However, the Congress was given a scare during the campaign, as the BJP put up an unprecedented fight. As speculations started doing the round about how suddenly BJP had gained so much ground in a constituency, where it never existed before, the names of Reddy brothers(Karunakara, Janardhan and Somashekara) was heard in whispers. The rumours about them spending a lot of money to project Sushma and how they had left behind some of the well known leaders behind in the constituency in terms of organizing the campaign was also heard. But they were hardly seen.

Sushma lost the election, but the Reddy brothers had managed to acquire a heavyweight patron as well as legitimacy. Sushma’s benign blessings and her decision to attend the annual Varamahalakshmi pooja in the residence of Reddy brothers in Bellary started from 2000 onwards, and from every visit of hers annually, their clout also started to grow.

Around the same time their fledgling mining business, boomed, as China started importing iron ore, and the Reddy brothers’ daily profits were rumoured to be anywhere between Rs.3 to 5 crore! With the newly acquired wealth and the clout of Sushma Swaraj behind them, the Reddy brothers grew from strength to strength.

By the time the 2004 elections to both the Lok Sabha and Karnataka Assembly was declared, the Reddy brothers had acquired so much clout that the two of them were given tickets, Janardhan Reddy, the middle of the three brothers and the master-mind behind their business and politics, got the ticket to Assembly and his elder brother, Karunakara Reddy, for the Lok Sabha.

Both won, and with it ended the monopoly the Congress had over the Bellary Lok Sabha constituency for over five decades, and also the hold over the district.

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें. (साभार- राजस्थान पत्रिका)

Meanwhile the Reddys had started acquiring a lot of wealth through legal and illegal(more illegal) mining, real estate and other businesses. They were also aided by the coming to power of Y.S.Rajashekara Reddy, in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, with whom they had struck by then a close friendship, despite being in rival parties. YSR and Reddy brothers formed a nexus, and it is now all unraveling, as the CBI investigations into the wealth and properties of the Reddy brothers and the son of YSR, Jagan Mohan Reddy spills out.

Janardhan Reddy , who is rumoured to have slept on silver bed, and sat on golden chairs, his wealth was the path to political power. The BJP which encouraged the brothers and their right hand man, B.Sriramulu, right through the decade of 2000, and used their wealth to win elections and buy up rival party MLAs, in several “Operatio Kamala”, it is now testing time. However the party is unwilling to give up on them, as the brothers hold too many secrets of many leaders, both at the Central and State level.

Though Janardhan Reddy is jailed in Hyderabad, following the arrest by the CBI, with his cousin, Srinivasa Reddy,the BJP leadership continues to make noises in their favour. The clout of the Reddys despite the Lok Ayuktha indictment and later the CBI arrest, is evident from the fact that the BJP President Nitin Gadkari landed in their house for the last Varamahalakshmi pooja, after Sushma Swaraj distanced herself from the brothers.

It is rumoured in the State BJP circles that the Reddy brothers have gifted a golden sword and a Rs.1.5 crore worth car to the BJP President on the occasion.

However, whatever effort a section of the BJP leadership may make to keep their doors open for the Reddy brothers, their woes are not going to end in a hurry. The CBI’s as well as the Lok Ayuktha’s list of charges against the Reddy brothers are so long and so elaborate that it will take a long time for them to escape, if ever they do.

The recent revealations from the Lok Ayuktha report about the way in which the entire illegal mining operations were being controlled by Janardhan Reddy through Karapudi Mahesh is also a damning indictment, which is yet to be taken up by the Karnataka Lok Ayuktha. The CBI’s cases in Andhra Pradesh itself will take a long while, even as the Lok Ayuktha in Karnataka will now move in anytime to launch prosecutions.

Meanwhile, the huge amount of gold, silver, cash and man many incriminating documents recovered and yet to be recovered has shown that the weak protests by some BJP leaders about Centre launching a witch hunt against the Reddy brothers don’t stand scrutiny.

For Janardhan Reddy who at one time entertained hopes of becoming the Chief Minister of Karnataka, and held the BJP leadership under his control, the times have changed fast. From the luxurious bungalow in Bellary to the jail in Hyderabad it has been rapid fall. The growth and fall of the Reddy brothers on the Indian political firmament just in a matter of 12 years, is a lesson for all political parties, which have been encouraging and basking in the glory of such dubious moneybags, who from being behind the scene operators claimed and got centre stage. It is soul-searching time for all political parties.

Two of them now face action from no less than the Parliament itself, as the two were seen having crossed all limits of decency. Kiran Bedi, the former police officer and the key member of Anna Hazare’s team and the ageing film personality, Om Puri had directly attacked the MPs. While Bedi who is seen as one of the members of Team Anna, who made negotiations difficult for the UPA Government by her adamant approach, mocked at the MPs using a “ghoonghat” and calling them “ganwar” among other things.

Om Puri, known for his brilliant acting skills, however disappointed the multitude of his fans, when he appeared on the Ramlila stage, in a drunken state and started speaking completely out of context, even mentioning a well-known TV anchor and making up a story about her disappearance from the country. What however got the MPs ire was his reference to them as “illiterate” and “corrupt” who makes crores of rupees in a short time. He also rambled on, “I feel ashamed when an IAS or IPS officer salutes a ganwar, who is a neta . We have more than 50% ganwar leaders. Don’t vote for them,” before he was asked to vacate the stage.

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें (साभार- राजस्थान पत्रिका)

The furious MPs have moved a motion of breach of privilege in both Houses of Parliament. Though the movers of the motion are low-profile MPs from smaller parties, there is no doubt from the mood among the MPs that they have almost unanimous support from everyone. “We should send these people to jail for a few months, only then they will learn”, has been the general feeling among many MPs, cutting across party lines.

