Narco-terrorism sapping vibrant Punjab

Punjab is in the grip of a deadly virus, a scourge which has wide ranging implications for the future – drug and substance abuse. The problem has reached such alarming proportions that the younger generation faces a bleak future. No one knows how it will manifest 10 years from now.

An entire generation bore the brunt of terrorism in the 1980s and the early 1990s. Thousands lost their lives. Even as the Punjabis overcame their grief and fought terror head on, the deadly drug menace gripped the state, threatening the generation which followed that of the terror victims. People living in the border areas of the state bore the brunt of terrorism, now they are face to face with the narco terror, slowly killing people.

I am not comparing the two situations. But the plight of an average Punjabi mother or wife living in the rural areas of the border districts is the same. Mothers lost their sons and wives lost their husbands during the height of terrorism in the entire 1980s and first half of the 1990s. Now, mothers are losing their sons and wife their husbands to drugs. Earlier, the cult of violence was visible with gun toting men moving around, now drug abuse too is visible with the youth dying a slow, meaningless and painful death.

Drug abuse is no longer a secret in Punjab. Everybody in the state knows someone who has either died because of it or is a drug addict. Every person in the state knows someone who is into substance abuse and has done irreparable damage to himself. There are families where all the male members are addict and they work only to get their quota of the intoxicant, not to take care of their families.

In border districts and cities like Amritsar, petty crime like chain or bag snatchings, waylaying the pedestrians and robbing them are committed only to get some money to get the quota of drugs. These drug addicts and couriers are also in the bigger crime and it has sort of become a part of the parallel economy in these areas.

An Inspector General, earlier posted in the Border Zone, helplessly told me that the problem has reached a magnitude where only a war like intensive effort would help neutralise it and that too it will take several years if started right now.

“We had cut the supply line of drugs. We tried surveillance and enforcement, resulting in the smugglers getting arrested and the addicts starved for drugs. Village elders pleaded that people will die if they do not get their quota. I saw people suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms which even led to deaths,” said the police official. So no one wants the supply lines cut. “If people take drugs, they will die in say 3-5 years. If it is stopped forthwith, some of them could die in a month,” he said, pointing to the need of setting up rehabilitation centres on a war footing and why the village elders do not want the supply lines cut without any plan to rehabilitate the addicts.

Another enforcement official saw a correlation between massive amounts of drugs seized in the months of September and October this year and the Punjab assembly elections. He did not want to divulge but indicated that some candidates for the assembly elections could be hoarding drugs to supply them during the elections and the seizures could only be the tip of iceberg. “The entire border belt from Ferozpur to Pathankot has witnessed hectic activity on the part of the smugglers recently. They are becoming innovative from throwing the drugs from Pakistan to their Indian couriers waiting near the fenced border to using the shallow water in the rivers to cross the border and deliver the drugs,” he said.

In fact, not a single day passes when the Punjab Police or the BSF does not recover a huge quantity of poppy, opium, synthetic drugs and what not. The amount of drugs floating in Punjab is mind boggling so much so that police officials say that it was futile guessing it. The source of these drugs could be smuggling from Afghanistan via Pakistan, the inaccessible hills areas of Himachal Pradesh, some quantity from Nepal and also pilferage from the state controlled poppy farms in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Leave alone the known intoxicants and drugs, when I came here six moths ago, only then I came to know that Correction Fluid, used to rectify typing mistakes, is used as a drug by some. Pain killers and tablets to mitigate stomach ache is taken to get a high. A politician from the Doaba belt told me that mothers in the area pleaded with him to get chemist shops closed in the area as they were selling cough syrups, pain killers etc to the addicts and such shops were of no use to the community.

In fact a Punjab Government survey sometime ago had revealed that 66 per cent of the school-going students in the state consume gutkha or tobacco; every third male and every tenth female student has taken drugs on one pretext or the other and seven out of 10 college-going students abuse one or the other drug.

An affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana High Court admitted that the vibrancy of Punjab is virtually a myth and many even sell their blood to procure their daily doze of deadly drugs, even beg on the streets for money to continue their addiction. It used the word “drug hurricane” to describe the situation which has gripped the state. Multiple drug dependence is the latest bane in which the addicts get into several drugs at a time or simultaneously.

It is not surprising that Punjab has lost its sporting talent and no new sportspersons are coming on the national stage from the state. Instead, Haryana has marched ahead and most of the sportspersons from the northern region are not from Punjab as was the case a few years ago.

I am sure the policy makers, politicians running the state and those in the Opposition, and the bureaucrats know much more than I do on the prevalence of drug abuse in the state. It was time they acted rather then let Punjab fritter away its youth and talent to the menace. (13 November, 2011)

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/19967-narco-terrorism-sapping-vibrant-punjab.html

Yatras for Sangat, izzat...votes

With Assembly election knocking at the doors of political parties, the season of political yatras has commenced in Punjab. Every party in the state is in yatra mode to reach out to the people with polls barely three months away.

