India News Online » News Analysis » Indian Politics » 

Political Notes

	February 14, 2005

Early elections in Tamil Nadu ?



There are reports that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is considering advancing the Assembly elections in the state by six months. Astrological advice and the need for getting the benefits of image-building are reported to be two of the main reasons for the proposal. Sources say Jayalalithaa may call for an early contest by October this year even though state elections are scheduled for April-May next year. The religious Chief Minister, who makes no bones about invoking the supernatural before beginning any new venture, has reportedly been told that the electoral contest is “worth a try” till October. An AIADMK leader said “advancing the polls by six or seven months is no longer frowned at. The astrological advice is in tune with the acceptable limit.”

The “astrologically good time” also concludes with an optimum time-frame to encash image-building.



Moves to form a Third Front

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is also reported to be exploring possibilities of forming a third front in the state, ahead of the Assembly polls. After a stunning defeat in the last Lok Sabha polls, Jayalalithaa has been engaged in efforts to chalk out a winning electoral strategy which would help her sail through the assembly polls.

Reworking her electoral arithmetic, Jayalalithaa is eyeing the smaller parties. She is also trying to reach out to the Left, in order to cause cracks in the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance, which swept all the 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Recovering from electoral shock, Jayalalithaa has sought to fox the DPA. At least on four issues she has wrested the political initiative from the DPA, leaving its constituents on the defensive. Two issues where she took the lead were the killing of dreaded bandit Veerappan and the firm action in the Sankaraman murder case.



Govindacharya blames BJP leaders for Babri Masjid demolition

Former BJP leader K.N. Govindacharya has

blamed the party leadership for the demolition

of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in December 1992. Speaking in Varanasi on February 8, he said the BJP leaders present at the site failed to read the minds of the one lakh kar sevaks (volunteers) who had assembled there on December 6, 1992. He said the BJP leaders failed to control the situation by making an appeal to the mob to disperse from there and not demolish the structure. Govindacharya said the BJP leaders could have mobilised their six thousand workers, present in Ayodhya then, to control the mob and prevent the demolition.

Without naming the leaders, Govindacharya said “the eventful outcome not only reflected the failure of the saffron leadership present there to gauge the mood of the kar sevaks, but also its lack of vision to utilise the cadres in controlling and dispersing the mob.

“The demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya was a glaring example of contradiction between cadre-based and mass-based politics and the failure of the BJP leadership’s understanding to work out a balance between the two brands of politics”, added the former BJP leader.



Prof. Geelani acquitted in Parliament attack case shot at

Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani, a Delhi University

lecturer, acquitted in the Parliament attack case,

was shot at in New Delhi after he had come out of the house of his lawyer. He was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where he is now out of danger and is recovering. Taking cognizance of the incident, the Supreme Court has asked the Delhi Police to submit a report on the attack on Geelani. Some human rights activists have alleged a police hand in the attack.

Some new revelations have come in the Geelani case creating doubts about where Geelani was attacked, in Basant Enclave, outside his lawyer’s home or some other place. The police have not found any blood splashed on the ground where he is supposed to have been shot at. Also some of the clothes he was wearing when attacked have been seized from his brother’s flat in a far off area. The clothes had been hidden by Geelani’s relatives for almost four days and their seizure has raised further questions about the case.



Naxalites kill Karnataka policemen

Naxalites attacked a Karnataka state reserve

police camp in Tumkur district on February

10, killing six policemen and a civilian besides injuring five others. The attack is reported to be in retaliation for the killing of two Naxal leaders in a police encounter in Chickmagloor district on February 6. The Naxal attack came on the eve of the Prime Minister’s two-day visit to Karnataka. Observers say that the incident indicates that Naxalite violence from Andhra Pradesh is spreading to neighbouring Karnataka also.

Meanwhile, the much-awaited second round of peace talks between Naxalites and the Andhra Pradesh Government has run into rough weather with Chief Minister Y.S. Rajshekhra Reddy insisting that they will have to lay down arms first. However, in a conciliatory gesture, the Chief Minister has sent a clear signal that anti-Naxal operations would be kept on hold. The state Government has also met the Telengana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) demand to transfer more than 3000 policemen to their home districts.

The Centre, in the meantime, has said that it favours the formation of a unified command comprising the Central and State law enforcement agencies to tackle the Naxalite problem. Home Minister Shivraj Patil said in New Delhi that the Centre has provided 23 battalions of paramilitary forces for tackling Naxalite violence in the affected states



CPI(M) demands probe into Reliance-Pramod Mahajan connection

CPIM leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet has asked

the Manmohan Singh Government to

investigate the connection between Reliance Industries and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan. In an article in the CPIM mouthpiece, People’s Democracy, Surjeet said the whole Mahajan episode has come as a shock to the nation and the Government should properly investigate the issue. He said this is something the UPA Government can ignore only at its peril. It may be recalled that a Delhi newspaper had carried a report on February 6 stating that three companies were given one crore shares of Reliance Infocomm at a price of Rs. 1/- each and that these companies were linked to former Communications Minister and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan’s family.

Earlier, the Congress also asked the concerned agencies to probe whether Pramod Mahajan’s family members and his Delhi-based friends got RIC’s preferential shares.