Only Transparency And Technology Will Make India Superpower.

The initial 30 days of Shri Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India have been, more or less, satisfactory. There have been many setbacks to him during this short period but they are not so important as to derail him from taking drastic steps for improving the economic, administrative situations and solving other problems of the country. To be fair in the matter, we must admit that today the country is in a mess. This dismal condition of the country is a legacy that we have inherited from the past direction-less (or, misdirected) national governance spanning more than half a century. The truth of this statement (regarding the Indian dismal condition) is vouchsafed when we compare India with the leading countries of the world with a comparable population/size, like China, Russia, and U.S.A. etc.  We are far behind them in the matters of our people’s standard of living, education, defense, play in world affairs etc. Still, the ordinary people cannot be expected to find solace in the past fifty years’ mal-governance; ordinary people need, and need immediately, food to eat, cloths to wrap them up and houses to live in; they need immediate relief in the matters of inflation, corruption in administrative machinery, law and order etc. etc. On the part of Mr. Modi the drastic and immediate action is called for. How has he fared till date — Let us examine.

The people have been expecting that he would be able to control the growing inflation to mitigate their sufferings. The people across the country, however, have welcomed his two immediate decisions; one is that no minister or even a Member of Parliament of his party would be able to appoint his Personal Assistant, Personal Secretary or Officer on Special Duty from among those who have worked earlier with UPA government or who happened to be their relatives.  Mr. Modi has also asked another important thing is to instruct his ministers not to indulge into the business of transfers and postings of bureaucrats.  Another thing, which he has done is to encourage the bureaucrats to bring to his notice, if any attempt is made by the concerned ministers to stall the right decisions. Although it may not be very important one, yet it is not insignificant also because till now the bureaucrats have been ‘decision shy’. They always thought that discretion was better part of the valor. Bureaucrats were made to become the sycophants and instead of working for the good of the people they have become self-servers and self-seekers. Officials are the instruments of carrying out the policies and programmes but they have virtually been converted into the tools of making money for themselves and their political masters. If Modi is able to change this mindset, it will go a long way and be a great service to the nation indeed.

We expect from Mr. Modi to do three things for the benefit for the common people. One is to make the entire system transparent. There should not be any hanky-panky and whatever decisions are taken; the public should be informed about the reasons thereof. Secondly; they strength of any country lies in the economic prosperity. Manufacturing sector is the core to make the economy strong and vibrant. In this respect Mr. Modi while putting the manufacturing industries/economy on rail should keep two important things in mind: Firstly, all facilities and encouragement should be given to the entrepreneurs to adopt and invest in the latest, original, innovative, cutting-edge technologies, instead of old, junky and obsolete ones. Our universities, technical institutions and educational-pool of the country should be used to the hilt in this regard. Secondly, while every entrepreneur should be given the liberty to go for manufacturing according to his or her own capacity and targets, the manufacturer must be made accountable to the audit of the law and the society. For example, if 10 rupees have been spent of manufacturing a peace of any item then the manufacturer must display the cost of production and its selling price. The public i.e. the consumer should not kept in dark as to how much is the cost of manufacturing and how much is being charged from them. This will help in rooting out the corruption and illegal profiteering. This will also help the manufactures to be bold and not to give bribes to the corrupt officials. At the same time the officials will also be afraid of accepting the bribes.

At present an opaque system is working, which is commonly known as MRP i.e. maximum retail price system. This is very deceptive and it goes against the welfare and the interests of the common man. It helps only the dishonest businessmen and manufactures who have their own axes to grind. For example; if a pressure cooker’s production cost is Rs. 250/-, then in the name of MRP the general public is looted and compelled to pay three or four times more than the cost of production. The mind boggling profit is charged by the clique of brokers, retailers, wholesalers and the manufactures. If everything is displayed from production cost to profit margin, then there would be little chance of exorbitant pricing and exploitation.

Another example will help understand the nefarious game of duping the public. The potato or corn is purchased at the lowest possible price by dishonest manufactures from the farmers but their end products are sold at many times higher prices to the public. To be very precise if potato is purchased at Rs. 1000 per quintal and maze at 1500 Rs. per quintal its end product  like potato chips  or cornflakes are sold at least 50 times higher than their original purchase prices. This type of anomaly is not found anywhere in the world. Unless it is done away with by adopting the stringent measures the disadvantaged section will continue to suffer and profiteers will roll into luxury by amassing huge amount of unaccounted wealth leading to generation of black money. And apart from it, the manufactures do not give any guarantee to the quality of their products. This is all due to lack of transparency. Another alarming situation is prevailing in the field of pharmaceutical companies. Different pharmaceutical companies are selling their medicines at very hefty prices by giving commissions and discounts, incentives and promotions to retail druggists, pharmacists, doctors, and medical representatives. One fails to understand why there is a huge difference in the cost of production of the medicines and their selling prices. What is most shocking is that they compromise with the quality of medicines in collusion with officials of the drug department and play with the lives and health of the people without any fear of being punished. That is why, there is the crying need of transparency, which we hope the Modi government to address it with the urgency that it deserves.

The same transparency is required to improve the functioning of the government and other organ of the State, like; the judiciary and the legislatures by introducing state-of the-art technology. Technology does not allow for any scope of the discretion and there is no doubt that where there is space for desecration for any official or minister that will breed to corruption. Therefore, the best way is to nip the corruption in the bud itself.

