AAP KEJRIWAL chance for the outsiders

The ideology which Lutyens’ Delhi today represents is fundamentally at odds with an India which is growing accustomed to the idea of participatory democracy

Had Raj Thackeray been a ‘manoos’ from Lutyens’ Delhi, he would be facing an existential crisis. A strange wind is blowing across the corridors of Lutyens’ Delhi’ high-walled barbed gates, which metaphorically and physically remain out of bounds for 99 per cent of the population.

Ever since the British moved the capital from Calcutta to Delhi, central Delhi has become synonymous with power and prestige. After Edwin Lutyens radically redrew the capital, power was given a shape and symbol. And those who were fortunate enough to find themselves a space in Delhi’s vicinity invariably became the agents of change in independent India.

From there began an incestuous cycle of power where residents of the ‘chosen land’ dominated the country affairs, either directly or through proxy. Barring the inconsequential tenure of H.D. Deve Gowda, almost all Prime Ministers nourished their national political careers in one of the red sandstone buildings of the capital. For a large part of the last century and until recently, if one did not shape his or her public life under this dome-shaped edifice, he or she would be seen as lacking national appeal.

But now there is a discernible shift in the national mood. India is going for an election where its main political protagonists do not portray the look and feel of the conventional ‘Delhi-based leader.’ On the contrary, a common thread underlying the three key candidates — Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi — to Delhi’s throne is their sequestered relationship to capital politics.

Emergence of the exceptions

Mr. Modi pitches his candidature as the ‘external redeemer’ who will clean the mess in Lutyens’ Delhi. The last time Mr. Modi lived in the capital was in the late 1990’s when he worked in the party’s headquarters. Though he did play a crucial behind-the-scene role in the party, it is the time he served in Gujarat which has significantly added to his credentials as a suitable leader for the top job. Expectedly, his campaign and aides are not restricted to Delhi, which represents a point of departure for the party’s electoral strategy.

Mr. Gandhi, of late, has been trying his best to rub off the ‘elite stains’ of being a Lutyens’ resident. He projects himself as a mere observer and not actor to all that has unfolded in South block in the last 10 years. Such is the national rage against all those who inhabit the grandiose building of the capital that Mr. Gandhi is making every attempt to break away from this image. His remark — that he would tear up the controversial ordinance that aimed at protecting convicted law makers — was viewed as such an attempt.

Mr. Kejriwal casts himself as the ‘eternal outsider.’ A resident of Ghaziabad, he chooses Lutyens’ Delhi as his preferred choice for protest. Considering the ideology of his politics, given a chance, he may even demolish the lofty monuments built by Edwin Lutyens and replace them with more aam aadmi-like structures.

Delhi: the hub of power

For more than half a century, Lutyens’ Delhi was venerated with both respect and fear. If one wanted to build a career in national politics, it was ‘the place’ to network and mingle. Other than a few exceptions, in the Congress scheme of things, it was the ‘Delhi-based observers’ who would anoint Chief Minsters for States from places as far-flung from Delhi as Kerala and Nagaland.

In our flawed federal structure, it was deemed impossible for one to make the logical and sequential transition from sarpanch to Member of the Legislative Assembly to Member of Parliament and then to Prime Minster. The concentration of power in Lutyens’ Delhi perpetuated a potent cocktail of nepotism and malfeasance. Today, for many, Lutyens’ Delhi symbolises a closed system which defies meritocracy and capability. It is a construct reserved exclusively for the bureaucratic or political elite. For many, it is this concentration of power which is the root cause of India’s corruption problems.

The ideology which Lutyens’ Delhi today represents is fundamentally at odds with an India which is growing accustomed to the idea of participatory democracy. This is not an idea propagated exclusively by the Aam Aadmi Party but is being increasingly adopted by all political parties. Mr. Modi too, through his maxim ‘minimum government, maximum governance,’ is calling for greater involvement of citizens in politics. Even Mr. Gandhi is making an attempt to write his party’s manifesto outside Delhi — a first of its kind for the Congress.

As a pluralistic and regionally assertive India progresses toward modernity, it is becoming clear that the country needs not one single solution but a gamut of localised solutions to problems in the country. An active citizenry, which demands closer physical access to power, is changing the definition of ‘national politics.’ This is evident from a closer analysis of election turnouts.

Between 1989 and 2009, the turnout for the Lok Sabha elections has remained constant at around 60 per cent. Interestingly, the turnout for State elections continues to surge, even while incumbents are voted back to power. The States that went to polls last December saw an average increase of six percentage points in voter turnout compared to the 2008 Assembly elections. This trend could be emblematic of the fact that voters believe they have a larger role to play in affairs to which they have closer physical access.

