Land Acquisition Ordinance fails to address larger concerns

By: Ravi Sinha

Not that Hitender Tyagi of Noida was a prosperous landlord, yet he felt like the one with his small piece of 12 acre of agricultural land. Today this ailing farmer feels like a pauper who as forced to do away with his source of bread and butter as his land was forcibly acquired by he Noida Authority. The compensation was too meagre to give him any long-term financial security. With no other option of future livelihood this 58-year-old man soon realised that he is too old for any other job. As a result, the compensation money was soon spent and the family went broke.

“My son bought a car with the compensation given to me and is now working as a driver. My daughter-in-law works as a domestic help in the nearby apartment where till yesterday I had my right over the land. It makes me cry my heart out but I am not alone to suffer this kind of cruel injustice by the government. Now when I am told about the new law coming that can make any farmer lose his right over the land as and when rich people want it and the government being a party to it, I feel a collective suicide is better for us than to see our children working as servants on our very own land,” says a dejected Tyagi. 

 

Contentious issue

Land acquisition in India has always been a contentious issue and the urban planners for long were calling for a need to amend the Land Acquisition Act of 1894. Following some violent protests and legal logjam post the land acquisition in many parts of the country, the government in 2007 and 2011 tried to address the issue but could finally came up with the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act in 2013 that laid down the process for land acquisition that removed the urgency clause on part of the State and prescribed Social Impact Assessment Survey, Preliminary Notification stating the Intent for Acquisition, a Declaration of Acquisition and Compensation to be Given by a Certain Time. All acquisitions required rehabilitation and resettlement to be provided to the people affected by the acquisition.   

However, the industry in general and real estate in particular termed the 2o013 Act unreasonable that could make land acquisition a very cumbersome process for the industry. The grouse was that it was proving to be a major bottleneck for reviving infrastructure development and green field investment.

The BJP Government in December, 2014 hence amended Section 10(A) of the Act to expand sectors where assessment and consent was not required. For five sectors, the consent clause was removed. Now the government or the private developers no longer needed mandatory consent of 80 per cent of land owners for acquiring land in those five sectors. The mandatory ‘Consent’ clause and ‘Social Impact Assessment’ was not to be applicable if the land was acquired for national security, defence, rural infrastructure including electrification, industrial corridors and affordable housing including PPP where ownership of land continues to be vested with the government.    

Industry welcomes amendments

As expected, the industry and real estate sector cheered the new provisions. Analysts within the built environment even expressed that the dream of ‘Make in India’ could become reality only with enabling provisions for industrial corridors and defence purposes. The sector even welcomed the Ordinance ‘way to go’ for the feasibility of government’s ambitious plan of ‘Housing for All by 2022’. There was a general feeling that exempting industrial corridors from the consent clause would boost the commercial activity as well along such corridors.

Anshuman Magazine, CMD of CBRE South Asia maintains that the amendments will have a positive impact on the infrastructure and real estate sector. Feeling hopeful of the new norms to ease off the inordinate delays seen so far in the land acquisition process for large scale infrastructure and affordable housing projects, he says the infra industry, in particular, is expected to gain much from these new changes, as will housing for the poor.

“I hope this is just the first steps in amending the Land Acquisition Act, as much more amendments are required to ease land acquisition procedures in India. It could perhaps bring in more segments of organised real estate within the ambit of such faster processing norms, which would be beneficial for construction activity across the country,” says Magazine.

Niranjan Hiranandani, CMD, Hiranandani Group says the Indian Government has taken a welcome step on the issue of land acquisition norms, having approved certain amendments in the land acquisition. These seek to fast-track the purchase process of land, while bringing more projects under the provisions of rehabilitation and compensation of land owners.

“While the amendment has the potential to give a boost to affordable housing, it will also facilitate a scenario where infrastructure projects will be fast-tracked. For ‘Affordable Housing’ to become a reality, it will need time bound land acquisition and creation of infrastructure, which the amendment will facilitate. What is most important is that the amendment does not impact the compensation to farmers, while it ensures time-bound acquisition, it remains ‘Socially Correct’ while also being ‘Business Friendly’,” says Niranjan Hiranandani.

Welcoming the Ordinance Rohit Raj Modi, President, CREDAI NCR says it is expected to boost much needed infrastructure development and housing construction in the country. This shows a serious commitment from the government towards bolstering economic reforms.

“The likely changes in the Act that includes removal of consent clause for land acquisition for affordable housing, rural infrastructure and industrial corridors would prove to be a game changer. The Act is likely to benefit affordable housing segment the most and would help achieve the government’s ambitious plan of ‘Housing for all by 2022’”, says Modi

Home buyers not impressed

Such optimism of the real estate developers, however, fails to impress the home buyers either who feel the free-for-all land acquisition law would only help the developers. Sandeep Acharya, a home buyer from New Chandigarh points out that the government may be giving a feeler that more compensation & rehabilitation offered to the farmers would escalate the home prices, it is not well founded. He reminds how in several cases the financial burden on the developers post the additional compensation to farmers due to judicial intervention was nullified with extra FSI/FAR granted to the developers.

“Even when the developers were given extra FSI/FAR to compensate their business profitability after the court order to grant additional money to the farmers, the developers still raised the cost of the flat. I feel this fair justice and compensation to farmers is an alibi not for the home buyers’ interests but to safeguard the interests of the big industries who want cheap land,” says Acharya.

  

As per rough estimates, restrictions on buying land are among the barriers holding up projects worth almost US$ 300 billion in various sectors. However, before the issue of whether the amendment and the Ordinance would kick-start hundreds of billions of dollars in stalled projects could be answered, the government found itself in tough waters as there is a growing discontent across the country over the ordinance and the debate has spilled over from Parliament to the streets with various political parties, pressure groups, farmers and activists taking to streets against what they call a draconian law to snatch the farmers’ land.