The two MP/politician-bashers join an illustrious list of people who have been hauled up by the Parliament, for showing disrespect to the members. They include, Khushwant Singh, Osho or Acharya Rajnish, as he was also known as and the acid tongued Shiv Sena Patriarch Bal Thackaray.

Though there are different types of breach of privilege MPs, the one dealing with current incidents relates to the “speeches and writings reflecting on the House, Members etc”, as laid out in the Rules of procedure of the two Houses.

The rule states, “It is a breach of privilege and contempt of the House, to make speeches—– reflecting on the character or proceedings of the House or its committees or on any member of the House for or relating to his character or conduct as a Member of Parliament. Such speeches or writings are punished by the House as a contempt on the principle that such acts “tend to obstruct the Houses in the performance of their functions by diminishing the respect due to them.”

However, interestingly, William Gladstone, the great British Liberal and four time Prime Minister in the nineteenth century, discussing the issue of breach of privilege, states, “Breach of privilege is a very wide net, and it would be very undesirable that notice should be taken in this House of all cases in which hon’ble members are unfairly criticized. Breach of privilege is not exactly to be defined. It is rather to be held in the air to be exercised on proper occasions when, in the opinion of the House, a fit case for its exercise occurs. To put this weapon unduly in force is to invite a combat upon unequal terms wheresoever and by whomsoever carried on…Indeed, it is absolutely necessary that there should be freedom of comment. That freedom of comment may, of course, be occasionally abused; but I do not think it is becoming the dignity of the House to notice that abuse of it”.

Interestingly even the Indian Parliament has taken Gladstone’s advice seriously more often than not. For instance in the case of Osho, the Rajya Sabha Chairman, decided to ignore his rather shocking statements. He had been reported in Navbharat Times on Aug.3,1986, to have said, “Members of Indian Parliament are mentally under-developed. If investigations are made they would be found to have mental age of 14 only.” Then Chairman R.Venkataraman, in his ruling to a privilege notice, dismissed the rantings , “We generally treat such remarks beneath our notice…It is inconsistent with our dignity to attach any importance to the vituperative outbursts or irresponsible statements of a frustrated person”.

In the case of Khushwant Singh also, the Rajya Sabha brushed aside his critical comments about MPs voting to raise their own emoluments.

However in the case of their own, a former MP, K.K.Tewari, the Rajya Sabha who made derogatory remarks against the Rajya Sabha chairman, the house was stern. It summoned him to the House and charged him with contempt of the House and was reprimanded in the bar of the House.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, before which the breach of privilege notice against Kiran Bedi and Om Puri is now placed, will have the option of seeking an apology and if given treating the matter as closed. Om Puri has already expressed regret for his statements, and possibly he will also give it in writing. In the case of Kiran Bedi is she persists with her stand that she will not apologise, the two Houses may even go to the extent of summoning her to the House and reprimanding her and in the worst case scenario even sentencing her to imprisonment for some time.

What this entire episode shows is that though there are occasions when politicians and MPs are criticized and shown in poor light, there has to be a limit to the criticism and should never cross the borders of decency. Both Om Puri and Kiran Bedi obviously have crossed those borders, and therefore it is understandable that the MPs have been forced to take action against them. It is now upto Bedi, like Puri to show the grace to tender an apology and close the matter. If she persists, it is she who will be seen as the offender and not the Parliament, whose dignity is more important than an individual’s ego.

photo- panini anand

24 hours later, Dr.Manmohan Singh and his government and also by association, the Congress party, was battling not only the issue of corruption, but also had acquired the dubious tag of being “autocratic, repressive and dictatorial”, by its mindless act of arresting the civil society activists, led by Kisan Baburao Hazare(alias Anna Hazare). They had nobody else to blame for adding to the nation’s conscience the issue of “democracy under threat” to the already full blown frustration about corruption.

The somersault 12 hours later by withdrawing all charges and allowing Hazare and company to be released from Tihar Jail also backfired badly, as the old man refused to budge, until he was released unconditionally and allowed to fast as planned. The bungling Government had no other option but to succumb to it also. But he put more conditions. In the bargain, in 24 hours, the UPA Government had turned Hazare from an anti-corruption activist to a “savior of democracy”!

The Government evidently had no idea or refused to admit to itself, the extent of dismay and frustration among the people about what is perceived as all-pervading corruption, when it asked the Delhi police to lay down unprecedented conditions for undertaking a fast by Hazare and his group. Of course, there is some substance to the argument that when a legislation is the property of the House, the best way is to take recourse to the mandated and well established parliamentary procedures to put across your point, and not resort to fast unto death and other such tactics.

In fact the Government and its supporters have a strong proponent of their point of view. None other than the architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. In his stirring concluding address to the Constituent Assembly, before it adopted the newly written Indian Constitution on Nov.25,1949, the great man made these remarks, which has abundant significance in the present context. He said:

“If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgement we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us”.

However the advice of Dr.Ambedkar has gone un-heeded all these years, and Hazare and his lot have also shown utter disdain, especially when they have insisted that the Lok Pal Bill should be what they think it should be and nothing less. And based on this adamant (almost bordering on a childish tantrum ) stand, Hazare and company have sought to impose their views on the Parliament and millions of people who don’t agree with his views. The methods that Dr.Ambedkar above refers to as the “grammar of anarchy”.

