My Opinion

Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung has given orders for a probe into the 363 crore water tanker scam. There are two sides to this entire scam. Delhi’s Water Minister Kapil Mishra had made a complaint to the Chief Minister almost a year ago so that an enquiry could be made into corruption charges particularly against Sheila Dixit in the water tanker issue. However Kejriwal took no action for one whole year. Under mounting pressure Kejriwal finally urged the Lt Governor for further investigations into the matter. The irony is that, the same mafia against whom a probe has been initiated, was awarded the tender to supply water in the past one year. Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta has raised this issue. Najeeb Jung has given orders to investigate into both the matters. Arvind Kejriwal will now accordingly have to explain his stand.

There is a marked change in the manner in which Mehbooba Mufti has been projecting herself lately. She has been speaking in the same tone an tenor as that of her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and has even started following the same path that Mufti Sahab took. She has adopted a tough stand towards the separatists. She has even instructed Pakistan to stop terror activities. She has always believed that Jammu & Kashmir should not be in news for the wrong reasons. Rather the state should be projected by the Media along similar lines like the other states.

That the Kairana exodus issue has been politicised is without doubt… and it is not of late that people have started decamping and besides it is not restricted to only Kairana. If BJP was really sincere in its efforts, their leaders would not made efforts to meet only the Hindu families, on the contrary they would have met people cutting across religious lines. However it is also true that many families out of fear have left their homes and their livelihood and have settled elsewhere due to the hooliganism and extortion prevalent in that area and there are both Muslims and Hindus amongst them. Akhilesh Yadav certainly cannot deny such a fact.

It seemed today as if instead of responding to questions, Arvind Kejriwal was addressing his voters! With half truth and half baked information, he tried to portray how extraordinary his Parliamentary Secretaries were and that the welfare of the people was his top priority. However the real truth is that in order to placate his MLAs, he appointed 21 of them as Parliamentary Secretaries since as per the law he cannot appoint more than seven ministers. He even raised the salaries of his MLAs by almost four times. In order to keep his flock together and to be able to retain them, he misused public money. And today after having given his side of the story left the press conference without even taking any questions.

There is no doubt that there has been an exodus in Kairana. People have left their homes due to the disorder and extortion prevalent in that area. While it is also true that the list prepared by BJP MP Hukum Singh has certain discrepancies. Names of many families who have not left Kairana feature in the list prepared by Hukum Singh. It would be completely incorrect to say that people have left owing to communal tensions. People have left owing to extortion threats from criminals in that region. Akhilesh Yadav is naturally peeved since the State’s reputation in terms of the law and order situation under the Sawajwadi rule is known to all. And it is not wrong on his part to be upset especially when he is trying hard to illustrate his Government’s achievements and has been talking about developing the State while some members in his party are trying to derail his efforts.

After 21 MLAs belonging to the Aam Admi Party face disqualification, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has questioned the illegality of appointing them as Parliamentary Secretaries since states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and some other states have also made such appointments. However it is half-truth that Arvind Kejriwal is speaking about. The states that he cites as examples, have their own Assemblies and every Assembly is within its right to make such rules and appointments. And for those states and Union Territories that are administered by the Centre, rules are different. It requires the approval of the Lt Governor for it to become a law and is then sent to the Centre. Delhi is not a state by itself and without the Lt Governor’s approval, Arvind Kejriwal has passed the amendment and sent it to the President for his approval. Arvind Kejriwal has not only indulged in a wrong doing but the manner in which he has executed it, is also wrong. The President had no other option but to reject it. Kejriwal should go by the rule book and realise that by crying foul against the Prime Minister at every instance and slinging mad at the Lt Governor will only end up ruining his own image.

Rahul Gandhi is not wrong when he pointed out that four years ago when he had raised the issue of drugs in Punjab, he had been ridiculed by the Akali leaders. Over the years it has got worse and it is now well established that the state is reeling under the problem of drugs. Villages have been wiped out and families have been ruined. Whether the Badal family is involved in the drug trade or not is debatable but there is no doubt that the state government has done little to stem this menace. With names of Akali leaders and ministers featuring amongst those involved in the racket, the Shiromani Akali Das is likely to suffer the consequences since the problem of drugs is one of the major issues in Punjab. Consequently Anurag Kashyap’s film ‘Udta Punjab’ generated enough controversy since the entire state is badly affected.

It is quite evident from their speeches how important the UP Polls are for Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. If the BJP is successful in UP then it would be a step closer to victory in the Lok Sabha polls. Modi has already kick started his election campaign in the state even though there is considerable time left for the polls. However one major problem that the BJP is faced with in UP, is who to project as the Chief Ministerial candidate since the party does not appear to have a leader of that stature. Rajnath Singh has already refused the offer, Smriti Irani does not fit into the realm of caste equations and leaders like Yogi Adityanath or Mahesh Sharma can never match up to that level whereby they could pose a formidable challenge to Mulayam Singh or Akhilesh Yadav or even Mayawati. Without doubt this is perhaps the biggest challenge for Narendra Modi in the upcoming UP Polls.

Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar have brought laurels for the country and have done India proud worldwide. They are admired by the whole nation. They have never spoken out against anyone leave alone using derogatory language. Such language against them even in jest therefore can never be tolerated. Neither can this be attributed to freedom of expression nor can this be attributed to satire or comedy. Stern action must be taken in this case so that a lesson is learnt.

For the past few days there are talks that the UP Assembly Polls could take place before schedule. The elections are scheduled for February-March but there is a possibility that UP could go to the polls in November or December though there is no official confirmation. However after having heard Modi and Rajnath Singh’s speech today such talks will gather momentum. BJP appears to have already started making preparations for the upcoming elections and appears to have also embarked on the campaign trail in UP. The very fact that HRD Minister Smriti Irani was also present to address three public meetings in Amethi is a pointer to BJP’s preparations for early elections in the State.

It is important to recognise why Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh chose Saharanpur for addressing a public rally. Behind this there is a well thought out political strategy. Saharanpur lies in the border of UP and Uttarakhand and both these state would be going to polls next year. Saharanpur would therefore be the perfect meeting ground to send out a message to both the states. Besides, the BJP’s position is somewhat weak here. Out of the seven Vidhan Sabha seats, the BSP has four seats. The BJP now wants to strengthen itself in this region. Incidentally a couple of days ago a former BSP MP joined the BJP and the party claims that in the days to come leaders from other parties will some come into their fold.

There is no denial that everyone wants the Kashmiri Pandits to return to the Valley. For 25 years after having left Kashmir, the Pandits have been literally running around from pillar to post and now when there are talks of their return everyone wants to be assured of their safety and security so that they can once again start living in Kashmir without a sense of fear. The government wants a separate colony for them where they can be rehabilitated…even though others can also stay in such colonies. However people like Yasin Malik are of the opinion that such colonisation will only make matters worse and create a rift amongst them and there would be a bigger security concern since it would make the Kashmiri Pandits more vulnerable. They should instead all be living together. I am of the opinion that instead of detaining the separatist leaders, the government should engage in talks with them. There is nothing wrong if on the contrary the government were to listen to what they have to say since it might just lead to a better solution.