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Political Notes

	May 29, 2006

Congress-TRS differences widen



Differences between the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) over the issue of a separate Telangana state are widening. TRS chief and Union Labour Minister K. Chandrashekhra Rao has made known his unhappiness over the failure to create separate Telangana to the Congress leadership. He was unable to meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday, May 23, despite his best efforts.



On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajshekhra Reddy has made it clear to the Congress high command that he is opposed to the creation of a separate Telangana state. According to sources close to the Chief Minister, he told Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh that the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the state will split if it is forced to support a resolution in the state Assembly for a Telangana state. The Opposition Telugu Desam and the Left parties, CPI and CPI(M), are also strongly opposed to the creation of a Telangana state.



Meanwhile, the BJP has decided to go on the offensive on the Telangana issue. State BJP party chief N. Indrasena Reddy last week formally kicked off the Chaitanya Yatra from Mehboobnagar district to create awareness about Telangana. On July 2, the Yatra will end with the party observing what it calls Telangana Treason Day to attack both the TRS and the Congress party. The BJP says that the opposition of Chief Minister Rajshekhra Reddy and Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu to Telangana state is sheer political opportunism.





BJP to move No Confidence Motion against Speaker



The Budget session of Parliament ended on Tuesday, May 23, with a full-scale confrontation between the Treasury Benches and the opposition BJP which threatened to move a No Confidence Motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee in the monsoon session of Parliament. The divisive issue was admonishment of former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash Kashyap for breach of privilege. The House adopted the admonishment resolution by voice vote. The privilege notice given by Hannan Mollah of the CPI(M) said, Dr. Kashyap in an August 2005 interview had cast serious aspersions on the Speaker and imputed a political reason to his rejection of Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee’s notice to raise an issue.



A large number of MPs across the political divide were appalled at the “arrogance” Dr. Kashyap showed when he appeared before the committee and admitted that he had not cared to ascertain facts before airing his views.



The BJP lost the sympathy of most allies in the National Democratic Alliance. Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav said : “On this issue we do not agree with the BJP at all. That man Kashyap speaks a lot of nonsense. He ought to be punished.”



A one-time ally, K. Yerrannaidu of the Telugu Desam made it clear that he favoured exemplary punishment to Dr. Kashyap, who had “unfairly and irresponsibly” attributed motives to the Speaker.



By the end of an action-packed day all four BJP members - Kishan Singh Sangwan, Rajendrasinh Rana, Ananth Kumar Hegde and Virendra Kumar - had written to the Speaker, saying they were resigning from the Committee of Privileges.



Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha Speaker has charged the Election Commission with denigrating his office. He accused the Commission of harassing him on the Office of Profit issue.



Chatterjee’s grouse against the Commission was that the poll panel had mentioned on its website his name among the MPs whose disqualification was sought for violating the legal prohibition not to occupy any office of profit.



Chatterjee is the chairman of the Sriniketan-Santiniketan Development Authority (SSDA), one of the offices which were last week declared not to be an “office of profit” by amending the law.



The amendment was necessitated by fears that holders of such office faced disqualification. The Trinamul Congress had sought the disqualification of Chatterjee and about a dozen other Left MPs on the ground.



Chatterjee made no secret of his annoyance with the Commission, which has been under attack from the CPI(M) over the way it conducted the recent Assembly polls in West Bengal.





Gill’s game plan to tackle Maoists



Security Adviser to Chhattisgarh Government K.P.S. Gill has outlined his action plan to curb Maoists in the state. The plan provides for gathering intelligence about the strength and capabilities of the Maoist groups active in Chhattisgarh, identifying their hideouts, training and modernizing the state police and then hitting the Naxalites in a sudden and well-coordinated attack which gives little time to the rebels to regroup and retaliate. He has also requested the Ministry of Home Affairs for 18 battalions of central paramilitary forces to launch an all out attack on Maoist outfits.



According to State and MHA officials, the anti-Maoist operation will begin after the Monsoon. The MHA is believed to have promised to rush central forces to Chhattisgarh as tackling Maoists in the state is on the top of its agenda. Chhattisgarh is one of the worst Maoist-affected states in the country. Maoists are active in eight of the 16 districts of the state.





Mafia dons coming together



There are reports that rival mafia dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan are coming together again in the face of concerted police action to strike at their bases in Mumbai and surrounding areas. Mumbai police say that they have received information in this respect. Dawood is now said to be in Pakistan while Rajan’s whereabouts are not known.





“Dawood and Rajan have been talking to each other regularly over the past few months,” said a Dawood relative. They have come close. Two brothers have come together.” The relative said the blood feud was the result of “some misunderstanding between Dawood’s brothers (he has five) and Rajan’s associates; Dawood never hated Rajan,” he said.



The first sign of the patch up was seen in 2003 when a key Rajan lieutenant, D.K. Rao was spotted with Dawood’s extradited younger brother Iqbal Kaskar in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail.