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Assembly elections : BJP settles seat-sharing row in UP

	January 28, 2002

After several rounds of talks with its allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has finally completed the seat-allotment exercise with its allies in Uttar Pradesh. As the central leadership of the party wanted to ensure that the BJP and its allies should fight as a cohesive combine to retain power, the party finally had to concede more seats to its partners than it had originally planned.. The final tally left the BJP with 318 seats while its allies were allotted 85 segments. The Rashtriya Lok Dal of Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh which wields considerable clout in the Jat-dominated western region of the State was finally allotted 37 seats-which was much less than the 60 seats it had demanded. Union Labour Minister Sharad Yadav’s Janata Dal (U) got 11 seats. Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janashakti and the Samata party got eight seats each. Paswan had demanded 50 seats. Another Union Minister Maneka Gandhi who had floated her party Shakti Dal, had to remain content with six seats.

But not all the allies of the BJP were happy. In fact, an angry Haryana Chief Minister O.P. Chautala and Indian National Lok Dal leader predicted that the Samajwadi Party would emerge as the largest single party in the Assembly polls. Clearly upset at his party’s exclusion from the BJP-led front in UP because of the saffron party’s preference for the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Chautala pointed out that the BJP was likely to fail when it came to cobbling up a coalition in the post-poll period. According to him, UP was headed towards a fresh phase of political uncertainty and the spectre of another snap poll will loom large.

Releasing the INLD’s manifesto for UP, where it is contesting on its own despite being a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Chautala dropped enough hints of his dissatisfaction with the Vajpayee dispensation. Although he still considered the BJP a nationalist party, he predicted the SP’s emergence as the single largest party in the State. He also spoke about his close friendship with the SP leader, Mulayam Singh Yadav. He, however, denied having any political understanding with Yadav while criticising the BJP for not taking its allies into confidence.

Chautala’s comments about the UP scene are seen as a reflection of his own predicament at the Centre. He does not wish to leave the NDA but at the same time, he is unhappy that the BJP does not to treat him as the sole spokesperson for the Jat community.



Will temple issue figure in manifesto?

The BJP, which had dropped the Ramjanmabhoomi issue, along with its demand for the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution which accords special status to Jammu and Kashmir and a common civil code, when it became part of the NDA, is now under pressure to include a reference to it in its manifesto for UP Assembly polls which will be held next month. If the first draft eschewed any reference to the Ayodhya dispute, sticking instead to governmental achievements and a reference to terrorism as part of the law and order problem faced by a border State, there now appears to be a serious rethink on whether the temple issue should be included, even though the Prime Minister wants to keep it out of the manifesto.

The feeling in the party is that since a separate manifesto is being issued, absence of a reference to such a key element of the BJP agenda will lead its core supporters to ask whether the Ayodhya issue has been abandoned. Party sources, who earlier said it would not be included in the manifesto, are now saying the issue is being debated. Recently, State party chief Kalraj Mishra had said the Ram temple issue can be mentioned in the manifesto as a cultural, not a political issue. Even Chief Minister Rajnath Singh, who had consistently maintained that it would not be an election issue, has now said he cannot say whether it will be included or not. But if it is included, the emphasis will be on the resolution of the dispute through negotiations or the courts, not on the construction of the temple itself. With the VHP stepping up pressure on the Centre to hand over the land surrounding the sanctum sanctorum to the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas so that temple construction can begin soon after March 12 - the deadline the Prime Minister has set for himself to resolve the dispute - the issue is now once again centrestage



Congress bid to woo upper castes, minorities

The Congress is making a desperate effort to woo the upper castes and minorities in UP. First, it selected a large chunk of candidates from these two sections. Now, going a step further, it has promised in its manifesto job quotas for the economically-backward among the upper castes and a host of facilities for Muslims. The 40-page manifesto indicates that the Congress is trying to regain its social base in UP. The party has tried to reach out to the Brahmins as well as the traders, who have moved over to the BJP, and has sought to woo the minority vote bank, now with the Samajwadi Party.

