By M H Ahssan
Next time you pay Rs 2 extra per litre to tank up on branded petrol, you are probably being taken for a ride. For, the state-run oil marketing companies have failed to back up their claim of this fuel giving higher mileage and better engine performance before the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC).
Not just that, the oil companies have also been unable to explain how they have reached the price mechanism in case of branded fuel. MRTPC had asked the companies to “clarify the quantitative difference between normal fuel and branded fuel along with supportive documents.’’
The query, however, failed to get the companies to furnish anything more than letters from additive suppliers in support their claim. While the additive suppliers, the Singapore branch of Chevron and Oronite, have spoken about the benefits of branded fuel, it has failed to impress the Commission as it doesn’t regard the suppliers as non-partial authority; on the contrary they are viewed as vested interests.
The suppliers’ certificates do not talk about any test having been carried out on branded petrol. On branded diesel, they says the use of these fuel “ensures a lower flow loss than worldwide norm”. The certificates are silent on extra mileage. The failure to get the right tests done is not for want of facilities. The government-run Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) is said to be a competent authority for such tests.
The MRTPC approached the ARAI to check if it has any view on the branded fuels. But the association told the Commission that it doesm’t have results of any tests as it was never asked to carry out “any branded fuel evaluation test.’’
Oil company executives told TOI these additives are globally certified by independent labs and accepted in US and European markets. “The results clearly showed improved drivability and maintenance cycle,’’ one senior IndianOil R&D executive said. Branded fuels come with added chemicals, which, the companies claim, help reduce engine friction and improve performance. While oil marketers are free to decide prices of such fuels within a band, the government controls the prices of normal fuels and had kept their price artificially low during crude’s climb to a peak of $147/barrel in mid-July.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Crorepati netas vow voters with assets
By Swati Reddy
That Allu Aravind, the producer of Ghajini, has had enjoyed a successful career is hugely evident from the assets he has declared in his affidavit. The film producer’s assets (both movable and immovable) are valued at about Rs 24 crore and that of his wife’s at Rs 28 crore. The couple is together sitting on riches such as 2.4 kg gold, a BMW car valued at Rs 94.8 lakh and land worth crores of rupees.
Allu Aravind, brother-in-law of Chiranjeevi and also his right-hand man who is contesting from the Anakapalli (Visakapatnam rural) Lok Sabha constituency, has listed diamonds and gold worth Rs 18.27 lakh and bonds and debentures valued at over Rs 6 crore. His movable assets are valued at over Rs 8 crore and that of his wife’s at over Rs 9 crore. While the amount of available cash with him is a modest Rs 3.74 lakh, he has disclosed Rs 5.98 lakh as his deposits in banks and financial institutions. While his investments in shares and debentures are in crores of rupees, he also believes in traditional forms of savings having invested Rs 67.76 lakh in postal savings, NSS, LIC etc.
The 62-year-old film producerturned-politician, owns 969 grams of gold (his wife owns about 1.5 kg of gold) and 46.7 carats of diamond. While his jewellery is worth Rs 18.27 lakh, his spouse’s jewellery, which also includes 10 kg silver, is valued at Rs 16 lakh.
His other assets such as claims/interests are valued at Rs 30 lakh, while his wife’s other assets are worth Rs 70 lakh. He has no dependents and his wife does not own a car.
His non-movable assets include properties such as agricultural land, commercial buildings and non-agricultural properties in Hyderabad, Rangareddy district and even Chennai. He owns agricultural land at Kokapet, in Greater Hyderabad, valued at Rs 1.35 crore, a share in vacant land in Chennai valued at Rs 1.45 crore (his wife too owns a share in the same vacant land and that is valued at Rs 4.35 crore). Allu Aravind also owns vacant land worth Rs 1.92 crore at Gachibowli village. He owns non-agricultural land at Madhapur, valued at Rs 75 lakh and a plot in Chennai valued at Rs Rs 2.69 crore.
Allu Aravind, who makes his political debut in this election, also owns a commercial building in Jubilee Hills (worth Rs 5 crore), two residential buildings in Chennai and one apartment in Mumbai, whose current market value is Rs 45 lakh.
The star PRP candidate’s spouse too is the owner of two residential buildings and two apartments in Chennai and Hyderabad. While the worth of her properties is close to Rs 20 crore, Allu Aravind’s immovable assets are worth Rs 15.5 crore.
But Allu Aravind isn’t the only cash-rich candidate and his assets are lower than those of Chiranjeevi, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Jaganmohan Reddy and even that of TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu.
Film star-turned-politician K Chiranjeevi and his wife Surekha own assets worth Rs 88 crore. The Telugu megastar’s assets are worth more than those of Jaganmohan Reddy and his wife, who declared assets of Rs 77 crore.
The Prajarajyam Party president, who filed his nomination papers in Palakollu assembly constituency in his native West Godavari district on Friday declared that he had immovable assets worth over Rs 30.32 crore and his wife had assets worth Rs 48 crore. In addition, he has movable assets worth over Rs 3.5 crore while his wife’s movable assets are worth over Rs 6.16 crore.
The movable assets of Chiru include Rs 634,521 cash, Rs 21 lakh deposits, Rs.1.12 crore bonds and shares, a Honda CRV car worth Rs 8,27,150 and gold worth Rs 1.95 cr. The immovable assets of the PRP president include his Jubilee Hills residence here worth Rs 14.36 crore, a house in Chennai worth over Rs 2 crore, land at four different places including Hyderabad and Chennai valued at over Rs 13 crore.
That Allu Aravind, the producer of Ghajini, has had enjoyed a successful career is hugely evident from the assets he has declared in his affidavit. The film producer’s assets (both movable and immovable) are valued at about Rs 24 crore and that of his wife’s at Rs 28 crore. The couple is together sitting on riches such as 2.4 kg gold, a BMW car valued at Rs 94.8 lakh and land worth crores of rupees.
Allu Aravind, brother-in-law of Chiranjeevi and also his right-hand man who is contesting from the Anakapalli (Visakapatnam rural) Lok Sabha constituency, has listed diamonds and gold worth Rs 18.27 lakh and bonds and debentures valued at over Rs 6 crore. His movable assets are valued at over Rs 8 crore and that of his wife’s at over Rs 9 crore. While the amount of available cash with him is a modest Rs 3.74 lakh, he has disclosed Rs 5.98 lakh as his deposits in banks and financial institutions. While his investments in shares and debentures are in crores of rupees, he also believes in traditional forms of savings having invested Rs 67.76 lakh in postal savings, NSS, LIC etc.
The 62-year-old film producerturned-politician, owns 969 grams of gold (his wife owns about 1.5 kg of gold) and 46.7 carats of diamond. While his jewellery is worth Rs 18.27 lakh, his spouse’s jewellery, which also includes 10 kg silver, is valued at Rs 16 lakh.
His other assets such as claims/interests are valued at Rs 30 lakh, while his wife’s other assets are worth Rs 70 lakh. He has no dependents and his wife does not own a car.
His non-movable assets include properties such as agricultural land, commercial buildings and non-agricultural properties in Hyderabad, Rangareddy district and even Chennai. He owns agricultural land at Kokapet, in Greater Hyderabad, valued at Rs 1.35 crore, a share in vacant land in Chennai valued at Rs 1.45 crore (his wife too owns a share in the same vacant land and that is valued at Rs 4.35 crore). Allu Aravind also owns vacant land worth Rs 1.92 crore at Gachibowli village. He owns non-agricultural land at Madhapur, valued at Rs 75 lakh and a plot in Chennai valued at Rs Rs 2.69 crore.
Allu Aravind, who makes his political debut in this election, also owns a commercial building in Jubilee Hills (worth Rs 5 crore), two residential buildings in Chennai and one apartment in Mumbai, whose current market value is Rs 45 lakh.
The star PRP candidate’s spouse too is the owner of two residential buildings and two apartments in Chennai and Hyderabad. While the worth of her properties is close to Rs 20 crore, Allu Aravind’s immovable assets are worth Rs 15.5 crore.
But Allu Aravind isn’t the only cash-rich candidate and his assets are lower than those of Chiranjeevi, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Jaganmohan Reddy and even that of TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu.