If this divergence in voter turnout continues, India could produce many more Narendra Modis in the coming years as it will become much easier for a Shivraj Singh Chouhan or a Jayalalithaa to prove their national credentials by performing in their State, rather than trying to emerge from Delhi’s rat race.

The emergence of any of the above three leaders this summer could mark a paradigm shift in Indian polity — AAP making an impressive national debut, Mr. Gandhi rejuvenating the Congress in his new avatar or Mr. Modi becoming Prime Minster. It would make the dream for many to occupy Lutyens’ Delhi seem less distant; the road to the capital can now pass through Gandhinagar, Gangtok or Goa.

(Siddharth Mazumdar is founder of Citizens for Accountable Governance.)

Mr. Kejriwal delhi protest on bill

“If the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed then….I would quit as the Chief Minister of Delhi.”

“If power politics is not sorted out in Delhi, Kejriwal will quit his CM office and sit on a Dharna”

“If the police officials will not obey his orders, Delhi CM will quit from his primary duties and will stage protests.”

By now we have got used to such dramatic headlines. The man-turned-messiah will QUIT if issues like bijli, pani, corruption, fuel and so on are not sorted out instantly. Now my reaction or rather a question to him as a citizen of the country would be that if you would keep quitting as the chief minister of Delhi for every damn reason, could you please explain how do you plan to change the entire system? I am sure an ex-IIT working in a highly paid job in some MNC certainly can’t. Neither can an employee of Indian Revenue Services do so. We gave you this post to utilize the power to bring about the change which we were looking forward to, since last so many years. And all we get after a couple of months are your threatening dramas to quit. If you had to quit then why did you actually contest for the elections, in the first place?

It is not an individual but a chair which holds the authority. You lose the chair, you lose the authority! Haven’t you heard of the grandma stories in which the fairy gave a magic wand to the little boy but also took a primes that he will never misuse it?  Since our childhood we have known that in order to kill the ghost we need a magic wand but the rider was that we could not misuse it.

When we grew up, we came to terms with the reality that the magic wand which our grandmother spoke about was nothing but the authority we earn in order to do justice to the system. You cleared the entrance examination of one of the prestigious engineering institutes; obviously it would not have been an easy task. Had you quit at that point of time would you be standing where you do today?

Your idea behind threatening (personally I would call it black-mailing) the system to either comply to your orders or you would resign is born out of the fact that in these 65 odd years after the independence the political parties or babus per se with all their ill-intentions and deeds have led us to believe that the politicians crave for glamour and money which are the byproducts once you win the elections.

Do you also believe in this notion, dear CM? If not then why do you keep harping the same old tune of quitting if this does not happen if that does not happen. It just dawned on me that if a few issues concerning a single city can compel you to leave your post and go back home, then how do you plan to take charge of 28 states and seven union territories?  I seriously shudder at the thought of having a Prime Minister who sits on dharnas to change the system instead of diligently making use of the power to do away with corruption and lawlessness.

Mr Kejriwal, I am sure you know that system is not a switch which can be turned on and off as per your or our wishes. There is a certain procedure which has to be followed for anything to take the shape of a law. If you feel you really have the guts enough then why don’t you make use of your intellect and your authority which the people gave you to bring about the change all of us are looking forward to?

The long forgotten home-spun ‘Gandhi cap’ which you and your party workers wear would appear nothing more than a bait to draw our attention towards a party which is here to reinforce the ideology of the Father of our Nation. But the great man who we fondly refer as ‘bapu’ just refused to give up! QUIT was the word which never existed in his dictionary. Rather he advocated and gave his blood and sweat to show the British, the exit door in his Quit India Movement.

One can well imagine the kind of protests Gandhi would have had to face to do away with issues like poverty, expanding women’s rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability-when he had to fight not just with the ruling British Raj but more importantly with the stringent and rotten system of our society which just could not accept the change Bapu wanted to bring in. But today we are an independent nation with proper laws and the strength of educated and open minded citizens who are there to back the leader who promises to make diligent use of his power. So what is the need to quit at the drop of a hat?

The term Satyagraha was coined during Mahatma Gandhi’s fight for independence which means protesting in a peaceful manner. This word has been misinterpreted by our political leaders now-a-days. A single issue crops up and they are ready to leave their prime job and are out on streets to protest!

“Satyagraha” is a Tatpuruṣa compound of the Sanskrit words satya (meaning “truth”) and Agraha(“insistence”, or “holding firmly to a view”). Satyagraha was an intelligent move to instill a feeling of democracy amongst people and to keep the evil intentions of the British at bay, without causing any loss to human life or property.  Fighting violently against a system which was festooned not just with arms and ammunitions but with stringent laws resulted in our heroes like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and the likes sacrificing their lives for our freedom.

