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Newsnotes Delhi: Floral Defence
If the President, K.R. Narayanan, was the hero of the Uttar Pradesh imbroglio, then
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav emerged the villain of the piece. Yet,
putting the controversy behind them, the two met a few days after the President's rule
fiasco. It was Narayanan's birthday on October 27, and surprisingly, Mulayam was among the
first to reach Rashtrapati Bhavan with a big bouquet of flowers. Though he is not known
for courtesy calls of this nature, the defence minister apparently was all warmth and
charm during his longish chat with the first couple. When someone asked Mulayam about the
unusual meeting, the SP chief quipped: "He (the President) does his job, and I do
mine." As they say, all is fair in politics.
Bhopal: Vested Parties
A red-carpet welcome from Chief Minister Digvijay Singh was in order when his
Maharashtra counterpart Manohar Joshi visited Bhopal last week to discuss inter-state
irrigation and hydel power projects. But what raised eyebrows and set tongues wagging was
Digvijay's Cabinet ministers queuing up to make courtesy calls on the man from Mumbai.
Apparently, the ministers -- having made rather modest declarations of assets in the state
Assembly, as is required of them annually -- wanted to keep Joshi in good humour because
they have large real estate investments in Mumbai. And, incidentally, the minister who
spent the longest time with Joshi was the one who broke down crying in the Assembly last
year when the BJP accused him of purchasing a luxury apartment in Mumbai.
Mumbai: Stooping Low
The son is doing what the father has always refused to do. Last week, Uddhav Thackeray,
heir-apparent to Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, kicked off a three-week yatra to
woo the increasingly assertive Dalits of Maharashtra. The yatra began in the Dalit
stronghold of Nashik and will wind its way through Marathwada, a region that has witnessed
many atrocities against the lower castes. This is an almost revolutionary change for a
party whose leaders "washed and purified" Hutatma Chowk in the heart of Mumbai
after a Dalit morcha in the early '90s. Uddhav has persuaded the Sena's backward caste
mascots -- minister Babanrao Gholap, for instance -- and its nearly defunct Dalit wing,
the Dalit Samata Parishad, to join the yatra as it makes its way to the state capital. So
is the tiger changing its stripes? Not really. In typically Sena fashion, Uddhav has made
it clear that the yatra is aimed at consolidating "Hindu Dalits" -- as opposed,
we presume, to Muslim and Buddhist Dalits. The Thackerays, it would seem, will never
change.
Delhi: Getting Gored
Diplomatic observers here are aghast at the extraordinary conduct of British High
Commissioner to New Delhi Sir David Gore-Booth. Brushing aside form and propriety at a
ceremonial welcome for the prime minister on his return from Edinburgh, he confronted I.K.
Gujral with a newspaper item stating that the Government was seeking his recall for
"rude and haughty" behaviour during the Queen's visit. Thereafter, he rushed to
the gathered mediapersons and informed them that there was no truth to the report and
"I have received a categorical assurance in this regard". Later, an official
spokesman confirmed that this was indeed so. Sir David's indiscretions seem to be
limitless. The latest is a report that he told some eu ambassadors that the controversies
during the Queen's visit were the outcome of India's frustration over its failure to
overcome its problems in the 50 years since the British left! Perhaps Gujral was not aware
of this when he was ambushed into a response. Maybe, his reply would have been different.
Hyderabad: Sop-seekers
For the 294 members of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, it seems to be the "Year of
Sops". It was only in March that they got a hefty increase in their perks, including
telephone, conveyance and constituency allowances and house rent for those not staying in
official accommodation. A largesse that further burdened the cash-strapped state. And as
if that was not enough, they demanded personal computers, subsidised Internet facility,
jeeps and full-time PAs, besides an increase in the constituency development fund. Finance
Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju was against the hikes, but Chief Minister N. Chandrababu
Naidu agreed to give a grant-cum-loan of Rs 1.5 lakh for buying computers. Now, the MLAs
are asking for more: reimbursement of all medical expenses in India or abroad, free air
travel within the country and a housing loan of Rs 5 lakh. Not surprisingly, the Finance
Department put the proposal on hold arguing that the loans cannot be recovered in the two
years that the MLAs have to complete their term. But given the political compulsions of
the 210 MLAs belonging to his own TDP, Naidu is bound to work overtime to personally clear
this pending file.
Chandigarh: Festival Bonanza
The wafer-thin majority of his Haryana Vikas Party-BJP coalition Government has forced
Chief Minister Bansi Lal to accord top priority to keeping his flock together. So, come
Diwali and he decided to give Contessa cars as "festival gift" to the eight
newly-inducted ministers of state who were grumbling about the rickety Ambassador cars
allotted to them. Never mind that the dole has made other ministers with old Ambassador
cars jealous, or that the state is facing a financial crunch; such benevolence is
apparently aimed at keeping the "vulnerable" MLAs in good humour. In fact, the
precarious numbers game in the state Assembly has forced Lal to abandon his self-professed
principles and promises: austere governance and a small cabinet if voted to power. Only
recently, Lal, in a bid to placate the MLAs, effected a third cabinet expansion, making it
a 35-member jumbo ministry. Barring two, all 33 HVP MLAs are ministers or corporation
chairmen. And if sources are to be believed, the festival bonanza is not the last of Bansi
Lal's doles.