The third thing that is expected from the Modi government is to take bold decision on population control which is growing menacingly. Population explosion is the biggest threat to fight against poverty. Population bomb is bound to disrupt law and order, unity and integrity of the country. It is regrettable that all previous governments have felt shy of taking any effective measures to check the population of the country. The days are not far away when India will overtake its neighboring country China in 20 years’ time in respect of population. We conveniently forget the China has made the giant strides in the field of technology and manufacturing. Even the developed country like; Untied State of America, Canada, Australia, England and France are under the burden of the debts of China.

How come the China which was considered not long back a sleeping tiger has surged forward to become economic giant of the world? It is true that Indian cannot adopt the same methods which are adopted by China but there can be no denying the unless stern steps are taking it will very difficult to control the monster of population. The another point which we note is that the termite of black money has eaten most of its vitals of the country and the people are genuinely looking forward with bated breath that the black money that has been illegally stashed away to the foreign countries will be brought back soon without any let or hindrance. If Modi is taking all these steps then he will have the overwhelming support of the general public of the country; otherwise people will get disillusioned with him, sooner than later.

India is, no doubt, a rich country with poor administration because of the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. As the saying goes that the bottlenecks always start at the top never at the bottom. So the Prime Minister is expected to take care of the smooth and transparent functioning at the top level. If the right message goes at the top, it will undoubtedly percolate down to the lowest level.

With these suggestions we are expecting the bright future for the country, which may also prove to be bright for Mr. Modi otherwise he will not be able to check the disappointment of the general public. He cannot, for long hide behind, the mistakes and shortcomings of the previous governments. People have reposed faith in him with high hopes and aspirations he must work to fulfill them.

Gopal Subramanian controversy underlines the need for National Judicial Commission

The unsavory controversy about the appointment of the Gopal Subramanian as the judge of the Supreme Court was avoidable. However, this further underscores the need for the National Judicial Commission for the selection of the judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court. In fact it has become almost imperative in the present circumstances. The way the appointment of the eminent lawyer was turned down by the Executive has compelled the people to consider over this matter with all seriousness that it deserves. India is perhaps the one and the only major democratic country in the world where the judiciary has appropriated the right to appoint judges for the High Courts and the Supreme Court. In all other countries, the appointments are done by the Executive, mostly in consultation with the judges of the top courts. In India the Supreme Court has made it a law by the judicial pronouncement that judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court can be appointed the collegiums system, which consists of normally a handful of senior most judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts.

Earlier the Executive was being blamed for not appointing the competent judges to the High Courts and the Supreme Court. The allegations were also made that those pliable and in good books of the government of the day were being appointed the judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court. It was also being said in jest that there are two types of judges, 'those who know the law and those who know the law minister'. However, the history bears testimony to the fact that the judges appointed by the Executive have delivered many landmark judgments, which have stood the test of the times and they are still serving as the beacon lights. The Executive appointed judges like V.R.Krishnaiyer, Y.V.Chandrachud, Venkatachaliah, P.N.Bhagwathi, Vivian Bose, H. R. Khanna and Jeevan Reddy are remembered for their contributions to the development of jurisprudence through their judgments.  

Therefore, to say that the appointment through the Executive was a wrong method and amounted to interference in the independence of the judiciary is not fully true. We have seen that after 1995, when the method of collegiums was introduced has not been hunky-dory because we have yet to find the judges of high caliber and extraordinary competence who have made marks by delivering the path breaking judgments.

There are many vacancies existing in many High Court and they could not have been filled despite the scarce interference from the Executive. So no else can be blamed for but the collegiums itself.  This shows that there has been no improvement in the process of appointment of judges, which is sluggish and tardy as used to be the Second Judges case. The controversy generated with regard to the appointment of Shri Gopal Subramanian may, therefore, prove to be a blessing in disguise.

  

Mr. Subramanian is a brilliant lawyer and it is always a delight to hear his arguments in courts. He is, without doubt, an asset the bar and his elevation could have been a great tribute to the Supreme Court. His appointment has been stalled for seemingly very frivolous reasons. The present process of appointment, nevertheless, provides that if collegiums had recommended his name again then the government would have been duty bound to appoint him but the Supreme Court had given no inkling whether it wanted to send his name again or not. That is why, Mr. Subramanian has, in his nine page letter to the Chief Justice of India, has said that he felt let down by the highest court of the land. Although, he has tried to give quietus to the controversy but it has opened up more controversy with regard to the efficacy of the collegiums system.

The demand for having the transparent National Judicial Commission to appoint the judges of competence and unbiased mind has certainly gained currency with this controversy. Presently, those who are chosen by the collegiums of the senior judges to be appointed as the judges of the High Courts or even of the Supreme Court have served as the law officers at one point of time or the other. Thus the influence of the government can be seen, may be not directly but indirectly. Since the government is the biggest litigator, therefore, the Law Officers get frequent opportunities to appear before the judges and  are noticed by them to be  picked up for their appointment as  the judges. However, it National Judicial Commission is constituted then even those who are not in government panels but are intelligent lawyers will get the opportunity to prove their mettle. Moreover, they will be doing their job with impartiality and sincerity, which will go a long way in curbing the corruption in the judiciary. For the purposes of accelerating the process of justice delivery, the modern technology must be availed to the maximum possible. Technology is the best leveler and it does not discriminate between the two sets of people. It will definitely work for benefit of common person. It will help in overcoming the problems of nepotism. Therefore, the need of the hour is to immediately introduce the system of National Judicial Commission for the selection of judges of the higher courts and the modern technology for clearing the backlogs.

