Four years of Modi government: In the biggest election of India’s history, Narendra Modi, the three-term chief minister of Gujarat stormed to power with a thumping majority for his vision for a developed India. In his first major address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2014, Narendra Modi announced his flagship Jan-Dhan Yojana, which to date is one of the jewels in his crown. Others are the successful implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). With India expected to emerge as the fastest-growing major economy again this financial year, especially after slumping to as low as 5.7% due to disruptions from structural changes, this could be a big shot in the arm of Narendra Modi ahead of the 2019 polls. From Ujjwala Yojana to Saubhagya Yojana — Narendra Modi gets full marks for his efforts, even as some targets are expected to be missed.

As Modi completes 4 years, India Inc’s thumbs up to economy; CII says GST cyclone over, reforms on track: As the BJP-led NDA government completes four years in office, industry chamber CII today said India’s economy is robust with GST system having settled down and reforms firmly on the right path. In a statement, CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said over the last four years, the government has systematically addressed major pain points for the economy such as ease of doing business, non-performing assets of banks, foreign direct investment rules, infrastructure construction and exit of failing enterprises.

Achche din may be several years away, but PM must get full marks for trying : Achche din may be several years away, but the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi must get full marks for trying. Four years into the government’s regime, the economy is not exactly rocking. GDP has clocked in at an average of 7.3% annually between FY15 and FY18, below the 7.5% notched up in the five years prior to that. Manufacturing is muddling along, but exports are in a shambles leaving private sector investment stagnant, and few jobs on offer. The damage from demonetisation and GST is slowly coming undone, but business sentiment remains subdued. However, the GST collections have started picking up and the impact of demonitization is gradually fading away. The effect of the two major policy decisions will improve the prospects of the Indian economy.

Sensex leaps 10,000 points! 4 winning feats that steered stock market to record highs: In the span of last four years, Indian stock markets have fared considerably well as compared to regional Asian peers and Wall Street — the world’s largest equity markets by turnover. The benchmark equity index BSE Sensex has added about 10,000 points in the last four years breaching the key levels of 30,000 for the first time under Narendra Modi-led NDA government. The S&P BSE Sensex has gained as much as 9,970 points to 34,663 from a level of 24,693 as on 23 May 2018, before swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as PM.

Has India created enough jobs? Debate on, but this next challenge will be bigger: While formal jobs have indeed been created, muted household income and savings macro data suggest muted quality of jobs in aggregate. “Job quality is the real issue for Indian macro and markets, manifested in the slowing growth of the middle class,” Gautam Chhaochharia, Analyst and Sanjena Dadawala, Analysts at UBS said in the report. But the growing young population in India needs 2 crore fresh jobs annually. The sheer scale of the job market will challenge every elected government of India.

4 small reforms by Modi that went unnoticed: In 2016, the Lok Sabha repealed 1,175 of 1,827 laws that were identified as obsolete, and many other steps were taken to make lives of common people easier. From self-attestation to doing away with birth certificate for passport to Tatkal reforms to easing I-T filing, these reforms went unnoticed in the four years of Modi-led NDA government.

These 5 ministries get stellar score from people, and Finance is not among them : The top five ministries of the Modi government are Defence, External Affairs, New and Renewable Energy, Coal, and Road, Transport and Highways, a survey conducted by LocalCircles showed. Indians have given a stellar score to the Defence Ministry — 4.9 on the scale of 5. The government has been applauded for “taking some bold steps like the surgical strikes against Pakistan,” LocalCircles said.

Even after 4 years, Modi is winning hearts; Survey shows 57% Indians happy with his work :A total of 57% Indians say that the has “either met or exceeded” their expectations in the last four years, a survey said. A majority of Indians are particularly happy with Narendra Modi’s effort in improving India’s image globally, handling of Pakistan, fighting terrorism, infrastructure development and reducing tax harassment, a survey report by LocalCircles said.

Four ambitious targets NDA is poised to miss: After taking over the Prime Minister’s Office in 2014, Narendra Modi shared his vision to make India an investor-friendly destination, which would subsequently lead to job creation and development. However, despite ambitious plans like Make in India, Narendra Modi, four years later, is poised to miss some targets. Amit Shah says PM Modi works for 15-18 hours every day : BJP provided the most hardworking Prime Minister & the most popular leader in the world to the country, a PM who works for 1518 hours a day. We are proud that this Prime Minister is a leader of BJP, says Amit Shah.

Challenges: Pakistan and China are the major source of worry for Modi government. Kashmir policy persuaded by NDA government has yielded no results. In fact, the militancy in the state is on the rise. The hawkish approach has yielded no dividends. China has a pro Pakistan policy and Beijing is looking to mediate in the Kashmir matter. Doklam, POK, Burma, South China Sea, Dalai Lama and trade imbalance are the pending issues with practically no solution. China has practically expanded in India’s next door countries through infrastructure projects and defence cooperation; it is a great challenge for Modi led NDA government in respect to the nation security.

Social Harmony: The Modi government must focus on building confidence with the minority community and the SC/ST community in India. It may be a perception that the NDA government led by Narendra Modi has targeted minorities and socially deprived sections of the communities though in government defence, it is a collective effort of opposition to portray Modi sarkar to be anti minority and anti dalit to reap political benefits. The sooner this problem is addressed, the better it will be for the nation.

Foreign Policy

Modi’s international trips have always generated a buzz. In the past four years, the PM has travelled six continents: 36 foreign trips visiting 54 countries; India’s global presence is said to have become stronger ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power after 2014 general elections. At one point, he was also criticized for his international trips. However, it has been said that in the four years of Modi as PM, India’s bilateral ties with major economies have improved.

India and the big economies

The country most frequented by PM Modi was the United States, where he made five visits including the UN General Assembly meeting in 2014. IndoUS relations were tensed under the second UPA regime, but has certainly improved since the entry of Modi.

Defence, economic and political ties between India and the US have improved a lot since Modi. The two countries signed Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), the defence agreement pending since 2004. Pakistan remains a major policy discussion between the countries. Trump’s tough talk on Pakistan has aligned the US with India’s old frustration with the country.

On his trips to the United Kingdom, PM Modi met Queen Elizabeth twice, once in 2015 and recently in April this year as well as his British counterpart Theresa May. India is the third largest investor in UK, making their ties crucial. Modi recently signed memorandums for National Clean Ganga Mission, skill development and vocational programmes and an agreement between NITI Aayog and UK’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Modi also visited China, Germany and Russia four times in the past four years. Relations between India and China have been strained since the Doklam issue arose and these meetings have defined the two countries’ relationships with each other. Modi was one of the first to congratulate Xi Jinping when he was re-elected as the president of China.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Modi met recently in an informal summit in Sochi, where PM Modi said India-Russia ties have “stood the test of time”. Germany is India’s biggest trade partner in the European Union, and ties have strengthened with each visit Modi paid Chancellor Angela Merkel. PM Modi also made three visits of strategic importance to France in his four years.

