At 78, Virbhadra's political innings...

Amitabh Shukla / Shimla/ Chandigarh

The resignation of Virbhadra Singh from the Manmohan Singh Cabinet on corruption charges is set to have a serious ramifications for the Congress in poll bound Himachal Pradesh. Known simply as the “Raja” by his supporters, the five-time chief minister of the state is the only mass leader of the Congress who could give BJP a run for its money in the November polls.

“Now that Singh is out of the Union Cabinet, there is a big question mark on him assuming the leadership mantle in the state. Even if he does so, the BJP will get a punching bag in the run-up to the polls,” a senior state Congress leader said.

But supporters of Singh argue that it is a “big opportunity” for the “Raja”, now a former Union Minister, to stay put in the state and take the BJP head on. “Merely framing charges does not prove anything. People are not going to buy the argument of corruption levelled against him by BJP or Team Anna. He has been in public life for too long a period and his supporters know him inside out,” said one of his camp followers.

Even as various permutations and combinations are being worked out, what is certain is that the exit of Singh from the Union Cabinet will not enhance the chances of his rivals in state politics. Union Minister Anand Sharma, PCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur and former minister G S Balli are considered his rivals but it is unlikely that they would benefit from the slur which Singh faces in a Shimla court now.

But the framing of charges has given enough ammunition to the state BJP and it can keep firing salvos at regular intervals if Singh indeed plays an active role in the election campaign and throws his hat in the ring for being projected as the chief ministerial candidate in the November assembly polls.

When the five-time chief minister organised a show of strength in Shimla to mark his 50 years in public life and also his birthday last week, he clearly indicated that the Congress should consider its policy of not declaring its chief ministerial candidate ahead of the polls. Now that there is a twist in the tale and the courts have intervened, Singh would himself reconsider his assertions given that it could become a major poll issue in the state.

The clout of Singh in state politics stems from his stranglehold on the Thakur dominated areas and constituencies. “He knows, every worker, every leader, every road and every mountain here,” summed up a supporter. Of the 23 legislators of the Congress in HP Assembly, 21 turned up to wish him well on his birthday, clearly knowing that it was a show of strength rather than a simple birthday celebration.

Political observers, however, feel that given the age of Singh, who turned 78 last week, and the framing of charges against him, the political innings of the leader has practically come to an end. “He could be enjoying support amongst the legislators and also in the Thakur dominated areas but corruption charges will have serious electoral implications at a time when elections are just over four months away,” said a Shimla based analyst

As there is a general atmosphere in the country and in Himachal Pradesh against corruption, the timing of the court order rings alarm bells for the veteran leader. Though Singh is targeting the BJP for the timing of the order, there are few takers for the allegations given the fact that the case against him was over two-decade old but still no closure report had been filed and the court prima facie found enough evidence to frame charges against him.  

“Singh has been a fighter and has seen numerous ups and downs. But this time, his age and the charges are against him. It is difficult for him to bounce back unless the charges against him are quashed by a court,” a Congress leader in Shimla admitted.

The road ahead of Singh is lonely, quipped another party leader. (June 27, 2012) 

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/76051-at-78-his-political-innings-all-but-over-say-detractors.html

Team Anna & TC in political battlefield of Himachal

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA 

 No one had heard of Trinamool Congress having any political significance in north India till about a fortnight back when the party started its operations in the region. It was like launching a consumer product for consumption in the mass market.

All the ingredients of a successful corporate launch were there when Trinamool set its foot in Chandigarh, the base for its operations in north India, comprising of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory. High decibel advertisement blitzkrieg, setting up of an office with corporate looks, series of press conferences to announce the arrival on the political firmament, rallies to make people aware about the party and a couple of defections to the party so that it has a few recognizable names other than KD Singh, the face behind the launch.

Singh is an Industrialist and an MP from Jharkhand. The state has become infamous in recent years for sending corporate honchos without any parties to the Upper House and now some of the MLAs are facing investigations on allegations that recently there was horse trading in the Rajya Sabha elections. This allegation led to the cancellation of the polls and a fresh schedule was announced where again the winner was one who was least predicted.

I wonder how will a corporate style launch endear the people to the Trinamool Congress in the area which has a strong two party or alliance system. The new entity is looking for elections in Himachal Pradesh in November this year and then perhaps Haryana where elections are in the distant future, in 2014.

As the mercurial and unpredictable Mamata Banerjee, the boss of Trinamool Congress, is hardly known in the region, it will be the management skills which KD Singh has acquired over the years and the money which he has made which will be crucial for the survival and growth of the party. Congress seems to be the favourite poaching ground for the fledgling TMC as a media advisor of Haryana Chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has already resigned and joined the brand new political outfit of the region.

TMC is not the only entrant in the field to test the political waters. Team Anna could be a major player in the Himachal Pradesh elections later this year. Arvind Kejriwal has given indications to this effect in the Kangra region. He launched a diatribe against both the ruling BJP and the Congress by terming them corrupt. As he has not named any alternative to the main parties, it is understood that there is a serious thinking in Team Anna to use elections to further its cause and move beyond a Lokpal Bill.

As Himachal is a small state, it could be used as a field laboratory both by Team Anna and TMC to gauge the public mood ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Team Anna is so far taking one step at a time from asking parties to vote against the Congress in the Hissar Lok Sabha bye-election last year to being neutral in the elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab earlier this year.  Team Anna could openly endorse a few candidates in Himachal assembly polls to judge its political strength and whether it can translate its perceived popularity into votes. Endorsing candidates and campaigning for them seems to be a natural way ahead to meet their political aspirations. It could also be a response to the barbs thrown at Team Anna that electoral battlefield is the only medium to have a say in a democratic set-up.

