My Opinion

There is no doubt that Eknath Khadse is a powerful man and a senior minister in the Maharashtra Government but the allegations against him are also very serious. Instead of being evasive, Eknath Khadse should face all the questions thrown at him and there should be a thorough investigation to probe all such charges. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis must look into this matter seriously since he had promised the people of Maharashtra that he would ensure clean governance. If the Chief Minister chooses to remain tacit and not take action it would amount to giving a clean chit to Khadse.

Initially Digvijay Singh had repeatedly pointed out that the Batla encounter was a fake one and it somehow gave the impression that perhaps the senior congress leader’s apprehensions were not wrong and somehow Digvijay Singh must have had some extra information to corroborate his suspicions. However today Shivraj Patil, the then Home Minister cleared the air by stating the contrary. This clearly means that Digvijay Singh must have had some political motive to have insisted time and again that the encounter was a fake on.

The militant attack on the Jammu & Kashmir police is a reflection of their dejection and despair. In the past few months these militant groups have lost a sizeable number of their commanders and infiltration in the valley has also reduced. These militants who are now a disgruntled lot are in search of soft targets. The Jammu & Kashmir police who are resident Kashmiris are being targeted by these militants in an act of desperation. Fortunately the Army has assured that they would fight the militants together with the J&K police.

Veteran leaders within the Congress feel that certain decisions taken by Rahul Gandhi have cost the party dearly in these Assembly Polls however none of them have come out openly to voice their unease. Secretly most of them agree Rahul Gandhi’s decision to ally with the Left in West Bengal was a wrong move and in Assam to have not sided with Badruddin Ajmal proved heavy for the party. His decisions like not giving enough time to Himanta Biswa Sarma or not paying heed to a senior leader like Vijay Bahuguna or joining protests at JNU in support of Kanhaiya Kumar or for that matter even demonstrating for Rohit Vemula in Hyderabad went against the Congress. Digvijay Singh one of the most seasoned politicians who has served his entire life for the Congress has openly come out and said that there is a need for surgery on such decisions and that the Party President Sonia Gandhi must take serious action.

What Ujjwal Nikam has said makes sense. A Pakistan court has said that Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, the masterminded of 26/11, will be charged for aiding the murders of all the 166 people who died. However Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has said this is purely a deceptive ploy by Pakistan and one should not be under any illusion that Pakistan will take real action against those involved in the attacks. Rather those involved are essentially state actors who enjoy the support of the Army and the ISI!

In the Tamil Nadu polls it was Jayalalitha’s branding that came handy. She was able to successfully ensure that ‘Brand Amma’ reaches every household. She even fulfilled her promises of cheap ration and budget clothing and ensured that commodities like washing machines are available to all. She started the Amma canteen where idli-sambar is available at only a rupee and for five rupees one can even have a filling meal. These popular schemes overshadowed the charges and accusations against her. On the other hand Karunanidhi her opponent, is 92 years old…there are disputes within his family and the party’s condition is also weak. These factors helped Jayalalitha script history in Tamil Nadu’s electoral politics.

Mamata Banerjee has witnessed the Left Front rule in Bengal for 34 years and in these 34 years she fiercely fought against them in the streets. Gradually she wrested power from them and formed the government and soon mastered the art of governing the state. This time she applied the same formula to even defeat the Left. Even the weak Left-Congress alliance went in her favour. The third important factor was the constant negative campaigning against her which helped Mamata garner sympathy from the electorate. And finally the fourth important factor behind her win is the lack of BJP’s presence as a formidable force in Bengal which ensured Mamata Banerjee winning by a thumping two thirds majority in the Assembly polls this time.

Amit Shah and Narendra Modi would have been in big trouble had they lost Assam. After having lost Delhi and Bihar, there were some murmurs of dissent from within the party which will stop for the time being. Now all will depend on the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh which would be led by none other than Amit Shah and Narendra Modi. Fortunately the Assam victory has now further strengthened their leadership.

The Congress Party has ruled the nation for 60 years, naturally most of the schemes and policies implemented during their rule have been named after Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. However there is no point is blaming the Congress alone. Whether it is Mulayam Singh, Karunanidhi or Mayawati after having assumed power, have always named the schemes implemented by them after their leaders – whether they are building roads or building parks. Mayawati has even got her own statues built. Such practices are certainly not acceptable and need to be abolished.

Sadhvi Pragya’s outrage is understandable. Investigative agencies have said that she was implicated to give credence to ‘saffron terror’ and there is no evidence against her. Despite being innocent, she was imprisoned for 8 years. She was termed anti national. But who is responsible for this? Some say that those investigating officers responsible for her harassment should be tried however since it was more of a political decision to arrest Sadhvi Pragya. Those political leaders involved should therefore be held responsible.

Dr Subramanian Swamy is not the only one who has expressed displeasure against RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan. Within the Government too there are a few Ministers who are of the opinion that Raghuram Rajan has not only hurt the Economy but also the RBI itself. There are some who have even raised objections to Rajan’s comparison of the Indian economy to that of a ‘one-eyed man’ being a king in the land of the blind. In any case, the RBI Governor’s term is ending in September this year and with only four months left, Dr Subramanian Swamy and the others should wait a while and exercise restraint before making such statements

Social media has certain inherent problems. Often certain comments made by some people become a point of discussion but to what extent should there be a public discourse at all on such comments? Is it feasible to cross a certain limit especially when it comes to comments made about the country’s Prime Minister? Congress leader Rashid Alvi realised the gravity of the situation when his comments triggered off a massive reaction on social media forcing him to clarify that he was only expressing his disapproval of Google and referring to the removal of such remarks about the PM from the search engine.