by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Prashant Sood and Sidhartha Dutta,
New Delhi : Opposition parties face a daunting task to check the BJP’s rise and expansion under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the coming year presents them opportunities to do so in eight states that go to the polls. It will also test them for their ability to build up the momentum against the BJP in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha poll.
Much will depend on the Congress Party’s performance in these state polls, as also the initiatives that its new President, Rahul Gandhi, takes in reaching out to other opposition parties.
Elections will be held in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Mizoram in 2018 — and in the four big states it is almost a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, while in Tripura the battle will be between the CPI-M and the BJP.
With the Congress losing several elections over the past over three years, there is already talk of “collective leadership” in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and suggestions against making it a presidential-style electoral contest against Modi.
The year saw 18 opposition parties coming together to put up common candidates for the presidential and vice presidential elections. But these parties, which included the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) did not come together for the Gujarat assembly polls which the Congress narrowly lost.
The 18 parties came together after the Uttar Pradesh elections that the BSP and the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance fought separately and lost badly to the BJP.
NCP leader Tariq Anwar said the Congress lost about 12 seats in Gujarat because it did not ally with his party and the BSP. “They should not repeat the same mistake in the states going to the polls next year. If the Congress does well in these states, it will be a big boost ahead of the 2019 elections,” he said.
Anwar said next year’s state elections will give a clear picture about what will happen in 2019. “The elections will be a big challenge for the Congress and the opposition parties,” he told IANS.
Opposition parties, specially in states with multi-polar contests, have competing interests and any proposal to put up common candidates against the BJP in 2019 elections will need a lot of accommodation and hard work.
The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party are seen as adversaries in Uttar Pradesh and the Left, the Congress and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. The Congress is an adversary of the Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana, of the Telanaga Rashtra Samiti in Telangana and of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha.
It is apparently in view of these contradictions and the lacklustre performance of the Congress since its debacle in 2014 that Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien called for a “collective leadership” to bring all opposition parties together against the BJP in each state.
He has said that that the opposition should play to its strengths and make the Lok Sabha elections a sum of state elections.
Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal, MP, said “it was compulsion for the opposition parties to come together before the Lok Sabha elections” and parties such as BJD and Aam Aadmi Party should be part of the larger grouping.
“We will try that all opposition parties come together before the Lok Sabha elections. When Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister, a similar situation was before the country. All parties came together and she lost the election. History has to repeat itself,” Agrawal told IANS.
T.K.S. Elangovan, a leader of Tamil Nadu’s DMK, said Rahul Gandhi’s campaign during the Gujarat polls had boosted Congress morale and stressed that in the upcoming elections, preparations should start much earlier.
“All secular parties should come together to fight the communal forces. They are trying to force Hindutva upon us. They are also spreading hatred,” he said.
Elangovan also said that the Modi government has not delivered on its promises such as employment and improving the lives of the people. “We need to expose their propaganda,” he said.
The CPI-M’s Mohammed Salim said the secular parties “should discover an alternative narrative and strategy against the communal forces and they should be defeated”.
CPI leader D. Raja said social forces have also to be mobilised, besides political parties, in the fight against the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, the umbrella organisation of the BJP and its right wing affiliates.
“A new economic and social narrative has to be devised to counter these forces,” he said.
On the flip side, Janata Dal-United leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s return to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance earlier this year came as a blow to the opposition parties as he was seen as a leader who could emerge as a challenger to Modi.
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s conviction in a case relating to the multi-crore rupee fodder scam has also come as a blow to the efforts towards opposition unity.
But a comforting factor for the Congress and some other opposition parties has been the acquittal of all the accused in the 2G spectrum case, on which the BJP had launched a sustained campaign against Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.
There would be many more chapters to this tale and it would be interesting to see the outcome towards the end of 2018.
(Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in and Sidhartha Dutta at sidthartha.d@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Media, News, Politics
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged people to share their ideas for this year’s last edition of his radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ slated for December 31.
“The final ‘Mann Ki Baat’ of 2017 on the final day of the year… Looking forward to your inputs for the programme on 31st,” Modi tweeted.
“Dial 1800-11-7800 and record a message for ‘Mann Ki Baat’. You can also write on the MyGov open forum,.
“Ideas for #MannKiBaat can also be shared on the specially created forum on the ‘Narendra Modi Mobile App http://nm4.in/dnldapp,” he added.
Mann Ki Baat is a radio programme hosted by Modi on the last Sunday of every month to address the nation. It is simultaneously broadcasted on All India Radio, DD National and DD News.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Corporate Reports, Economy, News, Politics
PM Modi arrives at Aizawl airport in Mizoram
Aizwal : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday the Centre is committed to put all the state capitals of the northeast on the rail map and is executing 15 new projects in the region.
“We are committed to bring all the state capitals of the northeast region on the rail map. The government of India is executing 15 new rail line projects of 1,385 km length, at a cost of over Rs 47,000 crore,” Modi said during his visit to Mizoram.
“It is said that the lack of connectivity is one of the biggest hurdles in the path of development of the Northeastern region,” Modi noted, adding: “My government wants to do ‘transformation by transportation’ through investment in infrastructure…”
He said the Centre has been proactively following the ‘Act East Policy’. “As a gate-way to South East Asia, Mizoram stands to gain immensely from this. It can emerge as a key transit point for trade with Myanmar and Bangladesh,” said the Prime Minister.
The vision of New India can be realised only if fruits of development reach all, he said.
The Centre plans to focus on around 115 districts which are relatively backward when evaluated on various indicators. This will benefit backward districts of Northeastern states, including Mizoram, said Modi.
“In the spirit of “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” every Indian, irrespective of caste, gender, religion, class must have equal opportunities to partake in the new prosperity,” he added.
Modi was in Mizoram to inaugurate the 60 MW Tuirial Hydro Electric Power Project (HEPP). He dedicated the project to the people saying it will boost the socio-economic development of the state.
Tuirial Hydropower Project is the first major central government project to be successfully commissioned in Mizoram, Modi said, also adding that besides electricity the reservoir water will also open new avenues for navigation.
“This will provide connectivity to remote villages. The huge reservoir, spread over an area of 45 square km, can also be used for development of fisheries,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said the project would boost eco-tourism and provide a source of assured drinking water supply.
He said the project was first cleared by the union government of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, way back in 1998 but got delayed.
“The completion of this project is a reflection of our commitment to complete ongoing projects and usher in a new era of development in the Northeastern region,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister also said that during the tenure of Vajpayee, significant work was done for the development of the Northeast.
“We have taken forward this vision and are devoting resources for the progress of the Northeast. My ministerial colleagues are frequently visiting the Northeast,” Modi said.
“There have been over 150 ministerial visits. Our initiative – the Ministry of DoNER at your doorstep has added impetus to the development of the Northeast. It has enabled us to understand the aspirations of the Northeast even better,” he added.
Modi also said that he was delighted to be in Mizoram and this was his first visit as Prime Minister as he had visited the state before also.
“I admire the beauty and friendly nature of the people,” he said.
“The high literacy rate, scenic beauty and availability of large English-speaking population in Mizoram make for a perfect blend to develop the state as a model tourist destination,” said the Prime Minister.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By C. Uday Bhaskar,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined India’s maritime potential and current profile in a commendable manner at the commissioning ceremony of INS Kalvari, a Scorpene-class diesel-electric submarine, in Mumbai on Thursday (December 14). Modi’s fluency and grasp over the fine-print of the Indian Ocean is indicative of the maritime/naval empathy that South Block has exuded in recent years.
However, the abiding challenge for India’s aspirations in the Indian Ocean region (IOR) and the realisation of the Modi acronym SAGAR (security and growth for all in the region) will depend to a large extent on the Chinese footprint and intent in this domain.
