Saturday finally saw the moment of reckoning for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when the Nuclear Suppliers Group in its Vienna meeting finally gave a waiver to India to engage in nuclear commerce, the penultimate step before the historic Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Agreement goes to the last Congress of the Bush administration for its approval. A tumultuous political drama back home that preceded this ominous NSG meet made it seem as vague as an Athenian comedy. It was a political bickering of the worst kind. But finally Manmohan Singh and the Congress party had had the last laugh.
The week also turned out to be memorable for it saw another resolution to a row, this time a corporate-political bickering. In perhaps one of the first instances of its kind, West Bengal governor intervened and brought together Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to bring to an end to the Singur impasse. Manufacturer of world’s cheapest car Tata has been caught in a crisis over the social pitch dug in by Banerjee – she claims farmers are being forcibly made to part with their land – which forced the company suspend operations and its MD Ratan Tata stating publicly that if push comes to shove he would not blink to withdraw his protests. While Mamta’s tirade seemed to be robbing the ruling CPI M of its critical working class vote bank, the corporate camaraderie left the pro-reform, pro-industry CM nervous. Buddhadeb has worked hard to shun the state of its anti-capitalist image and made a fervent pitch in last few years to attract investments. Tata was a big deal and Buddhadeb would not let it go at any costs. Mamta had other ideas.
Thankfully wisdom prevailed but not before Mamta had wrested a political cost – her followers think she would reap huge dividends of this posturing in elections though many dispute such fanciful ideas. The case also points to the buoyant mood of the government vis a vis reforms and industrialization, a realization that in the changed socio-political milieu safeguarding the interests of farmers was as critical as protecting industry’s wellbeing. Till some time ago this would have been termed a predicament of the government but no longer. One must note that a large chunk of the vocal, urban middle class India today relates more with the new mood of industrialization. And political parties know it too well.
From cacophonic unease in West Bengal to not so benevolent bonhomie in New Delhi between Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress, observers were quick to note the writing on the wall.
The Press Club of India, Delhi had organised an interactive session for Amar Singh on a sultry Friday (Sept 5) afternoon and it turned out to be just the right occasion for the SP leader to make his points on the current political scene. Not only he made amends to his senior Mulayam Singh Yadav’s “dilemma” statement over N Deal, he made a host of other politically significant points aimed at strengthening his party’s claims in the run up to the Elections. To begin with, Singh seemed very upset with Congress managers assigned the task of negotiating the UP deal. Singh was especially annoyed with Digvijay Singh who he said was “after all working for his party by strongly bargaining with us.” But he took a dig at the former MP CM when Singh said, “Digvijay Singh tells us to follow Lalu Yadav a role model of coalition politics. If we were to do that we won’t be able to give away more than 8 seats to the Congress and remember unlike Laluji we have not had the luxury of being in the Cabinet for past four years.” The import of this and many other uttering of Singh was clear: SP is not going to concede too much and too soon and Congress will have to remain contend with whatever they do. This may come as a bit of a disappointment for Rahul Gandhi and his likes who have been dreaming of putting the party on a revival course. However it’s easier said than done given the complex political scenario of this Hindi heartland.
Cameras pawned from tiny, grassless lawns of Press Club to the private jet and a swanky Rolls Royce which Amar Singh and his companions Jaya Prada and Jaya Bachchan rode to reach Southern silver screen heartthrob and new political star Chiranjeevi. It is being rumoured that SP is keen on expanding its footprint and a bid to allure Praja Rajyam could well be as per the script though officials of both parties hastened to dispel any political meaning to this “courtesy meeting.” SP could especially be interested in finding a strong alliance partner like Chiranjeevi in AP as its bete noire and UP CM Mayawati of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has already tied up with another Andhra outfit Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by flamboyant Chandrababu Naidu.
As it is turning out, who forms a government will depend on who has forged the best alliance, won hearts and have willing sprinters for a relay run. Amar Singh knows it pretty well and has begun his campaign. From Raisina Hills to Singur and South of Vindhyas, Singh with his flamboyance is out to win hearts for the next big event in April-May 2009.