India’s neighbors

Narendra Modi has stressed on relations with neighbouring countries ever since he took office. The prime minister paid three visits to Nepal since 2014. Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan are also on the list. Modi had stressed a lot on how South Asian countries must work together for better individual economic standings. Before relations went south, Modi had also visited Pakistan and held talks with then PM Nawaz Sharif. Unfortunately, PM Nawaz Sharif with whom PM Modi had developed personal relationship reigned and the clock went back to square one. The Kashmir issue and OROP remains the burning obstacles in securing better relationship between the two countries, the border tensions and limited hostilities are the regular feature at the LOC that Modi government has failed to reduce and eliminate from the source.

India’s relations with Middle Eastern countries have soared since Modi came to power. Summits with leaders of Israel, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Palestine and Afghanistan were held.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and PM Modi showcased a fast friendship during the former’s visit to India in January 2018. Modi asked Israeli companies to take advantage of the “liberalized FDI regime to make more in India”. Moreover, Netanyahu had described Israel’s relations with India as a “marriage made in heaven”! The Middle Eastern economies have been a priority of the Modi government since India is dependent on them for two-third of the oil imports. Many Indians migrate to the Middle East for jobs too.

Other countries PM Modi visited include Japan, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Fiji, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Sweden.

Domestic Politics

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has increased its electoral footprint from just eight states in 2014 to 20 in four years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership to emerge as the strongest political force in the country.

In fact, from just being a “formidable” force in the Hindi-heartland, the NDA is now in power across the North, with the only exception in Punjab, besides being part of ruling coalitions in seven of the eight states in the NorthEast.

The BJP is now looking to increase its electoral and social presence in the East and the South, where the NDA has marginal presence. Party leaders believe that Modi’s unwavering popularity will eventually help the NDA oust regional heavyweights, such as Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik, from their bastions, before it can increase its presence beyond the Vindhyas.

“The four years can be defined for BJP on the basis of expansion of the party both electorally and socially. Now, the BJP is the central force in national politics. The entire opposition, whether national or regional parties, is now coming together to oppose us.

This is the biggest influence of the BJP on national politics,” said a senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity.

The increasing dominance of the BJP in national politics can be established from the fact that it has wrestled away 12 states from the Congress in the last four years, while the NDA has had 14 electoral victories since Modi came to power. The emergence of the BJP as the political powerhouse took shape at the
cost of the Congress, which has not only faced a series of electoral losses, but has seen its support base shrinking even in key states. The trigger was the historic defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, wherein it recorded the lowest-ever tally with just 44 Lok Sabha members.

Apart from the recent success in Karnataka, where it formed a post-poll alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular), the Congress is left with just Punjab, Mizoram and Puducherry. “Ever since the Lok Sabha defeat, electorally it has been a difficult time for us, but the tide is turning in our favour now. All the recent Lok Sabha bypolls show that the BJP is losing its momentum and popular support,” a senior Congress parliamentarian said, requesting anonymity.
With less than a year left for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is now looking to bring together all opposition parties to form an anti-BJP coalition. The presence of top leaders of more than 15 opposition parties during the swearing-in of H.D. Kumaraswamy as the Karnataka chief minister was seen as a show of strength.

In the last lap of its five-year term, the NDA is also facing a key electoral challenge with three states— Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh— currently ruled by the BJP going to polls later this year. It will also be a test for the Congress, which is attempting to rediscover itself ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

(Prakhar Misra: Writer is Political Editor of Opinion Express Group)

37 percent Indian companies who were researched to spend more on travel and entertainment this year; 40 percent feel Indian businesses are expected to invest more than last year in improving administrative process efficiency.

Travel and entertainment are the two segments which have been given a thumbs up by Indian finance executives as they are likely to increase spending. This is followed by investing in improving administrative process efficiencies and investing on mobile technology and hardware and infrastructure in 2018 to help meet their business priorities. According to the 11th Edition of the Global Business & Spending Outlook Survey, commissioned by American Express and conducted by Institutional Investor Thought Leadership Studio, 37 per cent of the CFOs surveyed that they are likely to spend more on T&E than last year, whereas 50 per cent maintained that they are likely to keep the spending same as last year.

The annual cross-industry survey conducted among 870 senior executives across 21 countries with worldwide revenue of more than US$500 million, states that 33 per cent of the Indian CFOs surveyed are likely to spend more on transportation/logistics and 53 per cent on hardware and infrastructure while half of the senior financial executives (50 per cent) aim to increase spending on mobile technology. About 40 per cent of the CFOs surveyed said that they are likely to invest more than last year in improving administrative process efficiency (e.g., streamlining financial, account payables, or procurement process) to help meet business objectives.

It is noteworthy that 90 per cent of the senior finance executives felt that improving cash and working-capital management (including payables, receivables, and inventories) is more important for their businesses this year as compared to last year. Over 60 per cent of the executives said that use of credit (e.g. revolving credit lines, corporate card, “float”) and ability to negotiate better payments terms on payables and receivables as well as volume discounts on purchases with suppliers and customers would yield substantial financial benefit to the company.

Sharing her views, Saru Kaushal, vice President and general manager, Global Commercial Services, American Express Banking Corp., India, said, “India is leading the way in terms of both business confidence and investments. Efficiency has become the keyword as companies take a back-to-basics approach and focusing on the fundamentals — better serving customers and meeting their needs, developing new products, entering new markets and prioritising business transformation and innovation. Businesses are reiterating the need for increasing spend on T&E, optimising cash flow and using it judiciously to grow and protect the business.”

Sharing economy is the name of the game

About 87 per cent of the respondents believes that commercial innovations of the so-called “sharing economy” (eg. those used by ride-sharing services like Uber or lodging services such as AirBnB will have a substantial impact on their industry in the next five years with 60 per cent executives agreeing that their company’s travel policy allows employees to use sharing economy services for lodging or transportation when traveling on business.

Meeting Customer Needs is Top Priority; Spending Plans Centre on Technology

Meeting customer needs better is a top priority for survey respondents in India (63 per cent). Companies are also most likely to focus on cyber-security and the protection of customer, supplier and employee data in the next two years.

Changing role of CFOs

Interestingly, the survey also reveals that 53 per cent senior finance executives see their function as that of a strategic advisor — not as a leader of strategy, nor as a mere supporter of it which in turn speaks of the significant evolution of the role of the finance executive.

Workforce increase anticipated, focus more on retaining top talent

Senior financial executives in India plan to increase their companies’ workforce in the year ahead. In the coming year 97 percent of survey respondents anticipate an uptick in their companies’ headcount. Last year, 20 per cent expected headcount to grow by 10 per cent or more. However, employee growth of 6 per cent or more rose to 77 per cent this year, up from 50 per cent last year. In an effort to attract and retain top talent, companies are also likely to improve the day-to-day working environment of their employees, offer more flexible work schedules and locations and expand career development programmes.

Writer: Team Viva

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The Church look as if they have led the media in helping build a Congress-Communist narrative that pulled the RSS into the Tuticorin protests.

The coverage by the national media of the protests in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, against Vedanta’s copper smelting plant has been injudicious, based on hearsay and without application of mind. A narrative has been parroted without critical examination.

