My Opinion

Fifty four hours after the Supreme Court reinstated Alok Verma as CBI director, and left the matter to be decided by the Selection Committee headed by the Prime Minister, the CBI chief was removed from the agency again by the high-level committee on Thursday. The committee comprised PM Narendra Modi, SC judge A. K. Sikri representing the Chief Justice of India and the leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. Kharge gave a dissenting note and sought extension for the CBI chief.

The selection committee, according to official sources, felt that a detailed investigation, including criminal investigation, was necessary in some cases”. Under such circumstances, the continuance of Alok Verma as CBI chief was untenable.

In the last two-three months, the premier investigating agency has been witnessing the strange spectacle of the CBI Chief and the Additional Director Rakesh Asthana levelling charges of taking bribes against each other. Both had gone to the extent of recording statements of middlemen and filing cases against each other. The allegations were widely discussed in newspapers, television and social media, and the image of CBI built over the last several decades had been sullied.

There was no option left before the government but to remove both Verma and Asthana from their posts. The Central Vigilance Commissioner went through the allegations and gave its report to the government. The matter went to the Supreme Court. Soon after being reinstated by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Verma took over and carried out large-scale transfers, bringing his own men to key posts. Clearly, the CBI was facing another round of charges and counter-charges, and the government had to wield the stick again.

The other important point was that Alok Verma appeared to have become a convenient tool in the hands of those opposed to PM Modi. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had given statements in his favour, and Modi baiters, Arun Shourie and Prashant Bhushan had defended his case in the Supreme Court. These were the individuals who were, in the same breath, demanding autonomy and independence for CBI. The question is: how can CBI get autonomy and independence, when its two top officers level charges against each other in an atmosphere surcharged by politics?
It needs to be mentioned here that Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge had filed a petition in favour of Alok Verma in the Supreme Court. Hence he was actually an interested party in the Selection Committee. Contrast this with the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who had heard petitions in the Alok Verma case, and therefore preferred not to go himself, but sent Justice Sikri to the Selection Committee meeting.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday tore into Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s remark for saying that the he had made “a woman” (Nirmala Sitharaman) defend him in Parliament over the Rafale deal. Modi described this as an insult to Indian women. Rahul Gandhi had said at the Jaipur rally, that the ‘chowkidaar’ with a 56-inch chest ran away from the Rafale debate and told a woman, Nirmala Sitharaman Ji to defend him”.

After Modi’s remark, Rahul Gandhi had to later tweet in the evening and say “With all due respect Modi Ji, in our culture respect for women begins at home”.

After the Congress win in three states, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Rahul Gandhi is in full cry and he is hitting at PM Modi at his election rallies. In the coming days, the barbs are going to fly thick and thin, from both ends.

Some sections of media had earlier thought that Prime Minister Modi will be on the defensive this time, as he would have to give an account of his five-year rule. Modi has belied this, and he is hitting at the Gandhi-Nehru family over the issue of corruption. In Agra on Wednesday, the PM said that all the thieves (chor) have joined hands to oust the ‘chowkidaar’, but he would never show leniency on the issue of corruption.

Modi has become aggressive at his rallies and he referred to what he called ‘Michel Mama (uncle)’ , the middleman arrested in connection with Agusta Westland helicopter deal. He said, ‘Michel Mama’ has revealed many things during questioning and has implicated Gandhi-Nehru family in other deals too.

The Congress will have to be ready with answers now that the PM himself is levelling charges at the Gandhi-Nehru family. The election campaigns in the coming weeks are going to be quite interesting.

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The Lok Sabha on Tuesday night passed the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill seeking to provide 10 per cent reservation to people of economically weaker sections who had been kept out of the quota system till now. This is a landmark historic step in the annals of Indian history.

In one stroke, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has demolished the wall of reservation that had separated upper castes from Other Backward Castes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Poverty does not chose castes at the time of anyone’s birth. Till this date, reservation was being given on the basis of castes. Once this bill is enacted, brilliant and meritorious students from economically poorer strata of upper castes can find a ray of hope while seeking jobs or applying for higher education. There are millions of families belonging to upper castes, who are poor, but had been deprived of the fruits of reservation.

