Clean Chit to Modi: Congress Campaign Fails

A prolonged campaign-more than a decade- by the Congress Party, the Central Government and some social activists against Narendra Modi to implicate him in the 2002 riots of Gujrat has failed.  The court of Ahmedabad has rejected the petition filed by Zakia challenging the closure report of the Special Investigating Team appointed by the Supreme Court of India. The closure report of the SIT maintained that there is no evidence to suggest any involvement of the Gujrat chief minister Narendra Modi in the riots nor there is evidence to suggest that he was involved in any conspiracy.

It is strange that the Congress and others who are crying hoarse to establish the involvement of Narendra Modi without any basis whatsoever. How a chief minister of a state can ask his police to go slow in controlling riots? The backlash of burning of the train coach in Godhara was so strong that the riots could not be controlled immediately. It is possible that the state police and its men and officers who were in the field combating rioters might have not acted with a firm hand. But how a chief minister can be blamed for  such act.

Politically, the Congress is desperate to frame Narendra Modi  in some case or the other before the next general elections to the Lok Sabha. The motive of the Congress led UPA Government at the Centre      is clear. The Congress Party and its leaders are nervous on the eve of the polls because of the tremendous response the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate is getting across the country. It is because of this nervousness that the Congress led government at the Centre is going to appoint a commission to inquire into the surveillance of a woman by the state government that was done at the written request of the woman’s father. As Arun Jaitley has rightly said this move of the government is against federal structure of our Constitution. Not only that any such move would amount to infringing upon the state government rights.

The SIT closure report on Gujrat riots clearly says that there is no ground to initiate any prosecution of the chief minister. How then the Congress and some social activists and NGOs who spent crore of rupees in maligning the image of Modi are still trying to find some reason to repeat the charge against the Gujrat chief minister.

Had Narendra Modi’s intention were dubious, Gujrat might have witnessed violence on communal lines in the ensuing years since 2002. But no communal riots took place in the past 11 years or so after the 2002 violence. Instead of  giving credit to he chief minister for maintaining peace and communal harmony in Gujrat f during all these years, the Congress continues to harp on 2002 riots painting Narendra Modi as anti- Muslim. This is going to backfire since people have understood the game of the Congress . Even a large section of the Muslim community and clerics have openly said that they are not against  Narendra Modi. The Muslims are gradually realizing that the Congress has used the community only for election purposes and all that goes in the name of the Congress Party and its governments concern for the community are bogus.

It is better that the Congress stops witch hunting and try to adopt a positive attitude towards politics. If it does not change its dirty game tricks, the Party is likely to face rout in the next elections.

~R. K. Sinha

Hiccups for Kejriwal: Support not Unconditional says Shiela Dixit

Delhi Chief Minister Designate 

Even before Arvind Kejriwal assumes office of Delhi chief minister, the Congress has began flexing its muscles. Former chief minister Shiela Dixit says, “Support of the Congress is not unconditional”. It will take some time before Congress leaders realize that their support to Aam Admi Party to help Arvind Kejriwal become Delhi’s next chief minister is politically suicidal. The Congress Party agreed to support Kejriwal just to keep the BJP out of the race to form government. But the BJP had already decided not to stake claim to form government since the Party did not have absolute majority of 36 MLAs in the House of 70.

Now that Kejriwal is going to take oath office on 26^th December, the Congress Party seems to be in rdilemma what to do next. It is not going to be easy decision to halt Kejriwal from becoming Delhi chief minister by withdrawing its pledge to support the Aam Admi Party at the eleventh hour. Once the government is formed, Kejriwal will rush for decisions that his Party has promised in its manifesto. How can the Congress oppose populist measures of the new government?

Unless something unforeseen happens, the Congress is likely to continue supporting the government irrespective of its administrative decisions that may include role of the Shiela Dixit led Congress government in the Common Wealth Games scam of 2010 till Lok Sabha elections. That means the AAm Admi Party minority government would be in office at least for another 6 months unless Kejriwal changes his mind and resigns before the Lok Sabha polls to gain public sympathy. He could resign on two grounds. First,  Congress not supporting the new government’s decisions some of which may be irrational and out of gear from administrative point of view. If the promised reduction in electricity charges by fifty percent from the prevailing rates is implemented, the Delhi government may need huge subsidy from the Centre. According to one estimate, the subsidy may run into more than a thousand crores of rupees.

Secondly, Kejriwal with a well crafted move may quit office putting the blame on the Congress and the Centre to present himself as ‘martyr’ of the corrupt political system of which he is now a part of. There are differences within the rank and file of the Aam Admi Party over forming the government with the support of a Party that was charged with running a corrupt government. A cursory look at the tenure of election speeches of Kejriwal would show how critical he was of the Congress government. He described the Shiela Dixit government as most corrupt and did not spare even Dixit of being corrupt.

Questions will be asked how the Aam Admi Party took the support of the Congress to come to power in Delhi.

The first trial of strength on the floor of Delhi Assembly should not pose any threat to the new government since the Congress will support the motion of trust and the BJP in all likelyhoow abstain from voting though I am not sure of this since any decision in this regard would be taken by the leadership of the BJP in New Delhi.

Kejriwal’s real trial of strength on the floor of the House would be enacting laws to pass the Jan Lokayukt bill   for Delhi. Here the Congress may not support the legislation and the BJP is not obliged to support it either if the bill is not sound on law. Should this happen, it will be difficult for Kejriwal to continue in office.

~R. K. Sinha

UNHOLY ALLIANCE: AAM ADMI PARTY & CONG

Delhi has already created history in India’s electoral politics by voting for a debutant political outfit – the Aam Admi Party in a big way that surprised everyone. Now a new chapter is likely to be written in case Arvind Kejriwal forms Government next week with the support of 8 MLAs of the Congress. A formal decision to this effect is to be made by Monday next, according to Kejriwal.

There is nothing wrong in forming government with the support of other political parties since we are in coalition era of politics. But never before a political party which contested elections on the plank of fighting corruption in public life has agreed to join hands with the same party it challenged in the elections to come into power. It is like J Jayalalitha of the AIADMK forming government with the support and help of her arch rival M Karunanidhi of the DMK and vice versa. The Aam Admi Party staged a drama by first saying it would neither extend support to nor it would take support from either the Congress or the BJP in the government forming exercise. But now Kejriwal and his team have gone for taking the opinion of the people who supported and voted for them in the Delhi assembly elections. It conducted so called referendum through SMS (Short Message Service) asking its supporters if AAP should form the government with the help of the Congress. Majority of people who responded to the query want Kejriwal to form Government in Delhi. it is not simply forming the government but the supporters of AAP want Kejriwal and his team to deliver which is possible only when AAP comes to power.

By Monday next Kejriwal would announce the decision of his Party whether he has accepted the invitation of the Lt. Governor or not to form the government.

What kind of Government it would be? Kejriwal has declared to probe corruption charges against outgoing Congress chief minister Shiela Dixit. Will the Congress allow any investigation against its former chief minister? The answer is it will not.

Kejriwal in a televised interview has said that once he comes to power “ virodhiyon ko arrest karoonga” ( will arrest opponents). This is the mindset of the leader who dreams to transform the society, the political system and the country with the band of magic. For Kejriwal, the band is ‘aam admi’ and he is the magician a la P C Sorkar.

One does not have to go deep into India’s modern political history post 1977. The Congress Party in 1996 propped up the United Front Government after the defeat of the Atal Behari Vasjpayee Government in which the CPI also joined the government headed by H D Deve Gowda. Gowda was succeeded by Inder Gujral but the government did not last long and it fell. Before that the Congress supported a hopelessly minority Government of Chandra Shekhar and then within 4 months it pulled the government down in 1990-91. Earlier, after the split in Janata Party, Morarji Desai Government fell on the floor of the Lok Sabha in 1979 and Chaudhary Charan Singh was propped as Prime Minister by the Congress. Charan Singh was the only Prime Minister of India who did not face  Lok Sabha since the Congress Party withdrew its support on the eve of Parliament Session in January 1980 forcing fresh general elections which saw return of Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister.

One wonders how many days or months the Aam Admi Party Government headed by Arvind Kejriwal would last in case it decides to assume power with the help of the Congress Party.