It is true that protesters were killed in Tuticorin. But unfortunate and tragic as that is, did anyone bother to ask why police had to open fire? These protesters outnumbered the police force by a huge number at the collectorate; they assaulted police personnel physically, pelted them with stones, tore the clothes of female law enforcers and molested them, indulged in wanton acts of arson including setting fire to public property and indulged in an orgy of violence that threatened the safety of innocent people. Should it not be asked what forces were behind this extremely violent protest which is against every democratic norm? Was the protest sponsored or did it occur spontaneously? Who allowed the assault on police personnel and the burning of vehicles, buildings, ambulances and even setting the collectorate ablaze? Who made Tuticorin a battleground? Is death the only indicator of violence? Have we stopped condemning violence unless it results in deaths? Since when have we started celebrating protests indulge in acts of violence and destruction?

It is the absence of these questions being asked that the Opposition, led by the Congress and Communists, were quick to blame without any basis whatsoever the Narendra Modi-led Central Government rather than lay the responsibility for both the protests and the deaths of protesters in police firing at the door of the Tamil Nadu State Government which is in charge of law and order. But facts are of no consequence for those Opposition leaders who took to make wild, defamatory charges against Modi calling him a “murderer”. But then that is par for the course for the conspirators who pushed the Tuticorin protests into violence as it helped them in their goal of slinging mud at the Modi regime. Another motive could well have been to ensure the closure of the Sterlite Copper Smelting plant. But has anyone rationally thought about the negative effects of closing the plant? Is anyone worried about how this will affect our country’s economy and the thousands of employees who will be laid off?

The most provocative statement on the situation came from Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. Apropos of nothing in particular, he blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for the Tuticorin row, keeping in tune with his politics which begins and ends with RSS-baiting. When journalist Gauri Lankesh was murdered, Gandhi accused the Sangh of being behind the killing within half-an-hour of the shooting. When BS Yeddyurappa resigned as the Chief Minister of Karnataka because he couldn’t prove his majority on the floor of the House, Gandhi proclaimed he was supporting the rump JDS to “save the people from the RSS”. Rahul’s anti-Hindu bias is understandable but accusing the Sangh of being a terrorist organization is beyond the pale. In fact, the Congress-Communist cabal by baseless charges against the RSS instead of engaging in an ideological debate has ensured that the Sangh has come to represent Hindu sentiment nationwide. As a corollary, opposition to the RSS is considered ‘opposition to communalism’ and support of Islamic and Christian communalism and is termed ‘secularism’ by this cabal.

In the Tuticorin case, however, there seems to be more to it than just the reflexive blame-the-Sangh approach; a concerted attempt by the Church in those parts, supported by Gandhi and the so-called secular media, to drag the Sangh into the row is evident. The districts of Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu have the highest number of Christians and the Church has great influence on the public. It is not a coincidence that in the last two decades these districts have faced the greatest opposition to national development projects.

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tirunelveli, which was developed in collaboration with Russia, also saw a lot of protests. America’s disdain for this project was quite evident. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh publicly blamed US-funded institutions for the protests against Kudankulam. The then Union Minister V Narayanasamy alleged that Bishop Yvon Ambroise of Tuticorin received Rs 54 crore and was the key figure behind the protests. Many Christian institutions such as People’s Education for Action and Liberation, and Good Vision were on the Union Home Ministry’s radar as instigators. The Home Secretary had announced that bank accounts of four such NGOs were sealed, as money was transferred from overseas to fund national protests and incite disruption.

The Christian population in Tuticorin is close to 30 per cent and the Church has a deep impact on residents’ everyday life. The plan to expand the Sterlite copper plant was brought forward as a new addition to the scope of already ongoing disputes. Before the Sterlite plant was closed, it was producing four lakh tons of copper annually. Under the proposed expansion, which would have happened if not for the violent protests and subsequent deaths in police firing, Sterlite would have produced eight lakh tons of copper annually. If this project had gone through, almost all of India’s copper needs would have been met domestically.

According to official police reports, the Tuticorin protest has a clear foreign influence. Samarendra Das of the ‘Foil Vedanta Group’ flew in from London and secretly met Sterlite protesters and assured them that he would fully support the continuation of the protests, according to police. Is it a coincidence that after the Tuticorin violence John McDonnell, a prominent leader of the Opposition Labour Party in the UK, declared that Vedanta is a rogue company and demanded it be removed from the London Stock Exchange? The discussions regarding Sterlite were used to instigate the locals of Tuticorin. Brother Mohan C. Lazarus on a YouTube video said, without any scientific backing, that Sterlite is a toxic factory. He said that the Church is praying to shut down the factory. He further stated that a protest will be held on 24 March, 2018, at Rajaji Park in Tuticorin, where all Catholics, Pentecostals, Church of South India (CSI) would unite to participate against Sterlite. Scientists of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had visited Sterlite and certified that emissions were within prescribed limits. Then what have these Churches achieved by provoking people against Sterlite, claiming that pollution levels are extremely hazardous? The Kudankulam protests saw the participation of Bishop Yvon Ambroise and SP Udayakumar, while the Sterlite protest had Brother Mohan C. Lazarus and other churches in the surrounding area as prime movers. Is the anti-development attitude of the Church not to be questioned? If the Manmohan Singh Government could take action against such disruptive elements then why can’t the Modi Government?

Police were portrayed as villains in Tuticorin. The media narrative was overwhelmingly of trigger-happy cops going berserk; did anyone try to figure out why the police was compelled to take last-resort action? Local journalist N. Rajesh’s report says the Deputy Inspector General of Police Kapil Kumar Saratkar made elaborate arrangements at the protest venue so that activists would not reach the collectorate. Even when senior police officers were talking to protest leaders and asking them to ensure a peaceful demonstration, radical activists broke the barricades and used iron pieces from them to assault police personnel. Police responded with a ‘lathi’ charge. Rajesh’s report says he and some other journalists climbed to the rooftop of a hotel opposite the collectorate to get a better sense of what was going down. At 11:30 am some protesters, who had forced their way into the collectorate, began burning vehicles. When the protestors saw that their photographs were being clicked and videos being recorded, they pelted journalists with stones. When journalists came down from the roof of the hotel some were assaulted and many had their cameras snatched.

The testimony of the collectorate employees supports Rajesh’s reportage. A female employee said that at 11.10 a.m., she was having tea in the canteen with her colleagues; about 20 minutes later they witnessed bruised and battered police personnel being chased by stone-pelting protesters. The employees were scared and didn’t know what to do, so they went back to their office for safety. Then there was a second wave of protests when an estimated 15,000-20,000 activists entered the collectorate office. They had weapons fashioned from iron rods, glass bottles, petrol bombs and lathis. They set about destroying the office and setting fire to government vehicles. There were about 100 policemen deployed for security who tried to control the protesters and prevent them from entering the collectorate. But the protesters outnumbered the policemen by thousands. They ruthlessly attacked the policemen who ran away in fear of their lives. They then set fire to all collectorate vehicles. The entire office was filled with smoke, suffocating the employees. The protesters didn’t even spare female police personnel. They tore their clothes and molested them. There are hundreds of eye-witnesses to what transpired and they all say the same thing.