Keep Hindi Out Of Political Muck

A routine circular issued by the Home Ministry of the Government of India about the use of Hindi has been made a subject of controversy and contention. Of all the persons, who have taken the lead to kick up the dust is none but the former Chief Minister of Tamilnudu, M. Karunanidhi. See the irony that Mr. Karunanidhi is advocating the cause of English, a language with which he does not have even the nodding acquaintance. A person who neither understands the English language nor can even properly read it, has taken up the cudgels on its behalf. He is not asking for the promotion of Tamil which he knows fairly well, but he is speaking against the so-called hegemony of Hindi.

Not to be left behind by Karunanidhi is the present Chief Minister of Tamilnanu Ms. J. Jayalalitha, who, surprisingly, has very good knowledge of Hindi as she can speak chaste Hindi. One can understand the logic of Ms. Jayalalitha joining the chorus of protest against Hindi because she knows that if she allows the space of protest open then wily Karunanidhi will grab it. What is, however, more surprising is the joining of the anti-Hindi chorus by Mr.  P.Chidambaram, the former finance minister of India. Mr. Chidambaram has no political stakes or roots in his home state of Tamilnadu. Last time in the year 2009, he could win the parliamentary election with a very tenuous majority because then Mr. Karunanidhi’s party, DMK, was in alliance with the Congress Party. He is very unpopular leader, although he made all efforts as the finance minister to distribute largesse among the voters of his constituency. Mr. Chidambaram is more known as a political manipulator than a leader. He is also a Senior Advocate, but here too, he is known for managing the cases than arguing the finer points of law.

What could be more shameful for a person that, who has lived for four decades in Hindi speaking area and has occupied the important administrative positions in the country, expresses his inability to speak and properly communicate in the Hindi language? Mr. Chidambaram may continue to take pride in his ignorance of Hindi but people across the country consider it the symbol of his being a moron and dolt person. Anybody of basic understanding and average mind would be able to pick-up any language to communicate with the people if he or she had lived for some time in the area where that language is spoken. The statement of Mr. Chidambaram, therefore, castigating and denouncing the circular of the Home Ministry with regard to Hindi Language is most unfortunate, to say the least. This cannot be expected from a person who has been at the helm of affairs for years together and who knows as to how the government is run. It is, thus, inexcusable mischief of Mr. Chidambaram.

Now let us come to the circular of the Home Ministry with regard to the Hindi language, it can be said that it has been issued in most mechanical manner without any application of mind. This circular was unnecessary and useless. Social media does not have the barriers or boundaries as it travels across the globe. So what was the need for sending an advisory to officials to make use of any particular language? Having said it all, there is no gainsaying that the Hindi has already obtained the status of the lingua franca of the country without any support from the Governments. Karunanidhi, Chidambaram and Jayalalitha notwithstanding the march of Hindi will not be stopped because it enjoys tremendous support of the people. It provides comfort and convenience to the masses of the country. Hindi is the most unobtrusive language and more than 90% people of the country from east to west and north to south understand it. Most of the words that are used in Hindi for communication are common to almost all languages of the country. The script of Hindi is Devnagri, which is used for Nepali and Marathi as well and it is very close to Gujarati, Punjabi, Assamies and Bengali scripts. It is heavily dependent on Sanskrit and so are the other South Indian languages like Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu. The syntax of Hindi and Urdu are common and that is why, it a very difficult to differentiate between simple Urdu and simple Hindi.

The language of Bollywood, which has its appeal throughout the country, is Hindi. Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Hindi films have made a very significant contribution to make it a very popular language. Similarly, the contribution of the Railways and the Military cannot be underestimated in propagation of Hindi. Perhaps Mr. Karunanidhi does not know the fact that a Jawan of Tamilnadu uses Hindi to communicate with another Jawan of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam, Bengal, Uttar Preadesh or Madhya Pradesh. A Assami Jawan cannot understand Tamil or a Tamil Jawan would not understand the Assamese or Bengali or Odia or Marathi. Jawans are not expected to be well versed in the English language but they all know enough Hindi to communicate with each other. It is a welcome sign, which should be appreciated and encouraged by all.

To top it all, the development of any language is very closely linked to the employment. The young, educated men and women of Tamilnadu know it well that for better pastures of employment they will have to move out of their state. If they do not know Hindi, a language that is understood in almost all parts of the country, how can they think of getting the bigger markets of jobs? Therefore, the young generation will have to learn the Hindi language, which has become almost indispensable for the sake of employment.

For God's sake, keep Hindi out of politics. It is understandable in the case of Karunanidhi because he has been surviving and flourishing on the fulcrum of the opposition of Hindi. He has no agenda. He is bereft of ideas. He has no vision as to how to make a country strong and vibrant and that is why, he plays the emotional issue of language. The surprising thing is that why the people of Tamilnadu had fallen prey to his emotional blackmailing in the past? Karunanidhi must also know that much water has flown through Kaveri from 1960 to 2014. His threat of stirring movement against Hindi will now have no appeal in 2014. Today's youth cannot be misled by the ilks of Karunanidhi. He is a deadwood and a spent force. Ms. Jayalalitha should, instead of lending her support to Karunanidhi, must come down against such fissiparous elements with iron hand.