The Congress has not espoused Hindutva but tried to appease Hindu sensibilities while not alienating the minorities. So, if it has promised a 10 per cent job quota for the poor among the upper castes, it has extended a similar promise to the backwards among the minorities. If voted to power, the Congress says it will carve out a special sub-quota for them from the 27 per cent reservation recommended by the Mandal Commission.

Working on the same lines, the party has promised special routes for the Kanwaria pilgrims and simultaneously offered to set up rest houses for Muslim pilgrims going to the Urs and for the Haj. Besides, it has promised full security at religious places of minorities, assured them that their personal laws will not be tampered with, and promised that no action will be taken against studying or teaching at madrassas (Islamic teaching centres) as was happening under the BJP regime. The Congress manifesto severely rapped the BJP-led ministry for its failure to keep promises and poor governance, as a result of which UP had slipped badly on the development front. Pledging correctives, the Congress has listed a series of concessions. Taking potshots at Chief Minister Rajnath Singh for rushing through with reservation for the most backwards among the OBCs, which the Supreme Court has struck down, the Congress says it will provide separate job quotas for these sections but after going through all legal processes.

Raising the slogan, “Bahut soon chuke kore bhashan, hamein chahiye Congress shasan (Enough of tall promises, we want Congress rule)”, the Congress has delineated the steps it will take for the State’s development, be it in agriculture, education, health or power. Accusing the Rajnath Singh ministry of not giving due price to farmers for their produce, the Congress announced a minimum support price of Rs 110 per quintal for sugarcane growers.

The Congress has scrupulously avoided any reference to the sensitive Ayodhya issue that the Sangh parivar is trying hard to rake up - lest it boomerang and upset the delicate social balance it (the Congress) is trying to achieve for itself in the State it once ruled. The party has, however, taken the BJP’s challenge on fight against terrorism head on. Maintaining that the Congress has paid a heavy price in its fight against terrorism, the manifesto states that bringing POTO is not the correct way of dealing with the terrorist menace.



BJP is leaving nothing to chance

The BJP, political observers say, is using all the tactics it can think of to win the coming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. It is virtually leaving nothing to chance. Any step is considered worth taking so long as it helps improve the party’s chances of recapturing power in Lucknow. The stakes are too high. UP for the BJP is Prime Minister Vajpayee’s State as he represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha. If his party fares poorly, there is every likelihood of the outcome impacting his position within the BJP. This may also erode the party’s bargaining power in the ruling coalition at the Centre because UP sends the maximum number of members to the Lok Sabha even after the creation of Uttaranchal. Any disturbance in the composition of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance may weaken the government from within at a time when the country needs a strong Centre with the border tension showing no sign of abating early. More than anything else, a change in the ruling dispensation in the State may weaken the BJP-led government at the Centre. Hence the party’s total concentration on UP.

What can cause the maximum harm to the BJP’s prospects is the anti-incumbency factor. Despite having won only 158 seats in a House of 403 in the 1996 Assembly poll, it has retained power by engineering defections from opposition groups. In the process, however, its image as a party of non-corruptible disciplined cadres got blurred. When Kalyan Singh left and later Ramprakash Gupta took over the reins of government in November, 1999, most political experts saw the party’s sure defeat in an election. Its fortunes, however, began to reflect a clear change after Rajnath Singh became Chief Minister.

After shifting from Delhi (where he was a Minister in the Vajpayee government) to Lucknow Rajnath Singh took three major decisions. He introduced reservation within reservation for the most backward castes (MBCs), released Fifth Pay Commission salary scales for teachers and increased the procurement prices of agricultural produce. This has substantially increased the party’s following in the three significant sections of voters and reduced the chances of a major negative fallout of the incumbency factor. The Chief Minister has also been conscious of refurbishing the party image as far as corruption is concerned. The removal of Loktantrik Party chief Naresh Aggrawal from the government some time ago and the denial of the ticket to his own party’s three Ministers are part of his drive to come to the voters with a clean image. Rajnath Singh’s efforts plus the tension at the border with Pakistan (which has recharged the strong nationalist feelings of the people benefiting the BJP) have brought his party to a position when it is expected to win between 144 and 154 seats against the earlier projections of not more than 100. However, with Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party (SP) emerging as the major challenger with a projection of 150-160 seats, the BJP government in Lucknow still faces a serious threat to its survival.



