‘Two States’
By Insaf
‘Two States’ this past week got Parliament mired in an unsavoury controversy. The Opposition, in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha decried the Union Budget as crass ‘discriminatory’ against non-NDA-ruled states and that Prime Minister Modi was only saving his coalition government by offering special sops to the two. On the other hand, BJP and its allies outright rejected the accusation and claimed the budgetary provisions were for a ‘Vikisit Bharat’ and all States needs had been taken care of. The ongoing general discussion on the budget 2024-25 sadly gave an impression poll campaigning mode hadn’t come to an end and many a bickering was unparliamentary as though the members were addressing political rallies still. However, it can’t be denied that the finance minister specific mention of budgetary outlay for key allies JD-U in Bihar and TDP in Andhra Pradesh, did give the Opposition the opportunity to take swipes at the ruling benches repeatedly. Who is the budget for, was the big question asked. ‘Is it only for two states, or has some consideration been given to the entire country? Modi, it was said was leading a ‘creaky, shaky and vulnerable’ coalition government that looked after interests of only two states, ignoring all other citizens in the country.
The government was warned, ‘We are a federal country. This is the death knell of federalism if you pick and choose among states…’ The best came from Congress President Kharge who said: Bihar and AP ‘pakoda and jalebi’ on their plates while other states got nothing; Karnataka (finance minister represents the State) was expecting that it would get the most but it got nothing; ‘Yeh kursi bachane ke liye yeh sab hua hai… We condemn it and protest against it.’, before leading INDIA alliance parties’ walkout. BJP hit back saying that while AP and Bihar may not figure in “Congress account’. The government has all states in mind! The NDA allies and its MPs expectedly praised the Budget and chose every occasion to hit out at Congress poor performance and budgets when in government. Finance minister Sitharaman described the accusation as ‘outrageous’ saying she didn’t ‘name many states either in interim budget presented in February or in this full budget but it doesn’t mean that government schemes are not working for the states.’ Guess, it’s important the parties must do their homework and do it well and concentrate on the needs of the aam admi and raise demands for their welfare and the development of the states. Playing politics alone won’t yield results.
New Governors
Nine States and a UT have got new Governors and L-G, late Saturday night. President Murmu stated the dates of their appointment would be effective from the date they take charge. Expectedly, the list includes veteran BJP leaders and former MPs: former Union Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar, who was denied a ticket this election (Jharkhand), former MP from Assam Ramen Deka (Chhattisgarh), former Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Haribhau K Bagde (Rajasthan), former Tripura Dy Chief Minister Jishnu D Varma (Telangana). Importantly, all eyes would be on how these Governors conduct themselves, specially in Opposition-rules states. More so, as only a day before, Supreme Court issued notices to Union Home Ministry and secretaries of Kerala Governor Khan and his West Bengal counterpart C V Ananda Bose and sought replies within 3 weeks. This after the two governments petitioned alleging denial of assent to bills passed by their respective Assemblies and that these were referred to President Murmu and were still pending assent (eight bills in Bengal and 7 in Kerala and some for two years!). Challenging the reference to the president itself, the states argued ‘This is a confusion among the governors. They keep the bills pending. This is against the Constitution,” and urged the top court ‘to lay down guidelines on when governors could return or refer the bills.’ How about, giving a lesson or two to raj Bhavans about ‘good governance’ too?
WB CM’s ‘Drama’
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has triggered a political storm with the Opposition and government indulging in a tu-tu-mein-mein (war of words). On Saturday, she stormed out of Niti Aayog’s 9th Governing Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi, claiming her microphone was switched off midway her speech, was ‘humiliated’ by not being given adequate time and while ‘AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, chief ministers of Assam, Goa, and Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes and I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes.’ This despite she was the only opposition leader attending. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hit back saying ‘she spoke her full time, her mic was not switched off, the screen in front of our tables kept showing the time…’ BJP called it a premediated ‘drama’ aimed at grabbing headlines, and TMC and other opposition parties accused Centre of ‘suppressing’ their voices and ‘undermining cooperative federalism’. The big question is the meeting was to focus on making India a developed country by 2047, why did as 10 states and UTs choose to boycott over ‘discrimination’ against non-NDA-ruled states in the Union Budget? Taking the bull by the horns could have been a better strategy.
RSS Connect
Madhya Pradesh HC disposed of a writ petition seeking lifting of ban on RSS for government employees as Centre finally realised ‘its mistake,’ but directed that July 9 notification be publicised across India. The court ‘laments the fact it took almost 5 decades for central government to realise its mistake; to acknowledge that an internationally renowned organisation like RSS was wrongly placed among banned organisations of the country and its removal therefrom is quintessential.’ Aspirations of many central govt employees of ‘serving the country’ in many ways, it said, ‘got diminished’ because of this ban (by Indira Gandhi in 1980), which ‘got removed only when it was brought to court’s notice vide present proceedings’(since September last). While court may take credit, several BJP-ruled states have passed similar orders over past decade permitting government staffers to join RSS. The DoPT, under PMO, had issued the new order, claiming the previous one became irrelevant’, and ‘unjustified’. The timing is critical, as tension between Modi-led BJP and RSS is no secret, rather came to fore these general elections. Is it Modi’s peace offering? —— INFA