Film star-turned-politician K Chiranjeevi and his wife Surekha own assets worth Rs 88 crore. The Telugu megastar’s assets are worth more than those of Jaganmohan Reddy and his wife, who declared assets of Rs 77 crore.
The Prajarajyam Party president, who filed his nomination papers in Palakollu assembly constituency in his native West Godavari district on Friday declared that he had immovable assets worth over Rs 30.32 crore and his wife had assets worth Rs 48 crore. In addition, he has movable assets worth over Rs 3.5 crore while his wife’s movable assets are worth over Rs 6.16 crore.
The movable assets of Chiru include Rs 634,521 cash, Rs 21 lakh deposits, Rs.1.12 crore bonds and shares, a Honda CRV car worth Rs 8,27,150 and gold worth Rs 1.95 cr. The immovable assets of the PRP president include his Jubilee Hills residence here worth Rs 14.36 crore, a house in Chennai worth over Rs 2 crore, land at four different places including Hyderabad and Chennai valued at over Rs 13 crore.
Musheerabad set for tough battle
By M H Ahssan
In the by-polls last year, T Manemma of the Congress barely sailed through to win the Musheerabad assembly constituency. Eight months later, her popularity hasn’t improved and she is having a tough time with voters.
As Manemma went around the constituency seeking re-election, she saw distrust in the eyes of unforgiving voters who question her openly about promises she has not kept. “You promised pensions to all those who are eligible, but more than 20 people are still waiting for it here,” K Babu Rao, a cycle shop owner told her point-blank at Bapujinagar during her campaign. here and elsewhere Manemma’s stock reply was: “Let the elections be over. I will see that all the eligible get pensions.”
A Bharatamma, a widow and physically handicapped woman, complained that though she was getting Rs 200 widow pension, she was not getting pension under the physically handicapped quota. She was told that she would have got it if she had more than 60 per cent deformity.
In the last election, Manemma, wife of former chief minister T Anjaiah, won over BJP’s K Laxman. Most major parties have fielded the same candidates who had contested the by-polls. Only the CPM candidate S Veeraiah is out as the Mahakutami alliance allotted it to TRS, represented by former MLA Nayani Narasimha Reddy. Rohit Kumar represents Lok Satta. The Prajarajyam Party (PRP) has fielded P V Ashok Kumar here.
Interestingly, the traders here are up in arms against both Manemma and Narsimha Reddy due to proposals of massive road widening in Musheerabad and Kavadiguda. “Nearly 300 shops between Musheerabad to Chikkadpally will be affected by road widening, yet neither of them has responded to us,” said C Rajesh Kumar, a shopkeeper at Musheerabad.
Though Manemma claims to have spent Rs 13 crore on developing the constituency in the last eight months, voters like pan shop owner B Mallesh of Musheerabad say that she is inaccessible. “She visited our colony only during the last elections; even MP Anjan Kumar Yadav was not seen here in the last five years,” Mallesh said.
Meanwhile BJP’s K Laxman is targeting middle class colonies with door-todoor campaigns in Gandhinagar, Bakaram and Chikkadpally. “The Congress government burdened flat owners by collecting an extra Rs 125 per flat towards water charges. I will see that this is stopped,” Laxman told a flat owner of Surabhi apartments at Bakaram.
The BJP nominee is however worried about splitting of anti-Congress votes. Laxman lost by a margin of 2075 votes in the bypolls, trailing behind Congress candidate Manemma who secured 34,795 votes. Lok Satta’s Rohit Kumar got 6000 votes.
BJP nominee Laxman believes he lost the May 2008 by-election because most of the educated and employed, usually considered a vote bank of BJP, went in favour of the young entrepreneur Rohit Kumar of Lok Satta. However the BJP is strong in the Kavadiguda, Jawaharnagar, Vidyanagar and Domalguda municipal divisions, and has several corporators from the last municipal elections. But one Vidyanagar corporator quit BJP and joined TRS, boosting the confidence of Narsimha Reddy who thinks this will add to the TRS vote bank, and CPM and TDP strength.
Nayani Narsimha Reddy thinks he lost the by-election because the CPM candidate had supported the TDP then. In 2004, he won because the TRS had allied with the Congress party. This time, both the TDP and CPM are supporting the TRS.
All candidates agree that the sizeable Muslim votes in areas like Gulshan Nagar, Tajer Nagar and Siddiqui Nagar could go the Congress way. And this could make a big difference.
CONSTITUENCY PROFILE
Total voters: 2,24,594 |
Male voters: 1,17,285 | Female voters: 1,07,309
Segments under this constituency: Musheerabad, Bakaram, Azamabad, Baghlingampalli, Chikkadpally, Ashok Nagar, Kavadiguda, Bholakpur, Adikmet, Domalguda, Anjaiahnagar, Kavadiguda, Ranga Nagar, Zamistanpur, Bakaram, Nallakunta, Jawaharnagar, Lower Tank Bund locality, Gandhi Nagar and Old Nallakunta
In the by-polls last year, T Manemma of the Congress barely sailed through to win the Musheerabad assembly constituency. Eight months later, her popularity hasn’t improved and she is having a tough time with voters.
As Manemma went around the constituency seeking re-election, she saw distrust in the eyes of unforgiving voters who question her openly about promises she has not kept. “You promised pensions to all those who are eligible, but more than 20 people are still waiting for it here,” K Babu Rao, a cycle shop owner told her point-blank at Bapujinagar during her campaign. here and elsewhere Manemma’s stock reply was: “Let the elections be over. I will see that all the eligible get pensions.”
A Bharatamma, a widow and physically handicapped woman, complained that though she was getting Rs 200 widow pension, she was not getting pension under the physically handicapped quota. She was told that she would have got it if she had more than 60 per cent deformity.
In the last election, Manemma, wife of former chief minister T Anjaiah, won over BJP’s K Laxman. Most major parties have fielded the same candidates who had contested the by-polls. Only the CPM candidate S Veeraiah is out as the Mahakutami alliance allotted it to TRS, represented by former MLA Nayani Narasimha Reddy. Rohit Kumar represents Lok Satta. The Prajarajyam Party (PRP) has fielded P V Ashok Kumar here.
Interestingly, the traders here are up in arms against both Manemma and Narsimha Reddy due to proposals of massive road widening in Musheerabad and Kavadiguda. “Nearly 300 shops between Musheerabad to Chikkadpally will be affected by road widening, yet neither of them has responded to us,” said C Rajesh Kumar, a shopkeeper at Musheerabad.
Though Manemma claims to have spent Rs 13 crore on developing the constituency in the last eight months, voters like pan shop owner B Mallesh of Musheerabad say that she is inaccessible. “She visited our colony only during the last elections; even MP Anjan Kumar Yadav was not seen here in the last five years,” Mallesh said.
Meanwhile BJP’s K Laxman is targeting middle class colonies with door-todoor campaigns in Gandhinagar, Bakaram and Chikkadpally. “The Congress government burdened flat owners by collecting an extra Rs 125 per flat towards water charges. I will see that this is stopped,” Laxman told a flat owner of Surabhi apartments at Bakaram.
The BJP nominee is however worried about splitting of anti-Congress votes. Laxman lost by a margin of 2075 votes in the bypolls, trailing behind Congress candidate Manemma who secured 34,795 votes. Lok Satta’s Rohit Kumar got 6000 votes.
BJP nominee Laxman believes he lost the May 2008 by-election because most of the educated and employed, usually considered a vote bank of BJP, went in favour of the young entrepreneur Rohit Kumar of Lok Satta. However the BJP is strong in the Kavadiguda, Jawaharnagar, Vidyanagar and Domalguda municipal divisions, and has several corporators from the last municipal elections. But one Vidyanagar corporator quit BJP and joined TRS, boosting the confidence of Narsimha Reddy who thinks this will add to the TRS vote bank, and CPM and TDP strength.
Nayani Narsimha Reddy thinks he lost the by-election because the CPM candidate had supported the TDP then. In 2004, he won because the TRS had allied with the Congress party. This time, both the TDP and CPM are supporting the TRS.