So the battle for Himachal Pradesh is headed for an interesting finish. While TMC may not be a player and may not even get enough serious candidates to put in fray, Team Anna could manage to become a serious player if it goes for appropriate alliances. Only the Third Front of the state which comprises of the Himachal Lokhit Party and could have the CPI(M) as a partner seem to be the possible alliance partners if Team Anna indeed goes for it.

 Congress is playing its cards well now given that it is a do or die situation for the grand old party. It lost Punjab even though it was expecting to ride back to power. The party cannot afford to repeat the same mistake again and lose Himachal Pradesh at a time when there could be some anti-incumbency against the incumbent BJP government and the state too has a tradition of electing a new government every five years.

At 78 years, Virbhadra Singh, popularly called “Raja” would be perhaps fighting the last major political battle of his life. The presence of 21 of the 23 Congress MLAs in his rally to mark his birthday and 50 years of public life points to the clout he enjoys in the state Congress. Being a five-time chief minister, he knows every road, every village and every important Congress leader and worker in the entire state. Singh would like the Congress high command to declare its chief ministerial candidate ahead of the polls but he knows that Congress is not in the habit of doing so. Given the fact that an overwhelming majority of the party MLAs support him, it would not be difficult for him to get the mantle of leadership post elections if the party is voted to power.

Another Union Minister Anand Sharma, considered to be Singh’s rival,  is known for his politics at the Centre rather than in the state and even the top bosses of the party are aware of it. Rahul Gandhi would be visiting the state this week and obviously the AICC General Secretary would talk to a cross section of Congress leader and apprise the top leadership about the popularity of various claimants.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who would be the face of the BJP in the polls, is not taking the challenge lightly. He is aware of the task ahead and has already tried to buy piece with the disgruntled leaders of his own party. Dhumal has throughout kept the central leadership of the party in the loop while making important political decisions. At a time when the political activities in the state have intensified, Dhumal is playing his cards deftly to come back to power again.

Appropriate permutations and combinations, political maturity and statesmanship along with managing contradictions would be the key to power in the state and both the Congress and BJP are aware of it. (June  25, 2012) 

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/75501-team-anna-a-tc-in-political-battlefield-of-himachal-.html

Just development! That’s Himachal’s only political mantra

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA 

Driving up to Shimla or being hauled up by the heritage train from Kalka has always been an experience to cherish, more so in the summers. This time, I chose to drive to the summer Capital of the British to gauze the political temperature at a time when the plains were sizzling hot with temperatures in the mid 40s. It was a cool 15 degrees less in the Hill Station, built and developed by our erstwhile colonial masters but the political temperature was hot and getting hotter by the day.

Blessed by nature, the beautiful state which many say has the best indices for living as compared to other states of the country, is in a political turmoil of sorts with Assembly elections scheduled to be held in November given the extreme climatic conditions in the tribal areas. If you deduct around 45 days during which the model code of conduct remains in force, the BJP-led state government is practically left with only three months in which it has to hammer across the point to the electorate that it has done enough to come back to power again.

“Development, development and development is the only agenda in the polls,” a state leader said without batting an eyelid. Clearly the term has been borrowed from Vidya Balan starrer hit movie ‘Dirty Picture’ where entertainment, entertainment and entertainment is considered to be the core for making a film hit. Here, in Himachal Pradesh the winning pedestal will belong to the party which chants the new political mantra of development, development and development effectively and convincingly.      

      

Indeed, everyone you talk to, irrespective of the party affiliation, talks only about development as the main and only agenda of the polls. Corruption comes next in line as an issue for the polls. While the Opposition Congress is targeting the Prem Kumar Dhumal government on charges of non-development and also alleged corruption of a couple of ministers, the ruling party is ready with a long list of its achievements and challenging the opposition to prove even a single instance of corruption. To make it more interesting, there are factions within the ruling party and the opposition which are trying to run down their own organization. While BJP faces dissidents and disenchanted faces, apparently those who did not benefit from the regime, there are similar faces in the Congress, who are battling each other out for turf supremacy.

The political script in Himachal is similar to any other state facing elections. We saw that in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh early this year and will see a similar script in Gujarat as well which goes to polls along with Himachal. While development has emerged as the main agenda in the elections in the last few years, corruption is not far behind, particularly after Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev went hammers and tong against it.

Congress in Himachal Pradesh is a divided house in the run-up to the polls with various groups flexing their muscle to get a bigger pound of the flesh. More so, when the party senses that it could ride on an anti-incumbency wave. Two Union Ministers – Virbhadra Singh and Anand Sharma have thrown their hats in the ring and this is to become the chief minister after the polls. While Sharma was never known to have played an active role in state politics as he is considered a central leader and is shy of fighting a direct election in the state, Singh is more concerned with the state rather than his ministry in the Centre.

The list of Congress aspirants is long. Others in the fray with their factions, include senior leader G S Bali, state chief Kaul Singh Thakur and Leader of Opposition Vidya Stokes. They leave no opportunity to run down each other and ally with each other only when they sense that in the battle of one-upmanship, this is necessary. For them, their faction is more important than the party they represent. Instead of acting as an umpire, AICC General Secretary in-charge of the state, Birender Singh remains a mute spectator in the fierce turf war being fought within the party.

BJP discounts the anti incumbency factor which the Congress is taking for granted. “There is a pro incumbency wave in the state with the government not only delivering what it promised but doing much more than that,” says Dhumal. But BJP too is not far behind Congress when it comes to internal differences and facing contradictions. While senior party leader and former chief minister Shanta Kumar may not have been directly involved nor has he hit out against anybody in particular, some of his supporters have expressed their unease. The latest was Rohru legislator Khushi Ram Balnatah who wrote to party President Nitin Gadkari demanding a change in the leadership saying, "Allegations of corruption, nepotism and regionalism are being leveled against the state government." 