In the mean time, it is also advisable that the pig-headed officials of the Home Ministry will avoid doing anything which may provide fodder to the lose cannons like; Karunanidhi and Chidambaram.

In the progress of Hindi lies of progress of the country, lies the honor of the country. Hindi is a symbol of the unity, strength and respect of the people of the country. It must be supported by all not resented by anyone. 

SWARAJ: A BOOK WITH HAIR BRAINED IDEAS

I have today finished reading the book ‘Swaraj’ written by Arvind Kejariwal who resigned from the Chief Ministership of Delhi last evening. He remained the Chief Minster for just only 49 days. This book was given to me by my Advocate friend Shri Radhakrishna Kumar, who is very emotional person. Shri Kumar has been earlier an ardent supporter of Narendra Modi and Baba Ramdev but these days he has become their bitter critic and a passionate supporter of Arvind Kejariwal. The cover price of the Book is although Rs. 150/- but Shri Kumar gave it to me in only Rs. 40/- He has given this book to many other persons at the same price. This thin book of 150 and odd page is in octavo size and printed in easy to read fonts.

Now let me come to the contents of the book. Frankly speaking, except the passion of the writer to root out the corruption from the society root and branch, this book has left me completely unimpressed. I find that the ideas of the writer are the tangles of confusion.

Mahatma Gandhi was the greatest votary of the Gram Swaraj. He wanted every village to be self-reliant. However, he was also not able to impress upon the people about the economics of the villages. By adopting the cottage industries you will certainly be able to provide employment to every village, but you cannot make the viable in all manners. Here in this book Mr. Kejarival wants to make Assemblies and Parliament redundant by empowering and strengthening the villages and Mohalla Sabhas.

Kejariwal appears to have disillusionment with the old form of Indian democracy. He says that the modern democracy has not been imported from the West but it existed in ancient India, which possibly every person would not agree. He gives the example of Vaishali Republic of Buddha era but anybody having the rudimentary knowledge of the history of ancient India would vouchsafe that it was absolutely different from the present from of democracy, which is very coherent and representative one than that of the chaotic democracy of Buddha era. Kejariwal wants to do away with every symbolisn of the State like; the Rashtrapati Bhawan, which is spread over in 340 acre as if the Rashtrapati Bhawan is one of the causes of the poverty in India.

Mr. Kejariwal has suggested that untied funds should be provided to all Gram Sabhas and Mohall Sabhas and they must have the full freedom to spend the funds with the approval of 80% people of that particular Sabha as to where the money should be spent? His hairbrained idea is that local people are the better judge of the their own interests. They know how the funds could be better utilised like; for making the arrangements of water, schools or houses or hospitals. Nevertheless, he seems to be totally clueless as from where the money would come or who will release the money and how will it be generated by the Central or state governments? He does not have even any hazy idea of the most important aspect of the economics, although he has served as an officer of the Income Tax department.

Mr. Kejariwal lives in the utopia. He perhaps does not know that Indian villages are steeped and divided on the lines of castes and creeds. It is only those who belong to the dominant caste or religion have the final say. He advocates that the Gram Sabhas should have the blanket power and freedom to open schools, hospitals and other offices. So much so, the appointments should be made by the Gram Sabhas. Nobody knows, wherefrom these Gram Sabhas will get the deserving candidates for the jobs. He wants that the judicial and police powers to be vested with the Gram Sabhas, which will be a sure recipe for chaos and disaster. But then, you cannot help a person who lives in the make believe world and considers that his ideas are the panacea of for all malaises that are prevailing in the country.

He says that everybody of the village will be told about the bad effects of the liquor and thus with the permission of Gram Sabhas the liquor shops will be closed. He wants that equal powers should be given to women and no doubt it is a lofty idea but how will they be empowered, he has no solution to offer.

I have very high regards for the zeal of Shri Kejariwal to wipe out the corruption but I am sorry to say that his tiny book ‘Swaraj’, which is said to be the manifesto of ‘AAP’ does not provide any solution. His book is silent on issues like; foreign relations, scientific and technological development of the country, expansion of infra structures, industrialisation, agricultural production, trade and commerce, military and economics. If he thinks that only by crying hoarse and from house tops the corruption can he eliminated, I can only wish him good luck but I do not agree with him even a whit that such wishful ideas could be of any help.

Labour laws need to be reformed for more employment

The Government of Rajasthan has taken a bold decision to amend the labour laws. The state government has initiated steps to change three central labour laws- Industrial Disputes Act, Contract Act and the Factories Act -to unshackle them from the stringent requirement of their compliance. If at all, the Industrial Disputes Act is reformed then the companies will be allowed to retrench up to 300 hundred employees without seeking government permission, which is next to impossible to get. At present, it is restricted to 100 employees. The Contract Labour Act, which once passed, will be applicable to companies with more then 50 workers instead of the current 20 workers at present. Similarly the changed in the Factories Act will be applicable to factory premises with workforce of up to 40, which is currently 20, and without power supply to premises with 20 workers, which is at present 10. Lot of criticism is coming from almost all trade unions including the Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh, which is an outfit of the Bhartiya Janata Party. The opposition from the CPI’s, All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and CPI (M)’s, Central Industrial Trade Union (CITU) is on the expected lines. The labour wing of the Congress i.e. the Indian Trade Union Congress (INTUC) has also opposed the purposed amendment being mooted by the Vasundhara Raje Government.