Congress and the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) might have got a bit late in their canvassing through the yatras. But it was the Shiromani Akali Dal which began the mass contact programme in the state with the much touted Sangat Darshan a few months ago. A concept, the copyright of which is with the SAD, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal visits a village or a small town for the Sangat Darshan which is actually a public relations exercise to consolidate party’s core vote bank. He disburses funds, listens to the grievances of the people, summons officials and gets the work of people done on the spot. He also spent a few nights in the villages, obviously to connect to the common villagers and show that government has reached their doorstep.

Simultaneously, his son and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal brought in the Kabaddi World Cup, a popular sport in this part of the country. Though the participating international teams might predominantly have expatriate Sikhs and Punjabis as team members, the extravaganza has caught the imagination of the people just ahead of the assembly polls. You could mainly find the surname “Singh” in teams of United States, Italy or Australia and they might have come here to visit their home state, rather than play Kabaddi, but the gatherings have been a perfect platform for Sukhbir to showcase to the people what the SAD-BJP government has done in the state in the last almost five years. Kabaddi has indeed turned into a political strategy in a state where flexing muscles is a part of political expression.

Congress cannot obviously sit and applaud. The party has launched its own “Punjab Bachao Yatra” to counter the Akalis and come back to power in the state. The “yatra” is in the form of rallies and public meetings in different parts of Punjab where the PCC chief and chief ministerial aspirant Captain Amarinder Singh, AICC in-charge of the state Gulchain Singh Charak and Leader of Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal are the “star” campaigners. Local leaders, MLAs and MPs of the party have been taking part in the Yatra where Congress is challenging the Akalis with threats and even abuses. The Captain has successfully prevented Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Punjab to inaugurate the Khalsa Heritage Centre and this surely is a political feather in the cap of the Maharaja.

Then there is the Jan Chetna Yatra of BJP veteran LK Advani. Though, it is an all-India Yatra, Advani will spend 3 days in Punjab. The timing is crucial as it coincides with the intensive campaign which other parties have launched in the state. BJP has been struggling with its urban support base in recent months and the party leaders believe that the Yatra would help consolidate its support in the state and unite the warring leaders.

Another Yatri in the poll season of Punjab is Manpreet Badal, the nephew of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal who was expelled from the party last year and subsequently formed Peoples Party of Punjab. Manpreet has “Izzat Bachao Yatra” to bank on and has adopted the same modus operandi like the Congress. He is attacking the Badals day in and day out and there is nothing to choose between his PPP and the Congress. His Yatra might not draw the kind of support he is expecting but the Third Front nevertheless seems to be a reality with the formation of the Sanjha Morcha which comprises the Left parties. Bahujan Samaj Party is set to join this platform and this could upset the existing poll calculations of both the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress with around 31 per cent of the voters belonging to the dalit category.

If these Yatras were not enough, Baba Ramdev too has started his “Swabhiman Yatra” in the poll bound Punjab. He may not be aspiring for a political position as of now, but his sustained anti-Congress diatribe has rattled Punjab Congress. Reviving the plank of black money, money stashed in foreign banks and the “treachery” of the ruling party at the Centre, Baba’s yoga camp and the Swabhiman Yatra will only benefit the SAD-BJP combine. He hailed Kabaddi as a sport to get rid of drugs and also appreciated the Badals for organising the event. The Baba in fact got into a loin cloth, entered into the Kabaddi arena and participated in a game in Moga. With photos splashed all across, the message is not lost. All his activities in the run-up to the polls is intended to benefit the ruling alliance in the state by default.

Anna Hazare too has plans for Punjab. This is one untested political commodity which the Congress fears but cannot admit openly. The septuagenarian anti-graft crusader has threatened to hold a day long fast in Punjab and campaign against the Congress if the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed in the Winter Session of Parliament. No one knows whether the crowd and the television cameras which Anna can generate will translate into votes. But he will grab the eyeballs and this is what has sent Congress on the backfoot. It is no longer a secret that Congress loathes him. You talk to any leader, big or small, from the party and they only have negative platitudes for Anna and his team.

Captain Amarinder Singh lobbied hard to prevent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from coming to Punjab to inaugurate an “Akali project” to prevent his rivals from benefiting in the assembly polls. He wrote letters to the PM and brought the issue in a meeting with party President Sonia Gandhi. I am not sure whether he would lobby for the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Winter Session, lest Team Anna campaigns against Congress and affects his prospects of coming to power in the state.

The long and short of this is that Punjab is headed for a photo finish. I have not seen any survey, pre poll forecasts or psephology in play in the state in recent weeks. No one is sticking his or her neck out and say what will happen when people go out and press the buttons of the EVMs in February.

So what will be the poll issues? My guess is that it would be cocktail of local and national issues – the governance or lack of it (as the Congress and PPP alleges), rapid development of the state (as the Akali Dal claims), Jan Lok Pal Bill (as Team Anna would like us to believe), black money stashed abroad (Baba Ramdev) or corruption (Jan Chetna Yatra of Advani). Then obviously price rise, inflation, petrol price hike (middle class Punjabis love driving and they feel the pinch).

