Sharad Pawar reminds Amit Shah of a few things
Like Narendra Modi earlier, Amit Shah has made a mistake. He has called Sharad Pawar the “ringleader of corruption in politics”. Indeed, besides other things currently stalking the ruling party in Delhi, after the massive electoral bonds scam, this claim sounds a bit out-of-the-world.
In response, the seasoned politician in Maharashtra, known for his sharp political acumen and tactical moves, responded: “A few days ago, Home Minister Amit Shah attacked me and said a few things. He said that Sharad Pawar is the commander of all the corrupt people in the country. Strangely, the man who is the home minister of the country today is such a person who misused the law of Gujarat, and for this, the Supreme Court banished him from Gujarat.”
“The one who was banished is the home minister of the country today. So, we should think about where we are headed. The way the people in whose hands I am are taking this wrong path, we should think about it; otherwise, they will 100 per cent take the country on the wrong path. We will have to pay attention to this,” Pawar said.
Amit Shah was declared a ‘tadipar’ since he faced serious charges in an abduction and murder case. He was not allowed to enter Gujarat.
Earlier, Modi had called Sharad Pawar, a highly respected politician across the political spectrum, ‘bhatakti atma’. He seems to have paid a heavy price for this impolite jibe. BJP lost the elections wherever Modi campaigned in Maharashtra.
Pawar had replied cryptically: “In one of his election speeches, Modi called me ‘bhatakti atma’… Good that he said so. According to Modi, ‘atma’ remains forever. And this ‘atma’ will continue to haunt him.”
Modi had said, “There is a ‘bhatakti atma’ in Maharashtra… When it is not successful, it ruins the good work of others. The state is a victim of it.” It was clear, he was targeting Pawar.
After the elections, Pawar said, “Did Modi have the people’s mandate before he took the oath of office? Did he have the consent of the people? He did not have the majority. He took the help of the Bihar chief minister and TDP to form the government.”
Yogi is not going anywhere
The BJP top brass is in fix. The party is in serious trouble in the most important state in the Hindi heartland and it seems to have no clue as to how to get out of it. The massive drubbing they have got in UP, has got them in a fix.
Now, the opponents of Yogi Adityanath, have got daggers drawn against him. However, as of now, it is not working at all, and there is no reason that they can really succeed in the days to come. According to sources, there are forces in the top leadership in Delhi, who, too, are gunning for Yogi. But Yogi is not going anywhere.
Deputy CM Keshav Chandra Maurya has been openly gunning for the UP chief minister. He is squarely blaming him for the huge losses suffered in UP. He nurses the grievance that he was ignored for the top post in the state, while Yogi was brought in from nowhere by Amit Shah.
Now, Yogi has entrenched himself in power, and commands support from a big number of BJP MLAs. Besides, as a Hindutva hardliner, he is backed by the RSS and sundry Hindutva fronts. Some have even positied him as the man who should be taking over from Modi – and the sooner the better!
According to sources, the RSS and Nagpur are backing Yogi. Mohan Bhagwat camped at Gorakhpur, Yogi’s home-turf, and so soon after the election results! That was signal enough as to which side the RSS is on. After their recent defeat, this is more bad news for the BJP leadership from Gujarat in Delhi.
There is widespread speculation that Yogi might have played a significant role in the defeat of BJP candidates in UP, in some of the parliamentary constituencies in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Even Modi won with an extremely low margin in Varanasi, while he was pitching for a huge victory margin of 10 lakh votes.
Besides, locals in Varanasi are terribly angry that Gujarati contractors have been given lucrative contracts in their holy city, ignoring their legitimate aspirations. This is reported to be a major reason behind Modi scraping through with such a small margin of votes.
NEET: After Tamil Nadu, Bengal says, Scrap NEET!
Trinamool Congress has demanded the removal of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), in West Bengal. This follows the huge paper leak scam, which has negatively impacted the careers of thousands of aspiring students, who have been left in the lurch, by the BJP-led government in Delhi. Earlier, the MK Stalin-led government in Tamil Nadu had demanded its scrapping. Now, Bengal has passed a similar motion.
Mamata Banerjee has sought the scrapping in a letter sent to the PM. The education minister of the state, Bratya Basu, insisted that his government was always opposed to NEET, due to its non-federal character.
In Kerala, cops seem stressed out
In a state known for its high literacy, income levels, economic development and well-being, this is surprisingly bad news. Kerala has recorded a high number of suicides in its police force, and needs to seriously re-evalaute their entire work condition.
The police force, as is the pattern in most states, is particularly stressed out – working in difficult conditions,in heat, rain and cold, and for unusually long duty hours. They are often away from their families for many days, and often encounter unpleasant and violent situations in their line of duty.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) (2020) has revealed that the suicide rate within the Indian police is almost six times higher than the national average. Undoubtedly, there is a drastic need for mental and emotional counseling.
