INDIA FOR KEJRIWAL AGAINST AND OVER Modi, Rahul

The Matunga flyover wears the colour of Mumbai – a time-worn grey, the colour of asphalt scarred by tyres, scalded in heat and scraped by millions of shuffling feet. Running along one edge of its back, arched over a noisy Central Mumbai thoroughfare, is a narrow walkway shared judiciously by vendors and two files of people scrambling and elbowing their way past each other to and from the Matunga Road station. At nine in the evening, the walkway is dimly lit, mostly by the shape-shifting yellow cloud of car headlights looming over the road below. Suresh (name changed on request), stands at a makeshift kiosk and squints hard, forehead furrowing into multiple folds, to read a pamphlet he has just received.  The pamphlet is from AAP, containing a long list of its candidate’s achievements in stout, small black print. An AAP rally in Mumbai The AAP kiosk Suresh is hovering over is basically a foldable plastic table piled high with sheaves of pamphlets and a small heap of AAP caps. Two men - one a stoic pamphlet giver and another a smiling, eager-eyed volunteer who’ll spot a prospective pamphlet-taker – man it. Sundar Balakrishnan, a fairly well-known social activist who is known for his work against land grabbing, is the AAP candidate in south Central Mumbai. Suresh, gives one side of the pamphlet in Marathi a quick read and asks, “Is he close to Arvind Kejriwal?” The smiling AAP volunteer, nods his head, a widening smile possibly hinting that the answer is a yes. “Arvind Kejriwal ayenge kya Mumbai? Yahaan rally nahin karenge (Will Arvind Kejriwal come to Mumbai? Won’t he hold a rally here?”) he asks. “Bahut busy hain na who. Koshish to kar rahen hai…(He is very busy, but he is still trying),” answers the smiling volunteer. Suresh, in his late 20s, has only voted once before. An employee with a textile export company in south Mumbai, he lives in what he calls a ‘small’ apartment in a ‘redeveloped’ building in Matunga. He’ll not reveal who he wants to vote for, but says, Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP tops his personal hierarchy of political parties. “They are a clean party. Except for one or two, most of their candidates are sophisticated and highly educated. Look at him, he is a MBA,” he says, gesturing at Sundar Balakrishnan’s gaunt passport-sized picture on the pamphlet. Balakrishnan holds an MBA degree from Narsee Monjee college in Mumbai. Does he think, the AAP then, stands a chance in Mumbai. Suresh is not so sure. And he blames that on a lack of education. “Thousands of people in this city are poor and uneducated. What do they care about which college a leader went to?” Pre-poll surveys suggest that AAP might not be able to get any more than 5 percent of Maharashtra's vote-share and one would expect Arvind Kejriwal’s Delhi theatrics to have cost the party more than a few hundred votes. However, the many who were taken in by the party's blistering Delhi debut, are still willing to give it a patient hearing. And no, they’re not betting on Arvind Kejriwal at all. Mumbai-based artist and writer Gautam Benegal feels that AAP, prior to the LS elections, have emerged as a political entity much bigger than its founder Arvind Kerjiwal. In fact, as the party expands and inducts personalities with stronger decisive powers, Kejriwal can’t continue being the axis the party revolves around. “He is ok as a sort of figure head. But the party has to evolve beyond him. His days will be over...his function was limited to this time...after the elections I feel. I am waiting for a more mature second rung.” AAP itself, while partial to Kejriwal, has also realised this. One of their promotional graphics doing the round of Facebook has a collage of AAP candidates and other party candidates pitted against each other. The AAP collage has everyone from Meera Sanyal, Manisha Lath Gupta, V Balakrishnan, Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav and Soni Sori, complete with short work bios. The competing collage has the choicest goons from the other parties. The e-poster says that by voting for AAP, one brings Sanyal and her ilk to power, whereas, by voting for other parties, one votes for goons. The contrast is sharp and telling. And despite Kejriwal's theatrics, many prospective voters are willing to buy it. Kunal Bhatia, 26-year-old architect, photographer and interior designer has never had much stomach for politics. His Facebook page steers clear of Modi-bashing, too many Rahul jokes and such-like. Except for the occasional post or two about AAP, a video he fancies or a poster he thinks is relevant. “I support AAP, because in a broader sense, it is for the first time that we have a plausible alternative to many of the ills that plague other political parties,” he reasons. He is not willing to read too much into the fact of AAP taking the outside support of Congress and defends the decision by asking what other way they could have formed a government where they had a greater say in its proceedings? There is growing impatience with Arvind Kejriwal. “I used to really like him man, but he is doing so much drama now man…,” Malvika, a 23-year-old first-time voter, drawn by the heap of jhadu topis on the Matunga flyover tells me, hurriedly finishing her sentence, only to stretch the ‘man’ at the end of it. In between checking Whatsapp and asking me which ‘magazine’ I work for, the MBA aspirant manages to put in a good word for the party too. “But nobody is saying he is corrupt, na? And all these people who joined his party all come from good companies also. I think that’s very cool,” she adds. But Malvika is evidence of what AAP started out to be initially – the political successor to Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, the Café Coffee Day of politics, a party that the hashtag generation would feel self-important flaunting. Down the line, it spread its wings, learnt a few old school tricks, grew some grey hair and bared a fang (who can ever forget Khirkee Extension) now and then. However, with its jhadu symbol and trophy candidates, it has continued to be the pop party to its biggest voter-base yet – the urban youth. Kejriwal has changed tracks and decided to plunge into the political mud-pit of Varanasi. AAP has managed to win the confidence of the likes of Medha Patkar, who in real-time will help it break ice with greater swathes of voting masses like the slum population, which would otherwise have little patience for its pop rhetoric. Composer and singer Vishal Dadlani, a staunch admirer of AAP says that when a person like Medha Patkar chooses to associate her life’s worth of work for the underprivileged with a party, there must be some truth to AAP. “I accept AAP is not without its flaws. But these are not seasoned politicians we are seeing. They are enthusiastic people who want to make a difference. Yes, they lack in experience, but they aren’t as cynical and unscrupulous either,” he told Firstpost. So does Medha Patkar backing Kejriwal automatically erase Kejriwal's Delhi debacle? Dadlani says he would not like to call it a debacle in the first place. “When the Delhi thing happened, I was shocked. I was like ‘what the hell, I just campaigned for this party’. But then I read up on what happened, spoke to people and realised that the BJP and Congress completely blocked the Delhi Janlokpal’s path in assembly. And Kejriwal resigned on principle". Like him, his chosen party’s chieftain too is trying hard to ‘explain’ his Delhi outing. In radio ads which have now started airing in Mumbai, and was initially launched in Delhi, Kejirwal is not heard singing paeans about AAP. Instead, he is hurriedly explaining why he quit as Delhi CM. And the attempt to offer an explanation is being read as a mark of accountability by many. “AAP is still a people’s movement, run by people like you and me,” says Dadlani. Despite Kejriwal, many possibly agree with him. However, whether that would translate into a poll victory, is something no one’s betting their money on. As of now, AAP the conscience keeper of Indian politics, would be a good enough role for the party’s admirers.

