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Political Notes

	February 19, 2007

Administrative Reforms Commission for sweeping reforms



The Administrative Reforms Commission, headed by former Karnataka Chief Minister M. Veerrappa Moily, has suggested sweeping reforms including amendment of the Constitution to clean the country’s electoral politics and end criminalisation, corruption and unethical coalition practices. The Commission, the second ARC, submitted its report to the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Monday, Feb. 12.



The ARC has favoured that political parties leaving a coalition mid-stream should seek a fresh mandate, disqualification of candidates charged with heinous offences and establishment of a National Lokayukta which will not have jurisdiction over the Prime Minister.



It has recommended sweeping changes in political, judicial, administrative and electoral areas and suggested measures to tackle the canker of corruption.



In the electoral sphere, the six-member commission suggested partial state funding, tightening of anti-defection law, a collegium for appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and other Commissioners, code of ethics for ministers and a law to define office of profit.



It also recommended abolition of schemes under which MPs and MLAs are allowed to sanction funds for constituency development.



The panel proposed establishment of a National Judicial Council that will decide on appointment of judges by a collegium consisting of representatives from executive, legislature and judiciary.



While underlining the significance of the coalition regime, the ARC has made proposals to “make coalitions legitimate”. It advocated that the Constitution should be amended to ensure that if one or more parties in a coalition with a common programme mandated by the electorate, either explicitly before the elections or implicitly while forming the government, realign mid-stream with one or more parties outside the coalition, then members of that party or parties shall have to seek a fresh mandate.



The ARC also recommended that the Constitution be amended to provide that the immunity enjoyed by MPs and MLAs does not cover corrupt acts committed by them in connection with their duties or otherwise.





AIADMK workers get death penalty in bus-burning case



A court at Salem, in Tamil Nadu, has sentenced to death three workers of the All India Anna DMK holding them guilty of causing the death of three young women in a bus burning case near Dharmapuri in Feb. 2000. Twenty-five others were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years.



On February 2, 2000, a bus carrying students of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University was returning to Coimbatore after a study tour in Dharmapuri when it was set ablaze by a mob protesting the conviction of their leader former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in a corruption case. Three girls - V. Kokilavani, Gayathri and Hemalatha - who got trapped in the bus were charred to death and 18 others were injured.



Kokilavani’s father N.P. Veeraswamy said the court ruling has vindicated his seven year long battle for justice. “The savages have at last been punished,” he said. Hemlatha’s father Keshavachandaran said : “It is a verdict against violence. This should make people turn away from violence.”





Strike in Karnataka on Cauvery issue



Life in Bangalore and the Cauvery basin in Karnataka was brought to a halt on Monday, Feb. 12 because of a strike called to protest against the verdict of the Cauvery Waters Dispute Tribunal. The bandh was largely peaceful, except for Mysore city where some vehicles were set on fire.



Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting M.H. Ambareesh has resigned from the Union Council of Ministers and the Lok Sabha, the lower House of Parliament, in protest against the Tribunal award. He represents the Cauvery heartland of Mandya in the Lok Sabha. But his resignation from the Lok Sabha has not been accepted yet as the Speaker’s office said that it was not in the proper format.



All party meetings are taking place this week in both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to finalise their respective stands on the Tribunal award.





Shiv Sena MP resigns



Former Union Minister Subodh Mohite has quit the Shiv Sena as well as his Ramtek Lok Sabha seat, spoiling the feel-good mood which had set in the saffron camp following the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) poll success.



Mohite said he would discuss his next move with his supporters, but sources said the former Minister is headed for the Congress. This coup has been master-minded by Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayanan Rane who is desperate to retrieve his position within the Congress, which has taken a beating after the party’s dismal show in the BMC polls. Apart from bringing down the Sena strength in the Lok Sabha from 12 to 11, Mohite’s exit is a sure loss for the Sena in the Vidarbha region, a traditional Congress stronghold.