Ahead of the Assembly Elections in Maharashtra, the NCP is said to be looking for an exit route to break its alliance with the Congress. That is why NCP chief Sharad Pawar is demanding that the Chief Minister of the State be changed. It is being said that whether or not the Congress sacks Prithviraj Chavan, the NCP will leave the alliance
The problems of the Congress are increasing before the Assembly Elections, which are scheduled for the end of this year. It seems that in the three States where the party is in power, its alliances may dismantle before the polls. The parties which are running the Government along with the Congress are planning to go alone in the elections.
In Maharashtra, NCP leaders have similar plans. It is said that the party is looking for an exit route to leave the Congress. That is the reason why NCP chief Sharad Pawar is demanding that the Chief Minister of the State be changed. It is being said that whether or not the Congress sacks Prithviraj Chavan, the NCP will leave the alliance.
Likewise, in Jammu & Kashmir, the alliance between the Congress and National Conference is on the verge of breaking up. Recently, Ghulam Nabi Azad met PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Probably, the Congress is seeing a chance of alliance with the PDP. In Jharkhand, the JMM is running the Government with the help of the Congress. However, after the Lok Sabha Elections, all is not well between the two parties. It seems they will part ways before the Assembly Elections. Both parties will fight separately or form new alliances.
CONG’S PROBABLE NEW ALLIES
The old partners of the Congress are in a hurry to break away from the alliance. Its relationship with the NCP in Maharashtra, with the NC in Jammu & Kashmir, and with the JMM in Jharkhand is on shaky grounds. Congress leaders are trying hard to persuade Sharad Pawar, and BK Hariprasad has recently praised the Jharkhand Government. Seemingly, the Congress is trying to keep the alliance alive at any cost. It is okay if the alliance with the JMM continues otherwise the party can again talk with Babulal Marandi’s JVM for alliance.
Apart from these three States, the Congress is looking for new alliance partners elsewhere too. In Bihar, it is trying to go with the JDU. Though the Congress doesn’t have much strength in Bihar, leaders of the JDU and the RJD think they can benefit from the Congress’ name.
In Tamil Nadu, Congress leaders are exploring the option to go with M Karunanidhi again. There is no possibility of an alliance with any big party in Uttar Pradesh, but the alliance will continue with Ajit Singh’s RLD. The Congress may go with Jaganmohan Reddy’s party YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh, and Chandrasekhar Rao’s party TRS in Telangana.
OLD BAGGAGE FOR NEW GOVERNMENT
It seems that Narendra Modi-led NDA Government is stuck in the ins and outs of the last Government. When the BJP was in Opposition, it held the UPA Government responsible for the problems faced by the country, and now it is targeting the previous Government for all its decisions. The ministers are giving out statements that put the old Government in the dock. For example, MOS in PMO Jitendra Singh went on to say that the failed monsoon is the gift of the previous Government. It means the old Government is being held responsible for the expected draught.
When the rail fare was hiked, the previous Government was questioned. Senior ministers said the decision had been taken by the previous Government and they had only implemented it. That is why the question is being asked whether the BJP was supporting the decisions taken by Manmohan Singh Government. And if it was, there is no point in finding faults with the previous Government. On the other hand, if the BJP was not supporting those decisions and implementing them out of compulsion, it only shows the weaknesses of the Government.
The same thing happened on the issue of use of Hindi. The MHA issued a circular, but the MOS Home said it had been issued in March. Later, it was disclosed that the NDA Government has issued a new circular on June 10. The Government must honour its commitment, whether it is matter of rail fare hike or to promote Hindi. Otherwise, it is futile to put the onus on others.
ANTONY COMMITTEE OR MISTRY?
The Congress general secretary is said to be confused these days. He is not able to understand what should be done with responsibilities given to him by Rahul Gandhi after the Lok Sabha results because AK Antony committee is taking care of the same. Rahul had asked him to seek reports from candidates who lost the election. Though it is true that Madhusudan Mistry had also lost and many people are angry with him. There is no dearth of people who held him responsible for the party’s debacle in UP. So, the question arose as to why any candidate would submit his report to Mistry. But since it was Rahul’s order, party leaders would have submitted the report to him.
Meanwhile, party president Sonia Gandhi has constituted a committee comprising Antony and Ahmed Patel. These leaders are considering the change of leadership in States and taking stock of the causes of defeat. It is said that these leaders will meet the leaders of States and submit a report to Sonia.
The Antony committee has met leaders of Delhi to ascertain the cause of defeat. Now the question is whether both the committee and Mistry would seek reports from candidates or will the panel prepare State-wise reports and Mistry would prepare separate reports for each candidate. It is also being said that the Antony committee will submit its report to Sonia, while Mistry will submit a report to Rahul.
NDA GOVERNMENT STARTS ROLLBACKS
The NDA Government has arrived and with it comes the process to take and roll back decisions. The Rail Ministry has taken a decision of much deliberation. It was argued that the Railway board had made recommendations, which were granted by the previous Government, and the Modi Government was compelled to implement the decisions as they were mentioned in the last Budget. But see the irony — on one hand, the Government has implemented the decision of the previous Government out of compulsion and on the other hand it reduced the price of monthly season ticket (MST) keeping in view the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. This is the first rollback of the NDA Government.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s NDA Government had become famous for such rollbacks. In 1999, when the Vajpayee Government came to power for the second time, the then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha had made so many rollbacks that people started calling him ‘rollback Sinha’. Many decisions like increase in price of cereals under PDS and subsidy on fertiliser, diesel and kerosene were rolled back under the pressure of allies. Though there is no pressure of allies on the present Government, the process of rollback has started.
CHALLENGES BEFORE MODI GOVT
The Modi Government has completed one month in office, but has seen trying times on almost all fronts. Ministers and managers of the Government didn’t have an idea that they would face ordeals so soon. When controversy crept in between the Delhi University and UGC, Ministry of HRD didn’t know what to do. The Ministry was indifferent and said both organisations are autonomous and should sort out the problems mutually. Due to this approach, around 2.75 lakh students have been left in the lurch. Not only this, well-wishers of the Government say that DU Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Singh was compelled to resign by HRD Minister Smriti Irani.
As soon as the new Government came to power, the Iraq crisis began and its effects are being seen on the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance here. Attempts to get Indians out of Iraq have not been successful till date. The oil crisis is deepening day by day and as a result inflation would go up and value of rupee would go down. Meanwhile, MHA and MEA are said to be at loggerheads on the issue of easing visa rules for Bangladeshis.
During the past one month, there was news of rise in inflation due to increase in price of seasonal vegetables. The Government is in the dock due to rise in the prices of seasonal vegetables and sugar. Also, the Government and the Supreme Court collegium are in a tug of war of sorts. The collegium had recommended Gopal Subramanium’s name for the post of Judge, but the Government has not accepted it.