All candidates agree that the sizeable Muslim votes in areas like Gulshan Nagar, Tajer Nagar and Siddiqui Nagar could go the Congress way. And this could make a big difference.
CONSTITUENCY PROFILE
Total voters: 2,24,594 |
Male voters: 1,17,285 | Female voters: 1,07,309
Segments under this constituency: Musheerabad, Bakaram, Azamabad, Baghlingampalli, Chikkadpally, Ashok Nagar, Kavadiguda, Bholakpur, Adikmet, Domalguda, Anjaiahnagar, Kavadiguda, Ranga Nagar, Zamistanpur, Bakaram, Nallakunta, Jawaharnagar, Lower Tank Bund locality, Gandhi Nagar and Old Nallakunta
Liquor sales ‘poll’ vault
By Radha Rani
Liquor flows freely in the state in blatant violation of the Election Commission’s directive to officials to check its sale during the elections. Excise figures of four coastal districts for March show that belt shops have not only been not shut down, but have actually mushroomed.
Excise officials told HNN that sales from the authorised liquor shops in the district account for 60 per cent of the total revenue collection while the belt shops account for the remaining 40 per cent. That the belt shops have not been closed down is revealed by the fact that Nellore district registered a record sale of Rs.46.07 crore in March alone, almost 60 per cent more than the sale in February.
In fact, the sale of liquor in Nellore was the highest in March for the past four months with February accounting for the least, Rs 27.58 crore. In Prakasam district, the liquor revenue shot up to Rs 29.59 in March from Rs 20.56 in February. In Guntur district, the revenue increased by nearly Rs five crore in March while it jumped up by Rs three crore in Krishna district.
“If the belt shops were closed down, the sale of liquor would have dropped by 35-40 per cent. But that has not happened and on the contrary, the sale of liquor has
shot up, implying that more belt shops have sprung up,” said an excise official.
The belt shops are flourishing in complete violation of the directive given by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy when he had visited the state on March 13. “All the belt shops should be closed down within the next 48 hours,” was his command. AP’s chief electoral officer I V Subba Rao too told the media that steps were being taken to ensure the closure of the shops.
Liquor flows freely in the state in blatant violation of the Election Commission’s directive to officials to check its sale during the elections. Excise figures of four coastal districts for March show that belt shops have not only been not shut down, but have actually mushroomed.
Excise officials told HNN that sales from the authorised liquor shops in the district account for 60 per cent of the total revenue collection while the belt shops account for the remaining 40 per cent. That the belt shops have not been closed down is revealed by the fact that Nellore district registered a record sale of Rs.46.07 crore in March alone, almost 60 per cent more than the sale in February.
In fact, the sale of liquor in Nellore was the highest in March for the past four months with February accounting for the least, Rs 27.58 crore. In Prakasam district, the liquor revenue shot up to Rs 29.59 in March from Rs 20.56 in February. In Guntur district, the revenue increased by nearly Rs five crore in March while it jumped up by Rs three crore in Krishna district.
“If the belt shops were closed down, the sale of liquor would have dropped by 35-40 per cent. But that has not happened and on the contrary, the sale of liquor has
shot up, implying that more belt shops have sprung up,” said an excise official.
The belt shops are flourishing in complete violation of the directive given by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy when he had visited the state on March 13. “All the belt shops should be closed down within the next 48 hours,” was his command. AP’s chief electoral officer I V Subba Rao too told the media that steps were being taken to ensure the closure of the shops.
For voters, assembly polls take primacy in Hyderabad
By M H Ahssan
Ashok Kumar (name changed) was sounded off for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha by the Prajarajyam. But he declined the offer and instead switched over to another constituency. Reason: He felt that his party was not strong in the assembly segments in Secunderabad. “It would be difficult for me to win from here, even though I may have been a strong candidate. Our electorate is not so mature. They cast their vote for the Lok Sabha for the same party as they do for the assembly,” Kumar told HNN. Ashok Kumar’s opinion was echoed by many other Lok Sabha candidates in the state.
“I know that ultimately my fate depends on the performance of candidates for assembly seats that form part of my Lok Sabha constituency. Therefore, I need to keep them energised,” said a Congress candidate who does not want to be identified.
Political analysts say that this time in Andhra Pradesh, more than ever before, the electorate is unlikely to make a distinction between the assembly and the Lok Sabha elections.
HNN check at the ground level reflected this reality. For example in Tirupati, a manager when asked about the prospects of candidates for the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat was nonplussed.
“Chiranjeevi,” he muttered and had to be reminded that the query was about the Lok Sabha and not about the assembly seat that the mega star is contesting. In the same way when Raju, a waiter at a hotel in Medak quizzed about the polls named - very confidently -the assembly candidate who he thought would win. But remained confused when pressed to reply about his favourite for the Lok Sabha. “I do not know,” he said as if he was not even aware that poll for the Parliament was being held.
Analysts said that this reality of the assembly poll being supreme is the reason for two Union ministers, Renuka Chowdhary and Pallam Raju, moving heaven and earth to change some candidates who had been named to contest assembly segments that formed part of their Lok Sabha constituencies. “The duo understood that with weak or inimical candidates their chances would be marred. Hence their extreme reactions,” an analyst said.
The reasons for the electorate not making a distinction between an assembly vote and a Lok Sabha vote is deeply sociological and a reflection of the way they see the polity. “India is a huge country and each state has an ethos of its own. Each state is also self-contained. This is true of politics as well. Most people do not look beyond Hyderabad. New Delhi is a far off place,” explained an analyst. The reality is also portrayed by the regional press whose front page mostly covers the state of affairs pertaining to Andhra Pradesh.
“Decisions taken by the state government impact the people directly. Centre’s decisions are perceived not to have an indirect effect. That is why the greater interest in assembly elections,” reasons an IAS officer.
The Parliament elections would come into focus, if there is a strong national issue that becomes central to the elections like, say, national integrity.
But this time around there is nothing of this sort, leading to the Lok Sabha poll getting relegated to the background.
On the contrary, the assembly elections have become more interesting what with the expectations of a three way fight.
Ashok Kumar (name changed) was sounded off for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha by the Prajarajyam. But he declined the offer and instead switched over to another constituency. Reason: He felt that his party was not strong in the assembly segments in Secunderabad. “It would be difficult for me to win from here, even though I may have been a strong candidate. Our electorate is not so mature. They cast their vote for the Lok Sabha for the same party as they do for the assembly,” Kumar told HNN. Ashok Kumar’s opinion was echoed by many other Lok Sabha candidates in the state.
“I know that ultimately my fate depends on the performance of candidates for assembly seats that form part of my Lok Sabha constituency. Therefore, I need to keep them energised,” said a Congress candidate who does not want to be identified.
Political analysts say that this time in Andhra Pradesh, more than ever before, the electorate is unlikely to make a distinction between the assembly and the Lok Sabha elections.
HNN check at the ground level reflected this reality. For example in Tirupati, a manager when asked about the prospects of candidates for the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat was nonplussed.
“Chiranjeevi,” he muttered and had to be reminded that the query was about the Lok Sabha and not about the assembly seat that the mega star is contesting. In the same way when Raju, a waiter at a hotel in Medak quizzed about the polls named - very confidently -the assembly candidate who he thought would win. But remained confused when pressed to reply about his favourite for the Lok Sabha. “I do not know,” he said as if he was not even aware that poll for the Parliament was being held.
Analysts said that this reality of the assembly poll being supreme is the reason for two Union ministers, Renuka Chowdhary and Pallam Raju, moving heaven and earth to change some candidates who had been named to contest assembly segments that formed part of their Lok Sabha constituencies. “The duo understood that with weak or inimical candidates their chances would be marred. Hence their extreme reactions,” an analyst said.
The reasons for the electorate not making a distinction between an assembly vote and a Lok Sabha vote is deeply sociological and a reflection of the way they see the polity. “India is a huge country and each state has an ethos of its own. Each state is also self-contained. This is true of politics as well. Most people do not look beyond Hyderabad. New Delhi is a far off place,” explained an analyst. The reality is also portrayed by the regional press whose front page mostly covers the state of affairs pertaining to Andhra Pradesh.