Lucknow: Dwindling Hopes
For N.D. Tiwari, the Uttar Pradesh Congress chief, the recent split in the state party
unit could not have come at a more embarrassing moment. Foisted on the faction-ridden
state Congress by party chief Sitaram Kesri, he had even entertained hopes of becoming the
chief minister when the bsp pulled out from the Kalyan Singh-led BJP Government last week,
though his party had just 37 MLAs in the 425-member state Assembly. But hours after Tiwari
took over, the Congress was left with just 15 MLAs, as 22 legislators walked out to form
the Uttar Pradesh Loktantrik Congress that is now part of the Kalyan Singh Government.
Little wonder then that Tiwari is the butt of ridicule in the Congress headquarters in
Lucknow. The Congress has been out of power in the state since 1989 and it is perhaps a
coincidence that Tiwari presided over the last debacle: he was chief minister then. Worse,
in 1991, when the party found its strength in the assembly reduced from 94 to 46, Tiwari
was the legislature party leader. The spat with Congress Vice-President Jitendra Prasada
hasn't exactly helped Tiwari either: the former upcc chief has managed to keep most
partymen on his side. Even with the best of friends around, reviving the Congress in the
state is an awesome task. Without them, it is that much harder.
Thiruvananthapuram: Settling Scores
The arrest of Kannur District Congress Committee president K. Sudhakaran was just the
tonic that the fragmented Congress party in Kerala needed. He was taken into custody on
October 21 for his alleged involvement in the attempt to murder Kannur CPI(M) Secretary
E.P. Jayarajan in April 1995. State Congress leaders launched hartals to protest against
the arrest. Says Congress leader A.K. Antony: "This is one more case of the CPI(M)'s
efforts to take the law into their hands to settle political scores." The move
against Sudhakaran follows an investigation by a special police squad set up on the
directive of the Thiruvananthapuram first class judicial magistrate. The magistrate,
however, had asked the police not to arrest Sudhakaran as he had already been granted
anticipatory bail. The Marxist Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar says Sudhakaran was arrested as
"he did not obey the bail condition to depose before the Kannur police superintendent
once every month". With the Congress not buying that, the stage is set for a bitter
political battle.
Delhi: Missing Link
The images were compelling but not quite the truth. On October 24, United Nations Day,
Pakistan TV beamed images of hundreds of Pakistanis forming a chain in solidarity with
their Kashmiri brethren. The only problem was that the chain began at Muzaffarabad and
ended at nearby Chakothi, both in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The crucial link, across the
Line of Control through Uri and Baramulla to the UN Military Observers Group office in
Srinagar, just did not materialise. In a significant development, the All Parties Hurriyat
Conference boycotted the human chain call given by the Jammu and Kashmir Solidarity Front,
a Pakistan-based hardline group led by Abdul Rashid Turabi, Ghulam Nabi Nowsheri and
Salauddin. In Srinagar, the only support the organisers got was from separatist leader
Shabbir Shah, who was promptly placed under house arrest. Some 20 of his supporters did
venture to the Lal Chowk and finding no one to link with decided to walk to the UN
headquarters shouting slogans. They achieved their objective of publicity when the police
arrested and released them almost immediately. Disillusionment with Pakistan in the Valley
is not new, but the Hurriyat's opposition to being dictated to by elements from across the
border seems so.
Shimla: Full Throttle
When Himachal Pradesh Congress leaders crack the whip, they mostly manage to injure
themselves. Hopes that the expulsion of two rebel party MLAs would help in containing the
rising tide of dissidence against Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh have proved misplaced.
Less than a week after their expulsion, the squabble between rival state Congress factions
led by Singh and former chief minister Thakur Ram Lal turned violent and bitter. It all
began at Parwanoo on October 22 where a "kisan-mazdoor" rally planned by Lal was
foiled by Singh's supporters. While Lal retreated to safety, expelled MLA O.P. Rattan and
former Indian Youth Congress president Anand Sharma were roughed up. "The Congress
may have to pay a heavy price for Singh's undemocratic means to throttle the rising
dissent," says an incensed Lal. The rival faction is now planning to hold anti-Singh
rallies all over the state. Understandably, the chief minister is worried about the
mounting adverse publicity. So he is now trying to woo the media, especially since one of
the victims of the Parwanoo incident was a Shimla-based scribe. Most journalists in
Chandigarh received cartons of "Royal" apples as Diwali gifts. But will they
bite the bait?
Bangalore: Bottoms Up
The Karnataka Government's spirits, already low after it failed to implement total
prohibition in the state last year, dipped further when its new excise policy, effective
from November 1, was stayed by the Karnataka High Court till the month end. The new policy
was ostensibly aimed at reducing the number of arrack shops in the state from 20,000 to
6,000. Says deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah: "The idea is to have the effect of
prohibition but at the same time not lose out on revenue." The opposition Congress,
however, fears that the new policy would lead to a loss of at least Rs 400 crore to the
state exchequer this financial year. Further, some arrack vendors and contractors have
moved the high court to quash the policy saying the Rs 12 lakh per annum uniform licence
fee is exorbitant and will render over a lakh of people jobless. Chief minister J.H. Patel
emphasises that "the new policy will definitely help reduce the intake of
arrack". Many though fear that the high uniform fee could result in the price of
arrack shooting up and rampant brewing of illicit arrack. That's a killer. |