This cocktail is set to keep the pot boiling till the election result settles it. (November 6, 2011)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/18223-yatras-for-sangat-izzat-votes.html

Chhath — honouring the bounties of nature

Amitabh Shukla

After the pomp and show of Diwali where celebration is the key and materialism rules the roost, comes the festival of Chhath in which the devotees connect with the Supreme Being through tough rituals, strong belief and solemnity. The festival and the vrat honours and remembers the natural forces which have been sustaining the human body, mind and the spirit since the dawn of civilisation. This is the only festival of the country in which prayers are offered not only to the rising sun but also the setting sun. The symbolism is inherent – never forget one who is down and out.

Unlike other festivals, there may not be any structured myth or tale associated with Chhath as it evolved naturally over centuries. It is a festival of prayer and propitiation observed with extreme solemnity. Spirituality is inherent in the numerous observations rather than celebration. It is the inner self and its purification which is the core of the festival. People observing the vrat, fast without food and water for 36 hours. The idea is to purify their body and spirit in the process. Only after all the numerous rituals are complete is the person permitted to have his food which reinforces their belief in nature and its numerous bounties.

Thanksgiving and seeking the blessings from the forces of nature - Sun God, mother earth and the river (water) is the core of the festival. The people believe that the wish of a devotee who has followed all the prescribed rituals is always fulfilled.

Like other festivals, different devotees seek different meaning from the festival and have their own interpretation. For many, it is Chhathi Maiyya whom they honour, giving a feminine touch to the worship of sun God. But the basic premise that nature is all powerful and human beings a small part of this nature, is never lost. It also reminds of the days when human civilization was confined to the river banks and sustained itself only through the forces of nature.

The strict discipline during the festival means that people go for a strict salt less vegetarian diet cooked in earthen vessels a day after Diwali. The devotees sleep on floor and wear unstiched clothes. In the evening, in the midst of the setting sun, holy water and milk is poured in the river or a water body (argya) and blessings of the God sought for the entire family. The devotees stand in knee deep water performing this ritual.

Interestingly, there is hardly any mythology behind the Chhat puja and there are no religious books which define how the puja has to be carried out. This has been traditionally carried over through the centuries by word of mouth and imitations, passing from one generation to the other without losing its essential meaning.

A unique element of Chhat is its universality among all castes and communities among Hindus of Bihar and eastern UP. People living in those areas have taken this festival to wherever they live, in India or abroad.

The offerings to the gods makes it clear that twice in the year, at the time of harvesting season (chait and kartik) people thank their creator for providing them ample food. The offerings include, thekua made of wheat floor, all seasonal vegetables, gram, coconut, lemon, sugar cane and milk. The offerings are made in new baskets made of green bamboo.

Every activity and offering is natural, derived from the five elements of nature – earth, fire, sky, water and air – the five pillars of life. Chhat also is a symbolism of Hindu philosophy which says that a person is made of these five elements and then dissolves himself in those five elements after his life cycle comes to an end. (1.11.11)

Prime Minister as mascot in poll-bound Punjab

The ongoing political crossfire between Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress has found an unlikely victim - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The PM’s acceptance of an invitation from the SAD to lay the foundation stone of the Mohali airport and to inaugurate the Khalsa Heritage Centre, has seen raised eyebrows in Punjab Congress which feels that the move could help their arch rivals gain political mileage at a time when assembly elections are a little over three months away.

In their meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi at 10, Janpath in New Delhi a few days ago, PCC President Captain Amarinder Singh and Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal apparently raised the issue. As they could not have raised it with the PM directly, they wanted Gandhi’s intervention so that the Prime Minister does not turn up for the event and according to them, give electoral mileage to SAD. Gandhi’s response remains a matter of conjecture but the fact that the matter was selectively leaked to a section of the media by the Congress leaders themselves meant that they wanted the issue to have an impact in Punjab.

It did impact Punjab politics. SAD, fighting anti-incumbency after almost five years of rule and trying to mitigate it with a series of announcements and allurement to the voters, jumped at the first given opportunity and dubbed the Congress game-plan as regressive and against the state. “He is the Prime Minister of the entire country and not of the Congress,” said an Akali leader.

While Congress obviously does not want SAD to get any advantage whatsoever in the tough battle ahead, the ruling party in Punjab wants to announce as many schemes, do as many inaugurations and give whatever it can to the state government employees before the model code of conduct comes into force. Extending invitation to the Prime Minister to inaugurate two projects fitted in the political game-plan of the Akalis perfectly. They know that the visit of the PM to his home state (though technically Singh is a resident of Assam and pays house rent to retain a Guwahati address) would raise hype and benefit them politically. More so when one of the project - the Sikh Heritage Centre at Anandpur Sahib –has religious connotations to some extent and the Gurudwara based politics of the Akalis would get a fillip if inaugurated by a Sikh Prime Minister.

The critics may say that Manmohan Singh is a Prime Minister without mass following and is not comfortable in election rallies and meetings, but he does have an appeal in Punjab and this appeal cuts across party lines and sectarian politics of region and caste. He is considered a “son of the soil” who has made it really big, an aspiration which most Punjabis and Sikhs have as reflected in their desperate attempt to migrate abroad. The Akalis may criticise the Congress and central government everyday for whatever they perceive as good or bad but they never criticise the Prime Minister, come what may. They know for sure that being critical of Singh is not good politics in Punjab and could have adverse electoral fallout. So, whenever, the Akalis mention the name of Singh, it is with awe and certain amount of reverence.