It is important to mention here that the Jan Lok Pal Bill cannot be the ultimate, as there are equally eminent people including jurists and lawyers of the stature of former Chief Justices of India, J.S.Verma and M.N.Venkatachalaiah, former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A.P.Shah, Soli Sorabjee, Harish Salve, former Lok Sabha Speakers Somnath Chatterjee and P.A.Sangma and distinguished social activist Aruna Roy, to name a few, who have differences on key issues in it. All of the above named, don’t think either the judiciary or the Prime Minister should come within the ambit of the Lok Pal. So for Hazare and his cohorts to say that those who are opposed to their idea are supporters of corruption, is appalling and completely authoritarian. One is reminded of the infamous statement of George Bush, the former President of United States, when he said, “if you are not with us, you are against us”.

Unfortunately, these key issues that need discussion and wider consultation have been relegated to the background by the completely tactless approach of the UPA Government, in trying to muffle Hazare. In the bargain, they have managed to bestow on Hazare the halo of a warrior for “democratic values”, when his track record as a democrat itself has been under serious suspicion. His former colleagues and fellow travellers confirm it. Please watch this video to understand why there are such suspicions about him (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD7fCRY7J94), if any proof is necessary after his unyielding “me and only my bill” attitude he has adopted.

However, that the UPA Government has been found woefully inadequate in convincing the people about its intentions, even after it has brought the Bill to the Parliament, as Hazare had demanded earlier, is due to the complete lack of understanding of the processes of democracy. The top decision-makers in the Government and the Congress party, who have brought the situation to this sorry state of affairs are all very articulate lawyers, alright. But it is apparent from the way they have bungled along, from first ignoring Hazare’s fast, then serenading him by forming the joint committee without any opposition members in it, later sucking up to Ramdev only to conduct a midnight raid on his camp, and now abusing Hazare and later arresting him and releasing him, and yet getting stuck, are all clear indications of a thinking process which has no understanding of the political processes in a democracy.

What is needed is not legalistic-bureaucratic approach to a political problem, but an ideologically-sound and democratically-convincing political approach which understands the pulse of the people. The tragedy is that the present leadership both in the Government and the Congress party do not want to rely on people who have such attributes within and the result is there for all to see—the “grammar of anarchy” gaining ground, as Hazare and company keep shifting the goal post at will.

There has been no similar instance in memory, where an outgoing Chief Minister in any party, certainly not from any national parties like the Congress or BJP, or even CPI(M) for that matter has had the gumption to declare his successor, without the party’s legislative body or its top decision making body, taking a decision. Yeddyurappa however is not known to show any respect to procedures, conventions or even laws, going by all that has tumbled out of the Lok Ayuktha report, and also the various exposes’ during his most controversial 38 month tenure as Chief Minister and 20 months as Deputy Chief Minister.

also read- How Yeddyurappa and his family benefitted from the Jindals

Has Yeddyurappa grown too big for his boots? Has he or does he think he is far too big a leader to care for Delhi’s diktats? And is he someone the party can and should continue to appease? These are the questions which have been dogging the minds of the Central party leadership of the BJP for the last few days, and sooner they find answers to these questions, the better it is for the party and its health.

Karnataka is not new to the game of musical chairs, when it comes to the Chief Ministership. Even giants like S.Nijalingappa had to make way for B.D.Jatti just one and half years after he became Chief Minister, in 1958. S.R.Kanthi did not last for even four months. Veerendra Patil, in both his stints failed to complete the full five year term, his second stint lasting less than a year. Ramakrishna Hegde had a chequered time, resigning thrice during his five year stint. S.R.Bommai was brought down by internal party dissidence in eight months. Even the formidable Devaraj Urs found himself unceremoniously thrown out in his second stint in less than two years. S. Bangarappa, also lasted just over two years, while his fellow socialist from his home district, Shimoga, J.H.Patel, also lasted for only three and half years.

However none of the above-mentioned had to quit under the ignominious circumstances in which Yeddyurappa had to tender his resignation. None of the above faced the kind of indictment which Yeddyurappa now faces. And none of them made a song and dance of resigning the way Yeddyurappa has done and made a spectacle of himself. And no one has used caste as brazenly as he has done in these last few days. And incidentally, one has also to admit, that no one has managed to muster the kind of support he has done, as he waited for the auspicious time to resign.

Yeddyurappa has no doubt created an entirely new base for the BJP in Karnataka, and has toiled hard to nurture it. But there can be no doubt that the methods he has adopted are far from being called fair or even sometimes constitutional. His brazen ways of appeasing his own community, Lingayats, mutt heads by showering funds, land and patronage, his outlandish ways of catering to the two major mafia—the land mafia and the mining mafia— his unabashed ways of using money power to lure MLAs from other parties, have all happened right under the nose of the Party’s central leadership.

If the party central leadership is wringing its hands in despair today, wondering how to deal with a rampaging and brash Yeddyurappa even after he has resigned, they cannot blame anyone but themselves. It was no secret that he was hated for his dictatorial ways by most ministers in his cabinet, as he centralized powers and did not allow most of them to pass any major file without his assent. Most of the non-lingayat MLAs and MPs, had been complaining to the central leaders forever, about his unabashed casteist ways. There were a litany of complaints about the shameless corruption and nepotism that he and his sons were indulging in.

But all that had fallen on deaf ears, as the Central party leadership thought he was invincible with his awesome lingayat vote base and the money power he had acquired beyond anyone’s belief or expectation in the last three years. It was this benevolent attitude and benign neglect of the complaints against him which now finds the Central party leadership facing a Frankenstein, which has the capacity to destroy all that was built over the last few years.

For Yeddyurappa it’s all or nothing game. He wants his own man, Sadananda Gowda as the Chief Minister. The minute this is accepted, he will want his own man/woman or better himself as the Party President, and the litany of demands will never end. His aim is clear—he wants to use them to protect him from the future litigations and prosecutions which he is most likely to face. If he does not get what he wants, he is even willing to ruin all that he had built. Of course, he thinks he can split the party and take the majority away, and either attempt to form another government or even go for fresh elections.