It was left to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to answer the question as to why poor youths from upper castes are not given reservation in jobs and education. Most of the political parties, including Congress, used to promise reservation for economically weaker sections in their election manifestos, but they never had the political will to implement it. These parties and their leaders feared backlash from OBC and SC, ST vote banks.

The Constitution Amendment Bill is truly a revolutionary step and it is heartening to see most of the political parties supporting this bill. From now on, poor children from upper caste strata will never complain that they had been facing injustice on account of reservation.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet on Monday approved a Constitutional Amendment Bill which seeks to provide 10 per cent reservation in admissions to educational institutions and central government jobs for economically weaker sections from among upper castes and all other communities who do not enjoy quota benefits.

This move will have a far-reaching political significance in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections. On the face of it, this is a well-considered decision to give reservation in jobs to poor people from all those castes, which had been out of the purview of reservation till now.

There are however two major questions that arise. One, will the government be able to get the Constitutional Amendment Bill passed in both Houses of Parliament by a two-third majority, and can it stand judicial scrutiny? I think most of the political parties will not take the risk of opposing this measure, and the government may manage to get it passed in both Houses.

The second question: what will be the political fallout? Upper castes had been demanding reservation for their economically weaker sections for the last several decades in different states. This bill can serve as a game changer for Prime Minister Modi in winning over their support and give them relief.

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Towards the end of her two-and-a-half-hour marathon reply on the Rafale debate in Lok Sabha on Friday, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman turned visibly emotional and lashed out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for calling her “jhoothi” (liar) and Prime Minister Modi “chor” (thief). Sitharaman said, ‘I don’t have a khaandan (dynasty) to boast of. I come from an ordinary background. I come with my honour intact. Our Prime Minister comes from an economically backward family. You have no right to call me a liar and our PM as thief.”
There were reasons for the Defence Minister to become emotional. I listed to her marathon reply in Lok Sabha. She had come with all facts and figures. In spite of continuous interruptions, she replied to most of the points raised by the Opposition.

On his part, Rahul Gandhi also asked direct and logical questions about the deal. It appeared as if the debate was going to be fruitful, but towards the end, the Congress president winked twice at somebody inside the House, and spoiled the seriousness of the debate on an issue that relates to national security. It looked as if he was out to have fun and had little interest in the reply being given by the Defence Minister.

Joking apart, I have said several times in the recent past that the Congress wants to make Rafale an electoral issue, and no matter how many times the government gives clarifications, it is trying hard to let the mud of corruption charge against Modi stick.

Rahul is continuously harping on his allegation that PM Modi has given benefit to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had clarified in the Lok Sabha on Thursday that the entire Rafale deal was to the tune of Rs 58,000 crore, out of which 50 per cent, or Rs 29,000 crore comes under offset obligations clause. There are nearly 100 companies under offset obligations, out of which Anil Ambani’s company has got only Rs 870 crore worth business. From where did the figure of Rs 30,000 crore come?

But logic has no place in a setting where Rahul Gandhi has a set pattern of dialogues, which he used during the MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh elections, and which he is going to repeat during his campaign for the parliamentary elections.

As an opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi has the right to decide on issues that he intends to raise, he has the right not to accept the replies given by the government, but he should trust the Supreme Court’s verdict, which went through the entire procurement process, pricing and offset obligations in Rafale deal, and found no irregularities. All of us should respect the Supreme Court’s verdict.

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The Delhi Assembly on Thursday was witness to a sorry spectacle when Sikh MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa was forcibly marshalled out from the House and his turban was forcibly removed. Sirsa alleged that Aam Aadmi Party MLAs egged on the marshals to manhandle him. Sirsa had given notice for removal of the Assembly Speaker, which the latter had rejected.

In his notice, Sirsa alleged that the assembly had on December 21 passed a resolution calling for withdrawal of Bharat Ratna from former PM Late Rajiv Gandhi for giving support to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Sirsa alleged that the sentence was later removed by AAP from the resolution. The Sikh MLA, who belongs to Akal Dal, but has won the Rajouri Garden seat on BJP symbol, yesterday demanded that the names of Gandhi family members be removed from all institutions, schemes and roads, and the House should adopt a resolution stating that “the late Rajiv Gandhi was an accused of 1984 carnage”.

You might wonder why Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party men did this. Till last year, the AAP leaders had been demanding removal of Rajiv Gandhi’s name from institutions, schemes and roads, but now time has changed. Kejriwal wants to ally with Congress in Delhi and Punjab, since he and his associates have realized that they cannot win elections without Congress support.

Kejriwal and his associates know fully well that if they denounce Rajiv Gandhi, there will be no chance of forging an alliance with the Congress. Morality and principles have no place in such matters. It is a clear case of political opportunism propelled by the lust for power.

In a related development, senior Supreme Court advocate and AAP’s former leader of opposition in Punjab assembly H. S. Phoolka resigned from the party on Thursday opposing Kejriwal’s move for a tie-up with the Congress. Phoolka was the person who doggedly fought in courts for 34 years to give justice to the victims of 1984 carnage. The senior advocate had earlier believed that Kejriwal had sympathy for the 1984 riot victims, but he has now realized that the AAP supremo is guided only by the lust for power. He has now decided to part ways.

You may recall how Anna Hazare, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav and Kumar Vishwas left AAP one by one because of Kejriwal’s arbitrary style of functioning. H.S.Phoolka is the latest addition to the list. It will not be difficult any more for Kejriwal to join hands with Congress at the hustings.

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The Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed an acrimonious debate on the Rafale fighter deal, with Congress President Rahul Gandhi initiating the discussion. He tried to stir up a fresh controversy by offering to “play inside the House” an audio clip purportedly between the Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and a local journalist, in which the former is said to have referred to the Rafale deal. Both Rane and Goa CM Manohar Parrikar have denied this.

Pointedly when asked by the Speaker whether he was ready to authenticate the audio conversation, Rahul Gandhi backed out. It seems he was not sure whether the audio clip was genuine or not. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley later rightly said that Rahul declined to authenticate because he knows that the tape is “false and fabricated”.

In his speech, Rahul repeated the same allegations that he had been making for nearly 600 times in the last six months. He repeated his allegation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a bounty of Rs 30,000 crores to industrialist Anil Ambani, after buying Rafale aircraft at, what he called, inflated prices.

In the last six months, PM Modi, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have explained the Rafale deal in details both inside and outside Parliament, but Rahul continued to repeat his allegations. The matter went to the Supreme Court, where experienced luminaries like Yashwant Sinha, Prashant Bhushan and Arun Shourie took part in the hearing. After hearing all the parties, the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to the deal. And yet, Rahul Gandhi is persistently repeating his allegations.

Till Tuesday, Rahul had been alleging that the government was running away from a debate inside the House, but on Wednesday, he was given full freedom to make his points in the debate. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley later succinctly replied to each and every allegation levelled by Rahul Gandhi. In the evening, Rahul again addressed a press conference and repeated the same allegations. He had nothing new to add.

The question now is why Rahul Gandhi is doing this. There seems to be one valid reason. In the last 2014 parliamentary elections, the BJP had decimated the Congress at the hustings on the issue of corruption. Prime Minister Modi says, there has not been a single major charge of corruption against his government in the last four and a half years.

By repeating his allegations, Rahul is trying hard so that at least one corruption charge against the Modi government could stick. I personally know several senior Congress leaders who have confided to me in private that the Rafale controversy is having no effect on the electorate, and it would be difficult to make any corruption charge stick against Modi. They want a change in the party’s poll strategy.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his wide-ranging interview given to ANI, spoke on all major issues and did not duck a single question. He has practically set the tone for the crucial Lok Sabha elections that will take place after a few months. There were many who said that the PM did not look aggressive in the interview, but I personally feel that Modi was only giving an account of what his government has done so far. While doing so, he did not refrain from attacking the Congress, and his tone was certainly aggressive.

On Ram temple, Modi said, Congress should withdraw its lawyers from Supreme Court, who were delaying the hearing; on CBI, RBI and the judiciary, he explained how the Congress weakened these institutions in the last 70 years; on farmers’ issues, he alleged how Rahul Gandhi’s farm loan waiver idea was a fraud on farmers who are loaded with debts; on cross-LoC surgical strike, Modi reminded how Rahul tried to politicize the army action; on issue of corruption, the PM recalled how Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are out on bail. All these remarks were made aggressively.

In the next 100 days, the Prime Minister will be going to the people to explain how his government has provided LPG and electricity connections to poor families, gave lakhs of crores worth loans under Mudra scheme, held a tight leash on inflation and helped the middle class. In the same vein, Modi will be targeting what he called ‘doublespeak’ and duplicitous stands taken by the Congress. Modi already seems to have started his campaign with this wide-ranging interview and he will now be addressing 100 rallies to convey his message to the masses. His message to the anti-Modi opposition is clear: this is just the beginning.

And now, each of the major issues on which the PM spoke.

One, Ram temple. Modi’s supporters, BJP workers, RSS volunteers and devotees of Lord Ram had been asking, if the temple cannot come up with Modi at the Centre and Yogi in Lucknow, then when will it be built? RSS leaders Mohan Bhagwat and Bhaiyyaji Joshi had been demanding an ordinance to clear the way for building the temple. Their argument was: if an ordinance for banning Triple Talaq can be brought, then why not on the temple? Only Modi could have answered this question. He said, the law banning Triple Talaq was brought after the Supreme Court gave its verdict. And any step to fulfill the wishes of millions of Hindus can be taken only after the judicial process in the apex court is over. Modi made it clear that he would not be going to do things in a hurry, but he will keep the aspirations of devotees of Lord Ram in mind.

Two, on Pakistan and cross-LoC surgical strike. Modi did not speak on how to deal with Imran Khan’s government in Pakistan. Presently, this would have been certainly immature. What he said was, It will be a huge mistake to believe that Pakistan will mend its ways after one conflict, and it will take a lot of time to make Pakistan mend its ways. Modi explained in detail how the surgical strike decision was not taken in a hurry, though it was a huge political risk. The PM reminded how Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal tried to politicize the issue by raising doubts about the surgical strike and using language which suited Pakistan.

Three, on Rahul Gandhi’s favourite issue Rafale, Modi spoke. Rahul Gandhi had been going around the country levelling charges and challenging Modi to speak. The PM said, he had already given details about the Rafale deal in Parliament, and the Supreme Court went into the nitty-gritty of the deal before issuing a clean chit to the government. Modi said, questioning each and every defence deal tends to lower the morale of our jawans. He alleged that for the last 70 years, middlemen had been active in most of the defence deals, and this can end only with the ambitious Make in India plan.

Four, on demonetization and economic offenders, Modi said, the decision to demonetize currency notes in 2016 was not taken in a hurry. For one whole year, people hoarding black money were given opportunity to come out with disclosures, and the decision to demonetize was taken as a last resort. Modi said that prices of real estate fell drastically because of demonetization. On economic offenders, Modi explained how efforts are afoot to extradite Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya, who had taken thousands of crores from banks as loans and had fled India. He described the extradition of Agusta Westland middleman Christian Michel as a big achievement, and pointed out that Michel’s sensational disclosures are surely going to hurt the Congress.

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The nation should wake up to the fact that the rot has set in deep inside our judicial custody system, where a gangster in UP has the gumption to get a Lucknow businessman kidnapped, brought to Deoria jail, and thrashed by his goons inside the gangsters’ barracks. Nobody can even imagine about a gangster hijacking a jail administration in this manner. Earlier we had seen how gangsters in some jails manage to get VIP facilities and organize parties inside their barracks, but this one takes the cake.

