Archive of the Columns of the Week
Volume 2
Columns of the Week
May 5, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 18
© Shirish Chavan
Recently, a powerful Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Maharashtra Gopinath Mundhe staged a rebellion. He resigned from all the posts except the primary membership of party. In doing so, he was simply protesting against the appointment of an unwanted person as president of Mumbai branch of BJP by party high command.
“If you have any complaint put it before the party president, but do not approach the media under any circumstances,” told L. K. Advani to Uma Bharati few years back when she approached the media for the redressal of her grievances. Now think of Mundhe in place of Uma Bharati.
The whole episode was handled by Rajnath Singh in such a prudent manner that what appeared to be a real storm turned to be a storm in a tea cup. He not only succeed in asking Mundhe to take his resignations back. But also ensured that image of party as “disciplined party” will not get a single scratch. This episode was an opportunity for Rajnath Singh to show his capability as a top-rank leader which he exploited successfully. When the episode ended, Rajnath Singh emerged as triumphant.
Karanataka Assembly Elections
Three-phased assembly elections in Karnataka will begin on 10 May. Three main parties – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), and Janata Dal Secular (JDS) – will fight for 224 seats. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting all the 224 seats only to play spoilsport for INC. Traditionally, dalits in Karanataka have always voted in favor of INC, but BSP is determined to woo good number of dalit votes. JDS has lost its credibility in ill-forming the governments with INC and BJP.
Voters are not very enthusiastic about these elections and analysts have already ruled out the chances of heavy polling. Meanwhile, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge has denied the charges that cash was taken in return for the party ticket.
State BJP president D. Sadananda Gowda is confident that his party will get simple majority and will come to power. BJP has also declared B. S. Yediyurappa as its Chief Ministerial candidate. Yediyurappa is a prominent lingayat face and he will be responsible for attracting the lingayat voters to BJP. There are 16% lingayat voters in Karanataka – a force to reckon. Yediyurappa is contesting election in in Shikaripur constituency and his rival is none other than S. Bangarappa. Howeve, Yediyurappa is confident of defeating Bangarappa.
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Columns of the Week
April 28, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 17
© Shirish Chavan
India is determined to tap Myanmar’s hydrocarbon reserves. New Delhi has been courting Myanmar since past few years despite the fact that Myanmar’s government is run by military junta. Myanmar has gas reserves of 19 tcf (trillion cubic feet) and last year Myanmar sold its 6.5 tcf gas to China over the period of 30 years which left India terribly disappointed.
Now India policy makers are determined to bag the contracts of jumbo sized gas development projects. Recently General Maung Aye – the second most important leader of the Myanmar military junta – signed an agreement in New Delhi to build the new road and river link. This project, when complete, will boost the India’s border trade with Myanmar. It will also benefit the states like Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh. Well. But what about India’s glorious policy of encouraging democratic movements and discouraging military junta anywhere in the world.
It is no more a secret that Rahul-Baba wants to be Prime Minister of India. On the one hand Mom-Soniaji expressed her discontent about the psycho fancy exhibited by her colleagues; on the other hand leaders close to her are repeatedly declaring that Rahul-Baba will be their Prime Ministerial candidate in the next general elections.
Well, in democratic country like India, any citizen can become Prime Minister of India. But the manner in which Indian National Congress (INC) elects its supreme has very little to do with democracy. INC has become a private property of Gandhi family. By aggressively declaring Rahul-Baba to be their Prime Ministerial candidate, leaders in INC are busy showing who is close, closer, and closest to Mom-Soniaji.
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Columns of the Week
April 21, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 16
© Shirish Chavan
Recently published 986-page tome by L. K. Advani is worth reading and worth purchasing. It contains the autobiography of Advani. It is published by Rupa & Co and comes with a price tag of Rs. 595. Price is certainly not very pleasant and many readers would prefer not to buy it. It is hoped that a cheaper edition of this book will be made available by publishers for low-income-group readers. This book contains not only his autobiography but also the detailed history of Jana Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party. Relationship of Rashtriya Swayamsevak |Sangh with Bharatiya Janata Party is also thoroughly discussed.
Jaswant Singh, Farookh Abdullaha, George Fernandis and few others have strongly criticized Advani for deviating from the truth in this book. Perhaps, Advani has deliberately included the controversial statements in this book to ensure its steady sale. Forward to this book is written by none other than Atal Bihari Vajpayee which makes this book more appealing.
Except IAS officers, all other central government employees are unhappy about sixth pay commission. IPS officers have openly expressed their grievance to Home Minister Shivraj Patil. They want salary package strictly at par with IAS officers. While chiefs of paramilitary forces have given the package of Rs. 80,000 per month, the DGPs (Director General of Police) have denied this package which they badly need and certainly deserve. Chiefs of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force are given the package of Rs. 90,000 per month but still they are not happy because the low-rank officers and jawans are denied the share of pie which they deserve. There are already 1200 vacant positions of Army officers. The sixth pay commission will turn the situation from the bad to worse, they fear. Salary packages of private companies – and particularly IT companies – are booming and talented students will turn their back to military services and opt for private services. Low-level staff working at the Railways feels that they are totally ignored by the sixth pay commission. UPA government cannot afford to ignore the demands of angry employees, as general elections are just a year away.
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Columns of the Week
April 14, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 15
© Shirish Chavan
Last week inflation rate was staggering 7.41%. But Chidambaram and Company is complacent about the economic scenario in India. They are still under the influence of hangover of Union Budget 2008. The inflation rate quoted by government and media is WPI (Wholesale Price Index) that takes into account all types of goods. If you calculate price index only for essential commodities such as foodgrains, edible oil, vegetables, etc. then you will find that price index has already crossed the two digit barrier. The main reasons behind this inflation are: (a) Center’s failure to procure the food grains from farmers in sufficient quantity and consequently diminished role of PDS (Public Distribution System), (b) Big players like Reliance operating in retail sector, (c) Speculative (forward) trading in food grains and edible oils, (d) Linkage of Indian economy with global economy.