His confidence ( over-confidence) actually stems from the number of MLAs, MPs and ministers still hovering around him and backing him before the Central leadership. It is interesting to note that most of his backers now, are those who he had managed to lure from Congress, erstwhile Janata Dal(U) and Janata Dal(S). They are heavily indebted to him, as he has not only ensured their win but has also bank-rolled their elections and has also ensured that their financial future is secure. And of course many of them belong to his community too.

For the BJP leadership, it is a time of reckoning. Do they want to succumb to the pressures of a tainted former Chief Minister or are they willing to give up a government, their first in South India. Not an easy choice alright.

As the Telangana region starts to boil once again, with the 48 hour bandh call given by the Joint Action Committee taking violent proportions, the Centre continues to look clueless and seems to be suffering from a policy paralysis.

The decades old demand for a separate state– comprising of the 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh, with a population of 3.53 crore (latest 2011 census) making for 41.6 percent of the State’s population and an area of 1.15 lakh sq.kms., larger than many States in the country—seems to have now reached its peak. The ostrich-like attitude adopted by successive Governments at the Centre, in all these years, and especially by the Congress-led UPA Government in the last seven years has tested the patience of the Telangana separatists.

The stage now seems to have reached when they are unwilling to wait any further, putting what looks like a reluctant Congress in a fix. The spate of resignations by both the MLAs and MPs from the Telangana region, cutting across party lines, however has woken up the Congress-led UPA Government to finally start confabulations, though even that looks half-hearted.

The separate state-hood demand which for a long time was dismissed by the Centre for many years as a partisan one, and had taken the defeat of TRS in the 2009 elections (it won just 2 seats in Lok Sabha and 10 seats in Assembly) as a virtual referendum, was obviously a huge miscalculation.

Congress party which had refused to take a stand o the separate state-hood demand for a long time had however stuck an alliance with the TRS in the 2004 Lok sabha elections which was held simultaneously with the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections. Following the formation of the UPA Government, it even went ahead and included the demand for a separate Telangana in the Common Minimum Programme, and made even the TRS Chief Chandrashekara Rao(KCR) a Minister at the Centre.

It however did not display any sincerity in working towards this CMP promise leading to KCR resigning from the Cabinet in 2006. He was dismissed and ignored later on. Then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.Rajashekara Reddy(YSR), who came to assume enormous powers and clout, adopted a carrot and stick policy successfully through his tenure between 2004-09, to keep the separatists at bay.

The results of the 2009 elections and the successful return of YSR in the State, gave further boost to the Congress central leadership’s thinking that it had successfully quelled the demand for a separate State. However, after the tragically accidental demise of YSR, the new Chief Minister K.Rosaiah was found seriously wanting in containing the growing resentment and the groundswell of support gathering momentum.

The master stroke by the marginalized TRS chief, KCR, to go on a fast unto death in the end of 2009, demanding a separate State, more for his political survival, revived the popular sentiment. The blunder committed by Chidambaram’s statement, without proper consultations with all the stake holders especially within the Congress itself and announcing the process of formation of the new State, took the issue to a point of no return.

The tactic of buying time, employed by the Congress-led UPA by appointing the Shrikrishna Commission to look into the issue, gave it some breathing space. But it was obvious even during that one year period between the formation of the Commission and the report being submitted in January this year, that the Centre had only managed to only postpone the issue.

The report itself with its six-point solution, out of which the Commission itself ruled out the four points and spoke of a regional autonomous body as the most practical solution, did not impress the separatists. The report only heightened the emotional factor, and the movement gained more support as violence was witnessed I many parts.

The sentiments for a separate State has reached such proportions now that politicians from the three regions, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra, have reverted to speaking in public in their local dialects and not the common telugu which was earlier employed.

Moreover the politicians of all parties are facing so much pressure in their constituencies, especially the Telangana politicians, that they fear going to their constituencies.

Even a senior and most respected leader of the State, Union Minister S.Jaipal Reddy has had to face many such situations, where he was forced to mouth the “Jai Telangana” slogan. His earlier decision to remain neutral no more holds water and as one of the four MPs who is yet to resign from the Lok Sabha, he faces enormous pressure to do so.
The maximalist position adopted by the separatists under pressure from their constituents, leaves little room for manouevre for people like Jaipal Reddy. “It is either a separate State with Hyderabad being part of it or face the music”, is the threat posed by them to the UPA Government and the Congress leadership, even by Congress MLAs and MPs.

The Congress leadership obviously under influence from the more powerful and rich sections of the party, from the Andhra and Rayalaseema region finds itself unable to make up its mind. The casualness adopted in these last six months, even after the Shrikrishna report was ready, by the Congress leadership, has come to roost. The pained statements of its own party leaders from the Telangana region, about the leadership ignoring their demand and not taking it seriously, has much substance.

Now faced with the resignations and a total breakdown of party discipline, the leadership seems to have woken up to the seriousness of the situation. But unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have any creative solutions to the issue. The sops which it is offering, like jobs in Telangana for the locals, is an old hat, and is too little too late.
It’s a painful time for both the people of Andhra Pradesh and the Congress leadership, with no easy solutions in sight.

“A minimum qualification criteria should be fixed to stop everyone from becoming a “baba” and death sentence should be awarded to “fraud” religious gurus indulging in wrongdoings in the garb of religion”.
— Baba Ramdev’s words of wisdom

All the above statements are made by the man of the moment— RamKishan Yadav aka Baba Ramdev.

Here is the man whose views on issues from homosexuality to private enterprise are so retrograde that even his followers would find it horrifying. But all of them seem to have taken a deep breath and preferred to overlook his retrograde views and concentrate on his present obsession, fighting against black money and corruption.