Let me recapitulate from the beginning. Former Samajwadi Party MP and Allahabad gangster Atiq Ahmed was in Deoria jail, facing multiple cases of murder and other heinous crimes. He got a Lucknow real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal kidnapped on December 26, brought to Deoria jail the same day, and his henchmen beat him black and blue in front of other inmates and jail staff.

According to Mohit Jaiswal, he was forced to sign on blank papers and cheques, and his finger bones were broken. He alleged that policemen and jail staff stood silent, when he was being brutally beaten up. He was let off with a warning from the gangster asking him to either pay up or face death. According to the businessman, Atiq Ahmed told him that he could have eliminated his entire family, had he been staying out of jail.

After he was let off, the businessman went to the police and filed his FIR, and it was then that senior police officials sat up and took notice. Mohit Jaiswal also submitted audio recordings of his conversations with Atiq Ahmed over phone prior to the kidnapping, in which the don was heard threatening to eliminate his entire family.

According to the businessman, Atiq Ahmed had demanded money from him two years ago, and at that time he had paid the extortion money. Two months ago, two of Atiq’s henchmen again demanded extortion money, but the businessman refused. The henchmen forcibly took possession of his office, and forced Mohit and his sister to give digital signatures to ‘approve’ the inclusion of the names of the henchmen in his company.

On Sunday, the DM and SP of Deoria went with more than 200 policemen to the jail, and searched every nook and corner for evidences. It was found that all the CCTV cameras placed inside the jail were working on the day of the raid, but were found switched off on the day the businessman was beaten up inside the barracks. The DM said that the remaining CCTV footage that was available had been tampered with. The Deputy Jailor, Head Warden and two other jail staff were suspended, and Atiq Ahmed was shifted from Deoria to Bareilly jail. The Jailor has been transferred and departmental action has been initiated against some other staff.

Atiq Ahmed is notorious for indulging in heinous crimes like murders, extortion and kidnapping, whether he stays inside the jail or outside. He has been an MLA and an MP. He was earlier in Samajwadi Party and later joined the BSP. He fought the Phoolpur byelection as an independent, but lost.

Atiq Ahmed entered the world of crime at the age of 17. The first case filed against him was that of a murder. There are more than a dozen cases slapped against him under Gangsters Act. Once inside the jail, the gangster secured help from jail staff to run his network. The manner in which he got the businessman abducted, then brought to jail and thrashed in front of him, speaks volumes about the rot that has set inside our system. Time to ponder.

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“The Accidental Prime Minister” could be the coming new year’s most controversial movie, as it is completely focused on how former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh ran his UPA government for ten years. The film gives you the inside story of the events that took place in the corridors of power. The film is slated for release on January 11, and I was one of those privileged who watched the entire movie a few days ago. After watching the film, I can share with you the important scenes to underline why its trailer became controversial once it was circulated on social media.

Actor Anupam Kher had a challenging role to do in and as The Accidental Prime Minister. He has enacted on screen the exact modulated voice, gait and mannerisms of Dr Singh. It was more challenging because the character is not imaginary, nor is it of a historical figure. We watch Dr Singh in real life every day.

The film is based on the eponymous book written by Dr Singh’s former media adviser Sanjaya Baru. The book was released before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and the movie will now hit the screens, months before the nation will go to the polls to elect a new Lok Sabha. The Central Board of Film Certification cleared the movie on Friday.

One thing I want to underline is that there is nothing indirect or symbolic about almost all the characters in this movie. The get-ups of most of the characters are almost similar to those of the leaders in real life. Anupam Kher has really toiled a lot in studying the gait, mannerisms and voice modulation of Dr Singh closely, and has enacted them on the screen. Akshaye Khanna has donned the role of media adviser Sanjaya Baru. German actress Susan Barnett has done the role of Sonia Gandhi. Being a European, she has exactly replicated the acquired Hindi accent of the leader. Ahna Kumar is Priyanka and Arjun Mathur is Rahul Gandhi.

