India News Online » News Analysis » Indian Politics » 

Political Notes

	September 25, 2006

TRS finally quits UPA



A month after TRS president K. Chandrasekhra Rao had quit as Union Labour Minister, the party walked out of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Saturday, Sept. 23. Chandrasekhra Rao sent a letter to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to inform him of the TRS decision to leave the UPA. At the same time, Rao met Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to submit his resignation from the House as the representative of Karimnagar constituency in Andhra Pradesh.



Speaking to newspersons later, Chandrasekhra Rao was ambiguous about whether TRS would now ally with the National Democratic Alliance after the BJP decided to extend support to the cause of a separate Telangana state. To questions on the issue, he said the party’s state committee would take a decision. The TRS leader said that the Karimnagar by-election would be a referendum on Telangana. He accused the Congress of being opportunistic on the Telangana issue.





Left to mount pressure on domestic issues



Left leaders had a meeting with the Prime Minister on Friday, Sept. 22. Reports say that they were briefed on the recent Non-aligned and India-Brazil-South Africa summits. The briefing reportedly focussed on the issues raised by the Left - the Iranian nuclear issue, resumption of dialogue with Pakistan, relevance of the Non-aligned Movement and the Prime Minister’s meeting with Cuban President Fidel Castro. Reports say that the Prime Minister was able to bring round the Left on foreign policy issues. He said that relations with Iran are back on track as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that the issue of the Indian vote at the IAEA meeting was over.



The Left leaders who included Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) and A.B. Bardhan and D. Raja of the CPI were told that after the setting up of bilateral mechanism on terror, the onus would be on Pakistan to deliver on its stated positions on checking terror.



The Prime Minister informed the Left leaders that joint mechanism was an experiment he wanted to try out to find a permanent solution between India and Pakistan. Saying that war is not an option, Dr. Singh pointed out that he was duty-bound to explore all options to maintain peace.



Observers say that more or less satisfied on foreign policy issues, the Left is likely to mount pressure now on domestic issues, especially price rise, the agrarian crisis and the Woman’s Reservation Bill. The CPI and CPI(M) have finalised their strategies at the meetings of their national executives and politburos.



The Left parties are upset at the manner in which the Government has dealt with price rise, with which the issues of procurement and farmers’ plight are linked. The CPI(M) has asked the government a number of times to curb futures trading in food items which causes speculation and price rise.



The CPI national executive adopted a resolution saying that farmers’ suicides were a national shame, and there could be no solution in piecemeal packages. Only 40 per cent of the cultivable land had irrigation facilities, while 400 irrigation projects were waiting to be completed.





PM cleared in Office of Profit case



The Election Commission has cleared Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram of charges that they held offices of profit as trustees of the Rajiv Gandhi foundation. EC sources said that the Commission has sent its opinion to President A.P.J. Adbul Kalam in the light of the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Act. Under the latest amendment, the office of chairperson of any trust or trustee, public or private, would not attract the disqualification clause.



The Election Commission also cleared Union Minister Subbirami Reddy and BJP leaders Najma Heptullah and Narain Singh Manaklav. But the cases of Health Minister A. Ramadoss and Minister of State for Commerce Jayaram Ramesh are yet to be decided.





Supreme Court orders sweeping Police reforms



The Supreme Court has ordered sweeping reforms in the Police to keep the force above political interference and corruption. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal gave far-reaching directions on Friday, Sept. 22 aimed at insulating the Police from politicians, separation of law and order machinery from the investigative apparatus and fixed tenures for police officers. The Supreme court directions came on a petition filed by Prakash Singh, a former Director General of Police and non-governmental organisation Common Cause. Observers say that the directions, when implemented, have the potential to change of the face of India’s police force.



The key directions are :



*Setting up of a State Security Commission in every state to ensure that the state government does not exercise unwarranted influence or pressure on the police.



*DGP of state to be selected from among three senior-most officers; will have fixed tenure of at least two years.



*IG, Deputy IG, SP and SHO will have minimum fixed tenure of 2 years.



*Investigating police will be separated from law and order police to ensure speedier investigation, better expertise and improved rapport with people.



*Police Establishment Board in each state to decide on transfers, postings etc. and service related matters of officers up to DSP.



*Police Complaints Authority at district level to look into complaints against police officers till DSP.





Delhi riots over sealing



The national capital of Delhi was plunged into total chaos on Wednesday, Sept. 20 during a day-long strike to protest against the sealing drive under court orders on “unauthorised” use of residential areas for commercial purposes. The strike was almost total and most shops and commercial establishments remained closed on the day. In eastern Delhi, there was a clash between the Police and a rioting mob resulting in lathi-charge and police firing in which four persons were killed.



Waking up to the public resentment on the sealing drive, the Central Government set up a group of ministers to tackle the issue. It decided to stop the sealing drive till Monday, Sept. 25 when the Supreme Court is to take up the issue. In the meantime, the Ministry of Urban Development filed an affidavit in the apex court on Friday, Sept. 22 urging the court to allow the government to give effect to the notifications to stop the sealing of commercial establishments operating in the residential areas of the capital. Observers say that the Government move has the potential of triggering a confrontation between the executive and the judiciary.





No consensus yet on External Affairs Minister



There appears to be no consensus yet in the top echelons of the Congress on who should be the next External Affairs Minister. The Prime Minister who remained pre-occupied with the NAM summit in Havana and internal security matters with state Chief Ministers, during the week, is expected to fill this gap in his Council of Ministers by the month-end. He had said on more than one occasion in recent weeks that he would soon have a full-fledged Foreign Minister. His latest assertion came during his visit to Brazil and Cuba for the NAM meet. Earlier on his return from the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, Dr. Singh stated that there would soon be a full time foreign minister.



The swearing in of a new Minister, if any, is possible only between Sept. 25 and late this month when the Prime Minister is to leave for a short visit to South Africa.



Congress veteran Karan Singh, who was tipped as a front-runner for the External Affairs slot, is believed to have expressed his reluctance to take up the job. Observers said he was more keen to have his candidature for the President’s post cleared by his party. Dr. Kalam’s tenures ends next year.