Is there anyone in this country or anywhere else who dare say, we are for black money and corruption? But despite no one being in favour of it, why has this practice not stopped or rather escalated over the years? Simple. Greed. Greed is the root-cause of corruption which in turn generates black money, which lands up in foreign banks and surely in Haridwar also. And does Ramkishan Yadav have a cure for it, from any of the asanas he purveys?

He obviously doesn’t have a miracle cure tucked away even in his tens of crores worth Ashram in Haridwar or any of the multi-crore Food Parks. So what does he do? He decides to sit on a fast unto death in the nation’s capital. But then he does not say when he seeks permission, that he is going to do it. He says he will hold a Yoga camp and therefore needs the Ramlila grounds. Police and authorities are foxed, they know his real intentions, but can’t presume anything and have to give him permission when the official reason he gives is a Yoga camp. If they had presumed and denied permission, he and the media would have bludgeoned the authorities for denying permission for a perfectly legitimate activity.

The UPA Government is flummoxed. After the badgering they got when Kisan Baburao Hazare aka Anna Hazare and his bandwagon had held the fast a few weeks back in the capital, they did not want to be seen as indifferent again. So what do they do? They go overboard. They rush four ministers and the Cabinet Secretary and his appointed successor to the airport to hold talks. Apparently the plan was to hold talks there and if they don’t succeed in convincing Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav to withdraw his plans for a fast, they would pack him off from the airport. But despite him not agreeing to them, they lose the nerve to pack him off, and in the bargain come out looking like a bunch of defeated soldiers from a war. They also in turn earn all kinds of sobriquets, none of which any of them would even like to remember in their wildest nightmare. The Government also comes out it in poor light and rightly so.

Having been subjected to such an extra-ordinary treatment at the airport, remember not even the US President or the Queen of England gets four senior Cabinet ministers welcoming them at the airport, Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav thinks he can play around with the Government now. As his followers troop in from different parts of the country and start gathering at the Ramlila Maidan, he starts feeling that he has already conquered the Capital, his ultimate aim incidentally.

The Government however does not give up. It molly coddles him with responses which even an MP cannot expect on the floor of the parliament, with such alacrity. They bring out a laundry list of issues raised by him and agree to most of it. The political juvenility of it is evident to all, but the Government. The Ministers and those advising them think that they can turn the tables on the physically dexterous Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav, with their politically dexterous moves.

They even get him to give them a shabbily hand-written letter promising to end the so-called fast unto death. Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav drunk with the media-glare he has been enjoying for last 48 hours, thinks he can hoodwink the Government for some more time and enjoy the national media attention he is getting. He gets exposed, as by then the Government had enough of mollycoddling him and decides to be tough. One mistake has led to another, and late in the night it leads to one more.

Troops of security forces troop into Ramlila Maidan declares the permission granted is revoked and asks Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav to vacate. They resist. He even shows his simian abilities when he jumps from the stage and disappears into a mass of women and then tries to escape disguised as one of them. Though how he thought he could hide his beard in that white salwar and kurta, one can only guess. He is discovered and hustled off to the airport. Meanwhile his enraged supporters indulge in brickbats with police and women even assault policemen. Like all police forces all over do, they employ rough tactics to clear them, and even fire teargas shells. But unlike what happened in Nandigram or in many other places, they display restraint, and cause minimum harm, despite the potential for larger damage.

BJP and some other parties as well as many other people with new found fame, clog the traditional media as well as the social media with chants evoking memories of Jalianwala Bagh and Emergency. They start smelling an issue which they have been desperately searching for long. All hell breaks loose and sense of proportion seems to have become a major casualty.

Meanwhile the femininely attired Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav who is safely escorted back to his five-star ashram in Haridwar is found in a daze and later breaks down several times as he addresses his followers and the media, but later recovers to declare that his fast will continue, although in the safer confines of his ashram. We are all left to wait for some more melodrama and pious proclamations in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the Congress party goes into a huddle. It is sad to see that though Congress is only one, though the leading party, in the UPA Government, it has decided to handle both the Hazare and Ramdev issue as if it is only a Congress issue. Such seasoned politicians in the alliance like Sharad Pawar, M.Karunanidhi, even Lalu Yadav(who supports the government officially) are kept away and are not even consulted. Even seasoned politicians within the Congress party are kept at bay. All wisdom to handle such issues seems to be the sole prerogative of a few in the Congress party. And the results are there for all to see.

As for the question why people like Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav with rather dubious reputations and the rather naïve Anna aka Kisan Baburao Hazare, have gained such unprecedented civil society approval is concerned, the answer is simple— the failure of the politicians of all hue and colours to respond to the aspirations and frustrations of the common man. The sooner the politicians realize this and make amends, the better it is for a parliamentary democracy. Otherwise what we will have is autocracy of the newly discovered heroes, with questionable understanding, retrograde ideas and worse impatient agendas and ambitions, encouraged by a breathless media unable to fathom the long-term damage it is causing to the body politic of this country.

Is it really the case? Have we as voters of this nation come around really to stop tolerating corruption and nepotism? Or is it just a hallucination or a convenient media-hyped hypothesis or pop-analysis in the absence of a full understanding of what these results mean?

It was interesting early on Friday morning, when the trends of the results had just started coming in, a senior BJP leader from Delhi, known for being a clean politician, expressed shock and dismay over the Tamil Nadu trends. It was showing that both the DMK and AIADMK coalitions were running neck to neck. The leader, a guest on one of the Hindi TV channels, said this was not a good sign for Indian democracy, as the people of Tamil Nadu don’t seem to have taken note of the massive corruption of the DMK leaders.

He left the studio, before trends changed and finally the landslide win for the Jayalalitha-led AIADMK became a reality. He surely must have later rejoiced and withdrawn his remarks or rather perception of the voters of Tamil Nadu.

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें (साभार- राजस्थान पत्रिका)

In Kerala too, as the pendulum swung through the day, between the Left Democratic Front(LDF) and United Democratic Front(UDF), the discussion focused on how the LDF Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan with his strong stand against corruption almost managed to do the unthinkable in Kerala politics— retain power. But alas, the LDF lost by a whisker, and out went all those claims of Keralites voting for someone who took a firm stand against corruption.

On the other hand, in West Bengal, where real history was made, there were no serious issues of corruption. It was the “goonda raj” as the heroine of the election, Mamta Banerjee repeatedly reminded us, that she was fighting against and wanted to put an end to. And she did. It’s another matter that she has herself been charged with unleashing the Maoists and her own violent cadre and creating violence, by the Communists. Obviously her charges appealed more to the people of Bengal, than the counter-charges of the Communists.

In Assam, though there were charges of corruption against the lesser known ministers in the Tarun Gogoi government, it was commonly agreed that Gogoi’s own clean reputation pulled off his third victory in succession.

In Pondicherry, the issues that dominated the elections were never known to those outside the tiny former French colony, and it did not matter to the nation, who won or who lost.

So where was corruption actually a major issue among these five States? Tamil Nadu, of course. Here nepotism and corruption were inter-twined, and going by the results, it is the only thing which seems to have mattered. Jayalalitha’s bitter campaign against her bitter rival, Karunanidhi and his family members looting the State and the nation too, and filling the family coffers, found huge reasonance among the people.

It is another matter that the extent, to which Amma’s campaign had made inroads into the minds of the Tamil Nadu voter, had completely missed all political observers and pollsters, including this columnist. The Tamil voters, who had been pampered like nowhere else with cheap rice and ration, TV sets, houses and what not, by the DMK government in the last five years, felt no sense of gratitude and mercilessly voted against the incumbent. Apparently they were enraged with the nepotism and corruption of the Karunanidhi family.

Now was this vote really against corruption or/and nepotism? Is Jayalalalitha really the anti-thesis to corruption and nepotism? Do people of Tamil Nadu really believe that they have voted out a corrupt government and brought in a squeaky clean one? Is the memory of the voters of the State so short? All these questions inevitably have to be raised, though it may not sound politically correct in an atmosphere where the nation is rejoicing a major blow against the corrupt.

In fact, Jayalalitha’s past performance and behavior while in power twice, during 1991-96 and 2001-2006, does not really evoke confidence, though one can always hope for a change in her third stint. One however has to remember that the cases against her, for owning disproportionate assets worth Rs.66 crore is still to be decided and she may still have to appear in courts.

Certainly the voters also may not have forgotten the role of the adopted family of Jayalalitha, her friend Shashikala’s nephews and nieces and other close relatives, who dominated the decision making during those two terms, and now are certainly waiting in the wings to move in and occupy the positions and places vacated by the Karunanidhi family.

So the final question. Is Jayalalitha really the anti-thesis to corruption and nepotism? Or is she the synthesis of both! Have people really voted against corruption, or just replaced one corrupt regime with another? And in a larger context, are we as a nation really prepared to say no to corruption decisively, especially when the choice is between the devil and the deep sea?

Just a thought to ponder upon before ending— B.S.Yeddyurappa-led BJP Government in neighbouring Karnataka, won all the three by-elections on the same day. What is the message from those emphatic victories? That we are ready to take on those who indulge in corruption and nepotism and defeat them?

Biman Bose, State Secretary, CPI(M), walking upto his office in the Alimuddin Street office.

Obviously this explanation does not explain the success fully, as the rivals always try to find simple explanations, avoiding any self -blame. Fact is none of the political parties through the last three decades and more have been able to match the organisational strength of the cadre-based party.

“Sanghatan inke bahut mazboot hai, upar se neeche tak”(Their organisation is very strong from bottom to top), points out Hasibul Ali Shaha, a native of Nandigram, who works in Calcutta now for a garment wholesaler.

It was this “strong organisation” and a disciplined one at that, which functioned not just during the elections, unlike most political party organisations in this country, which kept the red flag flying high, all these years.

It was this organisation, which yielded enormous influence over the Government machinery, consequently became the arbiter of Government contracts and jobs. It was also this organisation that successfully implemented the land reforms and brought in the agriculture revolution in the State. This politics of political patronage, in many places benign and welcomed by people, for years, kept the party apparatus well-oiled and flourishing from village level to the State headquarters.

The general feeling and to a great extent a reality too, was that if you are not aligned to the “party” chances of one landing up in Government jobs or getting contracts and enjoying the fruits of such patronage in various other areas, was remote. Of course, wherever the organisation had fair-minded people without vested interests, such patronage worked well, and even those who were not exactly party sympathisers also benefitted because of fair methods employed.

In the recent years however, the organisation started to rot, with vested interests developing, corruption sneaking in, and nepotism becoming the rule. “Sanghatan mein bhai batijawaad bahut ho gaya hai. Commiitte( district and village level) mein sirf unke bathije, unke bhai, unke saas, unke sasur ko jagah milta hai ab (Nepotism has grown in the Committees, only the leaders relatives find a place), Hasibul points out. The old dictum of the Communists, which abhorred nepotism, gave way some years back.

A senior comrade talking to this columnist at Alimuddin Street office of the State Committee, in Kolkata, admitted to it in so many words. “Last two years, we realized all these ills are afflicting our organisation. Corruption, though nothing comparable to what we hear now at the national level, has indeed crept in, and so has nepotism. But in the last two years we have tried very hard to combat and correct it”, the Comrade, a Central Committee member, who still believes that they will be able to surprise all doomsayers, remarked.