All these actors have tried their best to portray the characters as they appear in real life. The trailer of the movie clearly shows there was some sort of tussle between Dr Singh and Sonia Gandhi on some major issues. The movie portrays to what extent Dr Singh had to withstand pressure from within his party over the India-US nuclear deal. The movie also shows how Dr Singh was prevented from taking major decisions which were in the national interest, and when charges flew thick and thin over major scams, how Dr Singh’s honesty and integrity were projected to shield the Gandhi family from accusations. The movie practically touches almost all controversies that took place during 10 years of UPA rule.

Sanjay Baru is shown as the narrator throughout the film. In some parts of the film, he appears more as a political adviser instead of a media adviser. In the movie, Susan Barnett, ably portraying the role of the then Congress President and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, clearly depicts the mannerism and accent of the leader. The movie reveals how Sonia Gandhi scuttled several decisions taken by Dr Singh, and how the party chief was trying to groom her son Rahul Gandhi to take over the mantle of Prime Minister.

At one point in the movie, the party chief is shown telling the Prime Minister, what would be left for her son to decide, if he starts taking all the decisions. At another point, when Dr Singh offers to resign, Sonia Gandhi is shown telling him how her son could take over, with all the scams that have taken place.

Most of the happenings had been duly recorded by Sanjaya Baru in his book that was published five years ago, but the impact seems to be more on the screen. The movie also showcases the famous event at the Press Club of India, when Rahul Gandhi tore up a copy of the ordinance passed by the Union Cabinet, in front of the media. It also shows an incident where Sonia and Dr Singh are involved deeply in a discussion over a policy issue, and Rahul Gandhi, appearing disinterested, seems to be playing a game or watching a video on his cellphone.

Actors who have played the roles of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani, Ahmed Patel and P. Chidambaram have also portrayed the characters well in the movie.

Anupam Kher is happy with his portrayal of Dr Singh in the movie. He told me in an interview on Aaj Ki Baat that this has nothing to do with politics, the main opposition party Congress has strongly protested. Congress leaders have demanded that the release of the movie be stalled, as, according to them, there are many objectionable scenes denigrating some particular characters. The BJP is gleeful, and its official Twitter handle, which posted the movie trailer, garnered more than 3.84 lakh views within a few hours.

Maharashtra Youth Congress chief has sent a letter to the film producer, threatening to obstruct the screening of the movie. Congress leaders are alleging that this movie is part of a propaganda by the BJP. I know the film director Sunil Bora personally. He seems to have no political connections, and even if he has, nobody can deny him the right of free expression.

I will like to remind Congress leaders how they had opposed restriction on screening of the movie Udta Punjab. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had himself opposed restrictions on the Tamil movie Mersal by tweeting: “Mr Modi, Cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language ..Don’t try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal.”

Instead of staging protests, the Congress should allow freedom of expression, and the party should do some serious introspection.

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India’s holiest river Ganga, which provides water to more than 50 crore people across 11 states, is also the world’s sixth most polluted river. Over more than a century, the river has been contaminated by industrial pollutants and human and animal waste. For millions of Indians, Ganga is not only a river. It is our lifeline. Hindu religious scripts (shastras) extol Ganga as the holiest of all rivers.

When Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister from 1985 to 1989, he initiated the Ganga Action Plan. Rs 863 crores were spent, but most of it went down the drain, and the river continued to be the filthiest. The National River Ganga Basin Authority was set up by the previous UPA government in 2009 and the World Bank approved $ 1 billion in 2011 for this authority to clean up the river.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over in 2014, he initiated the Namami Gange and Aviral Ganga projects. After Nitin Gadkari took over as Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister, he promised to clean up the Ganga at a great speed. Gadkari has promised to clean most of the polluted parts of Ganga by March, 2019.

In order to conduct reality checks, India TV reporters fanned out to Varanasi, Prayagraj and Kanpur and their reports were shown on Tuesday night in Aaj Ki Baat show. In the Prime Minister’s constituency of Varanasi, the holy city itself is undergoing massive transformation, with all overhanging power cables removed, and the bathing ghats of Varanasi cleaned up. Steps are being taken to divert or stop most of the 30 drains that discharge crores of litres of waste into the Ganga.