In the last week, Beijing dropped anchor in Hambantota, the Sri Lankan port astride the Indian Ocean, and, earlier this year, China set up its first overseas military base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
Why is China in the IOR? To briefly recall the big picture, as it were, in the maritime domain — in the post-Hiroshima/World War II period — the Indian Ocean had a relatively dormant and below the median strategic relevance in the global context. During the Cold war decades (1945 to 1991), the global maritime focus, shaped as it was by the two superpowers (the US and former the USSR), was on the Atlantic-Pacific ocean combine. This progressively shifted towards East Asia in the post-Cold War years and was symbolised by the phrase “Asia-Pacific” — however incongruous the yoking of an ocean with a continent may be.
Towards the late 1990s, the economic relevance of Asia began to rise, powered by the growth of China and India. Over the next decade, the trade dependency of major economies in East, Southeast and South Asia increased in a visible manner and two phrases were introduced to the regional security lexicon.
Then Chinese President Hu Jintao spoke about the “Malacca dilemma”, a reference to China’s high dependency, hence vulnerability, to hydrocarbon imports from the Persian Gulf. This was the resurrection of the centuries-old Silk Route that became the New Silk Route in the 21st century. This denoted the growing white-shipping trade transit from the Hormuz towards the Malacca and onward to Southeast and East Asia.
The enormity of 9/11 and what followed by way of the US-led war on global terror added to the security dimension and very soon the global maritime focus shifted from the Atlantic-Pacific continuum towards the Pacific-Indian and has now become the extended to what is being called the Indo-Pacific region.
The entry of Chinese naval ships in December 2008 into the IOR as part an anti-piracy effort was an event of deep strategic import and this has been corroborated by more recent events. Chronologically, the two initiatives of Beijing in 2017 that can be deemed “strategic” in relation to the IOR and of considerable relevance to the powers that be in Delhi are: First, the setting up of a Chinese military facility in Djibouti; and Second, the priority accorded to the OBOR (One Belt-One Road) by Chinese President Xi Jinping at his “coronation” speech at the 19th Party Congress.
In dispatching PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) marines to Djibouti (July 12) by amphibious ships, from the southern port of Zhanjiang, China has taken a significant step in enhancing its trans-border military footprint in the IOR. A permanent Chinese military presence in Djibouti marks the first overseas military base for Beijing and the strategic location of Djibouti in proximity of the Red Sea will make China a credible Indian Ocean power with its attendant implications, with a high degree of salience for India.
It is instructive that Beijing embarked upon its Djibouti initiative even as India, the US and Japan were commencing the operational phase of their joint naval exercise, Malabar 2017, on July 14. The image of three flat-tops (carriers) operating in tandem in the Indian Ocean even as a PLA navy amphibious ship en route to Djibouti joined other PLA navy units, including a surveillance ship, may well be the abiding template for the Indian Ocean in the years ahead.
China’s public narrative marks December 2008 as a historical punctuation when Beijing sent three naval ships to join the international anti-piracy effort off the coast of Somalia. For the naval professional, there was a certain symbolism in PLA naval ships transiting the Straits of Malacca. The Chinese military base in Djibouti, when fully established with appropriate assets, will be yet another punctuation — this time in bold font!
The logic from the Chinese perspective is compelling — to break out of the US-shaped military constraints along its Pacific Ocean seaboard, it has to access the Indian Ocean. Overseas bases have been long favoured by major powers and China is not the first extra-regional power to seek a military foothold in the Horn of Africa and adjoining regions.
The US and France are already resident in Djibouti and India has also just established high-level political contact.
The second major development of 2017 with a strategic connotation, relevant to Delhi, is the manner in which President Xi Jinping has framed the OBOR initiative. It may be recalled that Beijing held a major summit meeting to unveil the OBOR in May 2017 and India was the only major nation that chose not to participate. This decision was arrived at by Delhi after due consideration, since Beijing was seen as indifferent to the Indian sensitivity about the disputed territory of POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) through which one strand of the OBOR traverses.
The priority accorded to the OBOR was reflected in the speech of President Xi Jinping at the 19th Party Congress on October 18. If India remains opposed to joining the OBOR and the Xi vision has accorded this macro-connectivity project a high degree of centrality, as part of realising the China Dream, the undercurrents of tension and related political-military dissonance between Delhi and Beijing will be palpable over the next few years.