AAP IN DANGER ZONE : ATTACK IN DELHI N UP AGAINST AAP

Clashes broke out between workers of the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party in half-a-dozen towns across the country hours after AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was briefly detained by police in a north Gujarat town.

AAP leader Ashutosh with party supporters shouts slogans against BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi in New Delhi. (Vipin Kumar/HT photo)

Protests by AAP workers outside the Delhi BJP office against Kejriwal's detention in Gujarat snowballed into a clash when BJP activists allegedly threw stones at them and the protestors retaliated. While both sides hurled chairs and sticks at each other, police intervened, using water cannons to disperse the crowd.

Angry AAP workers vandalised the BJP hoardings in the area. AAP leaders Shazia Ilmi, Ashutosh and Rajmohan Gandhi were present at the protest site. Ilmi told media persons it was a peaceful protest by them but the BJP workers indulged in violence.

In Gujarat's Kutch, former chief minister Kejriwal's car was attacked by a few unidentified people. The windscreen of his four-wheeler was damaged in the incident.

Armed with brooms, AAP workers also clashed with lathi-wielding activists of BJP in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow. AAP activists allegedly attacked the BJP office with bricks, drawing retaliation as the saffron party workers, carrying canes, took to the streets.

Several people were mercilessly beaten up by canes after being knocked down on the road as rival groups chased each other away.