Opportunistic politicians and parties who blame police for opening fire need to be more circumspect. Any loss of life is tragic and unfortunate, but what would they have done if faced with a life-threatening situation had they had been stationed at the Sterlite plant and tasked with ensuring its safety? Should violent mobs have been allowed to create havoc and decimate Tuticorin and the copper plant? Should physical assaults on cops and government officials have been allowed? Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad compared those who died in the police firing to the martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh. Azad should be asked if the martyrs of Jallianwala were armed with stones, iron rods, lathis, petrol bombs and glass bottles and whether they chased, assaulted and attempted to kill police officers and commit arson.

The public may have a short memory but they cannot be fooled. Prior to Rahul Gandhi blaming the Sangh, and Ghulam Nabi’s comparison to Jallianwala Bagh, back in 2007 the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh had allowed the extension of the Sterlite plant. The Congress party’s blue-eyed boy and former Home and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram was a Director in Sterlite’s parent company Vedanta before becoming a minister in the UPA government. Blinded by his intense hatred for the Sangh, Rahul Gandhi has also forgotten that law and order is a state subject. There is no BJP government in Tamil Nadu, so why indirectly or directly accuse the RSS?

It is about time that the BJP, the Central Government, and especially the Union Home Ministry learn from this incident. Asking for a report on the incident is not enough. The Home Ministry has failed to investigate the conspiracy, for which it needs to work in collaboration with State Government officials, to bring out the truth. During Manmohan Singh’s regime, there were some attempts to stop radical elements in the Church harming the national interest. What is stopping the Modi Government from following suit?

(The writer is Director, Nijhawan Group of Companies)

Writer: Lalita Nijhawan

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Even after 50 years of continuous rule by Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu, people belonging to SC/ST are suffering and remain oppressed, depressed. This has proved the total failure of the Dravidian Parties.

Governance by Dravidian parties which commenced in 1967 has improved a lot of intermediate castes but the Dalits in the State remain oppressed, depressed and subjugated, according to chroniclers of Tamil Nadu politics.

Incidents which took place in various districts of Tamil Nadu during the last three days underscore the statement made by Ramdas Athawale, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Speaking to reporters during his recent visit to Chennai, the Minister pointed out that Tamil Nadu was one of the 10 States in the country which has high cases of atrocities against Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe communities.

This Monday saw two Dalits, getting murdered allegedly by a section of people belonging to the intermediate caste at Manamadurai in the district of Sivaganga.

A Shanmughanathan (31) who held a MBA degree and K Thirupuvanam alias Arumugham (65) were murdered by the intermediate caste people for not showing respect to the latter when they went to the village temple.

A caste Hindu youth by name Suman got furious when the group of Dalit youths did not get up when they saw him and the murders were in retaliation of the disrespect, according to the villagers.

They also said though there were 15 persons in the group which attacked them, only five have been arrested so far.

The victims who bore the brunt of the caste persons included a retired soldier of the Indian Army as well as a serving policeman.

“The number of atrocities committed against SC/ST communities in Tamil Nadu is big when compared to other States. This has to be brought down,” minister Athawale had told the officials of the Tamil Nadu government.

“Each district in the State should have a special court exclusively to attend to the atrocities against the SC/ST community members. But in Tamil Nadu there are only six such courts,” the Minister had pointed out.

In yet another development, a social activist by name S Sivasubramaniam has come out with a disclosure of how conservancy workers belonging to the Scheduled Caste community are being taken for a ride by the private labour contractors Nilgiri district of the State.

Sivasubramaniam, who heads the Centre for Consumer, Human Resources and Environment Protection in Gudalur has told the National Commission for Scheduled Caste that 50 conservancy workers who have been hired by the contractor at a monthly salary of Rs 13,000/ — were paid only Rs 8,000/ per month for their works and the rest was pocketed by the contractor himself.

“When the workers who felt cheated questioned the contractor, he laid them off  and they are without any work,” said Sivasubramanian.

He said there was no provision in the local body rules to appoint conservancy workers on a permanent basis though they too were part of essential services wing.

According to S Manoharan, an activist working among the conservancy workers in Ootty, the incidence at Gudalur was not an isolated one as exploitation of this kind was happening in all local bodies in the State, irrespective of who is in power. “Dravidian rule has benefited certain castes but not the Dalits.

Their woes have only increased,” said Rameshan, veteran scribe who headed a news agency in the State for more than three decades.

Writer: Kumar Chellappan

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Distressed with the interruption of superstar turned politician Rajnikanth in the Cauvery water row, the KFCC (Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce) has decided not to allow screening of his upcoming movie ‘Kaala’, which is due for release on June 7 as a mark of protest

According to Sa Ra Govindu President of KFCC the film industry is upset with Rajinikanth’s reported statement that whichever Government comes to power Karnataka should implement the Supreme Court order on Cauvery water sharing.

He said “A decision has been taken that Rajinikanth’s movie will neither be distributed nor screened anywhere in Karnataka.”

The KFCC president also said the ban on distribution and screening of Rajinikanth movies will continue. “The ban will remain because neither will he apologise for his statement nor are we going to pardon him,” Govindu said.

The superstar who hails from Karnataka has a great fan following in the State and the distributors for his film depend on Karnataka as a major revenue earning. Neta Rajinikanth has faced the wrath of pro Kannada outfits in the State and Chief Minister Kumaraswamy who is also a film producer has to deal with one more problem of resolving this crisis. The Government expects with the onset of early monsoon, the water from Cauvery can be released from the second week of June. Rajinikanth plays the role of a slumlord-turned-gangster in Kaala.

Theatre owners in Karnataka, too, have said that they will not screen the film in any theatre. Release of the Pa Ranjith directed Kaala was earlier deferred and was supposed to release on June 7 across Karnataka. However, as it is headed for a worldwide release, ‘Kaala’ may not see the light of the day in Karnataka.

Saurav Sharma, head of Goldie films that has acquired the distribution rights for ‘Kaala’ in Karnataka says considering the sentiments of the people of the State decided not to release the film.

Sa Ra Govindu said that the films of both Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth will not be released in the State.

“They have made statements related to Cauvery that are unacceptable to the people of Karnataka. We don’t need their films. Kannadigas are upset with the actor’s statements and so in the interest of the State we are not releasing Kaala,” he said.

The Karnataka film chamber called for a meeting on Tuesday after several Kannada groups called for boycott of the film.

Writer: Kestur Vasuki

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Two days after the inauguration of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, the first half of an ‘outer-outer’ ring road which is intended to bypass the national capital, was propelled open. It was the time to give the road a thorough search to find out the faults and defects.

Turning onto the new road at Kundli, a few kilometres ahead of Delhi’s Singhu Border in the north of the city, the Eastern Peripheral Expressway sweeps eastward initially towards Meerut before heading southward towards Dadri through the heart of western Uttar Pradesh, behind Greater Noida, passing over the Taj Expressway until it eventually ends at Palwal, south of Faridabad. Eventually, the Western Peripheral Expressway that  passes through Haryana through the industrial hub of Manesar will connect to this road, creating an approximately 275-kilometre ring of six-eight lane highway that bypasses the national Capital.