I am not at all against the extremists. We have just heard the stories of the freedom struggle, just read the anecdotes, just saw our actors reliving their lives but certainly we were not a part of that era which witnessed blood-shed everywhere. The scene was totally different, anarchy prevailed, there was total chaos and lawlessness which led these young and brave freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh to take the law in their hands.

But today the scene is totally different. We do not have ‘Viceroy’s of India’ who were once permitted to indict all sort of atrocities on the populace. Today we have an elected member representing on behalf of the people, there is a proper system in place. Everyone-be it our PM or some Ambani or some Bachchan, all need to adhere to a certain laid down principals of living in a developed society. So where and how does the need to go on a strike or a dharna or quitting the office, arise from?

Today, Mr Kejriwal you are sitting on the chair of a CM and you have all the media attention, so you can very conveniently keep endorsing your ‘good gesture’ of quitting from your post but go and ask a fragile five-year-old child fighting cancer in some hospital, go and ask the athlete participating with a broken limb in this winter Olympics, go and ask a CEO of a company which is suffering losses due to modernization of machinery and low cost goods from China, go and ask the widow of a soldier who has three kids to take care of all on her own-they will tell you that if they QUIT they will die. They will exist no more, if they even dare to quit!

So from next time if you plan to quit from your job if some police officials or jal nigam or bijli vibhag employees are not acting as per your commands then I have a suggestion that you could resume with your previous job, as there is no room for quitters-on the battle field at least! 

- See more at: http://www.theindianrepublic.com/tbp/mr-kejriwal-enough-quit-drama-100026694.html#sthash.w03dpTyM.dpuf

Govt trying to change its image anti-corruption bills: Mayawati

The government today left open the possibility of giving effect to Rahul Gandhi's pet six anti-graft legislations through ordinances after the Opposition parties did not agree to extend the current Parliament session.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath responded by stating, "We will discuss the matter" when asked by reporters if the government would take the ordinance route on the bills.

He also indicated that the government would consider what views President Pranab Mukherjee may have in regard to promulgation of ordinances.

"We will discuss the matter.... What are the views of the President.... Because the country needs the anti- corruption legislations which are pending.... But despite all my efforts, the political parties did not agree to extend the session," Kamal Nath said.

Meanwhile, BSP chief Mayawati said, "though we support the bills, they should have come much earlier. Now the government, which itself is involved in corruption, is trying to change its image through the bills".

The extended Winter Session had started on February five.

Nath said that despite his attempts to persuade them, the political parties did not agree to extend to the session.

"They have not agreed despite the fact that these bills have been pending since 2011, 2012, 2013 and have gone through standing committees. It is not that these bills have come in the last two, three months. So, very unhappily, the government has no choice but to adjourn the House sine die," he said.

Release of Rajiv Gandhi's killers breaking news

New Delhi:  The Supreme Court has put on hold Tamil Nadu's plan to release seven people convicted of killing former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, which has led to a legal battle between the state government and the Centre.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said Tamil Nadu's decision was legally untenable, contrary to all principles of justice and "should not be proceeded with."

"The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was an attack on the soul of India. No government or party should be soft in our fight against terrorism," he said.

On Wednesday, a day after the top court spared three of the convicts, Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan from execution, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced that all seven convicts in the case would be freed and gave the Centre three days to respond to her decision, after which, she said, she would go ahead. (Rajiv Gandhi's killers to be freed if Centre doesn't respond in three days: Jayalalithaa)

The government says Tamil Nadu must take such a decision in concurrence with it as Rajiv Gandhi's assassination was investigated by a central agency, CBI, and under a central law, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act or TADA.

The Jayalalithaa government has argued that the killers had been acquitted under the central law.

Rajiv Gandhi's son Rahul said yesterday that he was saddened by the decision to free his father's killers. "I am personally against death penalty. But if a Prime Minister's killers are being set free, what justice can the common man expect?" he said. ('If PM's killers are freed, can common man expect justice?': Rahul Gandhi)

The wife of convict Murugan, Nalini Sriharan, was granted mercy in 2000 on the intervention of Rajiv Gandhi's widow, Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The couple's daughter Harithra Sriharan, a bio-medicine student in London, has pleaded with Rahul Gandhi to forgive her parents.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991 by a woman operative of the Lankan Tamil separatist outfit LTTE, who greeted him with a bomb strapped to her chest during a rally in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

Telangana bill Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speaks

Amid unprecedented bedlam and intense debating, the Rajya Sabha passed the contentious Telangana Bill

Telangana was all set to become the 29th State of the Union with Parliament on Thursday night approving a historic bill to carve it out of Andhra Pradesh amid vociferous protests by members from Seemandhra region as also from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena.

