My Opinion

The matter of Article 356 is so vexed that most regional parties remain stacked against its use. No party wants the central government to use it to impose President’s rule. It is for this reason that the Congress will raise the issue and try to garner support from regional parties. It is a different matter that the Congress too managed several defections when it was in power at the Centre. Parties were broken and Article 356 was used repeatedly to impose President’s rule is several states.

The Supreme Court’s judgement today has come as a relief for the BJP. It would have been an embarrassment for the central government as well as the BJP had the stay not been granted. Harish Rawat perhaps reacted too soon by assuming charge as Chief Minister and taking decisions without receiving the copy of the court order. While this hurry has cost Rawat, the BJP benefitted from it.

It is good to hear Harish Rawat say that he does not want any confrontation. Leaders like Kailash Vijayvargiya should learn a thing or two from the politeness in Harish Rawat’s words despite the High Court ruling in his favour. The BJP has made mistakes in handling the entire matter and it must be admitted. The party trusted the advice of those who do not understand the intricacies of politics. If Harish Rawat forms the government, dissolves the state assembly and holds elections, it could mean trouble for the BJP.

In EPF case, the conditions imposed by the government were not justified. Employees believe that EPF is their saving and can be used when needed. What will they do if they have no ownership of even that money? Their resentment is justified.Therefore, it’s good that the government has rectified its mistake well within time.

Coming together of Modi and Mehbooba and formation of BJP-PDP government was not an ordinary development.Both have different ideologies.That’s why separatists have got an opportunity to spread rumours and instigate people against the Army.It was done to corner Mehbooba. If Mehbooba takes notice of the sentiments of those who were instigated then she will have to take a tough stand against the Army.which could be an embarrassment for Modi. That’s why these two have to strike a balance and tread carefully.That’s why these two praised each other without showing any sign of confrontation.

The new revelations in Ishrat Jahan case make it amply clear that nothing happened inadvertently.There was full planning to implicate Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.Affidavits were changed.Statements were changed.There was an attempt to take help of the law.And everything happened at the top level.How would Chidambaram clarify all this?It could have been accepted that an error crept in the first affidavit.that the government committed a mistake by declaring Ishrat Jahan a terrorist which was rectified in the second mistake.Then, David Colemen Headly’s statement was first considered true but dismissed later on …It means there was a big planning.There was a conspiracy.There was an objective.And it was a political objective which very clearly aimed at fixing Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

From the Ishrat Jahan papers it is evident that P Chidambaram had lied when he had claimed that he had not seen the first affidavit which had clearly mentioned her terror links with the Lashkar. The affidavit has Chidambaram’s own signature which proves that he was well aware that Ishrat Jahan was a terrorist who was sent primarily to kill Narendra Modi. His signature on the affidavit proves that Chidambaram was not just aware of this fact, but he had also agreed with what was mentioned in it and this is exactly what Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah have been repeatedly saying. It will be extremely difficult for Chidambaram to now justify himself.

Shifting matches to other venues will be difficult due to the paucity of time. However, in view of the conditions prevailing in Maharashtra, there was no way out but to shift IPL matches out of the state.

Questions are bound to be raised until the government gets Vijay Mallya to face the law. Doing so will not be easy and the Congress will continue to raise doubts over the government’s intent. This will only end with Mallya being sent to jail.

Today on Dr Ambedkar’s birthday Mayawati pledged that if she is voted back into power in Uttar Pradesh, she would concentrate solely on developing the state rather than on building statues. UP will head to polls next year and Narendra Modi is helpless but forced to convince people repeatedly that he is for the Dalits and is trying his best to fulfil Dr Ambedkar’s dreams. However one must give it to Modi for having compelled Mayawati to talk about growth and development instead of talking about only parks and statues.

There is no doubt that militants in Kashmir will take advantage of such incidents to corner the State Government and embarrass Mehbooba Mufti. They will try every means to incite the masses forcing Mehbooba to make certain demands in front of the Central Government in order to instil a sense of confidence amongst the people of her state. She has therefore asked the Centre to remove the army post from Handwara. However Handwara is a sensitive post and any move to remove it would only help the militants and they would force the state government to make many more such demands. The Defence Ministry has likewise indicated its own helplessness to accede to the demands.

The region of Malda where Sonia Gandhi addressed a rally today, has always been a Congress bastion. The Left Front may have ruled West Bengal for 35 years but Malda has always voted for the Congress. This area has been ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury’s stronghold. He became an MLA for the first time in 1957 and got elected every time since then. In 1980 he fought the Lok Sabha elections and got elected and till 2004 never lost a single election. Even now both the Lok Sabha seats in Malda are with the Congress. However the Congress is apprehensive that Mamata could make inroads into Malda during this Assembly Election and besides Malda has a sizeable Muslim population. Sonia Gandhi has therefore repeatedly used Mamata and Modi’s name together so that voters do not vote for Mamata.