it only as a wayside entertainment? No emotional involvement at all? If so we will have to wait till the common man, who suffers most from the pervasive corruption, is aroused to achieve our goal.

Prashant Bhushan, a prominent pillar of the Anna Team, is probably right in saying that 'no bill' is better than a 'weak bill'. The apology for the Lok Pal bill that was presented in Parliament would have served no purpose in fighting corruption; it would have been a mere ceremonial ring on the little finger of Rahul Gandhi.

Many rightly consider the episode a comic repeat of similar chicanery that was enacted in Parliament many times in the last 43 years. The latest melodrama presented with obstreperous collusion of Lalu Yadav & Co. exposes the political and ideational bankruptcy of the Congress Party and its puny stage managers. Otherwise how could they bungle such an important measure? Or were they taking people for a ride?

Make no mistake. People are not fools to miss the point in the ongoing blame game.

They know when and how to strike back.

We heard several MPs haranguing that Parliament was supreme and its sanctity inviolable. Yet we also saw how outrageously they trod on it. We cannot leave them unpunished for the crime. One hopes the people of five states going to the poll shortly understand the power and reach of the Brahmastra in their hands and use it assertively. They should demonstrate that We the People are the final arbiters!

Hope the New Year will turn out to be different and decisive.

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