In fact, even for the Congress, the PM remains a great vote catcher in Punjab, a face on which they can bank on here. When I was reporting on the Lok Sabha election of 2009 from Punjab for the Press Trust of India, where I was working then, it was a revelation to find that the posters and banners with the picture of the PM in the publicity material of the Congress were taller than that of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi. In some of these publicity materials, only the photos of the PM along with the local candidate were there along with the symbol of hand. Clearly, the candidates in the state knew the pulse of the people that it was Singh who was more important in the state than the two members of the Gandhi family.

When Singh, addressed an election rally in Amritsar along with Rahul Gandhi in the 2009 polls, I remember it was pin drop silence and all ears were glued for him as he spoke in Punjabi and touched both national and local issues. Gandhi hardly had that kind of impact in the city of Golden Temple. It is a different matter that Congress lost election from the seat to Navjot Singh Sidhu of the BJP even though the relatively unknown party candidate gave a tough fight to the inimitable “Guru”.

So the slugfest between Congress and the SAD on Manmohan Singh is not surprising. In a tough election where no one for sure knows the mind of the electorate even as polls are barely 100 days away, even a small gain and a miniscule swing could turn out to be decisive. None of the two principal parties want to squander this gain and allow the rival to have an advantage.

Though Punjab has never returned an incumbent government and it has been Akalis one time and Congress next time and vice versa, the situation is not that simple this time round. Even Congress knows that it is not a cakewalk and the traditional theory may not count much. The psephologists here too are not sure which way the wind is blowing even as election is knocking at their doors.

Several non-Congress governments have been repeated in states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat and Orissa while Congress governments too have been repeated in Delhi, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. In fact, among the major states, governments have changed only in Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan in the last three years or so. To put it simply, a government retaining power in Punjab is not a distinct possibility and Congress cannot take it for granted that the Akalis would be voted out of power simply because of a historical trend in the state to this effect.

Both Akalis and Congress have been hitting each other below the belt in the run-up to the elections with colourful slang and language, something which cannot be found in any other state. A senior journalist aptly pointed out that in Punjab politics is more brawn than brain, more so when a close election is being fought.

Though the official dates for the two high profile inauguration have not been decided yet, it is now a million dollar question whether the PM would finally approve the dates given the fact that his party functionaries themselves are critical of a seemingly apolitical inauguration.

A section of the Akali leaders are hoping that the PM would not campaign in the Assembly polls in February given his “national and international commitments” while Congress leaders are already planning to prepare a schedule of campaigning for Singh and they want him to be projected as the “star” campaigner.

It is now upto the Prime Minister to take a call. He will have to walk a political tightrope either way in the state, headed for one of the most interesting battle of the ballot. (October 30, 2011)

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/16537-prime-minister-as-mascot-in-poll-bound-punjab.html

The peg that Cheers; Raise a toast to Punjab's elixir of Life

In Punjab, liquor is clearly a part of life what some would term as elixir of life. Something without which an average Punjabi finds his evening bereft of colour and excitement. No wonder the state government has realised this and the vends here practically supply booze round the clock.

You may not find any chemist shop or a kirana shop open at seven in the morning. You might find that the doctor in the nearby hospital is missing so early in the morning even if you go there for an emergency treatment. You may not find much activity and people on the road. But liquor shops religiously open early in the morning without a fail. They realise the business potential of opening shops early as some hard core veterans end their evening hangover by gulping a peg or two in the morning. Only then do they complete their morning chores.

Though the official timings of the liquor shops here is 7 am to 11 pm, those who swear by their drink would vouch for the fact that they can get it round the clock without any hitch. The liquor shops could “officially” closed by 11 pm but from under the shutter of several shops you can purchase your favourite brand anytime after that. The liquor vend employees work in multiple shifts and the night shift operator gets in action after the official timings are over.

Even the dry days here are observed by celebrating the occasion with a drink. On dry days, the shops open in the evening and the lovers of Bacchus converge in large numbers to raise a toast to the occasion be it Independence Day, Republic Day or the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Munna bhai in Rajkumar Hirani’s “Lage Raho Munnabhai” could not find liquor shops on Gandhi Jayanti in Mumbai, but perhaps the Director was not aware that at sharp 5 pm, the shops opened on October 2 in Punjab and all brands were available. The friendly neighbourhood bootlegger, who does a brisk business on dry days across the length and breadth of the country, has been pushed out of business in Punjab. The poor chap in the land of five rivers has found some other business.

Prices of liquor in Punjab and Chandigarh too are very competitive, aimed to attract more people, get new converts and also to retain the loyal customers. There could be great swing in the prices of vegetables and other essential commodities but prices of liquor has practically remained constant for a long time. A bottle which could cost say, Rs 500 in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand or Delhi, could be 40 per cent cheaper in state Capital Chandigarh and Punjab.