Balnath is only the latest BJP dissident. More could resurface as the dates for the polls get near. Party MP Rajan Sushant has already been suspended for airing his grievances against Dhumal publicly. A new outfit – Himachal Lokhit Party – too was formed by some BJP dissidents led by Maheshwar Singh early this year and it intends to enter into an alliance with the CPI(M) which recently won the Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s post in the Shimla Municipal polls. A Third Front is very much on the cards now in the poll bound state and will comprise of dissidents of all hues.

Being at the centre of opposition fire, Health Minister Rajeev Bindal has resigned to blunt the opposition which has been continuously targeting him for corruption. A close aide of Dhumal, Bindal would now be in the organisation as state general secretary.

Clearly, both the Congress and BJP are a divided house in the state and no one can say which party is more divided.

 Though Dhumal is concerned about the developments within the BJP as they come close to the polls, those loyal to him believe that HLP could help them win the elections as it would eat into the anti-incumbency votes which would have otherwise gone to the Congress. The situation, they say, is similar to Punjab where Manpreet Badal broke away from the Akali Dal to form the PPP and split the anti-incumbency votes and managed to get over 5 per cent of the vote share in the January 30 elections. Congress suffered in the process and relegated to the runners-up position even as the vote difference of SAD-BJP and Congress was much lower than the votes which the PPP got.

Himachal is headed for a murky political battle and the reverse counting has begun. Political churning would continue for the next three months before the line-up is drawn. Obviously the voters would have the last laugh. (June 18, 2012) 

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/73735-just-development-thats-hps-only-political-mantra.html

Time to look beyond memorials in Punjab

Building a memorial for those who died in Operation Bluestar would not serve any purpose.

It seems there is a conspiracy of silence in Punjab. It was this silence by those at the helm which led to a secessionist movement in the state not long ago. The nation bore the tragic consequences with thousands perishing in the violence which engulfed the state for a decade and a half.

Now again, by acts of omission and commission and glossing over a situation which has the potential of creating trouble, the foundation stone laying ceremony to build a memorial for those killed in Operation Bluestar was allowed in Amritsar. The symbolic move, which has the support of the Sikh clergy, could snowball into an issue which could trigger trouble in the state, if not immediately, then in near future.

This is not a kind of symbolism which the state and the country can afford at this juncture when peace is still fragile and fringe elements active and looking for an opportunity to foment trouble.

Killing of a chief minister and over a dozen innocent people along with him was also sought to be given legitimacy at the same time. Balwant Singh Rajoana, the assassin of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh who is awaiting an imminent death sentence in Patiala Jail, was given the title of “Zinda Shaheed’ (living martyr). Honouring Rajoana by the five head priests can lead to only one conclusion.  Killing people, including a chief minister, for a cause, however misplaced it may be, is justified if it has the backing of the religions leadership.    

There was frenzy all over Punjab when a lower court in Chandigarh directed that Rajoana be hanged in March this year, soon after the Akali Dal-BJP government came to power for the second time in a row. There were protests in several cities, an intensive campaign on the Internet was launched, the hardliners came into picture, the political leadership supported the killer, the Sikh clergy came out in open support and the entire establishment wanted the hanging to be deferred.

Personally, I am also against death sentence. Simply, because it is irrevocable and in the case of Rajoana the entire process of law had not played itself out. This means that after the lower court awards death sentence, it goes to the High Court and if rejected, it goes to the Supreme Court. Finally the matter goes to the President of the country for clemency and if rejected, only then death sentence can be executed. This did not happen in the case of Rajoana.

But a memorial for those who died in Operation Bluestar of 1984 is obviously an entirely different matter. By building a memorial, the perpetrators of violence are being given a legitimacy which will affect an entire generation. By this act, you are portraying the soldiers who laid down their lives and the Indian state which ordered the operation as villains. Will anyone deny that arms of all hues were stored in a religious place and it was nothing else but waging a war against the nation.  And mind you, these were not traditional arms, spears, swords, bows and arrows but modern killing machines.

 

Police officials who fought terrorism throughout the 1980s and the early 1990s say that all the ingredients of radicalization and militancy exist in the state even today. They cite mixing of religion and politics, increasing relevance of the radical groups and their new role as lobbyists for the radical cause and a hostile neighbour as factors which could help revive the embers which were doused after great efforts. Unemployment on a large scale, drug abuse, diminishing returns from agriculture and the failure to bring in the second green revolution could be the other contributory factors.

What has added fuel to fire in recent months and years is the reach of social networking sites and the new media through which radicalization is taking place at a much faster place. Such a powerful medium did not exist in the 1980s and early 90s and clearly intelligence and police officials are worried about its impact.

There are hundreds of websites, blogs and facebook pages which extol the terrorists of yesteryears and carry their pictures, life sketches and glorify their acts of terror, portraying the government in extremely poor light. The government can do little about it as they are hosted from foreign countries and even if you ban one, they change the domain name and appear again. There are websites which ask for donations for the cause of a separate state and even ask for as little as $5 as contribution. The case of Rajoana was fought not only through official channels but also through the cyber world where a few thousand “liked” the page on the assassin and added their comments on it.

Rajoana’s case was not an isolated one. There were several other incidents in the recent past which clearly suggested that the radicals can mobilise the people of Punjab with little or no effort. Controversy on the voting rights of the Sehejdhari Sikhs last year, killing of Sant Ramanand of Dera Sachkhand in Vienna in 2009 and before that the controversy involving Dera Sacha Sauda’s Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim in 2007 led to widespread disturbance.

The radical elements are waiting on the fringes as the Shiromani Akali Dal occupies the main political space in the state. But overlooking the warning signals could prove to be counterproductive and it is here that the ruling party in Punjab will have to be on guard.