It is beyond the scope of Center to hurt the big fishes like Reliance. In fact Center is ensuring the big profits for these big fishes. Recently Center has reduced import duty on edible oils but this reduction is absorbed by the big fishes and common man failed to get benefited. Perhaps constituent parties of UPA government have realized that this is their last chance in power and they are hurriedly managing the things. Election is few months away and certainly, Chidambaram’s worst is yet to come.
In last week of March, opposition parties in Orissa were bubbling with joy. They thought, they have found something which can certainly dethrone Orissa’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. But seasoned Naveen Patnaik defied their expectations and actually emerged as triumphant. This episode has proved once again that dethroning Naveen Patnaik from the position of Chief Minister is next to impossible. Patnaik became Chief Minister in 2000 and since then he has been strictly adhered to the principle that “Cesar’s wife must be above suspect.”
Controversy began on 25 March when some television channels announced the news of charges of sexual harassment leveled by suspended woman Assistant Martial Ms. Gayatri Panda against the Assembly Speaker Mr. Maheswar Mohanty. Mohanty accused Mr. Debasis Nayak, the Minister, for hatching a conspiracy against him. Opposition parties picked this opportunity to create law and order problems. The Assembly was adjourned on March 31. Then Patnaik sought the resignation of Mohanty and expelled Nayak from ministry. Patnaik has also assured people that thorough enquiry of this episode will be made and anyone found guilty will be treated as per law.
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Columns of the Week
April 7, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 14
© Shirish Chavan
Since five years American forces are enjoying the warm weather of Iraq. American occupation of Iraq can be aptly described by Hindi idiom “ghee dekha lekin badaga nahi dekha” means “could see carrot, but could not see stick.” In the last five years, America lost 4,000 soldiers. Also, 60,000 soldiers are seriously wounded. Number of Iraqis killed is anything between 100,000 and 1000,000. America alone is responsible for these cold blooded murders of innocent Iraqis. About two million Iraqis have taken shelter in Syria and Jordan. Equal number of Iraqis are refugees in their own country. America has lost billions of dollars in Iraq in last five years. The roots of America’s sub prime home mortgage crisis can be found in Iraq. American banks are now facing the unprecedented liquidity crunch because America spent billions of dollars foolishly in Iraq. However, it is never too late. America should withdraw its forces from Iraq immediately to prevent to save its economy from total destruction.
Democracy in Bhutan
Finally, Bhutan embraced democracy. Typically kings are against democracy and oppose elections. But Bhutan is unique in this respect. Bhutan is traditionally governed by Kings of Wangchuck dynasty. Currently Bhutan’s King is Jigme Singhye Wangchuck. Lover of democracy, Jigme Singhye Wangchuck himself decided to install democracy in Bhutan. Bhutan’s people disliked the King’s idea, but king insisted that democracy will be there.
According to newly framed constitution of Bhutan, King has to retire at the age of 65, and candidate contesting the National Assembly election must be graduate. The Druk People’s Unity Party (DPUP) was disqualified from participating the elections on the ground that most of its members are school dropouts. That left only two parties in the fray, namely, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa Party (DPTP) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Voting took place on 24 March. Out of the 47 seats DPTP bagged whopping 45 seats and PDP got only 2 seats. Six senior ministers in King’s cabinet were in DPTP. Consequently people falsely believed that DPTP enjoys King’s blessings and people voted heavily in favor of DPTP. PDP has demanded enquiry of electoral process and also asked for re-poll. However, the chances of re-poll are vanishingly small.
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Columns of the Week
March 31, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 13
© Shirish Chavan
Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha died on 20 March. A courageous judge of Allahabad High Court, held the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, guilty of two corrupt practices under Section 123 (7) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and declared her election to the Lok Sabha void, on June 12, 1975; and Indian politics was never the same again. On June 24, 1975, Justice Krishna Iyer granted a conditional stay of the order. According to that stay, “Indira Gandhi could not vote or participate in the proceedings as a Member of Parliament but could sign the Register of Attendance to save the seat. On the very next day, on June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency. And rest is the history.
It is interesting to note that Raj Narain made seven charges in his election petition. Out of the seven charges, Jagmohan Lal Sinha rejected five charges. The remaining two fatal charges were as follows: (a) Indira Gandhi obtained in her constituency, Rae Bareli, the assistance of Gazetted Officers of the Uttar Pradesh government, namely, the District Magistrate, the Superintendent of Police, the Executive Engineer, Public Works, and Engineer, Hydel, for the construction of rostrums and arrangement of supply of power for loudspeakers in the meetings addressed by her, and (b) Indira Gandhi obtained the assistance of a Gazetted Officer in the services of the Government of India, Yashpal Kapoor, who held the post of Officer on Special Duty in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, to further her election prospects.
Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha will be ever remembered for his landmark decision.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke died on March 18 at the age of 90. An eminent science fiction writer, he has left behind the treasure of literature for us. Born to British parents in Minehead, Somerset, in west England, in 1917, he took his early education in Huish’s Grammar School, Taunton. At the age of 17 he joined British Inter-Planetary Society. He joined prestigious civil service at the tender age of 19 in London. In 1941, he joined Royal Air Force. Olaf Stapleton’s book “Last and First Men” influenced him lot. Perhaps, this book, other than anything else, is responsible for making him science-fiction writer. In 1949 he published his famous non-fiction best-seller “Interplanetary Flight” Carl Sagan, best-selling science-fiction writer, described this book as modest, beautifully written, and stirring. In 1952 he published another non-fiction best-seller “The Exploration of Space.” In his rest of life he wrote many books. His biographer, Neil McAleer, has listed 137 titles in his official biography published in 1992. Among his last books were “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “2010: Odyssey 2,” and “2061: Odyssey 3.” He will also be remembered for this three laws: (a) When distinguished scientist says that something is possible than he/she is most possibly right, but when he/she says that something is impossible than he/she is most possibly wrong, (b) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible, and (c) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
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Columns of the Week
March 24, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 12
© Shirish Chavan
On fateful day of March 17, Sensex closed 1t 14,809 points, losing 951 points in a single day. It is difficult to believe that just couple of months back Sensex was loitering around 20,000 mark. Stock markets all over the world were bearish on this fateful day. Immediate reasons behind this downfall were buyout of Bear Stearns by J P Morgan and Federal Reserve’s emergency cut in the discount rate. But as far as Indian stock market is concerned, P. Chidambaram hollow budget is also responsible for the plight of Sensex. Prior to budget, Indian economy was showing the signs of slowdown but Chidambaram preferred to ignore those signs. Political interest turned out to be heavier than national interest. Consequently, Chidambaram presented a budget which though full of populist measures, did little to prevent the slowdown of economy. Indian investors are now paying heavy price for Chidambaram’s mistakes.