Though there are no official figures nor has any attempt been made to do an empirical study comparing the consumption of water vis a vis liquor in Punjab and which of the two is consumed more, but some die-hard fans of alcohol say that the true devout, drinks water only when it is mixed in the drink and not “neat”.

No wonder, the state government has realised that it cannot afford to invite the wrath of these voters who simply dislike any changes in the timings of the liquor shops, more so in the election year. A Public Interest Litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court brought this into the fore and wanted a reduction in the timings. Facing an election, the state government filed an affidavit in the court saying that licenses have been issued to the liquor vends on a set of rules and these rules cannot be changed in the middle of the Excise year. To put it in a simple manner, the state government did not want to play with the sentiments of the people.

“The fixed opening and closing hours of liquor vends constitute a term and condition of such a license, which could not be altered between period of the year. Large revenues received from these liquor licenses by way of license fee and other levies could be put at a stake,” the state Excise and Taxation Commissioner reasoned.

Not satisfied with the reasoning of the state government, the High Court adopted a tough posture forcing the state government to convene a meeting of the state Cabinet. It decided to change the timings of liquor shops and people would get three hours less to equip themselves with the bottles of their choice. The shops would open at 9 am and close at 10 pm. But the new timings would be applicable only after the current Excise Year. This simply means that the timings of the opening and closing of liquor shops would not become a poll issue in the Assembly elections, scheduled in February next year.

I have been living in Chandigarh for over five months now and have made on and off forays in Punjab in this period, but the excitement around liquor shops and the accompanying ‘taverns’ is something which cannot be found anywhere in the country, except perhaps Goa. These drinking dens have become the hotbed of political decision and governments are made at the moment and dethroned by the intense discussions which take place.

A taxi driver who has obviously seen much more Punjab than I have, sermoned, “If you want to gauze the political temperature of the state ahead of the polls, make it a point to sit here and listen to the conversations”. I don’t know whether political journalism here seriously means baptism at a liquor outlet.

Even as markets and shops are in the festive spirit and packaging of gifts is the order of the day, liquor shops here have turned innovative. Not to be left behind in the season of profit making, they have gift packages of choicest liquor bottles. As this is the first festival season for me in the city, I simply marveled at the idea, having never seen this anywhere. Attractively packaged in baskets with decorative colours, these gifts of liquor is sure to win the heart of your booze loving boss or the government officials from whom you want a work done, say the locals.

As liquor and popular culture go together in this part of the country, I was reminded of the senior Bachchan’s (Hari Vansh Rai) immortal Madhushala. Ek Barsh me ek baar hi jagti holi ki Jwala, ek baar hi lagti baaji jalti deepo ki maala, Diniyawalo kintu kisi din aa madiralaya me dekho, di ko holi raat Diwali roz manati Madhushala. Roughly translated, “Holi comes only once in a year and so does Diwali; But come to the drinking den (Madhushala) which celebrates Holi during the day and Diwali during the night, everyday.

I may or may not agree. It does not matter.

(Sunday, October 23, 2011)

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/15252-the-peg-that-cheers-.html

Knives out in Haryana Congress after Hisar defeat

Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh

Knives are out in Haryana Congress. As the party conducts an autopsy of Hisar bypoll, rival factions in the state unit have practically come to blows, putting the blame on each other for defeat in the high-profile election, muddying the water further.

A meeting to take stock of the humiliating defeat, find reasons and take remedial measures took place here on Friday at the Congress Bhawan here. The meeting turned into a free for all with the usual blame game being played out in the presence of office-bearers of the state unit. Nothing came out of the meeting as it was the exhibition of lung power inside and outside the venue.

To ensure his political future after losing his security deposit in the Hisar by polls, the results of which has shaken the Congress at the state and national level, Jai Prakash blamed Birender Singh, an AICC General Secretary and Union Minister Selja, both having considerable influence in Haryana and considered arch rivals of Bhupinder Singh Hooda in state politics. The moment the issue came up in the meeting; there were heated exchange all around.

Without naming anybody individually, Jai Prakash said, “we will expose those Congress leaders who campaigned against the party”.

The defeated Congress candidate had earlier written a letter to party President Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders blaming Birender and Selja for the defeat and pointed out that in their native villages, the Congress got very few votes. For Jai Prakash, it was the second consecutive loss from Hisar, having lost the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as well where he was third behind Bhajan Lal and the INLD candidate. In 2009, he managed a respectable vote count, this time, he lost his deposit. Jai Prakash is considered a party hopper in the state and he has had a stint in all the regional parties and was considered a weak candidate from the very beginning.

It is no secret that Birender wanted a ticket for his son, an IAS officer, presently posted as Deputy Commisioner, Chandigarh. Also, every Congress worker in Haryana knows that Birender and Hooda do not get along well. Birender was defeated in the 2009 Assembly polls from Uchana Kalan and he has since then maintained that it was Hooda who got him defeated to prevent him from emerging as a contender for chief Ministership.

Selja too has been taking pot shots at Hooda time and again. She has opposed the land acquisition policy of the state government, particularly for setting up an industrial park in Ambala, her Lok Sabha constituency. Both Birender and Selja campaigned in Hisar but remained indifferent as the Hooda supporters say it was a “token presence” to “mark attendance” rather than a serious attempt to canvass for the party candidate.