There is a section which believes in the “safety valve theory” insisting that the Akali Dal allowed the foundation stone laying ceremony for the 1984 memorial and tacitly supported some other similar developments so that tempers do not run high and the radicals find an outlet to express themselves through the “official channels”. Even if that is the case, it cannot be taken too far lest it gets out of control. Many believe that Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was a creation of the Congress to counter the Akalis in state politics. He soon had a dedicated following of his own and the consequences were disastrous.

There have been voices of dissent, both from the Congress and the BJP against the proposed memorial. Even the Akali Dal has distanced itself from it though an overwhelming number of SGPC members were elected on its ticket and the SGPC President is always an Akali nominee. Several intellectuals of the state too have come out against radicalization, citing the past experience and the accompanying turmoil.

Playing with fire leaves you with burnt fingers. A line has to be drawn and clearly the Akali Dal has to take a lead. (June 11, 2012)

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/72035-time-to-look-beyond-memorials-in-punjab-.html

Shimla’s political point

Disenchantment is clearly visible in the civic poll results and is a wake-up call for the Congress and the BJP

Politics is all about possibilities. The down and out can bounce back and the seemingly invincible could bite the dust.

This is what happened in the municipal polls in the summer capital of the country before 1947. The seemingly impossible happened. Riding a popularity wave, built on the edifice of simmering discontent against the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) catapulted to the position of power in the municipal polls as its members took over the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor in the first ever direct election.

It was no fluke as both Congress and BJP would insist on consoling themselves. Ask a resident of Shimla and they will tell you that whenever an issue of public importance came to affect them, the CPI-M leaders Sanjay Chauhan and Tikender Panwar were there in the forefront. More than the party, they had become the face of the public against any unpopular decision of the Congress-ruled municipal corporation or the BJP-ruled State Government.

The victory, six months ahead of the Assembly elections, is a watershed in the history of Shimla which boasts of one of the oldest municipal corporations of the country, set-up by the British when they found that the salubrious climate of the 'Queen of Hills' was similar to the climate back home and decided to make it the summer Capital.

The Shimla result may not usher in a revolution or shape the political direction of the State ahead of the Assembly elections. But the message is not lost. Take the size of 51,235 voters who exercised their franchise in the municipal polls. This sample size may not be representative of the entire State but is much more than what the pollsters use in their opinion and exit polls to predict the outcome of the general election of the country.

Though it would be premature to predict the outcome of the assembly polls on the basis of this result as the CPI-M hardly has much presence beyond Shimla and there is a direct fight between BJP and the Congress in the assembly polls, the results nevertheless have come as an eye-opener for both the parties -more for the Congress than the BJP. Congress was unseated from its bastion which it had held for over a quarter of a century. Whatever the mood in the rest of the state or the country, Congress had managed to hold on to Shimla.

But this time, the grand old party managed only ten seats out of 25, which was five less than what it got in the previous election. The BJP showed a marked improvement as it got 12 seats in the Congress bastion, four more than last time. The CPI-M got the other three seats, besides the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor for which direct elections were held. For the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, Congress was pushed to the third position, clearly indicating that all was not well for the party in the hill state ahead of the Assembly polls.

Lakhs of tourists visit Shimla every year. But they were surprised to find that CPI-M, little known beyond Bengal and Kerala and even there it is on a retreat, gets to power in the Himachal Capital. I got calls from several friends enquiring what could be the reason for the victory of the Left party here. The answer is simple. If there is a viable alternative beyond the two main parties of BJP and Congress and their alliances — NDA and UPA — people go for it. Didn't people vote for Samajwadi Party in UP and the Trinamool in West Bengal?

The disenchantment is clearly visible and a wake-up call for the two parties who would be vying for power in the Assembly polls, likely to be held in October-November this year. Though it might not be in the driving seat, the BJP is taking the results in its stride. Party leaders insist that they have increased their tally by 50 per cent - from eight seats last time to 12 seats in the 2012 elections — and it was for the Congress to worry about the poll results as they have been unseated from power after 26 years. BJP leaders maintain that the outcome is loud and clear and the message has gone all over the State — it was a vote against the Congress and not the BJP.

Congress sympathisers say that the victory has more to do with the dynamics of the Shimla Municipal Corporation and is too "localised" to have a pan state influence. But they admit that differences which the top leaders have with each other, dissidence, petrol price hike in the eve of polls, anti-incumbency of 26 years coupled with that of the UPA Government's eight years contributed to the defeat. They insist that "unity" is the buzzword now and the high command has cracked the whip to make the senior leaders fall in line ahead of the Assembly polls.

Whichever way you look at the results, one thing is certain. The assembly poll is headed for a photo finish. BJP has already announced what it calls "Mission Repeat" - bring back the Prem Kumar Dhumal Government to power. Inspired by the performance of the Akali Dal-BJP in neighbouring Punjab, party leaders say that there is nothing against the Government as such and its report card has been impressive in the last four-and-a-half years.

For the Congress, anti-incumbency is no longer the bottomline as they party realises that it did not work in Punjab where it had been the political tradition of 46 years to vote out the incumbent government. In fact, there are so many recent examples that the theory of anti-incumbency has started losing its relevance. Punjab is only the latest addition to what has happened in Haryana, Delhi, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and  Andhra Pradesh in their last Assembly elections.

The emergence of the Himachal Lokhit Party, floated by BJP dissidents has added to the woes of the Congress, a few months before the poll battle. Senior Congress leaders say that a situation similar to Punjab is emerging in Himachal Pradesh. The Punjab People's Party led by Manpreet Badal got anti-incumbency votes which could have gone to the Congress otherwise. This affected Congress while helping SAD-BJP. Similarly, HLP could get anti-incumbency votes which should go to Congress in a straight contest. "This is what we are looking at and devising strategy to see how anti-incumbency votes do not get split," a senior Congress leader said.