As a matter of fact, the need to change most of the labour laws are long overdue many of the laws were enacted in the beginning years after independence and they have, undoubtedly, become outdated. There are 45 central laws on labour and nearly 200 hundred state laws. The procedures to be adopted for the compliance of these laws are nothing less than nightmares for the industrialists. Six lacs labour disputes of more than ten years old are pending in the labour courts. The long-standing disputes in the courts have only harmed the interests of the employees because it is very difficult for them to sustain inordinately long periods of unemployment or under employment.

There has hardly been any significant job creation in the last two decades. This is a fact, which has been accepted by everybody including the government. Why there have not been many jobs in the last two decades. Young boys and girls, even if they are well qualified and skilled, find it very difficult to find the remunerative jobs with satisfactory working conditions. Most of our boys and girls are working in highly dissatisfactory working conditions where the exploitation is the rule of the day. There is no doubt that whatever jobs we have today, most of them are contract based.Contractors often cross the limit of exploitation of the employees. We all know the reality, politicians know the reality, and employees know the reality because only the bearer knows where the shoe pinches. Employers gleefully indulge into the large-scale exploitation in connivance with the labour department officials. Then why do we not come face to face with the reality? Why do we look at other way and avoid looking at the problems as they are? Exploitation is going on in the most devious and sinister manner and our governments hardly taken any steps to control it.

In this backdrop, the initiatives taken by the Rajasthan Government are welcome. Rajasthan will show the way to other states and the BJP Government in the Centre will do well by not creating any obstacles in the way. It may be noted here that it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Government, which had setup the Second Labour Commission under the chairmanship of  former Labour Minister of India, Ravindra Verma and after extensive study in India and abroad he had submitted the report in two bulky volumes to the then Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, in 2004, his government was voted out of power and in the last ten years there was a complete silence on the issue the reforms of the labour laws. Since labour laws fall under concurrent list of Constitution of India, the Rajasthan Government is within its constitutional rights to take this lead. Once the assembly passes it, it will have to be sent to the President of India through the Governor of the State for his assent.

Needless to say, most of the industrialists from India and abroad have been feeling discouraged to make in large-scale investment in India because of archaic labour laws. It may be recalled here that long back when Ram Bilas Paswan was the Communication Minister he had given the telephone facility to all linemen at their residences. Most of the people raised objection to it on the ground that it would put extra burden on the government. However, Shri Paswan gave an apt reply to his critics, which is still relevant. He said that in any case linemen never make telephone calls to anybody on payment. They use government telephones during office hours. Consequently, the work suffers and no monetary profit comes to the kitty of the government. Then why should there be the hypocrisy of not providing telephone facility to linemen at there residences? Similarly, in the labour sector we find that, the employees are appointed on the contract basis and, that too, on very low payment. Then why should not the Contract Labour Act should be made flexible to safeguard the interests of employees. Industrial Disputes Act in the present form has killed many industries and has rendered huge number of employees to unemployment. So, why can’t it be amended to make it employment friendly? Likewise, we find that in small factories Labour Inspectors make money by accepting bribes from the employers and allow the exploitation of the employees go unabated. Therefore, it does not appeal to reason why the Factories Act should not be reformed to stop the corruption of the Inspectors. This will provide freedom to the employees and employers to bargain for higher wages and facilities. According to a report published in some of the newspapers the Raje Government has promised to generate employment for millions of young and able boys and girls in the next five years, if this aim is achieved it will be laudable.

The need of hour is to create employment with dignity to youngsters and reasonable freedom to employers. This initiative will certainly go long way in solving the problems of unemployment. It is expected that other state government will also follow suit and will not be swayed by the statements of trade unions and opposition parties.

Murders most foul in Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh must go

The gruesome murder after rape of two teenage girls in Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh sends shock waves  across the country  and beyond .Any human being will shudder with the repulsion over the ghastly manner in which the two innocent girls were firstly raped and then strangulated to death . As if it was not enough ,the beasts were emboldened to hang those hapless victims to the branches of a mango tree. Their dead bodies were found hanging by their family members.What is most shocking is that when the parents of those girls approached the police to search their daughters, the policemen told them that they could get their bodies after two hours hanging to a tree. The police in the dispensation of Akhilesh Yadav could have become so insensitive was unimaginable. Instead of commiserating and sympathizing with the family members and immediately swinging into action they showed the utter irresponsibility and criminality in discharging their duties. 

 The Ahiklesh Yadav government has not only failed but it has shamed the state, the country and the entire humanity by its misdeeds and inactions. This government has done nothing for the people of state to alleviate their sufferings but it has certainly drowned itself in the deep vale of shame , which has further added insult to injury of the people by the stupid , heartless and mindless utterances of the Chief Minister and his family members.The Samajwadi Party, which has now become a rump  after the recent Lok Sabha elections and is confined to only the family of Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav has lost trust of all sections of the society. 