BJP supporters clash with AAP supporters outside the BJP office in Lucknow on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

Read: Kejriwal slams Modi after brief detention in Gujarat

Reports of similar clashes also came in from other UP towns such as Jhansi, Kanpur and Allahabad.

Reacting over the New Delhi clashes, BJP leaders said the AAP was responsible for the fracas.

"Do they believe in Maoism?" asked BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad while another spokesman Nirmala Sitharaman said: "No one should indulge in this kind of destructive politics. What's happening is completely unwarranted, highly condemnable."

While the police were able to round up a few protesters, the violent episode led to traffic snarls outside the BJP office, which is located in the heart of the national capital. The area is a high security zone and both the BJP and AAP supporters claimed the cops did not take immediate action against the aggressors.

A Twitter storm also broke out after AAP leader and former journalist Ashutosh was pictured climbing the gate of the BJP office in New Delhi. While the AAP leader claimed he was requesting his supporters to stay calm, BJP leaders charged him with inciting violence. "Why was Ashutosh leading the violent protests? We demand action against him," BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said.

Read: Kejriwal, supporters detained briefly in north Gujarat

BJP leader Anurag Thakur retweeted a photo of Ashutosh climbing the entrance of the BJP headquarters.

Speaking to reporters after the incident, the AAP leader said, "BJP workers attacked me from inside their office, I have been injured. They even hurt our women workers."

The incidents of violence took place barely hours after Kejriwal, who began a four-day tour of Gujarat to check chief minister and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's claims that the state was a model of development, was detained by police in a village in north Gujarat. The former Delhi chief minister was released after 30 minutes.

Minutes after the clashes, Kejriwal appealed to his volunteers to stay calm and not resort to any kind of violence.

RIL shares hit 6-month low, close below Rs 800 level

Shares of Reliance Industries, the owner of the world’s largest refining complex, on Friday fell nearly 2 per cent on bourses, closing below the Rs 800 mark for the first time since August 2013.

RIL’s scrip ended 1.39 per cent lower at Rs 799.25 on the BSE. During the day, it had lost 2 per cent to touch Rs 794.

At the NSE, the stock settled at Rs 797.30, down 1.65 per cent from its previous close.

Meanwhile, renewing its attack on RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday alleged that some of his Reliance Group companies were involved in money laundering in connection with investments by a Singapore-based firm.

AAP leader and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan also alleged that the UPA government did not even bother to investigate the matter and “showered one benefit after another” on Mr. Mukesh Ambani.

Reliance Industries rejected Mr. Bhushan’s allegations that the FDI investments in some of its companies by the Singapore-based company Biometrix are “laundered monies” invested in this country.

In a statement, it said the allegations are highly “defamatory, false, irresponsible” and devoid of any merit or substance whatsoever.

These “false and baseless” allegations are being repeatedly made in the media and in judicial proceedings and have been already responded to, it said, adding an “orchestrated, politically motivated” campaign is being fuelled against Reliance Industries.

KEJRIWAL AAP’s office in Mumbai attacked

Party suspects NCP hand

Twenty-three Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) members were arrested by the Mumbai police for allegedly vandalising the office of the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday.

According to the police, NCP workers started sloganeering outside the AAP’s head office at Chakala in Andheri, a western suburb of Mumbai. The party workers broke window panes, burnt effigies and smeared ink on the door.

“The workers were arrested on charges of rioting and vandalising private property. The exact motive behind the attack is to be ascertained,” Additional Commissioner of Police Milind Bharambe told The Hindu.

Separately, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said Mumbai north-west district president, P. Maske, who allegedly led the attack on the AAP office, had been was expelled from the party.

The attack comes just days after the party launched its election campaign in Maharashtra. On Wednesday, top AAP leaders had attacked NCP leaders alleging that they were corrupt.

The AAP leaders also alleged on Thursday that due to corruption, mismanagement and inefficiency in the state power department Maharashtra had incurred losses to the tune of Rs. 22,000 crore.

In a related development, AAP leader Mayank Gandhi and a few party workers were detained by the police while they were en route to protest outside the NCP office in western suburban Mumbai.

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.

shed anti-industry perception-AAP

Fear of losing young voters makes AAP arrest leftward drift

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wants to shed the perception that it is anti-industry or private enterprise.