Birender counters the allegation of Jai Prakash saying that the trend was similar in all the segments of Hisar parliamentary constituency and in none of the segments was the party in a leading position. He maintains that it is Om Prakash Chautala who is the MLA from Uchana and he (Birender) was defeated in the last assembly polls.

Even as Birender and Selja have been targeting Hooda, Gurgaon MP and former Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh has opened another front saying the Chief Minister should accept responsibility for the party's loss. He blamed wrong choice of candidate for the loss in the high profile election.

The soft spoken Hooda has not reacted so far against his rivals in the state but has accepted responsibility for the defeat “I accept and respect the verdict of the people of Hisar Parliamentary Constituency in all humility. Being the head of the Congress Party government in the state, I do not absolve myself of the responsibility for the defeat of the party...” After the meeting on Friday, he nevertheless, said a complaint will be made against those leaders who are responsible for the poor performance and contributed to the defeat of the party.

Hooda detractors in the party have been alleging that development in the state is limited to the Rohtak belt, home turf of Hooda and his family and want an even distribution of the developmental schemes all over the state. There are other differences too. As the state gets ready for two more assembly by polls, the challenge for Hooda has only grown. (Oct 22, 2011)

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/15024-knives-out-in-haryana-cong-after-hisar-defeat.html

Hisar victory ‘harbinger of change’

Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh

The Hisar bypoll result has proved to be agony for some political players while it is sheer ecstasy for the HJC and BJP, firmly into a long term alliance in the state. Both the alliance partners now want to keep the winning momentum going in two assembly by-elections in Haryana in the next few weeks.

One person for whom the victory has come out as a personal satisfaction is Harsh Vardhan, in-charge of Haryana BJP who personally stitched the alliance with HJC even as Congress was wooing the party led by Kuldeep Bishnoi and intended to field him from the seat.

But it was deft political management by Harsh Vardhan, a former Minister in Delhi government and former state BJP President which led to an alliance and a victory, which he says is the “harbinger of change” in Haryana politics. National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has got a new member and it is after a long time that the figures of the BJP-led formation have swelled with the addition of a new political party.

“I had the blessings of all the top four leaders of the party – L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari when we started talks about a long term alliance. I sat with Kuldeep Bishnoi and told him that let us work like a family,” Harsh Vardhan told The Pioneer.

Asked about the role of Team Anna and whether their appeal to vote against the Congress had any role in the final outcome, the BJP leader replies in the negative. In fact, he says that the campaign of Team Anna proved detrimental to the HJC-BJP candidate as it led to polarisation of a particular caste in favour of INLD nominee Ajay Chautala.

“The moment people (Jat community) saw that Congress was on the way of losing even its deposits, they did not want to do anything with the party. They voted overwhelmingly for Chautala. Instead of helping us, the Anna factor indeed harmed us,” he said, adding that, “they (Team Anna) came to Hisar only in the last 3-4 days while from day one, people of the constituency had made up their mind”. Harsh Vardhan cited the figures from the assembly constituencies to buttress his point.

On the poor victory margin of Bishnoi, the state BJP in-charge said the alliance lost over 37000 votes by default. “One of the candidates Om Prakash, who had been put up by INLD had an election symbol (road roller) which was deceptively similar to tractor of Bishnoi. This candidate hails from Karnal and had nothing to do with Hisar but he got 27802 votes. Then, there were four candidates with the name of Kuldeep who together polled 9807 votes,” he explained.

Though Harsh Vardhan admitted that there could be a perception in the state that this alliance (HJC-BJP) is pro non-Jat communities, he said that several leaders of the Jat community are with the party. He rattled several names of state leaders from the dominant Jat community who are firmly with the BJP saying that the party was with all sections and did not believe in the parochial method of looking at politics. He, nevertheless, hinted that the state has been under successive regimes be it by the INLD or the Congress where the chief minister was from the Jat community and the non-Jats were reacting to the misgovernance.

Claiming that the alliance has gone down well with the cadres and leaders of the BJP, the state BJP in-charge said the next target of the alliance is to emerge victorious in the by-elections of Adampur (which Kuldeep Bishnoi will vacate) and Ratia which is vacant following the death of INLD MLA Gian Chand Odh. (19.10.2011)

http://dailypioneer.com/nation/14288-hisar-victory-harbinger-of-change.html

Hisar determines tenor of State, national politics

Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh

Politics in Haryana would never be the same again after the newly formed alliance between Haryana Janhit Congress and the BJP romped home in Hisar bypolls creating a third front in the bipolar politics of the state.

This was the first election after the alliance was formed just before the polls and their long term association has got a formal approval at the most awaited test in state politics. Defeat of the Congress, though on expected lines, has created fissures in the state unit and dissidence is expected to increase in days to come. More so, when it is more than a defeat and is actually a rout as the party failed to get even 1/6^th of the polled votes and lost its security deposit.

For the INLD, there is neither any gain nor any major loss in the outcome. The party lost by a slender margin but managed to get almost two lakh votes more than its principal enemy in state politics – Congress. INLD supporters have not lost hope and some enthusiastic supporters say that the next Assembly polls could be a toss between the INLD and the HJC-BJP and Congress would be the third party in the state like the results in Hisar have indicated.