The Expressway(s) three decades in the making got a push from the Supreme Court when they banned older diesel vehicles from entering the capital during the winter of 2016 due to the heavy pollution in the city. The Eastern Peripheral Expressway built in a record 17 months has been in no small part pushed by Union Roadways Minister Nitin Gadkari. And at first glance, the road is superb. An excellent, albeit concrete surface, the road quality is on par with the best expressways in the world. A posted speed limit of 120 kilometres per hour for cars for the most part puts this stretch of Expressway on par with global high-speed roads which have the same speed limit.

But there are some drawbacks. The first of course is that older vehicles and India’s lower-power smaller cars will find it difficult to keep up with the higher speed traffic. Unintentionally, the higher speed limits might actually drive sales of more modern vehicles as it sets a template for other such expressways in India such as the proposed Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway.

But, there is another problem with the road, it is clearly not ready. Detractors of the Prime Minister will claim that he should not have inaugurated the road so soon and that the timing of the opening was due to the recent bypolls in the seat of Kairana in Western Uttar Pradesh. But the fact is that following a Public Interest Litigation, the Supreme Court had ordered that the road should be opened by May 31.

There is much more to an Expressway than just the road surface, which it must be mentioned is complete the entire stretch. But the finishing work clearly is not. While on the initial stretch from Kundli till the Dasna exit is more or less complete with the exception of one carriageway on a bridge, work south of Dasna is relatively incomplete with huge gaps in the restraining guardrail and on some bridges.

While the road is open to vehicular traffic, there are hundreds of workers on the road completing the job, with construction trucks and tractors blissfully parked on the fast lane. At the same time as the access-control toll gates are not ready, Indian drivers very happy to take a ‘shortcut’ are driving down the wrong side.

This is not just a problem here but across Indian roads, including Delhi’s Barapullah elevated road. This is a danger and needs to be tackled immediately before there are major accidents on this road. Your writer drove in the middle of a clear day with over five kilometres of clear visibility, but a moments distraction, particularly in a time when people use mobile phones all the time can lead to tears for a few families.

On the face of it, this is a fabulous bit of infrastructure, one of the best roads built in India ever. Period. But it might have made a bit of sense to have opened the road after it was fully complete, with all the toll gates and access control ready and preventing slower moving vehicles on the road. While the speed limit is a great step forward, there appeared to be no infrastructure for speed and vehicle monitoring installed on the road as yet. That has to be built pronto. Frankly, after waiting three decades, surely the country could have waited two-three more weeks for a fully complete Expressway.  

Writer: Kushan Mitra

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The revolution by the Deve Gowda must have elevate the hackles of Mamata Banerjee. It doesn’t promised for her dream of being Prime Minister as she may be suspended if Mahagathbandhan wins in 2019. She could be ‘made to walk’ to the ‘swearing-in ceremony’ only to see a Mayawati or a Gowda take over.

The Gowdas cordially invited West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee to the swearing-in-ceremony of HD Kumaraswamy in Bengaluru. Then, they created a traffic jam and forced Didi to walk all the way to Vidhana Soudha. Banerjee, the future Prime Minister of India, had to walk. Who in the Front (if it is second or third is yet undecided) wanted to humiliate her? Was it the Gowdas? Should Mamatadi remain in the Front with visible signs of a coup emerging?

In the Lok Sabha, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC has 34 seats but Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) has none. If this trend continues in 2019, and going by what happened in Karnataka, it is obvious that  JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda will be the Prime Minister because he will have fewer seats than Banerjee. As if to prove this premonition right (yeah it is scary), he has started renovating his House in Delhi.

The Congress is accused of bringing lakhs of Bangladeshis to Karnataka and spending money like water to allegedly get them fake voter-id cards besides jobs and homes. This helped it win many seats, it is said. Yet, Deve Gowda bulldozed the Congress’ 78 MLAs to install his son, Kumaraswamy, who had only 37 MLAs, on the Chief Minister’s chair.

Similarly, Didi is accused of bringing a huge illegal Bangaldeshi immigrant vote bank into West Bengal and pampering them like the Congress and the JD(S) did to their MLAs in 5-star resorts. Of course, instead of resorts, Banerjee gave them entire districts like Malda, Dhulagarh and Basirhat to play jihad. Will she be rewarded for her hard work? Not so sure because the Gowdas simply got National Conference chief  Farooq Abdullah and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi to address the Bangladeshis, who morally belong to the Congress and grabbed an entire State for themselves.

The Congress Government in Karnataka very smartly turned a blind eye to the murder and attacks on BJP and RSS workers. They like their ideological opponents to be dead. But Banerjee has surpassed them, going by the ‘well-orchestrated’ violence unleashed on the locals before, after and during every election in West Bengal ever since she became the Chief Minister. But the Gowdas are smart. They engineered a bloodless coup and in a game of thrones, usurped one that was not even theirs. Very Gandhian, actually!

‘Games’ remind me of hobbies. We all know that Didi sells her ‘priceless’ paintings to fund her elections and win enough seats to become the Chief Minister. It was no mean achievement (if you have seen her paintings you would know) until the Gowdas started showing interest in the race tracks, except that they were the horses. They did not even have to fund or win the elections. All they had to do was loiter on the track after the elections and wait for Sonia Gandhi to come shopping. Has Sonia Gandhi ever bought Didi’s paintings? No, and that greatly reinforces the theory of a coup.

Then there is the ‘divine’ hand. Remember the Archbishop’s letter calling for prayers in churches ahead of 2019 elections in the face of a “turbulent political atmosphere threatening democracy and secularism?” Coincidentally, the call by the Archbishop was made two days before the Karnataka election results. A great and rare example of a secular Church, indeed! Wasn’t a similar letter written during the Gujarat election? Not to be left behind in the ‘secular’ race, Didi even strongly supported the call for prayer. All their congregations prayed and yet, the Congress was demoted from the king to a king-maker. In contrast, Deve Gowda and his family organised year-long prayers in several Hindu temples and the kingmaker became the king. This is such a bad omen for Didi who simply dislikes Hindu gods and goddesses. The Gowdas are so communal. How can Didi compete with that?

There also arises an issue of caste. Karnataka’s leaders love caste and religion more than the nation. There is a possibility that the Gowdas may object to Didi becoming the Prime Minister as she has a Brahmin surname. If she converts to a secular religion, the problem can be solved. Fair, socialist and secular politicians, who thrive on creating new religions, will find her to be a worthy aspirant to any post.

Well, coming back to the coup theory. As if to add salt to the freshly erupted blisters on Didi’s feet, Sonia Gandhi hugged Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati tight but displayed no such affection for Didi. After all, Mayawati has zero Lok Sabha seats which is 44 less than the Congress’. What if Sonia Gandhi installs her as the Prime Minister in 2019?

Firebrand Mamatadi should be worried. She can be sidelined after the Mahagathbandhan wins the 2019 election. And she could be made to walk to her oath-taking ceremony, only to arrive on the scene to see Deve Gowda or Mayawati take oath as the Prime Minister. The walk to Vidhana Soudha could even have been a rehearsal, cruelly planted by the Gowdas.

Such serious concerns… must be conveyed to Didi by her fans if they wish to see her become the Prime Minister. But the rest of us want to convey our support to Karnataka’s DGP Neelamani Raju, a dignified officer, who was reprimanded in public by an arrogant woman, who happens to be the Chief Minister of West Bengal, for having had to walk a few metres.