Under pressure from opposition, civil society and even within the ruling alliance, the government is now giving feelers that it is ready to consider suggestions on the Land Acquisition Bill, but there hardly seems to be any consensus emerging to address the issue with the consent of all the stake holders, including the farmers, industries, developers, socio-political groups and home buyers.

Major differences between 2013 Act & 2014 Ordinance

1.  Exclusion of SIA in RFCTLARR Act: As per the 2013 Act Social Impact Assessment (SIA) was part of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement but the new law does not make SIA mandatory.  

2.   Removal of consent clause in five areas: The Ordinance removes the consent clause for acquiring land for five areas - industrial corridors, public private partnership projects, rural infrastructure, affordable housing and defence. Nearly all government acquisitions happen under these 5 clauses.

3.   Irrigated multi-cropped land: Now there is no limit to acquire irrigated multi-cropped land and other agricultural land, which earlier could not be acquired beyond a certain limit.

4.   Return of unutilised land: As per the Act 2013, if the land remains unutilised for five years, then it needs to be returned to the owner. But according to the Ordinance the period after which unutilised land needs to be returned will be five years, or any period specified at the time of setting up the project, whichever is later.

5.  Word 'private company' replaced with 'private entity': While the Act 2013 says that the land can be acquired for private companies, the Ordinance replaced it with private entity. A private entity is an entity other than a government entity, and could include a proprietorship, partnership, company, corporation, non-profit organisation, or other entity under any other law.

6.  Offence by government officials: As per the Ordinance if an offence is committed by a government official or the head of the department, then one cannot be prosecuted without the prior sanction of the government.

Ends…

Will Varanasi bless or curse Lord Shiva’s political incarnation?

Battle ground Varanasi 

By: Ravi Sinha

March 23, 2014

The holy river Ganges flows quietly, unmindful of the fact that on its bank Varanasi has suddenly become the epicentre of political tremors. It is early morning of March third week but the weather is still cold; not so the climate otherwise where elections have made the ambience and political temperature of the city too ‘hot’. The early morning chill in the weather does not deter the God fearing Hindus to take a dip or two in the holy river. However, it is not the sin washing in the river that is the topic of debate today in this part of the world. It is the apprehension of more sins being committed during elections that has made India’s spiritual capital nervous; even though a section of the residents are enthusiastic with the prospect of a Prime Minister representing the Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi for the first time.

The sin washing city has nevertheless got a date with electoral sins and siyasat. The way Lok Sabha polls are turning into personal glorification, holier-than-thou rhetoric and mudslinging in this temple town, it can be vouchsafed that Varanasi is poised to witness electoral sins this time and the possibility of candidates’ confrontation and violence can not be ruled out. The city that dawns the day with ‘Har Har Mahadev’ (Hail Lord Shiva) is today chanting ‘Har Har Modi’ (Hail Modi as PM), much to the discomfort of the sadhus and priests in the city.

Varanasi has changed over the years, earlier known as Kashi and Banaras; in the process of this name change it seems there has been a remarkable image makeover as well. It is no more just a temple town known for shradh and tarpan; nor is it known for its red light areas, known as kothas and the mujra. The old classic charm of Banarasi Saree has also lost its sheen over the years. The pace of cosmopolitan culture has been slow but sure, changing the outlook of the urban landscape to a large extent. The big question in front of the residents of the city today is whether Varanasi will change forever.

More important for Varanasi is the question as to whether it will get benefitted by the prospects of a Prime Minister representing the constituency? Or will the city just be of symbolic importance and the only compensation for the city would be long lasting politics of hatred? After all, Varanasi has moved ahead of the Ram Mandir movement days when the communal divide coming out of the neighbouring Ayodhya had engulfed the city. Again it took the city years to get back to normalcy when the students took to streets violently post the implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations where the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was one of the key centres of caste divide.    

The scars of those gory days can still be traced and despite of years of moving ahead the city still goes to polls by and large divided over the caste lines. I met a number of people with deep roots in the city and its social & cultural fabric to understand the pulse and political mood of the holy city. I asked them will a new challenger in the ring bring the city into global spotlight. After all, many of the journalists representing international media are equally curious to know that. This mad rush to Varanasi by media, supporters of Modi and Kejriwal has led to scarcity of hotel rooms in the city.

With the help of a local journalist friend I could somehow settle in a guest house. Obviously, my probe of the city’s political temperament started from there only. “Beta ye Kejriwal toh aam aadmi nahin ganda aadmi hai. Bhagvaan hamare Banaras ko dharna pradarshan se bachaye (Son, this kejriwal is a filthy guy. May God save our city from protests and hooliganism),” says Vibha Devi, about 70-years-old caretaker of the guest house who has spent her lifetime in the city. Even otherwise, the residents of the city are least bothered with who is being projected by the media and who is getting demolished by soundbite hungry journalists.

Rakesh Sharma is a local Brahmin with half of the family into the business of temple maintenance & priesthood and the rest into selling sweets. Who is his choice as the Member of Parliament from the city? “Frankly speaking, no one,” says a dejected Sharma, maintaining that his first choice is and will always be with the BJP’s Murli Manohar Joshi. “Modi has betrayed our trust in the saffron party, yet will see if any other candidate is not in a position to win then will vote for Modi only. It is irony of Banaras that we are being used for political gains,” he says. Why not a radical newcomer in Kejriwal who champions for clean politics? A dismissive Sharma’s face says it all. “He also champions for anarchy and lawlessness which is not good for the business community,” says Mannu Garg, a local shopkeeper who believes this guy is just a media time pass. He also makes it clear that the major share of Brahman-Baniya votes has historically gone to the same candidate.