 

AAP’s ‘Economic Agenda’ document declares the party “is neither Left nor Right and will support every good idea, old or new, if it is in the interest of India”.

 

AAP, from the evidence of this document, doesn’t stand for all that many assumed it did. The document says the party believes in encouraging private enterprise, will promote a simple and progressive tax structure, encourage private sector investment in health and education sectors and opposes government dole. 

 

The AAP document says it does not support social security policies that “induce greater dependency” among the poor. It doesn’t specify such policies but terms these as “lip service”. It claims the party believes “the poor are best helped by empowering them with enhanced capability and the means to earn their livelihood with dignity”. It does, however, wants to explore the option of starting food kitchens, that is provide ready to eat food to abjectly poor.

 

The document says the party’s economic vision is “rooted in decentralized good governance, transparency, accountability and equity”. It says AAP will continuously refine its economic model as “it involves a growing cross section of Indians in the policy making process and incorporates evidence based learning”.

 

The party’s key leaders have launched an outreach effort to send across this basic message of AAP being anti-crony capitalism but in favour of economic liberalism. 

 

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal’s speech at the Confederations of Indian Industries (CII) on Monday in Delhi and chief spokesperson Yogendra Yadav’s interaction with leading industrialists in Mumbai on Thursday were attempts to dispel the perception that AAP was against private enterprise or big business.

 

Key strategist Professor Ajit Jha says the party’s list of Lok Sabha candidates is also an effort to fight the perception that AAP was a party of a particular ideological leaning. “Our aim is to put in motion a process of national renewal and for this we need people from diverse backgrounds to come on a common platform,” says he.

 

AAP’s first list had names of social activist Medha Patkar and former banker Meera Sanyal together while its second list is likely to have names like Adarsh Shastri and Rajmohan Gandhi. Shastri, a grandson of Lal Bahadur Shastri, quit a lucrative job at Apple to join the party. 

 

Rajmohan is the grandson of the Mahatma. Rajmohan’s maternal grandfather C Rajagopalachari was the founder of the Swatantra Party which in the 1950s opposed the Nehruvian socialist model of development. 

 

Interestingly, Patkar had led the movement against Enron power project in mid-1990s in Maharashtra while Sanyal was then with one of the banks helping finance that project.

 

The document’s other key points include a commitment towards job creation and doubling per capita national income in eight years by encouraging honest private enterprise and contain inflation between three to six%. 

 

The document says AAP will aim to increase tax to GDP ratio from 11 to 18% in eight years by enforcing better compliance and increase share of direct taxes to 65%. It is currently at 55%.

Significantly, AAP says it is not against Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) as long as they are fair. It also favours permitting insurance companies, pension and provident funds to finance infrastructure. 

 

AAP’s “Economic Agenda claims the party “believes in an open-minded, solution-driven approach that is not limited by ideological orthodoxies in both domestic and international economic governance.” Jha says 19th or 20th century ideological epithets should not be used to describe the party. He says AAP is in search of people like Jamnalal Bajaj, the industrialist who joined the independence movement as a full time activist, serving jail terms and undertaking fasts. Incidentally, Bajaj’s grandson Rajiv recently said he was a fan of Kejriwal’s.

 

The document is silent on the issue of FDI in retail or on the larger issue of foreign direct investment. However, Shastri told Business Standard a party committee was studying the issue. 

 

He claimed the party was principally “not against investments of any sorts”, whether Indian or foreign, as long as these were good for the country. He said the UPA government’s decision on FDI in retail was taken in haste but the party would “certainly review” its opposition to FDI in retail if on deeper analysis “we feel it is in the larger interest”. 

 

AAP’s economic agenda has job creation as one of its chief agenda. The document says India has over 10 million youth seeking jobs every year. It says AAP will foster enabling honest enterprise across agriculture, manufacturing and services and will be geared towards creating increasing employment and livelihood opportunities.

 

It would seem India’s demographics with a majority of its population below 35-years and AAP’s largely urban electorate base may have compelled the party to undertake a drastic course correction to shed its anti-business and private enterprise image it earned after disallowing FDI in retail in Delhi and batting for water and power subsidies.

 

The vision document says AAP “believes that India needs to evolve a distinctive development model, given the aspirations of India’s citizens and the scale and complexity of its challenges”.