“Decisions taken by the state government impact the people directly. Centre’s decisions are perceived not to have an indirect effect. That is why the greater interest in assembly elections,” reasons an IAS officer.
The Parliament elections would come into focus, if there is a strong national issue that becomes central to the elections like, say, national integrity.
But this time around there is nothing of this sort, leading to the Lok Sabha poll getting relegated to the background.
On the contrary, the assembly elections have become more interesting what with the expectations of a three way fight.
INCREDIBLE LEADER - Babu JagJivan Ram
By M H Ahssan
Jagjivan Ram was one of the trusted leaders of the scheduled caster of the pre-independence era. Jagjivan Ram (5 April 1908 - 6 July 1986), known popularly as Babuji was a freedom fighter and a social reformer hailing from the backward classes of Bihar in India. He served as a minister in the Indian parliament with various portfolios for more than forty years, and also served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India.He is also well known for "forgeting" to pay his taxes for 14 years.
Early life
Jagjivan Ram was born at Chandwa near Arrah in Bihar. Jagjivan Ram passed his matriculation in the first division and joined the Banaras Hindu University where he was awarded the Birla scholarship. He received a B.Sc. degree from the University of Calcutta in 1931. When popular rule was introduced in 1935, both the nationalists and the British loyalists sought him because of his first-hand knowledge of the social and economic situation in Bihar. He chose to go with the nationalists, and was elected to the Bihar assembly in 1937. However, he resigned his membership on the issue of irrigation cess. In 1935, he contributed to the establishment of the All-India Depressed Classes League, an organization dedicated to attaining equality for untouchables. He was also drawn into the Indian National Congress, and in the early 1940s was imprisoned twice for his active participation in the Satyagraha and the Quit India Movements.
Parliamentary career
In 1946 he became the youngest minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's provisional government and, as a Labour minister, he was a part of the prestigious high profile Indian delegation that attended the International conference on labour on 16 August 1947 in Geneva along with the great Gandhian Bihar Bibhuti Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha;[1] his chief political mentor and also the then head of the delegation. He served as Labour minister until 1952. Later he also held the posts of minister for Communications (1952–56), for Transport and railways (1956–62), and for Transport and communications (1962–63).
In Indira Gandhi's government he worked as minister for Labour, employment, and rehabilitation (1966–67), minister for Food and agriculture (1967–70). When the Congress Party split in 1969, Jagjivan Ram joined the camp led by Indira Gandhi, and became the president of that faction of Congress. He worked as the minister of Defence (1970-74) making him the virtual No. 2 in the cabinet, minister for Agriculture and irrigation (1974-77). It was during his tenure as the minister of Defence that the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was fought, and Bangladesh achieved independence. While loyal to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for most of the Indian Emergency, in 1977 he along with five other politicians resigned from the Cabinet and formed the Congress for Democracy party, within the Janata coalition.
A few days before the elections, on a Sunday, Jagjivan Ram addressed an Opposition rally at the famous Ram Lila Grounds in Delhi. The national broadcaster Doordarshan allegedly attempted to stop crowds from participating in the demonstration by telecasting the blockbuster movie Bobby. The rally still drew large crowds, and a newspaper headline the next day ran "Babu beats Bobby" . He was the Deputy Prime Minister of India when Morarji Desai was the Prime Minister, from 1977 to 1979. However, he was once again given the defence portfolio. Disillusioned with the Janata party he formed his own party, the Congress (J). He remained a member of Parliament till his death in 1986, after over forty years as a parliamentarian. His uninterrupted representation in the Parliament from 1936 to 1986 was a world record, until Tony Benn overtook him by serving 51 years (1950-2001) in the British parliament.
Scouting
He served as President of the Bharat Scouts and Guides from September 1976 to April 1983.
Legacy
The place he was cremated has been turned into the memorial Samata Sthal, and his birth anniversary is observed as Samata Diwas. His daughter, Meira Kumar, is a prominent INC leader and is the Minister for Social Justice in the Manmohan Singh government.
Recently, prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has said that Babu Jagjivan Ram's legacy of struggle and service to the nation will continue to inspire us for generations to come. Speaking at the Babu Jagjivan Ram Centenary Seminar on Agriculture Revolutions, Inclusive Growth and State Policies, here today, the Prime Minister said that his life of intense struggle, great service and sacrifice will continue to guide all those who suffer deprivation and discrimination. He also said Babuji's lasting message of social equality is of critical significance for our times marked by impressive progress in the economic field. By combining his social vision with our approach to nation building, we can make our growth processes more inclusive as they must be if they are to meet the aspirations of our people, he added.
“It is indeed an honour for me to be here in your midst today and participate in a seminar associated with the birth centenary celebrations of a great national leader the Late Babu Jagjivan Ram. It is all the more relevant that the theme of the seminar being organized today is on agriculture – a sector which is heavily indebted to Babuji for his immense contributions and which is a matter of renewed concern and renewed attention today. It is appropriate that as we commemorate Babuji's centenary, we also remember his contributions across the entire breadth of our economy and polity and Indian society.
Babuji would have been a hundred years old now. Even though he is not with us in physical form, his legacy of struggle and service to the nation continue to inspire us and will continue to inspire for generations to come. A product of our freedom struggle, he was deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. He continued to cherish the values of our independence movement even as he achieved remarkable success in our politics and in our public life. Coming from an extremely deprived background from a region known for its caste consciousness, he showed tremendous determination, tenacity and the will to succeed. His spectacular achievements testify to his merit, hard struggle and exceptional courage. Inspite of the social exclusion he suffered, he demonstrated an iron will in fighting against injustice of all kinds.
Rendering service to those who were on the margins of society remained central to his life and his work. He became one of the key personalities of our freedom movement around whom people gathered to serve the cause of social reform and social justice. While striving for social reform and abolition of untouchability, he stressed on both empowerment of Dalits and a change in the heart among others in the social order. It was demonstrative of an approach which Mahatma Gandhi stressed. Babuji described casteism as a dangerous evil and fervently pleaded for a revolutionary change to put an end to this age old malady. His life was a living example of a long struggle for establishing a casteless society in our country.
Apart from being a great agent of social change, Babuji was an administrator par excellence. The many portfolios he handled for three decades as a Minister in the Union Cabinet demonstrate his administrative calibre, efficiency and sound sense of judgement and leadership. Many of our progressive legislations safeguarding the interests of labour are a result of his initiatives as our Labour Minister. He made history as the Defence Minister of our country, providing remarkable leadership to our armed forces in the Bangladesh war in 1971.
It was during his tenure as the Agriculture Minister that the country achieved self-sufficiency in food grain production. It is indeed apt that, today, as we discuss the challenges confronting our agricultural sector, we once again reflect on the leadership provided by Babuji at a time of grave crisis in an earlier era. We need to understand the role played by visionary leadership in making a difference to our agricultural sector. I am very happy that our great scientist, Dr. Swaminathan is here with us to provide us guidance and support as we chart out a new course for agricultural renovation and revival. We once again need such vision and such leadership of the type provided by Babu Jagjivan Ram if our agriculture is to meet the requirements of the coming decades.
Babuji's political and administrative skills, combined with his vision for a democratic social order, make him stand tall as a crusader for social equality. It is important for us to follow in his footsteps to address the challenges faced by our society in this 21st century. While celebrating his birth centenary, let us rededicate ourselves to his ideals.
Mahatma Gandhi once referred to Babuji and wrote “My heart goes out in respectful admiration to Jagjivan Ram for his having emerged as the purest gold out of fire”. Such was the regard that Mahatma Gandhi had for Babuji. Babuji, who commanded the respect of Gandhiji, later commanded the respect of the whole nation for his role as a freedom fighter, a great statesman and a fighter for a just social order. His life of intense struggle, great service and sacrifice will continue to guide all those who suffer deprivation and discrimination. His lasting message of social equality is of critical significance for our times marked by impressive progress in the economic field. By combining his social vision with our approach to nation building, we can make our growth processes more inclusive as they must be if they are to meet the aspirations of our people. That will be our real tribute to Babu Jagjivan Ram. I join all of you in paying my homage to this great son of our country and a builder of modern India.”
