Ashok Khemka, an IAS officer from Haryana, is not the only one who has faced the Congress wrath. When former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai took on the UPA Government by exposing the telecom and coal scams, the Congress leadership had then called him a BJP man and alleged that he would join the Opposition soon after retirement
The Congress is trying to set its house in order in Jharkhand and Bihar, and has started devising a strategy keeping in mind the 2014 lok Sabha elections. The party has already formed a pre-poll alliance with the JMM in Jharkhand, where it has one lok Sabha seat out of a total of 14. In the 2014 elections, the Congress wants to win at least five seats in this State. As for Bihar, the Congress is hoping to increase its tally to five from the current two seats.
According to news reports, the Raghuram Rajan Committee, which has been setup to look into the special status demands raised by several States, could submit its report in a couple of weeks. This report may support Bihar’s special status demand. It is, however, not clear as to how much the State will be benefited because of this change in status. The Congress is likely to be benefited from the report. After all, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has often proclaimed that he would support any party or Government that offers special status to the State. So, in all likelihood, the report will boost the chances of an alliance between the Congress and the JD(U).
Khemka isn’t exception
The Congress knows how to tarnish the reputation of an honest person. If anybody, be it a Government official or a social activist, criticises the party or exposes its misdeeds, the Congress hits back by calling him/her an agent of the BJP and the communal forces. These days, Ashok Khemka, an IAS officer from Haryana, is on the Congress’s line of fire. What’s Khemka’s faultIJ He dared to expose the ‘irregularities’ in the land deals of Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra. And as expected, the Congress leadership has started accusing the officer of playing into the hands of the BJP. Khemka, however, is not the only one who has faced the party wrath. One can recall the case of former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, who took on the UPA Government by exposing the telecom and coal scams; the Congress leadership had then called him a BJP man and alleged that he would join the Opposition soon after retirement.
Even before that, when Anna Hazare sat on fast unto death demanding the Jan lokpal Bill, the Congress’s response followed the same line. Hazare was charged with playing into the hands of the BJP and the RSS.
REGIONAl aspirations
Almost all the regional parties have set big targets for the next lok Sabha elections. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants to win 30 seats out of 42. likewise, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has set the target of 30 seats out of 39. Even Nitish Kumar, her Bihar counterpart, aims to get 30 seats out of 40. Interestingly, both Jayalalithaa and Kumar have emerged as strong contenders for the Prime Minister’s post in some of the recent surveys. And, who can forget Uttar Pradesh strongman Mulayam Singh Yadav, who wants to win 40 seats to bolster his prime ministerial claims.
RIOTS EVERYWHERE
There is still some time left for the lok Sabha elections, but the politics of polarisation has already begun. In the Kishtwar district of Jammu & Kashmir, communal flares erupted after some people hoisted the Pakistani flag and shouted anti-India slogans. later, curfew was imposed in eight districts of Jammu.
Nawada and Bettiah districts of Bihar also saw communal riots recently. The situation got so worse in Nawada that curfew had to be imposed. Even in Bettiah, police had to flag march after the violence. And don’t forget communally-sensitive Uttar Pradesh where right from Meerut to Faizabad almost two dozen riots have taken place in the past six months. Many other cases of communal violence have also come up in recent months — be it Hyderabad’s Bhagya laxmi temple controversy or Assam’s Kokrajhar clashes.
Interestingly, the Chief Ministers of these States see a BJP hand in all these. Whatever be the truth, the fact remains that swords are out for the next general elections and it’s likely to be the BJP on the one hand and the rest on the other.
CONGRESS'S VADRA DIlEMMA
The Congress seems to be trapped in the Robert Vadra controversy. The party and its alliance partners are trying their best to bury the case, but the BJP has been successful in keeping it alive. Till now, the Congress has been arguing that Vadra’s is the case of a private individual and the party has nothing to do with it. But this argument is fast losing its force and will not be of help any longer.
In this matter, Ashok Khemka, IAS officer from Haryana, has put the State Government in the dock. He has clearly said that Haryana has lost huge revenue in this deal. The case has now gone to the court and Prashant Bhushan is the counsel. Bhushan feels that anti-corruption laws should be applicable on Vadra as well.
Some Congress leaders feel that the issue should be punctured by scrapping the deal. But Vadra is believed to be not ready for this. He feels that if the Government relents on the Khemka issue, more such cases would emerge in Haryana and Rajasthan.
MAMATA Versus VARUN
Mamata Banerjee is angry, and this time it’s Varun Gandhi, the BJP general secretary and in-charge of West Bengal, who is in the line of fire. The Chief Minister is supposedly fuming because Gandhi is trying to woo the farmers by promising to provide them legal aid in Singur and Nandigram. What has further irked her is Gandhi’s statement that Banerjee might have become a big leader today, but not long ago, when the Congress had thrown her out, it was the BJP that had given her shelter and made her a Union minister. Gandhi has also warned the Trinamool Congress supporters to refrain from attacking the BJP workers.
MISTRY’s problems in UP
Madhusudan Mistry, the Congress in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, is in confusion today. Being Rahul Gandhi’s confidante, Mistry probably expected a smooth sailing in managing the organisation. But the opposite has happened. Recently, the supporters and opponents of Rita Bahuguna Joshi clashed in the presence of Mistry and State president Nirmal Khatri. Factionalism was also evident recently when the supporters of Pl Punia and Beni Prasad Verma fought so viciously that almost a dozen of them had to be admitted to a hospital.
likewise, two high-profile Union ministers had to face the wrath of local leaders in their constituencies. Coal Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal is facing tough challenge from Ajay Kapoor, one of the MlAs from his constituency. Then, there’s Union Minister Jitin Prasada who is being challenged by Jafar Ali, the MP of his neighbouring constituency. Much to the discomfort of the Congress, other party MlAs, MPs and leaders are also fighting with each other.