Banerjee cannot be our Prime Minister and neither can anyone else in the motley crowd that turned up on the dais at Vidhana Soudha to congratulate a man who has no mandate to be the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Another day we shall talk about Naidu and KCR; and yet another about the Yadavs and Mayawati. We will need a few reams at least to discuss egos, ambitions, insecurities and political journeys of each one of the Prime Minister wannabes in the Mahagathbandhan. India surely has elected better and deserves better.

(The writer is with non-profit organization, Samartha Bharata, Bengaluru)

Writer: Aparna Pathwardhan

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The preceding ten years of the UPA rule had unquestionably witnessed the most corrupt Government since Independence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi created transparent systems through legislative and institutional changes which have given this country a scam-free governance. Unlike the UPA, the Prime Minister is the natural leader of both his party and the nation. We have witnessed a journey from indecisiveness to clarity and decisiveness. India has transformed from being a part of the “fragile five” to the “bright spot” on the global economic scene. A regime of policy paralysis has been transformed into one of decisions and actions. India, which was on the verge of becoming a “basket case” has today been transformed into the fastest growing major economy in the world and is likely to hold that position in the years to come. The country’s mood from despair has transformed into hope and aspirations. Good governance and good economics have been blended with good politics. The result of this has been that the BJP is more confident, its geographical base has become much bigger, its social base has expanded and its winnability has hugely increased. The Congress is in desperation without the perks of office. From the dominant party of Indian politics, it is moving towards the “fringe”, its political positions are not of a mainstream party but one usually adopted by “fringe” organisations. Fringe organisations can never hope to come in power. Its best hope lies in becoming a supporter of regional political parties. State level regional political parties have realised that the marginalised Congress can at best be either a junior partner or a marginal supporter. Karnataka had witnessed a telling example of this. A regional political party whose base at best is confined to a few districts was able to extract a Chief Ministership of the Congress to which the Congress meekly surrendered. It had even lost its bargaining capacity. It is today putting on a brave face in Karnataka where the losers are masquerading as a winner.

Scam-free Governance Prime Minister
Modi has institutionalised a system where discretions have been eliminated. Discretions lead to abuse of power because they can be misused. Allocations of contracts, natural resources, spectrum and other Government largesse which were being distributed through discretions, are now allocated through a market mechanism. Laws have been changed. Leaders of the industry are no longer seen repeatedly visiting the South Block, the North Block or the Udyog Bhawan. Environmental clearance files don’t pile up. FIPB has been abolished.

statutory mechanism.For cleaning up the economy, India has to transform from a tax non-compliant society to a tax-compliant society. The enactment and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, the impact of demonetisation, effective tax compliance are all steps against black money, steps which are formalising the Indian economy. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has changed the lender-creditor relationship. The creditors no longer have to chase the debtors. If you cannot pay your creditors, you have to exit through a statutory mechanism.

The Social Sector Priority
For the first time in history, the poor and the marginalised are holding bank accounts as part of the world’s largest financial inclusion programme. The MUDRA Yojana has made cheaper credit available to the weak and the marginalised. The biggest beneficiaries of this have been women, SC/ST, minorities and other weaker sections. Rural roads with a hugely increased expenditure are a success story. That every village must be connected with road and electricity, affordable rural housing, toilets and gas connections in all homes, are intended to change the quality of life in villages. The Crop Insurance Scheme and the Government’s decision that farmers must get 50 percent above cost are steps intended to eliminating agricultural distress. The UPA Government had sanctioned Rs.40,000 crores under MGNREGA but with budget cuts spent only Rs.29,000 crores. Today that expenditure has been doubled. Under Food Security Programme, the expenditure has been increased to Rs.1,70,000 crores to ensure cheaper food-grain availability to the eligible. On the healthcare front, the destiny of India’s poor will change when 40 percent families at the bottom of the ladder will get a treatment upto rupees five lakhs for hospitalisation at the cost of the Government scheme.

The Economic Management
During the UPA Government, India had fallen off the global radar. In its initial years when the world economy was booming, India grew on the strength of global tailwinds. When the global situation became challenging, the UPA’s decisiveness and performance collapsed. The last two years of the UPA had witnessed substantially lower growth rates. From the very first year of NDA, India is the world’s fastest growing major economy with the highest GDP growth rates. This is also the global projection for the next few years.

The Current Account Deficit (CAD) saw an unprecedented 6.7 percent deficit in the year 2012-13. The NDA has consistently maintained a CAD of under 2 percent on an annualised basis. The poor economic management was visible when under the UPA fiscal deficits remained alarmingly high. The Government was spending more and earning less. We witnessed fiscal deficits of 5.8 percent, 4.8 percent and 4.4 percent in the UPA’s last three years. Having inherited the mess, the NDA, year after year, has brought it down to 3.5 percent and shall, this year, try and deliver a 3.3 percent fiscal deficit. The UPA’s economic management was such that even when fiscal deficits were high, expenditure cuts of over rupees one lakh crores were done in order to make fiscal deficit optically look slightly better. Cut in expenditure means cut in growth. During the NDA years, Revised Estimates of expenditure were always been higher than Budget Estimates. The UPA provided India in its last years an inflation figure upto 9 percent and at one stage even crossed into double digits. The NDA has tried to contain inflation and on most occasions has remained within the target of 3 to 4 percent. The poor economic management of the UPA resulted in the high cost of borrowing for the Centre and the State Governments. The bond yields had touched an incredible 9.12 percent in April, 2014. We have been, on an average, able to contain it between 6 to 7 percent with a low of 6.3 percent on one occasion and rarely in the 7 percent range only when global factors impacted either the currency or the crude prices.

From the last year of the UPA, the infrastructure expenditure to this year has increased by 134 percent during the current year. The Congress President must remember that taxes don’t go into the pocket of the Government. They go back to the people for better infrastructure, better social sector expenditure and poverty reduction programmes. The social sector expenditure has seen a substantial increase by both the Central and the State Governments. The road sector programmes has witnessed a 189 percent increase between the last year of the UPA and the current year of the present Government. Resources are transferred to the States with 42 percent devolution of taxes, Finance Commission grants and assistance through the CSS schemes. Notwithstanding the perpetual grumbling, last year of the UPA witnessed Rs.5,15,302 being transferred to the States. This year the proposed transfer is 145 percent higher and will be at 12,62,935. crores. This is over and above what the States earn from the GST where they have been constitutionally protected with a 14 percent annual increase. The States independently levy their own taxes.

Institutional changes thus being enacted and implemented are putting the Indian economy on a far stronger wicket.

The Fifth Year Debate
As we enter the fifth year of the Government, the NDA’s priorities are clear. This will be our year of consolidation of the policies and programmes which we have implemented. In our Prime Minister, we have a strong leader with a mass appeal. His capacity to change India’s destiny is globally recognised. His insistence on integrity, his infatigable capacity to work, his clarity of policy and direction, his boldness in taking steps in larger national interest gives the NDA a natural political advantage. Clarity and credibility are hallmarks of the NDA Government.

The last few days have witnessed a discussion about a “fictional alternative”. A group of disparate political parties are promising to come together. Some of their leaders are temperamental, the others occasionally change ideological positions.