HJC-BJP candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi retained the seat which fell vacant due to the death of his father and would now move to the Lok Sabha giving another seat to the NDA and the confidence to do well in the next general elections to be held in 2014.

During campaign, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj had said that BJP had tied up with INLD earlier and it was rejected by the people as it was not considered credible. She said that BJP then contested alone but that too was rejected by the people as it was not considered strong enough. “This alliance is credible as well as strong,” she said during campaigning, adding that Hisar election was not a normal election and had the potential to determine Haryana and national politics.

In the arrangement which has been thrashed out between HJC and BJP, they would contest 45 seats each in the assembly and in Lok Sabha polls, BJP would contest 8 while the HJC would contest 2 seats. A viable option in the Jat-centric politics of the state would take shape now with this alliance which has got cemented with the victory. “People have accepted the alliance and given it their blessing. It has a great future and potential to form the next government in the state,” state BJP in-charge Harsh Vardhan said after the victory.

The implication of defeat for the Congress could be manifold, both at the state level and also at the national level. The party which won only 40 of the 90 seats in the last assembly polls and could form the government only after it weaned away five MLAs of Bishnoi’s party, faces a considerably strengthened opposition in the state now.

Moreover, detractors of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda like AICC general secretary Birender Singh and Union Minister Selja would be further emboldened. They just marked a token presence in the polls and did not campaign much unlike Hooda who camped here for a fortnight even though his chosen candidate Jai Prakash lost by a huge margin. Also, anti-incumbency is now apparent in the state where Congress has been in power for almost seven years now. Hooda will be on guard now and would have to explain the reasons why the party lost to the high command despite a high pitch campaign.

As Team Anna treated the election as a referendum on the Jan Lokpal Bill and asked to vote against the Congress, top leadership of the party would now have to determine what kind of impact his appeal can have on the coming elections. It would also have to take a call whether to heed to the call of the anti-graft septuagenarian to bring a Jan Lokpal Bill in the winter session of Parliament or face an erosion of its vote base in a series of Assembly elections early next year.

In less than four months from now, Assembly elections in Punjab would be held and Congress will have to come out with a strategy to counter the impact. Even if the call of Anna to vote against the Congress influences a small percentage of population, it could well affect the chances of the party in the state where it is expecting to come to power. (18.10.2011)

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/13943-hisar-determines-tenor-of-state-national-politics.html

Hisar sets the tone for political churning

Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh

In one of the most keenly watched by-elections of the country, the Haryana Janhit Congress-BJP on Monday won the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, paving the way for a new realignment in state and national politics. Congress came a distant third, losing its security deposit and triggering a serious introspection in the state unit in the aftermath of the embarrassment which the result has caused to the party.

Congress got much less votes than it got in the last Lok Sabha polls, indicating that the campaign of Team Anna to vote against the grand old party indeed worked and from now on it cannot downplay the “Anna factor”.

The margin of the victory of HJC-BJP candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi was a mere 6335 votes as INLD candidate Ajay Chautala held on to his stronghold in the rural area. Moreover, it seems there was a complete polarisation of the Jat votes in favour of the INLD. The dominant community deserted the Congress and saw Chautala as a viable alternative in the state.

In the Jat dominated Uchana Kalan constituency, Chautala led Bishnoi by almost 35000 votes, suggesting that Jat votes favoured the INLD in a big way. Interestingly, the constituency is considered a stronghold of AICC General Secretary Birender Singh, considered a detractor of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in state politics. The sitting MLA from the seat is INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala who had defeated Birender in the last Assembly poll.

But it was the performance of the Congress which was being keenly watched. This was the first election after the agitation of Anna Hazare and their decision to campaign against the Congress. The result has shown that the Anna factor affected the outcome even though there cannot be any method to determine how much. But if the voting margin in Hisar segment, a predominantly urban area, is any indicator, the factor favoured Bishnoi who led by around 34000 votes here.

Of the three main candidates in the fray, Bishnoi and Chautala pledged to support the Jan Lok Pal Bill of Hazare and gave an undertaking to this effect. It was only the Congress which refused to sign the undertaking.

Even though the Congress has sitting MLAs from six of the nine Assembly segments falling in Hisar parliamentary constituency, the party failed to lead in even a single segment. It was such a close contest that of the nine segments, Bishnoi led in five while Chautala led in four.

There was another polarisation in the election and this was of the non-Jat votes. Bhajan Lal, the father of Bishnoi, whose death necessitated the bypolls, was the first leader who had used this polarisation to his advantage and remained the Chief Minister of the state for over a decade. Now, Bishnoi, in alliance with the BJP has ensured that the non-Jat votes go in their kitty.