But obviously, the corrective measures initiated have not reached the people to convince them that things have changed. “Bahut suna hai hum bhi yeh sab, lekin hume kuch dikhayi nahin deta” (We have heard a lot about this, but we don’t see it here on the ground) , says Farad Ali Shaha and Saha Dev, in Nandigram. The perceptions are so strong that it is not easy to change them, so easily in such a short time.

It’s ironical, though not surprising, that the strong organisation which has been the greatest source of strength of the CPI(M) as well as envy of other political parties, has also become its greatest source of embarrassment and now the target of ire of the people.

The important question now, however is will all this change, if the promised “poribartan”(change) takes place, as it looks like? One has to understand that the politics of Bengal and the practitioners of it, belonging to even the non-left parties have more or less fashioned themselves on the CPI(M).

It is the success of the “strong Organisation” and the “politics of patronage” which they know is what has resulted in the enviously long rule of the CPI (M)-led Left front. And it is not a surprise that Mamata Banerjee, has tried to fashion her organisation also on the lines of the CPI(M). Though the Trinamul Congress cadre cannot be equated in terms of discipline and Simplicity of the Marxist cadre by and large, Mamata herself has made a fetish of her simple ways—her house a very modest one in a very modest locality, her dressing style or rather lack of it, her hawai chappals, insisting on living in a flat and not a bungalow in delhi, driving a modest car and so on.

It’s this simplicity, her rivals call it “drama”, which has endeared her to the common man, and is partly responsible for the “wave” in her favour now. However, what is evident talking to people expecting her to take over the Government, is that many of them are now eagerly waiting for their share in the spoils of power, which has eluded them for three and half decades.

It is this hunger, which is evident, that can prove to be the biggest Achilles heel for Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister. It can also potentially turn out to be one of the reasons for a very serious conflict, as the TMC cadres tries to vest the powers enjoyed by the entrenched left cadre for so long.

Another potential area of trouble is the promised industrialization. Mamata Banerjee in her zeal and following the success of her Singur and Nandigram agitations has been going around promising a different kind of strategy for industrialization. It has resulted in huge expectations, as lakhs of youth look forward to jobs in industries. And it is not going to be easy for her to find non-fertile land. And you can bet that the left parties are not going to make it any easy for her too.

Many in Singur have already discovered that the agitation and Tatas being forced to leave the place, has not benefitted anyone, and a section of those who supported Mamata, have turned against her now. So the burden of expectations she carries is so high, all this euphoria surrounding her now can dissipate sooner than one can imagine.

West Bengal is indeed on the threshold of a change, but will this change end the politics of patronage and the high-handedness of a cadre drunk with years of power? Not so sure at all.

Winning seven elections successively is the stuff dreams are made of for ordinary politicians and political parties. But for the Left Front in West Bengal it was a dream that they lived successfully for three and half decades even as election after election, the prophets of doom kept predicting, “this is it, this time they will lose”, only to eat humble pie(or is it dal-baat!) every time the results were out.

Unable to understand or explain the phenomena, the rival politicians and even a section of the media, attributed it to “scientific rigging” and any other reason which they could muster. What one wonders however, is if it was only “scientific rigging” which kept the left in power, why other political parties could not master that art, for all of three decades? Was it so “scientific”, that no one could decode the method? And more importantly, why did this “scientific rigging” fail in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

Anyway, after a brief two-day, about 500 kms whirlwind tour of the parts of the State, one can now say safely say, the prophets of the left front doom, may finally be able to say, “we told you so”.
Even believers, sometimes admit that their gods also fail at times (Satya Sai Baba is the most recent example, he could not survive till he was 96 as he had professed). And for the non-believers in West Bengal, who have kept faith in the Left Front, the time has come for them admit that their “gods” are failing.

In recent years, we have not heard much about a “wave” during elections, anywhere. But one gets the feeling now after having been in West Bengal, that if ever there was a “wave-like” atmosphere it is what one sees now in the State. If this is not a wave, then ok, I am not a journalist! Even hard-boiled comrades as well as the novice admit it, though they contend that this is a “jhoota wave”, created by a partisan media and a lying Mamata Banerjee. If that is true, one can only be shocked at the naiveté of the people of the State.

The fact is that there is hardly a handful one spoke to, in Kolkatta and 100 kms north and south of Kolkatta, who said that the change will not happen. The catch phrase, “poribartan” which Mamata Banerjee has successfully turned into a chant across the State, is on the lips of both those who are in favour of it and those also opposed to it, curiously.

There is no left front candidate or leader who does not use the phrase, in his speeches and interviews, though he or she is trying to rubbish it. But for the ordinary people, it is a chant, filled with hope, and one suspects, more so a wish coming out of sheer fatigue of having seen the same Government and faces for three and half decades. It sure has taken one hell of a long time for fatigue to set in, among these people! Any other political party in any other State or country would give their right hand, if people can tolerate them for so long.

But remarkably, some of the comrades sitting in the narrow lanes of Alimuddin Street (where the office of the CPI(M) State committee is located) in their narrow and rather Spartan offices, still are hoping that they will be able to pull it off in the last minute. Knowing their patience, perseverance and doggedness, one is not surprised by their optimism in the face of what is surely the most adverse situation they have faced in an election, in the last three and half decades in the State.

They have reason to feel so, going by their track record and the amount of work they have put in during this time. If one just ignored the political rhetoric of their rivals and look at the State, the agricultural revolution brought in and the admirable land reforms they ushered, is there for all to see. No other State is so rich and lustily green in these months of the year, in any other part of the country. A drive across the State and a view from the air is enough to convince how well the agriculture sector is doing. But what has now become the bane, is the fragmentation of land, and the consequent demand for jobs outside the sector.