However, it is not that Kejriwal’s self righteousness has no takers in the city. As a matter of fact, Garg’s outburst so openly led to minor scuffle by a few youths who, realising there is a journalist around, immediately brought out their “Aam Aadmi” caps and started shouting slogans in their trademark hooligan style and spirit. They are the backbone of a well orchestrated campaign of the debutant Aam Aadmi Party. Already the cyber cafes are doing a brisk business in the temple city as youths throng over these places to get connected over the social networking platforms.

On a closer look, however, the youth support is more of a fizz than substance. What seems to be working against Kejriwal is the same youth support, or rather lack of it, in terms of organised cadre. The students of BHU, IIT and medical colleges are not as enthusiastic in the city as in some other urban centres across India. Part of the blame goes to the disenchantment with Kejriwal’s mishandling of power in Delhi and partly because they endorse Modi as the Prime Minister.

“Why are you media guys that much interested in Kejriwal? Remember if he loses, he will blame it on to you journalists only,” says a sarcastic IIT student. Another BHU student points out that there is more than what meets the eyes as far as AAP campaign is concerned. For example, points out this student, the guy chanting Kejriwal’s “Abhi toh Shiela haari hai, Ab Modi ki baari hai” (Shiela Dixit has lost and now it is Modi’s turn) is actually a paid volunteer who was an activist for the BJP in the last Assembly polls.  

Even if the youths and first time voters go for Kejriwal the relevant question is whether the youths are enough to make someone win elections. And it is here that a new twist to the story comes. It is about the participation of women in the polls. Till now they have voted on the lines of what the men folk in their families have instructed for. Will it change this time? Will the women of Varanasi take a leaf out of Delhi women? If yes, then for whom? These are the questions that can upset the electoral calculations completely. Politics, after all, is a game of improbability.

What do the women in the city think of? “Modi ji ki jaroorat hai kyunki mehangai bahut badh gayi hai (Modi is needed as inflation is a real issue),” says Anjana Mathur, a house wife. This may just be a mere perception of a woman who hardly understands the intricacies of economics; nor does she know what drives inflation or what tames it. But then Varanasi, like the rest of the nation, goes to cast votes driven largely by perception. Question Gujarat’s developmental model with statistics and even the diehard NaMo fan has no answer.

But then Modi’s projection as political Lord Shiva has not gone down well in the temple town. And it is not just the saints and a section of Brahmins who find that the Lord Shiva’s mantle to Modi is in bad taste, but this undercurrent has many takers across the constituency of Varanasi. Requesting anonymity a Hindi lecturer of Banaras Hindu University admits that the undercurrent may prove to be the worst strategic move for the BJP. Also, too early declaration of Modi’s candidature has given the city enough time for a cost & benefit analysis, while opposition got the time to sharpen its attack on both development and communal card of Modi.

I asked some of the doctors and other educated people over their coming out openly in favour of the Kejriwal’s AAP. No one would like to admit openly but the answer, like in most parts of the urban India, seems to be quite simple. They know that it is next to impossible to get party tickets from the established political parties and hence vying for their share of the cake that they feel can be baked. That incidentally also dents into the vote share of the established political parties; in today’s context more of BJP’s vote share, because this urban educated middle class has otherwise been a BJP vote bank. AAP supporters maintain that the momentum for Kejriwal is yet to shape up and it is their trademark door-to-door campaigning close to the voting that will actually shape the course of polarisation.

It is not that BJP is not conscious of this biggest possible face loss. Arvind Kejriwal definitely does not appear like Amitabh Bachchan defeating HN Bahuguna in the neighbouring city of Allahabad in 1984, nor is there a backing of any Rajiv Gandhi to Kejriwal; at least the Congress is not going to back Kejriwal openly even though some tacit understanding is being whispered in the temple town nowadays. I spoke to the local unit of the BJP office in Gulab Bagh where many of the volunteers admitted that to merge river Ganges and Sabarmati in terms of political direction is a challenge. “To say that it is a walkover for Modi would amount to insulting our volunteers’ hard work,” admitted a party functionary requesting anonymity.  

Another challenge for the Modi is to counter the perception that he may desert the constituency after winning the elections. However, the dominant feeling in the temple city is narrated by this boatman Ganesh who says, “Varanasi has got the historic opportunity to elect the Prime Minister, and not just a Member of Parliament.” What seems to be working in favour of Modi is the strategic marriage of Hindutva, Social Engineering, Development and Division of Secular Votes.

“Is Congress out of the race,” I asked this to an office goer who belongs to Thakur (Rajput) community. “What makes you think so? Media can not make or break the fortunes of the candidates, not at least in Banaras,” says this gentleman. With last Lok Sabha polls being closely contested despite of the constituency being a Murli Manohar Joshi’s stronghold, he believes it is going to be a four-cornered contest between the BJP, Qaumi Ekta Dal’s Mukhtar Ansari, the BSP and the Congress. The only party that has lost the ground substantially with the face loss is the Samajwadi Party despite being in power in the State.

The role of the debutant in Kejriwal can not be denied but all his calculations are based on who eats into whose vote share. By and large Kejriwal is banking on wishful and fancy thoughts of a miracle. The division of secular votes is only going to benefit the BJP, unless there is a substantial erosion of urban educated middle class votes. Even in such a scenario, Kejriwal can get an edge only if this vote share swings in his favour, added with the consolidation of secular votes en masse for his style of politics.