As both Congress and the BJP go back to draw their strategy for the Assembly polls, the message of Shimla would undoubtedly linger on for a while. (June 4, 2012)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/70293-shimlas-political-point.html

Local body polls to be litmus test for parties

Punjab municipal polls early next month is set to test the political parties of the state again and determine the political discourse in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Being held three months after the results of the Assembly elections, the polls have the potential to make or break a few careers of those in the political arena, particularly in the Congress.

Four municipal corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala will go to polls on June 10. Elections are also being held for three municipal councils and 29 nagar panchayats on June seven.

As Congress lost the January 30 Assembly elections, making the dubious record of not being able to defeat an incumbent Akali Dal-BJP government since the state was created, this would perhaps be the last chance to redeem itself before the 2014 polls. But redemption may not be that easy, particularly for State Congress President Capt Amarinder Singh who has been battling a score of dissidents ever since the party lost the Assembly polls, the results of which were out on March 6.

It is clear that if Congress does well, Captain Amarinder stays. If it doesn’t, he goes. The central leaders have already made it amply clear that the party will take a call on the new PCC President after the polls to the corporations and the local bodies in Punjab. Not even the staunchest supporter of the Captain would have any doubt on that. I don’t think any party would be able to digest two consecutive defeats, if it indeed happens, and would definitely look for scapegoats. There are not many who can replace Capt Amarinder and keep the entire state unit along, but that is the way politics plays itself out. He will have to vacate the chair for someone else in case of a comprehensive defeat.

For the Akali Dal-BJP, the stakes are seemingly not that high even though it will like to be in complete control of every centre of power in the state. More so, when the municipal corporations of the four cities have a substantial budget and clout too. The alliance has already created a history by coming back to power in Punjab and is enjoying what is called the “honeymoon” period of politics in which as per the public perception you cannot do any wrong. The ruling alliance has made all preparations to ensure that its election winning habit does not come to an end. A series of transfers have been effected with an eye on the polls, before the imposition of the model code of conduct. Rejection of the nominations of some Congress supporters has already led to an uproar with the party likely to approach the courts for remedy.

After the assembly polls, there has been hardly any political issue for the SAD-BJP government to tackle except the case of Balwant Singh Rajoana, assassin of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who was supposed to hang in Patiala jail. The Akali Dal government dealt with the emotional issue deftly and managed to get the hanging postponed for an indefinite period, giving much needed respite to the state. After the government was sworn in, there has been no unpopular decisions and no indication that the support base of the party has been affected.

For the Punjab BJP, which is playing the big brother in these polls, the million dollar question would be to see whether its urban base is intact or not. If the assembly polls are taken as a barometer of popular will, the urban base of the BJP has shrunk considerably as it won only 12 of the 23 seats it contested. This was seven short of the 19 which the party had won in the 2007 Assembly polls. Riding on popular support and carrying forward the support base of the assembly polls in the municipal corporation and local bodies polls of 2007, the BJP had an impressive show last time round which it will be struggling to retain this time.

The third party or rather a coalition in the fray would be the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP). It played the spoilsport for the Congress by getting over five per cent of the anti-incumbency votes in the assembly elections early this year. It is again the fray this time and now the party President Manpreet Singh Badal is claiming that his party was aiming for 15 to 20 per cent votes in the civic elections.  PPP has stitched an alliance in which BSP, CPI and CPI(M) have been included and it is set to play a spoilsport again.

Though these elections are being fought on local issues – sanitation, water supply, sewerage, parks or the lack of it, power supply, civic amenities etc., the issue of petrol price hike has been brought by the SAD-BJP to corner the Congress. They are also targeting the party on alleged scams but that may not be working as local factors affecting a colony and a street are the actual issues and not macro issues affecting the country.

But the underlying tone and tenor of the elections are clear. The results have the potential to change the political discourse of the state and set it for the next big battle which is the Lok Sabha elections of May 2014. If the Congress halts the victory march of the SAD-BJP combine, it could hope for a good show in the 2014 polls but if the juggernaut of the ruling alliance continuous, it would be ominous signs for the grand old party. Congress would at least be hoping to share the honours as that could prevent its cadres from getting directionless and losing hope at a time when they are still licking their wounds from the defeat in the assembly elections. (28.5.2012)
http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/68567-local-body-polls-to-be-litmus-test-for-parties.html

A problem of plenty for Punjab, Haryana

Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh

Record wheat production in Punjab and Haryana has brought both agony and ecstasy to the farmers and the officials of the procurement agencies. While the two States — the food basket of the country — are celebrating a bumper wheat production, they simply do not know how to store the massive volumes procured this year.

While the scientific storage capacity is limited and at best can store three-fourth of the procurement, the slow movement of stocks out of the region has compounded the woes of the two States.

So far nearly 13 million tonnes of wheat has already been procured in Punjab this season which is the highest procurement in the last few decades. It is already 2 million tonnes higher than the target of 11 million tonnes set by the State Government before the beginning of the procurement season. The Punjab Government and its agencies are wondering where to store the food grain and have hit a wall as the godowns are overflowing and the movement out of the State has been extremely slow.

Haryana is no different and the worry lines are only growing even as the State celebrates a record production. The procurement has touched 8.6 million tonnes against the fixed target of seven million tonnes.

Now that the Food Ministry on Monday supported the suggestion of Rangarajan panel to allow export of 2 million tons of wheat from Government stocks immediately to ease pressure on storages, the two States are breathing easy. But still the two State Governments want more. For them, the export of wheat would serve two purposes. While the problem of storage would be solved, it will also serve as an incentive for farmers as they can hope for a better MSP next year if the Centre formulates a permanent policy on wheat exports.