It’s crucial that Kerala, and all other states, constitute a body of experts who understand the ground situation and provide solutions within a fixed time-frame. If the cops in the country are stressed out, it does not mean good news for ordinary citizens.
Malayalam film industry in focus
The Kerala High Court imposed a stay on the release of the Justice Hema Commission (JHC) report until July 31, reports Sreelakshmi Soman for The News Minute.
The report deals with the work conditions of women in the Malayalam film industry. On July 6, the State Information Commission had ordered the release of the report, and it was scheduled to be made public by 3 pm on Wednesday, 24 July, 2024, with 83 pages omitted to protect privacy of individuals who are named.
The stay comes on a petition from Malayalam film producer Sajimon Parayil. The case will be considered again on August 1. The report was submitted on December 31, 2019, but the state government had not released it to the public, raising suspicion, TNM reports.
B Ragesh, Secretary, Producers’ Association, said that Sajimon had made an independent appeal, and that the association does not oppose the report’s release. The report probes critical issues relating to women working in the state’s film industry. It is keenly awaited by the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), which had earlier advocated for the formation of the commission.
Soman reports: The shocking abduction and assault of a prominent Malayalam film actor on February 17, 2017, and the subsequent arrest of prominent actor Dileep, led to the formation of the WCC to fight for gender equality in the film industry.
The Justice Hema Committee was formed in 2017 to investigate sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry. It was named after Justice K Hema, who led the inquiry. Actor Sharada and former IAS officer, KB Vatsala Kumari, were the other members on the commission.
Chandrababu Naidu targets Jagan Reddy
Chandrababu Naidu has released a white paper on the estimated losses incurred by the state under the previous YSRCP government led by Jagan Mohan Reddy, reports The News Minute (July 26, 2024). As per the white paper released by the TDP government, potential wealth creation worth Rs 2 lakh crore was lost due to the stalling of Amaravati development works (the capital region). Around seven lakh jobs would have been generated in the capital region of Amaravati, if development works were not brought to a grinding halt, the chief minister said.
According to the report by TNM, for the capital city project, nearly 29,966 farmers had voluntarily given up 34,400 acres of land. However, after Reddy came to power in 2019, these works were stopped and a proposal to make a three-capital city project was under consideration. According to the government, the state suffered an estimated loss of Rs 52,900 crore due to mismanagement in the Polavaram project.
While a loss of Rs 45,000 is estimated for allegedly delaying supply of water to ayacut areas, Rs 4,900 crore was lost due to damages and repair works, and another Rs 3,000 crore due to delay in hydel power generation. The government said that the debt of the state increased from Rs 3.75 lakh crore to Rs 9.74 lakh crore in the last five years, due to policy changes brought in by the Reddy government, including the “destruction of Amaravati and Polavaram”.
So far, the government has released seven white papers to the public, to “show the extent of the damage” committed by the earlier regime.
Trapped in a lift for 42 hours
Vidya Sigamany (July 26, 2024) reports for The News Minute: A little after he was rescued after being trapped in a lift for 42 hours, Ravindran Nair heard about Joy, a sanitation worker who was found dead, after he went missing in a canal in Thiruvananthapuram for two days. Ravindran’s fate could have been the same, trapped in a defunct lift in the city’s medical college on the same weekend that Joy went missing.
After his lucky escape, Ravindran told TNM that he has survived, but, tragically, Joy could not. . He was stuck in the lift from noon of Saturday, July 13, to the early hours of Monday, July 15.
In a pay-ward at the college, recuperating from the physical and mental trauma that he went through after getting stuck in a lift, Ravindran recounted the ordeal and the aftermath, at times turning philosophical about the vulnerability of human beings. “Joy and I were trapped in different situations around the same time. Elsewhere, another Malayali (Arjun, whose truck was pinned down by a massive landslide in Karnataka on July 16) has been trapped under a mudslide for days. All three of us came face-to-face with death,” he said.
Garbage bags inside vehicles
The BJP-led Uttarakhand government has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. First, it was the sinking of Joshimath due to uncontrolled religious and commercial tourism. Second, the Char Dham project, which has spelled disaster for the geologically fragile and vulnerable Himalayas. With the cutting of lakhs of trees, the project has led to soil erosion, landslides and flash floods. Environmentalists have long appealed for stopping the project, but the Centre cares two hoots.
Now, the BJP led state government has embarked on a cleanliness drive. The state government has stated that those who violate the law will be fined. It has ordered compulsory arrangement of garbage bags and dustbins in all vehicles entering the hill state.
Hundreds of people often get caught in massive traffic snarls, which goes on for days, due to landslides. Will they?
Don’t discriminate, says Mamata
In yet another tiff with the Centre, Mamata Banerjee walked out of the Niti Ayog meeting in protest. The meeting was chaired by the prime minister.
“I said you (the central government) should not discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak, but my mic was muted. I was allowed to speak only for five minutes. People before me spoke for 10-20 minutes,” she said. “I was the only one from the opposition who was participating, but I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting…”