Also Read: Tribute to Babu Jagjivan Ram
Jagjivan Ram was one of the trusted leaders of the scheduled caster of the pre-independence era. Jagjivan Ram (5 April 1908 - 6 July 1986), known popularly as Babuji was a freedom fighter and a social reformer hailing from the backward classes of Bihar in India. He served as a minister in the Indian parliament with various portfolios for more than forty years, and also served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India.He is also well known for "forgeting" to pay his taxes for 14 years.
Early life
Jagjivan Ram was born at Chandwa near Arrah in Bihar. Jagjivan Ram passed his matriculation in the first division and joined the Banaras Hindu University where he was awarded the Birla scholarship. He received a B.Sc. degree from the University of Calcutta in 1931. When popular rule was introduced in 1935, both the nationalists and the British loyalists sought him because of his first-hand knowledge of the social and economic situation in Bihar. He chose to go with the nationalists, and was elected to the Bihar assembly in 1937. However, he resigned his membership on the issue of irrigation cess. In 1935, he contributed to the establishment of the All-India Depressed Classes League, an organization dedicated to attaining equality for untouchables. He was also drawn into the Indian National Congress, and in the early 1940s was imprisoned twice for his active participation in the Satyagraha and the Quit India Movements.
Parliamentary career
In 1946 he became the youngest minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's provisional government and, as a Labour minister, he was a part of the prestigious high profile Indian delegation that attended the International conference on labour on 16 August 1947 in Geneva along with the great Gandhian Bihar Bibhuti Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha;[1] his chief political mentor and also the then head of the delegation. He served as Labour minister until 1952. Later he also held the posts of minister for Communications (1952–56), for Transport and railways (1956–62), and for Transport and communications (1962–63).
In Indira Gandhi's government he worked as minister for Labour, employment, and rehabilitation (1966–67), minister for Food and agriculture (1967–70). When the Congress Party split in 1969, Jagjivan Ram joined the camp led by Indira Gandhi, and became the president of that faction of Congress. He worked as the minister of Defence (1970-74) making him the virtual No. 2 in the cabinet, minister for Agriculture and irrigation (1974-77). It was during his tenure as the minister of Defence that the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was fought, and Bangladesh achieved independence. While loyal to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for most of the Indian Emergency, in 1977 he along with five other politicians resigned from the Cabinet and formed the Congress for Democracy party, within the Janata coalition.
A few days before the elections, on a Sunday, Jagjivan Ram addressed an Opposition rally at the famous Ram Lila Grounds in Delhi. The national broadcaster Doordarshan allegedly attempted to stop crowds from participating in the demonstration by telecasting the blockbuster movie Bobby. The rally still drew large crowds, and a newspaper headline the next day ran "Babu beats Bobby" . He was the Deputy Prime Minister of India when Morarji Desai was the Prime Minister, from 1977 to 1979. However, he was once again given the defence portfolio. Disillusioned with the Janata party he formed his own party, the Congress (J). He remained a member of Parliament till his death in 1986, after over forty years as a parliamentarian. His uninterrupted representation in the Parliament from 1936 to 1986 was a world record, until Tony Benn overtook him by serving 51 years (1950-2001) in the British parliament.
Scouting
He served as President of the Bharat Scouts and Guides from September 1976 to April 1983.
Legacy
The place he was cremated has been turned into the memorial Samata Sthal, and his birth anniversary is observed as Samata Diwas. His daughter, Meira Kumar, is a prominent INC leader and is the Minister for Social Justice in the Manmohan Singh government.
Recently, prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has said that Babu Jagjivan Ram's legacy of struggle and service to the nation will continue to inspire us for generations to come. Speaking at the Babu Jagjivan Ram Centenary Seminar on Agriculture Revolutions, Inclusive Growth and State Policies, here today, the Prime Minister said that his life of intense struggle, great service and sacrifice will continue to guide all those who suffer deprivation and discrimination. He also said Babuji's lasting message of social equality is of critical significance for our times marked by impressive progress in the economic field. By combining his social vision with our approach to nation building, we can make our growth processes more inclusive as they must be if they are to meet the aspirations of our people, he added.
“It is indeed an honour for me to be here in your midst today and participate in a seminar associated with the birth centenary celebrations of a great national leader the Late Babu Jagjivan Ram. It is all the more relevant that the theme of the seminar being organized today is on agriculture – a sector which is heavily indebted to Babuji for his immense contributions and which is a matter of renewed concern and renewed attention today. It is appropriate that as we commemorate Babuji's centenary, we also remember his contributions across the entire breadth of our economy and polity and Indian society.
Babuji would have been a hundred years old now. Even though he is not with us in physical form, his legacy of struggle and service to the nation continue to inspire us and will continue to inspire for generations to come. A product of our freedom struggle, he was deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. He continued to cherish the values of our independence movement even as he achieved remarkable success in our politics and in our public life. Coming from an extremely deprived background from a region known for its caste consciousness, he showed tremendous determination, tenacity and the will to succeed. His spectacular achievements testify to his merit, hard struggle and exceptional courage. Inspite of the social exclusion he suffered, he demonstrated an iron will in fighting against injustice of all kinds.
Rendering service to those who were on the margins of society remained central to his life and his work. He became one of the key personalities of our freedom movement around whom people gathered to serve the cause of social reform and social justice. While striving for social reform and abolition of untouchability, he stressed on both empowerment of Dalits and a change in the heart among others in the social order. It was demonstrative of an approach which Mahatma Gandhi stressed. Babuji described casteism as a dangerous evil and fervently pleaded for a revolutionary change to put an end to this age old malady. His life was a living example of a long struggle for establishing a casteless society in our country.
Apart from being a great agent of social change, Babuji was an administrator par excellence. The many portfolios he handled for three decades as a Minister in the Union Cabinet demonstrate his administrative calibre, efficiency and sound sense of judgement and leadership. Many of our progressive legislations safeguarding the interests of labour are a result of his initiatives as our Labour Minister. He made history as the Defence Minister of our country, providing remarkable leadership to our armed forces in the Bangladesh war in 1971.
It was during his tenure as the Agriculture Minister that the country achieved self-sufficiency in food grain production. It is indeed apt that, today, as we discuss the challenges confronting our agricultural sector, we once again reflect on the leadership provided by Babuji at a time of grave crisis in an earlier era. We need to understand the role played by visionary leadership in making a difference to our agricultural sector. I am very happy that our great scientist, Dr. Swaminathan is here with us to provide us guidance and support as we chart out a new course for agricultural renovation and revival. We once again need such vision and such leadership of the type provided by Babu Jagjivan Ram if our agriculture is to meet the requirements of the coming decades.
Babuji's political and administrative skills, combined with his vision for a democratic social order, make him stand tall as a crusader for social equality. It is important for us to follow in his footsteps to address the challenges faced by our society in this 21st century. While celebrating his birth centenary, let us rededicate ourselves to his ideals.
Mahatma Gandhi once referred to Babuji and wrote “My heart goes out in respectful admiration to Jagjivan Ram for his having emerged as the purest gold out of fire”. Such was the regard that Mahatma Gandhi had for Babuji. Babuji, who commanded the respect of Gandhiji, later commanded the respect of the whole nation for his role as a freedom fighter, a great statesman and a fighter for a just social order. His life of intense struggle, great service and sacrifice will continue to guide all those who suffer deprivation and discrimination. His lasting message of social equality is of critical significance for our times marked by impressive progress in the economic field. By combining his social vision with our approach to nation building, we can make our growth processes more inclusive as they must be if they are to meet the aspirations of our people. That will be our real tribute to Babu Jagjivan Ram. I join all of you in paying my homage to this great son of our country and a builder of modern India.”
Also Read: Tribute to Babu Jagjivan Ram
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Who's afraid of the Third Front?
By Rajdeep Sardesai
Remember the classic Sholay dialogue, "in the night when a child is crying, the mother says, go to sleep or Gabbar Singh will come." A similar warning is now being echoed amongst India's elite: only this time it isn't some gun-toting dacoit who is spreading fear, but the prospect of a third front government that has India Inc and their political patrons scurrying for cover. The BJP calls it a 'parking lot', the Congress a recipe for anarchy; but is a third front government such a frightening idea?