Bishnoi rode the sympathy wave, generated due to the death of his father and fought the election on several issues – both national and local. For the INLD it was the “poor” performance of the state and central government along with inflation while the Congress fought the election on the plank of development, both in the state and Centre and this was its mantra for the election. (October 18, 2011)

BOX: Votes polled

1. Kuldeep Bishnoi (HJC-BJP) :355941

2. Ajay Chautala (INLD) : 349618

3. Jai Prakash (Congress) : 149785

http://dailypioneer.com/nation/13935-hisar-sets-the-tone-for-political-churning.html

http://dailypioneer.com/pioneer-news/todays-newspaper/14081-in-hisar-jai-parkash-loses-face-deposit.html

Advani's Yatra could rejuvenate BJP in Punjab

The Jan Chetna Yatra of BJP’s L K Advani against corruption would enter Punjab only next month but as the state is in a poll mode with assembly elections scheduled for February next year, the implications of the party patriarch’s campaign is already being talked about.

As the 38-day Yatra has just started, I find some uncanny similarities between some of the utterances of Congress and a section of the All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF), an organisation which was central to the disturbance in Punjab in the early 1980s. Both the parties find themselves on the same side of the divide in dubbing the Yatra as “communal”.

While Congress obviously has no love for Advani, it was strange to find that the party was using the “communal” card like the AISSF even as the yatra has nothing to do with the issue being raised by the two parties but to raise the broader issue of corruption in the wake of Anna Hazare’s countrywide anti-graft movement. Also, Advani was the first who pointed out that black money stashed in the banks abroad, an issue later hijacked by Baba Ramdev.

Sometime ago, I was having a discussion with a senior politician. He told me a story which goes like this which explains how Congress and the faction of AISSF find themselves having similar views.

A particular sect was anti women and forbade its members from having any truck with women. The sect was so strict in following this norm that it took tough disciplinary action against its members if they were found interacting with women or had anything to do with women. It so happened that a new convert to the sect and his elderly guru were standing on the banks of the river. Much to their horror, they saw a woman, who was trying to cross the shallow river on foot, fell down. She started drowning as she could not judge the depth of the river.

The senior sect leader just kept watching and did nothing. He was a hardened member of the sect and this forbade him from touching women, even for the purpose of saving them for a sure death. The new convert to the sect saw the woman drowning and immediately jumped into the river to save her, forgetting the clause of the sect and saved her from drowning. He was immediately rebuked by the senior Guru. When they arrived at their headquarters, the head of the sect had gone to some other place for preaching. When the head returned after a few days, the senior Guru apprised him about the episode and explained how the young follower had violated the tenets and needed to be expelled from the sect.

“I have forgotten what I did. I do not remember anything. It was a momentary decision which I took. But you (the senior Guru) are carrying it forward. You will never leave it,” said the young follower.

This is perhaps what has happened to the Congress. BJP might no longer be interested in any issue which has communal implications and never highlights it but the Congress is carrying forward a tradition which says dub the BJP communal, come what may. Whatever the situation, be it a Jan Chetna Yatra on corruption or may be a cricket match organised by the BJP, it has to be communal. People now ask, “Will the Congress look beyond communalism and secularism, the two words which have lost their vote catching ability long time back? Wasn’t it time to focus on the basic issues which the aam aadmi (common man) wants – end of corruption, accountability of ministers, employment, infrastructure development, health and education? All sections, be the “communal or secular” of the Congress variety, of this or that caste, belonging to one or the other community want these aspects. I am not sure how many people are bothered on the communal-secular debate any longer.

No wonder, the situation has come to such a passé that Congress now finds itself on the same page like the AISSF (Peer Mohammad). The gentleman Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad, head of Peer Mohammad faction of AISSF who says that his organisation will not allow the Rath Yatra to enter Punjab because of Advani’s history of spreading communal disharmony and provoking violence against religious minorities during his previous Yatras. No one might be listening to the extreme views; nevertheless it has been made and will continue to be made by the fringe elements.

Coming on to Advani’s Yatra in Punjab on the issue of corruption, it would be pertinent to point out that five months ago, BJP, an alliance partner of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has to face a severe embarrassment on the same issue on which Advani is undertaking the Yatra. All the ministers from the BJP quota were asked to resign and there was a Cabinet reshuffle in which three new faces were brought in. The names of two ministers had figured in the CBI probe. While a section of the BJP dubbed the entire allegations as “Congress inspired” and said CBI was an extension of the ruling party at the centre and this was merely to defame the party, another section went into introspection mode to curtail the damage.

Five months down the line, the damage has been largely contained with hardly any one remembering the episode but the aftershocks remain. Three BJP ministers — Manoranjan Kalia (industries and local government), Mohan Lal (transport) and Swarna Ram (social welfare), had been left out of the Cabinet then leading to a resentment of sorts. There is infighting in the state BJP and leaders now hope that Advani’s Yatra would provide the healing touch to the warring factions of the state BJP and unite them for the larger cause.

BJP had won a staggering 19 seats in the assembly polls in 2007 and for the first time, the Akali Dal did not have a majority of its own. Urban areas voted for the party in large numbers and this is where BJP would like to retain the numbers for the 2012 elections. The strains between the alliance partners too has been worked out by the SAD by creating new municipal bodies and announcement of a package for urban areas, the core support base of the BJP. (October 16, 2011)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/13555-advanis-yatra-could-rejuvenate-bjp-in-punjab.html