Ben Bernanke – Chairman of US Federal Reserve – has decided not to leave any stone unturned. Just few months back, he used to advise his juniors that every decision by Federal Reserve must be based on sound economic principles. But now he has kept aside this sound policy and is taking the decisions not conforming to any sound principles in economics. Recently he agreed to accept mortgage-backed securities as collateral in order to prevent the closure of Bear Stearns which is one of the biggest firms on Wall Street. Bear Stearns is bought out by J P Morgan. Unfortunately, despite the sincere efforts by Ben, US economy is showing no signs of recovery. Financial institutions are unabatedly selling the high-quality mortgage-related securities at fire-sale prices. It seems Ben will have to carry on his struggle for at least five or six months, after which US economy may show signs of improvement.
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Columns of the Week
March 17, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 11
© Shirish Chavan
Indian men’s hockey team will not participate the Beijing Olympics. On March 10, Britain thrashed India by 2-0 in qualifying match for the Beijing Olympics. This is very first time since 1928 Amsterdam Olympics that Indian hockey team will not participate any Olympics. It should be noted that India’s men’s hockey team has been the most successful team at Olympics with 8 gold and total 11 medals to its credit.
No single person is responsible for the plight of Indian hockey. But it will be highly appreciated if Manishankar Iyer, Minister for Sports, and K. P. S. Gill, President IHF (Indian Hockey Federation) resign from their posts. Manishankar Iyer is notorious for jabber and poor performance. K. P. S. Gill has been President of IHF for last 15 years and being elected President he can continue for two more years. Meanwhile, IHF vice-President Narender Batra has accepted the moral responsibility for the debacle of Indian hockey and has resigned from his post. Let us hope that both Iyer and Gill will follow the suit of Batra and resign from their posts soon.
Everything is not well in Tibet. On March 14, thousands of Tibetans were on the streets of Lhasa protesting against the tyrannical rule by Chinese government. Chinese government – notorious for its zero tolerance – cracked down on the protesters heavily. Noticing that things may go out of control, on March 16, Chinese government declared “people’s war” in Tibet. Reportedly this is largest protest carried out by Tibetans in the last 20 years. Purpose behind these protests was to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against tyrannical rule by Chinese government.
US has decided to exploit this opportunity to poke its long nose in the region of Himalaya. US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will meet Dalai Lama at Dharamsala on next Friday and discuss the matter.
Ever since Chinese forces entered Tibet in 1950, Tibetans feel that they have lost freedom. In 1959, an uprising was attempted by Tibetans against Chinese government under the leadership of Dalai Lama, but it failed. Dalai Lama was given political asylum in India. Since then Dalai Lama is working as head of government of Tibet in exile with its office at Dharamsala. Tibet has its own rich culture and heritage. China is all set to destroy Tibetan culture. Since the failed uprising of 1959, Chinese government is encouraging the people in other parts of China to migrate to Tibet. Tibetans are particularly unhappy by the influx of these non-Tibetans.
Government of India does not want direct confrontation with Chinese government. But it will be a historic blunder if India fails to condemn China now. Government of India should launch its protest in strong words against the government of China for its violation of human rights in Tibet.
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Columns of the Week
March 10, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 10
© Shirish Chavan
INC (Indian National Congress) was dreaming of clean sweep in Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland Assembly elections. But populist budget by P. Chidambaram failed to fool the people in Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland. In Tripura, out of 60 seats, Left Front bagged 49 seats, INC bagged 10 seats, and INPT bagged 1 seat.
In Meghalaya INC is emerged as single largest party, but it is still away from simple majority. Out of 60 seats, INC bagged 25 seats, NCP bagged 14 seats, UDP bagged 11 seats, KHNAM bagged 1 seat, BJP bagged 1 seat, HSPDP bagged 2 seats, and Independents bagged 5 seats.
In Nagaland, out of 57 results declared so far, DAN has bagged 29 seats. Three results are yet to be declared and DAN is confident of simple majority in Assembly. It seems almost certain that Mr. Neiphiu Rio will be Chief Minister of Nagaland once again. It is worth to note that Center dismissed the DAN Government headed by Rio on January 3 this year and got the elections held under President’s rule.
Relying on its populist budget, INC was hoping a big success in all three states. But it failed to win a simple majority in any of the three states. Moral of these results is very simple: Indian voters are very much matured and cannot be fooled with the help of populist budget.
Stand taken by Shiv Sena on the issue of Bihari people in Maharashtra is unfortunate. Shiv Sena Supremo, in March 5 editorial in “Samna” has criticized Bihari people. Shiv Sena is an ally of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) in Maharashtra but BJP has firmly refused to support this reckless stand by Shiv Sena. To quote Maharashtra BJP president Nitin Gadkari, “BJP disagrees with the views of Sena Chief…. We do not subscribe to such a view and feel Thackeray’s comments were unfortunate.”
Despite large influx of Bihari and Uttar Pradeshi workers, Maharashtra is facing acute shortage of workers. Today, in Maharashtra, agricultural workers take anything between 50 to 100 rupees for a day’s work. If Bihari and UP workers in Maharashtra are sent back to their home states then daily wages of workers in Maharashtra will shoot to anything between 200 to 300 rupees per day. Needless to say, industry and agricultural sector will be badly affected because of acute shortage of workers. It is beneficial for Maharashtra that Bihari and Uttar Pradeshi workers are coming to Maharashtra in large numbers and keep the wheels of progress revolving.