This OBOR dissonance is a factor that could have potentially discordant strategic consequences — particularly if the US, Japan and perhaps Australia or Singapore come together in a maritime/naval partnership in the extended Indo-Pacific region.
China’s presence and footprint in the IOR is likely to grow over the next five years and Beijing may feel encouraged to assertively display its comprehensive national power and related capability.
The strategic imponderable is how this power index will be utilised. For the greater common good or in defiance of the prevailing status quo? Will Beijing agree to become a stakeholder in Modi’s SAGAR vision?
(C. Uday Bhaskar is Director, Society for Policy Studies. The views expressed are personal. The article is in special arrangement with South Asia Monitor)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
For representational purpose only
New Delhi : A bill seeking to criminalise instant triple talaq among Muslims and providing for a three-year jail term was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Friday, which the government said was aimed at protecting the dignity and security of women in the community.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 got the cabinet nod at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had spoken about the issue even during the campaign of the just-ended Gujarat Assembly elections.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad refused to give details of the Bill at a media briefing on the ground that Parliament was in session. He merely said many state governments, to whom the draft of the bill was sent, had supported the Bill.
According to the draft Bill sent out to states earlier this month, it was proposed that triple talaq be made a cognisable and non-bailable offence that would attract a jail term of three years. The draft law was prepared in the backdrop of the August 22 verdict of the Supreme Court striking down the practice of “instant” triple talaq as illegal.
However, it is understood that the Bill provides for a three-year imprisonment and fine to a Muslim man if he resorts to the practice of instant divorce, which a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had held as “unconstitutional and arbitrary”. The court had also held that triple talaq was not integral to Islam.
The Bill, while making instant divorce a cognisable and non-bailable offence, also seeks to give the affected women right to seek maintenance. It is expected to be introduced during the Winter Session of Parliament that commenced on Friday.
Declining to go into the details of the measure, Prasad said it was designed to shield the helpless victims of triple talaq and to give them dignity and security.
“Cabinet has taken historic decisions today which will have a long term impact in the growth of the country… because Parliament session is on, I cannot give details of the Bill,” he said.
“We approved The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which is to protect victims of Triple Talaq,” he added.
The Cabinet clearance was criticised by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board as a direct attack on the religious freedom of the Muslim community, while women activists sought collective support of political parties in converting the Bill into law.
Opposing the bill, AIMPLB member Maulana Khalid Rashid said: “As far as the compensation for the rehabilitation of the women is concerned, they are already being given by the Muslim community. So, the triple talaq bill, we consider as a direct interference in the religious matters of the largest community. It is an attack on religious freedom…”
“Women are not being tortured in the name of triple talaq. Muslim women have said they do not want change in the personal law including the law of triple talaq. If certain people are misusing certain laws it doesn’t mean that you will completely finish that law. It is part of our ‘sharia’. The government should at least have consulted Muslim organisations before making any such law,” he said.
Activist Zakir Soman said the Muslim Personal Law Board and the Muslim community are not taking proper care of triple talaq victims, and such women should be given justice as per law.
“If the community and the Personal Law Board was doing enough why would be the women (triple talaq victims) be coming to women’s organisation?,” asked Soman.
“The community is indulging in argument but that doesn’t mean we will give up our constitutional and legal entitlement. We are all citizens in a democracy and living in the 21st century. We are entitled, educated and empowered, and we want justice as per the law of the land…So, this kind of Personal Law Board argument for any kind of reform is not accepted,” the activist said.
According to Soman, they have written letters to Congress President-elect Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury for their collective support in converting the triple talaq Bill into when it is tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament for discussion.
“Through the letter, we requested the leaders to come together in order to solve the issue. It is not the matter of BJP, Congress or any other political parties. It is the responsibility of political parties, its representatives and all the women of this country,” she said.
Another women activist Hina Zaheer said: “According to the Quran, there is no provision for instant talaq… So, it should not be the matter of ego for the Muslim Personal Law Board. The board should have solved it by themselves. They haven’t solved it, that is why lot of politics is being done over the issue.”
—IANS