In fact, the success of the left front in all these years has become their biggest problem, as it has become difficult to find land for industrialization, because of the high fertility of the land, and the people’s emotional attachment to it. Singur and Nandigram are evidences to it.

A visit to both these places has left one convinced that any future Government will also face similar problems, when it tries to get land for industries. It will require extra-ordinary strategies to convince the people to let go off their land, and it is here that the Left Front failed in convincing people.

It seems it is too late now for the lamenting leftists to reverse the situation, as both Singur and more so Nandigram, which was and continues to be seen as an attempt to grab fertile land, is etched in the memory of the people. It is these two issues which brought Mamata Banerjee bouncing back from virtual oblivion, and it is her successful exploitation of the issue, which now sees her on the doorsteps of a historic change.

Is it going to be a change for the better? Curiously very few people say it with conviction that it is going to be for the better. They are hoping that it will be, and worst comes to worse, they say, we will always have the option of adopting the Kerala model. But change is certainly in the air.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi and Kerala Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan, almost of the same age, 87, will create a record if they both manage to come back to power. And it would be the biggest irony, if it happens, when the world talks about India’s youth and its demographic dividend!

Will they be able to pull off their last victory as their long and eventful careers reaches its end, is the question being asked, and the answer to which is a month away, as the voters in their respective States queue before the polling stations, as this column is being written.

A few months back, when preparations were on for the elections to these two states, political pundits were almost sure that this round of polls would bring about change in Governments in both States. The 2G scam and the ageing Karunanidhi as well as the family rule of the Chief Minister’s family, apart from anti-incumbency were seen as reasons enough to dislodge the DMK regime.

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहाँ क्लिक करें. (साभार- राजस्थान पत्रिका)

Similarly in Kerala, known for the turnstile electoral outcomes in the last three decades or more, the Left Democratic Front(LDF) was seen as staring at a sure defeat and the return of the Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF), was seen as a certainty. The number of scams and controversies, the hopelessly divided CPI(M) leadership and the reluctance of the Marxists central leadership to give ticket for another term to VS, also contributed to the prophecies of doom, for the LDF.

However, as the polling comes to an end, and an analysis of the campaign and the strategies adopted by the parties in the two States and the issues which became prominent during this period, does not give even an experienced observer to be so sure anymore about the outcome in both States.

That the two octogenarians have managed to come back into the fray despite all odds, is what the story of this elections has been so far.

Oddly, one of the factors which is going in favour of Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu, seem to be his age factor! A strange kind of sympathy has been discerned among the sections of poor voters especially, for the aged patriarch on a wheel chair. “It’s his last foray into electoral politics, and how can we let him down”, kind of emotions seem to be swaying many.
A fair assessment of the ground realities in Tamil Nadu, indicates that both the DMK and AIADMK fronts are in a close fight, the like of which has probably never ever been witnessed in Tamil Nadu. DMK front of course, has the advantage of its famed well organized and controlled poll machinery, while the AIADMK has found itself severely challenged on this front. The internal bickerings within AIADMK as well as the ego clash between its chief, Jayalalitha and her main ally, DMDK’s Vijayakanth, leading to them not sharing a platform even once during the entire campaign has added to the problems.
On the other hand, Jayalalitha’s advantage is the huge discontent among the urban voters towards the DMK and its family rule, with the 2G scam, adding to their ire. The yearning for change is palpable in urban areas and Jayalalitha has cashed in on it. She has also gone out of her way to cultivate the Christians, Muslims and the Nadars as well as a section of SC voters, who have traditionally been anti-AIADMK.

DMK’s base, among the rural voters, who have been well taken care off in the last five years, by the freebies offered as well as any number of welfare schemes which have also been implemented efficiently is intact. There is however a lot of concern about the Congress’ performance, despite it having managed to extract maximum number of seats from the DMK. A section of pro-tamil groups, have systematically been campaigning against the Congress, though not against DMK, which may hurt the party’s chances in atleast two dozen constituencies. Moreover, the lack of cohesiveness displayed by the multiple groups within the party in the State, has not helped either. How far the DMK cadre will be able to fill these gaps, is the moot point.

For Jayalalitha, who had virtually neglected her party, after the 2006 defeat, for most part of last five years, it is a do or die battle. Not known to take defeats in her stride, she will find it very difficult to retain her hold over the party, if she does not make it back to power. Her best bet seem to be the people’s ire against the Karunanidhi’s family rule, which she has not lost an opportunity to drill it into the voters’ ears.

The Tamil Nadu outcome could therefore turn out to be a photo finish.

Surprisingly, in Kerala too, VS has managed to recover a great deal of ground, almost single-handedly, giving the UDF a run for its money. His image of that of a warrior against corruption (he even offered to enquire against his own son), and his pitched battles with people within his own front, seen as corrupt, has pitchforked him to the frontline. In fact, his image is so high among his own front, that all the LDF candidates used only his pictures in their posters, and completely ignored other Marxist leaders, including, VS’s arch rival, Pinarayi Vijayan.

The Congress-led UDF, which was almost basking in their anticipated return to power a few months back, has found itself in some sort of trouble, with some of its leaders being caught in old controversies, which is not helping them. The leadership crisis, of who would be the next Chief Minister of UDF, has also added to the voters’ skepticism.

VS, who at 87, is much more sprightly than many of the younger leaders on both sides, unlike Karunanidhi, is not depending on any sympathy factor, connected to his age. It is his charisma which is his best ally. And this has ensured that the Kerala outcome will be as interesting, if not more, than Tamil Nadu to watch. Will the two octogenarians create a new history?