It is not a case that Shiv Sena is not aware of contribution of Bihari and UP workers in the progress of Maharashtra. But Shiv Sena has to rely on the sentiments of “sons of soil” to win the elections. Thus, despite knowing that Maharashtra’s progress is badly dependent on the influx of Bihari and Uttar Pradeshi workers, Shiv Sena has no option but to criticize the Bihari and Uttar Pradeshi workers.
Few weeks back, a new born party in Maharashtra, MNS (Maharashtra Navanirmana Sena) created law and order problems in the name of agitation in the interest of “sons of soil.” MNS is a trivial party but media gave undue publicity to crazy activities performed by MNS workers. Herewith, we appeal to media not to give any publicity to those people who are trying for cheap publicity. Constitution of India has allowed every Indian citizen to settle in any part of India without discrimination. It is duty of every Indian to abide by the Constitution of India.
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Columns of the Week
March 3, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 9
© Shirish Chavan
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 tabled the railway budget for the year 2008-2009 before Loksabha. This budget can be aptly described as Election Express. There are no hikes in freight rates and passenger fares. Instead there are slight reductions in freight rates and passenger fares. For petrol and diesel, there is 5% reduction in freight rate. For fly ash, there is 14% reduction in freight rate. For traffic to North-East, there is 6% reduction in freight rate. There is 5% reduction in passenger fares for second class tickets costing more than fifty rupees. For tickets costing less than fifty rupees, there is reduction of one rupee. For AC first class, there is 7% reduction in passenger fares. For AC second class, there is 4% reduction in passenger fares. Freight earnings are expected to be Rs 52,700 crore; up from Rs 47,743 crore for 2007-2008. Passenger earnings are expected to be Rs 21,681 crore; up from Rs 20,075 crore for 2007-2008. Cash surplus is expected to be Rs 24,782 crore; down from Rs 25,065 crore for 2007-2008. Operating ratio is expected to be 81.4; up from 76.3 for 2007-2008. Railway’s annual plan for 2008-2009 is of Rs 37,500 crore, and railway will finance 79% of this plan. Notable among Lalu’s ambitious plans are: (a) adding 20,000 new wagons, 250 new diesel locomotives, and 220 new electric locomotives over next year, (b) Rs 75,000 crore investment over the next seven years in order to create capacities on high freight traffic routes, (c) 1,000 MW power plant in collaboration with NTPC at Nabinagar in Bihar, (d) new rail coach factory in Kerala, (e) PPP (Public Private Partnership) projects worth Rs 100,000 crore over the next five years to upgrade the stations, (f) 53 new trains and 10 garib raths next year, (g) all 36,000 passenger wagons to be equipped with discharge free green toilets by the end of the terminal year of current five year plan at the cost of Rs 4,000 crore, and (h) appointment of porters as gangmen and other Group D posts.
Lalu has given a rough deal for all NDA-ruled sates except Bihar. To quote Sushma Swaraj, BJP leader, “This railway budget is totally discriminating against western railway and especially against BJP ruled states Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.” Bihar is spared because he dreams of returning to power in Bihar. Over emphasis on privatization may prove dangerous in future. To quote Gurudas Gupta, CPI leader, “This budget has started privatization of railways. In five years, there will be no need of a railway budget as by then railways will be totally privatized.” His plan of adding 20,000 new wagons over next year also seems to be over ambitious. Out of 17 lakh porters, very few will ever become gangmen. About 3,000 persons die in Mumbai on railway tracks every year and Lalu is complacent about this tragic fact. There are 16,600 manned level crossings and 18,200 unmanned level crossings. In 2006-2007 about 37% accidents took place at unmanned crossings. With cool cash of Rs 25,000 crore in hand, Lalu should have thought about converting as many unmanned crossings into manned crossings as possible. Visit any countryside railway station and you will find that toilets are in filthy state. Drinking water available at any countryside railway station is not worth drinking. Lalu should have proposed some scheme to improve the state of affairs at countryside railway stations.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday, February 29, 2008 tabled the union budget for the year 2008-2009 before Loksabha. Projected revenues for year 2008-2009 are Rs 6,02,935 crore. Revenue expenditures for year 2008-2009 are Rs 6,58,119 crore. Revenue deficits for year 2008-2009 are Rs 55,184 crore.
Full of populist measures, this budget has confirmed the mid term polls. Most populist measure is Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver package benefiting four crore farmers. Outlay for Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme is now doubled. Crop insurance scheme is introduced for plantation crops. Finance Minister has also agreed to set 500 new soil testing laboratories all over India.
For income tax payers, Rs 1,50,000 is new income tax exemption limit for men, Rs 1,80,000 for women, and Rs. 2,25,000 for senior citizens. Now 20% tax slab starts at Rs 3 lakh and 30% tax slab starts at Rs 5 lakh. Medical insurance premium up to Rs 15,000 paid for parents qualifies for tax deduction (and Rs 20,000 if parents are senior citizens). In order to harass the tax payers: (a) tax officer’s power to compute the IT liability based on return filed is reintroduced, and (b) filing proof of tax payment is made mandatory.
Transfer of house under reverse mortgage is exempted from capital gains tax. Senior citizens saving scheme qualifies for tax exemption under section 80C. 5-year post office time deposit also qualifies for tax exemption under 80C. From June 2008, there will be no TDS on interest earned on dematerialized corporate bonds which are listed on stock exchanges. In order to harass the investors: (a) short term capital gains tax is increased from 10% to 15% on sale of shares or units of equity oriented funds, and (b) commodity transaction tax on trade in commodity options and futures is introduced.
Excise duties on small cars, two-wheelers, and three-wheelers are slashed from 16% to 12%. Excise duties on hybrid cars are slashed from 24% to 14%. CenVAT (Central Value Added Tax) rate on all goods is dropped from 16% to 14%. Excise duty on life-saving and anti-AIDS drugs is slashed from 16% to 8%. For breakfast cereals excise is slashed from 16% to 8%. In order to harass the consumers: (a) cigars, cheroots, cigarillos, and non-filtered cigarettes are made costlier, and (b) excise duty on packaged software is increased from 8% to 12%.