Showing posts with label Amar Singh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amar Singh. Show all posts
Monday, September 8, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
A pic worth a 1000 words? Ask journos
A picture is worth a 1000 words, said someone. And if he saw how his worldly wisdom is put to use today, he would be turning upside down inside his grave!
Picture this: Four leaders of the ruling Indian coalition representing three main parties come together to counter the barrage of assaults from the Opposition Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) over the note-for-vote scandal that hit the Parliament on July 22 when PM Manmohan Singh was seeking a Trust Vote over Indo-US Nuclear Agreement. RJD’s Lalu Yadav, LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan and SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh come together to counter attacks from BJP, a political compulsion to say the least. This show of solidarity, sprung up in the aftermath of BJP’s attack, has been necessitated by the need of the parties to flock together and reiterate their opposition to the “communal” forces in the country.
Picture this as well: A day after this some newspapers (including some prestigious English dailies) have gone gaga over the coming together of these leaders. Some have gone to the extent of saying that this marks a new phase in the cow belt politics (major northern Indian states UP and Bihar, which send over 120 elected leaders to the Parliament, are referred to as the cow belt). Their logic: the leaders such as Lalu, Paswan and Yadav have come together after a long time. They forgot Lalu and Paswan have been together since this government was formed over four years ago while Mulayam is not anti-thesis to Lalu and vice versa. And they all represent the ruling coalition of UPA. A mere clasping of hands could trigger so much political analyses!
While it would be wrong to dismiss the analysis altogether, there is little doubt that the journalists have attempted to read a bit too much into this picture of solidarity triggered by the CD controversy.
And this: There also little doubt that those who propounded this theory, and possibly fed the journos, may have been able to at least momentarily create niggling doubts in the minds of Congress managers over the growing warmth among cow belt charmers. But this may have been too short-lived after all.
I will not be flummoxed to read analyses on how Mayawati’s whisperings to Sonia Gandhi, when they were catapulted into proximity at Late HK Surjeet’s cremation the other day, is beginning to jolt Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav!
Didn't you hear, a picture is worth a 1000 words!
Picture this: Four leaders of the ruling Indian coalition representing three main parties come together to counter the barrage of assaults from the Opposition Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) over the note-for-vote scandal that hit the Parliament on July 22 when PM Manmohan Singh was seeking a Trust Vote over Indo-US Nuclear Agreement. RJD’s Lalu Yadav, LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan and SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh come together to counter attacks from BJP, a political compulsion to say the least. This show of solidarity, sprung up in the aftermath of BJP’s attack, has been necessitated by the need of the parties to flock together and reiterate their opposition to the “communal” forces in the country.
Picture this as well: A day after this some newspapers (including some prestigious English dailies) have gone gaga over the coming together of these leaders. Some have gone to the extent of saying that this marks a new phase in the cow belt politics (major northern Indian states UP and Bihar, which send over 120 elected leaders to the Parliament, are referred to as the cow belt). Their logic: the leaders such as Lalu, Paswan and Yadav have come together after a long time. They forgot Lalu and Paswan have been together since this government was formed over four years ago while Mulayam is not anti-thesis to Lalu and vice versa. And they all represent the ruling coalition of UPA. A mere clasping of hands could trigger so much political analyses!
While it would be wrong to dismiss the analysis altogether, there is little doubt that the journalists have attempted to read a bit too much into this picture of solidarity triggered by the CD controversy.
And this: There also little doubt that those who propounded this theory, and possibly fed the journos, may have been able to at least momentarily create niggling doubts in the minds of Congress managers over the growing warmth among cow belt charmers. But this may have been too short-lived after all.
I will not be flummoxed to read analyses on how Mayawati’s whisperings to Sonia Gandhi, when they were catapulted into proximity at Late HK Surjeet’s cremation the other day, is beginning to jolt Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav!
Didn't you hear, a picture is worth a 1000 words!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Seal the deal...