~R. K. Sinha

Kejriwal Develops Cold Feet on Forming Govt.

Saturday, December 14 was the day of dithering and confusion. After meeting Lt. Governor of Delhi, the Aam Admi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal developed cold feet when asked to form Government. Promising the moon was one thing and delivering the moon entirely different. He realized that he would get exposed once he heads the government and not able to come to the expectations of the people who voted for him and his Party. The best thing to come out of the situation for Kejriwal and his team was to run away from the responsibility of governance.

What he did? Put such conditions that would not be acceptable to the Congress which wrote to the Lt Governor of the support of its 8 elected MLAs to AAP for forming the government. As a clever move Kejriwal forwarded the same set of conditions to the BJP President Rajnath Singh. One may ask, why Kejriwal and his Party should seek sort of undertaking from the Congress and the BJP that the two parties would support whatever he decides as the chief minister. If he accepts the invitation and assume office of Delhi chief minister, he does not require support of the MLAs of the two supporting parties on the floor of the House since most of his terms of conditions do not require any legislation. For instance, selling electricity and giving water at reduced price or for that matter not using red bacon lights are executive decisions that any government in power can take.

But the design of Kejriwal and his team is to discredit the rivals and tell the people that the two national parties are not ready to support the agenda of ‘aam admi’. By playing this card he hopes to enlarge his support base and expects to do better if and when elections are held for Delhi Assembly and in elections for Lok Sabha just a few months away from now.

Kejriwal is greatly mistaken in his fond hope. The best course for him would be to form the government and implement his agenda as promised in the poll manifesto. He would have to prove his majority within specified period as decided by the Lt. Governor. In  the trust vote if the Congress would have either supported or absented at the time of voting, the Kejriwal government would survive and he has the opportunity to preside over and run a minority government. But his problem is not this. Kejriwal is scared of taking the responsibility and do the job he and his Party were voted for since the single largest group, the BJP declined to form Government.

The Amm Admi Party has asked for 10 days time to decide whether or not to form Government. With a senior lawyer like Prashant Bhushan by his side, Kejriwal and his Party should know that the present Assembly ends on December 17, 2013 and the new House has to be constituted by December 18, 2013. Failing to do so would automatically lead to President’s rule and a fresh election. Perhaps, the Aam Admi Party has made up its mind to force fresh elections on the people of Delhi that goes against the spirit of democracy.

In an era of coalition governments, if political parties begin taking stand that unless given clear majority they would not join hands with other to form the governments, then there would have been no governments at the Centre since 1977. The Indian Constitution does not have any provision of Central or President’s rule at the Centre.

I suggest Prashant Bhusan to offer orientation and refresher course in practicing Indian Constitution to his Party colleagues and Kejriwal in particular.

~R. K. Sinha

Who To Name Congress PM Candidate: Congress’ Dilemma

After the crushing defeat in the just concluded state assembly elections, the Congress leadership is faced with its biggest dilemma; who to be named as its Prime Ministerial candidate for the next general elections to the Lok Sabha.

Last Sunday when results came out, Sonia Gandhi declared that soon her Party would declare the name of its Prime Ministerial candidate. After days of discussions and meetings, the Congress is yet to come to a decision to name a leader. There has been and there is chorus of demand to name Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Congress Party. Top leaders of the Congress include Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, A K Antony and Digvijay Singh have endorsed this line but both Sonia and Rahul are hesitant to officially declare the name.

I am told, during the past few days, majority of the Congress leaders are not in favour of declaring anybody as the Party’s Prime Ministerial candidate. But there was chorus of disapproval of Manmohan Singh as the face of the Congress in the government. Some Congress leaders even suggested that Manmohan Singh should resign and pave the way for a new Prime Minister before the elections. Here too there is none in the Congress today who can be projected as its Prime Ministerial candidate.

First name that comes in mind is that of A K Antony, a man with clean record and clean image. But his problem is he can’t speak Hindi and hence can’t connect to the people. P Chidambaran is the second name but he too suffers from lack of knowledge of Hindi. There is none other in the Congress to lead the Party in next elections as the face of Prime Minister to match Narendra Modi of the BJP.

