Round The States

Friend in Bengal, foe in Kerala
Friend in one State, foe in the other is the kaleidoscopic relationship between the Congress and CPM in West Bengal and Kerala. While the adage your enemy’s enemy is my friend holds true in the former where the Grand Dame has allied with the Left brigade to settle scores with Mamata’s Trinamool in the State Assembly polls, in the latter the parties are opponents for the State’s Raj. Either which way, the electoral understanding in the Western State has confounded Congressmen and Leftists with both reiterating that the pact is only “Bengal-centric.”

Meanwhile, in Kerala the friendship gloves have been taken off where the Left-led LDF is giving a hard fight to the Congress’ Oomen Chandy-led UDF government to sweep the State polls. It remains to be seen whether this not-so-friendly Congress-CPM alliance will change the political alignment nationally and lead to wider political co-operation between the two. Clearly, the result of the State Assemblies polls holds the key.

SC rap on drought
13 States facing acute drought have earned the wrath of the Supreme Court. In a scathing 53-page verdict, the Court has severely reprimanded the Centre and the States for their ‘lack of will’ in combating drought and providing succour to the people. Worse, it pronounced the Centre guilty of “washing its hands of” a national disaster which has crippled one-fourth of the country. To ensure speedy redressal, it has asked the States to take the help of the National Disaster Response Force and immediately set up a Disaster Mitigation Fund. It came down on the Court, observing that the 2009 Manual for Drought Management and the National Disaster Management Guidelines for Drought had remained paper tigers. It made it incumbent upon the States to pull up their socks and ensure that the tenets of the fundamental right to dignity of life of over 33 crores people.

Only 10% women candidates
All the brouhaha about women empowerment espoused by our leaders is nothing but talk. Shockingly, there are barely 10 per cent women candidates in the four poll-bound States, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Kerala. More scandalous, though Bengal boasts of a woman Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee, only 10 per cent of the tickets were given to the fairer sex. Ditto is the case in Kerala and Assam, 8 and 9 per cent respectively. However, the silver lining is provided in Jayalalithaa’s Tamil Nadu which has given a double leg-up to women power from 6 per cent to 11 per cent since the last Assembly polls.

Paradoxically, parties acknowledge woman power and are actively wooing them with various sops, maternity benefits, prohibition and pension schemes. Fingers are crossed that even with the miniscule percentage, more women triumph! This is not all. Even as all parties talk of uplifting the poor a cursory look at the candidates shows an opposite picture. There are 202 crorepatis and 311 candidates with criminal cases in poll-bound Kerala alone. Of these 43 are from Congress, 24 belong to the Left and 18 each of the BJP and the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena. The figures would increase at least four fold in the remaining four States going to polls. So much for clean politics.

Manipur gripped by bandhs
North-eastern Manipur is in the grip of protests and bands against outsiders. Predictably, with Assembly elections barely nine months away, agitation to implement some form of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) which restricts entry of outsiders in the State, has reared its ugly head again. Towards that end, a group of civic organisations have come under the umbrella of the joint committee for ILP in 2012 has been holding bandhs thereby bringing life to a complete standstill in the capital Imphal to put pressure that outsiders do not vote in the elections. Undeniably given the uphill task in identifying who is illegal and who is not. All parties in the State have decided to seek the Centre’s assistance to see if it is possible to keep the outsiders out of the State. It is a moot point whether they will succeed?

Litmus test for AINRC in Puducherry
What goes around comes around, this adage is true of poll-bound Puducherry whereby for the All India NR Congress led by Chief Minister N Rangaswamy, Monday’s Assembly election is a litmus test. His ruling party is engaged in a triangular contest with the Congress-DMK combine and the Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK. However, for the State’s longest serving Chief Minister a feeling of dejavu in reverse has gripped his party in its tentacles.

Recall, in 2011 Rangaswamy rode to power after breaking the Congress, triggering an exodus of partymen and formed the AINRC but the opposite holds true in 2016. His colleagues have jumped ship and have either returned to the Congress or joined the AIADMK. Worse, the Chief Minister finds some of his own people speaking the language of the Opposition accusing him of being authoritative and promoting lopsided growth in the State. Who will emerge triumphant in the 30 MLA Assembly which today has 15 AINRC MLAs, 7 Congressmen, 5 AIADMK, 2 DMK and 1 Independent? Also, will Rangaswamy match his previous performance?

Patriotism to the fore in Gujarat
In Mahatma Gandhi land Gujarat, patriotism – Bharat Mata ki jai and Bharatiya Sanskriti – rules the roost, whereby four text books for students of class IX and XI in the new academic season would include a chapter on Nehru explaining Bharat Mata Ki Jai, and Bharatiya Sanskriti essayed by famed writer Hajari Prasad Dwivedi. The classes would also have to learn and recite the poem Bharat Gaurav by Mathilisharan Gupta and a song by Pt Bharat Vyas. Questionably, many wonder if this will help instill the sentiments of nationalism among students as Hindi is the second language in the State. (INFA)