Service tax exemption limit to small service providers is now raised to Rs 10 lakh. New hospitals are not required to pay tax for 5-years except in few cities. New 2, 3, and 4 star hotels are also not required to pay taxes for 5-years provided these hotels are located in districts with world heritage sites. Banking Cash Transaction tax of 0.1% is now scrapped.
On social front, Rs 16,000 crore are sanctioned for National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Budget allocation for education is increased by 20% and that of health is increased by 15%.
Finance Minister is under political compulsion to finance the huge welfare schemes, namely, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Bharata Nirman, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, mid-day meal scheme, and National Rural Health Mission. But it is well known that welfare schemes generally guarantee the welfare of officials who implement the schemes when government is ruled by INC. A huge welfare scheme once started cannot be shut down easily. These schemes will prove to be a source of headache for next Finance Minister.
On paper, farm loan-waiver of Rs 60,000 crore looks fine. According to this waiver, loans of marginal farmers (possessing land up to 2 hectares) are completely written off, and these loans amount to Rs 50,000 crore. Also, for other farmers there is proposal of OTS (One Time Settlement) according to which government will pay 25% of loan amount if farmer pays 75% of loan amount; and these 25% payments (on the part of government) amount to Rs 10,000 crore. Finance Minister, however, has not given a single rupee to implement this loan-waiver. No wonder, banks will face the heat of this loan-waiver. In 1990, the then Prime Minister V. P. Singh waived loans of all the farmers in India up to Rs 10,000 per farmer that made many healthy cooperative banks sick. This time also there is high probability that many cooperative banks will become sick as a consequence of kind heartedness of Finance Minister.
Finance Minister has assured the additional liquidity of Rs 60,000 crore to banking system. But additional liquidity is not compensation for loan-waiver and banks are destined to suffer financially. It remains to be seen how he is going to provide this additional liquidity. Possibly, he will make changes in CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) and SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio). CRR is the amount of money that bank has to deposit in RBI (Reserve Bank of India). At present CRR is 7.50%. It means if bank has collected deposits of Rs 100 from depositors then it must deposit Rs 7.50 with RBI. If CRR is lowered by 0.5% then approximately Rs 14,000 crore are pumped into banks (i.e., banks enjoy the additional liquidity of Rs 14,000 crore). Thus by lowering CRR by 2% Finance Minister can pump Rs 56,000 crore into banks. Finance Minister may also tinker with SLR. SLR is the amount which a bank has to maintain with itself in the form of cash, gold, or approved securities. At present SLR is 25.0%. It means if a bank has collected deposits of Rs 100, then it must keep the cash of Rs 25.0 ready with it at any time. Finance Minister may lower the SLR so that banks can lend more money. Finance Minister may also issue bonds for this purpose and pass the burden to next governments but doing so would be extremely unfair according to Mr. Yashwant Sinha.
Though fine on paper, this loan waiver will not stop the suicides of farmers in Vidarbha, Andhra Pradesh, and Bundelkhand, because: (a) About 50% farmers depend on private money lenders (called mahajan or sahukar) which are not covered under this loan-waiver scheme, (b) In the regions stated above, majority of the farmers are dry-land-farmers owning land in excess of 2-hectares and hence are not eligible to take the benefit of this scheme, (c) An acre of dry land is entitled to maximum loan of Rs 4,000, whereas, an acre of irrigated land is entitled to maximum loan of Rs 50,000. Dry-land-farmers should get benefit of this scheme despite the fact that they own land in excess of 2-hectares.
There is considerable delay in announcing this package. In the words of Venkaiah Naidu, “Allocation of Rs 60,000 crore package for farmers would not erase the memory of farmers’ suicide.”
Finance Minister has introduced new rates of CENVAT and once again indulged in discretionary tax concessions. Mr. Yashwant Sinha took lot of sincere efforts, during his tenure as Finance Minister, to simplify the CENVAT structure, but unfortunately, that simplified structure is destroyed by Finance Minister.
Uniform GST (Goods and Service Tax) all over India is expected to come into force from April 1, 2010. Finance Minister should have laid road map for GST in this budget but he is miserably failed on this front.
According to FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Act passed by NDA government, revenue deficit was to be completely eliminated by 2008-2009 (after considering the one-year postponement made by Finance Minister). But on this front also, Finance Minister is miserably failed.
Finance Minister claims that fiscal deficit is only 2.5%. But while calculating this fiscal deficit he has not taken into account the farm loan-waiver package, subsidies given on oil, and additional burden due to sixth pay commission. If we take into account these factors then fiscal deficit easily goes up to 3.5%.
Economic Survey has listed number of issues pertaining to our economy that need to be addressed but Finance Minister has simply ignored these issues.
Finally, Chidambaram will be ever remembered for high inflation, particularly for high prices of food grains. People in India had never seen such horrible inflation. This budget is miserably failed to address this key problem. Unfortunately, worst is yet to come.
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Columns of the Week
February 25, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 8
© Shirish Chavan
Finally, bird flu in West Bengal is now under control. This bird flu episode has confirmed that we are yet not fully geared to handle this type of menace. In this episode, disease surfaced on 3 January in Margram village in Birbhum district of West Bengal. After a pretty long interval of 12 days, on 15 January, State government of West Bengal and Center confirmed the outbreak of disease. It is a good topic for debate whether a gap of 12 days is short or long to confirm the outbreak of disease. But for H5N1 strain of virus, 12 day period was more than enough to proliferate itself in various districts of West Bengal. No wonder, when State government and Center started efforts to control the disease, situation was already out of control.
Only effective measure to control this dreaded disease is to cull the birds (i.e., hens and ducks) in affected areas. Government sent hundreds of culling teams in affected districts. By 25 January, after culling more than 10 lakh birds, this horrified disease was brought under control.