The local journalists maintain that Kejriwal’s game plan is based on very many ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ and even one loose end is enough for him to bite the dust. In terms of caste equations, erosion of vote share is only going to benefit the BJP as Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party’s Kailash Chaurasiya and BSP’s Vijay Prakash Jaiswal are all OBCs. If the Congress fields a credible Brahmin candidate, the loss of some Brahmin and OBC votes can really upset Modi, helping Ansari sweep the polls.

In terms of vote share, out of the 16 lakh voters in Varanasi, Muslims are 3 lakh voters, followed by Brahmins, Patels (Kurmis) and Baniyas having 2 lakh each, Yadavs, Dalits and Bhumihar have 1 lakh each votes. It also has a marginal Gujarat connection with around 25000 Gujarati voters. The BJP has won in 5 of the last 6 Lok Sabha polls while losing 2004 to Congress’ Rajesh Kumar Mishra. At present, out of the 5 Assembly seats that are part of the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, BJP leads the region with 3 Vidhan Sabha seats.      

Who is the principal challenger for Modi? Is it Kejriwal? There is no denying that AAP has created a cadre within a short span of time but then most of the volunteers are either youth driven by false sense of idealism or the disgruntled elements of other parties who were denied what they were seeking for. Even if that translates into votes en block, Kejriwal does not stand as the principal challenger in a four-cornered fight. As a matter of fact, as things stand today, it is the Qaumi Ekta Dal candidate Mukhtar Ansari who can upset the PM aspirant, only if all secular votes are not divided.

If the Muslim votes are split between the Qaumi Ekta Dal, Congress, the BSP and AAP, then Modi is a clear winner. Shams Zaidi, a weaver of Banarasi Saree is optimistic of a Modi debacle. According to him, the Muslims nowadays do not vote en block but strategically to make sure that one can defeat the BJP. For the outside world, Mukhtar Ansari may be a mafia don, but for this weaver he is the ‘real hero’ of the constituency who can take the bull in Modi by horns. “Loha hi lohe ko kat sakta hai sahab, ek Modi jaise badmaash ka jawaab Mukhtar bhai hi de sakte hain (Only iron can cut iron sir. Only Mukhtar Ansari can face an evil Modi),” he says candidly.    

Can Muslim votes alone help Mukhtar Ansari upset the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate? Jamshed Siddiqui, a local human rights activist makes it a point when he says that it is not just about the Muslim votes that are going to be cast en block to Mukhtar Ansari. “As a matter of fact, Mukhtar bhai has a clout in the region and is largely seen as messiah for the downtrodden. So, while the major share of the Muslim votes will go for him, some share of Dalit and OBC votes will add to that,” says Siddiqui.

Pandit Rajeev Mishra seems to agree with the orientation of Muslim votes. He, however, has a different reason to believe that Mukhtar is best placed to upset the BJP’s trump card in Varanasi. “Never forget the fact that Modi is a non-Brahmin who has usurped the seat of a Brahmin candidate and this has not gone down well with the Brahmins. Add to that his arrogance of replacing ‘Har Har Mahadev’ with ‘Har har Modi’ in the temple town of Varanasi. This has completely turned the Brahmins and priests off,” says Sharma. But will Brahmins ever vote for Mukhtar Ansari? “Definitely not, but if any other party, like the Congress for instance, fields a strong and acceptable Brahmin candidate then the Brahmin votes will go against Modi. The candidate himself may not win, but such a division of votes will definitely help the Ansari emerge as winner,” he adds.    

It is not that the stakes are high only for the BJP as their prime ministerial candidate is in the fray. As a matter of fact, the stakes are very high for AAP as well, since a defeat for Kejriwal means moral loss for the man who is the face of the party that challenges all the established political norms, parties and the institutions. His only hope and expectations bank on the combined voting of the youths, urban electorates and the women, if only they don’t vote on the identity politics of caste lines. That, unfortunately, is a ‘Big If’ in a city like Varanasi and Modi seems to be the frontrunner as of now.

Who knows last minute polarisation may give an edge to the Don in Ansari, the Congress or even the BSP candidate. After all, Varanasi has a date with political destiny and all eyes are set on the outcome. Old timers in the city are rather wondering whether Lord Shiva’s Varanasi will bless or curse its political incarnation. At least the old timers and the spiritual people in the city are not impressed with ‘Har Har Modi’ chants. But as the political analysts and local journalists in the city maintain the undercurrent in the city is conflicting this time and the choice is between blessing a Prime Ministerial candidate from the constituency and the urge to curse his projection as Shiva. 

Only wish that is on the lips of every concerned residents (both voters and non-voters) in the holy city that washes sins is that this last moment polarisation does not happen with more sins and violence that the politics of hatred threatens to unleash. The city is keeping its fingers crossed. Till the time the date of Varanasi with electoral sin is over, the temple city is sitting on a potential time bomb. The river Ganges nevertheless flows quietly and while sitting on its banks in the evening, Ganga Aarti is so therapeutic that it is easy to forget what all venom is being spitted in its arms in the name of electoral politics and governance. The nature does not endorse politics of hatred, and the holy river is really unmindful of what political plots are being hatched in its blessed temple town.    

BJP's catch 22 with Ramdev

June 10, 2011

Ramdev’s theatrics have got the nation hysterical at a point of time when any moral high ground against corruption is sweeping the nation. The BJP has extended its support to the self-styled Bawa, initially tacit and then explicitly, and there is a general perception in the collective consciousness that Ramdev is playing into the hands of the BJP. However, the BJP that is going all out to support Ramdev and in turn hopes to revive their lost political ground is equally apprehensive of Ramdev’s theatrics.