It may not the out of place to mention that during the recent Lok Sabha elections Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav defended the rapists and goondas by one of his idiotic and preposterous speeches in which he had said that “boys will be boys. They will be committing mistakes. Even if they have committed the mistake of raping a girl, they cannot be put to gallows.” This is the clear mirror of the criminal mentality of a person who has unfortunately been the Chief Minister of a largest state of the country for three times. He also happened to be the Defence Minister of India for a short time. Responsibility, restraint and moderation is not the virtue of Mulayam Singh Yadav, his family members or even of the top leadership of his party. They do not know as to what they speak because they are intoxicated with power. These lumpens came to power not because of any leadership qualities or any ideological zeal but because of the narrow castiest and communal politics. Everybody knows how Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members have sucked the state white and amassed wealth by diverting the state funds, arm twisting ,extortion and and bribe taking. 

Regrettably,this young Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Ahkilesh Yadav has crossed all limits of puerility. When media persons asked him  why the state was not taking care of the safety and security of the people? He shot back on the reporter that have you also been attacked? When the media person replied in negative then the Chief Minister fatuously said, thank you. Can it be the behaviour of a Chief Minister in senses? Most certainly NOT. It will be an understatement that the Chief Minister has failed to govern the state and if he has left any sense of self-respect and conscience, he should resign from his post and go for sel-introspection.

 The funny behaviour of his other family members and top leaders of his party further mercilessly rubs salt on the injuries of the people. His two other infamous uncles -Shiv Pal Yadav, who is a minister in Uttar Pradesh and Ram Gopal Yadav, who is a Rajya Sabha member have also defended the rapist and goondas. No amount of logic or persuasion can help these people to see the reason because they have blind with power. Shri Ram Gopal Yadav has blamed the media for the anarchy and law and order problem in the state. He unabashedly said that normally in such cases boys and girls fall in love with each other and when something goes wrong in their relationships then the girls give the colour of rape. 

Nothing can be farther from the truth than the senseless and shameless statement by this leader about the spine-chilling incidences of rapes and murders. The other leaders of the party like Shiv Pal Singh Yadav and Mohd. Azam Khan do not lag behind in passing the senseless comments. It appears that there is a competition in the Samajvadi Party to make silly statements and steal the limelight for all wrong reasons. It appears as if that even small time leaders of the party are vying with each other to make statements which please to their party bosses. 

 Uttar Pradesh is a cursed state. Sometimes dacoits make the hay while the sun of the politicians shines . Other times the general public is harassed by the goons and agents of two political parties namely; the BSP of Mayawati and the SP of Mulayam Singh . The story of these leaders is that of rags to riches. These leaders ,who were not in position to afford a bicycle when they started their political careers but now they have become the masters of thousands of crores of rupees in a span of less then twenty five years. These leaders, although, have been professing for Socialism and Dalit cause but in actual politics they have always played the politics of caste and creed coupled with insatiable greed to remain in power. 

The trends of the recent Lok Sabha elections have pleasantly and surprisingly dismantled all the cobwebs of castes and creeds, so assiduously built by the selfish and myopic leaders,be they from Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party or even the Congress Party. The emergence of the Narendra Modi by shaking and destroying the caste and creed equations to become the tallest leader of the country is, no doubt,a happy development. But in the meantime Akhilesh must go lock, stock and barrel at least for some years.

Electoral Battle in Four Key Constituencies of East UP

Varanasi, Rae Bareli Azamgarh and Amethi are the four important parliamentary seats fall in Easter Uttar Pradesh. These constituencies have become important; not because they are anyway different from other constituencies of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. They have become important because four important leaders of the country namely; Mr. Narendra Modi, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Mr. Rahul Gandhi have been contesting election from these seats. Mr. Narendra  Modi has jumped for the first time in the parliamentary election from Varanasi. He has electrified the election campaign not only in Varanasi but also in most of the constituencies of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Although Modi wave is sweeping across the country, yet its effect is being felt with a greater intensity in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In fact, the very purpose of Mr. Modi to contest election from Varanasi is to send a signal that Uttar Pradesh will again get the honor of having the Prime Minster of India from Uttar Pradesh.

On the another hand it is an accepted fact that if the Congress led UPA is again voted to power Mr. Rahul Gandhi will certainly become the Prime Minister. Sonia Gandhi being the President of the oldest party, the Congress party, will continue to enjoy the place of honor in the country. Similarly, when Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav has thrown himself in the electoral fray from Azamgarh with the intention was to retain most of the seats in Uttar Pradesh. His Samajwadi Party is in power for the last more than two years after throwing the Bahujan Samaj Party of Mayawati out of power. Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav has himself held many important posts like; three times Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and former Defense Minister of India. His performance as the Chief Minister or the Defense Minister of India has been lackluster. He is bereft any vision for the development or even to the modern ideas but he is certainly apragmatic politician. He is rather known for following the outdated philosophy as practiced and preached by the late Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. His socialistic thoughts boil down to casteism. It may be said that he has neither any depth in economics and political science nor any sparks or brilliance of administration. Mulayam Singh and most of his followers owe their rise in politics to pure casteism and uncouth behavior in public life. He has passed on his baton to his son Akhilesh Yadav who is an utterly hopeless man, more known as a nincompoop than the bubbling energetic or dynamic Chief Minister of the biggest state of India, which is bigger than most of the European countries.

Mulayam Singh Yadav is again pinning his hope to win the election because of caste and the equation of Muslim Yadav. However, this time the BSP, his main rival party in Uttar Pradesh has fielded Mr. Shah Alam who is also known as Guddu Zamali against Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav in Azamgarh. Therefore, there is no possibility of his getting the support of the bulk of the Muslim community.

