{"id":207656,"date":"2022-12-24T00:07:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T18:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=207656"},"modified":"2022-12-24T00:07:08","modified_gmt":"2022-12-23T18:37:08","slug":"entangled-in-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2022\/12\/24\/entangled-in-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Entangled in politics?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Covid-19 Review<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\nBy Insaf<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is politics being played over Covid-19, is the question doing the rounds. While on the one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a high-level meeting on Thursday to review the situation in the country urged States to \u2018remain alert and create awareness\u2019 about Covid protocol, on the other Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi \u2018to consider suspending his Bharat jodo yatraif Covid protocols could not be followed.\u2019 The government reacted Rahul is \u2018nowcoming up with excuses to stop the yatra. Wear masks, stop the yatra, Covid is spreading, these are all excuses.\u201d And asserted the yatra \u201cwill go to Kashmir\u2026Hindustan ki shakti say, Hindustan ki sachai say, yeh log dargayehai, yeh sachaihai(they have got scared of power and truth of the country. This is the truth.\u201d If there was real concern why hasn\u2019t the government stopped flights from China, the party asks. Interestingly, the BJP hours after deciding to suspend its \u2018Jan Aakrosh Yatra\u2019 in Rajasthan in view of a rising cases globally, did a U-turn saying it will go ahead with holding public meetings in constituencies! Rajasthan Chief Minister Gehlot promptly reacted: \u201cTwo days ago, Prime Minister held a rally in Tripura where no Covid protocol was followed. During Covid\u2019s 2ndwave, he addressed huge rallies in Bengal. If the purpose of Health Minister was not political, then his concern is justified, then he should have written the first letter to the PM.\u201d Point well made. With the situation emerging, time will tell which side is proved right.<\/p>\n

J&K Diktat
\nHas Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha bitten more than he can chew? On Wednesday last, he sent a \u2018loud and clear\u2019 message there will be \u2018no salary for sitting at home\u2019 to the protesting Kashmiri Pandit employees in Kashmir. His reasoning: \u2018all necessary steps have been taken for their safety and almost all of them were transferred to district headquarters in consultation with DCs, SP and other government functionaries\u201d. Plus 1,200 of them will get accommodation at secured placesby April, and 1,800 more flats will be given during next financial year. But it has cut no ice. The striking employees insist relocation outside Kashmir. \u201cIt\u2019s an unfortunate statement. It\u2019s better for government to sack us all. Our lives are more important than jobs,\u201d reacted a Pandit. Another said \u2018KP employees could not be made symbols of peace and normalcy in Kashmir\u2026\u201d Remember they did return to the Valley as part of PM Special Employment Scheme after leaving in May following\u00a0targeted killings of two KPs. However, with the LeT publishing hit lists of such employees they are on strike since past 6 months. Life or livelihood is the big question here. North Block needs to address it.
\nDelhi \u2018Ad Scam\u2019
\nThe fight goes on! Amid inquiry into Delhi government\u2019s liquor policy, the heat is now on its \u2018advertisement scam\u2019. Lieutenant Governor Saxena has revived his predecessor\u2019s demand by directing Chief Secretary on Tuesday last to recover Rs 97 crore from AAP for publishing \u2018political advertisements\u2019 in guise of government ads way back in 2016. The Directorate of Information and Publicity had notified that Rs 97.14 crore were spent or booked on account of \u2018non-conforming ads\u2019 as per Supreme Court guidelines, of which Rs 42.26 crore was released and Rs 54.87 crore was pending. The Directorate of Vigilance has stepped in alleging that the pending amount was paid by government instead of AAP, worse in 8 cases Rs 20.53 crore was paid \u2018falsely attributing it to court\/arbitration orders.\u2019 Rubbishing the directive, AAP said BJP is \u2018flustered\u2019 with it wresting power in MCD and LG sahib is following its diktat. He has \u201cno such power\u2026BJP\u2019s various state governments issued ads that were published here. We want to ask when will the Rs 22,000 crore spent on these be recovered from them? The day that money is recovered, we will also give Rs 97 crore.\u201d Poor justification for it must remember that two wrongs don\u2019t make a right!