The caste factor

The fact that most party leaders explain without inhibition the proportion of candidates (in their list) in terms of castes and other such categories may appear out of sync at a certain level. But then, this is perfectly in tune with the political discourse in the Gangetic valley and its surroundings. Caste, religion and other medieval notions of identity have been central to the political discourse there for long.

However, there is cause for concern for these very reasons in the context of the coming elections. As for instance, the culture of politics sans governance that was put in place in the State over the years was behind the entrenchment of power brokers and even history-sheeters in parties cutting across the spectrum. The BJP’s leaders, led by Chief Minister Rajnath Singh, for instance are now boasting about their commitment to cleansing the stables of criminal elements, reflecting in the denial of the party ticket to some such MLAs. But then the fact that this is only an election-eve facelift is bound to stick and far more disastrous is the fact that such elements cannot be expected to stay indoors when the campaign begins in a few days from now, says The Hindu in its commentary.

Instead, these very elements will be employed in the campaign by the BJP or the Opposition. There are reports of such men finding a place in the other parties now. This indeed is cause for concern. For, history-sheeters are certainly not going to help in the conduct of elections in a peaceful manner. And where caste and communal considerations are the most important, the presence of such men with criminal antecedents (and they are there in all the major parties) is bound to render the violence they indulge in far more dangerous.

Add to this the zeal that the BJP and its leaders have shown in using the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh as an occasion to further sharpen the majoritarian agenda. The communal colour that its local cadre have added to the controversy over POTO and the sectarian rhetoric by a section of the BJP leadership after the December 13 incidents outside Parliament House have only furthered polarization on communal lines. The war-mongering, once again a central feature of the BJP’s ideological moorings, substantially furthers the polarisation across the State on communal lines. It is in this context that the VHP and some other arms of the Sangh Parivar are upping the ante, once again, on the Ayodhya issue.



Court verdict on reservation a blow to CM

Although the Bharatiya Janata Party is putting a brave face on it, it has lost a small gamble. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Uttar Pradesh government cannot appoint any backward classes candidate on the recommendations of the Social Justice Committee set up last year by Chief Minister Rajnath Singh. “The entire exercise”, said the ruling, “seems to have been done in a hurry” There is little doubt that Singh was trying to outpace Mulayam Singh Yadav of the main rival Samajwadi party and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati in the backwards sector. The committee he set up recommended that a separate sub-quota for the most backward classes and the most backward Dalits be created for reservations. By accepting the recommendations, Singh had hoped to seize the interest - and votes - of the layers below the ones that Yadav and Mayawati usually target. This is one of the strategies by which the BJP had planned to increase its vote bank in the forthcoming Assembly elections. The strategy had the advantage of helping to project the BJP as a concerned champion of the downtrodden, casteist in quite the politically acceptable manner.

That may not work now. The Supreme Court’s refusal to legitimize MBCs and MBDs makes it clear that in this case at least, backwardness cannot be used as a counter in a political competition.



Poll time is defection time

It is a regular phenomenon during poll time, that those denied the ticket to fight the elections, turn either rebels to contest on their own or defect to other parties that are ready to help them stand. Political morality is conveniently ignored in their greed for power. And in UP, there are many candidates who are likely to change their symbols and challenge the official party nominees. For these politicians have mastered the fine art of political somersaults, says political analyst Ajit Kumar Jha.

Desperate to gain an advantage here or to get a foothold there, almost all the major parties in the fray are either taking recourse to somersaults on the issue of election agenda or on the algebra of alliances, on the criteria of seat distribution or on the question of political strategy.

Consider the number of times the BJP has flip-flopped in the last one month on the issue of whether Ayodhya or national security is the main election agenda:

As the border build-up had begun less than a month ago, UP Chief Minister Rajnath Singh made the first somersault: “Mandir and Mandal are out, security and stability are in as the main election plank,” he said in an interview. The student outfit SIMI was banned and the Central government had introduced the POTO as an Ordinance.

But as pressure from the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and other Sangh Parivar outfits began weighing down on the BJP leadership, it was time for a second somersault. Ayodhya was brought back into the centrestage of the election agenda. So both UP Party President Kalraj Mishra and BJP MP Vinay Katiyar claimed that “the temple will be in our election manifesto as a cultural issue.”

But even as the last touches are being given to the party manifesto and the final list of candidates being prepared, the party leadership has committed the third somersault. Says party general secretary Sunil Shastri: “Ayodhya is not likely to make it to the manifesto as the political agenda: instead the governance record of the BJP government and national security will be the main poll plank.” The final compromise, according to a senior BJP leader will be that “Ayodhya will remain a cultural issue, while national security will emerge as the main political agenda.”

On the distribution of the ticket in the BJP, while the new criteria are clean image, fresh face, more women, more youth, extremely backwards and preference for Dalits, and therefore 41 sitting MLAs of the party had been denied the ticket, yet the party retained almost all its candidates in the Prime Minister’s constituency of Lucknow.

The politics of somersaults is, however, not only a BJP monopoly. The main rival, the Samajwadi Party, attempting desperately to outshine the BJP is busy making 180 degree turns in the air on the issue of election agenda. So when the bugle of warcry against Pakistan was sounded by the Central government, SP President Mulayam Singh Yadav, made his first somersault: “Attack the terrorist camps in Pakistan” fumed Mulayam, otherwise known for his grand idea of a South Asia confederation which would include Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

Realising that the latest buzzword is ‘de-escalation’ and that perhaps the issue of security was overplayed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, much to the chagrin of his minority supporters, SP general secretary Amar Singh recently took another aboutturn. He overplayed the role of caste and underplays national security.

Therefore, on the issue of security he claims: “Uttar Pradesh is neither Jammu nor Rajouri, the main issue is one of caste alliances. In fact, jatiya samikaran (caste calculation) was a non-issue only for a while during the Mandir-Masjid controversy. It is back again with a bang. Unfortunately, the BJP has no tall backward leader and therefore faces a clear disadvantage.”

Unlike the BJP and the SP, the BSP and the Congress have not indulged in complete somersaults but they have changed political strategy in mid-stream attempting to gain from their rivals flip-flops. For instance, aware that the SP has alienated some of its minority voters by belligerent war talk, the BSP has tried its best to take advantage by fielding 86 Muslim candidates, more than double of what the SP has fielded. In order to attract the disgruntled Muslim voters from the SP, the Congress similarly is reportedly fielding a large number of minority voters.

As polls near and various parties desperate to get an advantage here or a foothold there take several somersaults they forget that not only are they sending confusing signals to their own voters, but are gaining some voters only at the cost of losing others.



Importance of the temple agenda

The battle for Uttar Pradesh is the biggest electoral war in the Assembly elections. With over 140 million people, the State is greater in demographic size than most countries of the world. The BJP desperately needs to win there because it rules only in the smaller States such as Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh.

Political commentator Rajeev Dhavan feels the trump card of the BJP and its allies in the State is Ayodhya. At the Kumbh Mela in 2001, the Ayodhya campaign to build a temple on the site of the Babri Masjid was reinforced following Vajpayee’s “Musings from Kumarakom”. Since then, there have been vast preparations amidst weak protests. The VHP says it wants 45.77 per cent of the 67 acres of the Babri Masjid, which it says is “unencumbered”. Even law is twisted to fan politics.

The construction of the proposed Ayodhya temple is scheduled to start on March 12. By clever interpolations, it is made out that Vajpayee opposes what the VHP proposes to dispose. The Uttar Pradesh elections are bringing out the worst in Indian democracy. The BJP combine plays the Ayodhya card. The Congress replies with secular affront rather than a secular front and combined strategy.