Much of the anxiety stems from the ghost of Deve Gowda returning to haunt the political system. Deve Gowda's rise to prime ministership in 1996 was accompanied by a mix of condescension and contempt. Until he occupied 7 Race Course Road, few outside Karnataka had heard of the humble farmer from Hardanhalli. He didn't know Hindi, had no previous experience at the Centre, and yes, seemed to have a penchant for dozing off in public. A few of us forget that the rustic Gowda had the urbane P Chidambaram as finance minister. What we do remember is a one year period when it seemed that the office of the prime minister had been taken over by a political interloper who a large part of the country simply could not identify with.
Deve Gowda gave way to IK Gujral, another prime minister to be plucked out of anonymity. Atleast Gowda had been nurtured in the cut and thrust of Karnataka politics, Gujral had been a semi-retired seminarist till he was chosen as a 'consensus' candidate by the then (dis)United Front. Like Gowda, Gujral's government too could not last a year, convincing the skeptics that the idea of a Third Front government was synonymous with instability and chaos. Even the former prime minister, and original third front messiah, the late VP Singh was forced to admit, "A third front is feasible, but I am not sure it is desirable."
Take the feasibility quotient first. A third front government would require not just the Congress and the BJP combined to end up with less than 272 seats (a possibility that cannot be ruled out), but would also need the non-BJP, non-Congress parties to come together on a joint platform. In 1996, these groups were able to find a common glue in anti-congressism backed by anti-BJPism. Thirteen years later, this common thread has been weakened considerably. When the avowedly 'secular' DMK becomes a key ally of a Vajpayee government, when the Lohiates of the Samajwadi party prop up a Congress-led government, the ideological divides begin to blur.
A Mulayam-Lalu-Paswan embracing each other may signal a temporary realignment of old allies struggling to survive, but their made-for-television smiles cannot conceal their conflicting ambitions. A Paswan may tie up with Lalu in Bihar, but there is little chance that he will support his fellow Bihari at the center. Ditto the case with the two Yadavs. Which is why, interestingly, each of them still swears by Manmohan Singh as their prime ministerial nominee even while contesting the Congress in the states.
A Mayawati might have been a little more open with her national ambitions than the others, but she too can hardly expect to become a magnet around whom the other regional satraps will revolve. With around 40 MPs in her kitty, the best she can aspire for is a role as a kingmaker who could provide support to one of the two main pre poll alliances. The other power woman in this election, Jayalalithaa too, is similarly constrained: the empress of Poes Garden is unlikely to become a pivot for a dramatic new political alignment.
The only grouping which remains committed to the idea of a Third Front is the left. For the left, the third front is its natural habitat: it provides legitimacy to their claim to be equidistant from the Congress and the BJP. And yet, its obvious that this policy of equidistance cannot dilute the left's primary goal of keeping the sangh parivar out of the power matrix. While individual left leaders may have a problem with Manmohan Singh, as a collective the left is acutely aware that it cannot afford to create a situation that allows the BJP a shot at power. Which is why their so-called leadership of the third front is little more than a stopgap arrangement, designed to increase their own post poll political leverage.
But if the third front is unlikely to take off, why the animosity to its very existence? Partly, it has to do with the fact that the Indian elite still cant come to terms with 'outsiders' like a Mayawati or an Amar Singh seeking space on the political high table. It also has to do with the fact that a majority of the regional bosses have sadly failed to observe the ethical standards expected of those aspiring to the highest office in the country. A regional coalition is now equated with cash and carry politics, where each party offers itself to the highest bidder, where transfers and postings become key areas of decision-making, where governance becomes a casualty in the desperate desire for self-aggrandisement.
And yet, the rise of these leaders is directly co-related to the failure of the two big 'national' parties to adapt, either ideologically or organizationally, to the aspirations of a more federal and diverse polity. The Congress is still struggling to adjust to its status as Lalu Yadav's 'C' team in Bihar even while doing precious little on the ground to revive itself. The BJP, as the Varun episode has revealed, is still unwilling to shed its historical baggage. If the two national parties cannot create the basis for their social and political expansion, then why shouldn't the smaller parties seek their own pound of flesh in any coalition arrangement?
It should be no surprise then that both the UPA and the NDA are going into elections 2009 in a shrunken state. Both, in a sense, are artificial coalitions, driven by political opportunism, and not through any common minimum programme as is claimed . Both reflect the complete dependence of the national parties on regional forces. Both mirror the declining role of the principal poles of Indian politics. Maybe, a non-Congress, non-BJP government will frighten away the investor a la Gabbar. But ironically, it may just be the final wake-up call the two main parties need to get their act together before its too late.
Remember the classic Sholay dialogue, "in the night when a child is crying, the mother says, go to sleep or Gabbar Singh will come." A similar warning is now being echoed amongst India's elite: only this time it isn't some gun-toting dacoit who is spreading fear, but the prospect of a third front government that has India Inc and their political patrons scurrying for cover. The BJP calls it a 'parking lot', the Congress a recipe for anarchy; but is a third front government such a frightening idea? Much of the anxiety stems from the ghost of Deve Gowda returning to haunt the political system. Deve Gowda's rise to prime ministership in 1996 was accompanied by a mix of condescension and contempt. Until he occupied 7 Race Course Road, few outside Karnataka had heard of the humble farmer from Hardanhalli. He didn't know Hindi, had no previous experience at the Centre, and yes, seemed to have a penchant for dozing off in public. A few of us forget that the rustic Gowda had the urbane P Chidambaram as finance minister. What we do remember is a one year period when it seemed that the office of the prime minister had been taken over by a political interloper who a large part of the country simply could not identify with.
Deve Gowda gave way to IK Gujral, another prime minister to be plucked out of anonymity. Atleast Gowda had been nurtured in the cut and thrust of Karnataka politics, Gujral had been a semi-retired seminarist till he was chosen as a 'consensus' candidate by the then (dis)United Front. Like Gowda, Gujral's government too could not last a year, convincing the skeptics that the idea of a Third Front government was synonymous with instability and chaos. Even the former prime minister, and original third front messiah, the late VP Singh was forced to admit, "A third front is feasible, but I am not sure it is desirable."
Take the feasibility quotient first. A third front government would require not just the Congress and the BJP combined to end up with less than 272 seats (a possibility that cannot be ruled out), but would also need the non-BJP, non-Congress parties to come together on a joint platform. In 1996, these groups were able to find a common glue in anti-congressism backed by anti-BJPism. Thirteen years later, this common thread has been weakened considerably. When the avowedly 'secular' DMK becomes a key ally of a Vajpayee government, when the Lohiates of the Samajwadi party prop up a Congress-led government, the ideological divides begin to blur.
A Mulayam-Lalu-Paswan embracing each other may signal a temporary realignment of old allies struggling to survive, but their made-for-television smiles cannot conceal their conflicting ambitions. A Paswan may tie up with Lalu in Bihar, but there is little chance that he will support his fellow Bihari at the center. Ditto the case with the two Yadavs. Which is why, interestingly, each of them still swears by Manmohan Singh as their prime ministerial nominee even while contesting the Congress in the states.
A Mayawati might have been a little more open with her national ambitions than the others, but she too can hardly expect to become a magnet around whom the other regional satraps will revolve. With around 40 MPs in her kitty, the best she can aspire for is a role as a kingmaker who could provide support to one of the two main pre poll alliances. The other power woman in this election, Jayalalithaa too, is similarly constrained: the empress of Poes Garden is unlikely to become a pivot for a dramatic new political alignment.
The only grouping which remains committed to the idea of a Third Front is the left. For the left, the third front is its natural habitat: it provides legitimacy to their claim to be equidistant from the Congress and the BJP. And yet, its obvious that this policy of equidistance cannot dilute the left's primary goal of keeping the sangh parivar out of the power matrix. While individual left leaders may have a problem with Manmohan Singh, as a collective the left is acutely aware that it cannot afford to create a situation that allows the BJP a shot at power. Which is why their so-called leadership of the third front is little more than a stopgap arrangement, designed to increase their own post poll political leverage.