A typical culling team consists of at least five members and a veterinary doctor to supervise the culling operations. Culling operation proper is, however, simple. Neck of bird is pulled and then twisted. In technical jargon, bird’s cervical vertebral column is dislocated (as neck is pulled) and neural cord is destroyed (as neck is twisted). No blood is spilt in the process. A member of culling team is equipped with a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kit and N95 mask. He is also served the Tamiflu tablets that build resistance in him against this disease. Culled birds are buried in a deep pit (three meter deep). Kits are also burnt and buried in the pit. The pit is then treated with lime and sodium hypochloride that rules out possibility of proliferation of H5N1 viruses from carcasses of birds.
Poultry industry in West Bengal is Rs. 5000 crore industry. This disease has destroyed 70% portion of this industry. A typical family in rural West Bengal owns a backyard poultry farm that consists of about 2 to 3 dozens of hens and ducks. These backyard poultry farm supplements the income of rural family. Now these backyard poultry farms in affected areas are totally destroyed by disease. Though some compensation is given to them that is not enough. These families must be provided with some alternative source of income.
Eradication of bird flu is a distant dream but it is possible to contain it effectively using the preventive measures. These measures are not free and will cost lot but noticing the size of poultry industry in India (Rs. 35,000 crore) this expenditure can be justified. Various preventive measures to that effect are suggested below:
Complete vaccination of all poultry birds in India. Given the large number of poultry birds in India, however, this measure is difficult to implement. Vaccinated birds are immune to disease but still they carry the virus, thus vaccine is not a panacea.
More laboratories to check the blood samples of poultry birds. At present there are only two laboratories to check the blood samples of birds: (a) High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory, Bhopal, and (b) National Institute of Virology, Pune. These are grossly inadequate. There must be at least one such laboratory in every state so that samples can be submitted to these laboratories quickly.
Creation of “rings of immunity.” A ring of immunity is a fence that bird flu virus cannot cross. How this fence is constructed? That is simple, at least in theory. A ring of immunity is an area that is 2 or 3 km wide and as long as we want. All the birds in this area are vaccinated. But this type of ring of immunity is not cent per cent effective because vaccinated birds are immune to disease but still carry the viruses. Ideally ring of immunity must be free from bird flu viruses. Here we suggest another type of ring of immunity that is free from bird flu viruses and hence cent per cent effective. This area should be made free from poultry birds. People living in this area (i.e., in ring of immunity) should not be permitted to raise poultry birds. This type of ring of immunity will certainly be effective. Whole country should be divided in approximately 50 zones. All zones would be separated from each other by rings of immunity. Thus disease in one zone simply cannot spread to other zone.
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Columns of the Week
February 18, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 7
© Shirish Chavan
Word "prime" refers to a standard rate of interest charged by a lender to a borrower. Loans can be classified into two categories as follows: (a) normal loans, and (b) high risk loans. When borrower lacks regular source of income and/or has poor credit score then that loan is termed as high risk loan, otherwise loan is normal. Lender charges more rate of interest for high risk loan. Word "subprime" refers to higher rate of interest charged by lender for high risk loan. Term "subprime mortgage" refers to a high risk home loan. Even though subprime rate is more than prime rate, for first couple of years, lender charges less than prime rate for high risk loan, in order to attract the takers for high risk loan. Generally, subprime rate is equal to prime rate plus additional percentage points (how much percentage points depend on particular loan and also on market vagaries). At present there are many borrowers in US who paid introductory rates as low as 4 or 5% and after the expiry of two years they are now paying as high as 10 or 11%. A 2/28 adjustable-rate mortgage formula is quite popular in US. According to this formula, rate of interest remains constant for first two years; and beginning with the third year, the rate changes and remains fluctuating for the remaining 28 years.
Generally, after the expiry of introductory period, borrowers go for another loan on the same property. How this is possible? This is possible because there is continuous valuation of property. However, if value of property remains stagnant, or worse, declines, then it is simply not possible to go for this another loan. Unfortunately, over the last year there is decline in property values in US, borrowers could not go for additional loan, and are defaulting on their loans. Now there are record numbers of foreclosures. There is more supply than demand in property market. People who have purchased homes for dwelling are now selling these homes in the fear that their may be further decline in property values, thus pouring oil in fire.
Size of subprime mortgage market is whopping 20% of total mortgage market. Since mortgage market forms a sizable part of US economy, this problem has affected US economy as a whole. It has brought down the prices of shares in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). As US economy is linked to world economy, this problem has also affected economies all over the world, including Indian economy. In order to fight the recession, Federal Reserve has slashed interest rates and US government has announced a $156 billion stimulus package.
In 2001 recession, export of textiles, software, precious stones, and automobile components was affected. Since then India is more integrated with US and global economy. Now, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council have expressed caution and concern over the possible impact of a US slowdown on Indian economy. Fortunately, we have very large domestic market and it will remain unaffected by US slowdown. Particularly, retail, entertainment, banking and infrastructure sectors will remain safe. IT and outsourcing is largely US dependent and will certainly feel the heat. Handicraft export will decline as US is major importer of Indian handicrafts. Indian companies can still raise the funds overseas. There will be some increase in inflation. We have low reliance on exports and it is a plus point as far as impact of slowdown is concerned. Growth rate will be reduced by 0.5 to 1.0%. However, despite lowered growth rate, Indian economy will still be one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
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Columns of the Week
February 11, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 6
© Shirish Chavan
Finally, K. Karunakaran has returned to Sweet Home, i.e., Indian Natinal Congress (INC). Let us assume that Sweet Home is now free of dirt. When Grandpa (i.e., Karunakaran, now 89 years old) left INC, and formed Democratic Indira Congress (DIC) in May 2005, he described latter as “the real congress free of dirt.” He indirectly suggested that INC is full of dirt. Now he is back therefore INC must be spotlessly clean. Since 1960, Kerala INC is dominated by Karunakaran and A. K. Antony. When A. K. Antony was Chief Minister of Kerala last time, Karunakaran helped his son Muraleedharan to secure the post of PCC president. In 2004 Loksabha elections his son and his daughter (Padmaja Venugopal) contested elections, but suffered defeats. This was major setback for Karunakaran. After forming his own party, he struggled hard to ensure his presence felt in Kerala’s mainstream politics, but all in vain.