A large section of the BJP leaders believe that Ramdev is not worth trusting and the way he took a U turn with the Congress, he is quite capable of doing the same with the BJP as well. Requesting anonymity some of the BJP leaders admit that since the party is a divided house with various line of thoughts—Advani line, Sushma line, Gadkari line, Jaitley line, but no party line; it is serving the purpose of Ramdev and the party in return is seen to be gaining in the short term. They believe the consequences in the long term can be very costly to the party’s fortunes.

The return of Hindu hard liners like Uma Bharti back to the party and with Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in sight, a section of the top BJP leaders are of the view that Ramdev can prove to be an ace up their sleeves. Though aware of Ramdev’s own ambitions, in the cost benefit analysis they feel it will take quite some time for Ramdev to float his own political party and by then the BJP can reap the benefits before dumping him.

However, not all in the BJP feel the same. The claim to train youngsters for yoga militia has not gone down well with the RSS. The Hindu hardliners believe that by getting into every district to raise cadre is the kind of road map that can make RSS insignificant and hence they are uncomfortable with Ramdev. After all, it would hit them hard if a parallel Hindutva cadre is raised by Ramdev. There is unanimous view among the hardliner Hindutva brigade that Ramdev is neither a natural ally nor his over ambitious streak will make him stick to the ideology of the BJP-RSS in the long term.

Some of the bitter critics of Ramdev in the BJP camp assert that any extended support to Ramdev will amount to creating a Frankenstein’s monster, whose support base suggests that he will eventually grow at the cost of the BJP only. That was precisely the reason why the backroom boys of the BJP preferred a soft dismissal of Ramdev’s yoga militia call by asking its Muslim face Shahnawaz Hussian to say that Bawa’s Ashtra-Shastra (weapons) are his vaani (sermon).

This happened on a day when the BJP leader Sushma Swaraj rushed to Hardwar to announce full support of the party and Sangh Parivar. After all, the BJP does not want to miss the opportunity to show solidarity with a yoga guru whose theatrics have carried the educated middle class in urban India. This has been traditionally the BJP vote bank. And hence the party can’t afford to miss it. But the voices of dissent in the party suggest that it can lead to a significant dent in its traditional vote bank as well.

However, there are very little choices left for the party which is trying hard to overcome the fact that they could draw little mileage despite of a series of scams and scandals coming out in the UPA government. Ramdev episode is seen as the last refuge by the party where internal bickering have led to significant loss of ground even among the fanatic supporters.

The BJP is equally conscious of the fact that the other pole of fight against corruption has maintained a distance with them. Anna Hazare & his team have not allowed the BJP to share dais on the issue and steal the show. They have instead gone to the extent of making it overtly clear that if Ramdev has to join them, he has to distance himself from the party sponsored protest. How can the principal opposition party not be a part of a protest that has been in the media spotlight, of late?

This inherent confusion and dilemma added to the fact that the central leadership of the party is a divided house, has led the BJP to officially support Ramdev. But the back room boys are working overtime to plan out a possible fall out. These may be early days for the final cost-benefit analysis, but the BJP is definitely in a dilemma over support to Ramdev. This catch 22 situation of the BJP is actually eroding its own vote bank, many of the party strategists believe. 