But if the third front is unlikely to take off, why the animosity to its very existence? Partly, it has to do with the fact that the Indian elite still cant come to terms with 'outsiders' like a Mayawati or an Amar Singh seeking space on the political high table. It also has to do with the fact that a majority of the regional bosses have sadly failed to observe the ethical standards expected of those aspiring to the highest office in the country. A regional coalition is now equated with cash and carry politics, where each party offers itself to the highest bidder, where transfers and postings become key areas of decision-making, where governance becomes a casualty in the desperate desire for self-aggrandisement.
And yet, the rise of these leaders is directly co-related to the failure of the two big 'national' parties to adapt, either ideologically or organizationally, to the aspirations of a more federal and diverse polity. The Congress is still struggling to adjust to its status as Lalu Yadav's 'C' team in Bihar even while doing precious little on the ground to revive itself. The BJP, as the Varun episode has revealed, is still unwilling to shed its historical baggage. If the two national parties cannot create the basis for their social and political expansion, then why shouldn't the smaller parties seek their own pound of flesh in any coalition arrangement?
It should be no surprise then that both the UPA and the NDA are going into elections 2009 in a shrunken state. Both, in a sense, are artificial coalitions, driven by political opportunism, and not through any common minimum programme as is claimed . Both reflect the complete dependence of the national parties on regional forces. Both mirror the declining role of the principal poles of Indian politics. Maybe, a non-Congress, non-BJP government will frighten away the investor a la Gabbar. But ironically, it may just be the final wake-up call the two main parties need to get their act together before its too late.
THE BIG VOTE 2009 - 'Bharat ki Aam Aurat'
By M H Ahssan
From Kalawati to Shakuntala, politicians are wooing the aam aurat, but activists say that much needs to be done for women's emancipation
Kalawati, a hapless housewife in a remote village of Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, became a household name when the Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi used her story to make a passionate plea for the Indo-American nuclear deal in Parliament last year. For Kalawati and millions like her, nuclear energy will revolutionise life, he said. More recently, Omprakash Baburao Kadu, an independent legislator from Achalpur, chose a woman named Shakuntala of Rai Ka Purva village in Amethi as his mascot to take on the Gandhi scion.
Almost confined to their kitchens till now, Kalawati and Shakuntala have suddenly become the poster women of political parties. And the run up to the elections will see stories of many more women like them, as candidates highlight their development needs.
They represent the aam aurat (the common woman), a substantial chunk of active voters. Though the participation of women is less than men's in the elections, the gap is narrowing. In the last Lok Sabha elections, more than 300 million women exercised their franchise. This has prompted political parties to include the aam aurat in their election manifestos. But feminists doubt whether anything will come of it.
"It is all a dikhawa (show), it is a betra-yal. What they are trying to do is exploit the women and steal their votes. Unfortunately, women are falling in their trap," says septuagenarian Suman Krishan Kant, national president of the United Women's Front. Her father-in-law, Lala Achint Ram, was member of the Constituent Assembly and the first Lok Sabha.
The pressure of the women's movement and the fact that they are a huge constituency ensure that no party can afford to ignore women or openly make sexist statements, says Dr Indu Agnihotri of the Centre for Women Development Studies, Delhi. But she sees most of the "women's issues" in political manifestos as an "attempt to hijack the women's movement through symbolic gestures."
According to Dr Ranjana Kumari, director of the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research, "Rahul Gandhi may really be considerate towards women, or he is simply smart to have spoken of Kalawati. But at the end of the day, all major political parties have been promising women more or less the same things. But nothing has happened."
Veteran politician Najma Heptullah is "angry with those who could do a lot for women, but did not". In the list of unfulfilled promises compiled by women's activists, the Women's Reservation Bill has top priority. Says senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj: "Last year, when we had a rally for the Women's Reservation Bill, there were over one lakh women participants. We have fully supported the bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha twice when Atalji was Prime Minister. But some parties, particularly the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, were hell-bent on thwarting it. They tore it up, and we could not get the bill passed." She says that the BJP is committed to the bill and would support the UPA if it introduces it. "For the first four years of this Lok Sabha, they did nothing about it. And at the end of the fourth year, they introduced the draft bill. But nothing happened thereafter. That was the first betrayal of women by the UPA government."
CPI(M) leader Hannan Moullah, MP, says women should not vote for a party that cannot give a written commitment in favour of the Women's Reservation Bill. Heptullah feels that since the BJP, the Congress and the Left are ready to see the bill through, it should be put to vote so that the opponents can be unmasked. She regrets that when India got its first woman President, there was no mention of women in her maiden speech.
Pointing at the growing intolerance towards women in society, Agnihotri says it is high time Parlia-ment was packed with women. "The growing intolerance affects women most. That's how incidents in Bangalore and Mangalore happened."
But the million-dollar question is whether a greater presence of women in Parliament can redress the woes of the fair sex. Perhaps not, but things will improve substantially for them. Swaraj recalls how she was invited to the wedding of a party worker's daughter. "She asked me to come, saying the bridegroom's people would realise that her daughter has the support of a political leader. She introduced me to all of them, and was confident that her daughter's in-laws wouldn't dare ill-treat her," she says.
According to Swaraj, reservation for women in the BJP has had a tremendous impact. "There are 27 women in the national executive of the BJP, and nine are central office bearers in the party. Such a huge presence of women is not there in any other political party. Every empowered woman has hundreds of followers, their authority empowers the followers as well." While the BJP plans to include a full chapter on women in its manifesto, Swaraj admits the status of women is pathetic. She is concerned about the growing number of atrocities against women. "Even in the national capital, two or three cases of molestation and rape are reported daily. In the Soumya Viswanathan murder case, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had suggested that women should stay indoors to be safe and secure," she says.
According to Agnihotri, economic hardships have not been addressed by the political parties, and women have gone to the extreme by becoming surrogate mothers. The UPA's claim that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has empowered many women has come in for flak. The reality is different, says Bidyut Mohanty of the Delhi-based Institute of Social Sciences. "The implementation of the act suffers from various shortcomings. Women of Madhya Pradesh, for example, complained that there were no crèche facilities and children were either left with family members or were brought to the work site, where they remained unattended," he says.
The ISS found that in Orissa, the work was too arduous for women because of which they could not get minimum wages. In some places, women did not get employment because of gender discrimination. Despite the presence of a woman in Rashtrapati Bhavan, and women heading major political parties like the Congress, the BSP, the AIADMK and the Trinamool Congress, women are largely invisible in the political arena. "How many parties have involved women in leadership? Even parties led by women have done nothing. Do Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalithaa, Mayawati and Mamata Bannerjee have a woman as second in command? They have simply played by the rules to keep themselves going. All the prominent parties led by women have sidelined prominent women leaders. So the aam aurat is only a political need," explains Ranjana.
Apart from women activists, NGOs working for women's empowerment say that women's issues are largely seen only in manifestos. Summing up the general feeling, Arpita Das, programme associate of Delhi-based NGO Tarshi, has lots of questions to ask politicians who seek women's votes. Says Das: "Although there are laws to curb violence against women, how far are they implemented? Why do most police officers treat domestic violence as a personal issue? Does the aam aurat have the legal knowhow to lodge a case against the perpetrators of violence? I don't think so. On the other hand, we have politicians such as Muthalik, who have their own narrow-minded notions of how a woman should behave."
Das says many women become sex workers for lack of employment opportunities. According to her, "Politicians feel the best way to cater to these women is by eliminating sex work altogether. And for this there is a push to get the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act amendment passed so that the client, too, is convicted. It also doesn't allow a sex worker's 18-year-old child to live off her earnings. Politicians should spend more time understanding the nuances of sex workers' lives to make laws for their benefit. Sex workers do not want the ITPA amendments!"
Dr George Mathew, director of the ISS, says women have become a big political force, which a political party can ignore only at its own peril. "So they do make programmes targeted at women, and also try to implement them. But they fail to do it in more than a symbolic manner, by touching the periphery," says the social scientist.