\nBelligerent Karnataka
\nBJP-ruled Karnataka should have Union Home Minister Amit Shah going red in the face. The Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday last moved by Chief Minister Bommai condemning the border dispute \u2018created by Maharashtra\u2019, resolved to protect the state\u2019s interests and not to cede \u2018an inch of land.\u2019 It condemned statements by Maharashtra leaders and attempts to instigate, by trying to come to Karnataka at a time when the law and order situation was sensitive. Bommai claimed \u2018it\u2019s not a dispute at all, as it\u2019s a settled matter\u2019 and asked the Shinde government \u2018to take care of people in its territory and protect their interest first, instead of claiming land within Karnataka\u2019s border\u2019. This after, Shah had met both sides last week and asked them to set up committees to resolve the issue. However, Maharashtra too refuses to relent, and its minister a day earlier warned \u201cIf Karnataka doesn\u2019t stop (making irresponsible statements), then we will have to rethink over the water being supplied to the neighbouring state\u2026 we will not leave even half-inch of territory.\u201d The Opposition parties want the government to give a tit-for-tat response and assured support for a resolution if introduced in the Assembly. Though Bommai has beaten Shinde to it, it\u2019s on the cards, unless North Block has another advisory.
\nMP\u2019s Over Confidence
\nThe BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is well entrenched. A no\u2014confidence motion moved by opposition Congress was defeated by a voice vote in the Assembly on Thursday last, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan saying the grand old party didn\u2019t have any issues, rather had committed \u2018sins\u2019 during its rule. The debate sadly turned out to be a tu-tu-mein-mein affair. Targeting law and order, corruption, unemployment, inflation, atrocities against women and tribals, farmers\u2019 issues et al, Congress cited examples of Panchayati Raj representatives\u2019 powers being snatched by officials; government debt burden going up to Rs 4 lakh crore due to wasteful expenditure like Rs 15 crore spent alone on releasing cheetahs from Namibia; taxing farmers citing rising diesel prices etc. Chouhan hit back with: Congress turned the secretariat into a \u2018den of corruption\u2019; money was taken for posting of collectors and SPs; irrigation sector rules were relaxed in favour of a contractor and a payment of Rs 877.57 crore made; welfare schemes including payment of Rs 1,000 to tribals started by BJP government stopped; names of 75 lakh poor beneficiaries in Sambal Yojana deleted; distribution of laptops to meritorious students stopped etc. To top it all, a BJP Minister even proclaimed \u201cHamare Ram hai, Hamare Sita hai\u201d (we have Ram and Sita) \u201cwho is yours.\u201d Positive thinking went missing!<\/p>\n

Bihari Pride Hurt
\nBihar and its 12-crore people are hurt. Following two days of protest and a demand for an apology, some of its MPs and political parties finally got Union Minister Piyush Goyal to at least withdraw his \u2018demeaning\u2019 statement in the Rajya Sabha. On Tuesday last, he had interrupted RJD\u2019s MP Manoj Jha speaking on inflation, saying \u201cInka bas chale to desh ko Bihar banadein\u00a0(if he had his way, he would turn the entire country into Bihar).\u201dJha protested promptly saying it was \u2018an insult to Bihar\u2019. Other MPs joined in. He also wrote to chairman Dhankar expressing dismay that a Leader of the House would make a statement \u201cdemeaning one of the greatest states \u2026his comment smacked of elitism and was completely uncalled for\u201d. In Patna, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav tweeted: \u201cLook at the insult of Bihar and Biharis by an unwise and arrogant (vivekheen aur ahankari) Union minister. Projects worth Rs. 2.5 lakh crore were taken away from his home state Maharashtra to Gujarat and he could not utter a word. This shows his standing.\u201d The JD(U) too said this reflects what \u201cthey think of Bihar and how the state has been treated all these years\u2026Goyal should read more about Bihar to understand its bright side. The people of Bihar will give them befitting reply at the right time.\u201d Be that as it may, though Goyal refused to apologise, he withdrew his statement saying he had no intention of insulting either Bihar or the people of Bihar. Will matters rest here? \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Covid-19 Review By Insaf Is politics being played over Covid-19, is the question doing the rounds. While on the one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a high-level meeting on Thursday to review the situation in the country urged States to \u2018remain alert and create awareness\u2019 about Covid protocol, on the other Health Minister Mansukh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-207656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207656\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}