The Congress pride has still not learnt the value of devising the kind of coalition strategies that have got the BJP in power. But while upholding secularism, the Congress is not averse to criminals in politics. There are reports that it may field Jai Narayan Tewari - an alleged mafia don - in the elections. This is after Sonia Gandhi gave a strong speech in Kanpur against the criminalisation of politics. Promoting criminals has become a regular feature of, and has been inbuilt into, Indian politics. This is disconcerting - all the more so because nominations are distributed centrally. Why do parties give tickets to self-avowed communalists and persons chargesheeted in criminal cases who are increasingly filling up India’s legislatures? How is this rot to be stopped? By politicians themselves? By the Constitution? Or by the law? This is the crucial question.

Politicians claim refuge in the law. Their effective defence is that the law permits them to nominate communal thugs and criminals as candidates for elections as long as they have not been convicted of a disqualificatory crime. No doubt Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 disqualifies those guilty of listed socio-economic crimes and offences punished with more than 2 years imprisonment. This means that a person may be accused of hundreds of murders and even chargesheeted for them, but he will not be disqualified as long as he has not been convicted of the crime.

But surely the high commands of India’s political parties need not be looking at legal loopholes but for opportunities to develop and sustain healthy constitutional practices. There is a distinction between mere legality, constitutional validity and constitutional practice. Since 1985, many Governments have been toppled by unscrupulous defections. Though legal, these are unsavoury constitutional practices..

Good constitutional practices include the duty of political parties and their leaders to ensure that chargesheeted and communal persons are not permitted to stand for election on their party ticket. There is nothing in the law or Constitution which forbids them from doing this. But the sad tragedy is that political parties prefer to have musclemen and communalists as part of their electoral armies.



The danger in VHP temple march

As the Sant Chetavani Yatra (Warning march of the saints for temple) from Ayodhya draws closer to Delhi, a question has reared its tired head once again. Will the VHP succeed in raising the pitch on the Ayodhya issue another time? And then, can the clamour be built into a triumphant crescendo for the BJP in time for the elections to Uttar Pradesh ?

The VHP’s programme would seem carefully choreographed to help consolidate the ‘Hindu vote’, if such a monolith indeed exists in UP or elsewhere, before the people of the State go to the hustings. The attempts to resuscitate the issue at this strategic moment, along with the laboured rhetoric that tries to tie it up with the War against Terror (‘terrorist Babur’, Babri masjid as a ‘symbol of Islamic terrorism’), point to the long-festering issue being stitched into a cynical election plan designed by the VHP, for the BJP. At the very least, the march to Delhi is the VHP’s attempt to get a measure of its own continuing relevance, or the lack of it, a decade after the vandalism at Ayodhya.

The patterns on the ground already hint at the answers to those questions. Political observers feel that the VHP may have overestimated the returns from flogging the old issue. So far, the VHP’s march has steamed ahead more on the rhetoric and vain bravado of its leading lights, than on any real wave of popular support. Reports suggest that the people’s reaction had been lukewarm to the attempt to build up a temple hysteria. Indications are that international working president Ashok Singhal’s contemptuous dismissal of the March 12 deadline, the threat to begin construction of a temple at the disputed site, whenever, no matter what - is only bluff and bluster.

While it is true that the absence of any significant popular response may well confront the VHP with the truth of its own marginalisation, the VHP’s Ayodhya Yatra requires a more alert response. Rabble rousing on the temple may not help the BJP win UP, but it can certainly poison the atmosphere in which the elections are fought in the State. It can still disturb the often tenuous peace that stretches between communities in many areas.

The irresponsible, hate-filled rhetoric the VHP-Bajrang Dal specialise in can still take its toll. The option to simply ignore the VHP is fraught with dangers. The onus, most of all, is on the BJP. Not just because it is the party in power in the State and at the Centre and therefore accountable for maintaining law and order, but also because of its intimacy with the VHP. The BJP’s protestations of innocence don’t ring credible, nor its feeble attempts to distance itself from the VHP’s frantic exertions. Far too often in the past has the party been caught trying to manipulate this fine balance - now separate from the VHP-Bajrang Dal, and then entwined with it. The BJP has to prove it is sincere in its claim of keeping a distance from the VHP’s antics.