Corruption and political hypocrisy

Nov 18, 2010

On the 1st day of Winter Session of Parliament JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav got agitated during a discussion on the corruption charges on Telecom Minister A Raja, CWG boss Suresh Kalmadi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chahvan.  In the heat of the moment the former Union Minister got so much carried that he made a politically not-so-correct yet candid statement that once being a part of the Union Government he is aware that in India investigating agencies are so much under the clutches of the ruling party that any investigation has absolutely no meaning and corruption & political nepotism remains a way of life.
Though the allegation of Sharad Yadav was meant to target the Congress Party, it actually proved to be a revealing statement on how the respective governments in India have misused the central investigating agencies, and hypocrisy is the only buzz word on the issue. The question here is that whether corruption actually is an issue in India beyond middle class hysteria. Well, your guess could be as good as mine. Had corruption been an issue then the ruling Congress party that has been responsible for institutionalizing it had not been ruling the country uninterrupted for almost three decades since independence.
The fact of the matter is that corruption has never been an issue in India and the governments who have performed even decent on the given parameter of governance (development, social justice or just plain PR) have repeatedly been re-elected even after being declared corrupt by the investigating agencies and the court of law. The political parties that are stalling the parliament year after year seem to have learnt the art of engineering the middle class hysteria over corruption, while they are all hand-in-glove, and collectively determined to laugh their way to banks while plundering the public wealth.
What Sharad Yadav said in the House is only the tip of the iceberg. The malaise runs much deeper in the system. Have not we all seen the then CBI chief Joginder Singh saying in Patna that prima facie there is no case to charge sheet Laloo Yadav in fodder scam and then stating otherwise in Delhi in a matter of few hours? After all, he was only following his boss’ (Prime Minister) order against the wannabe Prime Minster. Did corruption charge desert the massive vote bank of Laloo? There are a number of examples where the corruption and other criminal charges have worked the other way and instead mobilized the gullible voters even further.
With the change of time, corruption has only snowballed into a kind of media trial, with the political parties more interested in engaging the public and engineering vote bank than reaching to a logical conclusion. If that not be the case why are opposition parties today demanding JPC with more members of ruling alliance than a PAC with more opposition members? The fact of the matter is that all they are interested in is a drift of DMK from the ruling alliance and not taking the corruption to its logical end. The ruling UPA alliance is playing equally smart to let the bedlam happen and in due course pass the tide. Public memory, after all, is very short.
Had public memory not been that short, the principal opposition party, BJP would not have gathered morale to raise such a hue and cry over corruption. After all, the track record of their own NDA government has been equally pathetic, filthy and stormy over the issue. The telecom scam is not just confined to the grant of 2G Spectrum; it actually started within the NDA Government. When one of the upright ministers, Jagmohan stood out as whistle blower, he was ungracefully shifted from the ministry and sidelined. Who doesn’t know how Reliance was given license for local loop phone initially and then all the norms subverted to favour the corporate house.
When the corruption scandal had surfaced in the Defence Ministry of the NDA government, did the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee showed the kind of leadership that the Manmohan Singh has now shown? The BJP had then gone “On Record” saying that it is the prerogative of the Prime Minister to retain and drop a minister, and he is not bound by the wish of the opposition party. It had led to a new precedent in the history of Indian Parliament when throughout the tenure of the NDA government, the opposition kept the Defence Minister George Fernandes boycotted, and never asked any questions. Of course, the common gullible middle class kept wondering that whether our leaders have stood so low that even the coffins of war martyrs at kargil were not spared.
It is due to the all pervasive political hypocrisy that a political party raises a toast over Adarsh Society Housing Scam in Maharashtra, despite the fact that their own Party President is one of the beneficiaries. How conveniently they forget that one of the Chief Ministers of their own party had shamelessly defended corruption with a couplet, “paisa koi khuda toh nahin lekin khuda ki kasam  khuda se kam bhi nahin” (Money may not be god but god swear is no less than god). May be the poor guy was just following the principles set by his Party President who was caught on camera accepting bribe, not leaving even loose currency of Rs. 10.
The country was not so shocked beyond middle class hysteria yet again. The rest had digested the first time whiff of power that brought the greed out of the holier-than-thou political party. They are any way not alone in becoming a poor Xerox copy of the Congress in terms of corruption. The respective Third Front Governments, often a by-product of disenchantment with the two leading political parties, too have been found lusting for the same booty through means fair and foul. Hence when a leading industrialist blew the whistle of being asked 15 crores for airlines license, nobody was surprised or shocked.
The moot point here is that when every political party has been equally shameless then whom to be blamed. The first blame goes to people like us for being hysterical with selective amnesia. So long we are a party to the political vote engineering in the name of whistle blowing on corruption, the soap opera called “war on corruption” will continue. As concerned citizens of the country our agenda should be to boycott the corrupt, and at the same time deplore those who have double-speak on the subject with a holier-than-thou war cry.

An open Letter to Bihar Chief Minister

Nov 6, 2010

Dear Mr Nitish Kumar
As you are poised to take over the realm of the second largest state in the country, Bihar the 2nd consecutive time, I feel like interacting with you directly over certain issues that I feel deserves due attention. You or even many of my friends may dismiss this letter as a publicity gimmick and question my locus standi to such an interaction. After all, why should a lone person without any political mass base and a non-Resident Bihari who does not even cast his vote in the state evoke your interest? Still I felt like writing an open letter to a man who is my Hero but yet there are shades of grey in his governance that is a matter of concern as well.
Mr Kumar, you may be more concerned with admirers and critics who matter the most as far as the political calculation of the state is concerned. But then all these admirers and critics also have some vested interest that has goaded them to their respective line of ideology. I have none. Still I am one of your ardent fans. As a non-Resident Bihari I have been quite vocal on the issue of Bihari Diaspora and their legitimate rights. And this is precisely the reason that you are my Hero as far as Bihar getting its pride back is concerned. Had it not been you turnaround performance as the Chief Minister of Bihar, the state would not have got its due place back. You have suddenly transformed Bihar into new power centre in this part of the world.
The average non-Resident citizen of Bihar is no longer living with subdued silence in exchange of a decent living across the country. The unprecedented development of the state in the last five years has equipped us with the kind of statistics that the outside world often wonders. Of course, it is also backed by the fact that many of those who left the state in the last couple of decades have made a mark with their impeccable merit, unquestionable hard work and live in a new aspiration driven economy. Still a large share of the credit for the new-found confidence goes to you. After all, it is not just about boasting our individual success, but the issue has been perception and projection of the state at large. 
Though you have absolutely no background in media, you have successfully cultivated the art of media management and the positive perception and projection of the state is a Case Study in itself. It is due to this dramatic turnaround that a section of regional parties mooting the possibility of another Third Front Government at the Centre think of you as the future Prime Minister. If that happens and when that happens, we all will hold our head high with pride. And it is precisely such a big picture in vision that I am compelled to write this open letter to you.
As we at the TRACK2MEDIA Consulting conducted election forecast survey in Bihar, I was wondering as to how opinion on your government’s performance has been diametrically opposite in different pockets. I can understand that normally in any given election there is a sharp contrast between the macro level indicators and micro level sentiments. But in Bihar there has been something more than what average pollsters would have noticed. For the last few days the political commentator in me was trying to figure out whether development always translates into votes. My understanding of Indian polity and electoral politics says that the governments who have performed even decently have got reelected in a democracy like India where political overtones on every nook and corner are most often silenced by the voters at large who are generous with least expectation level.
However, there are very many visible examples where development has not translated into votes. The question is if development doesn’t translate into votes, what else can be done? Well, it is just a matter of looking at development with a holistic vision-development for whom and at what cost? when development is confined into select pocket, when there is absence of inclusive growth and when the fruits of development are not shared equally in the society; it leads to not only the process of political marginalization and resultant mobilization, but also leads to long term social unrest. I wonder whether already divided Bihar (on caste and other socio-political parameters) can afford such unrest.
I understand that by and large you have served your constituency (caste, class, geographical and political) reasonably well. The failure has been more on the part of your alliance partner who remained so clueless with sudden found power in Bihar that they started repeating the same mistakes that Congress did during its alliance with the RJD Government. The BJP failed to either create a separate constituency or serve the section that has been its traditional strength in the state. But then the BJP today appears to be more Congressised than the Congress itself. They are well known to follow the Congress in their quest to understand the intricacies of governance, and their corruption and lust for power at every level is a testimony to it.  
As far as you are concerned, I, and many like me, expect you to be a statesman. A proven performer who can do wonders for the state. And it is in this perspective that I feel your second term as Bihar Chief Minister will be even more challenging. This can well be your make or break innings in the state. I am not saying this because there will be sky high expectations to deliver; rather I am more concerned with the fact that my Hero should set a new benchmark for the overall inclusive growth of the state. Destiny, after all, doesn’t favour those who take corrective measures only when confronted with the crisis. Even Laloo Yadav did his best when dethroned from Bihar to turnaround the Indian Railways. It proved to be too little & too late. I just wish that the visionary Nitish Kumar will not repeat the same mistakes.
Yours….
A Concerned Non-Resident Bihari 

