India This Week

Sibling Rivalry and Other Troubles; Paved With Good Intent; One Singh for Another; Of Inflation and Deflated Egos; Care for a History Tutorial, Mr Tewari?

Tamil Nadu Will the much-awaited transfer of power by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to his beloved younger son MK Stalin in June this year be a smooth affair? Sceptics are doubtful. Union Minister MK Alagiri, Karunanidhi’s elder son, is unhappy over his father quitting active politics and handing over the baton to Stalin. “Even Sachin Tendulkar has been saying that he wants to retire, but doesn’t he continue to score runs?’’ was his response when told of Karunanidhi’s plan to vacate the CM’s post after June. Sibling rivalry in the ruling DMK is now all set to be re-ignited in the days to come.

Alagiri, the prodigal son of Karunanidhi, is unhappy about Stalin’s being the Chief Minister in waiting. Alagiri had always wanted to become the CM, but Karunanidhi shattered that dream by sending him to the Union Cabinet in New Delhi. The father wants Alagiri at the Centre at least till the swearing-in of Stalin as CM. But Alagiri is keen on an early return to state politics, and lack of fluency in English and Hindi are adding to his woes in New Delhi. Known for his use of muscle and money power, Alagiri wants to grab the CM’s post by any means. 

Soon after bringing the DMK back to power in Chennai three years ago, Karunanidhi made Stalin No 2 in the party. As his health deteriorated, Karunanidhi formally named Stalin the Deputy CM, paving the way for a smooth succession. 

But what worries party insiders about the possible family feud over political inheritance is the failure of Karunanidhi to define the roles of Alagiri and daughter Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha MP, in his post-retirement days. Both are ambitious and can upset Stalin’s apple cart. 

Before Alagiri became a Union minister, Tamil Nadu saw frequent clashes between his followers and Stalin’s. A newspaper office in Madurai was burnt (two of its employees died in the blaze) when it published an opinion poll saying its readers preferred Stalin to succeed Karunanidhi. A few years ago, Kiruttinan, then a top leader in Stalin’s camp, was murdered allegedly by Alagiri’s fans (Alagiri too was chargesheeted in the case). Will the patriarch be able to avoid a repeat of such gory events and make the transfer of power a smooth affair? Wait and watch.

Two years ago when Defence Minister AK Antony visited the Nathu La border, he was stunned to see that the mountain road across the border that led up to the Chinese post was better than many runways he had seen in India. Antony said that the state of infrastructure on the Chinese side should worry us. But things didn’t move. Now China’s threatening postures, of late, might just do the trick.

With strategic roads in Arunachal Pradesh and other Indian areas bordering China running into delays, the Ministry of Defence wants the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to use helicopters to complete the roads on India’s side.

Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju held a meeting with officers of the Border Roads Development Board last week and said let choppers be hired from outside agencies if need be. 

“The BRO director general has said Pawan Hans has submitted an initial proposal… but their pilots were not trained for hanging payloads that need to be airdropped in inaccessible places…,” says a ministry official. The BRO is building 2,764 km of the total 5,061 km road length in Arunachal Pradesh alone. Of 61 roads being constructed along the Line of Actual Control between India and China, 12 roads have been completed. 

The appointment of senior SP leader Mohan Singh as party general secretary and spokesman—posts held by Amar Singh—signifies the formal end of the SP’s Amar Singh chapter.  The party’s decision also symbolises Mulayam Singh Yadav’s first big step to rediscover his socialist roots that many believe he’d lost as he came under the shadow of Amar Singh’s brand of corporate-driven politics.

Mohan Singh, a senior socialist leader, belongs to the Thakur caste, the same as Amar Singh, and the two have never been on good terms. By replacing one Thakur by another, the party seems to have played a shrewd caste card.

After quitting his  SP posts, Amar Singh has been organising his castemen in eastern UP. Mohan Singh’s elevation in the party is seen as a move to neutralise Amar Singh’s bid to damage whatever Thakur base SP has in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

This one could well be Mayawati’s Republic Day gift to Indian consumers. For it was the Bahujan Samaj Party chief’s vociferous demand to fix the blame of inflation on Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar that triggered a chain reaction, turning the UPA’s seemingly apathetic attitude into a burst of concern for the common man.

On the face of it, Mayawati’s demand looked innocuous. Such demands are routine in Indian politics. Yet, once it started snowballing into a major political debate, Pawar started feeling the heat. The NCP supremo then shot out and underlined the Prime Minister’s role in fixing prices, thus forcing the Congress-led Government to sit up and get down to the task of saving face and also the coalition.

All through, the Congress and the UPA Government had literally been watching the prices of essential commodities soar, not doing anything substantial to bring them down and indirectly trying, instead, to shift the blame on Pawar.  All agitations—whether by the BJP or the Left parties or regional parties like the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal—had hardly meant much for the ruling establishment.

However, the threat of infighting within the UPA—caused by Mayawati’s bid to single out Pawar—has changed everything. Dragging the PM into the centre of the row wouldn’t have been possible had it not been done by a regional heavyweight like Pawar.

The burst of concern being expressed now by the Government and the Congress is, in fact, guided less by the reeking pressure that has been put on the aam aadmi and more by the threat Pawar poses to the coalition government in case it seeks to turn him into a scapegoat. “I am not the only person involved in this process [of setting prices right]. The Prime Minister and all of us [in the Cabinet] together decide price policy. Any decision related to prices of commodities is a Cabinet decision, which includes the Prime Minister,” Pawar had said.

So now, results have started showing. Everyone, in the Congress and the Government, has suddenly got restive about the necessity of bringing food prices down via the principle of collective responsibility. Don’t be surprised if major steps are taken soon.

Spokespersons of political parties in India are not quite known for their sagacity. But if ever a foot-in-the-mouth award was instituted for the fraternity, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari would emerge as the winner.

Ever since he was given the responsibility of tomtomming his party’s achievements and point of view, Tewari has started putting up that I-know-it-all demeanour in TV studios. During a recent TV discussion on constitutional reforms, which veered towards Article 370 and ultimately towards the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, Tewari, in keeping with his self image as the most crafty spin doctor after Alistair Campbell, opined that J&K’s Pandits were driven out due to the fear psychosis of the then Governor, Jagmohan.

Obviously, Kashmiri Pandit groups are not amused. To add insult to injury, Tewari spoke rudely to an elderly Pandit the next day, who called him to register his protest. Tewari reportedly told him to “fuck off” before banging down the phone.

On social networking sites, Kashmiri Pandits are venting their anger. Calling Tewari’s statement sickening, actor Sanjay Suri, whose father was killed by militants in the early 1990s, wrote that Tewari ‘surely needs to get some history lessons’. One group has called for a protest outside the Congress office.
This is obviously no Tharoor-like situation for Tewari, who is still in 10 Janpath’s  good books. But for someone whose father was killed by Khalistani terrorists, Tewari surely must update himself on terrorism. That is one thing that spokespersons like him will have to deal with for a long time to come. With or without constitutional reforms.

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