There are reports that some Congress leaders have suggested the name of Ghulam Nabi Azad. He is sober and is not a hard core Muslim. Besides, he comes from the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir.

At this time when the Muslim voters have started deserting the Congress as it was evident in Delhi, Rajsthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh where large number of Muslims voted for the BJP, Ghulam would be able to galvanise the minority vote across the country. But there is no consensus in the Congress camp on his name. This leaves a vacuum in the Congress camp with Manmohan Singh being completely ruled out for third term in office.

There is no indication that the Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi who put up a brave face in the hour of defeat has the support to bring drastic changes in the organization. He said, “I will be aggressive in transforming the Party”. No chance, the corrupt and influential leaders of the Congress are so well entrenched in the system that it is difficult for Rahul or Sonia to weed them out. Mani Shanker Aiyer, a Rajiv loyalist has advised Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to go through the speech of Rajiv Gandhi that he had delivered at the Congress centenary session of the AICC in Bombay in 1985. He had said then that it was high time the Congress throws agents and power brokers out of the Congress, if the Party has to survive. But it is almost more than 28 years since then that the Congress leadership far from ejecting power brokers from the Party has espoused corrupt and brokers both in the Party organization and in the government.

~R. K. Sinha

BJP Victory: Harbinger of Lok Sabha Elections

The clean sweep by the BJP in the just concluded elections in four states in the Hindi heartland with a narrow miss of the majority target in Delhi is a pointer to the General Elections due only a few months from now. The Congress is still in the denial mode. Its leaders say, “State elections are contested on local issues. Lok Sabha elections are different”. True, there is always a local factor in the assembly elections; but the results show that the BJP has surged in two states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgah with astounding success despite incumbency of ten years. There was high percentage of polling that normally goes against the incumbency. But the two BJP ruled states defied it and won the trust of the people for third consecutive term. In Rajasthan, there was complete rout of the Congress, with BJP sweeping the polls.

Delhi has a different story. But for the presence of Aam Admi Party, the national capital too would have gone the Rajasthan way with BJP getting more than two third majority in the Delhi Assembly. Kejriwal’s grand success was due to the movement of Anna Hazare against Congress’s corruption. Here too the Congress leaders have come out with their own theory that there was no ‘Modi wave’; had it been so, BJP should have won Delhi elections as well. BJP has not claimed of any ‘wave’ what it has been telling the people and the voters in the poll bound states that the Congress has failed on all fronts and the governments in the states headed by it or the UPA Government at the Centre headed by Manmohan Singh are neck deep in corruption. Hence, it is the BJP that alone can provide a development oriented government with transparency. And the people voted for it. Narendra Modi’s campaign reinforced the support base of the Party besides motivating the cadre to work for the  success of the BJP. People look forward to see Modi as the next Prime Minister of India.

With just short of three seats from majority, the BJP chief ministerial candidate Dr. Harshwardhan has refused to stake claim to form the government. Dr Harshwardhan has said that the BJP would not make any effort or attempt to engineer defection in other parties to get majority in the House. The Central leadership of the BJP too is of the view that the Party should not form the government with the help of defectors. If any elected MLA or group of MLAs comes forward to support and join the Party, the BJP then may take a considered view on the situation. The Party is prepared to sit in the Opposition.

The general refrain during the campaign in Delhi even amongst the supporters of AAP was, “ We will vote for broom this time but in Lok Sabha elections we will vote for BJP and for Narendra Modi”. But the Congress still believes that ‘Modi is not a poll factor”.

It was interesting to hear Rahul Gandhi on the defeat of the Congress. He has promised to “transform the Congress”. This he has been telling since the defeat of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2011. Rahul has been talking of ‘connecting the people’.

As the Congress leaders go in hurdle today to dissect the Party’s drubbing the elections, I eagerly wait for the outcome. One word is that, some senior leaders may demand resignation of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh whose uninspiring leadership has cost the Party dearly. Some Congress leaders are of the view that with Manmohan Singh at the helms of affairs, the Congress’ chance of winning elections in 2014 would be extremely bleak. This view has been openly echoed by the NCP leader Sharad Power who has blamed what he called, “indecisive leadership of the government’ for the debacle of the Congress. Will Prime Minister resign?