The suspense over the passage of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 came to an end with the BJP backing the government on it despite raising several concerns.

Apparently responding to demands from Seemandhra MPs as well as from the BJP for “justice” to the region, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a six-point development package for successor States of Andhra Pradesh including grant of special category status including tax incentives to Seemandhra.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s request to the Prime Minister to give a special category status to Seemandhra for five years seems to have apparently clinched the issue and BJP came on board.

“I hope these additional announcements will demonstrate our steadfast commitment to not just the creation of Telangana but also to the continued prosperity and welfare of Seemandhra,” Dr. Singh noted.

A protective cordon was thrown around Dr. Singh as well as Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde by Congress members as members from Seemandhra region as also those from TMC and Shiv Sena stormed the Well with TMC members even tearing papers and throwing them on the floor. CPI(M) members walked out in protest.

The House looked like a virtual battleground during the five-hour proceedings, which saw seven adjournments as members resorted to slogan shouting and tore papers describing the bill passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday as illegal.

The debate also saw the government facing an awkward situation when Union Minister K. Chiranjeevi, who hails from Seemandhra region, opposed the decision on Telangna inviting ridicule from the BJP, which wondered whether a member of the Council of Ministers can oppose a decision taken by his own government without resigning from it.

As the bill appeared set to be a reality with most of the amendments moved by the the BJP either rejected or withdrawn, the CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress alleged “nexus” between the ruling party and the main Opposition.

Minister Jairam Ramesh, who was a key person in the Telangana decision process as a member of the GoM on the issue, repeatedly made brief interventions to assuage the concerns of members on diverse issues.

Law Minister Kapil Sibal said time has come to create Telangana. “Time has come to take this historic decision... it is very difficult to satisfy all people of both the regions.”

Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien rejected demands for division taking the plea that there was no order in the House.

Unlike the Lok Sabha, where the bill was passed after a very brief discussion, the Rajya Sabha saw a threadbare debate spanning around three hours despite unprecedented protest with anti-bifurcation members storming the Well with huge placards sometimes even overshadowing the Chair.

Similarly, unlike the television blackout that was witnessed during the proceedings in the Lok Sabha, there was no such “technical glitch” on the Rajya Sabha TV, which telecast the proceedings live.

Commotion and high drama continued throughout the proceedings with Congress member K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao staging a sit in into the Well and Trinamool members shouting “tear and throw away”.

There was no suspension of any member from the House of the Elders on unlike what happened in Lok Sabha, where as many as 16 Seemandhra members belonging to various parties faced action.

The BJP, which supported the bill also demanded that Seemandhra region got justice and a “defective” legislation was not passed.

The principal Opposition party also deplored the government for badly handling the passage of the bill without taking the stakeholders on board.

“Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are both brothers and are Telugu speaking. Telangana people want Telangana, we are saying yes... We are not dividing the country, we are only dividing a State for speedy development,” BJP member Venkaiah Naidu said.

Mr. Naidu blamed the Congress for delaying creation of Telangana and playing “vote-bank” and “opportunistic” politics on the issue and said it is the “real culprit” in this whole process.

He also sought amendments to give special category status to Seemandhra and adequate financial package to address the revenue loss of the region.

Supporting his colleague, the Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley said, “We are in favour of creation of Telangana. But we want a lawful and legally sustainable bill be passed.”

“I am deeply disappointed the way the UPA government has done the creation exercise,” he said, highlighting expulsion of members in the other House, the State Assembly rejecting the proposal and others.

Replying to Mr. Naidu’s concerns regarding the resource gap arising between the notified date and appointed date for creation of Telangana, both Mr. Shinde and Mr. Ramesh assured him that Government will take care of that and quoted the Prime Minister’s statement in this regard.

In his statement, the Prime Minister noted that the resource gap arising in the successor state of Andhra Pradesh in the very first year will be compensated in the Regular Union Budget for 2014-15.

This gap may arise during the period between the appointed day and the acceptance of the 14th Finance Commission recommendations by the Government of India.

Concerns were also raised during the debate over Polavaram project, which Mr. Ramesh sought to explain.

Sitaram Yechury (CPI(M)) said, “There is match-fixing between the ruling party and the Opposition” adding that the Chair should not get into such “match-fixing”.

Trinamool members kept shouting “Congress-BJP bhai, bhai”. The party is concerned about the fallout of the Telangana decision on Gorakhaland issue. The hilly region of West Bengal is seeking separate statehood for long.

Similarly in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena has been staunchly opposed to any division of the State, where demands for creation of Vidarbha are raised occasionally.