The C Rangarajan panel was constituted to suggest ways and means to ease pressure that record food grain production had created on storages across the country, particularly Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh in recent years. The panel suggested immediate export of 2 million tons of wheat from Government stocks, and additional supply of 13 million tons of the grain via ration shops and in the open market.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was the first to raise the demand for exports. He asked the Centre to allow export of wheat from the State, being the major producer of the crop to bail out the beleaguered Punjabi farmers already reeling under debt stress. In his meetings and letters to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in the last couple of months, Badal has been consistently raising the demand for permitting export of wheat.

“Whenever there is an acute shortage of the food grains in the country; Punjab was always reminded of its obligation towards the national food pool. On the contrary, whenever there was surplus food production as of now in the case of wheat, Centre pays no heed to our requests, which tantamount to its sheer discrimination against Punjab,” Badal said, hours before the decision of the Centre to allow export.

Officials and agencies associated with procurement of wheat say that decision on the movement of wheat has to be taken on an emergency basis as only a month remains for the monsoon to hit the northern region. “Piles of wheat without any coverage and others where only a polythene sheet has been placed on top of the sacks could easily get rotten and become unfit for consumption after rains. It has happened in the past and the state stares at it again,” said an official, who did not want to be identified.

In fact, on the day procurement of wheat began in Punjab, it already had nearly 7 million tonnes in the godowns which was much more than what is normally kept for meeting any possible food crisis. “The movement to other parts of the country was extremely slow in the last 12 months — both Rabi and Kharif crops,” an official admitted, adding that the Centre needs to look into this aspect seriously and urgently.

A section of the farmers have alleged that the “policy of allowing wheat to rot was deliberate” as it helps some breweries pick up the rotten wheat at throwaway prices and also the flour mills who mix certain chemicals to whiten the wheat and make it fit for human consumption.

State and Centre officials deny any such practice. They simply put up their hands in despair and say what they can do when the storage capacity is not there, private sector is not coming up in the food storage sector and the food grains have to face the vagaries of nature lying in the open. (May 22, 2012) 

 http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/66999-a-problem-of-plenty-for-punjab-haryana.html

Akalis shun traditional rivalry with Congress

 It has just been over two months since the results of the Punjab Assembly elections but there has already been a radical shift in Punjab politics and some say there could be a realignment of the political forces with the Akalis getting closer to the Congress.

While the Akali Dal is apparently coming closer to the central leadership of the Congress to reap the benefits of the central schemes, state Congress seems to be directionless. It does not know and has no clue how to take on the resurgent SAD-BJP government.

Punjab Congress leaders have been complaining privately and publicly how the Akalis are playing a great host to the visiting Union ministers and how marginalised and low the Congress workers and leaders are feeling.

They recall incidents of the last two months to point out that the visiting Union Ministers played along with the Akalis and the Congress workers were not even given opportunity to meet them while visiting the state.

Licking its wound following the defeat in the assembly polls, Punjab Congress now stares at the municipal elections in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala. In Amritsar, leaders of the party have practically come to blows, clearly suggesting that they have not learnt their lessons from the humiliating defeat in the assembly elections.

“Power is great glue. It binds the leaders and the workers together. Congress leaders and workers now stare at another five years in the oblivion and disappointment is but natural,” a senior Congress leader summed up the affairs of the state unit.

The new bonhomie between the Akalis and the Congress leaders has already triggered speculation whether the two traditional rivals will shed their distrust and come close on issues. The process started soon after the SAD-BJP returned to power and Sukhbir Singh Badal informally began lobbying for his father Parkash Singh Badal as the consensus Vice Presidential candidate. Though the idea of senior Badal going for Vice President’s post has practically been shelved, the process of Akalis coming closer to Congress continues.

Whenever the two Badals are in Delhi, they do not fail to meet the Union ministers with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a list of demands for the state in the other. After the victory in the assembly polls, they met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and several of his Cabinet colleagues with requests for central grants and extending invitation to visit the state. They met almost every minister who could help the state in some way or the other.

When Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh was in Punjab recently, he was given a grand welcome with Sukhbir himself driving an SUV with Ramesh in the passenger seat. It was practically a guided tour for the Union Minister who returned impressed by the hospitality extended and announced a slew of schemes for the state. However, to dispel the impression that he was “too friendly” with the Akalis, Ramesh had a meeting with the Congress leaders as well.

Earlier when Home Minister P Chidambaram was in the state to inaugurate the Integrated Check post at the India-Pakistan border in Atari, a red carpet was laid for him by the state government. Chidambaram could not find time for the Congress leaders, triggering resentment in a section of the state Congress.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too visited the state in the last week of April to inaugurate the Bathinda refinery and was flanked by both the Badals. None of the Congress leaders could be seen in the pictures and the Badals got the mileage they wanted. Just before the Assembly elections, the Badals had invited the Prime Minister to inaugurate the Virast-e-khalsa at Anandpur Sahib. The PM did not turn up after state Congress President Capt Amarinder Singh raised objections fearing that the Akalis would benefit electorally from the visit.

But the bonhomie and cozying up with the UPA government obviously does not mean that SAD would break away from the NDA and would join the Congress-led alliance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The entire existence of SAD is based on an anti-Congress premise and the party knows it well. What has happened is that mutual distrust of decades and old style politics has given way to a dialogue with development being the buzzword.

In fact, except the old guard in the Congress (Capt Amarinder), the newly elected young legislators have had quite a few meetings with the Badals to get developmental work in their constituency sanctioned. These MLAs have realised that only development can fetch them votes and being at the loggerheads with the Akalis would deprive them funds for their constituencies.

The moment Capt Amarinder got a wind of the development and the young legislators meeting the Badals, he cracked the whip and asked the legislators not to meet the Badals. His advisory to the legislators was simple. “Ideally they should avoid meeting the CM and Deputy CM in a manner that can be projected in a way that they are more friendly with them (Badals) than their workers because of whom they are MLAs today”.