Prof. B.D.Tripathi, chairman of BHU’s Mahamana Malviya Ganga river development and water resources management research centre, says that there has been improvement in Varanasi and most of the drains have been diverted. The Shahi Nallah near Rajghat has been closed, but during monsoons when the drains get clogged, waste water overflow and fall into the Ganga. In the coming weeks, the Assi Nallah will also be closed, but Prof Tripathi says, the basic solution lies in bringing greater flow in the Ganga river at Varanasi. Even now, waste from three big drains fall directly into Ganga, and there are no sewage treatment plants to treat this waste. Our reporter found the sewage pumping station at Assi Nallah not working.

In Prayagraj near Sangam, our reporter found the sewage treatment plant operational. Arrangements for Kumbh Mela is going on at a feverish pace, and the Ganga is being cleaned up on a war footing. There were 64 drains in Prayagraj city throwing waste into the Ganga, but with the setting up of seven sewage treatment plants, the flow of waste into Ganga has reduced. 32 drains in the city have been closed down so far.

The biggest transformation of Ganga river has taken place in its most polluted stretch near Kanpur. The Sisamau drain, said to be Asian’s biggest drain, which used to discharge 14 crore litres of effluents into the river, has been permanently closed. Sixteen drains in the city used to discharge waste into Ganga in the past, but now most of them have been closed down or diverted.

Most of us Indians pray to our holy river Ganga, but there are many among us who have the mistaken belief that praying means offering or throwing waste into the holy river. This superstition has been prevalent since centuries. All credit goes to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for trying to execute the Namami Gange and Aviral Ganga projects at breakneck speed. Gadkari brought about a sea change in the thinking and style of working while executing these projects.

Time has now come for we Indians to bring about transformation in our thinking too. Let us resolve not to throw any waste material in our rivers, if we want our rivers to sustain and breathe. We have the shining examples of the people of London and Paris, who came forward to clean up their rivers Thames and Seine. The Narmada river bank in Ahmedabad should be a model for many of us. Let us all participate in this national endeavour to clean up our rivers.

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Long queues of farmers outside urea distribution centres since early dawn have become a common feature in large parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. India TV on Monday night in Aaj Ki Baat, did a reality check through its reporters in Raisen, Rajgarh and Ashok Nagar, and found that while farmers were lining up for urea, profiteers and black marketers are making a quick buck by selling urea in black.

The result: farmers who are returning disappointed are staging protests and blocking roads. Farmers say, they have already sown their ‘rabi’ crops and if urea was not made available in time, their crops would just wither away this season. There was a demand for 3.70 lakh metric tonnes of urea in MP in December, but only 2.25 lakh tonnes have been supplied so far. With a shortage of 1.45 lakh tonnes of urea, political parties, fresh from recent electoral battles, are engaged in accusations and counter-accusations.

The Congress, fresh in power after a 15-year break, is alleging that the BJP government at the Centre is deliberately creating shortage to antagonize farmers. BJP leaders in the state allege that there is rampant black marketing of urea in connivance with local Congress leaders.

Farmers in Raisen, after making futile rounds of farmers’ cooperatives and marketing federation centres, are alleging that urea stocks have vanished from godowns, but are openly being sold in the black. At several places, farmers gheraoed offices of Markfed, engaged in distribution of urea. Local officials had to open godowns and show to agitating farmers that there was not a single stock of urea left.

In Rajgarh, farmers returning empty-handed after queuing since 5 am in biting cold, blocked highway traffic in protest. In Ashok Nagar, angry farmers gheraoed the district collectorate and blocked traffic. Local officials have rationed the issue of urea, two bags each for a farmer, in order to stem hoarding.

Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has alleged that there was no shortage of urea. He claimed that supplies of urea this year have been more compared with last year, and that profiteers were taking advantage of shortcomings in the system. He also alleged that the shortage was man made.

The crisis could have been avoided through timely forward planning, which was non-existent. The state administration was busy in conduct of assembly elections for the whole month, and the Code of Conduct was in place. The problem with our politicians is: they may excel in levelling allegations, but they spend less time on providing solutions.