In 2006, DIC merged with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) but nothing fruitful happened for Karunakaran. Since his departure, Kerala INC became one man show and needless to say this one man was A. K. Antony. Many Congressman in Kerala were unhappy by A. K. Antony’s supremacy in Kerala INC. Possibly, these unhappy Congressman requested Karunakaran to return home. Muraleedharan – his son – however, continue to run Kerala unit of NCP as state president. Karunakaran has assured INC bosses in New Delhi that Muraleedharan will also return home shortly. Karunakaran has also opined that Mr. Sharad Pawar should also return home and he should be given a hearty welcome in INC. Meanwhile, it is yet not clear to Mr. Sharad Pawar whether Karunakaran has insulted him or flattered him.
In Kenya, Mwai Kibaki won the presidential election. He defeated his closest rival Raila Odinga by a margin of little over 2,30,00 votes. Actually, political pundits predicted victory for Odinga. When counting began, trends were in favor of Odinga in parliamentary as well as in presidential elections. Opposition emerged as winner in parliamentary elections. Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) alone secured 95 seats out of the total 210. In presidential election also Odinga performed better than Kibaki. Odinga got a majority in six provinces whereas Kibaki got a majority in just two provinces. Odinga was all set to win the presidential election. But in eleventh hour there were some “adjustments” and then Kibaki was declared as winner. US lose no time in congratulating the friends for their victory. No wonder, Kibaki was instantly congratulated by US. Kibaki, Yoweri Museveni (President of Uganda), and Meles Zenawi (Prime Minister of Ethiopia) are closest friends of US in Africa. Now, people in Kenya are angry at these adjusted results and there were serious clashes among various ethnic groups. However, one thing is clear; Odinga cannot be President of Kenya in near future.
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Columns of the Week
February 4, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 5
© Shirish Chavan
Romatic honeymoon between BSP and Congress is now over. In a press conference that took place on January 7, 2008, Honorable Mayawati accused Congress leaders of conspiring to eliminate her. Of course, she did not mean that some Congress leader is behind her with revolver in his hand to shoot her. Congress government at Center has refused Special Protection Group (SPG) cover for Honorable Mayawati. In her opinion, refusal of SPG amounts to attempt on her life. Now she has even threatened to remove the support of United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) government at center. Well, now Congress can accuse her to conspire to eliminate UPA from political scence.
It should be noted that SPG is meant for Prime Minister, Ex-Prime Minister, and their immediate family members only. No Chief Minister in India is ever provided an SPG cover; not even Narendra Modi (Chief Minister of Gujarat) and Ghulam Nabi Azad (Chief Minister of Kashmir) who genuinely need it.
In a recently held Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, BSP secured about 7% votes playing spoilsport for Congress. Now BSP is all set to play a spoilsport (for Congress, of course) in ensuing assembly elections in states like Maharashtra, Karnatak, and Andhra Pradesh. In order to control Honorable Mayawati, Congress is making use of disproportionate assets case against her, but finding it really difficult to control her.
Ever since Honorable Mayawati assumed office, there is no abatement in the number of suicides of farmers in Bundelkhand region; she has appointed kins of Satish Mishra – her close aide – on key posts in government; and showered favors on her brother’s trust. No wonder she is losing her popularity in Uttar Pradesh.
On January 3, 2008, President of India imposed President’s rule in Nagaland. This fourth time Nagaland is enjoying President’s rule. Earlier, in 1975, in 1987, and in 1992, Nagaland enjoyed President’s rule. On December 13, 2008, House met for voting on the no-trust motion against Neiphiu Rio’s Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government. This motion was defeated by 23 against 19 votes. Actually, 31 votes supported motion, but Speaker Kiyanielie Pesiye, rightly of course, did not count the voted by defected MLAs. As Speaker’s decision was inconvenient for Congress they evoked action against Neiphiu Rio’s government from higher level.
After imposition of President’s rule, Governer justified it in following words, “Any government, if formed from the present legislature, will only result in unprincipled defections with lure of office and is not likely to provide stable governance. This would be a very dangerous situation in any State, more so in Nagaland, which has special security needs and is due for elections in just about two-three months. Fresh elections, due in February-March 2008, will lead to a stable Legislature and a stable Ministry. In view of this, there was no option left but to impose provisions of Article 356, in order to be fair to both the parties and give a chance to the people of the State to elect a government democratically as per their wishes.”
The NPF has, however, refused to buy the fascinating story of Governner and approached Guwahati High Court for the redressal of their grievances. Now court has issued notices to both the Center and the Nagaland government. Nagaland will continue to supply good food for media.
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Columns of the Week
January 28, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 4
© Shirish Chavan
It seems, following the abrogation of CFA (Cease Fire Agreement) in Sri Lanka, Government of India is confused, to say the least. Actually, Government of India wants to:
1. Congratulate Government of Sri Lanka for abrogating CFA.
2. Strongly condemn Government of Sri Lanka for abrogating CFA.
3. Ignore abrogation of CFA.
Firstly, Government of India wants to congratulate Government of Sri Lanka for abrogating CFA because it is good news for Congress Government at New Delhi that Sri Lanka is teaching a lesson to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Afterall, this LTTE had assassinated Rajiv Gandhi – husband of now supremo of Congress, Smt. Sonia Gandhi.
Secondly, Government of India wants to strongly condemn Government of Sri Lanka for abrogating CFA because DMK supports Congress Government and DMK is unhappy that CFA is abrogated. Congress Government simply cannot afford to hurt DMK. DMK has about 40 members of Loksabha and without its support Congress Government will crumble down.
Thirdly, Government of India simply wants to ignore abrogation of CFA. Ostrich policy is the best policy, is the motto of Congress Government. Also, it represents a perfect balance between the two extreme actions stated above.
The actual action taken by Government of India is closest to action no. 3 stated above. The spokesperson of External Affairs Ministry of Government of India said, “India strongly believes that there is no military solution to the issue. At the same time, we are acutely conscious that what is required in Sri Lanka is a settlement of political, constitutional and other issues within the framework of a united Sri Lanka with which all the communities of Sri Lanka are comfortable.”