But the advisory of the Captain has little or no impact on the MLAs as they realise that for getting funds and development in their constituencies and to get re-elected, they have to have a positive approach towards the state government. “We cannot sit in a glasshouse and throw stones at the Akalis. After all, development would come only with the assistance of the state government,” a young MLA said.

In fact the approach of several Congress MLAs is similar to that of the Badals. As the debt ridden Punjab needs central assistance and its cooperation in various fronts for the development of the state, the Badals do not hesitate to go with the begging bowl to the Centre. Similarly, at the micro level, the MLAs too need state government’s support and funds for their areas.(21.5.20120

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/66785-akalis-shun-traditional-rivalry-with-congress.html

Slice of life in the City Beautiful

It is now a year now since I moved to the City Beautiful – Chandigarh. The well-laid out streets, the Shivaliks in the background and relatively free of traffic congestion and accompanying pollution, the city has myriad charms. Parks of all shapes, sizes and theme, plenty of open space, free from the onslaught of concrete which has become a hallmark of metros like Delhi are the other features, clearly visible to a rank outsider.

But what amazes me here is the helping hand extended by the government to those who love their drink. The lovers of Bacchus had never had it so good in any big city of the country. You can easily find a liquor shop every 100 meters in the City Beautiful. If you are dying of thirst in the humid and sultry conditions and want to desperately buy bottled water, you will have to traverse quite a length to find a shop and you will be lucky to get a brand of your choice.

But the guzzlers of Beer are spoilt for choice and availability. You simply walk into a neighbourhood liquor shop, get your brand and sit it in the tavern to chill out. Over two centuries ago, a French Queen told her subjects that if bread is not available then eat cake. Here, in Chandigarh, people say if water is not available, drink Beer.  In any case, bottled water is largely available only at the railway station and the inter-state bus terminals.

Having travelled to a lot of places in the country and also to a few places which are considered a paradise for drinkers, I did not find any other place, except Nepal and to some extent Goa, which can claim to be “booze friendly”.

Selling and consuming liquor is a lucrative industry in Chandigarh. Even the shops selling liquor and their neighboring shops have become innovative, something rarely seen in other places. For the first time, I found a shop, specializing in selling “drinking accessories”. This was located next to a busy shop selling all sorts of whisky, Beer, Wine, Vodka, Rum, Brandy and what not.

Curiosity got better of me and I examined the shop selling “drinking accessories”. The shop had a list of all the “accessories” used for drinking – soda, ice cubes, plastic glasses, peanuts, mixtures, cold drinks of all variety, bottled water, even cigarette for those who smoke while drinking. The shop next to it was selling another drinking accessory, widely used in this part of the country – Tandoori Kukkad (chicken) and all its variants like Afghani chicken and the Tikkas if one was mindful of the bones while gulping liquor.

As I stood there for a while, I found booze lovers of all shapes and sizes thronging the liquor shop and also the one selling “drinking accessories”. There was a good business for everyone associated with drinks. The guy selling ready-made clothes and the one selling stationary, were only watching with envy the business generated by their neighbor.

The patronizing hand of the government is there, everywhere. In the City Beautiful, liquor was perhaps the cheapest in the entire country before May this year when the Excise rates were revised. It used to be 25 to 40 per cent cheaper (depending on the brand) than Delhi. Though the rates have increased now, but those who swear by the bottle insist that it is still cheaper than Delhi.

But before liquor became expensive from May 1, the booze lovers of the city shopped for liquor to their heart’s content in April. As the excise year was coming to a close, liquor was put on sale with the price tag down by 25-40 per cent. Some denizens stocked their quota for the next six months. Never before had I seen the sign of “Sale Dhamaka” put up on liquor shops. I had only seen that sign on shops selling apparel, shoes etc in off-season.

Coming on to the facilitating role of the Chandigarh Administration, here I found that the authorities do not allow any commercial activity in non-notified areas. But the rule is not applicable for the booze shops. It can be set-up anywhere in the city. Temporary structures, selling liquor have sprung up all across the city, particularly on the outskirts and the southern sectors. They are perched at the corners of the roads with a Tavern and attract cars and bikes of all make in the rush evening hours.

To facilitate such shops and increase their business, “Taverns” have opened. Again, they sell all “drinking accessories” right from glasses, water, soda to Tandoori Kukkad. All you have to do is buy your brand from the shop, flash the bottle in the Tavern and order all the dishes available in the air-conditioned make-shift “Taverns”. One can sit as long as one wants if one has ordered anything from the menu. Even drunken brawls are allowed here, provided it does not warrant the presence of the police and has not turned too violent.

The Taverns here have their own rules which need to be followed, even by the drunkards. The food menu of these Taverns specifies these rules. If you puke after consuming an extra peg, you are allowed to do so in the taverns. But the charges are Rs 50. But you don’t have to clean it yourself the tavern employee would do it for you. Again, if you break a glass in which you are drinking, you pay Rs 20. There is another rule. If you do not want to order for any eatable and only want to drink, the hiring charge for a glass would be Rs 10. And mind you, water is not provided here free of cost and you have to purchase a bottled water to mix it with the drink.

In one of the taverns, the rule was to place an order for a minimum of Rs 400 from the kitchen, to sit in the AC hall. If you place an order of a lesser amount, then you will have to do with the non-AC hall. But the irony was that none of those drinking merrily actually realised after a couple of pegs whether they were sitting in an AC or a non AC hall.