~R. K. Sinha

  

Farooq Abdullah Fears Women

For those used to live colourful life with flamboyance are a worried lot today. The spate of incidents involving rape or attempted rape, sexual misconduct and harassment of women by people including rich and famous persons have focused the nation’s attention demanding punishment of the guilty.

Farooq Abdullah is known for his flamboyant lifestyle. Even at this age, he takes dance floors and enjoys late night parties that have glamour and beauty along with choicest wines and whiskies. It is nobody’s business to peep into another’s private life. What the Union Minister and tall leader of the National Conference does in his private moments is his business. But a public figure carries accountability to the people and to the nation on his shoulders. It was here that Farooq erred on Friday, December 6, 2013 when he inadvertently remarked on the prevailing mood of the country vis a vis women’s chastity.

Farooq was casual when he told a group of reporters outside Parliament House, “Ab to ladkiyons se baat karne mein dar lagata hai”.( Now I fear talking to girls). He went on to say that the situation in the country has come to a point when one fears even appointing a woman as secretary. Better send all men to jail”.

All hell broke loose. News channels went viral and women activists were up in arms against Farooq’s remark. True, simple interpretation of his statement goes against the dignity of women. Talking to women will not lead anyone to jail or even keeping a woman secretary is all right. There is remote possibility of a woman misusing or better say abusing her gender to make false and fabricated complaint against her boss or against anyone who comes into contact with her. But that possibility cannot be ruled out altogether. Farooq Abdullah has this in mind when he aired his views to the media.

But interpretation and more than this it is perception that matters. If a person does not make advances against a woman, if he does not try to make physical contact or pass lewd comments, he has nothing to fear in the company of girls. Problem arises when men start taking undue advantage of the situation while being in the company of women.

Rules have changed and so have the laws. Despite this, there are regular incidents of men assaulting women sexually; the only thing is that all the incidents are not reported. Women fear the society and fear the men who are rich and powerful enough to ruin the life of the victim. Look at the case of the victim journalist who was assaulted by her editor Tarun Tejpal in a Goa hotel. The woman journalist took some time in mustering the courage to report the matter to her Managing Editor, Shoma Chaudhary, also a woman. But for the leak of the e-mails, the Tejpal case would not have come to the public domain and the culprit would not have been in police custody now.

I desist to comment on the other much hyped and publicized incident of a law intern who wrote in her blog that she suffered unwelcome behavior from a judge of the Supreme Court Justice A k Ganguly who since has retired from the Supreme Court. The girl wrote her blog almost a year after the incident took place in a five star hotel of Delhi.  The UPA Government was terribly unhappy with Justice Ganguly because he strictly monitored and wrote judgment in the 2G scam. Is there any angle of motivation in the complaint notwithstanding the three member panel has found prima facie veracity in the complaint of the law intern.

~R. K. Sinha

People’s Verdict Is Clear: Against Congress

Without going into the details of various exit polls conducted by agencies and news channels, I can say with certainty that people who voted in the just concluded assembly elections have given their verdict against the Congress.

High turnout of voters at the polling stations is indicative of healthy democracy. The BJP is going to emerge as the clear favourite when the results of the polls are declared next Sunday, December 8, 2013.

Two things are worth taking note of. First, the high turnout of voters in all the five states that went to the polls. Normally, higher percentage of polling goes against the incumbency as is the case in Delhi and Rajasthan where the verdict is going against the Shiela Dixit and Ashok Gehlot governments. But the higher percentage of polling in Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh is not going against the two governments. On the contrary, both Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Raman Singh are likely to return to power for the third consecutive term in the two states respectively.

Let us take Delhi first since the pollsters have predicted a hung assembly except one survey that gives the BJP a clear majority of 41 seats in the House of 70. In Delhi, people came out in large number to register their protest against corruption and rising prices of essential commodities not to speak of high power bills. Shiela Dixit suffered for her own failure to provide a clean governance and she has to pay the price for widely perceived corrupt rule of the Congress led government at the Centre. Despite her claim that she was clean in the scam of thousand of crores in Common Wealth Games in Delhi, people rejected her innocence in the scam. The strings of scams of the Manmohan Singh government right from the CWG to 2G and Coal also resulted in determined Delhi voters wanting the Congress to be voted out of power.