There’s no sign of abatement of chaos in Pakistan. The exact cause of Benazir’s death is still unknown. One theory suggests that she died of a skull fracture that took place as a result of collision of her head on the lever of sunroof of her car. Another theory suggests that she was killed in a suicide bomb attack. Still another theory suggests that she died of a bullet. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) wants international enquiry of this killing something like UN-sponsored enquiry that took place after killing of Rafik Harari, former Prime Minister of Harare.
Musharraf has blamed Benazir for her careless act of putting her head through the sunroof. This was not her only careless act; there were many ones since her arrival from US, but this one took the toll of her life, he claims. Scotland Yard team is investigating the matter but given the fact that most of the evidence is done away with, very little can be expected from them.
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Columns of the Week
January 21, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 3
© Shirish Chavan
On January 2, 2008, Mahinda Rajapaksa – President of Sri Lanka – announced the abrogation of the moribund Cease Fire Agreement (CFA). This agreement was signed in 2002 between Sri Lanka Government (SLG) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Norway played the role of mediator. CFA was quite successful in its mission at least in the first three years. Experts believe that in the first three years of signing of CFA, about 10,000 deaths were avoided. But then there were violations of CSA from both sides, mainly from LTTE’s side. By the end of 2006, CFA was violated more than 3000 times by LTTE and more than 300 times by SLG.
When CSA was signed, Ranil Wickremsinghe was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. He belongs to United National Party (UNP). UNP is in favor of political settlement of the conflict. In 2005, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government came to power. Mahinda Rajapaksa belongs to Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). SLFP is in favor of military settlement of the issue. In fact, Rajapaksa promised the abrogation of CFA right in the election campaign. Therefore, abrogation of CFA did not surprise anyone. But given the strength and expertise of LTTE in fighting a war, a large scale bloodbath in Sri Lanka is inevitable.
Western countries have finally cornered LTTE like never before. In the past of couple of years, one after the other Western country has distanced herself from LTTE. European Union banned LTTE in May 2006. On January 10, 2008, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) bitterly criticized LTTE for its terror activities, on their website www.fbi.gov. Now LTTE finds itself cornered and isolated. LTTE itself, other than anyone else, should be blamed for this isolation. Now LTTE cannot orgainize fundraising events in Western countries. There is a series of crackdowns on LTTE overseas branches. Without comfortable supply of money LTTE will find it difficult to carry out a war with Sri Lankan military.
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Columns of the Week
January 14, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 2
© Shirish Chavan
Bharat Ranta Award for Atal Behari Vajpayee
Recently, in his letter to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Mr. Lal Krishna Advani has demanded prestigious Bharat Ratna award for Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee. Mr. Vajpayee served India with unparalleled missionary zeal and therefore he certainly deserves Bharat Ratna award. However, given the political consequences of conferring this award to Mr. Vajpayee, it is less likely that Congress dominated government will give this award to Mr. Vajpayee.
During his tenure as Prime Minister, Mr. Vajpayee also tried his best to maintain peace in troubled Asia. On few occasions situation in Asia was ripe for World War III, but Mr. Vajpayee – being one of the best diplomats in the world – never allowed happening that. Only by awarding Noble Peace Prize, his services to Asia and World can be properly appreciated. Mr. Advani should also write a letter to Nobel Prize Committee and appeal them to confer prestigious Nobel Peace Prize to Mr. Vajpayee.
Who Killed Benazir?
Today, a million dollar question in Pakistan is: Who killed Benazir? A generic answer is available for this question and it is: Extremists killed Benazir. But the specific person who killed her is unknown. Pakistan government has declared that Baitullah Mehsud – the self proclaimed head of the Taliban based in Waziristan – is behind her murder. Pakistan government has also offered evidence in the form of a tapped conversation between Mehsud and a maulana. A news item published in The Asia times supports Pakistan government’s claim. According to this news item Al Quaeda spokesperson Mustafa Abu al-Yazid has declared that they have terminated most precious American asset. Certainly, Benazir was precious American asset but she was also a very precious asset for Pakistan. She knew death is hovering over her. Mehsud warned her in following words: hundreds of suicide bombers are ready to kill you. But she ignored Mehsud’s threats. After Karachi blast, she wrote a letter to Parvez Musharraf expressing fear that Ejaz Shah (Intelligence Bureau Chief) and Chuadhary Shujat Hussain (Pakistan Muslim League-Q leader) may kill her. Perhaps the truth will never be known.
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Columns of the Week
January 7, 2008, Monday
Volume 2, No. 1
© Shirish Chavan
Democracy in Turmoil
Assassination of Benazir has left Pakistani Democracy in turmoil. This is not a first time a top leader in Pakistan is assassinated. In 1951, the then Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated in a public rally at the same place (i.e., Liaquat Bagh). Since then Pakistani people have psychologically prepared themselves for such heart breaking news.
It is interesting to note that very successful politician, Benazir, wanted to be a diplomat. But her father’s unceremonious death forced her to enter her father’s footsteps. Then she became Prime Minister of Pakistan at very young age of 35. Being very ambitious, she did not allow the second rung leaders to exist in her party PPP (Pakistan People’s Party). Her party was one woman show. No wonder, after her death, tender Bilawal (her 22 year old son), has become PPP supremo. The elections scheduled on 8th January are now postponed. Only a time will tell whether Pakistan returns to normalcy and enjoys a democratically elected government at center.
Congratulations Mr. Dhumal and Mr. Jain
After Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh is also captured by BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). Out of the total 68 seats in Legislative Assembly, the BJP won 41 seats and the INC (Indian National Congress) won only 23 seats. BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) won just one seat but played the role of spoilsport in many constituencies. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal won Bamsan seat by a margin of 26,000 votes over his nearest INC rival. Our hearty congratulations to Mr. Dhumal and Mr. Satpal Jain (BJP leader in charge of state unit). People were tired of bad INC rule in the state. Now it is responsibility of Mr. Dhumal to serve the people in best possible way. Mr. Dhumal – a seasoned and experienced politician – will certainly not disappoint the people of Himachal Pradesh.
The seats won by various parties are tabulated below:
BJP 41
INC 23
BSP 01
Independents 03
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Total 68
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