Oh Bihar! My Bihar! I am ashamed of you

July 23, 2010                                                                                                                                            

It is not easy for a blogger/journalist to eat his own words. But there are certain earth shattering moments when you are failed by your convictions; when your optimism falls flat in the wake of harsh realities; and when your role models ditch your trust. The obvious choice is then left between justifying your perception & assumptions to defend your ego and an honest acceptance about error of judgment.
Within a week of my last blog post on “Bihar elections and Barack Obama effect” where I had expressed pride and optimism about the state politics transforming into techno zone and opting for an inclusive dialogue with the common man through social media tools, ruckus in the state assembly has yet again shattered my faith. The world will notice the hooliganism in Bihar Assembly through the prism of collective consciousness about the state and its politics over the years. 
However, a common man from the state and a writer in me hangs his head with shame for being optimistic about the state after a spate of development and seemingly sophistication on various social media sites. “Oh Bihar! My Bihar! I am ashamed of you” is a result of this frustration with the collective failure of the Bihar legislature where all the political parties have been an active participant in turning the elected House into a den of street fighters and goondas.
Had it been the act of a few opposition members in the House, my reaction would not have been that strong. But on July 20, 2010 the entire bunch of elected representatives in the Bihar Assembly seemed to have vowed for callous disregard of every norm of civilized behavior in politics. I had earlier witnessed one such unruly incident in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in the year 1998. While I still remember my story “Constitutional climax in UP with opposition’s Governor”, I personally feel there was no such compelling politics in Bihar Assembly now to bring democracy to this low.
Though the outrage on the democratic process can not be justified in any given situation, what had happened in Uttar Pradesh had a much larger stake in retrospect. It was the question of survival for Governor Romesh Bhandai himself, Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, coup Chief Minister for nine hours Jagdambika Pal and Mulayam Singh Yadav. I wonder was there any such situation in Bihar at the moment. The drama that continued in the House till next day clearly reflect that it was not even heat-of-the-moment kind of situation.
In Uttar Pradesh the BJP had then taken a moral high ground following the Allahabad High Court intervention. However, the same party in the ruling alliance in Bihar has a lot to answer now since the responsibility for the floor management in the House rests with the ruling alliance. But when your own legislators are part of the fighting hooligans where is the question of any moral high ground? Probably the BJP, being on the other side of the fence in parliament, should have by now learnt the art of floor management with their own conduct. Whenever their MP’s slogan shouting creates ruckus in the parliament the Lok Sabha speaker has time and again adjourned the House to prevent further ignominy to the House. 
The ruling party JD(U) is even bigger a guilty here and adding insult to the injury for the Bihar in general and democratic institutions in particular has been the statement of JD(U) national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP, Shivanand Tiwari. In an explicit display of no remorse for the damage done to the state and its democratic institution he defended the act by saying that this has not only happened in other states, but it happens across the world in democratic countries. It seems he is still carrying the baggage of his background with Laloo Yadav in RJD.
Nitish Kumar has over the last around four years quite successfully done the balancing act of turning his critics into admirers. However, he failed to rise on this occasion and came out of the House smiling, just dismissing the whole vandalism as the desperate act of opposition. The young lot of Bihari voters who sees in him dynamism and turnaround capabilities was expecting the Chief Minister to be the first one to condemn the legislators cutting across the party lines. He, however, was busy calculating the whole incident in terms of gains and losses in the forthcoming elections.
The Congress has to do a lot of introspection if they are looking forward to emerge as the first choice of youth in the state under the charisma of Rahul Gandhi. They seem to be making the same mistakes that created the crop of Laloos, Paswans and Nitish in the state. Of course, if a woman legislator was manhandled in the House, it needs to be condemned. But resorting to undemocratic norms and creating histrionics like the one Jyoti Devi displayed, reflects an ill designed method in her madness. There are much better democratic and civilized ways to protest, get noticed and emerge as better Brand Ambassadors of Bihar politics.
Laloo Yadav seems to be living in his own time zone that derailed Bihar from every possible Human Development Index. Crowded by fly-by-night alliances like the LJP of Ramvilas Paswan, he fails to see the larger picture emerging out of the state. It is no longer politics of poverty and deprivation with symbolic empowerment to few that he can continue with. He needs to understand that he has to replicate his performance of Union Railway Ministry and not his previous stint of Chief Ministership where lawlessness ruled the roost.
But the biggest culprit has been the Speaker of the House Uday Narayan Chowdhary for letting this bedlam happen. He failed to protect the integrity of the Chair and instead became a spokesperson of the ruling alliance. His stand that interference by any constitutional body or a statutory body in the functioning of the Assembly, its Public Accounts Committee or any other legislative committee would constitute a breach of privilege of the House, not only sets the Bihar legislature on the course of possible confrontation with the judiciary but also sets a wrong precedent in shielding the guilty and prosecuting future governments in office against scam. 
It is debatable at the moment whether or not the Patna High Court order asking for a CBI enquiry into the alleged bungling of funds to the tune of Rs 11000 crore between 2002 and 2008 amounts to scam. And if it is scam, Rabri Devi led RJD Government has to answer as much as the Nitish Kumar Government. If BJP will have to explain being a coalition partner in Nitish Government, Congress will have to as much explain for its support to RJD Government.
The question here is if the guilty of yet-to-surface scam are all or none, then who is the beneficiary of bedlam in the Bihar Assembly? Has any political party came out with the moral high ground for whatsoever reasons? If the answer is none then what was the high voltage media show all about?
Should we assume that all the political parties were hands-in-glove in diverting the attention of the voters from the real issues? May be all the parties were carrying home the point with their own set of calculations that a House ruckus at this point of time would benefit them.  It is difficult to point out which of the above two assumptions are more dangerous for the civilized Bihar, but the elected representatives have definitely put their electorates head hang in shame who are left with no choice but to so…..”Oh Bihar! My Bihar! I am ashamed of you.