I must say here that the movement of Anna Hazare against corruption made an impact on the mind of the voters. And it was Arvind Kejriwal who exploited the mood against corruption by plunging into electoral politics. His Aam Admi Party garnered votes but not enough to see him capture power in Delhi. He on the contrary worked as a spoiler by dividing the anti-Congress votes in the national capital. I assess the situation in favour of the BJP when counting is over this coming Sunday. Harshwardhan in all likely hood is going to emerge victorious and form the next government in Delhi. Should this not happen, there is every possibility of Delhi going under the spell of Central Rule for 6 months before fresh elections are called.

People are asking did the state assembly elections have any Modi impact. It certainly has. Narendra Modi galvanized the rank and file of the BJP in all the poll bound states in Hindi heartland. He motivated the voters to come out and vote for the BJP. He drew huge crowds wherever he went campaigning.

In Rajasthan, the vote went against misrule and corruption of the Congress led government at the Centre and Gehlot’s own record of weak and corrupt regime. In Madhya Pradesh, victory of the BJP is due to three factors- Chauhan’s performance in the state, people anger against the Congress corruption at the Centre. So is the case in Chhatisgarh where the BJP is likely to retain power though the exit polls have described the contest tough and give the Congress chance to snatch power in Raipur. It is highly unlikely.

A 4-0 win for the BJP will be a harbinger of the next general elections due next year.

~R. K. Sinha

Finally Tejpal Lands in Goa Jail

Finally TarunTejpal has landed in Goa jail for trying to rape a young woman journalist of his own magazine Tehelka. Tejpal’s last attempt to cooperate in the police investigation as a free man failed last night when the District and Sessions Judge of Panjim rejected his anticipatory bail application.

There were fears and apprehensions that many supporters of Tejpal in the government and in the Congress Party would help him secure bail. Questions were being raised as to why the Goa Police did not arrest the accused at Delhi airport or immediately after Tejpal landed in Panjim. The Goa Police could have arrested him at the airport but it followed the rule book. Armed with the statement of the victim and the CCTV footage that showed Tejpal dragging the girl into the hotel lift, the investigating team of the Goa Police went by the letter and spirit of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) allowing the accused full liberty to avail legal remedies to defend himself so that no one could charge the Parrikar Government and the State Police with vendetta against self proclaimed journalist supporting the Congress Party.

The matter does not stop here. Tarun Tejpal and his past conduct need thorough probe. The huge amount of money that he pumped into his business should be investigated into.

I quote Tavleen Singh, a columnist who writes in the Indian Express of Sunday 1^st December 2013. She writes referring to the sting operation on Bangaru Laxaman, then the BJP President in 2001, “… for me even its first sting operation was entrapment and not investigative journalism”.

She further writes, “There is no harm in a newspaper openly supporting a political party, but to do it under the guise of investigative journalism that targets only the other side is wrong. In my view to build a business empire from money taken from dodgy businessmen under the cloak of righteous journalism is wrong”.

There are few in today’s world of journalism in India who can stand against dubious operations of journalists, be it sexual exploitation of juniors at work or working as power brokers in the corridors of power.

 But at the same time it must be said that still there are good number of journalists whose integrity cannot be questioned. Who work with ethics and hence journalism remains watchdog of democracy notwithstanding some black sheep in the profession.

With Tarun Tejpal, the Congress Party’s dirty trick managers have also been exposed. After initial chest beating on Tejpal’s being investigated by the Goa Police, a BJP ruled state, the battery of Congress leaders who came in open to defend the accused have fallen silent.

Further investigation into the Tejpal’s business empire would reveal and expose some big names in the Congress Party and in the Central Government who funded Tehelka and its dirty operations in the name of journalism.

I further quote Tavleen Singh whose observations on the state of affairs of journalism in India need serious introspection.

“What the whole sordid story gives us though is a chance to talk about how badly the Indian media has been damaged by the collusion between journalists, politicians and rich businessmen”.

As I write this piece, the news from Panjim says that the local magistrate has granted only 6 days of police custody for interrogation of the accused Tarun Tejpal against 14 days police remand sought by the investigating team.

~R. K. Sinha