AAP'onomics:

 

Inflation

>> Contain inflation between 3 and 6%; Food inflation below general inflation

Tax

>> Simple, progressive and stable tax structure with lower tax rates and minimal exemptions

>> Tax to GDP ratio from 11 to 18% in eight years; increase share of direct taxes to 65% in eight years

>> Maximum devolution of funds to state and local governments

Trade

>> Review existing bilateral and multilateral agreements to negotiate greater autonomy for India

>> Priorities to bridge the Balance of Payment deficit

Public Distribution System

>>Not pay lip service to social security measures that induce greater dependency

>>Reduce number of BPL households without ration cards or access to PDS close to zero

Agriculture

>> Aim to increase agricultural productivity by 50% in below world standards crops

>> Facilitate formation of commodity co-ops, working along common shareholder principles

Manufacturing

>>Increase share of organized labour in workforce

>>Reduce work-related accidents by 50% within 2 years

Infrastructure

>>Promote PPPs in a fair and transparent manner

Technology

>>Make government 100% IT enabled

>>Install wifi hubs in public spaces in every city/town and village with free access

 

Other agendas :

>>Promote entrepreneurship so that it becomes the new engine for accelerating growth

>>Curb monopolistic and anti-competitive forces

>>Improve India's Ease of Doing Business rank to under 50 within  top 3 in emerging nations by 2022

>> Special focus on tourism with huge potential for growth, employment and investment

TELUNGANA -Bill stuck in Rajya Sabha

BJP says statute amendment required on Governor’s powers

The Bill for the creation of Telangana, approved by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, hit an unexpected roadblock in the Rajya Sabha with the BJP insisting that without a simultaneous Constitutional amendment, the validity of the Bill could be challenged in a court of law.

The BJP stance forced the government not to introduce the Bill in the Rajya Sabha even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and several UPA ministers were busy holding consultations with BJP leaders to convince them that there was no need for a Constitutional amendment to create Telangana.

At the centre of the controversy is the interpretation on the special powers conferred on the Governor on issues related to law and order in Hyderabad, which would be the joint capital of both the successor States for a maximum of 10 years.

The BJP’s case is that special powers given to the Governor under the proposed Act are in contravention of the provisions of the Constitution as law and order is a State subject.

Though the government chose not to introduce the Bill in the Upper House, it was the cause for several disruptions on Wednesday. There was high drama in the Rajya Sabha with Telugu Desam Party member C.M. Ramesh pushing Secretary General Shumsher K. Sheriff in the morning hours, leading to immediate adjournment. The member later apologised and was let off without any action.

Besides a Constitutional amendment, the BJP also wants a special package for Seemandhra. After the Lok Sabha approved the Bill on Tuesday with the support of the BJP, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, while expressing unhappiness over the manner in which it was handled in the Lok Sabha, had announced that her party would move some amendments when it comes up in the Rajya Sabha. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who wants the Rajya Sabha to pass the Bill on Thursday, responded to the BJP’s demand by requesting the Prime Minister to give Seemandhra special category status.

AIADMK leader pulled Rajya Sabha disrupted again,

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Disruptions continued in the Rajya Sabha Monday and ugly scenes were witnessed when an AIADMK leader pulled at the chairman's microphone and tore up some official papers of the house.

The upper house witnessed protests over the proposed formation of Telangana, while members from Tamil Nadu demanded discussion on the issue of Tamil fishermen.

When the house met after its first adjournment at 12 noon, members from Andhra Pradesh belonging to the Congress and TDP were seen gathered near the chairman's podium with placard demanding a "united Andhra Pradesh".

As the anti-Telangana members raised slogans, AIADMK leader V. Maitreyan, who was also near the chairman's podium, tore up some booklets that carry the details of business of the house.

Maitreyan was also seen trying to pull the chairman's microphone when Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien adjourned the house till 2 p.m.

The protests were even more intense when the house reassembled as Maitreyan again pulled at the chairman's microphone and tore papers near the podium. He was stopped by the Rajya Sabha staff.

The unruly behaviour continued till Kurien adjourned the house for the day.

Earlier, as soon as the house met for the day, protesting members were on their feet, trooping to the chairman's podium.

Chairman Hamid Ansari for a brief moment was seen just sitting back in his chair and watching members who tore up some papers. He then adjourned the house for 10 minutes, and then again till 12 noon.