Mr. Guddu Zamali’s story has been of rages to reaches. This man was doing some petty job in Mumbai but he earned good amount of money by foul means. He got ticket of the BSP by sheer dint of money to contest assembly election and was elected. Developed proximity with Mayawati and even became a minister in her government. It became the gateway to earn huge amount of money. He is said to be the business partner of the brother of Ms Mayawati. He has good control over the Muslims of Azamgarh because he has been generously contributing to fundamentalist Muslim organisations and Madarsas of entire Uttar Pradesh. He is also big developer and the chairperson of Poorvanchal Group. He has filed an affidavit before the Election Officer of Azamgarh claim to have the asset of more than 400 crores.

The third candidate from Azamgarh is Mr. Rama Kant Yadav who is also a sitting Lok Sabha Member of BJP from Azamgarh. He too does not have any respectable record of a social worker his history is full of gunda activities many innocent citizens and officers posted in the district must have suffered because of his antisocial activities. The Congress candidate is insignificant and he is not going to cut any ice. Therefore, the fight in Azamgarh is bound to be triangular.

Yadavas are a dominant caste in Azamgarh. However, they appear to be divided between Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rama Kant Yadav. If Mulayam Singh Yadav had not thrown himself into the electoral ring, most of the Yadav votes must have gone to Mr. Rama Kant Yadav. Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav would certainly be able to get a good chunk of Yadav and Muslim votes but if Muslims go for tactical voting and show their inclination towards Shah Alam @ Guddu Zamali, then the situation of Mulayam Singh Yadav will become precarious.

Mr. Rama Kant Yadav of BJP has the advantage of being a local person. He has won many elections on the ticket of different parties like; Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samajwadi Party and BJP. This time he has got an added advantage of Modi wave. If he is able to get the sizable number of Yadav votes, then he is assured of getting the Brahmi, Bhumihar, Rajput, Baniya and backward caste votes consisting of Sonkars, Kumhars, Naies, Rajbhars etc. No wonder he may emerge as the winner. Moreover, if he trounces Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav then he will be known as the giant killer.

Mr. Shah Alam @ Guddu Zamali may not get all the votes of his own Muslim community but he can certainly rest upon the votes of the scheduled castes. Ms Mayawati, in fact, has the unbelievable grip over the scheduled castes and they constitute more than 22% votes of Uttar Pradesh. In Azamgarh their number may be higher than the average of Uttar Pradesh. Thus, Mr. Guddu Zamali is giving a very tough fight to Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr. Rama Kant Yadav.

When Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav filed his nomination from Azamgarh, there was euphoria in the Samajwadi Party and it was said that his victory was forgone conclusion. However, as the time has passed by, the situation has become rather clear and if anybody is going to win the election from Azamgarh among from these three candidates, the margin of victory will not be very high. But if Mulayam Singh Yadav loses the election then it will be very heavy set back to him and his party. His party will hardly have the moral right to rule in Uttar Pradesh and his son may have to lose his Chief- Ministership. There is a rumour that if Samajwadi Party does not fair well in the Lok Sabha elections he may assume the post of the Chief Minister replacing his son, who was foisted upon the State of Uttar Pradesh.

As far as the Varanasi is concerned, there is hardly any doubt about the decisive victory of Mr. Narendra  Modi. Varanasi is the new name of the old Kashi and Banaras of the yester years. There are few cities in India, which have many names, and Varanasi is one of them. If you go to Banaras Hindu University, you fill find that in Devnagri script the name of the University is written as Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya. Kashi is immortalized for many things but the foremost among them all is that it is a place of Lord Vishwanath. It is also known as Nagari (city) of Baba Vishwanath. It is said to be the capital of Bhagwan Shankar. Here the river Ganges flows in the shape of the crescent moon. Holy Ganga has originated from the tangled tuft of Lord Shiva; and the crescent moon shines on His head and that is why; the Ganges has obtained the highest respect in Varanasi. Lacs of people take holy dip in the sacred river Ganga round the year. Thousands of old men and women come to Banaras and live there to die. They wait for their death because the belief is that a person who dies in Kashi will straightway go to heaven. Death in Kashi is guarantee to Swarga.  Those who do not die in Varanasi they certainly like to be cremated at Manikarnika Ghat of Banaras. They feel that the cremation at Manikarna Ghat will provide a confirmed in the heaven. Still more who have not been lucky to be cremated in Kashi, they wish that their ashes should be immersed in the holy waters of river Ganga at Varanasi, which will also enable them to get the heaven.

Only two decades ago, Banaras had the rare distinction of being a city with three Universities namely; Banaras Hindu University, Kashi Vidya Peeth and Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya. Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, the veteran freedom fighter and Hindu philosopher was the founder of the Banaras Hindu University. He afforded the rare opportunity to Mahatma Gandhi to share the dias with Viceroy of India at the time of laying of foundation stone of Banaras Hindu University. The meeting was presided over by no less a person than Anny Besant. Mahatama Gandhi, who was not a Mahatma till then and was still a Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi used the opportunity to the full to castigate the servile Indian rulers and the British Raj. He chastised the Rajas and Maharajas and looked at them with contempt for behaving like slaves and servants before the British rulers.

Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya’s name will be written in golden letters for relentlessly working for the spread of education in and around Varanasi. Banaras Hindu University is a unique institution in the sense that it has got nearly 100 hostels for the board and lodging of the students, male and female both. This is the one of the biggest residential universities of the world which is has got its own amphitheater, aerodrome, magnificent buildings, tree lined roads and almost all faculties of education, be it Engineering, Medical, Agriculture, Commerce, Astrology, Architecture.Almost all subjects of Humanities and Sciences are taught here. And Malviya ji ensured that this university does not remain to be meant for the regional or local students. A few decades ago one could see hundreds of students coming not only from all parts of India but from the far away countries like America, England, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Vietnam, China, Sri Lanka, Tibet and many African countries. Strange though it may sound but it is a fact that Malviya ji brought many Vice-chancellors like C.P. Ramaswami Iyer and Dr. Radhkrishnan as the Vice-Chancellors of the University from down south. There have been many teachers of great fame who came from the places like Assam, Bengal, Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamilnadu. Brilliance and learning were the criteria for entry of brilliant persons from all over the country.

In or around the same time the great freedom fighter Babu Shiv Prasad Gupt founded Kashi Vidhya Peeth, another nationalist university. Babu Shiv Prasad Guta was also the founder of the prestigious Hindi Daily Aaj, which had to be closed down many times during the freedom straggle because it was highly critical of the British Government. Its celebrated editors included Babu Vishnu Rao Paradkar and R. R. Khandilkar, who were not from Hindi speaking area. They were Marathi speaking but their contribution to Hindi journalism was matchless. Another eminent journalist of the Aaj was Vidya Bhaskar and he was a Telugu speaking person. The Aaj newspaper provided a shape to the Hindi journalism in the initial years. Banaras is the place, which gave birth to great Hindi novelist, and story writers like; Munshi Prem Chand, Kashinath Singh, Shiv Prasad Singh and it was home to litterateurs like; Hazari Prasad Divedi, Aacharya Ramchandra Shukla, Babu Shyam Sunder Das, Ayodhya Singh Upadhayay Hariaudh and Jai Shankar Prasad. All these litterateurs have become the invaluable and glorious personalities of Hindi literature. Kashi of olden times was the centre of the learning, devotion, tantra, mantra and scholarship. People from across the world had been coming to Kashi to get the salvation and for scholarly activities. After independence persons like; Dr. Sampurnanand, Dr. Bhagwan Das, Mr. Shiv Prakash ji, Kamla Pati Tripathi, Dr. Tribhuvan Narayan Singh and Lal Bhadur Shastri represented Banaras in various capacities.

The veteran leader of the Bhartiya Janta Parti Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi has vacated the parliamentary seat from where Narendra Modi is contesting. Be that as it may, Murli Manohar Joshi has not be able to do justice to the people of Varanasi during his long stint as the Member of Parliament for ten years from 2004-2014. It will not be off the tangent to say that if he had been fielded again from the same constituency, he would have lost the election very badly. Although there are some people, who say that the new leadership but the fact is that it was a blessing in disguise for him and his prestige has been saved by shifting him from this parliamentary constituency to new parliamentary constituency Kanpur.

As far as Amethi and Rae Bareli Parliamentary, seats are concerned it can be said with good degree of certainty that these two seats will continue to be in the possession of the Gandhi family. There is virtually no contest in Rae Bareli as the main opposition party BJP has put up a candidate who is unknown. Other opposition parties have not fielded any candidate. In Amethi there will be some sparks of contests because two candidates like; Smrity Irani of BJP and Kumar Vishwas of AAP have made this election interesting because of their high profile personality. The visit of Narendra Modi has electrified the atmosphere.

Rahul Gandhi’s younger sister Priyanka Gandhi duly compensates him. She has taken up the cudgel on behalf of her brother, who is traveling across the country being the Vice-President of the Congress Party. The people of the area are deeply obliged to Rahul Gandhi because he keeps on coming over there for two days at the interval of three months. Apart from it, his father the late Rajiv Gandhi and the uncle the late Sanjay Gandhi had nursed this constituency. And that is the reason people of the area feel obliged to Gandhi family. There is therefore, hardly any doubt about his victory from Amethi.

The most important election therefore, has revolved round is Varanasi. There is an excitement all over India on the seat of Varanasi. Everybody is looking towards Varanasi. The people who were disenchanted with arrogance and non- performance of Murli Manohar Joshi have got hugely attracted towards Narendra Modi. His victory is beyond doubt. Now everybody will have to guess the margin of the victory with the nearest rival. The person who has been put up by the Congress Party is Mr. Ajay Rai, a local MLA of the Congress Party. Mr. Ajay Rai was two times BJP MLA from the same area. He switched over to Congress Party when BJP denied him the ticket. It is interesting to know that he is the younger brother of the late Krishnanand Rai, who was the BJP MLA from Varanasi. A former MLA Mr. Mukhtar Ansari murdered the late Krishnanand Rai in Varanasi allegedly. Mr. Mukhtar Ansari has floated a new party but earlier he was in the Samajwadi Party and with the Bahujan Samaj Party. This time he is contesting election from the predominantly Muslim constituency of Ghosi. It can be said to be the quirk of fate that a person who is undergoing jail for the murder of the brother of the Congress candidate in Varanasi has extended his support to the younger brother of the killed Krishnanand Rai. It is rightly said that there is no morality in the politics the only criteria is the self-interest. Politician can stoop to any level to serve his or her own interest.

Mr. Arvind Kejarival , the leader is also in the fray from Varanasi but he may  possibly be not able put up a tough fight to Modi because of many reasons. Let us see what happens.