PM authorized by allies to listen to sants

On the eve of his meeting with the Hindu sants (saints) to discuss the Ayodhya temple issue, Prime Minister Vajpayee on Jan 26 consulted the major NDA partners on the matter. Following the two-hour parley, the allies told Vajpayee to give a hearing to the sants who arrived in the Capital after a week-long ‘chetavani yatra’ ( warning march) that started from Ayodhya to highlight their demand for Ram temple construction.

A delegation of sants will meet Vajpayee on Sunday to demand that the Centre return to the Ram Janambhoomi Trust its 47-acre land around the disputed site, which was acquired by the government following the demolition of the Babri Masjid structure in 1992. The Prime Minister told the NDA leaders that some sants, led by VHP chief Ashok Singhal, had sought an appointment with him. He asked them for their views on the matter which was not on the NDA’s common agenda. None of the NDA leaders offered the view that Vajpayee should not meet the sants. But they are believed to have maintained their stand that the dispute should either be resolved by a court judgement or through a negotiated settlement between the affected parties.

Meanwhile, RSS supremo K S Sudarshan has asserted that there is no need to suspend the Ram temple movement in view of the prevailing situation along the Indo-Pak border and said Vajpayee should satisfy the “sants” on steps taken by him to resolve the temple issue. He said he did not think that the Ram temple issue would be a deciding factor in Uttar Pradesh elections.

Apprehending that the VHP would pressurise the government to meet its demands over the Ayodhya issue, the Babri Masjid Movement Coordination Committee (BMMCC) urged the Prime Minister to examine all legal aspects in depth before making any commitment or initiating any action. BMMCC convenor Syed Shahabuddin wrote a letter to the Prime Minister pointing out that the saints mobilised by the VHP were going to meet him and demand handing over of 40 acres of the land in Ayodhya acquired by the Government in 1993 to enable them to begin construction of Ram Temple on or before March 12.



Punjab’s battle scene : No cakewalk for Congress

As campaigning picks up momentum in Punjab, there are signs that contrary to earlier predictions it may not be a cakewalk for the Congress. For, the ruling Akalis are putting up a tough fight to retain power. The differences among the different Akali factions have been buried for the moment to enable Chief Minister P.S. Badal to take up the challenge of the Congress. Where the Congress has faltered is its inability to contain the over enthusiasm of party workers many of whom had to be denied the ticket for contesting the polls. This has led to lot of resentment and there is a fair chance that many rebels of the Congress will enter the fray, causing a split in anti-Akali vote. The Congress is mainly counting on the anti-incumbency factor and the fact that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had been more busy in indulging in factional politics and religious interference in administration and the bid to promote his son by Chief Minister Badal. A close fight and widespread factionalism in the parties could mean that the main contenders for power could fall short of majority.

Congress circles are optimistic of reaching a figure of 58 in an Assembly of 117 members. All efforts are being made to enlarge the tally for a simple majority. Changing ground realities point to the fact that the initial hopes of at least 70-75 seats may not be achieved by the Congress. The Badal camp is busy concentrating on bagging 70 carefully selected seats. Both the Congress and SAD want to avert the possibility of a hung Assembly. The shrewd Badal is capable of tilting the scales if that happens. The presence of Nationalist Congress Party and BSP nominees in the fray could mean that the anti-Akali votes will be split. That’s the reason for the Congress scaling down its estimates. The Congress is worried over the lacklustre campaign and is courting some Bollywood stars to help the party in the State. The party is banking upon the effectiveness of Congress Chief Ministers like Digvijay Singh, Ashok Ghelot, Ajit Jogi and Sheila Dikshit. Sonia Gandhi, however, remains the party’s top campaigner. She is more aggressive, assured and speaks better without looking at the typed speech. For the moment, there is little chance of Sonia’s daughter Priyanka joining her mother actively in the rallies, though she works on her mother’s speeches. It is clear that the Congress is relying more on the anti-SAD negative vote than a positive vote. But for UP, the Congress is better placed in the other three states that go to the polls in February-Uttaranchal, Punjab and Manipur.