Writer & Courtesy: The Pioneer

The fight for the future of India is against three major assemblies: those who enact political terrorism, those who permit it to continue persistently, and from self-satisfied rootless leaders.

One of the most heart wrenching, irony-soaked episodes during the Karnataka election campaign was the ludicrous spectacle of a few superannuated Congress leaders — led by Manmohan Singh — writing to the President of India directing him to ‘caution’ Prime Minister Modi on the kind of language he used during the campaign. The letter, a prattle of sorts, had three categories of signatories — the superannuated — cold storage leaders of the Congress — Motilal Vora, Karan Singh and the like; those who looked the other way when mega scams were rocking the UPA II boat — Manmohan Singh, AK Antony et al; and those who aided and actively abetted corruption — such as P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal. One thing that unites all these signatories in one category is the fact that they are all rootless durbaris who, instead of trying to re-invent the Congress after its worst debacle in 2014, have kept paying obeisance to an increasingly erratic dynastic scion determined to wreck the pillars of our democracy and undermine the democratic spirit.

However, why do I bring notice to an irrelevant piece of rag that should have ideally found its way into the dustbin? It is because, right when these Congress ‘stalwarts’ were writing to the President of India to ‘caution’ Modi, their own partymen in West Bengal, led by their leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, were being bludgeoned, intimidated, abused and assaulted by goons and lumpens of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC). They, like all other opposition parties, were in the fray for the panchayat elections in the State and their grassroots workers were eagerly looking forward to be part of the panchayat polls.

Thus, while Mamata Banerjee’s lumpens knifed and hammered Congress workers on the ground — though the most brutal assault was reserved for the BJP workers — their rootless leaders in Delhi — all leading durbaris of the party’s ‘first family’ themselves living in the vacuum of a Lyutens mindset, deluded by visions of grandeur and relevance, some of whom have spent a lifetime lecturing on humanism and democracy, were complaining to the President of India, not against the bloodletting that Mamata Banerjee’s TMC had been indulging in by preventing the legitimate exercise of democratic rights. They were, instead complaining against a false scenario of a Prime Minister not living up to the dignity of his office. The Congress leadership has never been particular about protecting and standing by its workers and those who struggle on the ground to keep the party functioning and relevant. For them, it is the ‘family’ which matters, the rest is incidental — the concept and design of the ‘parivaar party’ has been clearly delineated.

Similarly, while Mamata’s goons had unleashed a reign of terror in which Congress workers were also victims, Abhishek Manu Singhvi was appealing to the Supreme Court on the Karnataka issue, having being elected to the Rajya Sabha on ‘Didi’s’ munificence, he had become a slave, he dare not sympathise with his party’s workers who were being intimidated. It took a Narendra Modi to speak of the panchayat poll violence in West Bengal as the ‘death of democracy’ and to reiterate the point that workers and candidates from all parties, except the one ruling in Bengal, were afflicted and being prevented from exercising their democratic rights.

While the Congress’s philosophers and economists were busy in trying to interpret and examine Narendra Modi’s lexicon — they were hurt because Modi had actually taken head on the Congress dynast — their workers in West Bengal were being brutally done away with by one of their close allies — the TMC. Another irony-cased issue for the Congress in West Bengal is that Mamata Banerjee has, since the Assembly election in 2016, poached 11 Congress MLAs. While the party in West Bengal is gradually disintegrating, while the once formidable Dr BC Roy’s legacy is being wiped out with the decimation of the Congress in the State, its philosopher and economist leaders are playing fiddle and paying obeisance to the ‘dynasty’, they dare not protest Mamata’s poaching of their party in Bengal.

However, the issue here in the space of this column is West Bengal and the near 45-day trauma that the State and its democratic space had to undergo. One thing clear from the panchayat poll results is that the BJP has emerged as the principal opposition party in the State. BJP chief Amit Shah’s repeated exhortation, that the more the Lotus is sought to be crushed, the more will it bloom has actually been proved right. Despite severe repression, assault and intimidation, with the BJP’s workers being killed, its women workers assaulted and molested;  despite being victims of targeted bombing by TMC lumpens, the BJP workers resisted political terrorism and proved their mettle. Across a vast swathe, including the Jangalmahal areas, the BJP has registered its presence at the grassroots. The shocking footage of ballot papers being stamped on counting day by TMC lumpens has revealed the actual condition of democracy in the State. The fact that BJP ballot papers were being singled out for this exercise at invalidation is indicative of the heat that the ruling TMC has begun to feel at the BJP’s expansion at the grassroots.

Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had unleashed a cycle of violence against the BJP candidates as well as their family members. Pursuing typically fascist methods, once used by the Left front cadres to threaten and subdue Opposition candidates, the TMC lumpens too began threatening and dissuading Opposition candidates from filing their nominations. The main targets of their attacks and intimidation have been BJP workers who were forcefully prevented from contesting the panchayat elections.

So gruesome has been the TMC violence  that it has seen workers being killed, women being molested and manhandled — in fact, TMC goons had gone around villages, threatening BJP workers, telling them that if they dared to contest, they should first buy for their women at home bales of white cloth used to cover cadavers and then proceed for filing their nominations. This was the exact modus operandi adopted by the CPI(M) harmads — armed and hired lumpens — who would, at gunpoint, threaten Opposition workers and make a mockery of democracy. The TMC cadres and the party’s mercenaries, with express support of TMC supremo, unleashed exactly such a cycle of violence.

So intense and thorough has been TMC’s terrorisation of democracy in Bengal that in Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee’s Lok Sabha constituency, Diamond Harbour, the Opposition was unable to file nominations in over 93 per cent of the seats, while in Birbhum, overseen by Mamata’s favourite henchmen, the district president Anubrata Mondol, the picture is similar.

In fact, Anubrata coerced and threatened candidates from withdrawing their nominations or having filed them, to switch over to the TMC. Both Abhishek and Anubrata — Mamata’s favourites in her control for Bengal — have actually lived up to her hope of controlling Bengal through terrorising the people and by ensuring that the democratic space in the State keeps shrinking. In this, she has surpassed the communists, who adhered to the philosophy of limited terror and limited violence in order to keep the proletariat in line and disciplined.

By resorting to violence with the help of anti-social elements, Mamata Banerjee has, while she keeps lecturing us on the need to protect the Constitution, put together by Dr Ambedkar — has herself defiled the sanctity and purity of the Constitution by turning the election process into game of muscles, fear and blood. TMC goons and lumpens with country made arms, batons and iron rods have been knifing, bombing BJP workers, vandalising shops, manhandling women workers and terrorising localities. BJP party offices across the State, especially in rural areas, are being vandalised and torched. The case of Raiganj was for all to see, where TMC harmad groups went on a rampage, breaking shops, openly wielding arms, hurling bombs and expletives. CPI(M) cadres too have been at the receiving end of what they have themselves meted out people during their three decades in power. Strangely, their leaders in Delhi blame Modi for the violence and are very reluctant in naming the actual perpetrators on the ground!