What has come as a dampener which is otherwise a paradise for the lovers of “the daughter of grapes” is the drive against drunken driving, launched by the Chandigarh Police. During the drive in the late evenings,  the traffic cops on duty simply ask you to roll down the windows of the car and ask some innocent questions. The idea is to smell liquor. The moment you open your mouth after a drinking session at a Tavern or a Bar, you are out to a test and asked to pay a fine. The drunkards simply can’t believe that driving after drinking is an offence. Reeking of liquor and driving late night on the city streets, these “gentlemen” and “Gentlewomen” were shocked when the police impounded their license and told them to call home and get a sober person to drive them home. “I get sober and become normal only after three pegs,” one of them told the police. (Sunday, May 13, 2012)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/64830-slice-of-life-in-the-city-beautiful.html

100 years of Bollywood: Then and Now

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA                    

The year long celebration of Indian cinema turning 100 has started. It was 99 years ago in May 1913 that the first feature film was released. A lot of water has flown down the Ganges since the days of Raja Harishchandra. In fact, in the last 25-30 years so many changes have come about that if anyone watches a movie made in the 1970s now in a theatre, he would realise the technological limitations which the producers and directors faced then.

I am not a film critic or a film historian and so I will not delve into movies which received international or national recognition or failed to do so. Being a movie buff, I will simply go into the joys of watching a film in a theatre over the years.

In my growing up years in a small town in Bihar, which is now in Jharkhand, films were the only source of entertainment for almost everybody. I am sure in the late 1970s and early 1980s that was the case almost everywhere in the country. There was no cable Television and Doordarshan was limited to a few state capitals and showed the immensely popular dance and song show, Chitrahaar and a movie every Sunday. But I watched television for the first time only in 1983, shortly after Asiad 1982 made the medium popular and owned a set a couple of years later.

It was movie and cinema halls which fascinated everybody then. I remember going to the two movie halls in the town of Hazaribagh with my parents and later alone. On the first few days, it used to be impossible to get a ticket due to the massive crowd. Almost the entire town descended on the theatre if it was a multi-starer. You could only get tickets in the Black then in the first week of release of most of the movies.

When Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha or Jitendra kicked or boxed anybody, you could see that a sound of dhishum dhishum was coming from the background. But no one took it otherwise as the movies were wholesome entertainers, lots of songs, dance, fight, emotions – masala and curry mixed deftly. There was no body contact in the fight scenes then and it is only now that you can spot it when compared to the films made in the last 10 years or so.

But movie going always remained a memorable experience. Watching Deewar, Sholay, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Silsila, Noorie, Jaani Dushman, Naseeb, Dharam Veer, Nadiya ke Paar, etc. etc. was such an experience that I remember the entire sequence even now. Seeking permission from parents to going to the movie. Then there was a phase when I bunked classes to go to the movie.

The movie theatres then hardly bothered about the viewers. Most of the seats in the two theatres where I frequented were torn with the sponge from the seat coming out. Others in the front rows were plane wooden seats where the bed bugs feasted on the viewer. Many avid movie goers returned with bloody butts due to the bed bugs present in the wooden seats. It was only when the third theatre, a relatively modern one and that too having a screen of 70 mm opened in the small town that people got a taste of “good cinema”. Now the other two also made some cosmetic changes in their theatres. But the crowd still used to be so huge that few bothered about the inconvenience. They only wanted to see the movie. Once the movie was out of the theatre, there was no way you could see them. The VCRs arrived later and became popular only after the mid 1980s.

Air conditioners were a distant dream then, only fans whirred in the movie halls. Something like the commercial of a fan company featuring Rajesh Khanna being aired on TV these days. Remember, the impact of carbon dioxide generated by over 1000 people in a cramped space on a hot and humid day sans the air conditioner.

But then, people were so involved that they identified themselves with the character of the movie. This was the only medium of escape from the harsh reality. When Amitabh Bachchan died in Deewar, Sholay and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, the entire audience wept. Some loudly, others silently but I remember almost every eye was moist when they left the theatre.

Now, movies are one of the numerous sources of entertainment. You know that once you miss even a great movie in a multiplex, it will be shown on television within the next two months. Though I haven’t seen many movies in the last few years but certainly I haven’t seen anyone crying in a movie hall whenever I went for a movie. Perhaps the emotional drama was a hallmark of the movies of the 1950s, 1960s and the 70s. Making people cry made good business sense then, now people go to theatres simply for entertainment and if the producers and the directors make people cry, they will lose audience and revenue.

When a hero or heroine wore a certain type of apparel in a movie then, people went to the tailors and told them that the new cloth should be stitched exactly the way it was being worn in the movie. The movie heroes were the role models for the teenagers and the youth. That is no longer the case now.

You no longer have to fight for tickets and look for menacing looking black markeeters for tickets. Even on first day first show in the multiplexes, you get tickets without even waiting for long if you haven’t booked on the Internet. At least, this has been my experience in Chandigarh and New Delhi.  The multiplexes run 12-15 and even 20 shows of the same film in a day, each at an interval of half an hour while earlier at best, a movie theatre could screen the film four times a day. Not even a blockbuster runs for more than 3 weeks in a theatre now.  Then Silver, Golden and Platinum Jubilee was a norm with some movies running for years together.

As a film enthusiast, I enjoy going to the multiplexes and would shudder going to the theatres I frequented as a child and a teenager. I also like the way films are being made, the way cinema has advanced and the way technology has made viewing a memorable experience. But I also miss the emotions which a movie-goer expressed then and bemoan the detachment with which films are watched these days. People used to talk about a movie they watched for weeks together and wear clothes styled on the pattern of actor for months.  Now movies at best are remembered just for three hours and at the most for the day on which the movie has been watched.

Cinema is evolving gradually like everything else. It is changing. While most of the changes have been for the better, a nostalgic trip makes you realise its importance in shaping personalities.

Much before the first film was released in 1913, Ghalib had said, Iman mujhe roke hai jo kheeche hai mujhe Kufr, Kaaba Mere peeche hai to kalisa mere aage. I cannot risk translating it but roughly it means a person in utter confusion who cannot decide whether to go forward or backwards, whether to listen to the soul or to the head. (May 6, 2012)

(The writer is Senior Editor, The Pioneer, Chandigarh)

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/62995-100-years-of-bollywood-some-magical-memories.html