What the State needs ?

With the Assembly elections scheduled for February 13, Punjab is again at the crossroads. The question here is not of democracy versus militancy. Democracy has struck root after the terrorist years. It is alive and kicking. If anything the poll battle has already become intense between the two traditional rivals of pre-terrorism days-the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its ally the BJP, on the one hand; and the Congress and its partner the CPI, on the other. Also in the run is the Panthic Morcha led by Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Simranjit Singh Mann and rebel Congress candidates under the banner of the Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar.

Looking back, certain broad deductions can be made from the changing political profile of Punjab. Militancy is as good as lifeless, though some pockets may still smell foul and hence suspect, points out Hari Jaisingh, Editor of Tribune.

Certain vested interests are hoping against hope that the old cycle of terrorism would get revived. This was probable prior to the September 11 terrorist strike in the USA. The events thereafter have changed the global perspective on terrorism. It is now seen as Number One problem. So any patronage of a militant group by a foreign agency will not go unpunished. There will, therefore, be no willing sponsors of terrorism. For Pakistan’s ISI also it will be very difficult to organise and sustain any terrorist network in the State. All the same, the Indian authorities will have to maintain high alert and closely monitor possible clandestine activities of some known disgruntled elements with the help of the ISI and other foreign-backed outfits overseas.

Interestingly, some Punjab watchers used to underline the need for unquestioned support for the Badal government to keep terrorism in the State at bay. This point might have made sense before the September 11 events. Such pleas no longer hold good in view of the changed global scenario on terrorism. It is worth recalling that Punjab has suffered because of the irrational and negative nature of competitive politics pursued by different political groups. The problem here is not merely between the Akalis and Congressmen, but also within the various Akali factions who are now organised under the banner of Panthic Morcha.

A healthy and issue-based competition is always welcome. This is good for democracy. But the problem arises when ordinary issues acquire emotional and religious overtones and become explosive and subsequently go out of hand of the sponsors. Unfortunately, the SYL issue is being exploited by various interest groups for political purposes. This matter needs to be handled with care and a sense of sobriety.

Punjab today needs a new deal. It requires a new perspective planning. It demands a new socio-economic order. The problem of farmers has also to be looked into afresh with urgency. The leaders at the Centre and the State have failed to think and work on new lines after the successes of the Green and White revolutions. More than politics, Punjab as also Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal need a massive development strategy to put the region back on the rails. The post-WTO regime calls for a total overhaul of the earlier agriculture policy. The industrial thrust, too, needs a fresh look. The development of infrastructure has to be given the pride of place. Equally important is a rapid growth of information technology. Nothing can be more tragic than to see Punjab lagging behind the other states even in new critical areas of agriculture where it once showed the way to the rest of the country.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has certainly reasons to feel personally satisfied at the completion of the five years of his rule. This has happened for the first time for the Akalis. Badal at least ensured stability in the State for five years. This is no mean achievement. His failure has been his inability to translate this stability into a plan of action for Punjab’s march forward. In fact, the sore point among rural and urban folks has been corruption and corrupt practices. Badal could have intelligently exploited the goodwill among the Hindus and the Sikhs he enjoys. Badal’s problems are of his own making. He could hardly project a clean image for the State administration. Nor could he address himself fully to the problems of farmers and build the requisite infrastructure for faster growth of the State. Rightly or wrongly, the impression went around that it was very difficult to do business in the State because the system appeared to be corrupt and inefficient. Statistics speak for themselves. Punjab today is far behind the States like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra even in the field of information technology. Since its per capita debt is among the highest in the country, the per capita income works out to be in the negative.

If there is a change of government, the Congress may come to power under Capt Amarinder Singh who himself was once an Akali Minister. How he will be different from his predecessors is difficult to say right now. He seems to be serious and concerned about the State’s development priorities. He has been interacting with various experts to revive the State’s economy. However, the real challenge for him is whether he will be able to curb corruption in the State administration. What Punjab needs is faster development and a clean administration.