Mathew says it is the combination of their issues, along with the fact that they are increasingly taking their own decision on whom or which party to vote for, that makes them a potent force as an electorate. "The women of India want a commitment from political parties to play a proactive role in giving the highest priority to their safety, health, nutrition, work, education and equal participation in every sphere. Recognising the cultural constraints and inequities among women in India, special attention and provisions need to be made for the marginalised and vulnerable women," says Women Power Connect, an umbrella organisation of a number of NGOs and activists.
They have drafted a 13-point agenda of women's concerns, and have recommended it for inclusion in the Congress manifesto. Kant is trying to field as many women as possible to contest the Lok Sabha elections. "The solution lies in all educated women getting into politics. Unfortunately, that is not happening," she says.
While all this is true, the aam aurat can no longer be taken for granted. "The Panchayati Raj Act has raised their political aspirations, and also has been driving home the point that their issues have to be addressed by the government," says Kumari. "Political parties must not take women's votes for granted."
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From Kalawati to Shakuntala, politicians are wooing the aam aurat, but activists say that much needs to be done for women's emancipation
Kalawati, a hapless housewife in a remote village of Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, became a household name when the Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi used her story to make a passionate plea for the Indo-American nuclear deal in Parliament last year. For Kalawati and millions like her, nuclear energy will revolutionise life, he said. More recently, Omprakash Baburao Kadu, an independent legislator from Achalpur, chose a woman named Shakuntala of Rai Ka Purva village in Amethi as his mascot to take on the Gandhi scion.
Almost confined to their kitchens till now, Kalawati and Shakuntala have suddenly become the poster women of political parties. And the run up to the elections will see stories of many more women like them, as candidates highlight their development needs.
They represent the aam aurat (the common woman), a substantial chunk of active voters. Though the participation of women is less than men's in the elections, the gap is narrowing. In the last Lok Sabha elections, more than 300 million women exercised their franchise. This has prompted political parties to include the aam aurat in their election manifestos. But feminists doubt whether anything will come of it.
"It is all a dikhawa (show), it is a betra-yal. What they are trying to do is exploit the women and steal their votes. Unfortunately, women are falling in their trap," says septuagenarian Suman Krishan Kant, national president of the United Women's Front. Her father-in-law, Lala Achint Ram, was member of the Constituent Assembly and the first Lok Sabha.
The pressure of the women's movement and the fact that they are a huge constituency ensure that no party can afford to ignore women or openly make sexist statements, says Dr Indu Agnihotri of the Centre for Women Development Studies, Delhi. But she sees most of the "women's issues" in political manifestos as an "attempt to hijack the women's movement through symbolic gestures."
According to Dr Ranjana Kumari, director of the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research, "Rahul Gandhi may really be considerate towards women, or he is simply smart to have spoken of Kalawati. But at the end of the day, all major political parties have been promising women more or less the same things. But nothing has happened."
Veteran politician Najma Heptullah is "angry with those who could do a lot for women, but did not". In the list of unfulfilled promises compiled by women's activists, the Women's Reservation Bill has top priority. Says senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj: "Last year, when we had a rally for the Women's Reservation Bill, there were over one lakh women participants. We have fully supported the bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha twice when Atalji was Prime Minister. But some parties, particularly the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, were hell-bent on thwarting it. They tore it up, and we could not get the bill passed." She says that the BJP is committed to the bill and would support the UPA if it introduces it. "For the first four years of this Lok Sabha, they did nothing about it. And at the end of the fourth year, they introduced the draft bill. But nothing happened thereafter. That was the first betrayal of women by the UPA government."
CPI(M) leader Hannan Moullah, MP, says women should not vote for a party that cannot give a written commitment in favour of the Women's Reservation Bill. Heptullah feels that since the BJP, the Congress and the Left are ready to see the bill through, it should be put to vote so that the opponents can be unmasked. She regrets that when India got its first woman President, there was no mention of women in her maiden speech.
Pointing at the growing intolerance towards women in society, Agnihotri says it is high time Parlia-ment was packed with women. "The growing intolerance affects women most. That's how incidents in Bangalore and Mangalore happened."
But the million-dollar question is whether a greater presence of women in Parliament can redress the woes of the fair sex. Perhaps not, but things will improve substantially for them. Swaraj recalls how she was invited to the wedding of a party worker's daughter. "She asked me to come, saying the bridegroom's people would realise that her daughter has the support of a political leader. She introduced me to all of them, and was confident that her daughter's in-laws wouldn't dare ill-treat her," she says.
According to Swaraj, reservation for women in the BJP has had a tremendous impact. "There are 27 women in the national executive of the BJP, and nine are central office bearers in the party. Such a huge presence of women is not there in any other political party. Every empowered woman has hundreds of followers, their authority empowers the followers as well." While the BJP plans to include a full chapter on women in its manifesto, Swaraj admits the status of women is pathetic. She is concerned about the growing number of atrocities against women. "Even in the national capital, two or three cases of molestation and rape are reported daily. In the Soumya Viswanathan murder case, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had suggested that women should stay indoors to be safe and secure," she says.
According to Agnihotri, economic hardships have not been addressed by the political parties, and women have gone to the extreme by becoming surrogate mothers. The UPA's claim that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has empowered many women has come in for flak. The reality is different, says Bidyut Mohanty of the Delhi-based Institute of Social Sciences. "The implementation of the act suffers from various shortcomings. Women of Madhya Pradesh, for example, complained that there were no crèche facilities and children were either left with family members or were brought to the work site, where they remained unattended," he says.
The ISS found that in Orissa, the work was too arduous for women because of which they could not get minimum wages. In some places, women did not get employment because of gender discrimination. Despite the presence of a woman in Rashtrapati Bhavan, and women heading major political parties like the Congress, the BSP, the AIADMK and the Trinamool Congress, women are largely invisible in the political arena. "How many parties have involved women in leadership? Even parties led by women have done nothing. Do Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalithaa, Mayawati and Mamata Bannerjee have a woman as second in command? They have simply played by the rules to keep themselves going. All the prominent parties led by women have sidelined prominent women leaders. So the aam aurat is only a political need," explains Ranjana.
Apart from women activists, NGOs working for women's empowerment say that women's issues are largely seen only in manifestos. Summing up the general feeling, Arpita Das, programme associate of Delhi-based NGO Tarshi, has lots of questions to ask politicians who seek women's votes. Says Das: "Although there are laws to curb violence against women, how far are they implemented? Why do most police officers treat domestic violence as a personal issue? Does the aam aurat have the legal knowhow to lodge a case against the perpetrators of violence? I don't think so. On the other hand, we have politicians such as Muthalik, who have their own narrow-minded notions of how a woman should behave."
Das says many women become sex workers for lack of employment opportunities. According to her, "Politicians feel the best way to cater to these women is by eliminating sex work altogether. And for this there is a push to get the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act amendment passed so that the client, too, is convicted. It also doesn't allow a sex worker's 18-year-old child to live off her earnings. Politicians should spend more time understanding the nuances of sex workers' lives to make laws for their benefit. Sex workers do not want the ITPA amendments!"
Dr George Mathew, director of the ISS, says women have become a big political force, which a political party can ignore only at its own peril. "So they do make programmes targeted at women, and also try to implement them. But they fail to do it in more than a symbolic manner, by touching the periphery," says the social scientist.
Mathew says it is the combination of their issues, along with the fact that they are increasingly taking their own decision on whom or which party to vote for, that makes them a potent force as an electorate. "The women of India want a commitment from political parties to play a proactive role in giving the highest priority to their safety, health, nutrition, work, education and equal participation in every sphere. Recognising the cultural constraints and inequities among women in India, special attention and provisions need to be made for the marginalised and vulnerable women," says Women Power Connect, an umbrella organisation of a number of NGOs and activists.
They have drafted a 13-point agenda of women's concerns, and have recommended it for inclusion in the Congress manifesto. Kant is trying to field as many women as possible to contest the Lok Sabha elections. "The solution lies in all educated women getting into politics. Unfortunately, that is not happening," she says.
While all this is true, the aam aurat can no longer be taken for granted. "The Panchayati Raj Act has raised their political aspirations, and also has been driving home the point that their issues have to be addressed by the government," says Kumari. "Political parties must not take women's votes for granted."
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