BJP workers were beaten up inside the SDO offices while trying to file their nominations or were prevented from entering the SDO offices for filing their nomination. A case in point is that of Bilash Lakshman, BJP leader from Khanakul’s Gobindapur in Hooghly. Lakshman had come to collect his nomination paper for the No 49 Zilla Parishad seat of Khanakul. BJP Kisan Morcha leader of Khanakul Tapan Mondal accompanied him. They were abducted in front of the Deputy Magistrate, taken out of the office and badly beaten up and manhandled by TMC goons.

While Keshab Koyal of Sandeshkhali-1, of Basirhat Subdivision, in N 24 Parganas too faced a similar situation when armed TMC goons picked him up from the BDO’s office and prevented. BJP workers who were filing the nomination form sitting in the BJP office at Minakhan, Basirhat Subdivision, N 24 Parganas, were attacked and their forms torn, the party office vandalised and workers badly beaten up. The Minakhan BJP office is next to the police station. BJP worker in Purulia, Bhim Sen Nandi had to be hospitalised after being severely beaten by TMC goons.

Such incidents have occurred and are occurring in large numbers across the State. Incidents of knifing and bombing has become rampant, the police forces are unable to or are unwilling to bring the situation under control. With the rise in nominations on BJP symbol, the TMC got rattled and resorted to unleashing violence against BJP workers and their families. However, BJP workers have also resisted TMC lumpenism and have, in areas, recovered inch-by-inch lost ground, it is this that makes the TMC and its leadership nervous, they wish to control Bengal unchallenged but lack the capacity to do it in a democratic manner. Both the TMC and Mamata Banerjee have failed the Indian Constitution, and the struggle against them must be further strengthened for democracy in West Bengal to be able to survive. While she poses as the foremost protector of the Constitution, Mamata Banerjee has consistently displayed that she is an inveterate fascist when it comes to controlling the politics of West Bengal.

But the most deafening silence on the ruling party sponsored IS-like violence in Bengal is from those who have consistently spread false and malicious propaganda against Prime Minister Modi and the BJP. Those placard carrying professional protestors and marchers, those five star activists, who have always created false narratives, have been conspicuously silent, they do not have the gumption to challenge Mamata, they are comfortable with attacking Modi and just because there is no Modi in West Bengal, they keep silent when democracy is being throttled in that State, they are complicit in this subversion.

The challenge for us is from three quarters: Those who perpetrate political terrorism and cover it with a veneer of being respectful to the Constitution — as Mamata Banerjee has done and is doing in West Bengal; from those who allow that kind of terrorisation to continue unabated because protesting against it will not serve their larger hate-inspired goal of demonising Modi; and finally from those self-professed rootless leaders — now mostly found in the Congress — who instead of trying to rein in their increasingly imbecile and volatile party president, continue showering plaudits on his effort at destablising the country, compromising our Constitutional institutions and at subverting democratic mandates. The larger struggle for the future of India, therefore, is against these three elements.

(The writer is director, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Research Foundation, New Delhi. Views expressed are personal)

Writer: Anirban Ganguly

Courtesy: The Pioneer

BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday shown confidence of winning the upcoming Assembly elections in Mizoram and announcing it to be the eighth northeastern state that would join the BJP in its aim of a ‘Congress-Mukt Northeast’.

Shah said this while addressing the third conclave of the BJP led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) at Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra here on Sunday and added that all the eight Chief Ministers of northeastern States will be sitting in the next NEDA conclave after the Mizoram elections.

Shah’s visit to Assam witnessed protests by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) whose members waived black flags to Shah in protest against Centre’s move to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 on the stretch from airport near Guwahati to Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra, where the conclave was organised. Police also arrested KMSS chief Akhil Gogoi and some of his colleagues from near the meeting venue to be release later.

“This is only the third conclave of NEDA and I can see representation from seven northeastern State here including the Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, MLAs and MPs from our constituent parties,” said Shah while adding that all the eight Chief Ministers of northeastern States will be sitting here together after the Mizoram elections.

“NEDA was formed after we won the elections in Assam in 2016. Following Assam, we formed Governments in Manipur and Tripura. In Nagaland and Meghalaya, NEDA constituents NDPP and NPP respectively has formed the Governments with support from the BJP,” Shah said.

The BJP president also launched an attack on the Congress and said that all the Congress Chief Ministers of northeastern States have amassed bunglows and huge properties outside the State and in many Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore etc. “The BJP Government has ensured that every paisa sanctioned by the Centre reaches to the people in the grassroots in all the States,” he said.

Shah said that the NEDA is not only a political platform but geo-cultural platform which have brought together all the northeastern states to discuss and implement ways to ensure development.

“Earlier northeastern states are used to be known for corruptions. Now due to the presence of NEDA governments, the northeastern states have gone beyond ‘briefcase politics’ and new milestones of developments are being achieved in different states,” he said adding that the youths of the northeastern states are now looking up to NEDA with a hope.

It may be mentioned here that the conclave on Sunday was participated by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and others. Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling could not attend due to other engagement.

Writer:  Anup Sharma

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The Congress today decided to stake claim to form government in Goa where it had emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly polls held last year. Chandrakant Kavlekar, Congress Legislature Party chief, said the party will stake claim by submitting a formal letter to Governor Mridula Sinha containing signatures of all the 16 party MLAs.

The BJP has, however, dismissed the Congress’ demand, as a result of frustration at being wiped out of the country’s political map, with the State Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Sadanand Shet Tanavade even urging the Congress to bring its president Rahul Gandhi to Goa, to try and wrest the Government from the ruling BJP-led coalition alliance.

Earlier on Thursday, hours after Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala swore in senior BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister, State Congress president Girish Chodankar in a missive to the Governor insisted that the Congress be invited to form power in Goa because “it is the single largest party” in the State, as far as legislative strength is concerned.

“We are requesting Her Excellency to follow big brother Karnataka Governor and invite the Congress to form the Goa Government to recitfy a wrong,” Congress State President Girish Chodankar told The Pioneer.

“If the Karnataka Governor can invite the Bharatiya Janata Party, the single largest party to form the Government, why can’t the Goa Governor invite the Congress, the single largest party in Goa, to form the Government here? Why two critieria for two States? Why double standards?” he also said, adding that the Congress had formally sought time from Sinha to state their case. The BJP in its reaction has said that the Congress was merely acting out of frustration.

“The BJP is ruling in Goa with the help of alliance. What is the point of crying now? Let them cry. They have realised now that no one is accepting them in the entire country. In Karnataka too, their seat share has shrunk and they do not have a Government anywhere,” Tanavade told The Pioneer.

“BJP alliance in Goa has an absolute majority. The Congress is frustrated because the party is being wiped out of India, therefore they are making wild allegations. BJP, Goa Forward, MGP Independents, all included we have 23 MLAs. They have 16, they should know how many of the 16 are actually with them,” Tanavade also said, accusing the Congress central leadership of being not on the ball during the Government formation process in Goa in March last year.

“When election results were announced (in March 2017), the BJP staked claim to form the Government before the Congress did. They were sleeping. They did not even have a leader. (AICC secretary) Chella Kumar and Digvijaya SIngh were sleeping in a hotel. Who asked them to sleep in a hotel,” he said, even egging the Congress to “fly down” Rahul Gandhi to plead the party’s case with the Governor.

Writer: Mayabhushan

Courtesy: The Pioneer