Bihar elections and Barack Obama effect

July 16, 2006

Can Bihar, predominantly seen as one of the most underdeveloped states of India in collective consciousness replicate Barack Obama’s model? I understand the question itself will be seen as cynicism but wait. Give it a thought and there will appear some parallel in these two different poles on various given parameters of governance, development and overall human development index. My assessment, or rather I should say optimism is not based on the phenomenal and unbelievable growth rate of Bihar in times of global recession. Of course, the GDP projection of 11 per cent by an eminent economist and 16.5 per cent by the Central Statistics office would definitely be a cause of envy even to the world’s super power in America.
However, my above assumption is not based on the reports of Bihar revival by the now unquestionable turnaround man in the Chief Minster Nitish Kumar. What has actually surprised me is the sheer presence of the state, its governance and its politics on social networking sites like the Facebook and Twitter. When the Economist magazine analyzed how politicians around the world from Venezuela to Japan and from Greece to Chile are using social media tools to get out their messages to constituents and voters, they had actually no idea about the penetration of the medium further deep.
Considering that LinkedIn was established in 2003, Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006, it no doubt seems to be a fast forward march by the politicians of the state. With some of them without any background in the formal university level education, it is all the more surprising that they are adapting and accelerating quicker and faster medium for political dialogue.
In a way it spells good for democratic institutions in Bihar where wide engagement combines with open sharing of information. It is clearly an issue, as social recommendation becomes bigger the challenge is to engage individuals deeply enough that they will escalate from passive viewer to active participant. Most of the Bihar centric discussion revolves around the performance of Nitish Kumar government and the forthcoming elections. By extension this also applies to those who aim to unseat him.
My Facebook wall is generally full of heated discussions on Bihar elections nowadays. What seems to be the result of the vocal nature of Biharis in general and educated and migrated non resident Biharis in particular is actually more than what meets the eyes. It is not that only the educated Biharis who have migrated to metropolitan cities for a decent living are the ones who are demand drivers of Bihar debate. The young lot in the state with limited access to electricity and even lesser access to internet are as much active on these sites as their non resident counterparts. 
The question as to why development in the backdrop of politics and elections are the only issues to be discussed automatically comes into the mind. Perhaps the answer lies in the restlessness of the youth in the state, which had for around a couple of decades been clueless, have suddenly found a medium to air their grievances. Many politicians from the state too have sensed this transformation and want the first-movers-advantage in the cyber space networking.
The moot point here is that whether it is a natural progression of the state into technology zone or the political parties have taken this first-movers-advantage a bit too seriously. On the basis of Facebook and Twitter discussion Prima Facie it seems a carefully crafted social media campaign has been launched by at least two parties (JD (U) and BJP) in power, with Congress social media campaign racing up along the charisma of Rahul Gandhi, while the other two players (RJD and LJP) seem to be clueless as to what is this hype all about.
My assumption, however, proved to be wrong when some more searches found the presence of even Laloo yadav and Ramvilas Paswan on the Facebook. Not only this, individual ministers and MLAs in the state with relatively less exposure to the technology and global obsession with social networking too have got their own website done, with some of them adding dynamic features. It seems everybody is omnipresent on various social networking sites; even the illiterate ones too have social media managers for shadow boxing.
Easy to dismiss, but less easy to master; the mantra of social media is perhaps yet to come of age in Bihar politics. But its growing influence and ubiquity, particularly among younger voters, cannot be ignored. The complications of this new reality are that 18- to 24-year-olds are not prepared to consume political messages passively. The catalysts to this transformation have been the mainstream media that are largely into the mode of broadcast and not conversation.
The 2010 Bihar campaign can prove to be India’s first true social media electoral cycle, if the momentum picks up and reflects some tangible vote swing. Whether the JD (U) uses these tools to their maximum advantage or whether the BJP or Congress figure out how to employ social media to explain incumbent policies and rally their base will be analyzed in-depth following the November elections. It may not prove to be India’s first true internet campaign, won and lost Obama-style, Bihar elections nonetheless have a distinct Barack Obama effect this time around.