The deal is done. At last. Ending days of intense speculation and moving swiftly, India’s regional Samajwadi Party (SP) finally came to the rescue of a jittery United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre which had been held hostage by its Left partners for over a year over the Nuke deal with the United States of America. Finally, ending months of bickering it is apparent the two political allies would part ways sometime soon and if that happens the UPA government needs stated support of other groups to ensure that it has the requisite majority to continue in the Government as per the provisions of the Indian Constitution. The SP, a strong regional outfit in country’s most populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), has come forward, in what is being seen as major political re-alignment, and is all set to pull the government out of a major crisis and a major international embarrassment.
In the process the SP has ensured two things: One it has resurrected its lost prestige – from absolute bewilderment four years, ago when the then ascendant UPA had snubbed the party, to a party which has turned a Saviour. Two it has ensured, it’s back in the power matrix. After getting a thrashing at UP Assembly polls in 2007, where another regional outfit Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) under its leader Mayawati had emerged a handsome winner, many had begun to wonder about the fate of SP. But the party under the leadership of former Indian Defence Minister and Chief Minister of UP Mulayam Singh Yadav is back with its clout. It is not yet clear if SP would join the Union Cabinet but it is certainly clear that it will wield tremendous influence in the remaining life of the government. And why not. Today, thanks to SP’s generous political drips, UPA government which had been on tenterhooks and sneezed every time Left leaders caught a cold looks in pink of health and is breathing well enough to last its full term till early next year (2009).
Indian political observers, who seem busy at the moment to comment on the new political re-alignment, may soon begin to ponder on what it means in the long-run for country’s coalition politics. Few trends could be as follows.
A beleaguered Congress, which has been losing state after state since it was catapulted back in the Centre in a dramatic reversal of fortunes four years ago replacing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), realize it needs to strengthen its rainbow of coalition if it has to be in contention after the next General Elections expected in March-April 2009.
The addition of SP into the fold of UPA and next few months of working relationship is likely to foster a much better chemistry between the two parties and may also improve Congress’s sagging fortunes in the Hindi heartland – empirical evidence suggests that parties which perform well in this Hindi heartland of UP can often dictate the way wind will blow at the Centre. Congress stands to gain perhaps as much as SP out of this new re-alignment.
It is also critical to note the emergence of a new entity called UNPA or United National Progressive Alliance, which is another rainbow of regional outfits sprung in the aftermath of formation of UPA in an attempt to create what is known in India as a credible Third Front – in India Congress and BJP have been two major national parties which have hogged the limelights as far as formation of a national government is concerned. SP incidentally was the chief architect of this grouping and it was, rather it is, based on the premise of providing a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative at the Centre – such experiment has seen installation of two prime ministers in the country in the past, both of which could not last too long. Some of the elements of this group such as TDP and INLD were strong partners of the BJP-led NDA.
The drifting of SP towards Congress and UPA could possibly mean, and politics they say is a game of unlimited possibilities, that at a future point some of the elements of the light-weight UNPA may get attracted towards the UPA as well. SP can certainly be expected to play a big role as and when it may happen – for records though Om Prakash Chauthala who heads Haryana’s Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) declared on Saturday that UNPA would continue as it is and SP’s realignment doesn’t dampen their spirits. But that’s today and who knows how he sees the tomorrow.
One must also remember, UPA boasts of some of the finest political strategists like Lalu Yadav (of Bihar’s Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD), Karunanidhi (of Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munita Kazhigam or DMK) and Sharad Pawar (of Maharashtra’s Nationalist Congress Party or NCP) and the addition of Mulayam-Amar duo would add to its strength. Incidentally, one is not sure how much effect the group’s anti-BJP tirade and ranting of secular credentials would create. In the months leading to the next General Elections, UPA would have to ponder on some bigger, brighter agenda and given the rainbow of political leaders that UPA have it may not be difficult. If nothing else, the UPA has certainly implemented some best policy interventions to empower the poor and the destitute and they can certainly make right and big noise about its programmes such as National Rural Employment Guarantee A and Farm Loan Waiver for indebted farmers to name a few.
Right-wing BJP, which nurtures a big dream of staking its claim at the centre after the next elections, is certainly a worried lot and despite its winning streak in recent past it will have to continue devising means to garner decent numbers in order to form a government.
In the process the SP has ensured two things: One it has resurrected its lost prestige – from absolute bewilderment four years, ago when the then ascendant UPA had snubbed the party, to a party which has turned a Saviour. Two it has ensured, it’s back in the power matrix. After getting a thrashing at UP Assembly polls in 2007, where another regional outfit Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) under its leader Mayawati had emerged a handsome winner, many had begun to wonder about the fate of SP. But the party under the leadership of former Indian Defence Minister and Chief Minister of UP Mulayam Singh Yadav is back with its clout. It is not yet clear if SP would join the Union Cabinet but it is certainly clear that it will wield tremendous influence in the remaining life of the government. And why not. Today, thanks to SP’s generous political drips, UPA government which had been on tenterhooks and sneezed every time Left leaders caught a cold looks in pink of health and is breathing well enough to last its full term till early next year (2009).
Indian political observers, who seem busy at the moment to comment on the new political re-alignment, may soon begin to ponder on what it means in the long-run for country’s coalition politics. Few trends could be as follows.
A beleaguered Congress, which has been losing state after state since it was catapulted back in the Centre in a dramatic reversal of fortunes four years ago replacing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), realize it needs to strengthen its rainbow of coalition if it has to be in contention after the next General Elections expected in March-April 2009.
The addition of SP into the fold of UPA and next few months of working relationship is likely to foster a much better chemistry between the two parties and may also improve Congress’s sagging fortunes in the Hindi heartland – empirical evidence suggests that parties which perform well in this Hindi heartland of UP can often dictate the way wind will blow at the Centre. Congress stands to gain perhaps as much as SP out of this new re-alignment.
It is also critical to note the emergence of a new entity called UNPA or United National Progressive Alliance, which is another rainbow of regional outfits sprung in the aftermath of formation of UPA in an attempt to create what is known in India as a credible Third Front – in India Congress and BJP have been two major national parties which have hogged the limelights as far as formation of a national government is concerned. SP incidentally was the chief architect of this grouping and it was, rather it is, based on the premise of providing a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative at the Centre – such experiment has seen installation of two prime ministers in the country in the past, both of which could not last too long. Some of the elements of this group such as TDP and INLD were strong partners of the BJP-led NDA.
The drifting of SP towards Congress and UPA could possibly mean, and politics they say is a game of unlimited possibilities, that at a future point some of the elements of the light-weight UNPA may get attracted towards the UPA as well. SP can certainly be expected to play a big role as and when it may happen – for records though Om Prakash Chauthala who heads Haryana’s Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) declared on Saturday that UNPA would continue as it is and SP’s realignment doesn’t dampen their spirits. But that’s today and who knows how he sees the tomorrow.
One must also remember, UPA boasts of some of the finest political strategists like Lalu Yadav (of Bihar’s Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD), Karunanidhi (of Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munita Kazhigam or DMK) and Sharad Pawar (of Maharashtra’s Nationalist Congress Party or NCP) and the addition of Mulayam-Amar duo would add to its strength. Incidentally, one is not sure how much effect the group’s anti-BJP tirade and ranting of secular credentials would create. In the months leading to the next General Elections, UPA would have to ponder on some bigger, brighter agenda and given the rainbow of political leaders that UPA have it may not be difficult. If nothing else, the UPA has certainly implemented some best policy interventions to empower the poor and the destitute and they can certainly make right and big noise about its programmes such as National Rural Employment Guarantee A and Farm Loan Waiver for indebted farmers to name a few.
Right-wing BJP, which nurtures a big dream of staking its claim at the centre after the next elections, is certainly a worried lot and despite its winning streak in recent past it will have to continue devising means to garner decent numbers in order to form a government.
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